WO2006040115A1

WO2006040115A1 - Configuration of a mobile terminal by means of a user module (sim) with configuration data requested over a wireless interface

Info

Publication number: WO2006040115A1
Application number: PCT/EP2005/010894
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rainer Schönberner
Original assignee: Giesecke & Devrient Gmbh
Priority date: 2004-10-12
Filing date: 2005-10-10
Publication date: 2006-04-20
Also published as: DE102004049611B4; DE102004049611A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for configuration of a mobile terminal (10), whereby a user module (28) in the terminal (10) controls a recognition of a trigger event (42) for the configuration and a request for configuration data (38) from a background system (16). The configuration data (38) is then transmitted from the background system (16) to the terminal (10) and the terminal (10) is automatically configured in accordance with the configuration data (38). A mobile terminal (10) and a user module (28) comprise corresponding features. The invention provides a technique for convenient and flexible configuration of the mobile terminal (10).

Description

CONFIGURATION OF A MOBILE DEVICE BY CONFIGURATION DATA REQUESTED BY A SUBSCRIBER MODULE (SIM) THROUGH AN AIR INTERFACE

The invention relates generally to the field of device configuration and more specifically to the field of configuring a mobile terminal that is also configured for wireless telecommunications operations. The mobile terminal can in particular be a mobile telephone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) with mobile telecommunications functions.

10

In the course of technical and economic development in the field of mobile telecommunications, the complexity of the devices and the variety of communication services offered have steadily increased in recent years. This does not just affect the basic technologies like

15 GSM, CDMA, GPRS, UMTS, and so on, but also applications and services such as multimedia message service (MMS), PTT (push to talk), WAP (wireless access protocol), streaming services for audio and video data , and so on. There is a need to make applications and services, such as the ones mentioned above, usable for the users as conveniently as possible.

20

In this context, it is frequently observed in practice that users of a terminal only use a few of the functions and services offered. The reasons for this lie, at least in part, in confi guration problems and operating difficulties. Especially new ones

25 services are often accepted only with hesitation; This applies both to terminal devices preinstalled services and services that can be reloaded into appropriate terminals. This situation is detrimental to both users and service providers. There is therefore a need, in particular to simplify the configuration and use of new services and

30 thus to improve their acceptance. Beyond its purely technical function, mobile telecommunications terminals have increasingly become an image carrier. There is therefore a growing need for individualization of the terminals, that is to say for a different configuration for individual users or user groups or depending on the provider or the selected contract options. It would be desirable to be able to perform such an individualization as comfortably as possible for the user.

Due to the progressive decline in the price of mobile terminals, there is a tendency for many users to have several terminals or to purchase a new terminal at least relatively frequently. There is therefore the need to configure a new terminal as automatically as possible according to the wishes of the user.

US 2003/0045277 A1 shows a method for automatically configuring a mobile phone when it is first used. When the mobile is switched on for the first time, this is detected by a server of a service provider. The server then initiates first sending a short message (SMS) to the mobile phone. After a mutual authentication of the server and the mobile phone, the server sends configuration data to the mobile phone.

From US Pat. No. 6,687,356 Bl it is known to adapt services in a heterogeneous telecommunications network to users or end devices.

No. 6,400,940 B1 discloses the subscriber-specific provision of auxiliary information on mobile terminals, wherein subscriber profiles are accessed in a centrally stored database. ^' US 2002/0145627 A1 discloses an extensible user interface for printers in a data network.

The invention has the object to provide a technique for comfortable and flexible configuration of a mobile terminal. In preferred embodiments, the invention is intended to help meet one or more of the above needs.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in whole or in part by a method having the features of claim 1, a mobile terminal according to claim 16 and a subscriber module according to claim 17. The dependent claims relate to preferred embodiments of the invention.

The invention is based on the basic idea of recognizing a triggering event for the configuration under the control of a subscriber module of the mobile terminal and requesting suitable configuration data from a background system of a service provider. This configuration data is then transmitted to the terminal and used for automatic Konfigu¬ ration of the terminal.

