JP4179618B2 - Mobile communication network utilization system, information processing apparatus, and information communication terminal system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile communication network utilization system in which an information processing apparatus connected to a mobile device requests a service from a server via a data communication service of a mobile communication network, and the server provides the service. The present invention also relates to an information processing apparatus capable of transmitting a request to a server via a data communication service of a mobile communication network in a state where a mobile device is connected, and an information communication terminal system including the information processing apparatus. .

Conventionally, an international roaming compatible mobile device that can use international roaming is known as this type of mobile device (see Patent Document 1). Here, international roaming is the same as when a user who is subscribed to a mobile communication network (home network) whose service area is in a country is also in the service area of a mobile communication network outside the country. A mobile communication service that can communicate with the Internet.
On the other hand, a system using a communication interface device of a personal computer as an information processing device and using a data communication service of a mobile communication network is known (see Patent Document 2). In such a system, an application such as a browser is started on a personal computer, a request is transmitted from the personal computer to a server on the Internet via a mobile device, and various contents services provided by the server can be received. Possible content services that can be used with this server include downloading image data, music data, games, and other programs, transactions such as securities trading, transfers to bank accounts, and electronic payments using credit cards. .
JP 2001-119750 A

However, when a personal computer is connected to the international roaming-compatible mobile device and various services provided exclusively for domestic users are received from overseas via the data communication service of the mobile communication network, various problems occur. Will occur.
FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing problems of content services by international roaming.
For example, consider a case where a personal computer 902 connected to a mobile device 901 accesses a Japanese bank server 910 to make an account transfer. When the mobile device 901 and the personal computer 902 are located in the domestic service area 903 and access the Japanese bank server 910 via the domestic mobile communication network (wireless access network + core network) and the Internet. Is no problem. However, when the mobile device 901 and the personal computer 902 are located in the service area 904 outside the country and access the Japanese bank server 910, the country where the service area where the mobile device 901 and the personal computer 902 are located is located. The country where the bank server 910 is located is different, and there is a time difference between the date and time outside the country and the date and time in Japan, which may affect the legal effect of the settlement process.
As another example, there is a case in which a personal computer 902 connected to the mobile device 901 accesses a server 911 of a Japanese distribution company, purchases content with copyright, and downloads it to the personal computer 902. Think. Various cases are envisaged, such as when the right to copy contents and the right to public transmission are contracted for each country in which the user is located, or when no contract is made depending on the country in which the user is located. Therefore, there is no particular problem when the mobile device 901 and the personal computer 902 are located in the service area 903 of Japan, which is the company location of the distribution company. However, the mobile device 901 and the personal computer 902 are provided with services outside the country. If the user is located in the area 904 and requests distribution of content from the server 911 of the distribution company, according to the contractual relationship regarding the copyright of the content, depending on the country in which the mobile device 901 and the personal computer 902 are located, Need to change.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to provide a service according to an area where a mobile device connected to an information processing apparatus requesting the service is located. It is providing a body communication network utilization system, an information processing apparatus, and an information communication terminal system.

To achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1, movement through the mobile communication network, an information processing apparatus connected to the mobile device requests a service to the server, the server provides services An information processing apparatus that transmits a request for requesting a service, and a mobile that receives the request transmitted from the information processing apparatus and transmits the received request to the mobile communication network And receiving the request transmitted from the mobile device and relayed by the mobile communication network, and controlling the provision of the service requested by the request according to the area where the mobile device is located and a server, the information processing apparatus establishes a communication line for receiving a data communication service between the mobile equipment, mobile equipment is to visited It acquires the area related information used in the determination of the area from the mobile equipment, to describe the area related information acquired from the mobile equipment, the predetermined header added to expand the header area of the request, associated the area A request to which the predetermined header in which information is described is added is transmitted to the mobile device .
Further, the invention of claim 2, an information processing apparatus which can transmit a request to the server via a mobile communication network in a state where the mobile station is connected, data to and from the mobile equipment means for establishing a communication link for receiving communication service, and means for mobile equipment to obtain the area-related information used to determine the area being visited from mobile equipment, the area related information acquired from the mobile equipment , A means for describing in a predetermined header added by expanding the header area of the request, and a request to which the predetermined header in which the area related information is described is transmitted to the server. And a means for transferring the data to the mobile device .
The invention of claim 3 is the information processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein when the application program for generating and transmitting the request to be transmitted to the server is activated, the mobile communication network is established using the mobile device. The network connection application for performing communication via the network is activated, and the processing of each means is executed by the network connection application.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information communication terminal system capable of transmitting a request to a server via a data communication service of a mobile communication network, the information processing apparatus according to the second or third aspect , and the information A mobile device that receives a request transmitted from a processing device and transmits the received request to a mobile communication network is provided.

