KR20110063951A - Method and apparatus for accessing network in a mobile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A network connection method and device thereof are provided to determine priority of a connection network about an application operated based on a network connection and adaptively control a connection to a determined network. CONSTITUTION: One or more communication modules support a wireless communication of a mobile terminal. A storage(160) stores application information and link connection information corresponding to application information about at least one application operated based on network connection.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING NETWORK IN A MOBILE TERMINAL}

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal supporting a mobile communication function, and in particular, a mobile terminal capable of controlling network access of an executing application according to the priority of access networks allocated to each application in a mobile terminal supporting multi mode. It relates to a network connection method and apparatus in a terminal.

Recently, due to the rapid development of electronic technology, the function of the mobile terminal is gradually expanded. For example, the mobile terminal supports various functions such as a voice call function, a video call function, and a message transmitting / receiving function according to a mobile communication service, a camera function, a digital broadcasting reception and playback function, and the like.

Recently, a multi-mode mobile terminal capable of supporting at least two or more networks simultaneously has emerged. In this multi-mode mobile terminal, a corresponding network to be accessed for an application operated based on a network connection is predefined. Therefore, the multi-mode mobile terminal attempts to access the network only in the predefined network when attempting to access the network according to the execution of a specific application operating on a network connection basis.

For example, when a network connection is requested by executing a browser application, the multi-mode mobile terminal attempts to connect to a specific network according to a predefined and unalterable rule. As such, in the related art, a connection is attempted only to a predefined network for an application operated on a network connection basis. Such a rule is defined according to a predetermined rule of an operator or a mobile terminal developer at the time of development of a multi-mode mobile terminal, and the corresponding predefined rule cannot be changed after the mobile terminal is released.

For this reason, there is a problem in that the execution of the requested application from the user is not normally performed when the connection to the predefined network fails according to the network execution based application execution request. In addition, according to the related art, since a network access rule cannot be changed in advance for a network connection-based application, even when a new application is added, there is a problem that an optimal network allocation suitable for a network connection of the corresponding application is impossible. That is, in the case of a mobile terminal supporting a conventional multi-mode, a network that can be accessed for each individual application is already determined at the time of mobile terminal release, and thus cannot be changed after the release of the mobile terminal at the will of the user or operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for determining the priority of an access network for an application operating on a network connection basis in a multi-mode mobile terminal and adaptively controlling access to the determined network. .

Another object of the present invention is to provide a plurality of networks that can be accessed for each individual application in a multi-mode mobile terminal and a method for supporting network access for each application of a multi-mode mobile terminal by giving priority to each network. In providing a device.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for accessing a network of a mobile terminal, which can freely change a list and priority of networks that can be accessed for each individual application in a multi-mode mobile terminal according to a user or operator's policy. have.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a network connection in a mobile terminal, the method including detecting an execution of an application running on a network connection and based on application information of the application. And extracting link access information, and controlling network access to the application with reference to the extracted link access information.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the detecting may include determining whether the application is an application operated based on a network connection with reference to the identification information of the application. The controlling may include determining a link for accessing a corresponding network based on the link access information, and attempting to access a network through setting an interface with a link unit of the determined link. . The determining may include determining a link unit having a priority according to priority information according to the link access information.

An apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, in a mobile terminal that supports multi-mode, at least one communication module for supporting wireless communication of the mobile terminal, and is operated based on a network connection A storage unit for storing application information on at least one application and link connection information corresponding to the application information, and extracting and extracting link connection information set for the application upon detecting execution of an application operated on a network connection basis; It includes a control unit for controlling the network connection according to the execution of the application with reference to the link connection information.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the link access information indicates information on a network access link allocated for each application requiring network access, and a plurality of access links arranged according to priorities of access networks of the corresponding application. Characterized in that it contains information about. The controller may control access to a corresponding network based on the priority of link information accessible by a corresponding application based on the link access information. The at least one communication module may include at least one of a wireless communication module supporting mobile communication based wireless communication and an internet communication module supporting internet based internet communication.

