JP2006270910A - Software wireless mobile telephone communications system and software wireless mobile telephone terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a software wireless mobile telephone communications system which can realize a switchover of a safe and secure communication method. <P>SOLUTION: In a system having carriers A-C providing different communication methods, a software wireless mobile telephone terminal T1, which can hold a plurality of wireless portions supplied from the carriers; an information management means 801 managing carrier communication method management information 803 concerning communication methods or the like which the terminal T1 can use; and a switchover means 802 switching over a communication method according to the request of a connection and a disconnection of the terminal T1; the terminal T1 registers the communication methods A and B of the carriers A and B of a main contract and a sub-contract in management information 803, connects the communication method A, when there is a switchover request of the communication method, detects available communication method by referring to the management information 803, disconnects the communication method A, while the connection request to the carrier B is transmitted and the communication by the communication method B is enabled, when the communication method B is selected from among the available communication methods, and switches the wireless portion of the communication method A over to the wireless portion of the communication method B. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a software radio mobile phone terminal capable of holding a plurality of radio units that implement a radio communication function by software, and a software radio cell phone terminal and a software radio cell phone that switch between a plurality of radio units for use. The present invention relates to a communication system.

  Software wireless mobile phone terminals are a type of next-generation mobile phone that allows wireless parts to be replaced by software, allowing multiple wireless parts to be switched and used by a single device. Yes. In order to realize such a communication system using a wireless unit, processing such as acquisition, recording, switching, and replacement of a softwareized wireless unit is required. In the conventional example, in order to realize these, a method of efficiently performing with limited resources of the terminal (for example, Patent Documents 1, 4, and 5), and switching of the communication method can be performed in a short time with a simple operation. (For example, Patent Documents 2 and 5), and further, a method of reducing the burden on the user, for example, without causing the communication state of the terminal to be interrupted or keeping it as short as possible (for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3). Has been studied.

  In order to maintain the communication quality, a network environment (for example, electric field strength) is monitored at a terminal or a base station, and studies have been made on switching to an optimal communication system based on the network environment (for example, Patent Document 6). , 7, 8, 9, 10).

JP 2003-333663 A JP 2002-199451 A JP 2000-196494 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-229783 JP 2004-152122 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-300653 JP 2000-13823 A JP 2002-111686 A JP 2004-289373 A JP 2004-140459 A

  However, in the above conventional example, the communication method selection and switching procedure is described. However, in the case where continuous communication is performed while actually switching the communication, the communication method can be switched safely and reliably. Is not disclosed.

  Also, when switching the communication method, if the carrier to be switched and the wireless part of the communication method already exist on the terminal, the version has been upgraded over time, and the wireless part of the same communication method is also upgraded It is assumed that it is necessary to do this. However, in the above conventional example, such a case is not assumed, and the procedure for confirming the necessity of upgrading the radio unit and executing the upgrade is not disclosed.

  In addition, when the communication method is switched, if the carrier to be switched and the wireless unit of the communication method do not exist on the terminal, it is necessary to download and write the wireless unit, which takes time. Therefore, when the communication network notifies the terminal of an incoming call, if a communication method that does not have a wireless unit on the terminal is selected, there is a problem that switching of the wireless unit takes time and smooth incoming processing cannot be performed. .

  In addition, the terminal can grasp the communication status (congestion status, etc.) of the carrier currently used and the communication method, but cannot grasp the communication status of the carrier and communication method to be switched, so the terminal can improve the communication status. In spite of switching the communication method in anticipation, there is a problem that the communication situation may be worse than before the switching.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and its purpose is to ensure that at least one communication system is always available when switching between communication systems. A software wireless mobile phone communication system and a software wireless mobile phone terminal capable of realizing a safe and secure switching of a communication method can be obtained by executing a communication method switch only in a state.

  In addition, when switching to a communication method in which a wireless unit already exists on the terminal and using it, version matching confirmation is performed, and if it does not match, version upgrade is performed to avoid communication failure due to version mismatch, A software radio mobile phone communication system and a software radio mobile phone terminal capable of realizing safe and reliable switching of communication methods are obtained.

  Further, the present invention provides a software radio cellular phone communication system capable of managing information on a radio unit existing on a terminal on the communication network side and notifying an incoming call from a base station to the terminal based on this information.

  Furthermore, the communication status such as the congestion status of the base station is managed on the communication network side, and when the terminal switches the communication method, the terminal asks the communication network whether the communication method can be switched. A software radio cellular phone communication system capable of determining whether or not to switch the communication method based on the situation and notifying the terminal of the result is obtained.

