Communication apparatus and storage medium

• US 9,660,724 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2013
• Issued: 05/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kunihiro, Takushi, Suzuki, Kento, Ono, Kouichirou, Onuma, Tomoya, Nakamura, Takatoshi, Kobayashi, Michihiro, Tange, Akira, Akagi, Makoto, Ishida, Katsuhito, Sako, Yoichiro, Sakoda, Kazuyuki, Takehara, Mitsuru, Hanaya, Hiroyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): VANDERPUYE, KENNETH N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alagheband, Abbas H
• Application Number:
  US14/074,964
• Publication Number:
  US 20140140703A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,292 Days
• Field of Search: 398198, 398115-118
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/114 Indoor or close-range type systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/116 Visible light communication

Abstract

There is provided a communication apparatus including a communication unit having an optical communication scheme and a different communication scheme from the optical communication scheme, a level setting unit configured to set a security level in data communication, and a communication scheme switching unit configured to switch communication schemes of the communication unit in accordance with the security level that is set by the level setting unit.

Claims

1. A communication apparatus, comprising:

a communication unit having an optical communication scheme as a first communication scheme, and a second communication scheme different from the optical communication scheme;

a level setting unit configured to set a security level in data communication,

wherein the level setting unit is configured to set the security level, which is used to determine a communication scheme for the data communication, higher than a determined value based on a determination that data to be transmitted is set to be automatically deleted after a determined time; and

a communication scheme switching unit configured to switch the communication scheme of the communication unit between the first communication scheme and the second communication scheme based on the security level set by the level setting unit.

2. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, after time data is transmitted in the optical communication scheme, the communication unit is further configured to continuously transmit the time data in the optical communication scheme.

3. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, based on a determination that the security level is set higher than the determined value that is set in advance, the communication scheme switching unit is further configured to switch the communication scheme to the optical communication scheme.

4. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the level setting unit is further configured to set the security level based on a content of the data transmitted through the data communication, or a user operation.

5. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the level setting unit is further configured to set the security level based on a command from a server.

6. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second communication scheme corresponds to radio wave communication.

7. The communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the communication unit is further configured to control radio field intensity or directivity of the radio wave communication based on a transmission range of the data.

8. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical communication scheme is one of visible light communication, infrared communication, or ultraviolet communication.

9. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit is further configured to communicate through the optical communication scheme by use of an LED illumination unit.

10. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit is further configured to control light quantity, luminance, or a color of radiated visible light, such that the communication unit is further configured to explicitly indicate that the data is transmitted through the optical communication scheme.

11. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication apparatus is one of an illumination apparatus, a mobile phone, a personal handy-phone system (PHS), a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a notebook computer.

13. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein, based on a determination that the data transmitted in the optical communication scheme is time data, the communication unit is further configured to continuously transmit the time data in the optical communication scheme, and

wherein the time data is set to be automatically deleted after the determined time.

14. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, after the data is transmitted to a destination device in the optical communication scheme, the communication unit is further configured to continuously receive, in the optical communication scheme, a response from the destination device, and transmit a control signal for deleting the transmitted data to the destination device in the second communication scheme based on a determination that the response in the optical communication scheme is no longer received.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to execute operations, comprising:

setting a security level in data communication,

wherein the security level used to determine a communication scheme for the data communication is set higher than a determined value based on a determination that data to be transmitted is set to be automatically deleted after a determined time; and

switching the communication scheme of a communication unit between a first communication scheme and a second communication scheme based on the set security level,

wherein the first communication scheme is an optical communication scheme and the second communication scheme is different from the optical communication scheme.