In particular, the control unit according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when detecting the execution of the application operating on the basis of a network connection, the application manager for generating and transmitting the application information and the network connection request message for the application, and the application manager A connection processing unit which provides the application information to a connection management unit upon receiving the network connection request message from the network, and attempts to connect to the network based on the link connection information provided from the connection management unit, and the application information transmitted from the connection processing unit; A communication path for extracting the link connection information corresponding to the data from the storage unit and transferring the extracted link connection information to the connection processing unit and a specific network. It characterized in that it comprises a single link.

As described above, according to the network access method and apparatus in the mobile terminal proposed by the present invention, the priority of the access network and the access network can be given to each application operated based on the network access according to the user or operator setting. That is, according to the present invention, a mobile terminal supporting multi-mode can freely change and set a list and priority of a network to which individual applications can access according to a user or operator's policy. As a result, it is possible to provide a multi-mode mobile terminal that can increase the convenience of use of each user's mobile terminal and comply with the business policy of the operator.

Therefore, according to the present invention, by setting a network that is preferentially connected according to a user's or operator's policy for applications operated on a network connection basis in a multi-mode mobile terminal, user convenience and service quality of the operator can be improved. Has the advantage.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that, in the drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference symbols as possible. Further, the detailed description of well-known functions and constructions that may obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted. In other words, it should be noted that only parts necessary for understanding the operation according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described, and descriptions of other parts will be omitted so as not to disturb the gist of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a network access method and apparatus for a mobile terminal supporting multi mode. Particularly, in the embodiment of the present invention, the mobile terminal supporting the multi-mode can use the link connection information according to the user or operator setting to control the network connection for the applications operated on the network connection. We propose a network access control method and apparatus.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the mobile terminal supporting the multi-mode can support the optimal network access for each application executed based on the network connection. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mobile terminal may determine a network connection link for a corresponding application when executing an application requiring a network connection, and control an optimal network connection for an application executed through the determined network connection link. In this case, the mobile terminal may determine a network connection link based on link connection information preset for each application.

Next, a configuration of a multi-mode mobile terminal supporting network access for each application according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. However, it should be noted that the configuration of the mobile terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited or limited to the contents described below, and thus it can be applied to various embodiments based on the following embodiments.

1 is a view schematically showing the configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of the control unit 190 of the mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. to be.

1 and 2, the mobile terminal of the present invention is described as a representative example of a multi-mode mobile terminal supporting three networks. It is not limited to supporting only two networks. In FIG. 1, two wireless communication modules are provided for convenience of description, but may include one wireless communication module or a plurality of wireless communication modules according to network characteristics supported by the mobile terminal. to be.

Referring to FIG. 1, the multi-mode mobile terminal of the present invention includes a wireless communication module 110, an internet communication module 120, an input unit 130, an audio processor 140, a display unit 150, The storage unit 160 and the control unit 170 and the like configuration. The audio processor 140 may include a speaker (SPK), a microphone (MIC), and the like, and the storage unit 160 includes a buffer 170 and a database (DB) 180. It may include. Hereinafter, each configuration of the mobile terminal will be described in more detail.

The wireless communication module 110 supports mobile communication based on the mobile terminal. In particular, the wireless communication module 110 forms a supportable network and a communication protocol based on a set protocol under the control of the controller 190 to transmit and receive signals related to wireless communication such as voice communication and video communication, It is responsible for the transmission and reception of signals related to data communication such as a message service and the Internet. The wireless communication module 110 includes a transceiver for up-converting and amplifying a frequency of a transmitted signal, low-noise amplifying and down-converting a frequency of a received signal, and an antenna ANT1 for transmitting and receiving radio frequencies. Can be.

The communication channel may be any one of a mobile communication channel such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), and Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). It may include. Accordingly, the mobile terminal may support network connection according to at least one of a CDMA network, a WCDMA network, a GSM network, and an OFDMA network, depending on how the mobile terminal configures the wireless communication module 110. Can be.

The wireless communication module 110 may be configured with one or more according to the number of networks supported. For example, when the mobile terminal supports a CDMA network and a GSM network, a wireless communication module and a GSM network and a GSM protocol supporting a network connection by forming a communication channel according to the CDMA protocol and the CDMA protocol. It can be divided into a wireless communication module supporting a network connection by forming a communication channel according to. On the other hand, when the mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is a multi-mode mobile terminal operating based on the Internet network, the configuration of the wireless communication module 110 may be omitted.