  The software defined radio cellular phone communication system according to the present invention holds a plurality of carriers that provide communication services using a plurality of different communication methods, and a plurality of radio units that implement a radio communication function using software supplied from the carriers. A software wireless mobile phone terminal capable of communicating with a plurality of types of communication methods, a carrier provided outside the software wireless mobile phone terminal and usable by the software wireless mobile phone terminal and a carrier relating to a communication method Carrier communication method information management means for managing communication method management information, provided outside the software defined radio mobile phone terminal, and switching communication methods on the system in response to connection requests and disconnect requests of the software defined radio cell phone terminal Carrier communication system switching means In the software radio mobile phone communication system, the software radio mobile phone terminal uses the carrier communication method information management means to set the first communication method of the first carrier as a main contract to the carrier communication method management information. In addition to registering, the second communication method of the second carrier to be sub-contracted is registered in the carrier communication method management information, and when a communication method switching request is generated, the first communication method of the first carrier is changed to The carrier communication method information managing means refers to the carrier communication method management information to detect an available communication method, and the second of the second carriers is detected from the detected available communication methods. When the communication method is selected, a connection request is transmitted to the second carrier to be switched to enable communication using the second communication method, and Transmitting a disconnection request to the first carrier as a replacement source to disconnect the first communication method, switching from the wireless unit of the first communication method to the wireless unit of the second communication method, and the carrier communication In response to a connection request or a disconnection request from the software defined radio cellular phone terminal, a scheme switching means is configured to perform a first communication of the first carrier of the software defined radio cellular phone terminal registered in the carrier communication scheme management information. The second communication method of the second carrier is updated from unused to used, and the method is updated from being used to unused.

  The software-defined radio mobile phone communication system according to the present invention has an effect that it is possible to realize switching of a safe and reliable communication method.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
A software defined radio portable telephone communication system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a software defined radio mobile phone communication system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In addition, in each figure, the same code | symbol shows the same or equivalent part.

  In FIG. 1, the software defined radio cellular phone communication system according to the first embodiment includes a software radio cellular phone terminal T1 having a function of replacing a radio unit (software module) and software that is a call destination (a partner terminal) of the terminal T1. A wired mobile phone terminal T3, a base station C1 to C3, and a system management server 800 are provided as a call destination (a partner terminal) of the wireless mobile phone terminal, the existing wireless mobile phone terminal T2, and the terminal T1.

  In the first embodiment, the software defined radio mobile phone terminal T1 can use a communication system of a plurality of carriers (telephone company), and considers the main contract and the sub contract separately. The main contract is only one carrier, and the terminal T1 is required to contract one of the carriers as the main contract. In addition to the main contract, the terminal T1 can use two or more carrier communication methods as an option. However, although the communication method is limited, the terminal T1 may have only the main contract without sub-contract. I want to be able to use multiple communication methods at the terminal T1, but when I download or replace a new communication method, make sure that I can communicate with at least one communication method in preparation for errors. Therefore, this is the main and secondary contract form. The terminal T1 is assumed to include H / W and other mechanisms necessary for simultaneously using two or more types of communication methods.

  The carrier shown in FIG. 1 generally has communication lines and other facilities necessary for various types of wireless communication including wide area and short distance such as PDC, W-CDMA, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, etc. Refers to the service provider (telephone company) that provides the service. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that there are three carriers A to C and have base stations C1 to C3, respectively.

  The base stations C1 to C3 have a radio unit that is a software module necessary on the terminal T1 side for use of the communication service provided by the own carrier, and can be distributed according to the request of the terminal T1. is there. In addition to this, the communication service provided by another carrier recognized as a sub-contract also has a necessary radio unit on the terminal T1 side, and if there is a request from the terminal T1 of the user who has a contract It is possible to distribute.

  In FIG. 1, it is assumed that carriers A to C provide interchangeable communication services for communication schemes A to C, respectively, and base station C1 is a wireless unit (software module) C1 of communication scheme A for its own carrier. In addition to -A, it has radio units (software modules) C2-B and C3-C of other carriers. Similarly, the base station C2 has radio units (software modules) C2-B of its own carrier, radio units (software modules) C1-A and C3-C of other carriers, and the base station C3 has a radio unit of its own carrier. (Software module) In addition to C3-C, it has radio units (software modules) C1-A and C2-B of other carriers.

  In FIG. 1, the radio units (software modules) are prepared by the carrier base stations C1 to C3. However, the configuration may be prepared by a “module server” for each carrier, and can be accessed from all carriers. A configuration prepared by a “common server” may be used.

  The system management server 800 is assumed to exist on the software radio cellular phone communication system, and is provided with carrier communication system information management means 801, carrier communication system switching means 802, and carrier communication system management information 803. Note that the carrier communication method information management unit 801, the carrier communication method switching unit 802, and the carrier communication method management information 803 may be provided in the “common server” or individually and independently on the software defined radio mobile phone communication system. It may be provided.

  The carrier communication system information management means 801 performs maintenance of the carrier communication system management information 803 as a common table that can be referenced from the base stations C1 to C3 of all carriers. The carrier communication system information management means 801 manages information on carriers and communication systems that can be used by the software wireless mobile phone terminal on the carrier communication system management information 803. The carrier communication system information management unit 801 manages information related to each carrier and communication system to be managed in a unique table among the carriers, and the main contract carrier communication system registration unit 301 and the sub contract carrier communication system registration unit 302 accesses this. The carrier communication system information management unit 801 manages information on each carrier and communication system to be managed by a plurality of distributed tables in units for each carrier and communication system, and main contract carrier communication system selection unit 301. , And the sub-contract carrier communication system selection means 302 may access this.

