JP4322793B2 - Composite wireless communication system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio communication system having a radio and a plurality of base stations.

  The communication fee and billing system are determined by the communication carrier. In general, the communication fee varies depending on the charging system based on the date and time, the time zone, the distance, and the like as described in “Non-Patent Document 1” below. FIG. 9 shows a conventional wireless communication system. In FIG. 9, the communication charges in the cover area A (905) and the cover area B (905) of all the base stations A (902) and B (903) connected to the wireless communication system 901 are the same charge. Charge A is set. A user who operates the wireless device 904 selects a base station capable of communication based on the reception level and performs wireless communication.

In the wireless communication system 901, the traffic status of the wireless communication system can be monitored by monitoring the status of each base station and RNC (Radio Network Controller).
In addition, as a multi-mode wireless device that can support a plurality of wireless communication systems by one unit, a wireless device configured by a dedicated circuit or the like corresponding to a plurality of wireless communication systems, or the following “Non-Patent Document 2” As described, there is a software radio that can change the function of the radio only by changing the software without changing the hardware.

  Furthermore, as a means for billing, a credit card function or a prepaid function charged with electronic money can be added to a mobile phone by installing a non-contact IC card in the mobile phone (installed in NTT DoCoMo's Fe1ica). (VISA service, etc.) in which a portable terminal or a non-contact type IC card and infrared communication are mounted on the portable terminal.

  In any case, since the communication charge is unchanged regardless of the traffic situation of the wireless communication system, the user cannot feel unfairness.

http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/p_s/f/phs_tuuwa.html J. Mitola, III “The Software Radio Architecture”, IEEE Comm. Mag. Vol.33, No.5, pp.26-38, 1995

As described above, the communication charges are currently set to be the same in the coverage areas of all base stations based on the charging system based on the date, time zone, distance, and the like. However, the usage situation of all base stations is not the same. On the other hand, there is a problem that the user has to pay the same price for the communication service in any area regardless of the congestion situation.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a radio communication system that enables charging and charging for each base station, and allows a user to select a base station based on the charge information of each base station. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a traffic monitoring server is provided in each wireless communication system, and charging is set according to the traffic volume obtained thereby. Moreover, in order to make this usable effectively, the user can temporarily use the wireless communication system including a wireless communication system outside the contract.

That is, in claim 1, it is a composite radio communication system combining a plurality of radio communication systems, and each radio communication system constituting the composite radio communication system includes a radio, a plurality of base stations, and a base station A charge server that sets at least one of the charge and charge system for each charge as charge information, and the wireless device includes charge information acquisition means for acquiring charge information from each base station. A wireless communication system that selects and communicates with a desired base station based on fee information, and the plurality of wireless communication systems includes a wireless communication system that is in a non-contracted state with a user of the wireless device a system, wherein the radio is a multi-mode wireless device capable of coping with a plurality of wireless communication system, each radio, the radio is a wireless communication available Wireless communication system detecting means for detecting a system and personal information storage means for storing at least one of ID information for identifying a user of the wireless device or payment information for specifying a payment method can be used. A wireless communication system is detected using the wireless communication system detection means, and a desired wireless communication system is selected from the detected wireless communication system based on the fee information, and the selected wireless communication system is When in a non-contracted state with the user of the wireless device, a temporary use request is transmitted to the billing server of the selected wireless communication system, and then the information stored in the personal information storage means is transmitted, and the wireless communication system billing servers, by the transmission content to authenticate or confirmation processing of the user of the wireless device, as a result of the processing, the radio communication sheet The temporary use permission of the system is determined. In the case of permission, the ID information or settlement information transmitted from the wireless device is provided to the wireless device while providing the temporary use service of the wireless communication system and charging for the use. Stipulates a composite wireless communication system configured to charge a fee based on the

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the composite radio communication system according to the first aspect, at least one of the plurality of radio communication systems includes a traffic monitoring unit that monitors a traffic volume of a base station or a network in the radio system. the billing server of the wireless communication system, in response to said preparative Rahikku amount, or the set of rates sequential prescribes the complex wireless communication system configured to change at a predetermined timing.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the composite wireless communication system according to the first or second aspect, the wireless device predicts a fee trend from the fee information acquired by the fee information acquisition unit. And a composite radio communication system configured to select the desired radio communication system based on a prediction result of the charge trend prediction means.