The internet communication module 120 supports internet-based internet communication of the mobile terminal. In particular, the Internet communication module 120 forms a supportable network and an established protocol-based Internet communication channel under the control of the controller 190 to transmit / receive a signal related to wireless communication such as voice communication, a message service, and the Internet. It is responsible for the transmission and reception of signals related to data communication. The internet communication module 120 may form an internet communication channel such as a wired internet network or a wireless internet network under the control of the controller 190.

Here, the internet communication channel may include at least one internet communication channel such as wireless fidelity (WIFI) and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX). Accordingly, the mobile terminal may support network access according to at least one of a WIFI network and a WIMAX network according to the method of configuring the Internet communication module 120. In addition, the Internet communication module 120 may be configured with one or more according to the number of networks to support.

For example, when the mobile terminal supports a WIFI-based network and a WIMAX-based network, the Internet communication module 120 may use a WIFI-based network (eg, an AP) and an internet communication channel according to a corresponding protocol. It may be divided into an Internet communication module supporting a network connection and a WIMAX type network (for example, a base station) and an Internet communication module supporting a network connection by forming an Internet communication channel according to a corresponding protocol. The Internet communication module 120 may include a transceiver for processing a transmission signal or a reception signal according to a given rule, an antenna ANT2 for transmitting and receiving radio frequency, and the like. On the other hand, when the mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is a multi-mode mobile terminal operating based on a mobile communication network, the configuration of the Internet communication module 120 can be omitted.

The input unit 130 transmits input signals for inputting various numeric and character information, input signals related to setting of each function of the mobile terminal and control of the respective functions, to the controller 190. That is, the input unit 130 generates a command signal related to the overall operation of the mobile terminal. The input unit 130 includes input keys and function keys for generating an input signal of the mobile terminal. The function keys may include a direction key, a side key, and a shortcut key (eg, a key for executing a specific application, etc.) set to perform a specific function.

The input unit 130 may be a keypad and a qwerty of a touchpad, a touchscreen, a general key arrangement (eg, 3 * 4 method, 4 * 3 method, etc.) according to the provision type of the mobile terminal. (QWERTY) can be formed of any one or a combination of keypads. In particular, the input unit 130 may generate an input signal for executing an application and provide it to the controller 190. The input signal may be generated in one of a key signal according to the manipulation of the input unit 130 or a touch signal according to the touch of the touch screen.

The audio processor 140 may include the speaker SPK for reproducing an audio signal of the mobile terminal and the microphone MIC for collecting an audio signal such as a user voice. The audio processor 140 is connected to the microphone MIC and the speaker SPK, and outputs the audio signal received from the microphone MIC to the controller 190 and outputs the data to the controller 190. The audio signal is output through the speaker SPK. In addition, the audio processor 140 may output various audio components generated by the mobile terminal according to a user selection. The audio component may include an audio signal according to reproduction of audio data, an audio signal for effect alarm when executing an application function requiring a network connection, and the like.

The display unit 150 outputs a screen activated according to the function of the mobile terminal. For example, the display unit 150 may output a boot screen, a standby screen, a menu screen, a list screen, a communication execution screen, an application execution screen, and a network access screen. That is, the display unit 150 may display various screens related to the state and operation of the mobile terminal. The display unit 150 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), or the like. In addition, the display unit 150 may be implemented by a touch screen method. In this case, the display unit 150 may perform an input and an output function together. When the display unit 150 is implemented as the touch screen to perform an input function, the configuration of the input unit 130 may be omitted according to the shape of the mobile terminal.

The storage unit 160 stores various data generated and utilized by the mobile terminal. The data includes all types of data generated by the mobile terminal or received from the outside (eg, external mobile terminal, web server, personal computer, etc.). The data may include phone book data, video data, audio data, broadcast data, photo data, message data, document data, image data, and the like. The data may include an application for executing a corresponding function supported by the mobile terminal. For example, the storage unit 160 may store an application required for performing a communication function or a network access function of the mobile terminal. In particular, the storage unit 160 may store related software for supporting an application-specific network access function supported by the present invention.