  Carrier communication system management information 803 includes a carrier that has signed a main contract and a sub contract for each terminal, a communication system, availability of use at the current position, a telephone number for identifying the terminal, a serial number, and a UIM card It holds information such as serial number. The registration to the carrier communication system management information 803 is performed by the main contract carrier communication system registration unit 301 on the terminal T1 for the main contract and the sub contract carrier communication system registration unit 302 for the sub contract. Further, the carrier communication system information management unit 801 updates the carrier communication system management information 803 when the communication system to be used is changed by the communication system switching operation on the terminal T1 side. That is, when the communication method used by the terminal T1 is changed from the carrier A to the carrier B, the carrier communication method information management unit 801 changes the communication method A from “in use” to “unused”. Change method B from "unused" to "in use".

  When receiving a connection request / disconnection request from the communication method switching unit 303 of the terminal T1, for example, via the base station, the carrier communication method switching unit 802 refers to the carrier communication method management information 803 and connects / disconnects the designated communication method. Perform the cutting process. That is, the carrier communication system switching unit 802 requests the carrier communication system information management unit 801 to change the communication system used by the terminal on the carrier communication system management information 803 as described above. The carrier communication system switching means 802 instructs switching of the connection state of the exchange, the communication network, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the software defined radio mobile phone terminal according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  2, the software defined radio mobile phone terminal T1 according to the first embodiment includes applications 101 to 103, a communication control unit 201, a main contract carrier communication method registration unit 301, and a sub contract carrier communication method registration unit 302. , Communication method switching means 303, software radio section information transmission means 304, software radio section download means 305, software radio section module management section 306, common interface module 401, radio section (software module) (A to D) 501 to 504 are provided.

  The applications 101 to 103 are applications including communication processing such as a browser and mail. One or more terminals exist on the terminal T1. A plurality of applications can be operated simultaneously.

  The communication control unit 201 is an interface module used when calling the wireless units 501 to 504 from the applications 101 to 103.

  The wireless unit 501 of the communication method A, the wireless unit 502 of the communication method B, the wireless unit 503 of the communication method C, and the wireless unit 504 of the communication method D are softwareized. These are provided by the primary contract carrier or the secondary contract carrier. Each is provided as a different software module for each of various wireless communication systems such as W-CDMA, PDC, wireless LAN, and Bluetooth.

  The common interface module 401 absorbs the difference between different communication methods such as the wireless units 501 to 504, and uses the wireless units 501 to 504 of each communication method in a common procedure from the upper level regardless of the type of the communication method. Module.

  The main contract carrier communication method registration unit 301 activates the carrier to be the main contract and the communication method provided by the carrier by operating the operation button on the terminal T1 by the user, for example, and available communication. This is a means for registering in the carrier communication system management information 803 via the system base station and the carrier communication system information management means 801.

  The sub-carrier communication system registration unit 302 activates and uses the carrier that the terminal T1 makes a sub-contract and the communication system provided by the carrier, for example, when the operation button on the terminal T1 is operated by the user. This is a means for registering in the carrier communication system management information 803 via the base station of the possible communication system and the carrier communication system information management means 801.

  The communication system switching unit 303 is a unit for performing a switching process of communication systems (wireless units 501 to 504 and external wireless units) used for communication in response to a user or application switching request (trigger).

The software radio section information transmission means 304 acquires the radio section (software module) outside the base station, such as the carrier, communication method, and the radio sections 501 to 504 owned by the terminal T1, its version, free memory capacity, etc. This is means for transmitting necessary terminal information when requesting. The contents of the terminal information to be transmitted are as follows.
(1) Phone number of the terminal
(2) Terminal serial number,
(3) Serial number of UIM card inserted in the terminal,
(4) Free memory capacity of the terminal.

  The software radio unit download unit 305 is a unit for acquiring a radio unit, which is a software module, from the outside such as a base station using radio communication. This software radio unit download means 305 downloads a new radio unit other than the one held on the terminal T1 or a new version of the radio unit held from the outside using an existing available communication method.

  The software radio module management unit 306 is a unit for managing the radio units 501 to 504 held on the terminal T1 and information related thereto (carrier name, communication method, software module version, size, CRC value, etc.). is there.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication system switching means of the software defined radio mobile phone terminal according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 3, the communication method switching unit 303 includes a switching candidate confirmation unit 601, a communication method user selection unit 602, and a user profile selection unit 603.

  Next, the operation of the software defined radio cellular phone communication system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the software defined radio cellular phone communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows an operation flow when the communication method switching means 303 of the terminal T1 exchanges radio units with the carriers A and B.

