JP3617784B2 - Mobile communication network - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mobile communication network.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, mobile phones have been spreading at a remarkable rate. With the recent popularization of mobile phones, not only voice call services that are the original services of mobile phones but also non-voice services such as packet communication have been provided. For example, there is a connection service to the Internet via a mobile phone network.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when using the non-voice service such as the Internet connection described above, it is necessary to perform a new operation that is not included in the operation for receiving the conventional voice call service, thereby increasing the burden on the user.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile communication network that can reduce the burden on the user when using a non-voice service such as an Internet connection.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a mobile communication network according to the present invention includes a gateway server that relays data communication between a mobile station and an external communication network, and packet transfer that is interposed between the gateway server and the mobile station. Connection destination information for accessing the gateway server of the first regional network corresponding to the region to which the user of the mobile station has subscribed includes first and second regional networks each having a processing device. Is transmitted to the second regional network, the packet forwarding processor of the second regional network forwards the connection destination information to the packet forwarding processor of the first regional network, and the first regional network The gateway server of the regional network, based on the connection destination information received from the packet transfer processing device of the first regional network, the packet transfer processing device of the first regional network and the second It is characterized in that relays data communication between the communication network and the mobile station through the packet transfer processing unit local network.
[0006]
In another aspect, each of the gateway servers of the first and second regional networks holds different homepages and provides the homepage to the mobile station when receiving connection destination information transmitted from the mobile station.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is configured as a system in which the present invention is applied to a mobile packet communication network. In addition, this embodiment shows one aspect | mode of this invention, This invention is not limited, It can change arbitrarily within the scope of the present invention.
[0010]
A: Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the mobile communication network according to the present embodiment is composed of a plurality of regional networks LN provided in different regions (for example, Hokkaido region, Tohoku region, etc.). Each of these regional networks LN includes a mobile telephone communication network and a mobile packet communication network MPNa, a mobile telephone communication network MDNb, a mobile packet communication network MPNb, and so on. It is comprised by.
[0011]
The mobile communication network is configured to be connected to an external network such as the Internet INET via a gateway server of each regional network LN. An information provider (hereinafter abbreviated as “IP”) server W is connected to the Internet INET. This IP server W is a WWW (World Wide Web) server and is operated by IP. Each of these IP servers W may be connected to a gateway server via the Internet INET, or may be connected via a dedicated line (not shown).
[0012]
The mobile stations MSa, MSb and MSc can receive mobile telephone services of the mobile telephone communication networks MDNa, MDNb and MDNc and packet communication services of the mobile packet communication networks MPNa, MPNb and MPNc, respectively. Further, the regional networks LN are connected to each other via a communication line C that connects the regions, so that the mobile station can perform telephone communication and packet communication with each other across the regions. Yes.
[0013]
Next, the configuration of the mobile packet communication networks MPNa, MPNb and MPNc will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile packet communication networks MPNa, MPNb, and MPNc have the same configuration, so that only the configuration of the mobile packet communication network MPNa will be described below, and the mobile packet communication networks MPNb and MPNc will be described. Description is omitted.
[0014]
In FIG. 1, a mobile packet communication network MPNa is configured by a base station BSa, a packet subscriber processing device PPMa, a packet transfer processing device PTMa, a mobile packet gateway MPGWa, a gateway server GWSa, and a communication line connecting them.
[0015]
The base station BSa is arranged at predetermined intervals by dividing the ground within a range of, for example, a radius of 500 m, and performs wireless communication with mobile stations located in the wireless zones formed by each.
[0016]
The packet communication processing unit PPMa, the packet transfer processing unit PTMa, and the mobile packet gateway MPGWa are computer systems provided in a packet subscriber switching center that accommodates a plurality of base stations BSa, and a packet switching request from the mobile station MSa. And relays packet exchange in the mobile packet communication network MPNa. Here, the packet transfer processing device PTMa has a function of transferring a packet to be transmitted to a packet transfer processing device in another mobile packet communication network via the communication line C. That is, for example, when a packet is transmitted from the gateway server GWSa in the mobile packet communication network MPNa to the mobile station MSb located in the mobile packet communication network MPNb, the packet transmitted to the mobile station MSb is a packet In the transfer processing device PTMa, it is transferred to the packet transfer processing device PTMb in the mobile packet communication network MPNb and then supplied to the mobile station MSb .
