KR20090056278A - Method for changing mobile telecommunication service provider - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for changing a mobile communication business provider without the purchase of a USIM card or a service center visit is provided to perform the mobile communication business provider by entering a mobile communication business provider selection menu in case that a USIM(Universal Subscriber Identity Module) locking device is released. A changeable mobile communications service provider list is provided for a user through a user interface menu. The predetermined mobile business provider is selected(S110). A request message for changing the subscribed mobile business provider into the mobile business provider of the selected predetermined is transmitted to the mobile network(S120). The service provider setup information of the selected mobile communications service provider is provided(S130). The initialization is performed based on the business provider set up information(S140).

Description

{Method for changing mobile telecommunication service provider}

The present invention relates to a method for changing a mobile carrier, and more particularly, to a method for changing a mobile carrier according to a user's selection in a mobile terminal equipped with a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) card.

In a conventional code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile communication terminal, in order to change a service provider from another mobile communication service provider to another mobile communication service provider, a user operating at a currently registered mobile service provider or a new mobile communication service provider is required. After purchasing a new terminal at a customer service center or a representative for each mobile carrier, the user must go through procedures such as termination of use, number transfer or new subscription.

In addition, the conventional Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile communication terminals adopt a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, so that the user's mobile communication subscription history can be freely changed without changing the SIM card between terminals. However, in order to change the service provider, a new SIM card issued by the mobile communication service provider must be purchased.

However, in a mobile communication terminal equipped with a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) card, which is essential for using third-generation or more mobile communication services such as Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSPDA), the USIM between terminals is used. As well as card mobility, a single USIM card ensures mobile carrier mobility.

The USIM card combines a SIM card with subscriber information and a Universal IC Card (UICC) to implement various functions such as user authentication, global roaming, and e-commerce on a single card.

In addition, the USIM card is a small memory that acts as a kind of storage device, and can store not only mobile subscriber information but also personal stored information such as a phone book and a short message service (SMS) message. The contents of the USIM card can be used as it is without having to record the stored information on a new mobile communication terminal.

In addition, even if a user wants to change to another mobile communication provider, the user can easily change to another mobile communication provider by using the user's mobile phone terminal and the USIM card used by the user without going through the mobile communication service provider.

Currently, mobile communication providers providing third generation mobile communication services are applying locking devices to USIM cards, and thus, user convenience functions using USIM cards, such as changing operators to other mobile communication providers, are not properly provided.

Therefore, in order to preserve the convenience of the user and the original purpose of the USIM card, the problem of releasing the USIM lock is being opened after consultation between each mobile communication service provider.However, the operation method is not established and the user and each move is released when the USIM lock is released. Confusion can occur between service providers.

Due to the above problems, if the user wants to change the mobile communication service provider, the service change procedure cannot be easily performed because the user still needs to visit the service center of the mobile communication service provider or go through a predetermined procedure for different service providers.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a method for changing a mobile communication provider of a mobile communication terminal corresponding to any user's choice.

One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object of the present invention is a service provider selection step of selecting a predetermined mobile communication service provider and a message for requesting a service provider change to the currently selected mobile communication service provider to the selected mobile communication service provider. A request message transmission step of transmitting a request message to a mobile communication network, an initialization step of receiving service provider setting information from which service provider setting information of the selected mobile communication service provider is received from the mobile communication network, and an initialization step initialized based on the received service provider setting information. It provides a mobile communication user change method including a.

The operator selection step may include providing a changeable list of mobile service providers to a user as a UI (User Interface) menu and receiving a user input from one of the list of mobile communication service providers. Can be. At this time, the list of mobile operators may be recorded in a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) card. In this case, the list of mobile communication providers recorded in the USIM card may be updated through an over the air (OTA) method in an idle mode of the mobile communication terminal.

Here, the request message transmitting step may be configured to transmit a service provider change request message to the mobile communication network using a predetermined attachment type.

The receiving of the operator setting information may be configured to receive the operator setting information from the mobile communication network through an OTA method.

