JP2001352416A - Mobile communication terminal and mobile communication management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile communication terminal that can pay the communication charge, when the mobile communication terminal is resident within a communication zone with a base station wherever the mobile communication terminal may be, and to provide a communication management system that can surely collect communication charges. SOLUTION: A mobile station 101 is provided with a card reader that reads data recorded on a credit card or a debit card. When pre-paying a communication charge prior to communication, a subscriber allows the card reader to read a credit card or a debit card and then designates a deposited monetary amount. After obtaining the card information and the designated monetary amount, the mobile station 101 makes a money deposition request to the mobile communication management system 103, that manages communication charges of each mobile station 101. Upon the receipt of the money deposition request, the mobile communication management system 103 makes a request to a financial institution on the money deposition and adds a money deposition designation amount to a communication charge file, corresponding to the mobile station 101 which designates money deposition, when the mobile communication management system 103 is permitted with respect to the financial institution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal and a mobile communication management device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, settlement of communication charges for mobile communication terminals such as mobile phones and car phones has been performed by a mobile communication management device that controls a mobile communication network. That is, the mobile communication management device obtains a billing amount by adding a fixed fee such as a line usage fee and a dial communication fee every month, and bills the subscriber.

[0003]

However, the conventional method of billing communication charges for a mobile communication terminal has a problem that due to theft or unauthorized use due to unauthorized subscription, even if the communication charges are billed to the subscriber, it cannot be reliably recovered. .

[0004] As a countermeasure, a prepaid system has been devised in which a fixed amount of charge is paid in advance in advance and payment is made each time the device is used (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-289405).
JP-A-9-312708). However, in the prepaid method, the subscriber must purchase a prepaid card at a store or deposit from a deposit terminal installed in a convenience store etc. before using it, and it is convenient for urban areas etc. Although there is no problem with this, there is a disadvantage that in the suburbs there are no sales outlets or deposit terminals, and it is not easy to make advance deposits.

More specifically, considering an example of a user who desires a service of a prepaid system, a simple portable telephone (P) having a small service range but a low communication charge in a normal living area is considered.
In the case where HS) is used and the usage frequency is low, such as when traveling to a region where PHS cannot be used, it is considered that a prepaid mobile communication terminal is used. However, it is easily predicted that in a suburb or the like, it is difficult to make a deposit in advance because a store cannot be found when necessary.

Further, in the prepaid system, it is necessary to input a very large number described on the prepaid card, and there is a problem that the operation is complicated and the operation is easy to be erroneous.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a mobile communication terminal capable of reliably collecting a communication fee and capable of paying a communication fee anywhere in a communication area with a base station. And a mobile communication management device.

[0008]

A mobile communication terminal according to the present invention communicates with card information reading means for reading information recorded on a credit card or a debit card, and on the basis of the card information read by the card information reading means. And a fee processing means for performing a fee payment process.

According to this configuration, the information recorded on the credit card or the debit card is read, and the payment of the communication fee generated for the communication is performed based on the read card information. Therefore, unlike the prepaid card method, which makes it difficult to prepaid the communication fee depending on the location, the communication fee can be prepaid in any place as long as it can communicate with the base station,
The convenience for the user is improved.

A mobile communication management device according to the present invention is a mobile communication management device for managing a communication fee generated when a mobile communication terminal communicates with another station, comprising: an interface for connecting to a banking system of a financial institution; A settlement means for connecting to the accounting system of the financial institution via the interface in response to a deposit request from the mobile communication terminal and performing settlement with a credit card or a debit card is provided.

[0011] According to this configuration, in response to a deposit request from the mobile communication terminal, the mobile communication terminal is connected to the accounting system of the financial institution to perform settlement by a credit card or a debit card.
Therefore, the telecommunications business entity that provides the mobile communication service can reliably collect the communication fee.

[0012] A mobile communication fee settlement system according to the present invention includes the mobile communication terminal and the mobile communication management device.
If the communication between the mobile communication terminal and the mobile communication management device is possible, a configuration is adopted in which a communication fee can be paid in advance by a credit card or a debit card.

[0013] According to this configuration, the telecommunications business entity that provides the mobile communication service can surely collect the communication fee, and the user of the mobile communication terminal can use the mobile communication terminal in any place within a range where communication with the base station is possible. You can also pay in advance for communication charges.

