JP4206954B2 - A communication system, a mobile radio terminal, an information management server, and a radio access point device. - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system using radio.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a technology in which a mobile wireless terminal such as a wireless LAN according to the IEEE 802.11 standard wirelessly connects to a wireless access point device and participates in a communication network via the wireless access point device.

  In this technique, authentication is performed between a wireless access point device and the mobile wireless terminal in order to determine whether to permit or reject the wireless connection to the mobile wireless terminal that has attempted to wirelessly connect to the wireless access point device. May be done. In order for this authentication to succeed, the mobile wireless terminal must have authentication information of the wireless access point device.

  For example, in the above-described wireless LAN, the mobile wireless terminal uses a specific WEP key (a secret key used in a public key encryption method defined in IEEE 802.11b) assigned to a wireless access point device to be wirelessly connected. The wireless connection is allowed for the first time by performing authentication using.

  In the case of a mobile wireless terminal, it is necessary to wirelessly connect to different wireless access point devices by moving. Therefore, authentication information of different wireless access point devices must be acquired one after another as the user moves.

As described above, as a technique for the mobile wireless terminal to sequentially acquire authentication information of the wireless access point device to be wirelessly connected, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1. In this technology, a mobile radio terminal uses a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver to identify its own location, and transmits the location information to a service agent. The service agent has setting information such as authentication information of a plurality of wireless access point devices and position information, and a wireless access point device that can be used by the mobile wireless terminal based on the position information received from the mobile wireless terminal. Identify. The service agent transmits the setting information of the specified wireless access point device to the mobile wireless terminal.
JP 2002-164919 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the mobile radio terminal has to transmit its own location information to the service agent, it has to have a GPS receiver.

  In view of the above points, the present invention allows a mobile wireless terminal participating in a network through a wireless connection with a wireless access point device to use its own location specifying device such as a GPS receiver in order to transmit its location information. Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to acquire authentication information of wireless LAN wireless access point devices one after another.

The invention according to claim 1 for achieving the above object, the information including the wireless access point device authentication information is different multiple respectively, a set of the respective identification information and authentication information of a plurality of wireless access point device Each of the plurality of wireless access point devices transmits its identification information and the address of the information management server to a mobile wireless terminal within its communicable range, comprising: a management server; and a mobile wireless terminal. The information management server transmits, to the mobile radio terminal, a set of identification information and authentication information of its own wireless access point device based on a request from the mobile radio terminal, and the mobile radio terminal The identification information of the wireless access point device is addressed to the address of the information management server received from at least one of the wireless access point devices. Requesting means for requesting a set of authentication information, receiving means for receiving a set of identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device transmitted from the information management server based on the request of the requesting means, and the receiving means A wireless connection means for wirelessly connecting to the wireless access point device using authentication information corresponding to the identification information when the wireless access point device transmits the received identification information. This is a communication system characterized by the above.

  Since the communication system is configured as described above, the mobile radio terminal sets a combination of identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device to the address of the information management server received from the wireless access point device that is within the communicable range. Request. Then, based on the request, the information management server transmits a set of identification information and authentication information of its own wireless access point device to the mobile wireless terminal. Then, the mobile radio terminal receives the pair of transmitted identification information and authentication information, and corresponds to the identification information when it is within the communicable range of the wireless access point device that transmits the received identification information. Wireless connection is made with the wireless access point device using the authentication information.

  In this way, the mobile radio terminal receives a pair of identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device from the information management server, and receives the identification information received when it is within the communicable range of the wireless access point device. Based on this, it is possible to establish a wireless connection using appropriate authentication information suitable for the wireless access point device. Therefore, mobile wireless terminals participating in the network through a wireless connection with the wireless access point device do not use a self-localization device such as a GPS receiver to transmit their own location information one after another, so that wireless access points Device authentication information can be acquired.

  The “authentication information of the wireless access point device” means “authentication information necessary for the wireless access point device to accept a wireless connection”.

  Further, the invention according to claim 2 is the communication system according to claim 1, wherein the request means possessed by the mobile radio terminal is received from the radio access point apparatus that is within the radio communicable range. Based on the address of the information management server and the identification information of the wireless access point device, by sending data including the identification information to the address, a set of identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device is obtained. And the information management server transmits, to the mobile radio terminal, a set of identification information included in the data related to the request and authentication information corresponding to the identification information based on the request from the mobile radio terminal. It is characterized by doing.

Further, the invention according to claim 3, a wireless access point device authentication information is different multiple respectively, and information management server having a set of respective identification information and authentication information of said plurality of wireless access point device, mobile Each of the plurality of wireless access point devices transmits its identification information and the address of the information management server to a mobile wireless terminal within its communicable range, and the information management server Based on a request from the mobile radio terminal, authentication information corresponding to the identification information included in the data related to the request is transmitted to the mobile radio terminal, and the mobile radio terminal is within its communicable range. Based on the address of the information management server and the identification information of the wireless access point device received from the wireless access point device. And transmitting the data including the identification information to the address, requesting means for requesting the authentication information of the wireless access point device, and transmitting from the information management server based on the request of the requesting means A communication system comprising: a receiving unit that receives authentication information of the wireless access point device; and a wireless connection unit that wirelessly connects to the wireless access point device using the authentication information.

  Since the communication system is like this, the mobile wireless terminal transmits data including the received identification information to the address of the information management server received from the wireless access point device that is within the communicable range. Requesting a set of identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device. Based on the request, the information management server transmits the requested authentication information set of the wireless access point device to the mobile wireless terminal. Then, the mobile wireless terminal receives the transmitted authentication information and, when within the communicable range of the wireless access point device, wirelessly connects to the wireless access point device using the received authentication information.

  In this way, the mobile wireless terminal can receive the authentication information of the wireless access point device within the communicable range from the information management server and wirelessly connect to the wireless access point device using the authentication information. . Therefore, mobile wireless terminals participating in the network through a wireless connection with the wireless access point device do not use a self-localization device such as a GPS receiver to transmit their own location information one after another, so that wireless access points Device authentication information can be acquired.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the communication system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the request means is more wireless than a wireless communication method for wireless connection with a wireless access point device. The information management server is requested by wireless communication using a wireless communication method with high connection possibility.

The invention according to claim 5 is the communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the information management server includes a plurality of information management servers , each of which corresponds to a different wireless connection service provider. , each of the plurality of information management server, the corresponding wireless connection service provider that with only the wireless access point device provided for the service provided, characterized in that it has a set of the identification information authentication information.

  In this way, an information management server can be provided for each wireless connection service provider.

The invention according to claim 6 is an information management server used in the communication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mobile radio terminal is assigned with an information management server based on a request from the mobile radio terminal. An information management server that transmits a set of identification information and authentication information of a wireless access point device.
The invention according to claim 7 is an information management server used in the communication system according to claim 3, wherein the information management server relates to the request based on a request from the mobile radio terminal. An information management server characterized in that authentication information corresponding to identification information included in data is transmitted to the mobile radio terminal.

The invention according to claim 8 is a mobile radio terminal used in the communication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information management server received from at least one of the plurality of radio access point devices. Request means for requesting a set of identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device to the address, and identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device transmitted from the information management server based on the request of the request means A wireless access point device using authentication information corresponding to the identification information when the communication unit is within a communicable range of the reception unit that receives the set and the wireless access point device that transmits the identification information received by the reception unit And a wireless connection means for wirelessly connecting to the mobile wireless terminal.
The invention according to claim 9 is the mobile radio terminal used in the communication system according to claim 3, wherein the information management received from the radio access point device that is within the communicable range of the mobile radio terminal. Requesting means for requesting authentication information of the wireless access point device by transmitting data including the identification information to the address based on the server address and the identification information of the wireless access point device; and the request Receiving means for receiving authentication information of the wireless access point device transmitted from the information management server based on a request of the means, and wireless connection means for wirelessly connecting to the wireless access point device using the authentication information. It is a mobile radio terminal characterized by having.

The invention described in claim 10 is a wireless access point device used in the communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein its own identification information and the address of the information management server are The wireless access point device transmits to a mobile wireless terminal within its communicable range.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a communication system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In the communication system 100, ISP (Internet Service Provider) networks 2 to 4 are connected to the Internet 1 which is a wide area data communication network. The ISP is a business provider that provides a service for connecting a data communication terminal such as the mobile wireless terminal 20 to the Internet and participating in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the ISP is connected to the wireless access point devices 7 to 12 by a wireless LAN. It is a wireless connection service provider that provides a service for allowing the mobile wireless terminal 20 to be wirelessly connected to participate in the Internet 1.

