KR20070018591A - Authentication Methods and Devices for Selective Calls - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an authentication method and apparatus for selective reception of a user in a mobile communication terminal and a general telephone. In particular, the present invention allows only the caller who has passed the authentication set by the user to connect the call with the user, so that the user can selectively talk to an unpredictable random call coming from a mobile communication terminal or a general telephone. Moreover, it can protect users' privacy by preventing unnecessary advertisement or spam calls that the user does not want.

Phone, selective reception, authentication, call

Description

Authentication method and apparatus for selective conversation

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an authentication device for a selective call according to the present invention;

2 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of an authentication method for selective calling according to the present invention;

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

110: receiving unit 120: user input unit

130: authentication control unit 140: authentication confirmation unit

150: storage unit 160: call connection

170: display unit

The present invention relates to an authentication method and apparatus for selective reception of a user in a mobile communication terminal and a general telephone.

One conventional method of blocking a phone number that is not desired by a user is a method of rejecting a call of a mobile communication terminal. This method is a method of not notifying a call reception about a number registered by a user as a rejection in a terminal. Alternatively, after the user views the caller's number through the caller ID service, the user does not receive an unwanted call.

However, in this case, there is a disadvantage in that the user does not properly cope with a number that the user does not know, such as an incoming call, or a number that is not registered as a rejection. In addition, the conventional technology is a technology that is possible in the terminal set the caller ID service.

Advertisement spam calls that are randomly received by an automatic voice system such as ARS are often received even though they are not desired from the user's point of view, and users want to improve these problems.

That is, although the user does not want to call in the past, the first incoming call or the unknown phone number is received, especially the automated or spam call by automated system or machine is called to the call recipient. It wastes unnecessary time and often offends the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for allowing only the outgoing call passing the authentication determined by the user in a mobile communication terminal and a general telephone.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for protecting a user's privacy from a problem in which an advertisement or spam call is randomly received.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for blocking an incoming call from an automated system or machine.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus in which only an individual or a group of users who provide information can make a call through authentication.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an authentication method for a selective call,

(a) receiving and storing at least one authentication information from a user;

(b) requesting authentication information from a calling telephone when an incoming call is received, and comparing authentication information transmitted from the calling telephone with pre-stored authentication information and outputting authentication success; And

(c) characterized in that it comprises the step of connecting the call with the calling telephone only when authentication is successful in step (b).

The authentication information includes at least one authentication number consisting of a number, a letter, a character string, a combination of a number and a letter, and a voice, and the at least one authentication number may be set.

Step (a) is characterized by setting at least one or more authentication numbers and authentication conditions according to each authentication number.

Step (b) is characterized in that when a call is received by sending a voice guidance according to each authentication condition to the calling party's phone to request authentication information.

The voice guidance may be a voice recorded by a user or an automated voice embedded in the phone.

The authentication method for the selective call according to the present invention further includes a step of determining whether an incoming signal generation point is after authentication when a call is received, and after authentication, if the authentication is successful by proceeding with an authentication procedure first. It generates and connects the call, if the authentication before the incoming signal is generated first, if the authentication mode is an automatic authentication mode, the authentication process is characterized in that the call is connected when the authentication is successful.

When the authentication mode is a manual authentication mode, the authentication process is performed only when authentication is selected by the user, and the call is connected when authentication is successful.

An authentication apparatus for a selective call according to the present invention, the storage unit for storing at least one authentication information, voice guidance, authentication conditions; An input unit configured to receive authentication information, voice guidance, and authentication conditions from a user and store the received authentication information in a storage unit; An authentication confirmation unit for requesting authentication information to the calling party's phone through voice guidance and comparing the authentication information transmitted from the calling party's phone with the stored authentication information and outputting authentication success or failure; And a call connection unit for connecting a call with the calling telephone only when authentication is successful in the authentication confirmation unit.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention that can specifically realize the above object will be described. At this time, the configuration and operation of the present invention shown in the drawings and described by it will be described as at least one embodiment, by which the technical spirit of the present invention and its core configuration and operation is not limited.

The present invention is to set up an authentication device for selective reception in order to protect the privacy of the user from random telephone calls to a mobile communication terminal or a general telephone. The authentication apparatus and method according to the present invention requests an appropriate response from the calling party and allows the call to be made only for the originating call.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an authentication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is installed in a mobile communication terminal and a general telephone terminal. Referring to FIG. 1, a receiver 110, a user input unit 120, an authentication controller 130, an authentication confirmation unit 140, a storage unit 150, a call connection unit 160, and a display unit 170 are configured. do.