According to the mobile communication fee settlement method of the present invention, in a mobile communication terminal, card information reading means reads information recorded on a credit card or a debit card, and reads the read card information to control a mobile communication network. When the card information is sent from the mobile communication terminal to the management device, the mobile communication management device communicates with the accounting system of the financial institution, and settles the communication fee based on the card information.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The gist of the present invention is that a communication fee generated by performing communication with a mobile communication terminal can be paid in advance by a credit card or a debit card.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile communication fee settlement system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a mobile phone is used as a mobile communication terminal.

In FIG. 1, a mobile station 101 is a mobile phone functioning as a mobile communication terminal, and is provided to a subscriber who has subscribed to a telecommunications business entity.
Each mobile station 101 is set with its own identification code (hereinafter, mobile station ID code) so that it can be easily identified from other mobile stations 101. Also, each mobile station 10
1, a card reader 305 for reading a magnetic card such as a credit card or a cash card or an IC card is provided.

Returning to FIG. 1, the base station 102
01, which transmits and receives signals by radio, and is distributed and installed in various places in an area controlled by a communication business entity. The mobile communication management device 103 controls a communication network 104 connecting the base stations 102 and manages a communication fee and the like generated for mobile communication performed through the communication network 104. The mobile communication management device 103 is installed at a headquarters of a communication business entity or the like. The mobile communication management device 103 and the exchange 105 in the communication network 104 are connected by a dedicated communication line 106. The mobile communication management device 103 communicates with the communication line 1
Control of connection / disconnection of the line of the exchange 105 via the control unit 06 is performed. The exchange 105 transmits the communication charge information to the mobile communication management apparatus 103 via the communication line 106.

The mobile communication management device 103 is connected to each mobile station 10.
Bank file 10 for storing the balance of prepaid communication charges corresponding to a unique mobile station ID set for each
7 and a history information file 108 for storing a communication history and a payment history corresponding to the mobile station ID of each mobile station 101. Here, FIG. 2 is a data configuration diagram of the bank file 107, which is composed of a mobile station ID and a balance. FIG. 3 is a data configuration diagram of the history information file 108, which includes a mobile station ID, a date, an amount, a section, and detailed information. The mobile communication management device 103 is connected to a financial institution system (an accounting system of a financial institution) 110 such as a bank or a credit company via a communication network 109, and communicates with the accounting system 110.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile communication management device 103. In the figure, a mobile communication management device 103 includes a central control unit 201 that controls the mobile communication management device, a work memory 202 that temporarily stores data processed by the central control unit 201, a bank file 1
07 and a history information file 108 (both shown in FIG. 1), a line control unit 204 connected to the communication network 104 (see FIG. 1), and an exchange connected to the communication line 106 (see FIG. 1). I / F (interface) 20
5 and a financial system I / F (interface) 206 connected to the communication network 109 connected to the accounting system 110 of the financial institution.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile station 101. In this figure, mobile station 101
A key operation unit 301 for inputting a telephone number and the like when a user performs communication, a display unit 302 for displaying the input telephone number and the like, and a storage unit 3 for storing a mobile station ID code and the like.
03, a radio circuit unit 304 for transmitting and receiving a data signal as a radio wave and converting the received radio wave into a data signal, a card reader 305 for reading a magnetic card or an IC card such as a credit card or a debit card, and controlling these units. And a central control unit 306.

Next, a description will be given of an operation in the case of making a deposit using a credit card or a debit card.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a deposit processing in the mobile station 101. The subscriber who intends to pay the communication fee in advance can use the key operation unit 301 of the mobile station 101 to
An operation (ST601) meaning performing payment is performed.
For this operation, a dedicated button may be provided, or a combination of several key operations may be used. Next, the mobile station 101
Displays that the deposit operation has started (ST602),
Encourage subscribers to read debit or credit cards. The subscriber inserts a credit card or debit card in accordance with the instructions and
Through. Thereby, the card information is read (ST603).

When the reading of the card information is completed, a display prompting the user to input the amount to be paid is displayed (S
T604). The subscriber operates the key operation unit 301 and inputs the amount to be paid (ST605). When the deposit amount is input, mobile station 101 creates a deposit request message in the message format shown in FIG. 7 based on the entered card number and deposit amount (ST606), and then initializes retry counter N to 0. (ST607).

Next, mobile station 101 displays a screen indicating that payment processing is in progress (ST 608), and subsequently performs an automatic call to connect a line with mobile communication management apparatus 103 (ST 609). ). As a result of this automatic calling, when the line connection is established (ST610), the payment request message created in ST606 is wirelessly transmitted (ST611), and a response from mobile communication management apparatus 103 is waited for.