  The intra-ISP network is a communication network that the ISP has for the service, and a device necessary for the mobile radio terminal 20 to connect to the Internet 1 such as a DHCP server is connected to the intra-ISP network. Yes.

  The ISP networks 2, 3, and 4 are communication networks owned by different wireless connection service providers. One information management server 5 and 6 is connected to each of the ISP networks 2 to 4.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of wireless LAN wireless access point devices 7 to 12 are connected to the intra-ISP networks 2 to 4. Each wireless access point device 7-12 forms a wireless LAN service area 13-18, respectively.

  The mobile radio terminal 20 moves by being mounted on a vehicle or the like, and can participate in the Internet 1 by wirelessly connecting to any one of the wireless access point devices 7 to 12 through a wireless LAN.

  The mobile phone service area 19 is within the communicable range of the mobile phone. The mobile radio terminal 20 can participate in the Internet 1 also through mobile phone communication.

  Hereinafter, operations of the wireless access point devices 7 to 12, the information management servers 5 and 6, and the ISP network 2 will be described.

  Each of the wireless access point devices 7 to 12 has a computer with a normal configuration having a wireless communication device using a wireless LAN such as a well-known wireless LAN interface card, and further communicates with the network 3 in the ISP using the Internet protocol. It has a well-known network interface to do. The wireless LAN service area 13 indicates a range in which the wireless communication device and the mobile wireless terminal 20 can communicate.

  Each of these wireless access point devices 7 to 12 performs the following operation using the wireless communication device and the network interface when the computer executes a program stored in a ROM, an HDD (hard disk drive) or the like.

  That is, each of the wireless access point devices 7 to 12 performs authentication when receiving a wireless connection request from a mobile wireless terminal that has entered the wireless LAN service area, and the mobile wireless terminal that has been successfully authenticated is connected to the Internet. 1 is set to participate in 1 (IP address assignment, etc.). The wireless access point device may also serve as a DHCP server that assigns an IP address, or another device connected to the intra-ISP network 2 may have a DHCP server function.

  Here, the authentication is a public key encryption of a well-known wireless LAN for determining whether the mobile wireless terminal has a secret key for authentication that differs depending on each wireless access point device, such as a WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key. This is a formal procedure.

  In addition, each of the wireless access point devices 7 to 12 of the present embodiment stores in advance address information (for example, IP address) of an information management server connected to the same intra-ISP network, and stores the information as its own ID. Broadcast periodically with (identification information). FIG. 2 shows a configuration of information broadcast by each of the information management servers 5 and 6. This broadcast information is unencrypted information and can be received and decrypted by any mobile terminal in the wireless LAN service area of each wireless access point device. As the ID, for example, a MAC (Media Access Control) address assigned to the wireless communication device of the wireless access point device 7 may be used.

  Next, the configuration and operation of the information management server will be described. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the information management server. The information management server includes a communication unit 61, an authentication unit 62, a setting information payout unit 63, a setting information DB (database) 64, and an authentication information DB (database) 65.

  The communication unit 61 is a well-known network interface device for communicating with other devices using the Internet protocol via the intra-ISP network.

  The authentication unit 62 is a device for performing authentication (password authentication or the like) of the request source device when a request for setting information of the wireless access point device described later is received via the intra-ISP network. The authentication unit 62 reads authentication information from an authentication information DB 65 that includes a storage medium such as an HDD and has information necessary for authentication (for example, a password).

  The setting information DB 64 has setting information for each wireless access point device. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the setting information. The setting information of the wireless access point device includes, for each wireless access point device, an ID of the wireless access point device, an ESSID (Extended Service Set IDentifier), a WEP key, and a channel. The ESSID is one of network identifiers defined in IEEE 802.11. The channel is information indicating which frequency band the wireless access point device uses for wireless LAN wireless connection.

  Note that the setting information held in the setting information DB 64 is limited to the setting information about the wireless access point device possessed by the wireless connection service provider that owns the intra-ISP network to which the information management server belongs. For example, the setting information DB 64 of the information management server 5 has setting information of the wireless access point device 7, the wireless access point device 8, and the wireless access point device 9, but the setting information of the wireless access point devices 10 to 12 is I don't have it.