  The operation in which the software defined radio cellular phone terminal T1 switches from the carrier A communication method to the carrier B communication method will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S11, the user of the terminal T1 issues a search request for a currently available communication method (communication method search). This search request issuance trigger is activated when the user manually activates the switching application on the terminal T1, or monitors the radio wave condition of the currently used communication method, and activates when the electric field strength is below a certain level. A method of preparing an application and issuing it automatically from now on can be considered. Here, these are defined as users in common.

  In step S12, the communication mode switching means 303 of the terminal T receives the user's request in step S11 and makes an inquiry using the communication mode A of the carrier A that is currently available in the terminal T1. A communication channel is connected to the base station C1 (communication channel establishment). The communication path with the base station C1 is assumed to be performed by a method using existing SSL or the like in order to ensure security.

  Next, in step S13, the terminal T1 uses the communication channel established with the base station C1 of the carrier A by the software radio unit information transmission unit 304 to replace the radio unit with the base station C1. The terminal information indicating the necessary capability of the terminal is transmitted (mobile function capability value notification). Specifically, the following items are transmitted. Information regarding the telephone number, serial number, UIM card serial number, free memory capacity, model, main contract, sub-contract that can be used by the terminal T1, the communication method, and the like.

  In step S14, the base station C1 of the carrier A receives the terminal information transmitted from the terminal T1, issues a unique session ID, and returns this as a response to the terminal T1 (confirmation of mobile capability value). Thereafter, communication (steps S15, S26, etc.) from the terminal T1 to the base station C1 is performed using this session ID. The base station C1 checks the session ID to determine whether or not the request is from a legitimate terminal T1, and when an invalid session ID is used or the session ID has been issued for a certain period of time (expired) Is treated as an error.

  In step S15, in response to the response in step S14, the terminal T1 transmits a search request for an available communication method to the base station C1 of the carrier A by using the switching candidate confirmation unit 601 included in the communication method switching unit 303 ( Available communication method search request). This switching candidate confirmation unit 601 refers to the carrier communication method management information 803 by the carrier communication method information management unit 801 that operates in response to the search request, and in addition to the currently used communication method, the main contract and the sub contract The communication method that can be used within the range of the communication method of the carrier that has already been contracted is detected.

  In step S16, the base station C1 of the carrier A receives the request from the terminal T1 in step S15, and the carrier communication method information management unit 801 uses the carrier communication method among the communication methods of the main contract and the sub contract of the terminal T1. A communication method that is currently available (searched for management information 803) and is in a usable state (can be used reliably even after switching) is transmitted as a search result (available communication method search response). The response transmitted as a search result includes the following information for the number of available communication methods. Carrier name, communication method, module version, module size, module CRC value, etc. Including a communication method that is not in an available state includes a case where the communication method is definitely NG when switching the communication method, and it is not possible to guarantee a safe and reliable switching of the communication method. The response information is acquired by the base station C1 by referring to the carrier communication method management information 803 by the carrier communication method information management unit 801 on the system management server 800.

  In step S17, the terminal T1 causes the communication method user selection unit 602 included in the communication method switching unit 303 to display the available communication method received in step S16 on the screen, and which communication method to use for the user. Make a selection (available communication method display). Specifically, a list of available communication methods is displayed on the screen of the terminal T1, for example, in a form that is easy to see for the user, and a communication method desired by the user is selected from there. At this time, a list of communication methods that can be installed in the terminal T1 is shown. Further, a communication method that is available in the response of Step S16 is displayed to that effect (gray display is unavailable, selection operation is unavailable, available) Provides a user interface that can be selected in black.

  If the search result in step S16 is in a state where only the currently used communication method A can be used, the subsequent communication method switching operation cannot be performed, so only notification (display) to the user is performed. The process ends here.

  In step S18, the user selects a communication method to be switched from a list of available communication methods displayed on the screen of the terminal T1 in step S17 (communication method selection). Here, it is assumed that the communication method B of the carrier B is selected.

  For steps S17 and S18, in addition to the above method, the communication method selection priority is previously defined in the terminal T1 as a user profile, and the user profile selection unit 603 included in the communication method switching unit 303 performs step S16. It is also possible to select automatically from the available communication methods received by referring to the user profile. The user profile selection means 603 selects, for example, the carrier B communication method to be switched according to the user profile in which the user defines priorities without being conscious of the user. In this case, the process proceeds to the next step S19.

In step S19, the terminal T1 determines the available communication method for the communication method B selected by the user or the user profile selection unit 603, which is returned from the base station C1 in response to a search request for the available communication method. Based on the response information such as the carrier name, software module version, size, CRC value, and the corresponding information of the radio unit held by the software radio unit module management means 306,
(1) Determine whether or not the corresponding wireless unit (software module) exists on the terminal T1,
(2) If it exists in the above (1), it is determined whether or not the corresponding wireless unit matches the version transmitted in step S16.
(3) If the version matches in (2) above, a CRC value is calculated to confirm the validity of the corresponding wireless unit (whether the module content data is correct), and the CRC value transmitted in step S16 Is confirmed (module acquisition execution query).

