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Patent Issued for Apparatus for Restricting Access to Application Module in Mobile Wireless Device and Method of Restricting Access to Application Module Using the Same

2012 AUG 1 (VerticalNews) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Telecommunications Weekly -- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon-si, KR) has been issued patent number 8225393, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by VerticalNews editors.

The patent's inventors are Park, Tae Joon (Gunpo-si, KR); Jung, Tae-Chul (Seongnam-si, KR).

This patent was filed on August 21, 2006 and was cleared and issued on July 24, 2012.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: "The present invention relates to a mobile wireless device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mobile wireless apparatus and a method for restricting an access to an application module of the mobile wireless device.

"As mobile wireless devices have become more popular, mobile wireless devices have become a basic necessity in modern society. Exemplary mobile wireless devices include a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA). Many people communicate with each other and exchange information using mobile wireless devices. For example, businessmen exchange critical business information using voice or data communications through a mobile wireless device.

"Meanwhile, as mobile wireless devices have been developed and hardware specifications of the mobile wireless device have been upgraded, an operating system (OS) such as Windows or Linux is now typically installed on mobile wireless devices. Further, various OS specific software applications are typically provided in addition to the OS. Also, as functions of mobile wireless devices have been varied, a variety of application modules including hardware and software modules have been included in mobile wireless devices. Exemplary hardware modules include a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) module and a Bluetooth module for a wireless personal area network communications. Exemplary software modules include a Multimedia Messaging System (MMS) module and a phone-book module for managing registered telephone numbers.

"As hardware of mobile wireless devices has become more sophisticated, applications provided in mobile wireless devices have been varied and have become complicated. As a result, malignant code such a virus or worm is able to cause irreparable damage to mobile wireless devices. The problem of malignant code causing damage has been previously known to occur in general purpose computers.

"Like general purpose computers, a mobile wireless devices are based on an OS, and a device driver is used to operate an installed hardware module. Thus, like general purpose computers, mobile wireless devices may be infected by viruses or worms and a malfunction or deletion of data may result.

"Further, since mobile wireless devices are connected to each other via a wireless network, the malignant code may rapidly proliferate to other devices.

"However, solutions for preventing the infection of the malignant code with respect to mobile wireless devices is considerably inferior to solutions for preventing the infection of the malignant code with respect to general purpose computers.

"Also, a basic module such as the OS of the mobile wireless device or the device driver may freely access the application module, including the hardware and software modules without any restriction in the conventional art. Accordingly, malfunctioning of a particular application module, which is caused by the malignant code or abusing the predetermined application module for spreading the malignant code to other mobile wireless devices is not preventable in the conventional art.

"Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and a method for restricting an access to an application module of a mobile wireless device that may restrict the access to the application module, such as the DMB module and the MMS module, by the basic module, such as the OS and the device driver."

Supplementing the background information on this patent, VerticalNews reporters also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "Exemplary embodiments of the present invention address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of exemplary embodiments of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for restricting an access to an application module of a mobile wireless device, which may effectively prevent malignant code, such as viruses or worms, from proliferating.

"Exemplary embodiments of the present invention also provides an apparatus and a method for restricting an access to an application module of a mobile wireless device, which may effectively restrict a function of the mobile wireless device according to whether a user subscribes to a service by suitably restricting the access to the application module.

"Exemplary embodiments of the present invention also provides an apparatus and a method for restricting an access to an application module of a mobile wireless device, which may effectively manage service models of various mobile carriers by selectively restricting the access to the application module.

"According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for restricting an access to an application module of a mobile wireless device, the apparatus including an access restriction unit for receiving a request for an access to an application module from a basic module, and for restricting the access of the basic module to the application module when a restriction on the access is required. Further included is an access restriction determination unit for determining whether the restriction on the access of the basic module to the application module according to an access environment is required. Also included is an access environment determination unit for monitoring the access environment of the basic module to the application module and for providing the access restriction determination unit with a result of the monitoring of the access environment.

"In an exemplary implementation, the access environment determination unit may monitor at least one of a malignant code proliferation environment and a service subscription environment of a user. In an exemplary implementation, the access environment determination unit may include a malignant code proliferation determination unit monitoring a malignant code proliferation via at least one of the basic module and the application module or a service subscription determination unit monitoring the service subscription environment of the user with respect to the application module.

"In an exemplary implementation, the access restriction determination unit determines whether the restriction on the access is required by using an access restriction list for storing information about whether an access of the basic module to at least one application module is allowed or an integrity verification unit verifying an integrity of at least one of the basic module which makes an access request to the application module, and a software which makes the access request through the basic module.

"According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of restricting an access to an application module of a mobile wireless device, the method including monitoring an access environment of a basic module to an application module. The method further includes determining whether a restriction on an access to the application module is required according to a result of monitoring the access environment. Also the method includes restricting the access of the basic module to the application module with respect to a request for an access of the basic module to the application module, when the restriction on the access is determined to be required.

"In an exemplary implementation, the access environment may include at least one of a malignant code proliferation environment and a service subscription environment of a user.

"Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention."

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Park, Tae Joon; Jung, Tae-Chul. Apparatus for Restricting Access to Application Module in Mobile Wireless Device and Method of Restricting Access to Application Module Using the Same. U.S. Patent Number 8225393, filed August 21, 2006, and issued July 24, 2012. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=10&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=471&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=20120717.PD.&OS=ISD/20120717&RS=ISD/20120717

Keywords for this news article include: Viruses, Software, Virology, Area Network, Wireless Network, Wireless Technology, Network Communications, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd..