JP2012227610A - Mobile terminal, tethering terminal, network connection system, and network connection method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select a tethering terminal suitable for a user from a plurality of tethering terminals.SOLUTION: A mobile terminal 2 comprises: a terminal search part 203 which searches one or more tethering terminals capable of achieving communication to and from terminals based on a connection request to a network; a condition information acquisition part 204 which acquires condition information for tethering processing from the tethering terminal searched by the terminal search part 203; a terminal selection part 205 which selects a tethering terminal 3 as a tethering object, based on the condition information acquired by the condition information acquisition part 204; and an Internet connection part 206 which is connected to the network via the tethering terminal selected by the terminal selection part 205.

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, a tethering terminal, a network connection system, and a network connection method.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, tethering that uses a mobile phone such as a smartphone as an external modem to connect a mobile terminal such as a notebook PC (Personal Computer) or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) to the Internet through a mobile phone line is known. Conventionally, among a plurality of connection candidate communication devices that can access a wireless communication network, a communication device that communicates with a connection candidate communication device that has transmitted a wireless signal having the largest wireless signal strength value is known. (Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-101293 A

  By the way, when there are a plurality of mobile phones (hereinafter referred to as tethering terminals) capable of tethering around the mobile terminal, conventionally, the user of the mobile terminal who wants to perform tethering has to manually select one tethering terminal. On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for selecting a connection candidate communication device based on the strength of a radio signal from a plurality of connection candidate communication devices in a wireless communication network. However, even if the technology is applied to selection of a tethering terminal, it is not possible to select a tethering terminal appropriate for the user. For example, when a tethering terminal having a strong wireless signal but a low battery level is selected from a plurality of tethering terminals around the portable terminal, the tethering time is short and the convenience of the portable terminal user is reduced. .

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides a mobile terminal, a tethering terminal, a network connection system, and a network connection method capable of selecting an appropriate tethering terminal for a user from a plurality of tethering terminals. The purpose is to do.

  In order to solve the above problems, a mobile terminal according to the present invention includes a terminal search unit that searches for one or more tethering terminals capable of inter-terminal communication with its own terminal based on a connection request to a network, and a terminal search unit. Condition information acquisition means for acquiring condition information for tethering processing from the searched tethering terminal, and terminal selection means for selecting one tethering terminal to be tethered based on the condition information acquired by the condition information acquisition means And network connection means for connecting to the network via the tethering terminal selected by the terminal selection means.

  The network connection method of the present invention includes a terminal search step in which the mobile terminal searches for one or more tethering terminals capable of inter-terminal communication with the terminal based on a connection request to the network, and the mobile terminal includes: A condition information acquisition step for acquiring condition information for tethering processing from the tethering terminal searched in the terminal search step, and a portable terminal that is targeted for tethering based on the condition information acquired in the condition information acquisition step A terminal selection step of selecting a tethering terminal; and a network connection step of connecting the mobile terminal to the network via the tethering terminal selected in the terminal selection step.

  According to such a portable terminal and a network connection method, one or more tethering terminals capable of communication between the terminal and the terminal are searched based on a connection request to the network, and the tethering processing is performed from the searched tethering terminal. Condition information is acquired, and based on the acquired condition information, one tethering terminal to be tethered is selected and connected to the network via the selected tethering terminal. With this configuration, it is possible to select an appropriate tethering terminal for the user based on the condition information for the tethering process.

  The portable terminal of the present invention further includes priority logic storage means for storing priority logic for performing prioritization for selecting a tethering terminal to be tethered based on condition information of the tethering terminal. Preferably, the means further selects the tethering terminal based on the priority logic stored by the priority logic storage means. With this configuration, it is possible to select an appropriate tethering terminal for the user based on the priority order logic stored in advance in the mobile terminal.

  Further, the priority logic storage means of the present invention stores priority logic for each application that makes a connection request to the network, and the terminal selection means is further based on the application that is the request source of the connection request to the network. It is preferable to select a tethering terminal. With this configuration, it is possible to select an appropriate tethering terminal for the user for each application that requests connection to the network.

  In the mobile terminal of the present invention, it is preferable that the condition information includes at least one of information on a remaining battery level, whether charging is being performed, and network contract details. With this configuration, it is possible to select an appropriate tethering terminal for the user based on the remaining battery level of the tethering terminal, whether or not charging is being performed, or the contents of the network contract.

  In addition, the mobile terminal of the present invention includes a condition information reacquisition unit that acquires condition information from a tethering terminal that is connected to the network after being connected to the network by the network connection unit, and a condition information reacquisition unit Based on the condition information acquired by the terminal switching determination means for determining whether or not to reconnect to the network via a different tethering terminal, and when determined to reconnect by the terminal switching determination means, different tethering terminals are It is preferable to include terminal reselecting means to select and network reconnecting means to reconnect to the network via the tethering terminal selected by the terminal reselecting means.

  According to such a portable terminal, after being connected to the network by the network connection means, the condition information is acquired from the tethering terminal through which to connect to the network, and different tethering is performed based on the acquired condition information. It is determined whether or not to reconnect to the network via the terminal. If it is determined to reconnect, a different tethering terminal is selected and reconnected to the network via the selected tethering terminal. By adopting such a configuration, the tethering terminal can be changed to a different tethering terminal depending on the situation of the tethering terminal, and therefore, an appropriate tethering terminal for the user can be selected in real time depending on the situation.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the network reconnection unit of the present invention maintains the connection of the application layer when reconnecting to the network. By adopting such a configuration, even when the tethering terminal is changed, the connection of the application layer is maintained, so that convenience for the user is improved.

  Further, the tethering terminal of the present invention is a condition information transmitting means for transmitting condition information for tethering processing to a portable terminal when the own terminal is searched from the portable terminal as a tethering terminal capable of inter-terminal communication with the portable terminal. And when the mobile terminal receives from the mobile terminal a request to connect to the network via the mobile terminal after selecting the mobile terminal as a tethering terminal to be tethered based on the condition information transmitted by the condition information transmitting means. Tethering means for performing tethering.