When there is a response from mobile communication management apparatus 103 (ST612), the response result is determined (S612).
T613). In this determination, if the response result indicates that payment has been completed, the line with the mobile communication management device 103 is released (S
T614) Then, the payment completion and the balance after the payment are displayed (ST615). Thereby, the deposit processing is completed.
On the other hand, if the response from mobile communication management apparatus 103 is rejected in ST613, the line with mobile communication management apparatus 103 is released in ST620, and a display indicating payment failure is displayed on the screen (ST621). To end.

On the other hand, in ST610, mobile communication management apparatus 10
If the connection with the line 3 cannot be established, the retry counter N is incremented by 1 (ST616). Then, in ST617, whether the count value has exceeded a preset retry limit ("2" in the present embodiment)? Determine whether or not.
If the value does not exceed “2”, the process returns to ST609 to make an automatic call to mobile communication management device 103 again. On the other hand, if the retry counter is equal to or more than "3", a failure of the payment processing due to a communication error is displayed (ST
618). Thereby, the deposit processing is completed.

Next, processing in the mobile communication management apparatus 103 will be described with reference to FIG. When an incoming call from the calling station is detected via the line control unit 204 (ST701),
A request is made to exchange 105 via exchange I / F 205 for a line connection with the calling station (ST702). Then, it is determined whether or not there is a payment request (ST703). When it is determined that there is a payment request, the payment request message is received from the calling station through the connected line, and the bank is identified by the mobile station ID code in the message. The file 107 is searched, and authentication processing of the calling mobile station is performed (ST704). If the corresponding mobile station ID exists in the bank file 107, it is a valid mobile station, so that the financial institution is determined from the credit card number or the debit card number included in the deposit request message (ST705), and the financial system I is determined. A request for payment is made to the relevant financial institution via / F206 (ST706).

On the other hand, if the authentication of the mobile station has failed, a response message indicating that the authentication has failed is created based on the format shown in FIG. 8 (ST710) and transmitted to the mobile station (S710).
T711) The payment processing ends.

After making a payment request to the financial institution, a response from the financial institution is received via the financial system I / F 206, and it is determined whether or not the payment request has been accepted (ST7).
07). In this case, if the response from the financial institution is payment permission, payment processing is performed in ST708, and then a payment completion message in the format shown in FIG. 8 is transmitted (ST70).
9), end the processing. On the other hand, if a rejection response is returned in response to the payment request to the financial institution, a payment failure message is created based on the format shown in FIG.
712), and transmit it to the mobile station (ST713) to end the payment processing.

On the other hand, if there is no payment request in ST703, the bank file 107 is stored in mobile station I in ST714.
The search is performed using D, and the mobile station 101 is authenticated. When the mobile station ID of the mobile station 101 is present in the bank file 107, the mobile station is determined to be valid, and subsequently, the communication fee settlement processing (ST715, 716) is performed.

Here, regarding the deposit processing of ST708,
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The deposit amount A is obtained from the deposit request message (S
T801), the mobile station balance B of the corresponding mobile station is obtained from the bank file 107 based on the mobile station ID in the message (ST802). Next, the latest balance C is generated by adding the mobile station balance B and the deposit amount A (ST803), and the corresponding mobile station balance B in the bank file 107 is updated with the latest balance C (ST804). Next, history information is generated from the payment amount A, the credit card number or debit card number of the payment source, the date, time, and the data indicating the category of the payment, and additionally stored in the history information file 108 for each mobile station ID. (ST805), the deposit processing ends.

Next, the communication charge settlement process in ST716 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the balance B of the corresponding mobile station is obtained from the bank file 107 (ST901), and it is determined whether or not this balance B is less than the unit charge (10 yen in the present embodiment) (ST902). In this determination, if the balance is less than the unit charge, the prepaid amount required for communication is insufficient, so that processing such as line connection is not performed, and the process proceeds to step ST912 described later. In contrast, ST902
If the balance B is equal to or more than the unit charge, the exchange I
A request is made to the exchange 105 via the / F 205 for a line connection between the mobile station 101 and the call destination station (ST90).
3). Then, the unit charge (10 yen in this embodiment) is subtracted from the balance B of the mobile station 101 (ST904), and the first unit charge is set as the communication charge C (ST905).