The storage unit 160 may store application information and link access information for supporting an application-specific network access function. The link access information indicates information on a network access link allocated for each application requiring network access. That is, the link connection information represents link information of at least one link to be used for network connection according to a specific application execution. In this case, the link access information may include information (link information) for a plurality of access links arranged according to priorities of access networks of the corresponding application. The link information may be information on a corresponding link unit or network information according to a support scheme.

The storage unit 160 may store such link connection information as a database (DB) 180, and an example thereof is shown in Table 1 below.

Referring to <Table 1>, the link access information may be provided with a basic value when the mobile terminal is manufactured, and may be changed and set by a user setting or a service provider setting.

For example, referring to an operation according to a user setting, a user may set a setting of an application operated by a network connection and a network connection priority for each set application using a predetermined user interface (UI). First, the control unit 190 of the mobile terminal may provide, through the display unit 150, a list of applications requiring network access among applications currently available in the mobile terminal in response to a user request. In this case, as shown in Table 1, the controller 190 may provide the link access information allocated to each application and the priority information for each application based on the application. Here, when the user initially drives the user interface, the link access information may be provided by a default setting value, or the priority setting part may be provided as a blank. The user can then change and set priority information for the desired application. Then, when the setting of the user is completed, the controller 190 updates the database (DB) 180 based on the set link access information.

Next, referring to the operation according to the operator setting, the control unit 190 of the mobile terminal is a WAP Push message that is transmitted from the specific server of the link connection information for setting the network access priority for each application by the operator You can change the setting. That is, the controller 190 may receive the swap push message by accessing the specific server based on a user request or an operator request. The controller 190 may receive an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file corresponding to link access information by accessing a corresponding Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address of the swap message. Subsequently, the controller 190 updates the database (DB) 180 based on link access information obtained by parsing the received XML file. Here, an example of the XML file may be represented as shown in Table 2 below.

As shown in the example of <Table 2>, the XML file includes a <name> tag indicating a name of an application, a <verified> tag indicating identification information for more clearly distinguishing the application, and a corresponding application. It may include a <PRIORITY> tag indicating the priority of the link information for network access. Here, the identification information is used to distinguish whether the application requires a network connection, and may be represented by at least one of a class ID and a specific type. The specific type may indicate whether the corresponding application is an application that is operated based on a network connection made based on Brew or Java. That is, each application can have a unique value that is uniquely defined.

The service provider may configure an XML file as shown in the example of <Table 2> and register the same in the server, and the server may transmit the XML file to the mobile device in response to the service provider request or the request of the mobile device. . Then, the controller 190 of the mobile terminal may receive the XML file transmitted from the server of the operator and update the database (DB) 180 based on the link access information obtained by parsing the received XML file. have.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the storage unit 160 may include one or more buffers 170 that temporarily store data generated while executing a function of the mobile terminal. For example, the storage unit 160 may perform a function of buffering related data in the process of extracting link connection information for network connection corresponding to a specific application requested to be executed.

Meanwhile, the storage unit 160 may be configured inside the mobile terminal or externally, such as a smart card, and the like, and the storage unit 160 may be any storage medium inside or outside the mobile terminal. It may include. The storage unit 160 may include a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a flash memory, or the like. The storage unit 160 may be configured as one memory, for example, a multi chip package (MCP) memory type, which is configured or integrated with RAM, ROM, or flash memory. In addition, the storage unit 160 may include a DPRAM (Dual-Port RAM) for the inter-process communication function when the mobile terminal is switching (switching) between a plurality of networks. The DPRAM may be provided in a structure separate from the storage 160.

The controller 190 controls the overall functions of the mobile terminal, and controls the signal flow between the components in the mobile terminal. The controller 190 is the wireless communication module 110, the Internet communication module 120, the input unit 130, the audio processor 140, the display unit 150 and the storage unit 160 Control the signal flow between each component.

In particular, the controller 190 may include a baseband module including a modem (not shown) and a codec (not shown). The codec may include a data codec for processing packet data and the like and an audio codec for processing an audio signal such as voice. The controller 190 encodes and modulates a signal transmitted from at least one of the wireless communication module 110 and the internet communication module 120, and demodulates and decodes the received signal.