Here, the initializing step may include updating the operator setting information in the USIM card based on the provided operator setting information, resetting the mobile communication terminal, and based on the operator setting information in the updated USIM card. And performing a USIM initialization.

Another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object of the present invention is a service provider selection step of selecting a predetermined mobile communication service provider and a service provider corresponding to the selected mobile communication service provider setting information of the stored at least one mobile communication service provider An initialization step of initializing the mobile communication terminal based on the setting information, and a request message transmission step of transmitting a message for requesting a change of service provider to the selected mobile communication service provider to the mobile communication network; Provides a method for changing a mobile carrier.

Here, the operator selection step may include providing a changeable mobile carrier list to the user as a UI menu and receiving a user input of one of the mobile carrier list of the menu.

Here, the initializing step includes the steps of storing the identification value of the selected mobile communication operator, updating a flag indicating whether to change the mobile communication provider to the mobile communication terminal, resetting the mobile communication terminal, and moving the mobile communication terminal. Determining a flag designating whether a carrier is changed or not and performing a USIM initialization based on operator setting information corresponding to an identification value of the stored mobile communication service provider among stored service setting information of at least one mobile communication service provider; Can be configured. At this time, the identification value of the mobile communication operator may be recorded in the USIM card. In this case, the stored operator setting information of the at least one mobile communication operator may be updated through an OTA method in a standby mode of the mobile communication terminal.

Here, the request message transmitting step may be configured to transmit a service provider change request message to the mobile communication network using a predetermined connection type.

Using a method of changing a mobile communication provider of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention as described above, when the USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) lock is released, the user directly enters the operator selection menu from the mobile communication terminal. It is possible to enter and easily change the operator.

Therefore, the time and financial burden of the conventional purchase of a USIM card by visiting the service center of each mobile communication provider to change the mobile communication provider can be reduced, thereby increasing the convenience of the user.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In describing the drawings, similar reference numerals are used for similar elements.

Terms such as first, second, A, and B may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component. The term and / or includes a combination of a plurality of related items or any item of a plurality of related items.

When a component is said to be "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but other components may be present in the middle. It should be understood. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of changing a mobile communication provider of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a mobile communication terminal user supporting a third generation or more mobile communication service by referring to information on a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) card installed in the mobile communication terminal. Represents the process of performing a business change to a business.

1, an embodiment of a method of changing a mobile communication service provider according to the present invention includes a service provider selection step (S110), a request message transmission step (S120), a service provider setting information reception step (S130), and an initialization step (S140). It consists of.

Referring to Figure 1, the operator selection step (S110) is configured as follows.

A user enters a mobile communication service provider selection menu provided by a mobile communication terminal in order to change a service provider from a mobile communication service provider currently used to another mobile communication service provider.

Next, in order to display a mobile communication operator selection menu, the mobile communication terminal reads out a list of mobile communication operators stored in the mounted USIM card.

The USIM card uses a file system with an internal logical structure to store various information. The types of files are classified into MF (Master File), DF (Dedicated File), and EF (Elementary File). Among them, EF is a file type having a structure in which a header and a body are combined, and in detail, EF is divided into three types, Transparent EF, Linear fixed EF, and Cyclic EF. Each EF has a unique identifier and each stores information corresponding to it.

The list of mobile carriers may be stored in the USIM card in the form of EF, which may be pre-recorded before sale to the user by the mobile carrier that manufactured the USIM card, and the USIM card is mounted on the mobile terminal. After being updated, it may be updated through an over the air (OTA) method in an idle mode.

The read list of mobile operators is displayed to receive input from the user.

2 is a UI (User Interface) screen for selecting a mobile communication provider of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. The read list of mobile communication providers may be provided as a UI (User Interface) menu of the type shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, the read list of mobile communication providers may be displayed as a list-type UI menu. When entering the UI menu, the mobile communication service provider 210 currently being used may be displayed using contrast processing.