  If all of the above conditions (1) to (3) are satisfied, the corresponding wireless unit desired to be switched exists on the terminal T1 and does not need to be newly acquired from the outside, so the process proceeds to step S23.

  If even one of the above conditions (1) to (3) is not satisfied, it is necessary to acquire the corresponding radio unit that is desired to be switched. However, since it takes time to acquire the corresponding wireless unit, there may be a case where it is not desired to execute it immediately depending on the situation of the user. For this reason, it is desirable to confirm in advance whether or not to execute. Therefore, here, it is necessary to acquire the wireless unit to switch to the communication method B, but it is confirmed whether or not to execute the wireless unit immediately, and the software wireless unit module management unit 306 displays a confirmation screen.

  In step S20, the user selects execution (module acquisition request) for confirming whether or not to acquire the wireless unit of the communication method B to be switched in step S19 from the outside. Here, if the user selects not to execute, the subsequent switching process cannot be executed, so that the process is terminated here assuming that the switching is not performed. Alternatively, instead of executing immediately, the execution may be performed later, the execution start time is reserved, and when the reservation time comes, the acquisition and switching processes after step S21 may be continuously performed.

  In step S21, the terminal T1 receives the user request in step S20, and acquires the radio unit of the communication method B desired to be switched from the base station C1 of the carrier A by the software radio unit download unit 305 (acquires communication method module). ). Although the detailed procedure is not described in the figure, it is performed by the existing download method. For example, first, the software radio unit download means 305 of the terminal T1 transmits an acquisition request for the radio unit of the communication method B to the base station C1, and in response to this, the base station C1 can transmit the requested radio unit. And other information such as the module size necessary for reception is returned. When an OK response is received from the base station C1, a transmission request for the desired radio unit is sent, and in response to this, the corresponding radio unit and necessary information accompanying it are sent from the base station C1 to the software radio unit downloading means 305. If necessary, send it in multiple times. The software radio section download means 305 temporarily stores the corresponding radio section received from the base station C1 and other information on the work memory. When the reception of necessary data is completed, the software defined radio download unit 305 notifies the base station C1 of the completion of download.

  In step S22, the terminal T1 performs a process of writing the corresponding wireless unit received in the work memory in step S21 into the wireless unit storage area on the memory by the software wireless unit module management unit 306 (new module memory writing). However, if there is not enough space in the corresponding area, and it is not enough to simply copy the corresponding radio unit downloaded to the free area, the existing method other than the carrier A communication method currently used The wireless unit storage area for the communication method is deleted to secure the necessary area. However, since the terminal T1 is a terminal that is supposed to have a plurality of wireless communication units from the beginning, normally, a memory capacity (radio unit storage) of a size that can store at least two to three types without problems. Area) is allocated.

  In this connection, as described above, the terminal T1 includes H / W and other mechanisms necessary for simultaneously using two or more types of communication methods. However, if the download of the wireless unit is repeated several times as described above, there is a case where the area for additional copying is insufficient, and the storage area for the new wireless unit cannot be secured unless other wireless units are deleted. Come out.

  In step S23, the communication mode switching unit 303 of the terminal T1 performs connection to the communication mode B of the carrier B serving as the switching communication mode (communication path establishment). Note that, similarly to step S12, the communication path of carrier A with communication method A remains connected here. It is assumed that the communication path between the carrier B and the base station C2 is performed by a method using an existing SSL or the like in order to ensure security.

  In step S24, the communication scheme switching means 303 of the terminal T1 transmits a switching notification (connection request) for notifying the start of use to the base station C2 of the carrier B of the switching destination communication scheme.

  In step S25, the base station C2 of the carrier B transmits this connection request to the carrier communication system switching means 802 on the system management server 800 in response to the connection request of the terminal T1, and either OK or NG from the carrier communication system switching means 802 is transmitted. Is returned (confirmation of switching). If OK is returned here, the terminal T1 is in a state in which communication by the communication method B can be performed by switching to the wireless unit of the communication method B. However, at this time, communication using only communication method A is possible. On the other hand, if NG is returned for some reason, the process of switching the communication method of the terminal T1 has failed and the process ends.

  In step S26, since the communication mode switching means 303 of the terminal T1 is in a state where the communication mode B of the switching destination carrier B can be used, the communication used so far for the base station C1 of the switching source carrier A A switching notification (disconnection request) indicating that communication in method A is to be ended is transmitted.

  In step S27, in response to the disconnection request from terminal T1, carrier A base station C1 transmits this disconnection request to carrier communication system switching means 802 on system management server 800, and OK or NG from carrier communication system switching means 802 is received. Is returned (confirmation of switching). If OK is returned here, the terminal T1 is in a state in which communication using the communication method A is disconnected. On the other hand, if NG is returned for some reason, the process of switching the communication method of the terminal T1 has failed, and the process ends.

  In step S28, the communication mode switching unit 303 of the terminal T1 switches the designation of the radio unit used so far from the communication mode A to the communication mode B in order to start communication in the communication mode B.