The “information processing apparatus” is an apparatus capable of performing information processing for requesting a service from a server via a data communication service of a mobile communication network by connecting to a mobile device, and includes a personal computer or the like. .
Further, the “area” may be an area corresponding to one country, a plurality of areas constituting the country, or a region extending over a plurality of countries. In addition, it may be the entire service area in which the communication carrier provides the communication service, or an area composed of one cell set to manage communication by the mobile device in the entire service area, or a plurality of areas It may be an area composed of cells.
Further, the information on the area where the mobile station is located may be any information that can specify the country. In some cases, it is only necessary to be able to identify whether it is domestic or foreign. In addition to countries, businesses can also be identified.
Further, as a mode of service provision, for example, if the area where the mobile device is located is domestic, the same service as that for the domestic dedicated mobile device is accepted, and if the area located is outside the country, the service is not accepted. Alternatively, whether to provide a service is controlled according to the area where the mobile device is located.

According to the present invention, the information processing apparatus to which the mobile device is connected acquires area-related information used for determining the area where the mobile device is located from the mobile device, and adds the request header area by expanding it. The request is added to the mobile station, and the request to which the predetermined header describing the area related information is added is transmitted to the mobile device. When the request in which the area-related information is described in the header is transmitted to the server that provides the service via the mobile device, the server that provides the service transmits the request that requests the service to the information processing apparatus that transmits the request. The area where the connected mobile station is located can be determined. Therefore, without changing the configuration of the existing mobile communication network including the mobile device connected to the information processing device, the service is provided according to the area where the mobile device connected to the information processing device requesting the service is located. There is an effect that it becomes possible to provide.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a mobile communication network utilization system according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, a mobile communication network utilization system includes a personal computer 1 as an information processing device, an international roaming compatible mobile device 2 connected to a personal computer (PC) 1, and a domestic mobile communication network (home). Network) 3 and a content provider server (Web server) 6 located in the country connected to the Internet 5.

  The mobile device 2 is an international roaming compatible mobile device capable of performing similar communication even when moving from the service area of the domestic mobile communication network 3 to the service area of the mobile communication network 4 outside Japan. . The mobile device 2 is connected to the personal computer 1, receives a request transmitted from the personal computer 1, converts communication data including the request so as to correspond to the data communication service, and converts the converted request to mobile communication. Send to network 3.

  The server 6 is, for example, a bank server or a distribution company server. The server 6 receives a request transmitted from the mobile device 2 and relayed by the mobile communication network 3, and controls the provision of the service requested by the request according to the service area in which the mobile device 2 is located. To do.

  The mobile communication network (wireless access network + core network) 3 is connected to the Internet 5 via an Internet gateway (G / W) device 7. A user authentication system (RADIUS: Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) 9 is connected to a relay network path between the Internet gateway device 7 and the mobile communication network 3. In the database of the user authentication system (RADIUS) 9, authentication information such as an account and password of a user who is a mobile communication subscriber, accounting information, and the like are recorded. These pieces of information can be inquired from the Internet gateway device 7 as necessary.

  The communication network system used when the personal computer 1 transmits a request to the server 6 via the data communication service of the mobile communication network 3 includes the mobile device 2, the mobile communication network 3, and the Internet gateway device 7. It is configured using.

  The domestic mobile communication network (home network) 3 is connected to a foreign mobile communication network (other network) 4 through a dedicated international communication line or the like. The domestic (Japan) mobile communication network 3 is, for example, a W-CDMA (Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access) network, and the foreign mobile communication network 4 is, for example, a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network.

  The mobile communication network 3 includes a base station (BS) 31, packet switching nodes 32 and 33, circuit switching nodes 34 and 35, and a home location register (HLR) 36. I have. The base station 31 and the mobile device 2 constitute a radio access network that is a part of the mobile communication network 3. In 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), which is a third generation mobile communication system project, the base station is referred to as “Node-B”.

The packet switching nodes 32 and 33 are in the core network and are network elements constituting a packet switching network (for example, a packet network having a maximum downlink of 384 Kbps), and are also used for data communication services when receiving the service of the server 6. This packet switching node is configured using a serving GPRS support node (SGSN) 32 and a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 33. These packet switching nodes 32 and 33 are switching nodes for packet bearer service (GPRS: General Packet Radio Service) provided on GSM, for example.
The serving GPRS support node (SGSN) 32 is a gateway between the radio access network and the packet-switched core network, and includes an IP router including a control function specific to mobile communication.
The gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 33 is a gateway between the packet switching core network and the packet switching relay network, and is an IP firewall router including a control function unique to mobile communication.

  The circuit switching nodes 34 and 35 are Nos. Defined by ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) or the like. 7 is a network element constituting a circuit switching network (for example, a voice circuit network of a maximum of 64 Kbps) of the common line signal system, and is also used for a data communication service when receiving a service of the server 6. The circuit switching node includes a circuit switching station (MSC) 34, a circuit switching gateway (SG) that forms a signal control path, and a circuit switching gateway (MG) that forms a voice call path. 35).

The HLR 36 subscribed by the user of the mobile device 2 in the present embodiment is the home location register 3GHLR used in the third generation mobile communication system. This HLR 36 has a mobile station number (MSISDN: Mobile Station ISDN number definition), IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), setting status such as location registration, switching system data setting, transfer destination number, and last location registration. It manages “VLR (Visitor Location Register) address”, “MSC address”, “SGSN address” and the like. The information registered in the database of the home location register HLR 36 can be referred to from the Internet gateway device 7 as necessary.
Also, a visitor location register VLR (Visitor Location Register) is installed for each switching node SGSN and MSC of the mobile communication network. Information registered in the visitor location register VLR is basically copied to the home location register HLR 36. When searching the location information of the mobile device 2, the location information of the mobile device 2 is searched from all the visitor location registers VLR in the domestic mobile communication network 3 and the foreign mobile communication network 4. Since this is inefficient, the home location register HLR 36 is queried.

Address information (hereinafter referred to as “MSC address”) as node specifying information for specifying the circuit switching stations (MSCs) 34 and 44 that are the circuit switching nodes from which the mobile device 2 requested location registration, and the serving GPRS support node. Address information (hereinafter referred to as “SGSN address”) as node identification information for identifying (SGSN) 32 and 42 is 3GPP TS23 and CCITT (ITU-T) recommendation E.3. In accordance with H.164, both are independently managed by a home location register (3GHLR) 36.
The “MSC address” is information for specifying the circuit switching center MSC 34 or MSC 44 that has received the location registration request from the mobile device 2, and the “country” that identifies the country in which the service area of the circuit switching center MSC is located in the upper digits. Number CC (Country Code) "and" National Destination Code (NDC) "are included.
On the other hand, the “SGSN address” is information for identifying the SGSN 32 or SGSN 42 that has received the location registration request from the mobile device 2, and the “highest digit” identifies the country with the SGSN service area “Country Number CC (Country Code) ”and“ National Destination Code (NDC) ”.
Both service areas may coincide completely, or one of them may be wider than the other. These can be regarded as data of the service area where the mobile device 2 is located.

  The country can be specified by the “country code CC”, and the communication carrier (operator) can be specified by the “domestic destination code NDC”. “Domestic destination code NDC” is published by the GSM Association. Of the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” already described, the “country identifier MCC” is obtained from the “country code CC”, and the “operator (operator) identifier MNC” is obtained from the “domestic destination code NDC”.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the international roaming compatible mobile device 2 that can be used in the mobile communication network utilization system of the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, a control unit 201 as a control unit includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and wirelessly by a control program or application program stored in an internal memory (ROM / RAM: Read Only Memory / Random Acces Memory) 202. The transmission / reception unit 203 and the audio signal processing unit 204 are controlled to perform non-telephone network connection control such as telephone call control and data communication. The mobile device 2 may include a removable external memory card in addition to the internal memory 202.

The radio transceiver 203 is compatible with a plurality of mobile communication modes (for example, W-CDMA, CDMA2000, GSM). For example, when the user operates the key input unit 205 according to the current position, one of a plurality of mobile communication modes is selected. The control unit 201 sets the internal configuration of the wireless transmission / reception unit 203 according to the selected mobile communication mode.
The audio signal processing unit 204 performs digital / analog conversion on the audio data demodulated by the wireless transmission / reception unit 203 and outputs the result from a speaker (handset) 206. On the other hand, the audio signal input from the microphone (speaker) 207 is converted from analog to digital and output to the wireless transmission / reception unit 203 for modulation.

  The control unit 201 of the mobile device 2 is connected to a key input unit 205, a display unit 208, a camera unit 209, and an external interface unit 210. In addition to accessing a web page, data communication using the personal computer 1 and photographing. Control of game, e-mail transmission and reception, etc.

The external interface unit 210 performs processing for communicating with the personal computer 1 by short-range communication. The communication between the personal computer 1 and the mobile device 2 may be wired communication using an interface cable such as USB (Universal Serial Bus), wireless communication for short distance such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), Communication using infrared rays may be used.
When a data communication start command is received from the personal computer 1 via the external interface unit 210, the control unit 201 receives a predetermined telephone number (for example, a special number “* 99 #” or “* 7300”). The wireless transmission / reception unit 203 is controlled to automatically make a call and establish a communication line for data communication. Here, for example, when a call is made to the special number “* 99 #”, a data communication service by a packet switching network can be used. On the other hand, when a call is made to the special number “* 7300”, a data communication service by a circuit switching network can be used. The mobile device 2 determines which special number to call, that is, whether to use the data communication service by the packet switching network or the circuit switching network, according to the data communication start command received from the personal computer 1. Process based on included data.
Further, the external interface unit 210 performs a predetermined data conversion process on data transmitted to and received from the personal computer 1. For example, a request transmitted from the personal computer 1 is received, and the communication data including the request is converted so as to correspond to the data communication service. When the data communication service is used in this way, the mobile device 2 functions as a kind of modem when communicating from the personal computer 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the personal computer 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of main software executed on the hardware configuration.
As shown in FIG. 3, the personal computer 1 includes a control unit 101 as a control unit including a CPU, an internal storage device 102 including a RAM, a ROM, an HD (hard disk), and an external storage device 103 such as an optical disk. ing. The personal computer 1 includes an input operation unit 104 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a display unit 105 including a liquid crystal display, and an external interface unit 106. The external interface unit 106 is for communicating with the mobile device 2 via the aforementioned USB cable or the like.

  The personal computer 1 reads and starts up the programs of the operation system (OS) 110 and various application driver software 120 shown in FIG. 4 stored in the internal storage device 102 and the external storage device 103 on the above hardware configuration. Thus, it is possible to execute each processing such as predetermined arithmetic processing, image processing, and communication processing.