[0017]
The gateway server GWSa is a computer system provided in a mobile packet gateway relay switching center for interconnecting the mobile packet communication network MPNa and other networks such as the Internet INET, and conversion of communication protocols different between the networks. I do. Specifically, mutual conversion is performed between the transmission protocol for the mobile packet communication network that the mobile packet communication network MPNa follows and TCP / IP that other networks such as the Internet INET follow. The gateway server GWSa has a function as a WWW server, similar to the IP server W described above, and can provide services such as information provision to users of mobile stations.
[0018]
Next, the configuration of the mobile stations MSa, MSb, and MSc will be described. In this specification, the “mobile station” is a concept including a mobile phone, a simple mobile phone (PHS), a car phone, and the like. As described above, the mobile stations MSa, MSb and MSc receive the packet communication service by the mobile packet communication networks MPNa, MPNb and MPNc and the mobile phone service by the mobile telephone communication networks MDNa, MDNb and MDNc, respectively. It is a terminal device that can Since mobile stations MSa, MSb, and MSc have the same configuration, the configuration of mobile station MSa will be described below, and description of mobile stations MSb and MSc will be omitted.
[0019]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the mobile station MSa. As shown in the figure, the mobile station MSa has a wireless unit 1 that performs wireless communication with the base station BSa, an information display unit 2 that includes a liquid crystal panel, etc., and information input operations such as numeric input and character input. The operation unit 3 is configured to include a voice input / output unit 4 for a user to make a voice call, a storage unit 5 for storing various information, and a control unit 6 for controlling these units. Further, the mobile station MSa is equipped with software for browsing document data (so-called browser), and is provided with HTML (HyperText Markup Language) supplied from the IP server W or gateway server GWSa via the mobile packet communication network MPNa. ) Display the dialogue screen based on the format data.
[0020]
Here, the storage unit 5 includes a ROM 5b in which data can be written composed of an EPROM, an EEPROM and the like, in addition to a program ROM 5a storing a control program for controlling the operation of the mobile station MSa. The ROM 5b stores information (corresponding to “connection destination information” in the claims) for accessing the gateway server GWSa in the mobile packet communication network MPNa subscribed by the user using the mobile station MSa. Yes. That is, when the user purchases the mobile station MSa and subscribes to the packet communication service, the telephone number and URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the gateway server belonging to the area where the packet communication service is subscribed are written in the ROM 5b described above. It is like that.
[0021]
B: Operation of Embodiment Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the following, the operation of the embodiment will be described as a. When the user purchases the mobile station MSa and subscribes to the packet communication service; b. When receiving a packet communication service in the mobile packet communication network MPNa in the area to which the mobile station MSa has subscribed; c. A description will be given separately for the case where the mobile packet communication network MPNb in a region different from the region where the mobile station MSa has subscribed receives packet communication service.
[0022]
a. A writing apparatus for writing various initial information to the mobile station is installed at a store that accepts subscription of the service at the time of purchase / subscription of the mobile station MSa. When the user purchases the mobile station MSa and subscribes to the packet communication service, the writing station initializes the mobile station MSa. By this initialization, first, the telephone number of the mobile station MSa is written in the ROM 5b in the mobile station MSa. In the present embodiment, connection destination information for accessing the gateway server GWSa of the mobile packet communication network MPNa corresponding to the subscribed area, that is, a telephone number for dial-up connection to the gateway server GWSa, The URL for accessing the home page on the gateway server GWSa is written in the ROM 5b inside the mobile station MSa. This URL is address information for designating a home page displayed as an initial screen on the information display unit 2 of the mobile station MSa immediately after starting the packet communication service.
[0023]
These telephone numbers and URLs stored in the ROM 5b are different for each region where the user subscribes to the packet communication service. That is, for example, if the mobile station MSb subscribes to a packet communication service in an area where the mobile packet communication network MPNb is provided, the ROM 5b in the mobile station MSb has a telephone for connecting a line with the gateway server GWSb. The number and the URL for designating HTML data held by the IP server Wb in the gateway server GWSb are written. Similarly, in the ROM 5b in the mobile station MSc subscribed to the packet communication service in the area where the mobile packet communication network MPNc is provided, the telephone number for connecting the line to the gateway server GWSc and the IP server in the gateway server GWSc A URL for designating HTML data held by Wc is written.