  As described above, the series of processing from step S11 to S28 is executed mainly by the communication mode switching unit 303 of the terminal T1, and in this process, the carrier communication mode information management unit 801 on the system management server 800 performs carrier communication. Information related to the terminal T1 in the system management information 803 is updated. That is, the usage state of the communication method A is updated from “in use” to “unused”, and the use state of the communication method B is updated from “unused” to “in use”. Also, the usable state of communication method A between terminal T1 and carrier A is canceled by carrier communication method switching means 802 on system management server 800, and the communication method B of carrier B is made usable. When the series of processes ends normally, as a result, the usable communication method of the terminal T1 is switched from A to B.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
A software defined radio portable telephone communication system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of the software defined radio mobile phone communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 5, the software defined radio cellular phone communication system according to the second embodiment includes a software defined radio cell phone terminal T1, a partner terminal T2, a partner terminal T3, base stations C1 to C3, a system management server 800, Further, a software radio mobile phone terminal T4 similar to the terminal T1 is provided.

  The system management server 800 includes a carrier communication method information management unit 801, a carrier communication method switching unit 802, carrier communication method management information 803, a base station information management unit 804, base station management information 805, Carrier communication system selection means 806 is provided.

  The carrier communication method information management means 801 registers the wireless unit downloaded on the terminal in the carrier communication method management information 803 in order to manage on the communication network side whether or not the wireless unit of the communication method exists on the terminal. To do. The base station information management means 804 monitors the base stations C1 to C3, registers information such as the congestion status of the base station in the base station management information 805, and performs maintenance. Further, the carrier communication method selection means 806 selects the communication method of the terminal that switches between the carrier and the communication method based on the information of the carrier communication method management information 803 and the base station management information 805.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of carrier communication scheme management information of the software defined radio cellular phone communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, for each terminal (for example, T1, T4), the “base station” in which the terminal is located, the “radio wave state” of the base station, the “usage status” indicating the presence or absence of connection with the base station, the base station The “download status” indicating whether or not the wireless unit of the communication method corresponding to the above has been downloaded and the “version” of the downloaded wireless unit are registered.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of base station management information of the software defined radio mobile phone communication system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 7, for each base station, “carrier”, “communication method”, “operation status”, “communication traffic”, “communication traffic threshold” meaning congestion, “number of connected terminals”, and “meaning congestion”. The “connected terminal number threshold” is registered.

  Next, the operation of the software defined radio portable telephone communication system according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the carrier communication scheme selection means of the software defined radio portable telephone communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the software defined radio cellular phone communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The basic operation of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  The operation will be described by taking as an example a case where an incoming call is notified from the communication network side to the terminal T1. The state of the terminal T1 is as shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows that the terminal T1 is located within the base stations C1, C2, and C3 and uses the base station C1. The state of the base station C1 is as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows that the base station C1 is congested and has more connected terminals and communication traffic than the other base stations C2 and C3.

  Here, when an incoming call to the terminal T1 occurs, the carrier communication method selection means 806 changes the state of the terminal T1 and the states of the base stations C1, C2, and C3 that can be used by the terminal T1 to the carrier communication method management information 803 and the base The base station C3 is selected from the base stations C1, C2, and C3 as the base station that is acquired from the station management information 805 and used for the incoming notification of the terminal T1 based on the information.

  In step S31 of FIG. 8, the carrier communication method selection unit 806 refers to the terminal information (carrier communication method management information 803), searches for and finds a base station having a better radio wave condition than the base station used by the terminal. The target base station is to be switched. In FIG. 6, base stations C2 (80%) and C3 (75%) which are better than the radio wave state (30%) of the base station C1 used by the terminal T1 are to be switched.

  In step S32, the terminal information is referred to, and it is checked whether the radio unit corresponding to the base station to be switched in step S31 has been downloaded in the terminal T1, and if it has been downloaded, the switching process is continued. In FIG. 6, the radio unit corresponding to the base station C2 has not been downloaded, and the radio unit corresponding to the base station C3 has been downloaded, and the switching process is continued for the base station C3.

  In step S33, the base station information (base station management information 805) is referred to, and it is checked whether there is a margin in the communication traffic and the number of connected terminals of the base station to be switched. Continue processing. In FIG. 7, since the communication traffic and the number of connected terminals of the base station C3 are both below the threshold value and are not congested, the process is continued with the base station C3 as a switching target.

  In step S34, the wireless unit is switched.

  When the switching process is interrupted in steps S31 to S33 (when NO is selected), it is determined in step S35 whether there is another base station that can be switched, and if there is, the process returns to step S31 to perform the process. continue.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of the switching process in step S34. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for switching the wireless unit led by a terminal in response to a user request, whereas FIG. 9 is a flowchart for switching the wireless unit led by a network. 4 and 9 differ in the following points.
(1) In step S12-2, a switching request is made from the carrier to the terminal.
(2) There is no screen display or user operation interface in steps S17, S18, and S20.
(3) In step S29, the completion of the switching process is displayed on the screen.