Overall, the invention results in high flexibility and a wide range of possible uses because the configuration data of the background system can be adapted to the circumstances in many respects. In particular, the configuration data can be compiled as a function of the subscriber and / or the terminal and / or the services offered. Because according to the invention the subscriber module controls at least the first steps of the configuration process, the invention can be used in a variety of compatible terminal devices. The invention therefore gives the users and service providers the Possibility of cross-platform and unified terminal configuration.

In preferred embodiments, the configuration data can relate either to technical operating parameters of the terminal or to the user interface offered by the terminal or both. When it comes to technical configuration data, they preferably indicate settings that are necessary or desirable for using a service or application. With such configuration data, the invention can contribute to increasing user acceptance for the service or application. This increases the use of the service or of the application and thus the ARPU (Auction revenue γ unit) for the service provider and / or network operator.

If the configuration data relates to the user interface of the terminal, the service provider and / or network operator can provide a customized user interface and thus achieve high customer loyalty and / or promote the use of their own offers. In preferred embodiments, the configuration data does not only influence contents (for example names of menu items), but also at least structures of the user interface. The second case is given in particular when the configuration data change the location where a particular option or offer appears in the menu tree. Such extensive influencing of the user interface is advantageous in order to achieve as clear as possible a demarcation of the own offer from the offers of the competitors.

Significant advantages can already be achieved by the invention if the configuration data are provider-specific or network-specific and thus one Delimit providers or a communication network from other offers. However, embodiments in which the configuration data are tailored to individual terminal types and / or individually to individual subscribers are particularly advantageous. The service provider and / or network operator can thereby provide a tailor-made offer for its customers and thus offer the customers considerable added value.

In order to enable the individual configuration of the configuration data, suitable identification data are preferably transmitted to the background system. This identification data may in particular designate the terminal and / or the subscriber. On the part of the background system, in preferred embodiments, a database access to a customer profile of the subscriber takes place. As a result, preferences of the subscriber and / or information about the previous usage behavior of the subscriber can be taken into account.

The invention can be used universally if the subscriber module communicates with the remaining components of the terminal via a software interface standardized as an official standard or as a de facto standard. Such a per se known software interface are e.g. the SIM Application Toolkit (SAT) and the USIM Application Toolkit (USAT) according to the ETSI standards GSM 11.14 and 3GPP 31.111, respectively. The subscriber module is preferably a known per se SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) or USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module).

The terminal according to the invention as well as the subscriber module according to the invention are preferably further developed with features which correspond to the features described above and / or the features mentioned in the dependent method claims. Other features, advantages, and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention. In the schematic drawings show:

1 is a schematic representation of a terminal according to the invention, which is able to exchange data with a background system via a communication network, and

Fig. 2 is an exemplary flowchart of the configuration process in an embodiment of the invention.

The terminal 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a per se known mobile telephone, which may be designed, for example, as a GSM or UMTS device. In the usual way, the terminal 10 can communicate via an air interface 12 in a communication network 14 - e.g. a GSM network - to register. One of the many possible communication partners is a background system 16 of a service provider or the network operator. In the schematic illustration of FIG. 1, the background system 16 has a server 18, which is able to access a database 20. The database 20 contains, inter alia, a multiplicity of customer profiles 22. In each customer profile 22, options selected by the customer, customer preferences as well as information relating to the usage behavior of the customer are stored.

The terminal 10 has a display 24 and a keyboard 26. Not shown are the per se known internal components of the End¬ device 10, for example, a high and a low frequency part, a digital Signal¬ processor (DSP), a control processor that executes an operating system and a variety of control programs, and so on. - 7 -

A subscriber module 28 is plugged into the terminal 10. The subscriber module 28 is designed in a manner known per se as a SIM or USIM and has a semiconductor chip with a processor 30 and a memory 32. The memory 32 includes, in a manner known per se, an operating system for the subscriber module 28 and a plurality of software routines which implement the functions customary for a SIM or USIM. In the context of the present invention, the memory 32 further includes a program 34 (e.g., an applet) for execution by the processor 30.

