JP2009177361A - Communication terminal, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily make a plurality of SIMs and control of an application correspond to each other. <P>SOLUTION: A correspondence storage part 41 stores correspondence between subscriber information (telephone number) and the application of an SIM card 3. When communication equipment 2 is started, a subscriber information reading part 46 requests transmission of the subscriber information to the SIM card 3. On receiving a request, in the SIM card 3, a control part 51 reads the subscriber information from a subscriber information storage part 52 to transmit the read subscriber information to the communication equipment 2. A control part 45 receives the subscriber information of the SIM card 3 from the subscriber information reading part 46, and checks the application made correspond to the subscriber information by the correspondence storage part 41. Then, a registration application 42 instructs start of the application to an application selection part 44, and the application selection part 44 starts the instructed application in an application group 43. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal and a computer program. For example, the present invention relates to an apparatus that performs predetermined control on an application corresponding to a mounted SIM.

2. Description of the Related Art Some wireless communication services such as a cellular phone network mount an IC chip called a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module Card) on a communication terminal.
A unique number for identifying a telephone number is assigned to the SIM by the subscriber information, so that the communication terminal can communicate with the telephone number.
Therefore, when the SIM of the communication terminal is replaced, the communication terminal can be used with a telephone number corresponding to the replaced SIM.

Examples of the communication terminal include a mobile phone and a personal computer, and each can be connected to a communication network such as a mobile phone network using a telephone number recorded in the SIM by attaching a SIM.
In this way, the SIM can cause the communication device to function as a communication terminal having a telephone number recorded in the SIM.

By the way, there is a case where one communication terminal wants to use a plurality of SIMs. For this reason, a communication terminal capable of mounting a plurality of SIMs has been proposed, such as the “wireless communication terminal” in the following Patent Document 1. .
JP 2004-159062 A

  In this technology, a plurality of SIMs are mounted on a wireless communication terminal and are switched so that one wireless communication terminal can be used as a plurality of wireless communication terminals.

  In the case of selecting an application corresponding to a plurality of SIMs, the above configuration has a plurality of SIM slots, and the application control needs to be different for each SIM. There is a problem that the device becomes complicated and the size of the device increases and the cost increases.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to facilitate the correspondence between a plurality of SIMs and application control.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an IC chip connecting means for connecting to an IC chip storing subscriber information for identifying a user in a communication service provided by a communication carrier. Subscriber information acquisition means for acquiring subscriber information from the connected IC chip, correspondence storage means for storing subscriber information and an application correspondingly, and the acquired subscriber information and the correspondence storage means. Application identification means for identifying an application corresponding to the acquired subscriber information by comparing stored subscriber information; and control means for performing predetermined control on the identified application. A communication terminal is provided.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the communication terminal according to the first aspect, wherein the control means starts the identified application.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the communication terminal according to the first aspect, wherein the control unit enables the specified application to operate and disables the unspecified application.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, subscriber information input means for inputting subscriber information, application designation means for designating an application, and the inputted subscriber information and the designated application are associated with the correspondence storage means. The communication terminal according to claim 1, 2, or 3 is provided.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the IC chip connecting means is directly or indirectly connected to the IC chip, according to any one of the first to fourth aspects. A communication terminal according to the claims is provided.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the IC chip connecting means connects to the IC chip via a wireless terminal. The communication terminal described is provided.
In the invention according to claim 7, a subscriber information acquisition function for acquiring subscriber information from an IC chip storing subscriber information for identifying a user in a communication service provided by a communication carrier, subscriber information, The application corresponding to the acquired subscriber information is specified by collating the correspondence storage function for storing the application in correspondence with the acquired subscriber information and the subscriber information stored by the correspondence storage function. There is provided a computer program for realizing an application specifying function and a control function for performing predetermined control on the specified application by a computer.

  According to the present invention, by storing the correspondence between the SIM and the application, it is possible to easily cope with the control of the plurality of SIMs and the application.

(1) Outline of Embodiment When an application corresponding to SIM subscriber information (telephone number or the like) is registered in an automatic start application using a data communication card equipped with a SIM and a dedicated automatic start application, the automatic start application By using the launcher function, the subscriber information of the inserted SIM is called and the registered application is started. This makes it possible to provide a startup application switching tool using SIM.