[0024]
b. When receiving the packet communication service in the mobile packet communication network MPNa in the area to which the mobile station MSa has subscribed After the initialization shown in the above a is performed, the mobile station MSa transmits the packet in the area where the mobile packet communication network MPNa is provided. When receiving a communication service, packets are exchanged along a route indicated by an arrow X in FIG.
[0025]
When the user performs a predetermined operation (for example, one or more predetermined key input operations) for receiving the packet communication service on the operation unit 3 provided in the mobile station MSa, the mobile station The MSa transmits a connection request for connecting a line with the gateway server GWSa.
[0026]
That is, first, the control unit 6 in the mobile station MSa reads the telephone number stored in the ROM 5 b in the storage unit 5 and delivers the telephone number to the radio unit 1. Next, the wireless unit 1 that has received the telephone number transmits the telephone number to the base station BSa.
[0027]
When the base station BSa receives the telephone number transmitted by the radio unit 1 in the mobile station MSa, the base station BSa transfers the telephone number to the packet subscriber processing device PPMa. This telephone number is transmitted to the gateway server GWSa via the packet transfer processing device PTMa and the mobile packet gateway MPGWa. As a result, a line is connected between the mobile station MSa and the gateway server GWSa. After that, a packet exchange is possible through a predetermined sequence of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). As a result, the mobile station MSa can access the WWW via the gateway server GWSa.
[0028]
Further, the control unit 6 in the mobile station MSa reads the URL stored in the ROM 5 b in the storage unit 5 and delivers it to the radio unit 1. The wireless unit 1 that has received the URL transmits the URL to the base station BSa. Thereafter, the URL is transmitted along the same route as the above-described telephone number transmission (arrow X in FIG. 3), and is supplied to the gateway server GWSa.
[0029]
The gateway server GWSa that has received the URL transmitted from the mobile station MSa transmits the HTML data of the home page specified by this URL to the mobile station MSa. The HTML data is transmitted to the mobile station MSa via the mobile packet gateway MPGWa, the packet transfer processing device PTMa, the packet subscriber processing device PPMa, and the base station BSa.
[0030]
The control unit 6 in the mobile station MSa that has received the HTML data interprets the received HTML data by the installed browser, and displays the received information on the information display unit 2. By performing the above processing, the home page of the gateway server GWSa designated by the URL transmitted from the mobile station MSa is displayed as the initial screen. FIG. 4A shows an example of the initial screen displayed in this way. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, a screen showing a list of menus that can be selected by the user is displayed as an initial screen.
[0031]
Thereafter, the user performs a predetermined operation on the mobile station MSa (for example, presses one of the numeric keys “1” to “5”), and the menu number displayed on the initial screen is set. When selected, a process for causing the information display unit 2 to display a screen corresponding to the selected menu number is performed.
[0032]
That is, when the menu number is selected by the user, the control unit 6 in the mobile station MSa transmits a URL corresponding to the menu number via the wireless unit 1. This URL is transmitted to the gateway server GWSa along the route indicated by the arrow X in FIG. When the gateway server GWSa receives the URL, the gateway server GWSa sets a link with the homepage held by the IP server W designated by the URL. When the link is set in this way, the IP server W transmits HTML data representing the home page to the mobile station MSa. This HTML data is transferred to the mobile station MSa along the path indicated by the arrow X in FIG. As a result, a screen corresponding to the menu number selected on the initial screen is displayed on the information display unit 2 of the mobile station MSa. That is, for example, when “1” is selected as the menu number described above, a screen as shown in FIG. 4B is displayed.
[0033]
Further, when the user performs a predetermined operation for terminating the packet communication on the mobile station, the line between the mobile station MSa and the gateway server GWSa is disconnected, and the packet communication is terminated.
[0034]
As described above, the ROM 5b in the mobile station MSa stores in advance the telephone number of the gateway server GWSa and the URL for designating the home page held by the gateway server GWSa. When receiving the packet communication service, it is not necessary to memorize or take note of the telephone number or URL of the gateway server, and the packet communication service can be received simply by performing a simple instruction operation.