  In the present invention, the wireless communication system sets a fee in consideration of the congestion situation for each base station, and the wireless device side which is the user side selects the base station based on this fee information. Further, the user can temporarily use a plurality of uncontracted wireless communication systems. As a result, the communication carrier can distribute the traffic load by changing the charge and billing system according to the congestion status of the base station and the network. Furthermore, it is possible to perform flexible billing according to the operation status of the equipment. On the other hand, the user's economics and convenience are improved because the user's fee and the choice of the wireless communication system increase because the communication fee is different for each base station and the wireless communication system can be used temporarily. To do.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, it is assumed that the wireless device 104 is within the coverage area of the base station A. The billing server 101 of the wireless communication system 105 sets a fee for each base station (102 and 103 in FIG. 1). That is, base station A (102) is set to charge A, and base station B (103) is set to charge B. The user acquires the charge information broadcasted by each base station by the wireless device 104, and selects a wireless communication system and a base station for performing communication based on the charge information.

  FIG. 2 shows a flowchart when the wireless device 104 uses the wireless communication system 105 in FIG. In step S102 of FIG. 2, the wireless device 104 acquires charge information of a communicable base station using charge information acquisition means built in the wireless device 104, and in step S104, the base station is based on the obtained charge information. Make a selection. In step S106, the base station A notifies the wireless communication system 105 of a communication request. In step S108, if the wireless communication system 105 can be used (S108 / Yes), the wireless device 104 proceeds to step S110, and if unavailable (S108 / No), the wireless device 104 returns to step S104. Thereby, the wireless communication system 105 is used in step S110. Through the above process, the user selects a base station based on the charge information and starts communication.

(Embodiment 2)
A second embodiment according to the present invention is shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the wireless communication system 105 has a traffic monitoring server 301 as traffic monitoring means. The billing server 101 changes the charge setting for each base station (102 and 103 in FIG. 3) according to the traffic volume. In FIG. 3, it is assumed that the wireless device 104 is located where the coverage area A (106) and the coverage area B (107) of the base station A and the base station B overlap, and the coverage area 106 of the base station A is It is assumed that the station B is more congested than the cover area 107 of the station B. Therefore, for example, the billing server 101 sets the fee for the base station A (102) higher than the fee for the base station B (103) (fee A> fee B). The wireless device 104 selects the base station B (103) based on the fee information acquired from each base station, and performs wireless communication via the base station B (103).

  In FIG. 3, an operation example of the wireless communication system 105 when changing the charge settings of all base stations at regular intervals is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4.

  In FIG. 4, the wireless communication system 105 acquires the traffic volume using the traffic monitoring server 301 in step S202, sets the charge based on the traffic volume acquired in step S204, and ends.

  According to the above operation, the charge setting of each base station is changed at regular time intervals or at any time according to the traffic volume.

(Embodiment 3)
A third embodiment according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively. In FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, there are two different wireless communication systems A (501) and wireless communication system B (502), the user uses the multimode wireless device 503, and the base station B and the base station C Assume that you are in an overlapping area. Assume that the wireless communication system A (501) and the wireless communication system B (502), for example, have different communication enterprises and that the user has a contract with only one of them. 5 and 6, the user acquires fee information set for each of the base stations A to D (505 to 508), and determines the wireless communication system to which the base station to be used belongs according to the fee information. FIG. 5 shows a case where a prepaid function is used for the personal information storage means built in the multimode wireless device 503. FIG. 6 shows a case where the credit card function is used for the personal information storage means of the multimode radio.

  In FIG. 5, when the user makes a temporary use request to the non-contracted wireless communication system B (502), the billing server 504 of the wireless communication system B (502) authenticates the user and permits the use of the user. On the other hand, in FIG. 6, when the user makes a temporary use request to the non-contracted wireless communication system B (502), the accounting server 504 of the wireless communication system B (502) is required for the credit card company 509 to which the user subscribes. The user is confirmed through the wireless communication system, and the use of the user is permitted when the user has confirmed.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing in the multi-mode wireless device 503 and the wireless communication system B (502) when the user wishes to temporarily use the non-contracted wireless communication system B (502). Each is shown in b).

  In FIG. 7A, the multi-mode wireless device 503 detects the wireless communication system using the built-in wireless communication system detection means in step S302, and each communicable base station belonging to the wireless communication system in step S304. The wireless communication system is selected from the charge information. In step S306, the multi-mode wireless device 503 transmits a temporary use request to the selected wireless communication system (in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the wireless communication system B (502) is selected). In step S308, the multi-mode wireless device 503 transmits an ID for identifying a user stored in the personal information storage means or payment information for specifying a payment method. In step S310, if the wireless communication system can be used temporarily (S310 / Yes), the process proceeds to step S312, and if temporary use is not possible (S310 / No), the process returns to step S304. The multi-mode wireless device 503 uses the above-described wireless communication system (wireless communication system B in FIGS. 5 and 6) in step S312, pays a fee in step S314, and the series of processes ends.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 7B, the wireless communication system (for example, wireless communication system B) proceeds to step S324 when there is a temporary use request from the multimode wireless device 503 in step S320 (S320 / Yes), If there is no temporary use request (S320 / No), the process returns to step S320. In step S324, the wireless communication system proceeds to step 326 if the user is permitted to temporarily use the wireless communication system (S324 / Yes), and proceeds to step S328 if not permitted (S324 / No). In step S326, the wireless communication system notifies the user of temporary use permission. On the other hand, in step S328, the wireless communication system notifies the user that temporary use is not possible and ends the series of processes. The wireless communication system provides temporary use of the wireless communication system to the user in step S330 and charges for use, and charges the fee in step S332. Upon receipt of the charge request, if payment of the charge can be confirmed in step S334 (S334 / Yes), the process ends. If not confirmed (S334 / No), the process returns to step S332 and waits for payment.

