What is claimed is:
1. An authentication substitution system comprising:
a user terminal;
a vender terminal;
an authentication center terminal; and
a communication network through which said user terminal, said vender terminal and said authentication center terminal are connected,
wherein said user terminal includes:
an order request portion which issues an order request by sending authentication information for authenticating one’s identity to said vender terminal; and
an order information sending portion which sends order information for ordering an article to said vender terminal in response to allowance of the order request reported from said vender terminal,
said vender terminal includes:
an authentication request portion which issues an authentication request by sending the authentication information from said user terminal to said authentication center terminal;
an order reception allowance reporting portion which judges allowance or rejection of the order request from said user terminal based on an authentication result from said authentication center terminal and reports to said user terminal; and
an order receiving portion which accepts the order request when the order information from said user terminal is received, and
said authentication center terminal includes:
an authentication processing portion which carries out an authentication process to authenticate the one’s identity based on the authentication information received from said vender terminal; and
an authentication result reporting portion which sends the authentication result obtained from said authentication processing portion to said vender terminal.
2. The authentication substitution system according to claim 1, wherein said authentication center terminal includes
an authentication information store area for registering the authentication information sent from said user terminal, and composed of user identification information to specify a user and user authentication information to authenticate the user, and
said authentication processing portion collates the user identification information registered in said authentication information store area with the user identification information sent from said vender terminal to specify the user, and collates the user authentication information registered in said authentication information store area, corresponding to the specified user, with the user authentication information sent from said vender terminal to carry out the authentication process.
3. The authentication substitution system according to claim 2, wherein the user authentication information is living body authentication information including a physical characteristic of a user.
4. The authentication substitution system according to claim 3, wherein the living body authentication information is composed of at least one of a fingerprint of the user, a retina pattern of the user and a voice of the user.
5. The authentication substitution system according to claim 4, wherein said authentication center terminal further includes:
an authentication fee information sending portion which reports authentication fee information including an authentication fee caused by the authentication processes to said vender terminal, after a procedure between said user terminal and said vender terminal is completed.
6. The authentication substitution system according to claim 5, wherein
said order information sending portion of said user terminal sends voice information in which the order information is constituted by a voice to said vender terminal,
said vender terminal further includes:
a voice recognition request portion which issues a voice recognition request by sending the voice information from said user terminal to said authentication center terminal, wherein said order receiving portion accepts the order request from the user terminal based on a voice recognition result from authentication center terminal, and
said authentication center terminal further includes:
a voice recognition processing portion which carries out a voice recognition process based on the voice information received from said vender terminal; and
a voice recognition result reporting portion which sends the voice recognition result obtained by said voice recognition processing portion to said vender terminal.
7. The authentication substitution system according to claim 6, wherein
said authentication information store area of said authentication center terminal further stores voice information sent from said user terminal as voice recognition information, and
said voice recognition processing portion collates the user identification information registered in said authentication information store area with the user identification information sent from said vender terminal to specify the user, and collates the voice recognition information registered in said authentication information store area, corresponding to the specified user, with the voice information sent from said vender terminal to carry out the voice recognition process.
8. The authentication substitution system according to claim 7, wherein the authentication fee information further includes a recognition fee caused by the voice recognition process.
9. An authentication substitution method comprising:
providing
a user terminal;
a vender terminal
an authentication center terminal; and
a communication network through which said user terminal, said vender terminal and said authentication center terminal are connected;
carrying out, in said user terminal, an order request by sending authentication information for authenticating one’s identity to said vender terminal;
carrying out, in said vender terminal, an authentication request by sending the authentication information from said user terminal to said authentication center terminal;
carrying out, in said authentication center terminal, an authentication process to authenticate the one’s identity based on the authentication information received from said vender terminal;
sending, in said authentication center terminal, an authentication result obtained by the authentication process to said vender terminal;
judging, in said vender terminal, allowance or rejection of the order request from said user terminal based on the authentication result from said authentication center terminal and reports to said user terminal;
sending, in said user terminal, order information for ordering an article to said vender terminal in response to allowance of the order request reported from said vender terminal; and
accepting, in said vender terminal, the order request when the order information from said user terminal is received.