[0035]
c. When receiving a packet communication service in a mobile packet communication network MPNb in a region different from the region where the mobile station MSa is subscribed, the user of the mobile station MSa not only uses the mobile station MSa but also purchases the mobile station MSa in the subscribed region. In some cases, the mobile station MSa is used in an area different from the above-described area. Hereinafter, as an example of this case, an operation when the mobile station MSa receives a packet communication service in an area where the mobile packet communication network MPNb is provided will be described. In this case, communication is performed along a route indicated by an arrow Y in FIG.
[0036]
The telephone number transmitted from the mobile station MSa by the same procedure as in the above-mentioned subscribed area is transmitted to the packet transfer processing device PTMb via the base station BSb and the packet subscriber processing device PPMb. Next, the packet transfer processing device PTMb transfers the received telephone number to the packet transfer processing device PTMa in the mobile packet communication network MPNa via the communication line C. The telephone number transferred to the packet transfer processing device PTMa is transmitted to the gateway server GWSa via the mobile packet gateway MPGWa. Thereafter, the mobile station MSa located in the area where the mobile packet communication network MPNb is provided can access the WWW via the gateway server GWSa through the same procedure as that in the above-mentioned subscribed area.
[0037]
Next, the URL stored in the ROM 5b in the mobile station MSa is transmitted to the gateway server GWSa along the path indicated by the arrow Y in FIG. Then, the gateway server GWSa transmits HTML data representing the homepage specified by the received URL among the homepages held by the gateway server GWSa to the mobile station MSa. Specifically, the HTML data is transferred from the gateway server GWSa to the mobile station MSa via the mobile packet gateway MPGWa, the packet transfer processing device PTMa, the packet transfer processing device PTMb, the packet subscriber processing device PPMb, and the base station BSb. It is done. By the operation as described above, the information display unit of the mobile station MSa has a homepage held by the gateway server GWSa, that is, the mobile station MSa is located in an area where the mobile communication network MPNa is provided. The same homepage will be displayed. Subsequent operations are the same as those in the above-mentioned subscribed area, and thus description thereof is omitted.
[0038]
Thus, according to the present embodiment, for example, even when the user moves to a region different from the region where the subscribed mobile packet communication network MPNa is provided, the gateway server GWSb belonging to the destination region Instead, the gateway server GWSa belonging to the subscribed area is automatically accessed. Therefore, the user can see the home page that he / she is familiar with as the initial screen.
[0040]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, in the environment in which the mobile communication network is divided in each region, even I Oh when moved to different areas from the time of subscription by a user business trip or the like, the destination Since the gateway server belonging to the subscribed area is accessed instead of the gateway server belonging to the area, it is possible to receive a non-voice service in a familiar environment.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mobile station according to the embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a communication path in the packet communication service according to the embodiment;
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating contents of a screen displayed on an information display unit provided in a mobile station in the packet communication service according to the embodiment;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Radio | wireless part 2 Information display part 3 Operation part 4 Voice input / output part 5 Memory | storage part 5a Program ROM
5b ROM (memory)
6 Control unit LN Regional network C Communication line INET Internet W IP server MPNa, MPNb, MPNc Mobile packet communication network MDNa, MDNb, MDNc Mobile telephone communication network MSa, MSb, MSc Mobile stations BSa, BSb, BSc Base stations PPMa, PPMb, PPMc packet subscriber processor PTMa, PTMb, PTMc packet transfer processor MPGWa, MPGWb, MPGWc Mobile packet gateway GWSa, GWSb, GWSc Gateway server

Claims (2)

Including first and second regional networks each having a gateway server that relays data communication between the mobile station and an external communication network, and a packet transfer processing device interposed between the gateway server and the mobile station,
When connection destination information for accessing the gateway server of the first regional network corresponding to the region to which the user of the mobile station has subscribed is transmitted from the mobile station to the second regional network, the second region The packet transfer processing device of the network transfers this connection destination information to the packet transfer processing device of the first regional network, and the gateway server of the first regional network transmits the packet transfer processing device of the first regional network. Relay data communication between the mobile station and the communication network via the packet transfer processing device of the first regional network and the packet transfer processing device of the second regional network based on the connection destination information received from Do
Mobile communication network. The gateway server of each regional network maintains different home pages for each regional network, and displays the home page on the mobile station when receiving connection destination information transmitted from the mobile station.
The mobile communication network according to claim 1.

Images