Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W8/00—Network data management
  • H04W8/26—Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
  • H04W8/265—Network addressing or numbering for mobility support for initial activation of new user

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method of installing a terminal in a telephone system comprising a number of terminals, and a management system which controls and monitors the operation of the terminals having device- specific operational parameters set by the management system.
• Such systems and terminals are, for example, pay phones, so-called wireless local loop (WLL) terminals, payment terminals in stores and mobile smart card terminals by which money is transferred between a bank and a smart card.
• WLL wireless local loop
• pay phone systems An important characteristic of a pay phone for the pay phone operator is the control and monitoring of the pay phone. Consequently, pay phone systems comprise a management system.
• the pay phones convey control and monitoring information to the man- agement system. This information comprises traffic and failure reports, notifications of maintenance need, in coin box telephones the number of coins, in card phones the information on cards used, the manner of communication with the management system, etc.
• the management system controls the operation of the pay phones by setting the parameters of the pay phones.
• phone-specific parameters include the phone number, the tariff information on the calls, the phone card types accepted, the language options of the phone and the voice volume.
• Some operational parameters can be given default values already at the factory when the devices are being manufactured and delivered to the operator. Most operational parameters are, however, dependent on the loca- tion of the telephone. In the tariff information, for example, a local call has different initial numbers at different locations. Hence, all operational parameters cannot be set in the devices at the factory, since no information exists on the future location of the devices. This applies also to so-called SIM cards which are used in GSM-based phones. Not until when the devices are put to use in the target country are the SIM cards installed in the pay phones by the operator.
• the invention thus relates to a method and a system by which the prior art problems above can be solved. This is achieved by a method described in the introduction, which is characterized in that when a new terminal is put to use in the system for the first time, the terminal sends the management system a message indicating the terminal in question, and that the man- agement system starts controlling the terminal on the basis of the message and sends the necessary operational parameters to the terminal.
• the invention further relates to a telephone system comprising a number of terminals and a management system which controls and monitors the operation of the terminals which are arranged to store and use the device- specific operational parameters set by the management system.
• the telephone system of the invention is characterized in that the terminal of the system comprises means for detecting when the terminal is put to use in the system for the first time, and means for sending a message indicating the terminal in question to the management system which is arranged to start controlling the terminal on the basis of the message and send the necessary operational parameters to the terminal.
• Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a telephone system
• Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating another structure of a telephone system
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of the pay phone terminal of the system in accordance with the invention.
• Figure 1 illustrates a structure of a pay phone system implemented in a cellular radio system.
• the system comprises a number of pay phones 100 to 102, each connected to base stations 108 to 110 via radio paths 104 to 106.
• the terminals operating as pay phones do not differ from regular subscriber terminals in any way.
• the base stations 108 to 110 typically communicate with base station controllers 116 to 118, each controlling several base stations, via transmission lines 112 to 114 which can be implemented by means of an optical cable, a copper cable or a link connection.
• the base station controllers 116 to 118 communicate with a mobile switching centre 124 via transmission lines 120 to 122, said mobile switching centre controlling the operation of the base station controllers and forwarding the calls of the terminals to a fixed network or to the other parts of the cellular radio system via transmission lines 126.
• the pay phone system further comprises a management system 128 which controls and monitors the operation of the pay phones 100 to 102.
• the control equipment 128 in the pay phone system is connected utilizing, for example, an X.25 interface 130, to a short message service centre 132 which, in turn, is connected to GSM cellular networks and their mobile switching centres.
• GSM Global System for Mobile communications
• the pay phone system can be implemented without the short message service centre by connecting the control equipment 128 of the pay phone system to the cellular radio system in some other known ways, by a modem, for example.
• the pay phone is arranged to detect when a device is switched on for the first time. This can be implemented by a so-called "first use" flag, in other words by setting a predetermined memory location to a particular value.
• the device reads the contents of the memory location and on account of the programming detects that the switch-on is the first one.
• the device does not start its regular activity but sends the management system 128 a message 136 indicating the pay phone in question.
• the management system starts controlling the pay phone 134 on the basis of the message and sends the necessary operational parameters to the pay phone in a reply message 138.
• the operational parameters of each pay phone to be installed in the system have already in advance been programmed or set in the management system.
• the management system sets the operational parameters of the pay phone to be installed in the system on the basis of the location of the pay phone.
• the pay phone sends the message 136 as a short message, for example.