  According to the above operation, a temporary use of a wireless communication system in which a fee is different for each base station and a user has not contracted is realized.

(Embodiment 4)
An example of operation in the fourth embodiment according to the present invention is shown in the flowchart of FIG. The fourth embodiment is a case where a fee trend is predicted.

  In FIG. 8, the multi-mode wireless device 503 detects the wireless communication system using the wireless communication system detection means in step S402, and uses the fee trend prediction means in step S406 to detect each base station belonging to the wireless communication system. To predict price trends. In step S408, the multi-mode wireless device 503 selects a wireless communication system based on the charge trend prediction. In step S410, the multi-mode wireless device 503 transmits a temporary use request to the selected wireless communication system. In step S412, the multi-mode wireless device 503 transmits the personal information stored in the personal information storage unit and the balance amount. In step S414, it is determined whether or not the wireless communication system can be temporarily used. If yes (S414 / Yes), the process proceeds to step S416. If temporary use is not possible (S414 / No), step S414 is performed. Return to S408. The multi-mode wireless device 503 uses the wireless communication system permitted to be temporarily used in step S416 and the selected base station, performs a payment process in step 418, and ends the series of processes.

  In accordance with any of the operations described above, a radio communication system is selected based on a price trend prediction by the user. The system configuration including the wireless communication system used in the description of the present invention is an example, and the present invention is not limited to these.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram illustrating Embodiment 1; 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a system configuration diagram showing a second embodiment. The flowchart which shows the procedure in which a radio | wireless communications system acquires the traffic amount. FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an example in a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram illustrating another example in the third embodiment. (A) The flowchart which shows the process sequence in a multimode radio | wireless machine in the case of performing temporary use of an uncontracted system, (b) The flowchart which shows the process sequence in a radio | wireless communications system. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the fourth embodiment. 1 is a configuration diagram of a conventional wireless communication system.

Explanation of symbols

105, 501, 502, 901: Wireless communication system 102, 103, 505, 506, 507, 508, 902, 903: Base station 104, 906: Radio 503: Multi-mode radio

Claims (3)

A composite radio communication system that combines a plurality of radio communication systems, and each radio communication system constituting the composite radio communication system includes a radio, a plurality of base stations, and a charge and a charging system for each base station. A charging server that sets at least one as fee information, and the wireless device includes fee information acquisition means for acquiring fee information from each base station, and a desired base station based on the acquired fee information A wireless communication system that selects and communicates, and the plurality of wireless communication systems includes a wireless communication system that is in a non-contracted state with a user of the wireless device,
The wireless device is a multi-mode wireless device capable of supporting a plurality of wireless communication systems,
Each wireless device includes at least one of wireless communication system detecting means for detecting a wireless communication system that can be used by the wireless device, ID information for identifying a user of the wireless device, and payment information for specifying a payment method. Personal information storage means for storing
An available wireless communication system is detected using the wireless communication system detection means, and a desired wireless communication system is selected from the detected wireless communication system based on the fee information,
When the selected wireless communication system is in an uncontracted state with the user of the wireless device,
Transmitting a temporary use request to a billing server of the selected wireless communication system, and then transmitting information stored in the personal information storage means;
The billing server of the wireless communication system performs a process of authentication or confirmation of the user of the wireless device according to the transmission content, and determines a temporary use permission of the wireless communication system according to a result of the process,
In the case of permission, the wireless device is provided with a temporary use service of the wireless communication system, charged for use, and charged based on the ID information or settlement information transmitted from the wireless device. A featured composite wireless communication system. The composite wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein
At least one of the plurality of wireless communication systems comprises traffic monitoring means for monitoring the traffic volume of a base station or network in the wireless system,
The billing server of the wireless communication system changes a charge setting sequentially or at a predetermined timing in accordance with the traffic volume. In the composite radio communication system according to claim 1 or 2,
The radio is
It comprises a charge trend prediction means for predicting a charge trend from the charge information acquired by the charge information acquisition means, and selects the desired wireless communication system based on a prediction result of the charge trend prediction means. Composite wireless communication system.

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