  In this embodiment, application programs such as browser software 121 for browsing the WEB site and network connection application 122 for performing data communication via the mobile communication network using the mobile device 2 are started on the OS 110. Is done. In addition, the communication interface driver software 123 for communicating with the mobile device 2 is activated. The network connection application 122 is a program that performs packet amount measurement, data communication fee calculation, communication history management, and the like in data communication using the mobile device 2.

  The application program that transmits a request to the server 6 may be software that performs HTTP communication other than the browser software 121.

  Next, in the mobile communication network utilization system using the international roaming compatible mobile device 2 having the above configuration, a request is transmitted from the personal computer 1 to the server 6 to provide a service corresponding to the area where the mobile device 2 is located. Data communication when receiving data will be described.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of a communication system that provides a data communication service using a packet network including packet switching nodes 32, 33, and 42 in the mobile communication networks 3 and 4. As shown in FIG. In this data communication example, the mobile device 2 acquires area-related information related to the service area in which the mobile device 2 is located and passes it to the personal computer 1. When the personal computer 1 transmits an HTTP (HyperText Tranfer Protocol) request, the personal computer 1 adds the area-related information received from the mobile device 2 to the HTTP request. The area-related information is information used for determining an area where the mobile device 2 to which the personal computer 1 is connected is located.

  In FIG. 5, an HTTP request for requesting a service transmitted by the personal computer 1 is received by the mobile device 2. The mobile device 2 converts the communication data including the HTTP request received from the personal computer 1 so as to correspond to the data communication service of the packet network, and converts the communication data including the converted HTTP request into the mobile communication network 3. , 4 are transmitted. The communication data including the HTTP request transmitted from the mobile device 2 is transferred through the packet network of the mobile communication network, converted into an HTTP request in a predetermined data format by the gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 33, and the gateway device for the Internet 7 is transmitted.

  The gateway device 7 transmits the HTTP request received from the gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 33 to the server 6 of the content provider.

Based on the service area data added to the HTTP request from the personal computer 1, the content provider server 6 considers the impact on its own content business in accordance with the country where the service area is located. Control processing for requests such as content distribution as convenient for the provider.
In addition, when the content provider server 6 receives the HTTP request and distributes the content to the personal computer 1, the content provider server 6 downloads the content using an HTTP response.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an HTTP request and an HTTP header. As shown in FIG. 6, the HTTP request includes an HTTP header area 11 and an entity / body area 12. FIG. 7 is a specific example of data described in the HTTP header area 11.
The HTTP header area 11 includes a plurality of types of control data. In each control data, a pair of a header name and a header value is described repeatedly and continuously. As one of these, a “Region Header” 11 a indicating roaming information is added to the conventional HTTP header area 11 as an extension header.
On the other hand, a document is described in the entity body area 22 in, for example, HTML (HyperText Markup Language) format.
For example, the header name of the region header 11a is “x-vvvvv-region”, and the header value is roaming information. For example, the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) TS25.331, 10.3.1. .11 uses the communication network identifier PLMN identity (Public Land Mobile Network identity).

The upper three digits of the communication network identifier PLMN identity are country identifiers (MCC: Mobile Country Code), and the lower two digits are operator identifiers (MNC: Mobile Network Code). Represents a service area of a mobile communication network.
When the mobile device 2 is located in the mobile communication network 3 in Japan (Japan), the communication network identifier PLMN identity is “44020”. Here, the upper three digits “200” is a country identifier (MCC) representing Japan, and the lower two digits “20” is a carrier identifier MNC representing a specific mobile communication carrier in the country. .
Similarly, when the mobile device 2 is located in the service area of the mobile communication network 4 outside the country, the communication network identifier PLMN identity displays the service area. It may be sufficient if it can be determined. Accordingly, when the mobile device 2 is located in the service area of the mobile communication network 4 outside the country, for example, “FFFFF” may be used.

[Example of acquisition of area-related information in a mobile device 1]
The mobile device 2 can acquire area-related information regarding the area where the mobile device is located as follows.
For example, the mobile device 2 has a notification information receiving function and a determination function for determining a service area in which the mobile device 2 is located.
The notification receiving function is a function of receiving notification information regarding the system of this network from the mobile communication network side. That is, when this mobile device 2 is located in the service area of the base station BS31, it receives broadcast information related to the system of the domestic mobile communication network 3 that provides this service area. On the other hand, when this mobile device 2 is located in the service area of the base station BS41, it receives broadcast information regarding the system of the mobile communication network 4 outside the country that provides this service area.

As the broadcast information, for example, the above-mentioned “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” (“country identifier MCC” + “operator identification MNC”) can be used. This “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” has been conventionally included in a system information block SIB (System Information Block) transmitted from the base stations BS31 and 41 to the mobile device 2 as telephone system information. However, the mobile device 2 does not use this “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” received by the lower layer protocol in the upper application layer (HTTP layer) transmitted by the personal computer 1. It wasn't.
The determination function of the mobile device 2 determines the service area in which the mobile device 2 is located based on the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” included in the broadcast information received by the broadcast information reception function. .