The correspondence storage unit 41 (FIG. 2) stores correspondence between subscriber information (telephone number) of the SIM card 3 and applications.
When the communication device 2 is activated, the subscriber information reading unit 46 requests the SIM card 3 to transmit subscriber information. In response to this, in the SIM card 3, the control unit 51 reads the subscriber information from the subscriber information storage unit 52 and transmits it to the communication device 2.

The control unit 45 receives the subscriber information of the SIM card 3 from the subscriber information reading unit 46, and confirms the application associated with the subscriber information in the correspondence storage unit 41.
Then, the registration application 42 instructs the application selection unit 44 to start the application, and the application selection unit 44 starts the commanded application in the application group 43.

As described above, when the user activates the communication device 2, the user can automatically activate the application associated with the SIM card 3 in advance.
Further, in the modified example, applications that can be used by the SIM card 3 are restricted by making the application associated with the SIM card 3 in the correspondence storage unit 41 usable and disabling other applications.

(2) Details of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a communication terminal according to the present embodiment.
The communication terminal 1 is roughly composed of a communication device 2 and a SIM card 3.
The communication device 2 includes a terminal device such as a personal computer, a mobile phone, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).
In the present embodiment, as an example, the communication terminal 1 is described as being configured by a personal computer, but the configuration is basically the same for a mobile phone or the like.

  The communication device 2 includes, for example, a communication circuit 21, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 22, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 23, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 24, a storage unit 25, an input unit 26, an output unit 27, an interface 28, The SIM slot 29 and other functional units are used.

  The communication circuit 21 wirelessly connects the communication device 2 and a base station (not shown). The communication device 2 can be connected to a communication network via the communication circuit 21 to transmit and receive data.

The CPU 22 implements the functions of these applications by executing an OS (Operating System) that is basic software for causing the communication device 2 to function and various application programs stored in the storage unit 25.
In addition, the CPU 22 can also perform wireless communication with an external network by operating the communication circuit 21 using an application function.

The ROM 23 is a read-only memory and stores basic programs and parameters for the CPU 22 to function.
The RAM 24 is a readable / writable memory, and provides a working memory when the CPU 22 operates.

The storage unit 25 is a storage device including a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk, and stores an OS, various application programs, other programs, data, and the like.
The CPU 22 provides the user with various functions provided by each application, such as executing an automatic startup program stored in the storage unit 25 to start an application corresponding to the SIM and operating the started application. .
When the communication terminal 1 is configured by a mobile phone or the like, the storage unit 25 can be configured by an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM) or the like.

The input unit 26 includes, for example, an input device for inputting a character code such as a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse and a trackball, a voice input device such as a microphone, and other input devices. Accept input.
The output unit 27 includes, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display and a sound output device such as a speaker, and displays characters, images, sounds, and the like to the user.

  The user can use the service provided by the application by operating the application using the input unit 26 or the output unit 27 or by connecting to the communication network via the communication circuit 21.

The interface 28 is an interface that connects an electrode formed in the SIM slot 29 and a signal line that connects the communication circuit 21 to the output unit 27.
As will be described later, the IC chip attached to the SIM card 3 functions as an IC chip that stores subscriber information for specifying a user in a communication service provided by a communication carrier. It functions as IC chip connection means for connecting to the chip.

  The SIM slot 29 includes an electrode that is connected to an electrode formed on the SIM card 3, is electrically connected to the SIM card 3, and is physically detachably fixed to the communication device 2. .

The SIM card 3 is configured by providing an interface 31 on an IC chip on which a CPU 32, a ROM 33, a RAM 34, a storage unit 35, and the like are formed and housing the resin 31 in a resin case.
The interface 31 is provided with an electrode that is electrically connected to the terminal of the IC chip and is connected to the electrode of the SIM slot 29.

The CPU 32 operates according to a predetermined program, and provides subscriber information to the communication device 2 in response to a request from the communication device 2.
The ROM 33 is a read-only memory, and stores basic programs and parameters for the CPU 32 to function.
The RAM 34 is a readable / writable memory, and provides a working memory when the CPU 32 operates.

  The storage unit 35 is configured by, for example, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM), and stores a program for operating the CPU 32, subscriber information, and the like.