  According to such a tethering terminal, the condition information for the tethering process is transmitted to the portable terminal when the own terminal is searched from the portable terminal as a tethering terminal capable of inter-terminal communication with the portable terminal. Tethering is performed when a request for connecting to a network is received from a portable terminal via the own terminal after the portable terminal selects the own terminal as a tethering terminal to be tethered based on the condition information. With this configuration, it is possible to select an appropriate tethering terminal for the user based on the condition information for the tethering process.

  Further, the tethering terminal of the present invention includes a priority order storage means for storing the priority order of the mobile terminal that performs tethering, and a mobile terminal that is different as a tethering terminal capable of inter-terminal communication when tethering is performed by the tethering means. When the own terminal is searched, based on the priority order stored by the priority order storage means, the tethering switching determining means for determining whether to terminate the current tethering and perform tethering on a different portable terminal The tethering switching determining means preferably further comprises tethering switching means for switching the tethering when it is determined that the current tethering is terminated and tethering is performed on a different mobile terminal.

  According to such a tethering terminal, the priority order of the portable terminal to be tethered is stored, and when tethering is performed by the tethering means, the own terminal is searched from different portable terminals as tethering terminals capable of inter-terminal communication. If it is determined whether to terminate the current tethering and perform tethering on a different mobile terminal based on the stored priority, the current tethering is terminated and On the other hand, when it is determined that tethering is to be performed, the tethering is switched. With this configuration, it is possible to select an appropriate tethering terminal for the user based on the priorities stored in advance in the tethering terminal.

  Further, as described below, the present invention can be regarded as a network connection system in addition to a portable terminal, a tethering terminal, and a network connection method. These inventions are different in category and have the same effects as the terminal.

  The network connection system of the present invention is a network connection system including a tethering terminal and a mobile terminal connected to the network via the tethering terminal, and the mobile terminal is connected to the terminal and the terminal based on a connection request to the network. A terminal search means for searching for one or more tethering terminals capable of inter-communication, a condition information acquisition means for acquiring condition information for tethering processing from the tethering terminal searched by the terminal search means, and a condition information acquisition means Tethering comprising: a terminal selection unit that selects one tethering terminal to be tethered based on the acquired condition information; and a network connection unit that connects to the network via the tethering terminal selected by the terminal selection unit. The terminal is a tethering terminal that can communicate with the mobile terminal. When the mobile terminal is searched for from the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal automatically transmits the condition information transmitting means for transmitting condition information for the tethering process to the mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal based on the condition information transmitted by the condition information transmitting means. Tethering means for performing tethering when a request for connection to a network is received from the mobile terminal after selecting the terminal as a tethering terminal to be tethered.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to select a tethering terminal appropriate for the user from a plurality of tethering terminals.

It is a system configuration figure showing the system configuration of the network connection system concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the tethering terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the portable terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the tethering terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the priority logic storage table in embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram (the 1) which shows the process of the network connection method performed with the network connection system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram (the 2) which shows the process of the network connection method performed with the network connection system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart (the 1) which shows the process of the network connection method performed with the network connection system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart (the 2) which shows the process of the network connection method performed with the network connection system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart (the 3) which shows the process of the network connection method performed with the network connection system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart (the 4) which shows the process of the network connection method performed with the network connection system which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a mobile terminal, a tethering terminal, a network connection system, and a network connection method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a system configuration of a network connection system 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the network connection system 1 includes a mobile terminal 2, a tethering terminal 3 (tethering terminal 3a, tethering terminal 3b, and tethering terminal 3c), an APN 4, and a network 5. Hereinafter, the tethering terminal 3a, the tethering terminal 3b, and the tethering terminal 3c are collectively referred to as the tethering terminal 3.

  The portable terminal 2 is a portable terminal such as a portable game machine, a PDA, or a notebook PC, and can perform inter-terminal communication with a tethering terminal 3 described later by wireless network communication such as wireless LAN communication. The tethering terminal 3 is a mobile phone such as a smartphone capable of tethering, and can perform inter-terminal communication with the mobile terminal 2 through wireless network communication such as wireless LAN communication. It can be connected to the network 5. The APN 4 is a server device indicated by an APN (Access Point Name) indicating a connection destination when connecting to the network 5 using a mobile phone line. The tethering terminal 3 is connected to the network 5 via the APN 4. The network 5 is a public network such as the Internet.

  In the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 2 is connected to any one tethering terminal 3 by performing inter-terminal communication by wireless LAN communication, and the mobile terminal 2 uses the tethering terminal 3 to connect the tethering terminal 3. To the network 5 via the network.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 2 includes a priority logic storage unit 200 (priority logic storage unit), an Internet connection request reception unit 201, a wireless LAN connection unit 202, a terminal search unit 203 (terminal search unit), and condition information. Acquisition unit 204 (condition information acquisition unit, condition information reacquisition unit), terminal selection unit 205 (terminal selection unit, terminal reselection unit), Internet connection unit 206 (network connection unit, network reconnection unit), terminal monitoring unit 207 And a terminal switching determination unit 208 (terminal switching determination means).

  The portable terminal 2 is configured by hardware such as a CPU. FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the mobile terminal 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the portable terminal 2 shown in FIG. 2 physically includes a CPU 250, a RAM 251 and a ROM 252, which are main storage devices, an input / output device 253, and a wireless LAN communication module 254 for performing wireless LAN communication. Etc. are configured as a computer system.

  The function of each functional block of the portable terminal 2 shown in FIG. 2 is such that predetermined computer software is read on hardware such as the CPU 250 and the RAM 251 shown in FIG. This is realized by operating the wireless LAN communication module 254 and reading and writing data in the RAM 251.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the tethering terminal 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the tethering terminal 3 includes a priority storage unit 300 (priority storage unit), a wireless LAN connection unit 301, a condition information transmission unit 302 (condition information transmission unit), and a tethering unit 303 (tethering unit, tethering switching). Means), a condition monitoring unit 304, and a tethering switching determination unit 305 (tethering switching determination unit).

