Terminal devices, information processing methods, and computer readable storage mediums

• US 10,555,135 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2019
• Issued: 02/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LY Corp. (A Holdings Corp.), Z Intermediate Global Corporation
• Original Assignee: LINE Corporation (A Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Sugimoto, Kenichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Trinh, Tan H
• Application Number:
  US16/555,493
• Publication Number:
  US 20190387367A1
• Time in Patent Office: 159 Days
• Field of Search: 455518, 455519, 455 411, 455 412, 709227, 709204, 709206, 709223, 709205, 713163, 713171, 370310, 370392, 707103
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

A terminal device includes at least one processor and a transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to execute computer readable instructions to generate a list of a plurality of other terminal devices located within a threshold range from the terminal device via short-range wireless communication. The transceiver is configured to transmit, in response to selection of a set of terminal devices from among the plurality of other terminal devices included in the list, a request to establish an association with users corresponding to terminal devices in the selected set of terminal devices.

Claims

1. A method of information processing at a first terminal configured to communicate with a server through a network, the first terminal being associated with a first user, the server configured to manage a plurality of groups for transmitting or receiving a message, the method comprising:

displaying, by one or more processors of the first terminal, a list related to a plurality of users of a plurality of terminals based on first information received by near field communication, the first terminal not being included in the plurality of terminals, the plurality of terminals including a second terminal associated with a second user among the plurality of users and a third terminal associated with a third user among the plurality of users;

transmitting, by the one or more processors, second information to the server based on a selection of the second user included in the list and the third user included in the list, the second information defining a first group among the plurality of groups, the first group including the first user of the first terminal, the second user of the second terminal, and the third user of the third terminal, the second information being different from the first information;

displaying, by the one or more processors, third information related to joining a second group among the plurality of groups on a display of the first terminal, the second group being different from the first group, the third information related to joining the second group being received from the server, and the third information being different from the first information and the second information; and

transmitting, by the one or more processors, fourth information related to joining the second group to the server based on a selection associated with the third information displayed on the display of the first terminal, the fourth information being different from the first information, the second information, and the third information.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, by the one or more processors, fifth information to the server for making the first user of the first terminal a friend of the second user of the second terminal or the third user of the third terminal, the fifth information being different from the first information, the second information, the third information, and the fourth information.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the first information received through the near field communication includes a user ID associated with each of the plurality of terminals;

and

the displaying a list displays the list based on the user ID associated with each of the plurality of terminals, each user ID specifying a user among the plurality of users.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the one or more processors, the third information related to joining the second group based on fifth information sent from a fourth terminal to the server, the fifth information defining the second group, the fourth terminal being different from the second terminal and the third terminal, the fifth information being different from the first information, the second information, the third information, and the fourth information.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, by the one or more processors, information indicating that no terminals are near the first terminal in response to determining there are no terminals within a threshold range of the first terminal.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the near field communication includes at least one of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), infrared (IR) or Ultrasound.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer-readable program that, when executed by one or more processors of a first terminal, causes the one or more processors to perform a process, the first terminal associated with a first user and configured to communicate with a server through a network, the server configured to manage a plurality of groups for transmitting or receiving a message, the process comprising:

displaying, by the one or more processors, a list related to a plurality of users of a plurality of terminals based on first information received by near field communication, the first terminal not being included in the plurality of terminals, the plurality of terminals including a second terminal associated with a second user among the plurality of users and a third terminal associated with a third user among the plurality of users;

transmitting, by the one or more processors, second information to the server based on a selection of the second user included in the list and the third user included in the list, the second information defining a first group among the plurality of groups, the first group including the first user of the first terminal, the second user of the second terminal, and the third user of the third terminal, the second information being different from the first information;

displaying, by the one or more processors, third information related to joining a second group among the plurality of groups on a display of the first terminal, the second group being different from the first group, the third information related to joining the second group being received from the server, and the third information being different from the first information and the second information; and

transmitting, by the one or more processors, fourth information related to joining the second group to the server based on a selection associated with the third information displayed on the display of the first terminal, the fourth information being different from the first information, the second information, and the third information.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the process further comprises:

transmitting, by the one or more processors, fifth information to the server for making the first user of the first terminal a friend of the second user of the second terminal or the third user of the third terminal, the fifth information being different from the first information, the second information, the third information, and the fourth information.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein

the first information received through the near field communication includes a user ID associated with each of the plurality of terminals;

and

the displaying a list displays the list based on the user ID associated with each of the plurality of terminals, each user ID specifying a user among the plurality of users.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the process further comprises:

receiving, by the one or more processors, the third information related to joining the second group based on fifth information sent from a fourth terminal to the server, the fifth information defining the second group, the fourth terminal being different from the second terminal and the third terminal, the fifth information being different from the first information, the second information, the third information, and the fourth information.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the process further comprises:

displaying, by the one or more processors, information indicating that no terminals are near the first terminal in response to determining there are no terminals within a threshold range of the first terminal.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein

the near field communication includes at least one of BLE, IR or Ultrasound.

13. A terminal associated with a user and configured to communicate with a server through a network, the server configured to manage a plurality of groups for transmitting or receiving a message, the terminal comprising:

a display configured to display a list related to a plurality of users of a plurality of terminals based on first information received by near field communication, the terminal not being included in the plurality of terminals, the plurality of terminals including a first terminal associated with a first user among the plurality of users and a second terminal associated with a second user among the plurality of users; and

one or more processors configured to execute computer-readable instructions to transmit second information to the server based on a selection of the first user included in the list and the second user included in the list, the second information defining a first group among the plurality of groups, the first group including the user of the terminal, the first user of the first terminal, and the second user of the second terminal, the second information being different from the first information, wherein

the display is configured to display third information related to joining a second group among the plurality of groups, the second group being different from the first group, the third information related to joining the second group being received from the server, and the third information being different from the first information and the second information, and

the one or more processors are configured to execute computer-readable instructions to transmit fourth information related to joining the second group to the server based on a selection associated with the third information displayed on the display of the terminal, the fourth information being different from the first information, the second information, and the third information.

14. The terminal according to claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute computer-readable instructions to:

transmit fifth information to the server for making the user of the terminal a friend of the first user of the first terminal or the second user of the second terminal, the fifth information being different from the first information, the second information, the third information, and the fourth information.

15. The terminal according to claim 13, wherein

the first information received through the near field communication includes a user ID associated with each of the plurality of terminals;

and

the display is configured to display the list based on the user ID associated with each of the plurality of terminals, each user ID specifying a user among the plurality of users.

16. The terminal according to claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute computer-readable instructions to:

receive the third information related to joining the second group based on fifth information sent from a third terminal to the server, the fifth information defining the second group, the third terminal being different from the first terminal and the second terminal, the fifth information being different from the first information, the second information, the third information, and the fourth information.

17. The terminal according to claim 13, wherein

the display is configured to display information indicating that no terminals are near the terminal in response to determining there are no terminals within a threshold range of the terminal.

18. The terminal according to claim 13, wherein

the near field communication includes at least one of BLE, IR or Ultrasound.