  Through the above procedure, the terminal T1 switches the communication method from the base station C1 of the carrier A and the communication method A to the base station C3 of the carrier C and the communication method C. At this time, the wireless unit of the communication method C has already been downloaded to the terminal T1, and download processing (acquisition of the communication module in step 21 in FIG. 9) is unnecessary, so that an incoming call can be received immediately.

  Note that the download status registered in the terminal information of the carrier communication method management information 803 is updated to “downloaded” by the carrier communication method information management unit 801 when the terminal T completes downloading of the wireless unit, When the wireless unit is deleted in order to download the wireless unit, the carrier communication method information management unit 801 updates it to “undownloaded”.

  9 is not only a notification of incoming calls, but also, for example, a base station with a certain carrier is congested or congested, and other terminals connected to the base station The present invention can also be applied when it is necessary to forcibly switch to another base station.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
A software defined radio cellular phone communication system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a software defined radio mobile phone communication system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the software defined radio portable telephone communication system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 10, the software defined radio mobile phone communication system according to the third embodiment is similar to the second embodiment described above in that the software defined radio portable telephone terminal T1, the counterpart terminal T2, the counterpart terminal T3, and the base stations C1 to C1. C3, a system management server 800, and a software wireless mobile phone terminal T4 are provided.

  The system management server 800 also includes a carrier communication method information management unit 801, a carrier communication method switching unit 802, carrier communication method management information 803, a base station information management unit 804, base station management information 805, and carrier communication. A system selection unit 806 and a carrier communication system switching determination unit 807 are further provided.

  The basic operation of the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. However, when the terminal switches the communication method, the communication network is inquired about whether the communication method can be switched, the communication network determines whether the communication method can be switched based on the communication status, and responds to the terminal. The difference is that switching is performed only when a communication mode switching response is received.

  In FIG. 10, the carrier communication system switching determination unit 807 determines whether to switch the communication system of the terminal based on the base station management information 805 acquired by the base station information management unit 804, and notifies the terminal of the determination result. To do.

  Here, a description will be given by taking as an example the case where the terminal T4 attempts to switch to the base station C1 having a good radio wave state while using the base station C3. In FIG. 11, steps S11 to S18 are the same as the operations in FIG.

  In step S18-2, the terminal T4 inquires whether the communication method A can be switched.

Next, in step S18-3, the carrier communication system switching determination unit 807 determines whether or not switching to the communication system A is possible based on the base station management information 805, and returns a determination result to the terminal T4. The following switching conditions can be considered.
(1) The corresponding base station is operating normally.
(2) The communication traffic of the corresponding base station is below the threshold value.
(3) The number of connected terminals of the corresponding base station is less than or equal to the threshold value.

  In FIG. 7, the base station C1 is operating normally, but the communication traffic is 70% (threshold value 50%), the number of connected terminals is 80 (threshold value 100), and the communication traffic is equal to or greater than the threshold value. Therefore, since the base station C1 is mixed, the carrier communication system switching determination unit 807 responds to the terminal T4 that switching cannot be performed.

  In the terminal T4, when it is determined that the switching is possible in Step S18-3, the processing from Step S19 is continued. In this example, the process returns to the communication method selection in step S18, and the switching process to the base station C2 is continued.

  11 shows an example in which a switchability determination request is made in step S18-2 and a switchability determination response is made in step S18-3. However, in step S16, the switching destination is based on the base station management information 805. Step S18-2 and Step S18-3 may be omitted by extracting only a base station suitable as a base station and responding with a communication method corresponding to the base station.

  By the above procedure, the terminal T4 receives a determination that the switching from the communication network side to the base station C1 is impossible when switching from the base station C3 of the carrier C to the base station C1 of the carrier A. It is not necessary to download the radio unit of the carrier A corresponding to the station C1, and the base station C2 having a good communication state can be selected as the switching destination.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone communication system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone terminal which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the communication system switching means of the software defined radio portable telephone terminal according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone communication system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone communication system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the carrier communication system management information of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone communication system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the base station management information of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone communication system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the carrier communication system selection means of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone communication system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone communication system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone communication system which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the software defined radio | wireless mobile telephone communication system which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  101, 102, 103 application, 201 communication control unit, 301 primary contract carrier communication system registration means, 302 secondary contract carrier communication system registration means, 303 communication system switching means, 304 software radio section information transmission means, 305 software radio section download means 306, software radio module management means 401 common interface module 501, 502, 503, 504 radio section 601 switching candidate confirmation means 602 communication method user selection means 603 user profile selection means 800 system management server 801 Carrier communication system information management means, 802 Carrier communication system switching means, 803 Carrier communication system management information, 804 Base station information management means, 805 Base station management information, 806 carry (A) Communication system selection means, 807 Curia communication system switching judgment means, C1, C2, C3 base station, T1, T4 software wireless mobile phone terminal, T2 wireless mobile phone terminal, T3 wired fixed telephone terminal.