Subscriber information (telephone number) is stored in the storage unit 35. When the communication device 2 communicates with the communication network via the communication circuit 21, the communication device 2 communicates with the telephone number based on the subscriber information.
In this embodiment, the subscriber information is defined by the telephone number, but any information that allows the communication carrier to identify the user may be used.
As described above, the IC chip of the SIM card 3 functions as an IC chip that stores subscriber information for identifying a user in a communication service provided by a communication carrier.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the communication device 2 is provided with the communication circuit 21 and the SIM card 3 can be inserted. However, the communication device 2 does not include the communication circuit 21 and the communication circuit 21 and the SIM card are inserted. The card-type wireless device having 3 can be configured to be attached to the communication device 2. In this case, the communication device 2 is indirectly connected to the SIM card 3 via the circuit configuration of the wireless device.
In this case, the communication device 2 is wirelessly connected to the base station using a wireless device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a functional configuration of the communication terminal.
In the communication device 2, the correspondence storage unit 41 is formed in the storage unit 25 (FIG. 1).
The application selection unit 44, the control unit 45, and the subscriber information reading unit 46 constitute an automatic startup application (launcher), and are formed by the CPU 22 executing the automatic startup program stored in the storage unit 25.

The registration application 42 and the applications A to n of the application group 43 are configured by the CPU 22 executing application programs stored in the storage unit 25.
The applications A to n constituting the application group 43 are applications to be controlled by the automatic startup application, and are applications to be controlled to be operable / impossible in a modified example described later.

The correspondence storage unit 41 stores the correspondence between the subscriber information of the SIM card 3 and the application to be activated.
The correspondence storage unit 41 functions as correspondence storage means for storing subscriber information and applications in association with each other.

The registration application 42 is an application that provides a user with a function of registering an application to be automatically started in the correspondence storage unit 41.
The registration application 42 not only stores the correspondence between the subscriber information and the application in the correspondence storage unit 41 but can edit the correspondence between the subscriber information and the application, such as releasing the correspondence.

The application group 43 includes a plurality of applications A, B,.
Applications A, B,..., N are, for example, e-mail applications, web browsers, stock price analysis programs, games, etc., which provide services to users through wireless communication with communication networks, as well as word processors, etc. Applications that do not use a network may be included.

The application selection unit 44 selectively activates the application designated by the control unit 45.
In this way, each application of the registration application 42 and the application group 43 can be activated by the application selection unit 44.
These can also be activated by the user clicking on an activation icon.

The control unit 45 is associated with the SIM card 3 by acquiring the subscriber information of the SIM card 3 from the subscriber information reading unit 46 when the communication device 2 is activated, and collating this with the correspondence of the correspondence storage unit 41. Identify the application that
Then, the control unit 45 instructs the application selection unit 44 to activate the application.

  The subscriber information reading unit 46 accesses the SIM card 3 via the interface 28, the SIM slot 29, and the interface 31 when the communication device 2 is activated, reads the subscriber information from the SIM card 3, and notifies the control unit 45. .

On the other hand, in the SIM card 3, a control unit 51, a subscriber information storage unit 52, and the like are formed.
The control unit 51 is formed by the CPU 32 executing a predetermined program stored in the storage unit 35 (FIG. 1), receives a request from the subscriber information reading unit 46, and receives the request from the subscriber information storage unit 52. The subscriber information is read and transmitted to the subscriber information reading unit 46.
The subscriber information storage unit 52 is formed in the storage unit 35 and stores subscriber information such as a telephone number.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of correspondence stored in the correspondence storage unit 41.
As shown in the figure, the correspondence storage unit 41 stores subscriber information and applications in association with each other.
The subscriber information is information for identifying the user (subscriber) in the communication network, and in this embodiment, the user's telephone number is used.
The application is associated with the subscriber information among the applications that can be activated by the application selection unit 44.
In FIG. 3, one application is associated with one subscriber information, but a plurality of applications can be associated with one subscriber information.

A procedure for automatically starting an application in the communication terminal 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
It is assumed that the SIM card 3 is attached to the communication device 2.
First, when the user turns on the power of the communication device 2, the automatic activation application is activated (step 5), and the control unit 45 requests subscriber information from the SIM card 3 (step 10).

In the SIM card 3, the control unit 51 receives the request, reads the subscriber information from the subscriber information storage unit 52, and transmits it to the control unit 45 (step 15).
When receiving the subscriber information from the SIM card 3 (step 20), the control unit 45 confirms whether or not the subscriber information has been registered in the correspondence storage unit 41 (step 25).
Thus, the communication device 2 includes subscriber information acquisition means for acquiring subscriber information from the IC chip of the SIM card 3 connected to the interface 28.
When the subscriber information is not registered in the correspondence storage unit 41 (step 25; N), the communication device 2 is activated without activating the application.

