FR2824227A1 - Radio telephone procedure links passenger mobiles through car unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The radio telephone communicates from a cellular telephone network (30) by sending operational data through a primary radio (12) telephone (1) to priority and subsidiary secondary cellular telephones with stored priority list (8). An Independent claim is also included for an equipment.

Description

n / a (12) of the second equipment (20).

  The technical sector of the present invention is that of methods and means of communication between several pieces of equipment, in particular that of so-called portable cellular telephones and equipped with radio link to

short range.

  The evolution of current means of communication often leads to the presence of an on-board cell phone in cars, in principle intended for the use of the owner or the driver. It is also more and more common for passengers in the same vehicle to be in possession of a mobile telephone. To receive or send a message, these passengers normally use their device, but with some embarrassment given the surrounding environment of the vehicle. In addition, reception conditions are often poor due to the fact that the antennas of these

  devices do not allow quality reception inside a vehicle.

  l5 A vehicle equipped with a cellular telephone is generally equipped on the other hand with an antenna ensuring a transmission towards the network under often excellent conditions. It would therefore be advantageous to allow a possessor of a portable telephone to use the reception means and the audio means of the cellular telephone of the vehicle in which he has taken place in order to improve

  his communication with his interlocutor.

  In the following description, we will speak of a cell phone, or

  in a simplified manner of cellular, without this aiming at a particular type of device, but on the contrary all portable devices allowing a communication via a cellular radiotelephony network. We will therefore target under the term cell all equipment allowing two people to communicate with each other and regardless of the location of one

equipment.

  For clarity, it will be recalled that an on-board telephone of a vehicle comprises a radio antenna, generally mounted on the roof of the vehicle, a supply battery, generally recharged by the electrical means of the vehicle, and of course the elements materials of the human-machine interface, namely the telephone keypad, the display and the assembly

  audio with microphone and speaker.

  In addition, a good number of cellular radiotelephony terminals are today equipped with a Bluetooth radio link transmitter / receiver at

  short range and it is the terminals of this type which are considered here.

  The object of the present invention is to provide the occupants of a vehicle with partial or complete use of the equipment

o cell phone of the vehicle.

  To this end, the invention relates first of all to a method for communicating, through a cellular radiotelephone network via a first telephone equipment comprising radio means and audio means, with a plurality of equipment. secondary telephones each provided with operating data, all the secondary radiotelephony equipment, which can be linked by radio to the first telephone equipment, a process in which - one of the secondary equipment is assigned priority access to the first equipment so that - if the secondary priority equipment and another secondary equipment are linked by radio to the first equipment, the priority secondary equipment transmits to the first equipment its operating data so that it can communicate with

  through the network and the radio and audio means of the first equipment.

  If the priority secondary equipment does not connect by radio to the first equipment, the priority, access to the first equipment, is assigned to

another secondary equipment.

  In the case where the priority secondary equipment, after having transmitted its operating data to the first equipment, is not in communication and another secondary equipment, linked by radio to the first equipment, can be, said other secondary equipment communicates at

  through the network and only the audio means of the first device.

  While when the priority secondary equipment is in communication, no other secondary equipment can benefit from the first equipment, we are thinking here of the car terminal, when the priority secondary equipment is not in communication, any other equipment

  secondary can take advantage of audio means, that is to say of the device called hands-

  free, from the car terminal. Of course, communication takes place through

  o own audio means and with its own subscription.

  In the above case, if the priority secondary equipment receives a call, the communication of said other secondary equipment continues kavers the audio means of the first equipment and the communication of the priority secondary equipment takes place through the audio means and the

  first equipment radio means.

  Thus, the audio communication means are repatriated to the priority secondary equipment which nevertheless continues to use means

o radio of the first equipment.

  Always in the case where a plurality of secondary devices, including the priority device, are linked by radio to the first device, the priority device can transfer its priority by itself to another

secondary equipment.

