ITTO981088A1 - MOBILE TERMINAL FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND RELATED SYSTEM. - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION of the industrial invention entitled: "Mobile telecommunications terminal and related system"

TEXT OF THE DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates in general to mobile telecommunications and relates, in its first aspect, to a mobile telecommunications terminal provided with a subscriber or user identification module: in other words, it is the module which in systems operating according to the GSM standard is currently referred to by the acronym SIM (Subscriber Identity Module). The invention is however applicable, indifferently, in the context of all systems which provide for the use of such a module such as, for example, systems operating according to the DCS 1800 or PCS 1900 standards.

It is therefore to be understood that the following description, referring specifically to a GSM system and based on constant reference to the related terminology, should not be interpreted in a limiting sense of the scope of the invention.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a mobile telecommunications terminal according to the preamble of claim 1.

The possibility of configuring the aforementioned mobile terminals in such a way as to allow users to access information services such as, for example, stock market information updated in real time, news of various kinds such as for example sports news, horoscopes etc .... This can be both public-oriented information services (so-called "mass market" services), as well as services aimed at a restricted user base (for example corporate information such as company directory , organization chart, etc.

The provision of these services takes advantage of the possibility, offered by mobile telecommunication systems (and in particular those to which specific reference has been made above), to transmit, overlapping and without mutual interference with respect to the voice signal, short messages (short message) including fields for the transmission of user data.

To date, essentially two different methods have been provided for access to the aforementioned services.

The first provides that the user uses the mobile terminal, and in particular the keyboard of the same, according to criteria substantially similar to those adopted for the use of a keyboard of a personal computer or similar equipment, i.e. introducing the necessary instructions. by pressing the buttons on the mobile terminal.

However, this solution is particularly inconvenient: the keypad of a mobile telecommunications terminal usually includes a reduced number of keys (this is, most of the time, a number of keys corresponding to that of a normal telephone dialer plus a restricted set of auxiliary buttons). This forces, for example, to assign to the same key different representative functions (for example a digit plus three letters) according to different actuation modes such as, typically, the number of times the key is pressed during a certain time interval.

For this reason, as an alternative solution, the use of the SIM module has been envisaged for storing one or more application programs which allow the user to access the aforementioned services with a simplified procedure. By pressing a limited number of keys, the user is able to produce, through the respective application program or programs stored in the SIM module, the automatic execution of the operations required to access the requested service.

The main drawback of the latter solution lies in the fact that the configuration of the SIM module (in practice the number and nature of the application programs stored on it) is fixed: to make any changes (for example, the cancellation of the application relating to a service that is no longer of interest and the memorization of the application relating to a new service of interest), the user must go to a specially equipped assistance center to carry out the necessary intervention on the SIM module. In this regard, it should not be overlooked that the identification data of the terminal inherent to the performance of the normal communication service are normally stored in the SIM module. It is therefore generally desirable that the user or any unauthorized third party has no way of easily intervening on the SIM module in order to possibly modify its content.

The present invention aims to provide a further improvement solution, such as to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.

According to the present invention, this object is achieved thanks to a mobile telecommunications terminal having the characteristics referred to specifically in the following claims. The invention also refers to the related system.

Basically, the solution according to the invention allows the SIM module to be customized with applications defined by the operator.

In particular, the solution according to the invention makes it possible to create a so-called middleware capable of communicating with a service center, for example, through the short message service (SMS), circuit-switched data transmission services, unstructured data signaling services. (USSD) or WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) type application interfaces or, in general terms, through "system messages". The service center can be located at the operator or placed in a remote position at a so-called Service provider, with guaranteed communication capabilities, for example, through API type interfaces, or Application Program Interface. All this in order to allow the mobile terminal to load, taking them from the service center through a downloading action, the aforementioned application programs, which can then be selectively deleted, when no longer of interest.

In this way, the user of the mobile terminal is able to selectively vary the number and nature of the application programs residing on the SIM module of his terminal as a function of needs and choices that can change over time. All this without the need to carry out specific changes to the SIM module and also operating in a safe environment, through mutual authentication of the SIM module and the service center.