If there is registered subscriber information (step 25; Y), the control unit 45 determines whether or not there is an application associated with the subscriber information, and if so, which application it is. It confirms with the memory | storage part 41 (step 30).
In this way, the communication device 2 compares the subscriber information acquired from the SIM card 3 with the subscriber information stored in the corresponding storage means (corresponding storage unit 41), thereby acquiring the subscriber acquired from the SIM card 3. Application specifying means for specifying an application corresponding to the information is provided.

When there is a corresponding application (step 35; Y), the control unit 45 instructs the application selection unit 44 to start the corresponding application, and the application selection unit 44 starts the corresponding application (step 60). ).
As described above, the communication device 2 includes a control unit that performs predetermined control (activation in the present embodiment) on the application identified in step 35.

If there is no corresponding application (step 35; N), the control unit 45 instructs the application selection unit 44 to activate the registration application 42 (step 40).
When activated, the registration application 42 displays an application selection screen on the display (step 45).

  On the application selection screen, the subscriber information read from the SIM card 3 and a list of applications that can be associated are displayed in a selectable manner, and the user information can be associated with the application that is automatically activated when the user selects the application. In this way, the registration application 42 accepts a selection from the user (step 50).

Upon receiving the user's selection, the registration application 42 associates the application with the subscriber information of the SIM card 3 and stores it in the correspondence storage unit 41 (step 55), and activates the application (step 60).
As described above, in the present embodiment, when the communication device 2 is activated, an application associated with the SIM card 3 in advance can be activated automatically. The communication device 2 does not perform automatic activation particularly when no application is registered in the SIM card 3.

Next, a procedure for registering the SIM card 3 and the application will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same processing as in FIG. 4 is described with the same step number.
First, the SIM card 3 activates the registration application 42 by a user operation or the like (step 105).
The registration application 42 reads the correspondence between the subscriber information and the application from the correspondence storage unit 41 (step 110).

Next, the registration application 42 checks whether the SIM card 3 has been inserted into the SIM slot 29 (step 115).
If it has not been inserted (step 115; N), the registration application 42 ends the process.
When the SIM card 3 is inserted (step 115; Y), the registration application 42 accesses the SIM card 3 and requests subscriber information (step 120).
In response to the request, the SIM card 3 transmits the subscriber information to the registration application 42 (step 125).

When the registration application 42 receives the subscriber information from the SIM card 3 (step 130), the registration application 42 compares it with the correspondence read in step 110 to check whether the subscriber information of the SIM card 3 has been registered (step 135). ).
If not registered (step 135; N), the registration application 42 stores the subscriber information of the SIM card 3 in the correspondence storage unit 41 and adds it (step 140).
As described above, the communication device 2 includes subscriber information input means for reading and inputting the subscriber information from the SIM card 3.

  After adding the subscriber information in step 140 or when the subscriber information of the SIM card 3 has been registered (step 135; Y), the registration application 42 displays an application selection screen as in FIG. Display (step 45), accept application selection (step 50), and store the correspondence between the subscriber information and the application in the correspondence storage unit 41 (step 55).

  As described above, the communication device 2 includes an application designating unit for designating an application by reception from the selection screen, a subscriber information read and input from the SIM card 3 and the designated application, and a corresponding storage unit (corresponding storage unit 41). Registration means to register by storing in association with

In the above description, when a SIM card 3 is newly registered, the application is associated with the SIM card 3. However, the registered SIM card 3 and application can be deleted from the correspondence storage unit 41.
As described above, when the communication device 2 inserts the SIM card 3 and activates the registration application 42, the communication device 2 calls the SIM subscriber information (phone number) provided in the SIM card 3 and displays the application selection screen. It is possible to register an application to be automatically activated for the SIM.

In the above example, the user of the SIM card 3 can select the application registration, but separately from this, the telecommunications carrier can operate only the application corresponding to the unique service of each telecommunications carrier, You may make it the structure which makes selection by a user impossible.
With such a configuration, a telecommunications carrier can provide a service specific to a subscriber of its own telecommunications service, and can disable the use of another telecommunications carrier by the SIM card 3.

Next, a modification of the present embodiment will be described.
In the present modification, the operation of the application is limited corresponding to the SIM card 3. That is, an application associated with the SIM card 3 in the correspondence storage unit 41 can operate, but other applications limit the operation.

  In this way, by selectively setting applications that can be operated by the SIM card 3, for example, a plurality of users can individually own the SIM card 3 and use their own applications, thereby restricting the use of others. be able to.