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the communication between the mobile station 101 and the call destination is completed (ST906). If the communication is determined to be completed, the communication unit time between the mobile station 101 and the call destination is determined. Each time it enters a standby state for receiving the billing information notified from the exchange 105.

When charging information is received (ST907),
It is determined whether or not the amount of the balance B is less than the unit charge (S
T908) When there is a balance equal to or more than the unit charge, the unit charge is subtracted from the balance B (ST909), and the unit charge is added to the communication charge C (ST910), and then, a standby state is set.

On the other hand, in the standby state, the mobile station 101
If the communication between the mobile station 101 and the call destination is terminated (ST906), or if the balance B is less than the unit charge in ST908, the mobile station 101 first sends a message notifying the line disconnection.
(ST911). Then, the exchange I / F 20
Request for a line disconnection to the exchange 105 via the terminal 5 (ST91).
2). Subsequently, the balance B of the mobile station 101 is recorded in the bank file 107 (ST913). Also, call destination,
A communication history including the communication charge C, the communication start date and time, the communication end date and time, and the like is created, additional storage is performed in the history information file 108 for each mobile station ID (ST914), and the communication charge settlement process ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, mobile station 101 has card reader 305 for reading information recorded on a credit card or debit card, and the card information read by card reader 305 and the user. Has a function of making a payment request to the mobile communication management device 103 from the designated amount, and the mobile communication management device 103 requests the financial institution to make a payment by receiving the payment request from the mobile station 101. , The bank file 1 corresponding to the mobile station 101 that has been requested to deposit when permitted.
The designated payment amount is added to the balance of 07.

Therefore, the user of the mobile station 101 can prepaid the communication fee when necessary only by having a credit card or a debit card, as in the conventional prepayment method. , A subscriber goes to a deposit terminal installed in a predetermined place and pays in advance,
Alternatively, since it is not necessary to purchase a prepaid card from a convenience store or the like, the convenience is remarkably improved.

In addition, for a telecommunications business entity that provides mobile communication services, the prepaid system not only prevents the non-payment of communication charges, but also does not incur the costs incurred by the maintenance and installation of the deposit terminal as in the deposit terminal system. . In addition, there is no need to outsource sales of prepaid cards to retailers as in the prepaid card system.
Since there are no sales commissions, it is possible to reduce expenses for collecting fees.

In this embodiment, a prepaid card may be used in parallel with a credit card or a debit card.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a mobile communication terminal and a mobile communication fee settlement system that can reliably collect the communication fee and can pay the communication fee in any place within the communication area with the base station.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile communication fee settlement system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a data configuration diagram of a bank file of the mobile communication management device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a data configuration diagram of a history information file of the mobile communication management device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the mobile communication management device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the mobile station shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile station shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a format of a deposit request message transmitted from the mobile station shown in FIG. 1 to the mobile communication management device.

8 is a diagram showing a format of a response message to a deposit request sent from the mobile communication management device shown in FIG. 1 to the mobile station.

9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile communication management device shown in FIG.

10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile communication management device shown in FIG.

11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile communication management device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 mobile station 102 base station 103 mobile communication management device 104, 109 communication network 105 exchange 106 communication line 107 bank file 108 history information file 110 financial institution system 201 central control unit 202 work memory 203 file unit 204 line control unit 205 exchange I / F 206 Financial system I / F 301 Key operation unit 302 Display unit 303 Storage unit 304 Wireless circuit unit 305 Card reader 306 Central control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Card information reading means for reading information recorded on a credit card or a debit card, and charge processing means for paying a communication charge based on the card information read by the card information reading means. A mobile communication terminal, comprising: 2. A mobile communication management device for managing a communication fee generated when a mobile communication terminal communicates with another station, comprising: an interface connected to an accounting system of a financial institution; and a payment from the mobile communication terminal. A mobile communication management device, comprising: settlement means for connecting to the accounting system of the financial institution via the interface in response to a request and performing settlement with a credit card or a debit card. 3. The mobile communication terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a mobile communication management device according to claim 2, wherein communication between the mobile communication terminal and the mobile communication management device is possible. A mobile communication fee settlement system, which enables advance payment of a communication fee by a credit card or a debit card. 4. In a mobile communication terminal, card information reading means reads information recorded on a credit card or a debit card, and sends the read card information to a mobile communication management device that controls a mobile communication network. In the management device, when card information is sent from the mobile communication terminal, communication with an accounting system of a financial institution is performed, and settlement of a communication fee is performed using the card information. Method.