  When the authentication unit 62 succeeds in authentication, the setting information payout unit 63 sets setting information corresponding to the ID of the wireless access point device included in the received request data from the setting information DB 64, that is, the wireless access point having the ID. The setting information about the device is read from the setting information DB 64, and the read setting information is transmitted to the request source using the communication unit 61. FIG. 5 shows a configuration of setting information to be transmitted.

  Note that the authentication unit 62 and the setting information delivery unit 63 may each be configured by a microcomputer or the like that executes a program that implements these functions, or a single microcomputer may serve as the authentication unit 62 or the setting information delivery unit 63. A program that realizes both functions may be executed.

  FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the operation procedure of such an information management server. In the information management server, when the communication unit 61 receives a request for setting information of a specific wireless access point device from the mobile radio terminal 20 (step 110), the authentication unit 62 authenticates the mobile radio terminal 20 (step 120). . If the authentication fails, the authentication unit 62 notifies the mobile radio terminal 20 of connection refusal (step 140). When the authentication is successful, the setting information delivery unit 63 that detects this by a notification from the authentication unit 62 or the like sets the setting information (including the ID and WEP key) corresponding to the ID included in the request data, that is, the wireless related to the request. The setting information of the access point device (denoted as AP in the figure) is searched from the setting information DB 64 (step 130). Then, the communication unit 61 transmits the retrieved setting information to the requesting mobile radio terminal 20.

  Next, the configuration and operation of the mobile radio terminal 20 will be described. FIG. 7 shows a hardware configuration of the mobile radio terminal 20. The mobile radio terminal 20 includes an A radio communication device 51, a B radio communication device 52, a communication control unit 53, and an application unit 54.

  The A wireless communication device 51 is a wireless communication device for connecting to the wireless access point devices 7 to 12 such as a known wireless LAN card. The B wireless communication device 52 is a known wireless communication device for wirelessly connecting to a mobile phone base station in the mobile phone service area 19 and performing data communication via the wireless connection.

  As will be described later, the communication control unit 53 performs an operation for wirelessly connecting to the wireless access point device and participating in the Internet 1.

  After the mobile wireless terminal 20 joins the Internet 1 by the communication control unit 53, the application unit 54 performs operations for mail transmission / reception, web data browsing, and the like using the connection to the Internet 1.

  Note that the communication control unit 53 and the application unit 54 may each be configured by a microcomputer or the like that executes a program that implements these functions, or a single microcomputer may serve as both the communication control unit 53 and the application unit 54. A program that realizes the function may be executed.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating communication exchanges performed with the wireless access point device, the information management server, and the like in order for the mobile wireless terminal 20 to wirelessly connect to any one of the wireless access point devices 7 to 12. The operation of the communication control unit 53 of the mobile radio terminal 20 will be described based on this figure.

  As described above, the wireless access point device periodically broadcasts the IP address of the corresponding information management server (information management server having its own setting information) and its own ID.

  The communication control unit 53 is in a search mode that waits for the A wireless communication device 51 to receive the broadcast until the broadcast is received (step 902).

  When the mobile radio terminal 20 enters any one of the wireless LAN service area 13 to the wireless LAN service area 17, that is, any wireless communication range of the wireless access point devices 7 to 12 (step 904), the A wireless communication device 51 Receives this broadcast (step 906) and sets the data including the ID received from the wireless access point device to the information management server of the IP address received from the wireless access point device. (Step 908). At this time, authentication information (password or the like) in the information management server is also included in the data of this request.

  However, the communication with the information management server 5 is realized by a telephone line using the B wireless communication device 52 without using the A wireless communication device 51 (corresponding to the route 21 in FIG. 1). The communication method used in the B wireless communication device 52 may be any method that has a higher connection possibility than the wireless connection with the wireless access point device. Since the telephone line has a wide communicable area, it is more likely to be connected than a wireless LAN. By doing so, when it is desired to connect to the wireless access point device, it is possible to always connect to the information management server 5 with a high probability.

  The information management server that has received this data transmits the setting information related to the request if the authentication is successful (see steps 130 and 150 in FIG. 6). The communication control unit 53 receives the setting information of the wireless access point device via the B wireless communication device 52 (step 910).