The controller 190 controls a series of operations for application-specific network access functions supported by the present invention. In particular, the control unit 190 controls the setting and updating of the link access information as described in the descriptions with reference to Tables 1 and 2. When the controller 190 detects execution of a specific application requiring a network connection, the controller 190 is responsible for a series of controls for network connection by referring to link connection information of the corresponding application. In this case, the controller 190 may control access to the corresponding network based on the priority of the link information accessible by the corresponding application based on the link access information. The detailed control operation of the controller 190 is shown in detail by the drawings to be described later.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 2, the controller 190 may support the application manager 210, the connection processor 220, the first link unit 230, and the second link as shown in FIG. Components such as the unit 240, the third link unit 250, and the connection manager 260 may be included.

Referring to FIG. 2, the application manager 210 controls execution of a specific application requested to be executed based on a user input. In particular, when detecting the execution of a specific application, the application manager 210 determines whether the specific application is an application operated based on a network connection by referring to identification information of the specific application. When the specific application is an application operated on a network connection basis, the application generates an application information and a network connection request message (or command) for the application and transmits the generated application information to the access processor 220.

The connection processor 220 extracts the application information transmitted together with the network connection request message (or command) when receiving the network connection request message (or command) from the application manager 210. The connection processor 220 provides the application information to the connection manager 260. Thereafter, the connection processor 220 determines the link unit for network connection based on the priority based on the link connection information provided from the connection manager 260 and processes the network connection by the determined link unit. In this case, the connection processing unit 220 may process the connection with the corresponding network by a switching operation of connecting a communication path to a link unit for connecting to the network corresponding to the application.

The first link unit 230 to the third link unit 250 represent a configuration for forming a communication path for a connection with a specific network. For example, the first link unit 230 to the third link unit 250 may be a WIFI network, a WIMAX network, and a WCDMA scheme, as shown in the examples of <Table 1> and <Table 2>. It is possible to form each communication path for connection with the network. That is, the first link unit 230 provides a link for WIFI support, the second link unit 240 provides a link for WIMAX support, and the third link unit 250 provides a link for WCDMA support. Can be provided.

When the communication link is formed, the first link unit 230 to the third link unit 250 establishes a network connection with a corresponding communication module connected to the wireless communication module 110 or the internet communication module 120. Transmit the relevant signal. Then, the wireless communication module 110 or the Internet communication module 120 receives a related signal for network connection from a corresponding link unit connected to the wireless communication module 110 or a communication channel with the corresponding network, and establishes a communication channel with the corresponding network. Transmit and receive signals from the network over the communication channel. In an embodiment of the present invention, the first link unit 230 to the third link unit 250 may correspond to respective General Purpose Input / Output (GPIO) ports.

The connection manager 260 extracts link connection information corresponding to the application information when the application information is transmitted from the connection processor 220. The connection manager 260 may search for application information corresponding to the application information in the database 180 of the storage 160 and extract link connection information mapped to the retrieved application information. The connection manager 260 transmits the extracted link connection information to the connection processor 220.

As described above, the controller 190 and the application manager 210, the connection processor 220, and the connection manager 230 constituting the controller 190 are described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. It is responsible for the overall operation control of the present invention related to the operation of the network connection function for each application of the present invention as described in the description with reference to 3 and 4. In addition, the control unit 190 as described above and a series of control functions by the respective components of the control unit 190 may be implemented and provided as software having a predetermined algorithm for controlling the corresponding function.

1 and 2 illustrate a schematic configuration of the mobile terminal for convenience of description. However, the mobile terminal of the present invention is not necessarily limited or limited to the above configuration. Accordingly, although not shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal of the present invention captures a still image / video of a subject, a projector module for supporting a projection function, a location information receiver such as a GPS for obtaining location information, and a subject according to a form of provision thereof. Camera module, a Bluetooth communication module supporting Bluetooth communication, respective interface units for data transmission and reception by wired communication or wireless communication method of the mobile terminal, and a digital broadcasting module performing a digital broadcast reception and playback function. It may also include configurations not mentioned in FIG. In addition, the mobile terminal of the present invention may be excluded from the configuration of the configuration of Figure 1 or may be replaced by another configuration, depending on the form of its provision. This will be readily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art.