  The tethering terminal 3 is configured by hardware such as a CPU. FIG. 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the tethering terminal 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the tethering terminal 3 shown in FIG. 3 physically includes a CPU 350, a RAM 351 and a ROM 352, which are main storage devices, an input / output device 353, and a wireless LAN communication module 354 for performing wireless LAN communication. The computer system includes a mobile phone line communication module 355 for connecting to the network 5 using a mobile phone line.

  The function of each functional block of the tethering terminal 3 shown in FIG. 3 is obtained by reading predetermined computer software on hardware such as the CPU 350 and RAM 351 shown in FIG. This is realized by operating the wireless LAN communication module 354 and the mobile phone line communication module 355 and reading and writing data in the RAM 351.

  Hereinafter, each functional block of the portable terminal 2 will be described based on the functional blocks of the portable terminal 2 shown in FIG.

  The priority logic storage unit 200 stores priority logic for performing prioritization for selecting the tethering terminal 3 to be tethered by the mobile terminal 2 based on the condition information of the tethering terminal 3. Here, the condition information is information including conditions for the tethering process, and examples thereof include status information and contract contents. Specifically, the status information includes a remaining battery level that is the remaining battery capacity of the tethering terminal 3 and whether or not the battery of the tethering terminal 3 is being charged through a charger. Further, the contents of the contract include the contents of the network contract that is the contents of the contract related to the communication fee and the communication speed of the tethering terminal 3.

  The condition information of the tethering terminal 3 includes one or more information of the remaining battery level, whether charging is in progress, and the contents of the network contract. For example, regarding the remaining battery level and whether or not the battery is being charged, an important condition for selecting the tethering terminal 3 is that the battery of the tethering terminal 3 performing tethering runs out and the portable terminal 2 cannot connect to the network 5. It becomes. Similarly, for the contents of the network contract, the tethering terminal 3 is selected because the communication fee and the communication speed for tethering change according to the contents of the fee contract and the communication speed contract of the tethering terminal 3 that is tethering. It becomes an important condition in doing.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a priority logic table stored by the priority logic storage unit 200. In the priority logic table shown in FIG. The line indicates the standard. Based on the condition information of each tethering terminal 3 acquired by the condition information acquisition unit 204 described later, the terminal selection unit 205 determines whether or not each tethering terminal 3 satisfies each criterion, and the result is determined by priority logic. The storage unit 200 stores it. For example, reference No. Reference numeral 1 denotes a criterion regarding whether or not the tethering function is possible, and it can be seen from the condition information acquired from the tethering terminals 3a to 3c that it is determined that the tethering function is possible for all of the tethering terminals 3a to 3c. The terminal selection unit 205 described later determines the connection priority of the tethering terminals 3a to 3c based on the determination result, and selects the tethering terminal 3a to be connected according to the connection priority. For example, the terminal selection unit 205 may select the tethering terminal 3 having the first connection priority, or may select the tethering terminal 3 by another predetermined method based on the connection priority.

  As for the standard, the standard number of the table. The smaller the is, the higher the connection priority is. For example, the determination results of the tethering terminals 3a to 3c shown in FIG. When the reference is made in order from 1, the reference number of the table is shown. 1 to 3, the tethering terminals 3a to 3c all satisfy the standard. Reference No. 4, the tethering terminal 3c does not satisfy the standard. Therefore, at this time, the connection priority of the tethering terminal 3c is determined by the terminal selection unit 205 as the lowest third place. Subsequently, reference No. For 5, tethering terminals 3a and 3b both meet the criteria. Reference No. 6, since the tethering terminal 3 a does not satisfy the standard, the terminal selection unit 205 determines that the connection priority of the tethering terminal 3 a is second and the tethering terminal 3 b is first at this time.

  Note that the priority logic storage unit 200 may store priority logic for each application that is a request source of a connection request to the network 5 received by the Internet connection request receiving unit 201 described later. For example, the priority logic storage unit 200 may store a priority logic for a WEB browser, a priority logic for a moving image browsing application, and the like. Further, the priority logic storage unit 200 may include a reference based on the operation history and the movement history of the tethering terminal 3 in addition to the reference shown in FIG. Thereby, for example, the condition that the tethering terminal 3 is turned off at a specific time and moved to a distant place where the wireless LAN connection with the mobile terminal 2 cannot be performed at a specific time is taken into consideration. Become.

  The Internet connection request reception unit 201 receives a connection request to the network 5 from an application operating on the mobile terminal 2. The internet connection request accepting unit 201 outputs the accepted connection request to the wireless LAN connecting unit 202.

  When a connection request is input from the Internet connection request accepting unit 201, the wireless LAN connection unit 202 activates a wireless LAN application. The wireless LAN connection unit 202 performs processing related to the wireless LAN, such as establishment of a wireless LAN connection, monitoring of a wireless LAN state, and disconnection of the wireless LAN connection, by the activated wireless LAN application.

  The terminal search unit 203 uses a wireless LAN application activated by the wireless LAN connection unit 202 to attempt a wireless LAN connection to the tethering terminal 3 located in the vicinity, and can perform communication between the mobile terminal 2 and the terminal. One or more tethering terminals 3 are searched.

  The condition information acquisition unit 204 acquires condition information for the tethering process from the tethering terminal 3 searched by the terminal search unit 203. Specifically, the condition information acquisition unit 204 transmits a condition information acquisition request to the tethering terminal 3, and receives and acquires the condition information from the tethering terminal 3 as a response. Further, after being connected to the network 5 by the Internet connection unit 206, the condition information acquisition unit 204 acquires the condition information from the tethering terminal 3 that is connected to connect to the network 5.

  The terminal selection unit 205 selects one tethering terminal 3 to be tethered based on the condition information acquired by the condition information acquisition unit 204. The terminal selection unit 205 may select the tethering terminal 3 based on the priority order logic stored by the priority order logic storage unit 200. The specific selection procedure is as described above. Further, the terminal selection unit 205 may select a tethering terminal based on the application that is the request source of the connection request to the network 5 and the priority logic stored for each application by the priority logic storage unit 200. Good.