  Then, the communication control unit 53 performs wireless connection to the wireless access point device using the ESSID, channel, and WEP key included in the received setting information. Specifically, by setting and controlling the A wireless communication device 51 based on the ESSID and channel, a connection request including a DHCP request is transmitted to the wireless access point device (step 912). At this time, the WEP key is used. Authentication is performed, connection permission including a DHCP response received from the wireless access point device is received based on the success of the authentication (step 914), and setting for participating in the Internet 1 based on the received information (IP Address setting, etc.) (step 916).

  After the setting is completed (step 918) and the participation in the Internet 1 via the A wireless communication device 51 and the wireless access point device is realized, A based on the data transmission / reception request from the application unit 54, etc. Data is transmitted to and received from the Internet 1 using the wireless communication device 51.

  After that, when the mobile wireless terminal 20 goes out of the wireless LAN service area to which it has been connected (step 920), the communication control unit 53 detects that the A wireless communication device 51 can no longer receive data, and based on that. The process returns to the search mode described above (step 922).

  After that, when the mobile radio terminal 20 enters another wireless LAN service area, the communication control unit 53 repeats the same operation as described above. In order to maintain the connection with the communication partner while moving the wireless LAN service area, a technology such as MobileIP may be used.

  Thus, based on the address of the information management server and the ID of the wireless access point device received from the wireless access point device that has entered the communicable range, the mobile wireless terminal sends the ID to the address. Requesting the authentication information of the wireless access point device by receiving the data included therein, receiving the setting information of the wireless access point device transmitted from the information management server based on the request, and using the setting information A wireless connection is established with the wireless access point device.

  As described above, the mobile radio terminal 20 can receive the setting information of the wireless access point device within the communicable range from the information management server and wirelessly connect to the wireless access point device using the setting information. it can. Therefore, a mobile wireless terminal that participates in a wide area network such as the Internet 1 through a wireless connection with a wireless access point device does not use a self-localization device such as a GPS receiver to transmit its own location information. The authentication information of the wireless access point device can be acquired one after another.

  In the above embodiment, the IP address assigned to the mobile radio terminal 20 at the time of wireless connection is assigned by the DHCP server, but this IP address is transmitted from the information management server to the mobile radio terminal 20 together with the setting information. It may be.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, an operation when a plurality of wireless LAN service areas connected to different intra-ISP networks overlap in the first embodiment and the mobile radio terminal 20 enters the overlapped area will be described. .

  FIG. 9 shows an example of such a case. In FIG. 9, the mobile wireless terminal 20 includes a wireless LAN service area 13 of the wireless access point device 7 belonging to the intra-ISP network 2, a wireless LAN service area 16 of the wireless access point device 10 belonging to the intra-ISP network 3, and an intra-ISP network. The wireless LAN service area 25 of the wireless access point device 24 belonging to 23 is entering an overlapping area.

In such a case, the mobile radio terminal 20 can be wirelessly connected to any of the plurality of radio access point devices, and each of the radio access point device 7, the radio access point device 10, and the radio access point device 24. Receive broadcasts of sets of IDs and IP addresses having different contents. In such a case, the communication control unit 53 of the mobile radio terminal 20 uses the one of the following (1) to (4) or a plurality of criteria, among the radio access point devices that have received the broadcast. It is selected through which one to participate in the Internet 1.
(1) A wireless access point device having the strongest reception power in the mobile wireless terminal 20 (2) A wireless access point device that does not charge a connection (low charge) (3) A wireless access point device that has a high communication speed with the Internet 1 ( 4) Wireless access point apparatus with a small number of mobile wireless terminals currently connected wirelessly (number of simultaneous connections) FIG. 10 shows a sequence diagram showing exchange of data for wireless connection in this embodiment. An operation of the communication system 100 according to the embodiment will be described. Note that, in this operation, description of parts equivalent to those of the first embodiment is omitted or simplified.

  First, the wireless access point device 7 (referred to as AP1 in the figure), the wireless access point device 10 (referred to as AP2 in the figure), and the wireless access point device 24 (referred to as AP3 in the figure) can receive broadcasts. Upon entering (step 924), the communication control unit 53 requests the setting information of the wireless access point device from all the addresses of the information management server included in each received broadcast (steps 926, 928, 930). ).