In addition, the mobile terminal of the present invention may include all information and communication devices and multimedia devices, including applications that are operated based on a connection with a network, and applications thereof. For example, the mobile terminal includes a portable multimedia player (PMP), a digital broadcasting player, including all mobile communication terminals operating based on communication protocols corresponding to various communication systems. And a portable device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a music player (eg, an MP3 player), a mobile game terminal, and a smart phone. In addition, the mobile terminal may include medium and large devices such as TV (Television), LFD (Large Format Display), DS (Digital Signage), media pole, personal computer (PC, Personal Computer) and notebook (Notebook). Can be.

In the above, the configuration of the mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described. Next, an operation and a control method of supporting an application-specific network access function of the present invention in the mobile terminal will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. However, the operation and control method of the mobile terminal of the present invention is not limited or limited to the contents described below, it should be noted that it can be applied to various embodiments based on the following embodiments.

3 is a diagram illustrating a network access control process of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the application manager 210 detects execution of a specific application based on a user input (step 301), the application manager 210 requests a network connection to the connection processor 220 (step 303). In this case, the network connection request may be delivered as a message or a command. When the network connection request is made, the application manager 210 may configure application information on the specific application requested to be executed in the message or command and transmit the information.

Next, the connection processing unit 220 extracts application information for the specific application when a network connection is requested from the application manager 210 (step 305). In operation 307, the connection processor 220 transmits the extracted application information to the connection manager 260.

Next, the connection manager 260 extracts link connection information corresponding to the application information when the application information is transmitted from the connection processor 220 (step 309). The link access information indicates information on a network access link allocated for each application requiring network access. In this case, the link access information may include information on a plurality of access links arranged according to priority.

Next, the connection manager 260 transmits the link connection information extracted based on the application information to the connection processor 220 (step 311). Here, the link connection information indicates at least one link information to be used for network connection according to the execution of the specific application, and the link connection information includes a plurality of link information corresponding to priority information of networks accessible by the corresponding application. can do.

Next, the connection processor 220 determines a specific link unit for network connection based on the link access information, and processes the network connection through the determined specific link unit (step 313). In this case, the connection processing unit 220 may determine another link unit having a higher priority than the specific link unit when the determined network connection attempt by the specific link unit fails, and attempt to connect to the network through the determined other link unit.

For example, it is assumed that the WIFI network, the WIMAX network, and the CDMA network are supported by the first link unit 230, the second link unit 240, and the third link unit 250 for the specific application. Accordingly, the link access information has link information for the first link unit 230, the second link unit 240, and the third link unit 250, wherein a priority for network access processing is <WIFI-WIMAX. It is assumed that the case is defined in the order of -CDMA>, that is, in the order of <first link unit 230-second link unit 240-third link unit 250>.

In this assumption, the access processor 220 may attempt to access a WIFI network based on the first link unit 230 having a priority in response to the execution of the specific application. When the first link unit 230 fails to access the WIFI network, the access processor 220 may attempt to access a WIMAX network based on the second link unit 240 having a lower priority. If the second link unit 240 fails to access the WIMAX network, a CDMA network connection may be attempted based on the third link unit 240 having the last rank. Here, the factor for determining the network connection failure may be determined by a threshold value predefined in the mobile terminal. The threshold may be represented by the number of network connection attempts, or the waiting time after the network connection attempts.

In the above, the configuration and operation of the mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention have been described. Next, a control method for supporting network access for each application of the present invention by the controller 190 of the mobile terminal will be described with reference to FIG. 4. However, it should be noted that the operation of the mobile terminal and its control method of the present invention are not limited or limited to the contents described below, and thus may be applied to various embodiments based on the following embodiments.

4 is a diagram illustrating a network access control method of the mobile terminal controller 190 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, first, when the controller 190 of the mobile terminal detects execution of a specific application based on a user input (step 401), it analyzes the type of the application (step 403). That is, the controller 190 determines whether the execution-detected specific application is an application that requires a network connection or an application that does not need a network connection (step 405). The controller 190 may process the type analysis based on application information of the specific application.