In summary, the reference architecture of the solution according to the invention provides on the one hand a GSM terminal with SIM (preferably phase 2+) on which resides an application program which enables the loading and deleting of applications. The terminal is capable of communicating via SMS (or through any of the various types of system messages mentioned above) with a service center where the application programs actually reside.

In particular, in the currently preferred embodiment, the solution according to the invention allows communication between user and server to be achieved in one direction only: the application program residing on the SIM module sends commands with a particular syntax to the service center, for indicate whether the user wishes to upload (download) or cancel. Once a command has been received, the service center sends commands to the SIM module to download the applications or to remove them.

This way of operating has the advantage of freeing the applications from the domain of those who make the SIM modules, allowing the actual implementation of the applications by third parties on specification. Updates to the applications in question can be easily managed, as they are centralized. SMS transmission is used as a backbone for applications, not just for uploading. This solution is compatible with the need not to burden applications with superfluous SMS traffic.

The solution according to the invention is in particular compatible with the availability of SIM with interface SIM Application Tool kit of phase 2+. It is feasible with an occupation of about 4 KB as regards the application residing on the SIM module and responsible for sending commands to the service center. This application can reside both on the read-only memory (ROM) and on the E2 PROM memory of the SIM module on which the data for the authentication of the server by the user are stored.

The invention will now be described, purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

- figure 1 schematically represents the general architecture of a mobile telecommunications system embodying the invention,

- Figure 2 illustrates, in the form of a block diagram, the possible internal organization of the user identification module of a mobile terminal according to the invention, and

- figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the aforesaid module.

Figure 1 schematically represents the essential parts of a mobile communication system, in particular of a GSM system. These parts have been identified with their respective acronyms in current use.

Thus, in the representation of the mobile terminal MS, the actual ME telephone set has been distinguished from the user identification module - that is the SIM module - which communicates with the telephone set according to the ETSI GSM TS 11.11 and 11.14 specifications. .

The acronym BSS identifies the base station of each cell that communicates (according to the criteria regulated by the GSM 08.Ox specification) with the relative MSC (Mobile Switching Center) switching system. The latter communicates in turn (according to the GSM specification 03.40) with the SMS short message management service center C.

The aforementioned description, and in particular the relative acronyms, refer as already mentioned to a GSM system: it is however evident that the same basic setting and the same general operating criteria can be found in systems such as the DCS 1800 and PCS 1900 systems susceptible to also benefit, as generally equivalent systems, from the advantages of the invention.

Examined from the point of view of the general system architecture, the invention essentially provides for the association of the SMS center C with a SDS service delivery center to which, in addition to a database of the services provided DS, a database database containing the related access management application programs intended to be selectively transferred to the SIM module of the mobile terminal MS involved in supplying them.

As already mentioned, the SDS service center can either reside with the system operator (and therefore be physically located at the SMS C), or be remoted with the provision of a connection interface, for example of the API type.

The same reasoning can be reproduced at the level of physical location of the DS and DB databases, in the sense that - as is evident for the technician expert in the sector - there is no specific need for co-localization of the databases in question. Furthermore, at least the DS service database can be located in a distributed way.

The diagram of Figure 2 illustrates in summary terms the organization of the part of the SIM module dedicated to the implementation of the invention. In particular, the numerical reference 10 indicates two files (typically on E2 PROM) in which there are two numbers (in particular according to the ITU-T E.164 standard) stored in order to allow selective typing by the user (usually by pressing one or more dedicated keys). The first number identifies the SMS C to which the SDS service center is connected. The second number identifies the SDS service center on which the server application resides. The initial access requests to the services and the presentation of the list of applications available on the server are made using these parameters. The terminal is able to verify (on the SIM module) that any command coming via SMS is identified from the origin (previously specified). The system can also, using the implicit GSM authentication mechanism, verify the origin of requests for access to services by checking the sender field (so-called originating address) of the SMS received. In this way it is possible to guarantee the security of the system by allowing the creation of access lists for closed services, not generally available as mass services. In addition, the customer identification mechanism can be used to customize services and access to them.