• the pay phone cannot know its phone number at this stage, but the short message service centre 132 attaches the number to the short message.
• a data call can be made. Connection data on where to and in what manner the first message 136 is to be sent has already in advance been programmed in the pay phone at the factory.
• the message sent by the pay phone may comprise information on the location of the pay phone in the network, for example the identifier of the base station.
• the location of the pay phone can thus be defined with an accuracy of the base station or the base station antenna sector.
• a more accurate geographical estimate of the location of the pay phone can also be incorporated into the message by the GPS system, for example.
• the first message of the pay phone does not comprise information on location, but if the information is needed the management system queries the pay phone for the information before setting the operational parameters.
• FIG. 2 illustrates another preferred embodiment of the invention.
• the figure shows a pay phone system from the mobile switching centre 124 onwards, the rest of the system being as described in Figure 1.
• the figure shows two management systems 128, 200 of the pay phones, the for- mer 128 being the management system of the operator and the latter 200 the management system of the pay phone manufacturer.
• the pay phone to be installed sends a message to a predetermined general management system 200, for example the system of the manufacturer.
• This management system 200 sends the pay phone the information on the connection data about the separate management system 128 of the pay phone.
• the pay phone sends another mes- sage on the basis of the connection data received to its management system 128 which starts controlling the pay phone and sends the necessary operational parameters to the pay phone.
• FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a preferred embodiment of a pay phone of the system in accordance with the invention.
• the pay phone of the invention comprises a cellular radio transceiver 300, and a control unit 304 which is directly connected to a transceiver 302 without a two-wire connection.
• the terminal of the invention further comprises a charge collecting means 306 which is connected to the control unit 304. Depending on the implementation, the charge collecting means can accept phone cards, credit cards, smart cards and coins as means of payment.
• the terminal typically further comprises a selection means 310 by which the desired phone number is selected, a display unit 308 and an earpiece 312.
• the terminal may further comprise means 314 enabling a "hands free" facility, comprising a speaker 316 and a micro- phone 318 and the necessary amplifiers. If desired, some or all of the above components can be directly integrated into the transceiver 300, but they can also be implemented as separate means although structurally within the same case.
• the transceiver unit 300 serves to set up a radio con- nection to a base station to enable a call to be transmitted.
• the unit 300 is also responsible for all procedures associated with the radio path and call maintenance commonly assigned to the mobile phone.
• the control unit 304 serves to control the pay phone.
• the control unit typically comprises a micro processor, fixed and reprogrammable memory circuits, multiplexing means and switches.
• the control unit controls the operation of the other units of the device, registers made calls and is responsible for charging.
• the operational parameters of the pay phone are usually stored in the control unit memory. These phone-specific parameters include the phone number, the tariff information on the calls to be made, the language options on the display of the phone and the voice volume.
• the operation of the control unit does not principally deviate from the operation of the control units of the known pay phones excluding the inventive features described here.
• the control unit 304 detects when the pay phone is put to use in the system for the first time. This can be implemented in the way already described above by using the "first use" flag.
• the control unit 304 controls the transceiver unit 300 in such a manner that the unit sends the management system 128 a message indicating the pay phone in question.
• the management system is arranged to start controlling the pay phone on the basis of the message and send the necessary operational parameters to the pay phone.
• the transceiver unit 300 sends the message as a short message or as a data call, as described above.
• the method of the invention is most preferably implemented by software.
• the pay phone this applies particularly to detecting the first use, controlling the message sending, receiving the operational parameters and storing in the pay phone memory.
• the invention is described above in closer detail using a pay phone system as an example. It is obvious that the solution of the invention can be implemented in any telephone system implemented by other techniques, in which the terminals have device-specific operational parameters set by the management system, for example systems in which the terminals are payment terminals used in stores. In such a case the operational parameters comprise, for example, information on the languages available at the terminal, the acceptable charge cards, the control information of the cards and optionally the price codes of products.
• the wireless local loop systems can also utilize the installation solution of the invention, and systems whose terminals are mobile smart card terminals by which money is transferred between a bank and a smart card.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
• Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8549718

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (3)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 1997
  • 1997-10-13 FI FI973944A patent/FI105991B/fi active
• 1998
  • 1998-10-12 WO PCT/FI1998/000792 patent/WO1999020070A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-10-12 EP EP98947581A patent/EP1033053A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-10-12 CN CN 98810130 patent/CN1115936C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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