10. The authentication substitution method according to claim 9; wherein
registering, in said authentication center terminal, the authentication information sent from said user terminal in an authentication information store area, the authentication information being composed of user identification information to specify a user and user authentication information to authenticate the user, and
collating, in said authentication center terminal, the user identification information registered in said authentication information store area with the user identification information sent from said vender terminal to specify the user, and collating the user authentication information registered in said authentication information store area, corresponding to the specified user, with the user authentication information sent from said vender terminal to carry out the authentication process.
11. The authentication substitution method according to claim 10, wherein the user authentication information is living body authentication information including a physical characteristic of a user.
12. The authentication substitution method according to claim 11, wherein the living body authentication information is composed of to at least one of a fingerprint of the user, a retina pattern of the user and a voice of the user.
13. The authentication substitution method according to claim 12, wherein further comprising:
reporting, in said authentication center terminal, authentication fee information including an authentication fee caused by the authentication processes to said vender terminal, after a procedure between said user terminal and said vender terminal is completed.
14. The authentication substitution method according to claim 13, further comprising:
sending, in said user terminal, voice information in which the order information is constituted by the voice to said vender terminal;
carrying out, in said vender terminal, a voice recognition request by sending the voice information from said user terminal to said authentication center terminal;
carrying out, in said authentication center terminal, a voice recognition process based on the voice information received from said vender terminal;
sending, in said authentication center terminal, the voice recognition result obtained by the voice recognition process to said vender terminal; and
accepting, in the vender terminal, the order request from the user terminal based on a voice recognition result from authentication center terminal.
15. The authentication substitution method according to claim 14, further comprising:
storing, in said authentication center terminal, voice information sent from said user terminal as voice recognition information into said authentication information store area, and
collating, in said authentication center terminal, the user identification information registered in said authentication information store area with the user identification information sent from said vender terminal to specify the user, and collating the voice recognition information registered in said authentication information store area, corresponding to the specified user, with the voice information sent from said vender terminal to carry out a voice recognition process.
16. The authentication substitution method according to claim 15, wherein the authentication fee information further includes a recognition fee caused by the voice recognition process.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A solar photovoltaic power conditioning unit for delivering power from a dc source into an electricity supply, the solar photovoltaic power conditioning comprising:
an input for connecting a solar photovoltaic dc power source;
an output for connecting to the electricity supply;
a power conversion stage for voltage conditioning of the solar photovoltaic dc power source;
a power conversion stage for power injection into the electricity supply;
an energy storage capacitor for energy buffering from the solar photovoltaic dc power source to the electricity supply; and
means for controlling an amount of power transferred said power conversion stage to said electricity supply based on a fluctuating sinusoidal component of a signal on said energy storage capacitor.
2. A power conditioning unit as claimed in 1, wherein said amount of power transferred is dependent on the peak amplitude of a fluctuating sinusoidal component of a dc voltage on said energy storage capacitor.
3. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said energy storage capacitor is a non-electrolytic capacitor.
4. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 1, further comprising two control blocks, a first of which controls the power conversion stage for voltage conditioning from a dc power source to the energy storage capacitor for energy buffering, and a second of which controls the power conversion stage for power injection into the electricity supply.
5. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 4, wherein the control block for the power conversion stage for voltage conditioning maintains the voltage at the terminals of the dc power source substantially constant to thereby maintain a substantially constant flow of power from the dc power source into the energy storage capacitor.
6. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 5, wherein the control block for the power conversion stage for voltage conditioning utilises pulse width modulation (PWM) to control the amount of power transferred from the dc power source into the energy storage capacitor, and wherein the power conditioning unit further comprises a voltage sensor at the terminals of the dc power source used to acquire a voltage, the reading of which is further compared to a reference voltage in order to generate a proportional error that drives the PWM control.
7. A power conditioning unit according to claim 4, wherein the control block for the power conversion stage for power injection into the electricity supply maintains the average voltage of the capacitor constant by adjusting the amplitude of the current injection.
8. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 4, wherein the control block for the power conversion stage for power injection into the electricity supply controls a sinusoidal shape of the current injection into the electricity supply.
9. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 4, wherein the control block for the power conversion stage for power injection into the electricity supply includes a sensor for sensing the voltage across the energy storage capacitor and a system to compare a signal derived from said sensed voltage with a reference signal to generate an error signal, and wherein the control block for the power conversion stage for power injection into the electricity supply is further configured to generate a current amplitude reference in response to said error signal for controlling power injection into the electricity supply.