The solution according to the invention takes advantage of the possibility of having two processes, one resident on the SIM module and the other on the service center, which cooperating with each other make it possible to remotely manage the memory of the SIM module and therefore of the applications. contained therein.

Resident applications (in a memory area 12) are also recorded within a file 14 which tracks the applications in memory 12.

Register 14 presents a record organization.

Each application program 12a, ..., 12e stored in the memory 12 is associated with a record indicating where the application is stored and what name it is associated with.

As will be seen better below, the loading (download) or removal of each application 12a, ..., 12e are not complete if, in addition to updating the memory 12, an update is not carried out that makes the file 14 consistent with the new memory status 12.

The user has access to the loading / deleting functions thanks to a resident program, initially placed on the SIM module, indicated with 16 and essentially having the function of manager. This program is accessed by selecting from the menu by operating on the keyboard of the ME terminal. Once selected, it allows access to a further menu where it is possible to choose whether to upload or delete (in the terms better illustrated below).

The experiences carried out to date with full success by the applicant are based on the possible storage in the memory 12 of five applications 12a, ..., 12e relating to a corresponding number of services such as, for example, stock exchange services (quotations and index), news sports, personal calls, horoscope, etc.

Each application 12a, ..., 12e has a memory occupation of about 2KB.

The flow chart of Figure 3 takes its cue, starting from an initial step 100, from a step 102 in which the user signals on the mobile terminal that he wants to access - all the services considered:

- to access an information service for which the relative access application program is already available in the memory 12 of the SIM module, - to load the application program (currently not available in the SIM module) required to access a given service into memory 12 informative, or

- to delete from the memory 12 of the SIM module the application program which allows access to an information service no longer of interest.

The relative choice is made by the user (for example as a feedback to a display, which appears - in a known way - on the display of the terminal) leading the system to evolve towards a choice step 104.

In this step the system essentially recognizes the choice made by the user.

If the user wishes to query one or more services for which the terminal already has the relevant application, the system evolves towards the related query sequence, indicated schematically by 106. This sequence is known per se and does not require therefore to be described here, also because in itself it is not relevant for the purposes of understanding the invention.

If, on the other hand, the system recognizes that the user wishes to download on the SIM module an application program available on the SDS service center but not yet present on the SIM module itself, the system evolves towards a step 108 corresponding to the presentation of the downloadable applications. The latter is obtained from the management file 16 as a subtraction between the list of applications available on the SDS service center and the list of application programs currently present in memory 12. Therefore, by choosing an application from those proposed, there is no risk to try to download an application already present in memory 12. The list of applications present in memory 12 is obtained by scanning the file 14, while that of the applications available at the SDS service center can be entered in the code as a constant. Of course, an alternative solution is also conceivable in which this list is periodically updated by exploiting, for example, the transmission mechanism of short messages or one of the other types of system messages already mentioned above.

The next step 110 in Figure 3 indicates the choice, made by the user by acting on the keyboard of the MS terminal, of the new desired application among those indicated as available.

Following the choice of the application to download, the management file 16 sends a command to the service center indicating the type of command to be performed (loading - indicated for example by a letter "L" at the beginning of the message) and the name of the relevant application (step 112).

Once the command has been received, the SDS service center server sends the instructions necessary to download the relevant application into memory and update the file 14 (step 114) to the SIM module.

A further possible outcome of the selection step 104 is the identification of the fact that the user wishes to delete an application among those present on the memory 12.

This can take place in a substantially dual manner with respect to those illustrated previously with reference to the loading operation (steps 108 to 114).

In the embodiment of the invention currently preferred by the applicant, the erasing operation is simplified by binding the choice of the application to be erased to the last among those loaded in order of time in the memory 12. This allows to simplify the management of the memory. 12 without the need to provide for the possibility of re-compacting the freed space.