  The priority of access to the first device can be transferred from a

  secondary equipment to another by the first equipment.

  o The priority of access to the first device can be transferred by

  any non-priority secondary equipment using a password.

  In the event that secondary equipment ceases to be connected by radio - 4

  at the first device, the access priority can be reassigned.

  The invention also relates to cellular radio equipment comprising short-range radio transmission / reception means, radio means, audio means, memory storage means i) of a hierarchical list of a plurality of devices. secondary radiotelephony, ii) operating data for at least one of said secondary equipment and iii) programs arranged to replace the radio means of priority secondary equipment and to operate in

  o audio relay for all secondary equipment.

  In other words, in a vehicle cabin equipped with the radiotelephone equipment of the invention, a first cellular terminal can operate with this equipment and, by means of a Bluetooth type link, deport operating data from its card SIM, while other cellular terminals can also, still by Bluetooth type link,

  take advantage of the vehicle's audio equipment.

  The invention will be better understood from the following description

  made with reference to the appended drawing, in which: - figure 1 is a block diagram of the radiotelephone equipment, first or main, of a motor vehicle and - figure 2 represents the configuration of the vehicle equipment

  and a plurality of secondary driver and passenger equipment.

  The vehicle equipment is a cellular radiotelephone terminal 1 which comprises, around a microprocessor 2, and connected to it, an emitter / receiver 3, here of the Bluetooth type, with its antenna 14, a man-machine interface comprising a keyboard 4, an audio assembly 5, with a microphone 6 and a loudspeaker 7, a memory 8 for storing data, in this case a hierarchical list 9 of secondary radiotelephony equipment, here three equipments 21, 22, 23, data 10 on the operation of the SIM card of one of the secondary equipment and - 5 programs ll, arranged to replace the radio means of a priority secondary equipment and to operate as an audio relay for all

  secondary equipment, a radio unit 12 and its antenna 13.

  s The secondary equipment 21, 23 are also cellular radiotelephone terminals - almost identical, functionally, at terminal 11 of the vehicle, the programs less, and with their antenna

Bluetooth 211, 221 and 231.

  o All of these cellular terminals are intended to provide

  communications over a network 30.

  To be able to be linked by radio to the main cellular terminal 1, naturally any secondary terminal must have been authorized and the link

  s radio is only established after recognition of it by that one.

  The communication process will now be discussed.

  It is for either of the terminals 21, 22, 23 to have a communication through the network 30 with a correspondent, either as a caller or as a called party, while taking advantage of radio capabilities 12, 13

  and / or audio capacities 5, 6, 7 of terminal 1.

  Suppose that of the three secondary terminals 21-23, it is terminal 21 to which access priority has been assigned to terminal 1. This list

  hierarchical is written at 9 in the storage memory 8 of the terminal 1.

  Suppose again that the terminal 21 as well as the terminal 22 are both linked by their Bluetooth transmitters / receivers (211, 221) to the terminal 1. In this double hypothesis, it is the priority terminal 21 which will be able to transmit in the zone 10 of the memory 8 gives the operating data of its operator SIM card to gain access to the radio means 12, 13 as well as to the audio means 5, 6, 7 of the terminal 1 by the Bluetooth link and thus communicates through the network 30 and terminal l with its correspondent. Thus, and - 6 by the programs 11 of the terminal 1.1 audio set 5 and the radio block 12 of terminal 1 replace the audio set 215 and the block respectively

terminal 212 radio 212.

  s We will see below what can happen if the priority terminal 21 is not linked by radio to the car terminal 1, for example,

  because its owner did not board the vehicle.

  If the terminal 21, in radio link with the terminal l, is in o communication, no other secondary terminal 22, 23 can take advantage of the

  radio and audio resources of terminal 1.