Here, the user may select a mobile communication provider to be changed in the UI menu through input of a navigation key and a confirmation soft key 220 of the mobile communication terminal.

When the user's input is completed through the mobile service provider selection UI, a request message transmission step S120 is started.

Referring back to Figure 1, the request message transmission step (S120) is configured as follows.

The mobile communication terminal transmits a service provider change request signal to the mobile communication network using a predetermined attachment type.

That is, the mobile communication terminal attempts to attach a GPRS to the WCDMA network in order to use a general packet radio service (GPRS) service provided by wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA).

GPRS attach includes a mobile communication terminal transmitting an attach request signal composed of a predetermined content and format defined by WCDMA to the WCDMA network and receiving an attach accecpt signal from the WCDMA network. Is a series of processes until the attachment to the WCDMA network is completed.

 The GPRS attach request signal is composed of a plurality of information elements, wherein an Attach type information element may indicate what type of GPRS attach the mobile communication terminal requests, that is, whether the GPRS attach is desired or not. Combined GPRS attach.

4 illustrates a structure of an Attach type information element in a GPRS message format and an identification value of a linked type according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the connection type element 410 is allocated in size of one octet, and stores identification values of each connection type in bit 1 to bit 3 of the octets.

Referring to FIG. 4, there are three types of connection types: GPRS attach, GPRS attach while IMSI attached, and Combined GPRS / IMSI attach, and the identification value is shown in FIG. 4 (420).

Referring to FIG. 4, when the mobile communication terminal requests a GPRS connection to request a mobile operator change to the mobile communication network, bit 1 and bit 2 have an 0 value as the identification value of the connection type element. May send a request message using a new connection type having a value of 1, for example, a service provider change 430.

Referring back to Figure 1, the operator setting information receiving step (S130) is configured as follows.

The mobile communication terminal receives a response message for the change request from the mobile communication network.

Here, the response message may include the operator setting information of the mobile communication provider to be used by the user newly, the mobile communication terminal may update the operator setting information in the USIM card based on the received carrier setting information.

Here, the service provider setting information is set in the mobile communication terminal required to initiate a connection to the mobile communication network and maintain the connection with the mobile communication network so that the mobile communication terminal can use various services of a predetermined mobile communication provider. It means information that becomes.

The service provider setting information may be recorded in the USIM card before being sold to the user by the mobile communication company that manufactured the USIM card, and may be updated through the OTA method after the USIM card is mounted in the mobile communication terminal.

Referring back to Figure 1, the initialization step (S140) is configured as follows.

The mobile communication terminal updates the operator setting information in the USIM card based on the received operator setting information. Thereafter, the mobile communication terminal performs a reset.

Next, the mobile communication terminal performs USIM initialization. Here, USIM initialization means performing a predetermined procedure for using a mobile communication network based on information read from a USIM card loaded in a mobile communication terminal.

For example, a series of processes for setting information such as emergency call codes, language indication, USIM service table, and international mobile station identity (IMSI) to a mobile terminal can be performed. it means.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of changing a mobile communication provider of a mobile communication terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, another embodiment of the method for changing a mobile communication service provider according to the present invention includes a service provider selection step S310, an initialization step S320, and a request message transmission step S330.

Referring to FIG. 3, since the operator selection step S310 is the same as the operator selection step S110 of FIG. 1, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted to avoid duplication.

Referring to FIG. 3, the initialization step S320 is configured as follows.

The mobile communication terminal stores the identification value of the mobile communication provider selected in the service provider selection step (S310).

The identification value of the mobile communication operator may be recorded as an EF in the USIM card by giving an identification value of 1 byte length for each mobile communication provider, and may be updated in response to the user's request for changing the mobile communication provider.

Next, the mobile communication terminal updates the flag to change the mobile service provider, and then executes a reset. The flag is a variable for determining whether to change the mobile service provider after the mobile communication terminal reset, for example, may be assigned to use a variable of boolean type (type).