Claims (8)

A plurality of carriers providing communication services using a plurality of different communication methods;
A software wireless mobile phone terminal capable of holding a plurality of wireless units that implement a wireless communication function with software supplied from the carrier, and capable of communicating with a plurality of types of communication methods;
Carrier communication system information management means for managing carrier communication system management information related to carriers and communication systems that are provided outside the software wireless mobile phone terminal and can be used by the software wireless mobile phone terminal;
Software radio cellular phone communication provided with carrier communication scheme switching means provided outside the software radio cellular phone terminal and switching a communication scheme on the system in response to a connection request and a disconnection request of the software radio cellular phone terminal A system,
The software defined radio mobile phone terminal
The carrier communication method information management means registers the first communication method of the first carrier as the main contract in the carrier communication method management information, and sets the second communication method of the second carrier as the sub-contract. Register in the carrier communication method management information,
When a communication system switching request occurs, the first communication system of the first carrier is connected, and the carrier communication system information management means refers to the carrier communication system management information to detect an available communication system. And
When the second communication method of the second carrier is selected from the detected available communication methods, a connection request is transmitted to the second carrier of the switching destination and the second communication method is used. Is ready for communication,
Send a disconnect request to the first carrier of the switching source to disconnect the first communication method;
Switching from the wireless unit of the first communication method to the wireless unit of the second communication method;
The carrier communication system switching means is configured to change the first carrier of the software wireless mobile phone terminal registered in the carrier communication system management information in response to a connection request and a disconnection request from the software wireless mobile phone terminal. A software radio cellular phone communication system, wherein the first communication method is updated from being used to unused, and the second communication method of the second carrier is updated from unused to being used. A software wireless mobile phone terminal capable of holding a plurality of wireless units that implement a wireless communication function with software supplied from a carrier that provides a communication service, and capable of communicating with a plurality of types of communication methods,
Main contract carrier communication method registration means for registering the first communication method of the first carrier to be the main contract in the carrier communication method management information provided outside;
Sub-carrier communication system registration means for registering the second communication system of the second carrier to be sub-contracted in the carrier communication system management information provided outside;
When a communication system switching request is generated, the first communication system of the first carrier is connected, and communication available by referring to the carrier communication system management information by a carrier communication system information management unit provided outside When a second communication method of the second carrier is selected from the detected available communication methods, a connection request is transmitted to the second carrier to be switched to In a state where communication with the second communication method is possible, a disconnection request is transmitted to the first carrier that is the switching source, the first communication method is disconnected, and the wireless unit of the first communication method transmits the first communication method. A software wireless mobile phone terminal comprising: a communication method switching means for switching to a wireless unit of 2 communication methods. Software radio section information transmitting means for transmitting terminal information of the own terminal necessary for switching between radio sections to the first carrier;
When there is no radio unit of the second communication method of the second carrier selected by the communication method switching unit based on response information to the terminal information of the own terminal acquired from the first carrier, If there is a version mismatch, software radio module module management means for displaying on the screen and confirming whether or not the radio module of the second communication method has been acquired, and
When there is a request for acquisition of the wireless unit of the second communication method, software wireless unit download means for downloading the wireless unit of the second communication method from the first carrier to its own terminal is further provided. 3. The software defined radio mobile phone terminal according to claim 2. The communication system switching means is
A search request for an available communication scheme is transmitted to the first carrier, and the carrier communication scheme management information is operated by the carrier communication scheme information management means that operates in response to the search request. 4. The software defined radio mobile phone terminal according to claim 3, further comprising switching candidate confirmation means for detecting a communication method that can be used within the range of the communication method of the carrier that has already been contracted. The communication system switching means is
5. The software defined radio according to claim 4, further comprising: a communication method user selection unit that displays a list of available communication methods detected by the switching candidate confirmation unit on a screen in order to allow a user to select a communication method. Mobile phone terminal. The communication system switching means is
User profile selection means for selecting the second communication method in accordance with a user profile that defines communication method selection priorities from among the available communication methods detected by the switching candidate confirmation means. The software defined radio mobile phone terminal according to claim 4. Base station information management means for managing base station management information related to a base station provided outside the software defined radio mobile phone terminal and used by the software defined radio cell phone terminal;
A carrier that is provided outside the software defined radio mobile phone terminal and selects a communication method for the software defined radio mobile phone terminal that switches between a carrier and a communication method based on the information of the carrier communication method management information and the base station management information. A communication method selection means,
The software wireless mobile phone communication system according to claim 1, wherein the software wireless mobile phone terminal switches to the carrier and communication system selected by the carrier communication system selection means. Carrier communication mode switching that is provided outside the software defined radio mobile phone terminal and determines whether to switch the communication mode of the software defined radio cell phone terminal based on base station management information acquired by the base station information management means A determination unit;
When switching the communication method, the software defined radio mobile phone terminal inquires the communication network whether or not the communication method can be switched, and only when the carrier communication method switching determination means responds with a determination result indicating whether the communication method can be switched. The software-defined radio mobile phone communication system according to claim 7, wherein switching is performed.

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