The program 34 controls the procedure described in more detail below, by which the terminal 10 is configured. In this case, the terminal 10 sends identification data 36 via the air interface 12 and the communication network 14 to the background system 16. The background system 16 then determines configuration data 38, which goes back to

Terminal 10 are transmitted and serve there for the configuration of the terminal 10.

In the present embodiment, the process is controlled by the terminal 10 exclusively by the subscriber module 28 and the program 34 contained therein. For this purpose, the subscriber module 28 and the terminal 10 communicate via commands and responses according to the above-mentioned SAT or USAT specifications. The terminal 10 thus acts only as a "peripheral device" of the subscriber module 28 and provides the subscriber module 28 with the services required for interaction with the user and for communication with the background system 16.

The method sequence according to FIG. 2 begins in step 40 with the subscriber module 28 recognizing a triggering event 42. The triggering event 42 - 8th -

For example, the first use of the terminal 10 at all or the first logon of the terminal 10 on the communication network 14 may be. In other embodiments, each log-on to any communication network 14 is interpreted as a triggering event 42 and causes the execution of the method shown in FIG. Alternatively or additionally, a user-entered command - e.g. the selection of a corresponding menu item - the method of FIG. 2 trigger.

In the following method step 44, the program 34 compiles a configuration data request and instructs the terminal 10 to send it to the background system 16. For shipping, a protocol known per se, e.g. the SMS protocol.

The request transmitted as an SMS message to the background system 16 has, in particular, the identification data 36. In the present embodiment, these identification data 36 contain both a unique identification number of the subscriber module 28 - and thus a unique identification of the subscriber - as well as a unique identification number of the terminal 10 used or the type of terminal 10. In alternative embodiments, however, may be provided to the background system 16 to transmit only information about the subscriber or only information about the terminal 10.

In response to receiving the request with the identification data 36, the background system 16 composes appropriate configuration data 38 in step 46. These configuration data 38 may indicate, for example, technical settings of the terminal 10 that are required to access certain services offered. In some embodiments, it is provided in this connection that the server 18 - 9 -

From the obtained identification data 36, the type of the terminal 10 is determined and determined by a database query the possible and meaningful services for this type of device. Suitable settings for optimal use of these services are then taken into the configuration data 38.

Embodiments are also provided in which the configuration data 38 contains data which define or at least influence the user interface of the terminal 10, instead of or in addition to the technical settings just mentioned.

In the exemplary embodiment described here, the configuration data 38 are also determined, or exclusively in alternative embodiments, as a function of the subscriber identification contained in the identification data. For this purpose, access is made to the corresponding customer profile 22 in the database 20. The configuration data 38 are compiled in accordance with this customer profile 22. In this way, for example, a customer-specific user interface and / or a customer-specific technical device setting can be obtained. This user interface or device setting is immediately available to the customer even when the terminal 10 is replaced. In this connection, it can be ensured by evaluating and taking into account the type of device that the wishes of the user can also be applied to a new terminal 10 - e.g. can have a different display size - be taken into account and implemented as best as possible.

At the end of step 46, the background system 16 sends the determined configuration data 38 -also likewise as an SMS message-to the terminal 10. - 10 -

In the terminal 10, the obtained configuration data 38 in step 48 of the. Subscriber module 28 processed. The settings of technical parameters and / or the user interface parts contained in the configuration data 38 are written into the corresponding memory areas of the terminal 10 and / or the memory 32. This process takes place automatically. In some embodiments, a confirmation of the user is obtained before the configuration of the terminal 10 is changed. In these embodiments as well, the word choice of the present document refers to an "automatic configuration" of the terminal 10, because the user does not have to enter any configuration data manually.

In some embodiments, the configuration process ends with step 48. However, the embodiment of FIG. 2 still has a feedback message from the successful configuration in step 50 to the background system 16. The new or changed capabilities of the terminal 10 can then be incorporated into the corresponding customer profile 22 of the database 20.