The receiver 110 receives an incoming call, a calling number, authentication information, etc. of the caller and outputs the received call to the authentication checker 120.

The user input unit 120 may be a microphone or a key input device, and is used to input authentication information, announcements, and the like. The authentication information may be a number, a letter, a voice, or a combination of numbers and letters. The announcement can also be entered directly by the user or can be automated voice embedded in the phone.

The authentication controller 130 controls caller authentication, and also stores the authentication information input through the user input unit 120 in the storage unit 150 and displays it on the display unit 170 if necessary. In addition, the outgoing telephone number received by the receiver 110 may be displayed on the display unit 170.

The authentication checker 140 compares the caller's authentication information received by the receiver 110 with the authentication information stored in the storage 150 under the control of the authentication controller 130 and returns the result to the call connection unit 160. Output In this case, the authentication controller 130 notifies the user of at least one of the sound, the lamp, and the display unit 170 that the authentication procedure is entered.

The call connection unit 160 generates a constant incoming signal at predetermined intervals only when authentication is successful. The incoming signal may be a melody preset in the terminal.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the incoming signal may be generated before authentication. Details of this are discussed in detail later.

The present invention configured as described above is largely composed of an authentication setting step and an authentication progress step for selective reception, and detailed operations of the organic associations between the setting and the processing are as follows.

That is, for authentication setting, the authentication controller 130 receives authentication information, for example, an authentication number, through the user input unit 120 and stores it in the storage unit 150. The authentication number can be combined to any length using the numbers or special keys on the telephone buttons. In advanced phones it will also be possible to set strings. For example, it could be a simple number like 5361, a combination of numbers and letters like * 45, or a string like 'hope' or 'hope' on an evolved phone. Alternatively, the authentication number may be a voice input using a microphone.

In this case, it is possible to set a plurality of different authentication numbers, store them in the storage unit 150, and determine which authentication conditions to place upon authentication. For example, a plurality of authentication numbers can be set, such as (1) 2005, (2) 30, and (3) Hong Gil-dong.

In addition, different authentication conditions may be applied at an appropriate time for selective reception, or a plurality of combinations may be performed in several steps. For example, if you want to answer a call from someone who knows condition (1), you can set only condition (1) and want to answer a call from someone who knows condition (2). If you want to call the caller who passed all three conditions like (1), (2), (3), you can set all three conditions.

That is, the present invention can store a plurality of authentication conditions for authentication, and the user can set and use one authentication condition of an appropriate difficulty level, or can select a plurality of authentication conditions and set up multiple authentication procedures.

In addition, the present invention is also possible to set a special authentication number that allows certain people who know this authentication number, regardless of any authentication progress, regardless of the authentication process, the call is always available regardless of the questions asked by the authentication guide.

In the authentication progress step of confirming the authentication, the authentication number set above may be directly or indirectly informed, and the authentication number may be passed only if the authentication number is known in advance without being informed in the authentication guide.

At this time, you can also set the announcement for each authentication number. This may be used by the user to record voice using a microphone of the user input unit 120 directly, or may be executed by an automated voice guide module such as an answering machine of a telephone.

For example, if the authentication number is set to 2005, the user stores the voice announcement 'Please press four digits this year, this year', the caller must press 2005 to be able to connect the call. Or, if you set the authentication number to '45', you can say 'Please press the asterisk and then 45'. Such authentication is a difficult process for non-human automated systems or machines to handle. Thus, random advertising or spam calls by the machine can be filtered out.

In addition, if the authentication number is set to 30, the question 'How old is my age' can be asked. This can be set when you do not want to receive a call from anyone, that is, when only someone who knows your age wants to call you.

In the case of an evolved phone that can receive text input, it is possible to save your name 'Hong Gil Dong' as an authentication number and then receive the text input 'Hong Gil Dong' when you say 'What is my name?' . In the more advanced phone, if the caller says 'Hong Kil-Dong', the caller's terminal can read the authentication code and match the call through voice recognition.

In addition, if you set a complicated authentication number like '* 12 # 34' among people of a certain group, and then prompt 'Please press the promised authentication number', only the caller who knows the authentication number can make a call. .