Next, when the specific application is an application that does not require network access (No in step 405), the controller 190 of the mobile terminal controls the execution of the corresponding operation (step 407). For example, the controller 190 may control execution of a corresponding application in response to the specific application execution request and control output of screen data corresponding thereto.

Next, the controller 190 of the mobile terminal extracts the application information when the specific application is an application requiring network connection (Yes in step 405) (step 409). The controller 190 extracts link access information corresponding to the application information by analyzing the extracted application information (step 411). That is, the controller 190 extracts link access information for a network access link allocated for each application requiring network access. In this case, the link access information may include information on a plurality of access links arranged according to priority.

Next, the controller 190 of the mobile terminal processes the network connection according to the execution of the application with reference to the link connection information extracted based on the application information (step 415). That is, the controller 190 may determine a network access link according to the execution of the application based on the link access information, and control a network access attempt by setting an interface with the link unit of the determined access link.

Subsequently, the controller 190 of the mobile terminal may control output of screen data corresponding to the application and application operation corresponding to a user request when connected to the corresponding network by the network connection attempt.

On the other hand, the method for controlling the network connection for each application in the mobile terminal of the present invention as described above can be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed by various computer means can be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. In this case, the computer-readable recording medium may include a program command, a data file, a data structure, etc. alone or in combination. On the other hand, the program instructions recorded on the recording medium may be those specially designed and configured for the present invention or may be available to those skilled in the art of computer software.

The computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks such as floppy disks. Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. In addition, program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention .

It should be noted that the embodiments of the present invention disclosed in the present specification and drawings are only illustrative of the present invention in order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention can be carried out in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

1 is a view schematically showing the configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a view schematically showing the internal configuration of the control unit 190 of the mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention,

3 is a diagram illustrating a network access control process of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a diagram illustrating a network access control method of a mobile terminal controller 190 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (13)

In the network access control method in a mobile terminal, Detecting the execution of an application operating on a network connection basis; Extracting link access information based on application information on the application; And controlling the network connection to the application with reference to the extracted link connection information. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting process And determining whether the application is an application operated based on a network connection, by referring to the identification information of the application. The method of claim 2, wherein the extracting is Extracting application information defined for the application; And extracting link connection information corresponding to the application information. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling of Determining a link for access to a corresponding network based on the link access information; And attempting to access a network by setting an interface with a link part of the determined link. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining And determining a link unit having a priority according to the priority information according to the link access information. The method of claim 5, wherein the attempting process is And attempting to access a network based on a link unit of a lower priority according to the priority information when the network connection based on the link unit of a higher priority is failed. In a mobile terminal that supports multi-mode, At least one communication module supporting wireless communication of the mobile terminal; A storage unit which stores application information on at least one application operated on a network connection basis and link connection information corresponding to the application information; And a control unit configured to extract the link connection information set for the application and control the network connection according to the execution of the application by referring to the extracted link connection information when detecting the execution of an application operated on a network connection basis. Mode mobile terminal. The method of claim 7, wherein The link access information indicates information on a network access link allocated for each application requiring network access, and includes information on a plurality of access links arranged according to priorities of access networks of the corresponding application. Multi-mode mobile terminal. The method of claim 8, wherein the control unit And controlling access to a corresponding network based on the priority of link information accessible by a corresponding application based on the link access information. The method of claim 9, wherein the control unit An application manager configured to generate and transmit an application information and a network connection request message for the application when detecting execution of an application operated on a network connection; A connection processing unit which provides the application information to a connection management unit upon receiving the network connection request message from the application management unit, and attempts a network connection based on the link connection information provided from the connection management unit; And a connection management unit which extracts link connection information corresponding to the application information transmitted from the connection processing unit from the storage unit and transfers the extracted link connection information to the connection processing unit. The method of claim 10, wherein the connection processing unit And determining the link unit for network connection according to the priority based on the link connection information provided from the connection manager, and processing the network connection by the determined link unit. The method of claim 11, wherein the control unit And at least one link unit forming a communication path for connection to a specific network. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one communication module A multi-mode mobile terminal comprising at least one of a wireless communication module for supporting mobile communication based wireless communication and an internet communication module for supporting internet based internet communication.

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