Also, the user may be notified in step 52 of the successful completion of the configuration, for example, by a textual output on the display 24. The user may also be offered an introduction regarding the use of the reconfigured service. If the user desires this introduction, a corresponding help text can be displayed or a browser of the terminal 10 - for example a WAP browser - can be started and directed to a corresponding address. - 11 -

The configuration data 38 does not necessarily need to be transmitted as a single message. Rather, variants are provided in which steps 46 to 50 are repeatedly executed. In these refinements, the next section of the configuration data 38 is then transmitted to the terminal 10 only in response to the confirmation of a successful partial configuration (step 50) (return to step 46). Such embodiments are particularly useful when multiple communication services are to be configured sequentially.

Claims

Patent claims

1. A method for configuring a mobile terminal (10), wherein the terminal (10) has a subscriber module (28) with a

Processor (30) and at least one memory (32) and via an air interface (12) and a communication network (14) to exchange data with a background system (16), comprising the steps of: - Detected by the subscriber module (28) detecting an Off ¬ solving event (42) for the configuration, by the subscriber module (28) controlled requesting configuration data (38) from the background system (16), transmitting the configuration data (38) from the background system (16) to the terminal (10 ), and automatically configuring the terminal (10) according to the configuration data (38).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the triggering event (42) is a first use of the terminal (10) or a first application of the terminal (10) on the Kommunikations¬ network (14) or a registration of the terminal (10) to the Kom Communication network (14) or an input at the terminal (10) command is.

3. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that identification data (36) concerning the terminal (10) and / or the subscriber to the background system (16) are sent.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the configuration data (38) are determined by the background system (16) at least also in dependence on the identification data (36).

5. The method according to claim 3 or claim 4, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the identification data (36) relate at least to the participants, and that the configuration data (38) from the background system (16) at least depending on a customer profile (22) be determined by the subscriber.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the configuration data (38) at least also settings of the terminal (10) specify that are required or desirable for the use of an offered service or application.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that after a successful completion of the configuration an introduction to the use of the service or the application is offered to the subscriber.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the configuration data (38) at least also affect a user interface of the terminal (10).

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the configuration data (38) at least also influence a menu structure of the user interface of the terminal (10).

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the configuration of the terminal (10) according to the configuration data (38) is controlled by the subscriber module (28).

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that a successful completion of the configuration to the background system (16) and / or the ^' participant is reported.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that in the memory (32) of the subscriber module (28) contained and executed by the processor (30) of the subscriber module (28) program (34) at least recognizing of

Trigger event (42) and the requesting the Konfiguration¬ data (38) controls.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that the program (34) via a standardized software interface with the terminal (10) communicates.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that the software interface is a SAT (SIM Application Toolkit) or USAT (USIM Application Toolkit).

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the subscriber module (28) is a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) or a USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module).

16. Mobile terminal (10) with a subscriber module (28), wherein the terminal (10) is adapted to, via an air interface

(12) and a communication network (14) to exchange data with a background system (16), and wherein the subscriber module (28) has a processor (30) and at least one memory (32) and is configured to detect a Triggering event (42) for a configuration of the terminal (10) and a subsequent request request Konfiguration¬ data (38) of the background system (16) to control, and wherein the terminal (10) is adapted to the Konfiguration¬ data (38) receive from the background system (16) and perform an automatic configuration of the terminal (10) according to the configuration data (38).

17 subscriber module (28) having a processor (30) and at least one memory (32) and is adapted to control a mobile terminal (10), wherein the terminal (10) is adapted to via an air interface (12) and a communication network (14) exchanging data with a background system (16), the subscriber module (28) being adapted to recognize a triggering event (42) for a configuration of the terminal (10) and to request it subsequently configuration data (38) from the background system (16) to enable the terminal (10) to receive the configuration data (38) from the background system (16). and automatic configuration of the terminal (10) according to the configuration data (38).

18. The apparatus of claim 16 or claim 17, characterized in that the device is adapted to carry out a method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.