  When setting information is received from each information management server (steps 932, 934, and 936), the communication control unit 53 selects one wireless access point device based on the received information based on the above-described criteria. For this purpose, the information management server 5 that transmits the setting information transmits the connection fee, the communication speed, and the number of simultaneous wireless connections of the wireless access point device to the mobile wireless terminal 20 together with the setting information.

  In addition, in the case of selecting based on an amount that can be specified only by exchanging with the wireless access point device, such as the received power shown in the criterion (1) above, all information related to the wireless access point device that has received the broadcast The wireless connection target may be selected before the wireless connection to the management server is performed.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 11, the broadcast data of the wireless access point device may include not only the server IP address and the wireless access point device ID but also the ISP name or identification information. The wireless access point device may include the communication speed and the number of simultaneous connections in the broadcast. In such a case, even when the mobile radio terminal 20 makes a selection based on the criteria (3) and (4), it is not necessary to request setting information from all the information management servers 5 that have received the broadcast.

  In addition, each wireless access point device stores its current number of simultaneous connections, and when the number of simultaneous connections exceeds a predetermined value, broadcasting of ID, IP address, etc. is stopped. Good.

  Each server is configured to periodically receive information on the current number of simultaneous connections of the wireless access point device having setting information from the wireless access point device, and the number of simultaneous connections exceeds a predetermined value. In such a case, the mobile wireless terminal 20 may be refused to transmit the setting information of the wireless access point device whose number of simultaneous connections exceeds a predetermined value.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 12 shows the configuration of the communication system 100 of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the mobile radio terminal 20 performs handover between a plurality of radio access point devices 7 to 9 of the same ISP. The mobile radio terminal 20 acquires the setting information of the wireless access point device from the information management server 5 before entering the wireless LAN service area of the wireless access point device to be wirelessly connected.

  The configuration and operation of the wireless access point devices 7 to 9 of this embodiment are the same as those of the wireless access point device of the first embodiment.

  The hardware configuration of the information management server 5 of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. Also, the setting information delivery unit 63 of the information management server 5 of the present embodiment receives a request for setting information of surrounding wireless access point devices as data including information of the wireless access point device ID from the mobile wireless terminal 20, When the authentication unit 62 succeeds in authentication, the setting information of the wireless access point device adjacent to the wireless access point device with the received ID is transmitted to the requesting mobile wireless terminal 20.

  Information about which wireless access point device is adjacent to the wireless access point device is stored in the setting information DB 64 in advance.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of management information transmitted by the information management server of this embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 14, the setting information of AP1 and AP3 adjacent to AP2 is transmitted.

  Further, the information management server may transmit all of the setting information of the wireless access point device that it has to the mobile wireless terminal 20 based on the request for the setting information of the surrounding wireless access point device, A part of the setting information of the wireless access point device it has may be transmitted to the mobile wireless terminal 20.

  The hardware configuration of the mobile radio terminal 20 of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. The operation flow of the communication control unit 53 of the mobile radio terminal 20 of this embodiment is shown as a flowchart in FIG.

  Based on the IP address of the information management server and the ID of the wireless access point device received from the wireless access point device that has entered the communicable range, the communication control unit 53 of the mobile wireless terminal 20 By transmitting data including the ID, authentication information of wireless access point devices around the wireless access point device is requested (step 410).

  The wireless access point device setting information transmitted from the information management server based on the request is received and stored in the storage medium (step 420).

  Then, when the mobile radio terminal 20 exits from the communicable range (denoted as AP2 area in the figure) and enters another wireless LAN service area (step 430), the radio access point apparatus (AP3 in the figure). (Step 440), the setting information of the information management server having the same ID as the ID included in the broadcast is read from the storage medium (indicated as AP information storage unit in the figure) Based on the read setting information, the wireless access point device is identified, authenticated with the wireless access point device 7, and then wirelessly connected (step 450).

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, in the third embodiment, the mobile radio terminal 20 includes a position measuring device such as a GPS receiver, and can identify its current position based on information from the position measuring device. The operation in the case of being

  The operation of the communication control unit 53 of the mobile radio terminal 20 in this embodiment is shown as a flowchart in FIG.

  The communication control unit 53 of the mobile radio terminal 20 requests the setting information of the surrounding wireless access point devices from the information management server in the same manner as in step 410 in FIG. 13 (step 510), and the result information management server as in step 420. The setting information is received and stored (step 520).