  In addition, when it is determined by the terminal switching determination unit 208 that reconnection is performed, the terminal selection unit 205 selects a tethering terminal 3 that is different from the tethering terminal 3 that has been performing tethering so far. Specifically, the terminal selection unit 205 refers to the connection priority, and selects the tethering terminal 3 having the next highest connection priority after the tethering terminal 3 that has been tethered so far. Note that the terminal selection unit 205 instructs the terminal search unit 203 to search the tethering terminal 3 again when the predetermined time has elapsed since the condition information was acquired by the condition information acquisition unit 204 last time. The acquisition unit 204 is instructed to acquire condition information again from the tethering terminal 3 searched again, determines the connection priority again based on the acquired condition information again, and determines the tethering terminal 3 based on the determined connection priority. You may choose.

  The internet connection unit 206 connects to the network 5 via the tethering terminal 3 selected by the terminal selection unit 205. Further, the Internet connection unit 206 is determined to be reconnected by the terminal switching determination unit 208, and when the tethering terminal 3 different from the tethering terminal 3 that has been tethered by the terminal selection unit 205 is selected, the Internet connection unit 206 is different. Reconnect to the network 5 via the tethering terminal 3. Note that the Internet connection unit 206 may maintain the connection of the application layer when reconnecting to the network 5.

  The terminal monitoring unit 207 monitors whether there is a factor that adversely affects the Internet connection of the mobile terminal 2 after the connection to the network 5 by the Internet connection unit 206. Specifically, the terminal monitoring unit 207 transmits a request to periodically transmit condition information to the tethering terminal 3 that is currently tethering, or the tethering terminal that is currently tethering with the mobile terminal 2 3 is monitored for abnormalities in wireless LAN communication with.

  The terminal switching determination unit 208 determines whether or not to reconnect to the network 5 via a different tethering terminal 3 based on the condition information reacquired by the condition information acquisition unit 204. For example, when the remaining battery level included in the condition information is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined to reconnect to the network 5 via a different tethering terminal 3. In addition, the terminal switching determination unit 208, when the terminal monitoring unit 207 detects an abnormality in wireless LAN communication between the mobile terminal 2 and the tethering terminal 3 that is currently tethering, via a different tethering terminal 3 It may be determined to reconnect to the network 5.

  Hereinafter, each functional block of the tethering terminal 3 will be described based on the functional blocks of the tethering terminal 3 shown in FIG.

  The priority storage unit 300 stores the priority of the mobile terminal 2 that performs tethering. Specifically, the priority order storage unit 300 stores a set of the priority order and the ID of the mobile terminal 2. For example, the priority storage unit 300 stores information such as the mobile terminal 2a having the first priority and the mobile terminal 2b having the second priority.

  The wireless LAN connection unit 301 activates a wireless LAN application, and performs processing related to the wireless LAN, such as establishment and disconnection of a wireless LAN connection with the mobile terminal 2 and monitoring of the wireless LAN state.

  The condition information transmission unit 302 performs tethering processing on the mobile terminal 2 in response to a request from the mobile terminal 2 when the mobile terminal 2 searches for the own terminal as the tethering terminal 3 capable of inter-terminal communication with the mobile terminal 2. Send condition information for.

  The tethering unit 303 sends a request to connect to the network 5 through the own terminal after the portable terminal 2 selects the own terminal as the tethering terminal 3 to be tethered based on the condition information transmitted by the condition information transmitting unit 302. When receiving from the portable terminal 2, tethering is performed. The tethering unit 303 switches tethering when it is determined by the later-described tethering switching determination unit 305 that the currently performed tethering is finished and tethering is performed on a different mobile terminal 2.

  When the condition monitoring unit 304 receives a request to periodically transmit the condition information from the terminal monitoring unit 207, the condition monitoring unit 304 periodically acquires the condition information and transmits it to the mobile terminal 2.

  When the tethering switching determination unit 305 performs tethering by the tethering unit 303 and the own terminal is retrieved from a different portable terminal 2 as a tethering terminal capable of inter-terminal communication, the tethering switching determination unit 305 responds to a request from the portable terminal 2 Based on the priority order stored by the priority order storage unit 300, it is determined whether or not tethering that is currently being performed and tethering to a different portable terminal 2 is performed. For example, the priority storage unit 300 stores information such as the mobile terminal 2a as the first priority and the mobile terminal 2b as the second priority, and the target of tethering currently being performed is the mobile terminal 2b. When the terminal 2 is the mobile terminal 2a, the mobile terminal 2a has a higher priority than the mobile terminal 2b. Therefore, the tethering switching determination unit 305 terminates the current tethering and performs a different mobile terminal 2a. It is determined that tethering is performed.

  Next, processing of the network connection system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a sequence from when the portable terminal 2 selects the tethering terminal 3b as the tethering target among the tethering terminals 3a to 3c and performing tethering. FIG. 8 is a process subsequent to FIG. 7 and shows a sequence for changing the tethering target from the tethering terminal 3b to the tethering terminal 3a and further from the tethering terminal 3a to the tethering terminal 3c.

  First, preconditions will be described. It is assumed that the condition information of the tethering terminal 3a includes information on “tethering OK”, “battery capacity 20%”, “not charging”, and “packet fixed amount OK”. Similarly, the tethering terminal 3b condition information includes “tethering OK”, “battery capacity 10%”, “charging”, and “packet fixed amount OK” information, and the tethering terminal 3c condition information includes “tethering OK” “battery”. It is assumed that “capacity 100%”, “not charging”, and “packet flat rate NG” are included.

  First, the flowchart of FIG. 7 will be described. First, in the mobile terminal 2, the priority logic is set in advance by the user and stored in the priority logic storage unit 200 (S100). The priority logic storage unit 200 stores only the reference column and the content column in the priority logic table shown in FIG. Next, in the mobile terminal 2, the Internet connection request receiving unit 201 receives a connection request to the network 5 by an application operating on the mobile terminal 2 (S101). Next, in the mobile terminal 2, the terminal search unit 203 searches for tethering terminals 3a to 3c capable of inter-terminal communication with the mobile terminal 2 (S102). Next, in the portable terminal 2, the condition information acquisition unit 204 acquires the condition information from the tethering terminals 3a to 3c (S103 to S106).