And if the user does not record the voice directly, an automated voice guidance module can be used. The automated voice guidance module means that questions for authentication are embedded in the terminal. In its basic form, it is an automated module that simply reads the set authentication number. For example, if 1234 is set, 'press 1234' may be called. Or 'What is X times Y?' In the frame, the user sets 56 as the authentication number through the user input unit 120 and stores it in the storage unit 150, and sets X as 8 and Y sets 7 and stores the authentication device of the telephone. It reads the X and Y values and asks 'How much is 8 times 7?', And the caller must press 56 to make a call. If you simply read 'Press X', you'll be able to pass authentication in an automated system relatively easily, but replace the frame like 'How much is X times Y' or 'Press X Y times'? If you have as many forms as possible, it will be difficult to identify and cope with speech recognition or artificial intelligence.

On the other hand, the authentication procedure can be set whether to proceed in the automatic mode or manual mode. For example, when the automatic mode is set through the user input unit 120, the authentication confirming unit 140 executes authentication on all incoming calls under the control of the authentication control unit 130. On the contrary, when the manual mode is set, the authentication confirming unit 140 activates the authentication procedure as necessary after confirming the incoming call by the user. In other words, it is possible to make an authentication by selecting an appropriate authentication module for an unknown number or suspicious call based on the calling number.

In addition, the user may set, through the user input unit 120, whether the incoming signal is to be generated before authentication, that is, at a time when a call is actually received, or after passing the authentication. In the former case, the incoming signal generation unit (not shown) is located in front of the authentication confirmation unit 140, and in the latter case, it is located behind the authentication confirmation unit 140.

If an incoming call occurs before authentication, the user is aware of all incoming calls and will make a call after successful authentication, and in the case of a trusted call even during the authentication process, the call can be canceled at any time and immediately called. Can be. On the other hand, if the incoming signal is generated after passing the authentication procedure, the user can receive only a reliable call without being disturbed by unnecessary calls.

2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of an authentication confirmation process of a called telephone according to the present invention. When a call is received (step 201), it is determined whether an incoming signal generation point is after authentication (step 202).

That is, in configuring the user interface, the incoming call signal may be notified before the authentication procedure or after passing the authentication procedure.

If it is determined in step 202 that the incoming signal generation point is before authentication, the incoming signal is first generated before the authentication procedure (step 203). It is then determined whether the authentication mode is a manual authentication mode (step 204). If it is determined in step 204 that it is not the manual authentication mode, the automatic authentication mode is displayed (step 205), and the authentication procedure is performed (step 209). If the user cancels the authentication process while the authentication process is in progress (step 217), the call is directly connected (step 216).

In other words, when the user receives an incoming signal before the authentication process, the user enters another authentication process or displays another sound or a lamp or an internal / external liquid crystal. In addition, if the authentication is set to automatic mode while notifying the incoming call signal before the authentication confirmation procedure, even if the authentication is automatically performed, the call can be made as soon as the user cancels the authentication procedure.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 204 that the manual authentication mode, the user confirms the caller by using the calling telephone number or the like (step 206). If it is determined that the person is an acquaintance or needs to answer the call (step 207), the call is immediately connected by pressing a preset key of the user input unit 120, for example, a call key (step 216).

If it is not a known person or suspicious call, press the authentication key (not shown) of the user input unit 120 to proceed with the authentication process. In this case, the display unit 170 also displays the authentication mode entry (step 208) and proceeds with the authentication procedure (step 209). In other words, if the authentication is set to manual authentication mode by notifying the incoming call signal before the verification process, the user can check the caller and immediately call the trusted phone. You can proceed with the authentication process. In this case, if the user cancels the authentication process while the authentication process is in progress (step 217), the call is directly connected (step 216).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 202 that the incoming signal generation time is after authentication, the authentication procedure is immediately performed without generating an incoming signal (step 209), and then it is checked whether authentication has passed (step 210).

That is, in step 209, the called party requests the caller for authentication information. The sender must then transmit the authentication information required by the called party's phone. The authentication information may be at least one of a specific number, a letter, a string, and a voice.

In this case, the called party's phone may transmit the voice guidance or the automated voice guidance set by the user to the caller. When the caller makes an appropriate response to the voice guidance of the called party's phone or a request for a previously promised authentication number, the caller can make a call. This is not to formalize the guidance for the certification verification process, preventing non-human automated systems or machines from identifying and responding.

If it is determined in step 210 that authentication has failed, an authentication failure is indicated through the display unit 170 or the speaker (step 211), and the call is not connected (step 212).