After resetting, the mobile communication terminal reads out the identification value of the mobile communication user stored in the USIM card by referring to the flag and reads the identification value of the mobile communication user. Among the configuration information, the USIM initialization is performed by reading the operator setting information corresponding to the read value of the read mobile communication operator.

The service provider setting information may be stored in the USIM card as an EF, and may be pre-recorded before selling to the user by the mobile communication service provider that manufactured the USIM card, and also waits after the USIM card is mounted in the mobile communication terminal. Can be updated via OTA mode in mode

In addition, the service provider setting information may include service provider setting information of a plurality of other mobile communication service providers in addition to the mobile communication service currently being used.

Referring to FIG. 3, since the request message transmission step S330 is the same as the request message transmission step S120 of FIG. 1, a detailed description thereof will be omitted to avoid duplication.

Additional security measures as described above may be applied selectively or in combination, while the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be described in the following claims It will be understood that various modifications and changes can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of changing a mobile service provider of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a UI (User Interface) screen for selecting a mobile communication provider of a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of changing a mobile service provider of a mobile communication terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

4 illustrates a structure of an attach type information element and an identification value of an attach type according to an embodiment of the present invention in a GPRS message format.

Claims (14)

A service provider selection step of selecting a predetermined mobile communication service provider; A request message transmitting step of transmitting, to the mobile communication network, a message for requesting a change of a service provider to the selected mobile communication service provider; Receiving operator setting information for receiving operator setting information of the selected predetermined mobile communication provider from the mobile communication network; And And a initialization step initialized based on the received provider setting information. The method of claim 1, wherein the operator selection step, Providing a changeable list of mobile service providers to a user as a user interface (UI) menu; And And receiving one of a list of mobile communication providers of the menu from a user. The mobile communication service provider list of claim 2, wherein A method of changing a mobile service provider, characterized in that it is recorded in a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) card. The mobile communication service provider list of claim 3, wherein the list of mobile communication providers recorded in the universal user identification module card is as follows. A method of changing a mobile service provider, characterized in that the mobile communication terminal is updated through an over the air (OTA) method in the idle mode (idle mode). The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the request message comprises: And a service provider change request message to the mobile communication network using a predetermined attachment type. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the operator setting information comprises: Method for changing a mobile operator, characterized in that the operator setting information is provided from the mobile communication network through the OTA method The method of claim 1, wherein the initialization step, Updating carrier setting information in the USIM card based on the received carrier setting information; Resetting the mobile communication terminal; And And performing a USIM initialization based on the service provider setting information in the updated USIM card. A service provider selection step of selecting a predetermined mobile communication service provider; An initialization step of initializing a mobile communication terminal based on service provider setting information corresponding to the selected mobile communication service provider among stored service setting information of at least one mobile communication service provider; And And a request message transmitting step of transmitting, to the mobile communication network, a message for requesting a service provider change to a mobile communication network. The method of claim 8, wherein the operator selection step, Providing a changeable list of mobile operators as a UI menu to the user; and And receiving one of a list of mobile communication providers of the menu from a user. The method of claim 8, wherein the initialization step, Storing an identification value of the selected mobile communication operator; Updating a flag indicating whether the mobile communication provider is changed to the mobile communication terminal; Resetting the mobile communication terminal; Determining a flag designating whether to change a mobile service provider; And And performing a USIM initialization based on operator setting information corresponding to an identification value of the stored mobile communication service provider among stored service setting information of at least one mobile communication service provider. The method of claim 10, wherein the identification value of the mobile communication service provider, A method of changing a mobile service provider, characterized in that recorded in the USIM card. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the stored operator setting information of the at least one mobile communication service provider is provided. A method of changing a mobile service provider, characterized in that recorded in the USIM card. The service provider of claim 12, wherein the stored operator setting information of the at least one mobile communication service provider is provided. A method of changing a mobile service provider, characterized in that updated in the standby mode of the mobile communication terminal through the OTA method. The method of claim 8, wherein the request message transmission step, And a service provider change request message transmitted to the mobile communication network using a predetermined connection type.

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