  Next, in the mobile terminal 2, the terminal selection unit 205 selects a tethering terminal to be tethered (S107). At this time, from the above condition information of the tethering terminals 3a to 3c and the priority logic table stored by the priority logic storage unit 200, the terminal selection unit 205 uses the priority logic table shown in FIG. The tethering terminals 3 a to 3 c are determined and the connection priority is determined, and the tethering terminal 3 b with the first connection priority is selected by the terminal selection unit 205. Then, in the portable terminal 2, the tethering terminal 3b performs tethering via the tethering terminal 3b by the Internet connection unit 206, thereby connecting to the network 5 (S108, S109).

  Subsequent to S109, the process proceeds to S110 of the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 8, first, it is assumed that the tethering terminal 3b is brought and moved by a user different from the user of the portable terminal 2 (S110). Then, in the mobile terminal 2, the terminal monitoring unit 207 determines that the radio field intensity level of the wireless LAN communication between the mobile terminal 2 and the tethering terminal 3b is below a predetermined threshold (S111). Thereby, in the mobile terminal 2, the terminal switching determination unit 208 determines to reconnect to the network 5 via a different tethering terminal. Here, since the tethering terminal 3a has the connection priority next to the connection priority of the tethering terminal 3b, the tethering terminal 3a is selected as a different tethering terminal by the terminal selection unit 205 in the portable terminal 2. S112).

  When the tethering terminal 3a is selected, a tethering end instruction is transmitted to the tethering terminal 3b by the Internet connection unit 206, and the tethering unit 303 ends tethering in the tethering terminal 3b (S113). When the tethering terminal 3a is selected in S112, the mobile terminal 2 is connected to the network 5 by tethering the tethering terminal 3a via the tethering terminal 3a by the Internet connection unit 206 (S114, S115). .

  Here, since the tethering terminal 3a is “battery capacity 20%” and “not charging”, the battery capacity of the tethering terminal 3a gradually decreases during tethering (S116). Here, it is assumed that after S115, the condition information is periodically transmitted from the tethering terminal 3a to the portable terminal 2 based on a request to periodically transmit the condition information by the terminal monitoring unit 207 of the portable terminal 2. As a result, in the portable terminal 2, the condition information acquisition unit 204 receives the condition information indicating the content of the reduced battery capacity, and it is determined that the battery level of the tethering terminal 3 has fallen below a predetermined threshold (S117). . Thereby, in the mobile terminal 2, the terminal switching determination unit 208 determines to reconnect to the network 5 via a different tethering terminal. Here, since the tethering terminal 3c has the connection priority next to the connection priority of the tethering terminal 3a, the tethering terminal 3c is selected as a different tethering terminal by the terminal selection unit 205 in the mobile terminal 2, and the tethering terminal 3c is selected. When the terminal 3c is selected, the tethering unit 303 transmits a tethering end instruction to the tethering terminal 3a (S118). Then, in the tethering terminal 3a that has received the tethering termination instruction, the tethering unit 303 terminates the tethering (S119). When the tethering terminal 3c is selected in S118, the tethering terminal 3c performs tethering on the portable terminal 2 via the tethering terminal 3c by the Internet connection unit 206, thereby connecting to the network 5 (S120, S121). .

  Next, more detailed processing of the network connection system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flowchart until the portable terminal 2 selects the tethering terminal 3a as a tethering target and performs tethering. FIG. 10 is a process subsequent to FIG. 9, showing a flowchart until reconnection to a different tethering terminal after tethering. FIG. 11 is a process subsequent to FIG. 9, and is a diagram illustrating a flowchart relating to a change of the tethering destination when an application different from the application started to perform the tethering is started after the tethering.

  First, S200 to S219 of the flowchart of the mobile terminal 2 in the flowchart of FIG. 9 will be described. First, when setting the priority order logic, the tethering priority connection application is started by the user (S201), and the priority order logic is set (S202). After S202, or when the priority order logic is not set, the Internet connection request receiving unit 201 receives an Internet connection request (S203). Next, a wireless LAN application is started by the wireless LAN connection unit 202 (S204), and a wireless LAN terminal located in the vicinity is searched by the terminal search unit 203 (S205). If there is no wireless LAN terminal in the vicinity in S205, the portable terminal 2 cannot be connected to the network 5. If there is a wireless LAN terminal in the vicinity in S205, the wireless LAN connection unit 202 acquires wireless LAN information regarding the wireless LAN terminal (S206).

  Subsequently, the terminal selection unit 205 confirms whether a priority connection terminal is set in advance (S207). For example, if the tethering terminal 3a is set in advance as a priority connection terminal and the wireless LAN information acquired in S206 includes information related to the tethering terminal 3a, the process proceeds to S214. If the priority connection terminal is not set in S207, the terminal selection unit 205 subsequently checks whether or not the priority order logic is set (S208). If it is confirmed in S208 that the priority logic is not set, the user manually selects a tethering terminal from the connection candidate terminals (S209). When it is confirmed in S208 that the priority order logic is set, the condition information acquisition unit 204 transmits a condition information acquisition request to the tethering terminal 3 searched in S205 (S210). Then, the condition information transmitted from the tethering terminal 3 is acquired by the condition information acquisition unit 204 (S211). Next, the terminal selection unit 205 sorts and determines the connection priorities of the tethering terminals 3 searched in S205 based on the acquired condition information (S212). A connection terminal is selected (S213). If the condition information cannot be acquired from the tethering terminal 3 in S210, or if there is a connected terminal of the same rank in S212, the process proceeds to S209, and the connected terminal is selected by the user.