By adopting this simplified solution, once the operation relating to the removal has been chosen by the user (step 104), the manager file 16 does not ask which application to remove because it is known in advance that the last one will be deleted. This is recognized by accessing the last record of the file 14. Its name is used to compose the command to be sent (in step 116) to the SDS service center to order the elimination. Once the command has been received, the SDS center sends the necessary instructions to the SIM module to free the memory occupied by the application and delete the relevant entry in register 14 (step 118).

The sequences of steps illustrated in Figure 3 and relating to the loading and erasing operations are represented as intended and reconverted upstream of the selection step 104.

In fact, it has been assumed here that the subsequent evolution of the system, also in view of stopping, takes place within the interrogation function represented by block 106.

Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining the same, the details of construction and the embodiments may be widely varied with respect to what has been described and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention, as defined by the following claims.

Claims (9)

CLAIMS 1. Mobile telecommunications terminal comprising a communication module (ME) capable of receiving system messages (SMS) as well as a user identification module (SIM) provided with memory means (12) for storing at least one application program ( 12a, 12e) for accessing a respective information service, characterized by the fact that said memory means (12) are selectively configurable in writing and erasing for storing and erasing application programs (12a, ..., 12e) received by the terminal (MS) through said communication module (ME) in the context of said system messages. 2. Terminal according to claim 1, characterized in that said memory means (12) carry associated register means (10) for storing a first identification code of the terminal (MS) and a second identification code of at least one service center (SDS) with controlled access through said at least one application program, with said first and second code used as parameters for storing said application programs in said memory means (12). 3. Terminal according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that said memory means (12) carry associated at least one further register (14) capable of containing, for each of said application programs capable of being stored and deleted, a respective identification information and by the fact that means (16) are provided for controlling the configuration of said memory means (12) operating in a coordinated manner on said memory means (12) and on said further register (14) in such a way as to whereby the storage and cancellation of an application program on said memory means (12) is accompanied by the corresponding modification of the respective information present in said further register (14). 4. Terminal according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that control means (16) are associated with said memory means (12), capable of detecting a user command (104) relating to the storage of a respective application program of said means memory (12), forward (112) a respective storage command signal from the terminal (MS) to a respective service center (SDS), receive from said service center (SD) via said communication module (ME ) a corresponding memorization signal and memorizing (114) in said memory means (12), due to the reception of said memorization signal, the respective application program. 5. Terminal according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said memory means (12) are associated with control means (16) capable of identifying the application programs (12a, 12e) for accessing a respective information service present in said memory means (12), compare the identified application programs with an overall list of available services and generate a subtraction signal, which can be presented to the user, identifying the application programs for access to a respective information service available in view storage on said memory means (12). 6. Terminal according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that control means (16) are associated with said memory means (12), capable of detecting a user command (104) relating to the cancellation of my respective application program from said memory means (12), forward a respective erase command signal (116) from the terminal (MS) to a respective service center (SDS), receive from said service center (SDS) via said communication module (ME) a corresponding erasing signal and erasing (118) from said memory means (12), due to the reception of said erasing signal, the respective application program. 7. Terminal according to claim 6, characterized in that said memory means (12) are configured to proceed with the cancellation of the application programs (12a, 12e) for accessing a respective information service stored in said memory means (12 ) starting from the most recently saved application program. 8. Telecommunications system comprising: - a plurality of mobile terminals according to any one of claims 1 to 7, - a database (DB) of said application programs (12a, 12e) for accessing a respective information service, and - communication means (SDS, SMS, MSC, BSS) for sending system messages to the communication module (ME) of said plurality of mobile terminals (MS) which selectively convey said application programs in view of storage on the memory means ( 12) of said mobile terminals. System according to claim 8, characterized in that said database (DB) carries associated management means (SDS) sensitive to the reception, starting from said plurality of mobile terminals (MS), of respective memorization command signals and erasing said application programs (12a, 12e) in and from the memory means (12) of said mobile terminals (MS); the arrangement being such that said application programs (12a, ..., 12e) are stored and deleted in and from the memory means (12) of said mobile terminals (MS) only following the emission (114, 118) of respective memorization and cancellation signals starting from said management center (SDS).