  The control unit 201 of the mobile device 2 uses at least the “country identifier MCC” data of the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” stored in the internal memory 202 as the “country identifier MCC” included in the broadcast information. ”. For example, when the mobile device 2 is located in a domestic service area, the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” is set to “44020” (the “country identifier MCC” is “440”). On the other hand, when the mobile device 2 is located in a service area outside the country, the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” is set to “FFFFF” (the “country identifier MCC” is “FFF”).

When acquiring area-related information from the broadcast information, even when the mobile device 2 is located outside the country, the country can be specifically identified by the country identifier, not just the country. Therefore, the server 6 of the content provider can change the mode of service for each country where the service area in which the mobile device 2 is located.
For example, it is possible to cope with a case where the copyright holder allows content distribution to the mobile device 2 located in a certain country but does not allow the mobile device 2 located in another country. Alternatively, it is possible to cope with the case where the right to copy the contents and the public transmission right belong to different companies in each country and the payee of the copyright fee is changed in each country.

  In addition, when area-related information is acquired from the broadcast information, the service provided by the content provider can be changed according to the provider because the provider identifier MNC is included both in Japan and abroad. By using this provider identifier MNC, it is possible to provide a specific service when roaming to a specific provider as a business collaboration on the content provider side.

[Example 2 of acquiring area-related information in a mobile device]
In addition, the mobile device 2 can also acquire area-related information related to the area where the mobile device is located as follows.
In this case, the key input unit 205 of the mobile device 2 is provided with a key for switching between “W-CDMA” and “GMS”. Alternatively, the mobile communication mode selection screen is displayed on the display unit 206, and the user selects from among “W-CDMA”, “GMS”, and the like on the screen by a key operation. The control unit 201 of the mobile device 2 determines whether the mobile device 2 is located in or outside the country according to the mobile communication mode set by the mobile communication mode selection function. That is, when the user selects the W-CDMA mode, the radio transmission / reception unit 203 is set to the W-CDMA mode, so the control unit 201 determines that the mobile device 2 is located in the country. On the other hand, when the user selects the GSM mode, since the radio transmission / reception unit 203 is set to the GSM mode, the control unit 201 determines that the mobile device 2 is located outside the country.
As a correspondence between the mobile communication mode and domestic / overseas, depending on the mobile communication network, it may be determined that the user selects “CDMA2000” as domestic, and if the user selects “GSM”, it may be determined as foreign. it can.

  Alternatively, a “country mode selection” screen is displayed on the display unit 206 of the mobile device 2, and the user selects either “domestic” or “foreign” on the screen by a key operation. When the user selects “domestic” by this selection operation, the control unit 201 of the mobile device 2 determines that the service area is “domestic” and sets the mobile communication mode to “W-CDMA”. On the other hand, when the user selects “outside the country”, it is determined that the service area is “outside the country”, and the mobile communication mode is set to “GSM”.

  Alternatively, an “area mode selection” screen is displayed on the display unit 208, and on that screen, “domestic (Japan)”, “foreign (GSM 900 MHz band, GSM 1800 MHz band)” and “outside (GSM 1800 MHz band)” The user selects by key operation. Here, when “overseas (GSM 900 MHz band, GSM1800 MHz band)” or “overseas (GSM1800 MHz band)” is selected, the screen switches to the “communication carrier selection (operator selection)” screen and uses each mobile communication mode. A list of operators (operators) is displayed.

Here, if the operator is selected manually and the settings corresponding to the mobile communication network are made, the mobile communication mode assigned to the operator is assumed as being in the service area of the operator. Then, the process of registering the location is started for the base station at the frequency.
If the mobile device 2 is in the service area of the set operator and has an international roaming usage contract, the location registration is possible and communication is possible. If you are not in the service area or if you are not contracted for international roaming, you cannot communicate.
Usually, the operators are divided by country, so that the country of the service area where the mobile device 2 is located can be selected together with the operator of the service area where the mobile device 2 is located by selecting the operator. (Including domestic and overseas choices).
If the location registration is successful, it can be seen that the setting of the mobile communication mode and frequency by the user and the selection of the service area operator in which the mobile device 2 is located are not wrong.

On the above “communication carrier selection (operator selection)” screen, it is also possible to select and set a carrier by “automatic”. For example, the operator to be selected is automatically and sequentially switched, and the process of registering the location in the base station is started assuming that the operator is in the service area of the operator. If you are in the service area of the selected operator and have an international roaming usage contract, you will be able to communicate by registering your location.
Location registration is not performed when the operator is not in the service area of the switched operator or has not been contracted for international roaming. In this case, switch to the next operator and try to register the location. If location registration is possible, the operator at that time is set.

In the above description, first, the mobile communication mode and frequency are selected, and then the operator is selected. However, the user may select an operator from the operator list regardless of the mobile communication mode and frequency. If the location registration is possible as a result of the selection, the mobile communication mode and the frequency are set for the mobile communication network by the selection of the operator. When the business operators are divided by country, the country (including domestic and foreign settings) where the mobile device 2 is located is also selected by the above-mentioned business operator selection.
The user may select a country from the country list. If location registration is possible as a result of the selection, the mobile communication mode, frequency, and operator are correctly set according to the country selection. If there are a plurality of operators in one country, one operator may be automatically selected by default.