  Subsequently, in S214, the wireless LAN connection unit 202 transmits a wireless LAN connection request to the tethering terminal 3a (S214). In this flowchart, it is assumed that the tethering terminal 3a is selected as a connection terminal by the terminal selection unit 205. Next, the wireless LAN connection unit 202 establishes a wireless LAN connection (S215), and the terminal monitoring unit 207 monitors the wireless LAN state (S216). Next, the Internet connection unit 206 transmits an Internet connection request to the tethering terminal 3a (S217). If the connection cannot be established in S217, the Internet connection unit 206 transmits a reconnection request to the tethering terminal 3a (S218). If the connection to the tethering terminal 3a has failed a predetermined number of times in S218, the process moves to S209 or S213, and the process proceeds with another tethering terminal as a connection target. When the connection to the tethering terminal 3a is completed in S217, the Internet connection unit 206 establishes a connection to the network 5 via the tethering terminal 3a (S219).

  Next, S300 to S308 of the flowchart of the tethering terminal 3a in the flowchart of FIG. 9 will be described. First, a wireless LAN application is activated by the wireless LAN connection unit 301 (S301). Thereafter, when acquisition of wireless LAN information is requested from the portable terminal 2, the wireless LAN connection unit 301 sets the wireless LAN state standby (S302). In the state of S302, when there is a condition information acquisition request from the portable terminal 2, or when the condition information of the own terminal can be acquired for the tethering terminal 3a, the condition information transmission unit 302 acquires the condition information. (S303), transmitted to the portable terminal 2 (S304). If the condition information cannot be acquired in S303, the tethering terminal 3a does not become a connection candidate terminal and returns to the state of S302.

  After the transmission of the condition information in S304 or in the state of S302, when a wireless LAN connection request is received from the mobile terminal 2, the wireless LAN connection unit 301 performs wireless LAN connection transition (S305), and wireless LAN connection Is established (S306). Subsequently, when an internet connection request is received from the portable terminal 2, the tethering unit 303 starts an internet connection application (S307) and establishes an internet connection (S308).

  Next, S219 to S226 of the flowchart of the mobile terminal 2 in the flowchart of FIG. 10 will be described. If the connection priority is set after the Internet connection is established in S219, the terminal monitoring unit 207 transmits a post-connection condition information monitoring request to the tethering terminal 3a (S220). As a response, condition information is periodically acquired from the tethering terminal 3a (S221). At this time, if the terminal monitoring unit 207 determines that the condition information is abnormal (S223), the terminal switching determination unit 208 determines reconnection, and the terminal selection unit 205 sets the next candidate connection terminal (S224). ). Accordingly, a disconnection request is transmitted from the Internet connection unit 206 to the tethering terminal 3a (S225), and then the wireless LAN connection unit 202 confirms disconnection of the wireless LAN (S226). In parallel with the processing of S219 to S221, the terminal monitoring unit 207 monitors the abnormality of the wireless LAN state, and when the abnormality is actually determined (S222), a wireless LAN disconnection request is transmitted to the tethering terminal 3a. , The process proceeds to S226. After S226, if there is a next candidate connection terminal, the same processing as S214 and thereafter is performed. After S226, if there is no next candidate connection terminal, the same processing as S210 and thereafter is performed.

  Next, S308 to S315 in the flowchart of the tethering terminal 3a in the flowchart of FIG. 10 will be described. In S308, after the Internet connection is established, when a post-connection condition information monitoring request is received from the portable terminal 2, the condition monitoring unit 304 activates the condition information monitoring application (S309). Subsequently, condition information is periodically acquired by the condition information transmission unit 302 (S310), and is periodically transmitted to the mobile terminal 2 (S311). Thereafter, when a wireless LAN disconnection request is received from the mobile terminal 2 (S312), an Internet disconnection request is received from the mobile terminal 2 (S313), or the wireless LAN connection unit 301 within the tethering terminal 3a performs the wireless LAN connection. If an abnormality is detected, the tethering unit 303 disconnects the Internet connection (S314). Subsequently, the wireless LAN connection unit 301 disconnects the wireless LAN (S315), and the fact that the disconnection has been made is transmitted to the portable terminal 2.

  Next, S250 to S253 of the flowchart of the mobile terminal 2 in the flowchart of FIG. 11 will be described. The other steps included in FIG. 11 are the same as the process of the same step number in FIG. Assume that after the Internet connection is established in S219, an application different from the application that transmitted the Internet connection request in S203 is started (S250). In S250, if the connection priority in the priority logic of the activated application is not set, a notification for prompting the user of the mobile terminal 2 to confirm the connection priority is sent (S251). In S251, if the user notifies that there is no change in the connection priority in the priority logic, the user has designated the connection priority in the priority logic, but the tethering terminal 3a selects again according to the connection priority. If the tethering terminal 3a is directly designated as a terminal for tethering by the user, or if the connection priority in the priority logic of both applications is not changed in S250, the Internet connection in S219 is maintained ( S252). On the other hand, when there is a notification from the user that there is a change in the connection priority in the priority logic in S251, and a different tethering terminal 3 is selected according to the connection priority, the tethering terminal 3a as a terminal that performs tethering from the user. When a tethering terminal 3 other than the above is directly specified, or in S250, the connection priority in the priority logic of both applications is changed, and a different tethering terminal 3 is selected according to the connection priority based on the application started in S250. In such a case, the Internet connection unit 206 transmits a disconnection request to the tethering terminal 3a (S253). After S253, the processing of S226 and S313 to S315 is performed, and connection to different tethering terminals 3 is performed according to the new connection priority.

  Next, another process of the network connection system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process when the mobile terminal 2b makes a tethering request to the tethering terminal 3a when the mobile terminal 2a is connected to the Internet via the tethering terminal 3a.

  First, S400 to S411 in the flowchart of the mobile terminals 2a and 2b in the flowchart of FIG. 12 will be described. First, when the mobile terminal 2a establishes an Internet connection (S400), the condition information acquisition unit 204 of the mobile terminal 2b transmits a request for acquiring condition information to the tethering terminal 3a. (S402). In response to this, the condition information acquisition unit 204 of the mobile terminal 2b acquires connection permission information from the tethering terminal 3a (S403). In S403, when the connection failure notification is received, the mobile terminal 2b cannot connect to the Internet via the tethering terminal 3a. In S403, when a notification that connection is possible is received, the condition information acquisition unit 204 of the portable terminal 2b transmits a condition information acquisition re-request to the tethering terminal 3a (S404). In response, the condition information acquisition unit 204 of the mobile terminal 2b receives the condition information from the tethering terminal 3a (S405).