If it is determined in step 210 that the authentication has passed, it is again determined whether the incoming signal generation time is after authentication (step 213).

If it is determined in step 213 that after the authentication, an incoming signal is generated (step 214), the authentication is passed (step 215), and the call is connected (step 216). That is, in the case where the incoming call signal is sent after the authentication passes, the incoming call signal is generated when the authentication succeeds, and the authentication is succeeded, indicating that the user can be trusted.

As such, if the incoming call signal is ringed only for the phone that has passed the authentication after the authentication verification process, most of the calls are not disturbed by the advertising and spam calls, and most of the calls can be trusted.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 213 that the incoming signal generation time is before authentication, authentication is passed (step 215), and a call is connected (step 216).

In addition, this authentication function of the present invention can enable selective reception by applying the above-described selective reception authentication procedure not only in a mobile communication terminal but also in a general telephone. In this case, a general telephone with an authentication device may be newly developed, and a function of the conventional telephone may be implemented by installing an additional module.

In addition, although the above-described authentication device is focused on the client side, such as a mobile communication terminal or a landline, it is focused, but can be provided as a supplementary service by a communication service company. That is, the present invention can be applied to additional functions of a mobile communication terminal and a general telephone terminal or an additional service of a communication service company. In this case, if the user sets the authentication number for the authentication procedure in advance on the server of the telecommunication service company, and the user has recorded and recorded the authentication guidance, the user performs the authentication procedure on the service company's server for incoming calls and then calls the user. Applicable in a way that can signal.

On the other hand, the terms used in the present invention (terminology) are terms defined in consideration of the functions in the present invention may vary according to the intention or practice of those skilled in the art, the definitions are the overall contents of the present invention It should be based on.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified by those skilled in the art as can be seen from the appended claims, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. .

According to the authentication device and method for the selective call according to the present invention described above, only the caller who has passed the authentication set by the user is connected to the user, the unpredictable random incoming to the mobile terminal or the general telephone The user can make a selective call for a conventional phone. In particular, since the user can prevent unwanted advertising or spam calls, the user's privacy can be protected.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (10)

(a) receiving and storing at least one authentication information from a user; (b) requesting authentication information from a calling telephone when an incoming call is received, and comparing authentication information transmitted from the calling telephone with pre-stored authentication information and outputting authentication success; And and (c) connecting the call with the calling telephone only when authentication is successful in step (b). The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication information And at least one authentication number comprising at least a number, a letter, a string, a combination of a number and a letter, and a voice, wherein the at least one authentication number can be set. The method of claim 2, wherein step (a) And at least one authentication number and an authentication condition for each authentication number. The method of claim 3, wherein step (b) When a call is received, the authentication method for a selective call, characterized by requesting authentication information by transmitting a voice guidance according to each authentication condition to the calling party's telephone. The method of claim 4, wherein The voice guidance is a voice recorded by a user or an automated voice embedded in the phone. The method of claim 1, If the incoming call further comprises the step of determining whether the incoming signal generation time is after authentication, After authentication, proceed with the authentication process first to generate an incoming call and connect a call if authentication is successful, If before authentication, an incoming signal is generated first, and if the authentication mode is an automatic authentication mode, the authentication process for selective calls, characterized in that to connect the call when the authentication is successful by the authentication process. The method of claim 6, If the authentication mode is a manual authentication mode, the authentication process is performed only when the authentication progress is selected by the user, and if the authentication is successful, the authentication method for the selective call, characterized in that for connecting. A storage unit which stores at least one piece of authentication information, voice guidance, and authentication conditions; An input unit configured to receive authentication information, a voice guidance, and an authentication condition from a user and store the received authentication information in a storage unit; An authentication confirmation unit for requesting authentication information to the calling party's phone through voice guidance and comparing the authentication information transmitted from the calling party's phone with the stored authentication information and outputting authentication success or failure; And And a call connection unit for connecting a call with the calling party's telephone only when authentication is successful in the authentication confirmation unit. The method of claim 8, The authentication information stored in the storage unit includes at least one or more authentication numbers consisting of at least numbers, letters, strings, a combination of numbers and letters, and voice. Authentication device for a selective call, characterized in that the setting and storage of the authentication conditions according to the authentication number via the input unit. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the voice guidance stored in the storage unit is a voice recorded directly by a user or an automated voice embedded in the telephone.

Images