The control unit 201 of the mobile device 2 sets the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” to “44020” (the “country identifier MCC” is “440”) when the mobile device 2 is located in the domestic service area. And On the other hand, when the mobile device 2 is located in a service area outside the country, the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” is set to “FFFFF” (the “country identifier MCC” is “FFF”).
When selecting the provider divided for each country as described above, the country identifier MCC of the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” is set to the code data of the country corresponding to the provider selected by the user.

  The mobile device 2 may move to an area where radio waves cannot be received, or may be affected by a wireless line failure. In such a case, since the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity” or the “country identifier MCC” is stored even when the session is resumed, the procedure for executing the service area determination process is not repeated. Therefore, the time required for resumption is shortened.

  FIGS. 8A and 8B are sequence diagrams showing an example of processing when accessing the domestic content provider server 6 from the personal computer (PC) 1 connected to the mobile device 2 in or outside the country. is there. These figures show information transmission / reception processing when requesting content from the personal computer 1 to the content provider server 6 via the mobile device 2 after the processing at power-on is completed.

  As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity (at least the country identifier) indicating the service area where the mobile device 2 is located as area-related information from the mobile device 2 to the personal computer 1 as shown in FIGS. MCC) is sent. Then, in the personal computer 1, a region header in which a mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity (at least a country identifier MCC) indicating a service area where the mobile device 2 is located is included in an HTTP request transmitted to the server 6. Added. For example, when the mobile device 2 is located in the country, a region header in which “44020” is described is added to the HTTP request as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the mobile device is located outside the country, a region header describing “FFFFF” is added to the HTTP request as shown in FIG. 8B. In this way, if it is only necessary to distinguish between domestic and foreign countries, a region header describing either “44020” or “FFFFF” is added.

When it is determined that the HTTP request has a region header, the content provider server 6 determines whether the value of the region header is “44020”. In the case of “44020”, the server 6 transmits data for displaying the usage screen exemplified in “screen c”. That is, the top page (Web page) of the Web site of the content provider 6 is displayed on the personal computer 1. Although the subsequent processing is not shown in the figure, the user selects music content such as a desired ringing melody, completes the accounting process, and downloads the music content.
On the other hand, when the value of the region header is not “44020”, the server 6 transmits data for displaying the use-disallowed screen exemplified in “screen d”. In other words, the Web site of the accessed content provider 6 is notified that it cannot be used from outside the country.

Next, a data communication procedure relating to acquisition and addition of service area information of a mobile station in the data communication system shown in FIG. 5 will be described.
FIG. 9 shows a data communication procedure when the personal computer 1 acquires area-related information from the mobile device in the data communication system of FIG. 5 and transmits an HTTP request to which a region header including the area-related information is added. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example.
First, the user operates the personal computer 1 to which the mobile device 2 is connected, starts a network connection application for receiving a data communication service by the mobile device, and makes a network connection request. This network connection application is data that designates a predetermined telephone number (for example, a special number “* 99 #” or “* 7300”) set in advance to the mobile device 2 at the end of the USB cable through a communication driver. And instructing the start of communication. In the example of FIG. 9, since the data communication service of the packet line (packet switching network) is used, the special number “* 99 #” is automatically called.
Upon receiving the communication start instruction, the mobile device 2 determines the line type based on the designated telephone number (for example, the special number “* 99 #” or “* 7300”), and automatically executes the predetermined telephone number. The packet line (packet switching network) or the voice line (circuit switching network) is connected to the mobile communication network. In this data communication example, connection is made to a packet line (packet switching network).

The SGSN 32 receives a connection request from the mobile device 2 located in the service area of the domestic mobile communication network 3. The SGSN 42 receives a connection request from the mobile device 2 located in the service area of the mobile communication network 4 outside the country. Further, the GGSN 33 acquires node specifying information such as the IP address of the SGSN 32 or SGSN 42 that has received the connection request from the mobile device 2. Then, the GGSN 33 notifies the user authentication system RADIUS 9 of the node identification information of the SGSN 32 or SGSN 42 to which the network connection request has been relayed as a PDP context (Packet Data Protocol context).
The user authentication system RADIUS9 performs user authentication processing and holds information such as the IP address of the mobile device 2, node identification information of the SGSN, and mobile device number (MSISDN).
The GGSN 33 receives an authentication result response from the user authentication system RADIUS 9 and assigns an IP address to the mobile device 2. Then, the GGSN 33 pays out the assigned IP address to the mobile device 2 and transmits a network connection response to the mobile device 2 via the SGSN. When the mobile device 2 receives this network connection response, the TCP / IP communication preparation is completed.

  When the network connection application is activated, the personal computer 1 manually or automatically by a user operation, the mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity (at least the country) as area-related information indicating the service area in which the mobile device 2 is located. The identifier MCC) is acquired from the mobile device 2. The personal computer 1 can use the area information including the data of the mobile communication network identifier PLMN identity (at least the country identifier MCC) acquired from the mobile device 2 or the service area data determined from the data in the network connection application. The data is stored in a predetermined storage area in the internal storage device 102.