  Next, the connection priority of the tethering terminal 3 is sorted and determined by the terminal selection unit 205 of the portable terminal 2b based on the acquired condition information (S406), and based on that, the terminal selection unit 205 of the portable terminal 2b is determined. Thus, a tethering terminal is selected (S407). Here, it is assumed that the tethering terminal 3a is selected. Subsequently, the terminal selection unit 205 of the mobile terminal 2b transmits a notification of determination to the tethering terminal 3a (S408), and accordingly, the disconnection information from the tethering terminal 3a to the other terminal is transmitted by the Internet connection unit 206 of the mobile terminal 2b. Is received (S410), and the Internet connection unit 206 of the portable terminal 2b transmits a wireless LAN connection request to the tethering terminal 3a (S411). On the other hand, in the mobile terminal 2a, when the wireless LAN connection unit 202 receives an instruction for disconnecting the wireless LAN from the tethering terminal 3a to the mobile terminal 2a, the wireless LAN connection unit 202 of the mobile terminal 2a disconnects the wireless LAN connection. Confirmed (S409).

  Subsequently, S500 to S511 of the flowchart of the tethering terminal 3a in the flowchart of FIG. 12 will be described. First, when the Internet connection with the portable terminal 2a is established (S500), the condition information transmitting unit 302 receives a condition information acquisition request from the portable terminal 2b, and the condition information transmitting unit 302 accordingly The information acquisition application is activated (S501). Subsequently, the tethering switching determination unit 305 confirms the connection priority stored in the priority storage unit 300 (S502). When it is confirmed in S502 that the connection priority of the mobile terminal 2a is set higher than the mobile terminal 2b, the tethering switching determination unit 305 transmits a connection failure notification to the mobile terminal 2b (S504). . When it is confirmed in S502 that the connection priority is not set, the tethering switching determination unit 305 notifies the user of the tethering terminal 3a that there is access from the portable terminal 2b (S503). If the connection is prohibited by the user, the process proceeds to S504. When connection permission is designated by the user in S503, or when it is confirmed in S502 that the connection priority of the mobile terminal 2b is set higher than the mobile terminal 2a, the tethering switching determination unit 305 Thus, a connection permission notification is transmitted to the mobile terminal 2b (S505).

  Subsequently, when the condition information transmitting unit 302 receives a condition information acquisition re-request from the portable terminal 2b, the condition information transmitting unit 302 acquires the condition information (S506) and transmits the condition information to the portable terminal 2b (S507). . Next, the tethering unit 303 receives a notification of determination from the portable terminal 2b (S508), and accordingly, the tethering unit 303 disconnects from the portable terminal 2a (S509), and the tethering unit 303 notifies the portable terminal 2b. On the other hand, disconnection information with the portable terminal 2a is transmitted (S510), and the wireless LAN connection unit 301 shifts the wireless LAN connection (S511).

  Next, effects of the mobile terminal 2 and the tethering terminal 3 configured as described above will be described.

  According to the mobile terminal 2 of the present embodiment, the terminal search unit 203 searches for one or more tethering terminals 3 capable of inter-terminal communication with the own terminal based on a connection request to the network 5, and obtains condition information. The unit 204 acquires condition information for tethering processing from the searched tethering terminal 3, and the terminal selection unit 205 selects one tethering terminal 3 to be tethered based on the acquired condition information. The Internet connection unit 206 connects to the network 5 through the selected tethering terminal 3. With this configuration, it is possible to select a tethering terminal 3 appropriate for the user based on condition information for tethering processing.

  Further, according to the mobile terminal 2 of the present embodiment, the priority order logic storage unit 200 performs priority ordering for selecting the tethering terminal 3 to be tethered based on the condition information of the tethering terminal 3. Is stored, and the terminal selection unit 205 further selects the tethering terminal 3 based on the stored priority logic. With such a configuration, it is possible to select the tethering terminal 3 appropriate for the user based on the priority order logic stored in the mobile terminal 2 in advance.

  Further, according to the mobile terminal 2 of the present embodiment, the priority logic storage unit 200 stores the priority logic for each application that requests connection to the network 5, and the terminal selection unit 205 further transfers the network to the network 5. The tethering terminal is selected based on the application that is the request source of the connection request. With this configuration, it is possible to select a tethering terminal 3 appropriate for the user for each application that makes a connection request to the network 5.

  Further, according to the mobile terminal 2 of the present embodiment, the condition information includes any one or more information of the remaining battery level, whether or not the battery is being charged, and the contents of the network contract. With such a configuration, it is possible to select a tethering terminal 3 that is appropriate for the user based on the remaining battery level of the tethering terminal 3, whether charging is being performed, or the contents of a network contract.

  Further, according to the mobile terminal 2 of the present embodiment, after the condition information acquisition unit 204 is connected to the network 5 by the Internet connection unit 206, the condition information is obtained from the tethering terminal 3 that is connected to connect to the network 5. Is determined by the terminal switching determination unit 208 based on the acquired condition information, and it is determined whether or not to reconnect to the network 5 via a different tethering terminal 3, and the terminal selection unit 205 determines to reconnect If so, a different tethering terminal 3 is selected and reconnected to the network 5 via the selected tethering terminal 3 by the Internet connection unit 206. If such a configuration is adopted, the tethering terminal 3 can be changed to a different tethering terminal 3 according to the situation of the tethering terminal 3, and therefore the tethering terminal 3 appropriate for the user can be selected in real time according to the situation.

  Further, according to the mobile terminal 2 of the present embodiment, the connection of the application layer is maintained when the Internet connection unit 206 reconnects to the network 5. With such a configuration, even when the tethering terminal 3 is changed, the connection of the application layer is maintained, so that the convenience for the user is improved.