The operation of the communication device 2 according to this modification will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The same processes as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same step numbers, and the description will be simplified and omitted.
When the communication device 2 is activated (step 5), it requests subscriber information from the SIM card 3 (step 10), and the SIM card 3 transmits the subscriber information to the communication device 2 (step 15).

When the communication device 2 receives the subscriber information from the SIM card 3 (step 20), the communication device 2 confirms whether it is registered in the correspondence storage unit 41 (step 25). If not registered (step 25; N), the processing is performed. Exit.
When the subscriber information is registered (step 25; Y), the communication device 2 confirms the application associated with the subscriber information in the correspondence storage unit 41 (step 30).

When there is a corresponding application in the application group 43 (step 35; Y), the communication device 2 sets this to be operable (step 70) and sets other applications to be inoperable.
When there is no corresponding application (step 35; N), the communication device 2 sets the application of the application group 43 to be unusable.
The control unit of the embodiment described above automatically starts the application. However, in this modification, the application specified by the correspondence in the correspondence storage unit 41 can be operated, and the application not specified cannot be operated. It is said.

As described above, in this modification, after the SIM card 3 is inserted and the subscriber information confirmation is confirmed after the SIM card 3 is not inserted or the subscriber information is not confirmed, the application other than the automatic activation application is set to be inoperable. The predetermined application can be operated.
As a result, only the owner of the specific SIM card 3 can use a predetermined corresponding application, and the convenience of the communication terminal 1 can be improved and unauthorized use by others can be prevented.

The following effects can be obtained by the embodiment or the modification described above.
(1) Since the automatic activation application by the SIM card 3 is switched in a single SIM slot 29, the hardware configuration is not complicated and the cost can be reduced.
(2) The user can save the trouble of starting the application after confirming the subscriber information of the SIM card 3 one by one.
(3) A plurality of correspondences between the SIM card 3 and the application to be activated can be set and edited.
(4) It is possible to set whether or not the application can be operated corresponding to the SIM card 3.
(5) In a data communication card equipped with a SIM and a dedicated application, when an application corresponding to subscriber information (telephone number or the like) is registered by the dedicated application registration function, the SIM of the SIM inserted by the dedicated application launcher is registered. Subscriber information can be called and registered applications can be launched.

It is the figure which showed an example of the hardware constitutions of the communication terminal which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the functional structure of a communication terminal. It is the figure which showed an example of the correspondence which the correspondence storage part has memorized. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the procedure which starts an application automatically. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the procedure which registers a SIM card and an application. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the communication apparatus which concerns on this modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication terminal 2 Communication apparatus 3 SIM card 21 Communication circuit 22 CPU
23 ROM
24 RAM
25 Storage Unit 26 Input Unit 27 Output Unit 28 Interface 29 SIM Slot 31 Interface 32 CPU
33 ROM
34 RAM
35 Storage Unit 41 Corresponding Storage Unit 42 Application for Registration 43 Application Group 44 Application Selection Unit 45 Control Unit 46 Subscriber Information Reading Unit 51 Control Unit 52 Subscriber Information Storage Unit

Claims (7)

IC chip connection means for connecting to an IC chip storing subscriber information for identifying a user in a communication service provided by a communication carrier;
Subscriber information acquisition means for acquiring subscriber information from the connected IC chip;
Correspondence storage means for storing subscriber information and applications in correspondence;
Application identification means for identifying an application corresponding to the acquired subscriber information by comparing the acquired subscriber information with the subscriber information stored in the correspondence storage means;
Control means for performing predetermined control on the identified application;
A communication terminal comprising:   The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit activates the identified application.   2. The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit enables the specified application to operate and disables an application that has not been specified. 3. Subscriber information input means for inputting subscriber information;
An application specifying means for specifying an application;
Registration means for registering by registering the input subscriber information and the designated application in association with the correspondence storage means;
The communication terminal according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3.   The communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the IC chip connection means is directly or indirectly connected to the IC chip.   The communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the IC chip connection means connects to the IC chip via a wireless terminal. A subscriber information acquisition function for acquiring subscriber information from an IC chip storing subscriber information for identifying a user in a communication service provided by a communication carrier;
Corresponding storage function for storing subscriber information and application correspondingly;
An application specifying function for specifying an application corresponding to the acquired subscriber information by comparing the acquired subscriber information with the subscriber information stored in the correspondence storage function;
A control function for performing predetermined control on the identified application;
A computer program that implements

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