Next, the user activates a browser (application for HTTP protocol) or a mailer (application for IMAP, SMTP, POP protocol) on the personal computer 1. At this time, if the network connection is disconnected, the network connection application is activated. Using this network connection application, the user performs a connection operation, and browser and mailer communication normally flows at the moment of connection.
In the present embodiment, a case where a browser which is an example of an application for the HTTP protocol is activated is shown.

  Next, when the user performs an operation to access the content provider server 6 on the browser activated on the personal computer 1, the personal computer 1 performs the region / region in which the area information is described on the network connection application. A header is added to the HTTP request, and the HTTP request (with a region header) is transmitted to the mobile device 2.

  Next, the mobile device 2 converts the communication data including the HTTP request received from the personal computer 1 into predetermined data, and then transmits the data to the network side. The Internet gateway device 7 that has received the HTTP request relays the HTTP request received from the mobile device 2 toward the server 6 of the content provider.

  Next, when the content provider server 6 receives an HTTP request from the gateway device 7, the content provider server 6 determines the service area in which the mobile device 2 is located, based on the value of the region header of the HTTP request. Then, the server 6 controls the manner of providing the service requested by the HTTP request as described above according to the determined service area, and sends an HTTP response including predetermined content data via the mobile device 2 or the like. To the personal computer 1.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen when the music distribution service is used by the data communication system of the present embodiment. Here, a case where music download from outside the country is regulated will be described. When a specific music title (song title b) is specified and download is requested, responses “usable” and “unusable” are returned.
The display screen 71 of the display unit 101 of the personal computer 1 connected to the mobile device 2 is when “Song Title b” is selected. From the content provider server 6, URI information indicating the location of the music melody of “song name b” is transmitted by an HTTP response.
The personal computer 1 designates this URI and transmits an HTTP request with a region header added to the content provider server 6 over the network.
Depending on the country to which the service area in which the mobile device 2 is located, which is described in the region header, is “available”, the display screen 72 is being downloaded, and the music melody of “song name b” The data is downloaded to a predetermined storage area in the storage device in the computer 1. The billing process is performed, for example, after the download is completed.
On the other hand, in the case of “unusable”, the display screen 73 is displayed to notify that the music distribution service cannot be used because the use is from overseas (the mobile device 2 is located outside the country).

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen when network banking is used by the data communication system of the present embodiment. Here, a case will be described in which deposit processing from overseas is regulated in consideration of time differences and the like.
The display screen 81 is obtained when the bank account transfer page is accessed and the “account number” and “deposit amount” are entered.
Depending on the country of the service area in which the mobile device 2 is located, which is described in the region header, the display screen 82 is displayed in the case of “available”, and notification that the specified account is to be charged is notified.
On the other hand, in the case of “unusable”, the display screen 83 is displayed to notify that network banking cannot be used because the use is from overseas (the mobile device 2 is located outside the country).

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen when character image distribution such as animation is used by the data communication system of the present embodiment. Here, a case will be described in which downloading to overseas countries without permission of the copyright owner is restricted.
The display screen 91 shows the result of selecting a specific character image A on the character image download site.
Depending on the country of the service area where the mobile device 2 is located, which is described in the region header, in the case of “available”, the display screen 92 is displayed, and the character image A is downloaded to the personal computer 1 and displayed. .
On the other hand, in the case of “unusable”, the display screen 93 is displayed to notify that the character image distribution cannot be used because the use is from overseas (the mobile device 2 is located outside the country).

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the server 6 of the content provider that provides the service can determine the area where the mobile device 2 connected to the personal computer 1 that transmits the HTTP request that requests the service is located. Therefore, it is possible to provide a service according to the area where the mobile device 2 connected to the personal computer 1 requesting the service is located.

  Also, according to the present embodiment, by expanding the header area of the HTTP request, it is possible to easily put information on the service area where the mobile station is located in the existing HTTP request. Moreover, since it is compatible with the existing HTTP request, it is possible to notify the server of the service area in which the mobile device is located without causing any trouble to the existing server.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the personal computer 1 acquires area-related information for determining the service area in which the mobile device 2 is located, and adds a region header to the HTTP request. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the configuration in the existing mobile communication network.

  In the above embodiment, the network connection application software 122 (see FIG. 4) started by the personal computer 1 performs the process of adding the region header in which the area related information is described. You may make it perform. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, proxy software 124 that relays data such as an HTTP request and an HTTP response is started between the browser software 120 and the network connection application software 122, and the above-mentioned region is displayed using this proxy software. -You may perform the process which adds a header.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the mobile device 2 having a GPS (Global Positioning System) function is used, and the longitude, latitude, and altitude GPS data of the mobile device 2 acquired using the GPS system is transmitted from the mobile device 2 to the personal computer. 1 may be notified. In this case, the personal computer 1 transmits to the server 6 the longitude, latitude, and altitude GPS data of the mobile device 2 received from the mobile device 2 and information on the area where the mobile device is located determined from these data. It can be added to the header of the HTTP request.