  Further, according to the tethering terminal 3 of the present embodiment, when the own terminal is searched from the portable terminal 2 as the tethering terminal 3 capable of inter-terminal communication with the portable terminal 2 by the condition information transmission unit 302, the portable terminal 2 Condition information for the tethering process is transmitted to the mobile terminal 2 based on the transmitted condition information, and the mobile terminal 2 selects the own terminal as the tethering terminal 3 to be tethered based on the transmitted condition information. When a request to connect to the mobile terminal 2 is received from the mobile terminal 2, tethering is performed. With this configuration, it is possible to select a tethering terminal 3 appropriate for the user based on condition information for tethering processing.

  Further, according to the tethering terminal 3 of the present embodiment, the priority ranking of the portable terminal to be tethered is stored by the priority ranking storage unit 300, and the tethering switching determination unit 305 performs tethering by the tethering unit 303. When a self-terminal is retrieved from a different portable terminal 2 as a tethering terminal 3 capable of inter-terminal communication, based on the stored priority order, the current tethering is terminated and tethering is performed on a different portable terminal 2 If it is determined by the tethering unit 303 that the current tethering is finished and tethering is performed on a different mobile terminal 2, the tethering is switched. With this configuration, it is possible to select a tethering terminal 3 that is appropriate for the user based on the priorities stored in advance in the tethering terminal 3.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network connection system, 2 ... Portable terminal, 3 ... Tethering terminal, 4 ... APN, 5 ... Network, 200 ... Priority order logic memory | storage part, 201 ... Internet connection request reception part, 202 ... Wireless LAN connection part, 203 ... Terminal Search unit 204... Condition information acquisition unit 205. Terminal selection unit 206 206 Internet connection unit 207 Terminal monitoring unit 208 Terminal switching determination unit 300 Precedence storage unit 301 Wireless LAN connection unit 302 ... condition information transmission unit, 303 ... tethering unit, 304 ... condition monitoring unit, 305 ... tethering switching determination unit.

Claims (10)

A terminal search means for searching for one or more tethering terminals capable of communication between the terminal and the terminal based on a connection request to the network;
Condition information acquisition means for acquiring condition information for tethering processing from the tethering terminal searched by the terminal search means;
Terminal selection means for selecting one tethering terminal to be tethered based on the condition information acquired by the condition information acquisition means;
Network connection means for connecting to the network via the tethering terminal selected by the terminal selection means;
A portable terminal comprising: Priority logic storage means for storing priority logic for performing prioritization for selecting a tethering terminal to be tethered based on condition information of the tethering terminal;
The terminal selection means further selects a tethering terminal based on the priority logic stored by the priority logic storage means.
The mobile terminal according to claim 1. The priority logic storage means stores priority logic for each application that makes a connection request to the network,
The terminal selection means further selects a tethering terminal based on an application that is a request source of a connection request to the network.
The mobile terminal according to claim 2.   The mobile terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the condition information includes at least one of battery remaining amount, presence / absence of charging, and network contract content. Condition information reacquisition means for obtaining condition information from a tethering terminal through which the network connection means is connected to the network after connecting to the network;
Based on the condition information acquired by the condition information re-acquisition means, terminal switching determination means for determining whether to reconnect to the network via a different tethering terminal;
A terminal reselection unit that selects a different tethering terminal when it is determined to be reconnected by the terminal switching determination unit;
Network reconnection means for reconnecting to the network via the tethering terminal selected by the terminal reselection means;
The mobile terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: The network reconnection means maintains an application layer connection when reconnecting to a network.
The mobile terminal according to claim 5. Condition information transmitting means for transmitting condition information for tethering processing to the portable terminal when the own terminal is searched from the portable terminal as a tethering terminal capable of inter-terminal communication with the portable terminal;
When the portable terminal selects the own terminal as a tethering terminal to be tethered based on the condition information transmitted by the condition information transmitting means, and then receives a request to connect to the network through the own terminal, Tethering means for tethering;
A tethering terminal comprising: Priority storage means for storing the priority of the portable terminal that performs tethering;
When tethering is performed by the tethering means, if a local terminal is searched from a different portable terminal as a tethering terminal capable of inter-terminal communication, the current tapping is performed based on the priority order stored by the priority order storage means. Tethering switching determining means for determining whether or not to perform tethering for different mobile terminals after finishing the tethering being performed,
When it is determined by the tethering switching determining means that the current tethering is finished and tethering is performed on a different mobile terminal, tethering switching means for switching the tethering;
The tethering terminal according to claim 7, further comprising: A network connection system including a tethering terminal and a mobile terminal connected to the network via the tethering terminal,
Mobile devices
A terminal search means for searching for one or more tethering terminals capable of communication between the terminal and the terminal based on a connection request to the network;
Condition information acquisition means for acquiring condition information for tethering processing from the tethering terminal searched by the terminal search means;
Terminal selection means for selecting one tethering terminal to be tethered based on the condition information acquired by the condition information acquisition means;
Network connection means for connecting to the network via the tethering terminal selected by the terminal selection means;
With
The tethering terminal
Condition information transmitting means for transmitting condition information for tethering processing to the portable terminal when the own terminal is searched from the portable terminal as a tethering terminal capable of inter-terminal communication with the portable terminal;
When the portable terminal selects the own terminal as a tethering terminal to be tethered based on the condition information transmitted by the condition information transmitting means, and then receives a request to connect to the network through the own terminal, Tethering means for tethering;
Comprising
A network connection system characterized by that. A terminal search step in which the mobile terminal searches for one or more tethering terminals capable of inter-terminal communication with the own terminal based on a connection request to the network;
A condition information acquisition step in which the portable terminal acquires condition information for tethering processing from the tethering terminal searched in the terminal search step;
A portable terminal selects a tethering terminal to be tethered based on the condition information acquired in the condition information acquisition step;
A network connection step in which the mobile terminal connects to the network via the tethering terminal selected in the terminal selection step;
A network connection method comprising:

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