10. A solar photovoltaic power conditioning unit for delivering power from a solar photovoltaic dc power source to an ac mains power supply output, the solar photovoltaic power conditioning unit comprising:
an input for receiving power from said solar photovoltaic dc power source;
an output for delivering ac power to an ac mains power supply;
an energy storage capacitor;
a dc-to-dc converter having an input connection coupled to said input and an output connection coupled to the energy storage capacitor; and
a dc-to-ac converter having an input connection coupled to said energy storage capacitor and an output connection coupled to said output;
wherein said power conditioning unit further comprises a power injection control block having an input coupled to said energy storage capacitor and an output coupled to control said dc-to-ac converter, and
wherein said power injection control block is configured to control an amplitude of an ac current provided to said ac mains power supply output such that an amount of power transferred to said ac mains power supply output is dependent on a peak amplitude of a fluctuating sinusoidal component of a dc voltage on said energy storage capacitor.
11. A power conditioning unit according to claim 10, wherein said dc-to-ac converter comprises:
at least one power transistor for transferring power from the input connection of the dc-to-ac converter to the output connection of the dc-to-dc converter; and
wherein said power injection control block comprises:
a low-pass filter coupled to said input connection:
a sensing circuit for sensing an output from the low-pass filter and comparing with a reference; and
a driver circuit for driving said at least one power transistor responsive to said sensing to control said power transfer.
12. A power conditioning unit according to claim 11, wherein the driver circuit is configured to substantially minimize a difference between the output from the low-pass filter and the reference.
13. A power conditioning unit according to claim 11, wherein the sensing circuit is configured periodically to compare said output from the low-pass filter with said reference in synchronisation with said ac power.
14. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a power extraction control block having an input coupled to said input for receiving power from said dc power source and having an output to control said dc-to-dc converter, wherein said power extraction control block is configured to regulate a voltage of said dc power source to control power extracted from said dc power source to said energy storage capacitor.
15. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 14, wherein an instantaneous said ac power output has a sinusoidal shape, where said power extracted from said dc power source is substantially constant over a cycle of said ac power output, and wherein a difference between said power extracted from said dc power source and said instantaneous ac power output defines an energy mismatch which appears as said fluctuating sinusoidal component of said dc voltage on said energy storage capacitor.
16. A power conditioning unit according to claim 15, wherein said dc-to-dc converter comprises:
at least one power transistor for transferring power from the input connection of the dc-to-dc converter to the output connection of the dc-to-dc converter; and
wherein said power extraction control block comprises:
a sensing circuit for sensing a voltage on said input connection; and
a driver circuit for driving said at least one power transistor device responsive to said sensing to control said power transfer.
17. A power conditioning unit according to claim 16, wherein the power extraction control block further comprises a reference voltage generator, and wherein the driver circuit is configured to substantially minimise a difference between a reference voltage from said reference voltage generator and the sensed voltage.
18. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 10, wherein said fluctuating sinusoidal component of said dc voltage on said energy storage capacitor has a frequency of twice that of said ac power, and wherein said peak amplitude of said fluctuating sinusoidal component of said dc voltage on said energy storage capacitor is at least 30 volts.
19. A power conditioning unit as claimed in claim 10, wherein said energy storage capacitor is a non-electrolytic capacitor.
20. A photovoltaic power conditioning unit for delivering power from a dc photovoltaic power source to an ac output, the power conditioning unit being configured to maintain a substantially sinusoidal output voltage or current over a range of dc-power source voltages, the power conditioning unit comprising:
an input for receiving power from said dc power source;
a dc-to-ac converter comprising at least one power device, wherein said dc-to-ac converter is coupled to said input and to said energy storage capacitor and has an output connection coupled for delivering ac power to an ac mains power supply; and
a power injection control block to control said dc-to-ac converter;
a non-electrolytic energy storage capacitor; and
wherein said power injection control block is configured to control an amplitude of an ac current provided to said ac mains power supply such that an amount of power transferred to said ac mains power supply is dependent on a peak amplitude of a fluctuating sinusoidal component of a dc voltage on said non-electrolytic energy storage capacitor.