Moreover, although the case where the communication system which provides the data communication service using a packet switching network was used was demonstrated in the said embodiment, this invention uses the communication system which provides the data communication service using a circuit switching network. It can be similarly applied to.
FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a communication system that provides a data communication service using a circuit switching network including circuit switching nodes 34, 35, and 44 in the mobile communication networks 3 and 4. In FIG. 14, the HTTP request to which the above-mentioned region header is added by the personal computer 1 is received by the mobile device 2. The mobile device 2 converts the HTTP request data received from the personal computer 1 so as to correspond to the data communication service of the circuit switching network, and converts the converted HTTP request data to the mobile communication networks 3 and 4. Send. The data of the HTTP request transmitted from the mobile device 2 is transferred through the circuit switching network of the mobile communication network, converted into an HTTP request in a predetermined data format by the circuit switching gateway (SG / MG) 35, and an Internet gateway device 7 is transmitted.
The gateway device 7 transfers the HTTP request received from the circuit switching gateway (SG / MG) 35 toward the server 6 of the content provider.

In the above embodiment, the content provider server 6 has been described as being in the same country as the home network. However, the content provider server 6 may be in any country, and the company location of the content provider may be in any country.
Further, instead of the content provider server 6, the business operator operating the mobile communication network may be a server operating the content service business.
In addition, the content provider server 6 determines the service mode in advance in consideration of the laws and contracts of each country, according to the country where the service area in which the mobile device 2 requesting the service is located. Just keep it.
The area-related information used for determining the area where the mobile device 2 is located includes information specified in advance by 3GPP, such as the “mobile communication network identifier PLMN”, or a specific communication carrier. Information that is uniquely defined may be used.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which a mobile device that supports international roaming by terminal roaming is used. In addition, the mobile device of the present invention includes a mobile device that supports international roaming by replacing the mobile device chip. In such a mobile device, similarly, when the server receives a request having a region header, the mode of service can be controlled in accordance with the country of the service area in which the mobile device is located.

  In the above embodiment, the user accesses a predetermined website prepared by a telecommunications carrier or the like via the personal computer 1 and the mobile device 2, and the customer information is obtained from the content provider via the site. The consent (permission) to notify the server 6 may be obtained in advance. In this case, the gateway 7 or the like to which the area-related information is added acquires information about whether or not the user has obtained consent from the website, and the operation for adding the area-related information based on the information is performed. To control.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a mobile communication network utilization system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a mobile device that can be used in the mobile communication network utilization system. The block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the personal computer which can be used with the mobile communication network utilization system. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the structure of the main software started with the personal computer. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a principal part structure of the data communication system using a packet communication network. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of an HTTP request and an HTTP header. Explanatory drawing which shows a specific example of the data described in the HTTP header area. (A) And (b) is a sequence diagram which shows an example of a process when accessing the server of a domestic content provider from the personal computer connected to the mobile station in the country or abroad. The sequence diagram which shows an example of the data communication procedure in the data communication system of this embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the display screen in the case of using a music delivery service by the data communication system of this embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the display screen in the case of using network banking by the data communication system of this embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the display screen in the case of utilizing character image delivery, such as an animation, by the data communication system of this embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the structure of the main software started with the personal computer which concerns on other embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of a principal part structure of the data communication system using a circuit switching communication network. Explanatory drawing which shows the problem of the content service by international roaming.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Personal computer 2 Mobile device 3 Domestic mobile communication network 4 Overseas mobile communication network 5 Internet 6 Content provider server 7 Internet gateway device 9 User authentication system (RADIUS)
31 Base station (BS)
32 packet switching node (serving GPRS support node: SGSN)
33 packet switching node (gateway GPRS support node: GGSN)
34 Circuit switching node (Circuit switching office: MSC)
35 Circuit switching node (circuit switching gateway: SG / MG)
36 Home Location Register (HLR)

Claims (4)

Via the mobile communication network, an information processing apparatus connected to the mobile device requests a service to the server, a mobile communication network based system in which the server provides a service,
An information processing device that transmits a request for a service;
A mobile device that receives the request transmitted from the information processing apparatus and transmits the received request to the mobile communication network;
A server that receives the request transmitted from the mobile device and relayed by the mobile communication network, and controls a mode of providing a service requested by the request according to an area where the mobile device is located; Prepared,
The information processing apparatus establishes a communication line for receiving a data communication service between the mobile equipment, mobile equipment acquires the area related information to be used for determining the area being visited from mobile equipment, the the area related information acquired from the mobile device, to extend the header area of the request described in the added predetermined header, the request the predetermined header to which the area related information is described is added, the A mobile communication network utilization system characterized by transmitting to a mobile device. An information processing apparatus which can transmit a request to the server via a mobile communication network in a state where the mobile station is connected,
Means for establishing a communication line for receiving a data communication service with the mobile device;
Means for acquiring area-related information used for determining the area where the mobile station is located from the mobile station;
Means for describing the area-related information acquired from the mobile device in a predetermined header added by expanding the header area of the request ;
Means for transferring the request to which the predetermined header describing the area-related information is added to the mobile device so that the request is transmitted to the server. Processing equipment.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
  When starting an application program that generates and sends a request to be sent to the server, it is configured to start a network connection application for performing communication via the mobile communication network using the mobile device. ,
An information processing apparatus characterized in that the processing of each means is executed by the network connection application. Via the mobile communication network an information communication terminal system which can transmit a request to the server,
An information processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3 ,
An information communication terminal system comprising: a mobile device that receives a request transmitted from the information processing apparatus and transmits the received request to a mobile communication network.

Images