  If the terminal 21, although on the radio link with the terminal 1, is not in communication, and one of the other two terminals 22, 23, also on the radio link with the terminal 1, receives a call or wants launch one, via the Bluetooth link which connects it to terminal 1, it can take advantage of the block

  hands-free audio 5 of terminal 1 during its communication.

  Naturally, it can neither take advantage of the radio block 12 of the terminal 1 nor of operating data, that is to say of the subscription, of the terminal

o priority secondary 21.

  If, during a communication from the non-priority secondary terminal 22 or 23, the priority secondary terminal 21 receives a call, the communication from the priority terminal 21 takes place through the vehicle terminal 1, but without its audio means 5 which continue to operate as an audio relay for the secondary terminal which was in communication before. The

  priority terminal 21 then uses its own audio means 215.

  If the priority terminal 21 is not in radio link with the car terminal 1, the access hierarchy can be modified. It can be at the level of terminal 1, it can be at one of the other secondary terminals 22, 23. But then in this case, a password must be entered on the keyboard of the secondary terminal at l with which we modify this access hierarchy. This hierarchical modification can also take place in the presence of all the secondary terminals in radio link with the terminal.

main 1.

  s The priority terminal 21 can, by itself, and without a password, modify this hierarchy. The main terminal 1 can always modify it, without any password either. With secondary terminals, we have

  always the need to enter a password beforehand.

  o You may also want to systematically reassign access priority when a secondary terminal ceases to be in radio link with the

terminal 1.

- 8

Claims (7)

  1 - Method for communicating, through a cellular radio network (30) via a first telephone equipment (1) comprising radio means (12) and audio means (5), with a plurality of equipment of secondary radiotelephony (21, 22, 23), each provided with operating data, all the secondary telephone equipment being able to be connected by radio (211, 221, 231) to the first telephone equipment (14), method in which o - one assigns to one (21) of the secondary equipment a priority of access to the first equipment (1) so that - if the priority secondary equipment (21) and another secondary equipment (22, 23) are linked by radio to the first equipment (1), - the priority secondary equipment (21) transmits to the first equipment (1) its operating data so that it can communicate through the network (30) and the radio (12) and audio (5) means of the first equipment (1).   2 - Method according to claim 1, wherein, if the priority secondary equipment (21), after having transmitted its operating data to the first equipment (1), is not in communication and another secondary equipment (22, 23 ), connected by radio to the first equipment (1), can be, said other secondary equipment (22, 23) communicates to   through the network (30) and the only audio means (5) of the first equipment (1).   3 - Method according to claim 2, wherein, if the priority secondary equipment (21) receives a call, the communication of said other secondary equipment (22, 23) continues through the audio means (5) of the first equipment (1) and the communication of the secondary or priority equipment (21) takes place through its audio means (215) and the radio means (12) of the first equipment (1).   4 - Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, if   the priority secondary equipment (21) does not connect by radio to the first equipment (1), priority is given to access the first equipment (1), to   another secondary equipment (22, 23).   s 5 - Method according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, if a   plurality of secondary devices (21, 23), including the priority device (21), are connected by radio to the first device (l), the priority device   (21) can transfer its priority to other secondary equipment on its own.   o 6 - Method according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the   priority of access to the first device (1) can be transferred from   secondary equipment (21-23) to another by the first equipment (1).   7 - Method according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the   s priority of access to the first device can be transferred by any   non-priority secondary equipment (22, 23) by means of a password.   8 - Method according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, if a   secondary equipment (21 -23) ceases to be connected by radio to the first   o equipment (1), access priority can be reassigned.   9 - Cellular radiotelephony equipment (1) comprising short-range radio transmission / reception means (3, 14), radio means (12), audio means (5), memory means (8) for storage i ) of a hierarchical list of a plurality of secondary radiotelephony equipments (9), ii) of operating data of at least one of said secondary equipments (10) and iii) of programs (11) arranged to replace the radio means (212) of priority secondary equipment (21)   and to operate as an audio relay (5) for any secondary equipment.