  Thereafter, the own position is measured using the position measuring device, and it is determined whether or not the own position is in the wireless LAN service area (that is, in the adjacent area) of the adjacent wireless access point device (step 540). The mobile radio terminal 20 may have location information of the wireless access point device in advance, or the information management server may transmit the location information and receive it in step 520. .

  When entering the adjacent area, the setting information of the wireless access point device in the adjacent area is read from the setting information stored in step 520, the A wireless communication device 51 and the like are set based on the setting information, and the wireless access point A wireless connection to the device is attempted (step 550).

  However, since there are cases where the wireless connection to the adjacent wireless access point device cannot be established due to various reasons such as errors in the measured position information, it is determined whether the wireless connection to the wireless access point device has failed (step 560). In the case of failure, the wireless connection is made again to the immediately preceding wireless access point device based on the setting information of the immediately preceding wireless access point device.

  In this case, the information management server may transmit only the setting information of the wireless access point device in the traveling direction of the mobile wireless terminal 20. However, only in this case, the mobile radio terminal 20 needs to transmit its own location information to the information management server 5.

(Fifth embodiment)
Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 16 shows a configuration of the communication system 100 of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the mobile radio terminal 20 is handed over to a different radio access point device, that is, from the radio access point device 8 belonging to the intra-ISP network 2 to the radio access point device 10 belonging to the intra-ISP network 3.

  The configurations and operations of the information management servers 5 and 6 and the wireless access point devices 7 to 11 of the present embodiment are the same as the information management server and the wireless access point device of the first embodiment. The mobile radio terminal 20 of the present embodiment also has the same configuration and operation as the mobile radio terminal 20 in the first embodiment.

  When the mobile radio terminal 20 having such a configuration hands over to a radio access point device of a different ISP as shown in FIG. 16, the operation procedure is as shown in FIG.

  That is, when the mobile radio terminal 20 moves outside the wireless LAN service area 14 (indicated as outside the AP2 area in the figure) related to the wireless access point device 8 in the ISP internal network 2 (step 610), another wireless access point device When the broadcast is received via the A wireless communication device 51 and the broadcast is received via the A wireless communication device 51, the B wireless communication device 52 is connected to the IP address of the information management server included in the broadcast (step 630). Further, by requesting the setting information of the wireless access point device with the ID included in the broadcast, the setting information is received from the information management server (step 640), and the A wireless communication device using the received setting information 51 to configure the wireless access point device (Corresponding to the wireless access point device 10 in FIG. 16) in a wireless connection (step 650).

(Sixth embodiment)
Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is also for the case where the mobile radio terminal 20 is handed over to a different ISP radio access point apparatus as in the fifth embodiment.

  FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of the wireless LAN service area 14 and the wireless LAN service area 16 shown in FIG. In the fifth embodiment, the mobile radio terminal 20 receives broadcast information from the radio access point device 10 that forms the radio LAN service area 16 when the mobile radio terminal 20 goes out of the radio LAN service area 14. In the present embodiment, the mobile radio terminal 20 is in the area 26 where the radio LAN service area 14 and the radio LAN service area 16 intersect, that is, when the mobile radio terminal 20 is within the communicable range of both radio access point devices of different ISPs. Realize over. That is, a broadcast from a new wireless access point device 10 is received, and the received broadcast is used for wireless connection to the wireless access point device 10.

  The configuration and operation of the information management server and wireless access point device of the present embodiment are the same as the information management server and wireless access point device of the first embodiment.

  Further, the mobile radio terminal 20 of the present embodiment has the same configuration as the mobile radio terminal 20 of the first embodiment, except that it does not need to have the B radio communication device 52 as in the first embodiment. Have.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the mobile radio terminal 20 for realizing the handover in the area 26 of FIG. 18 will be described. FIG. 19 shows a flowchart of processing executed by the communication control unit 53 of the mobile radio terminal 20. The communication control unit 53 has received power from the wireless access point device (wireless access point device 8 in FIG. 16 and AP2 in FIG. 19) that is currently wirelessly connected via the wireless communication device 51. When this is detected (step 710), a broadcast search is performed by time-sharing the communication time of the wireless communication device 51 (step 720). Note that the communication control unit 53 receives a signal indicating the received power from the A wireless communication device 51.

  FIG. 20 shows the time division of the communication time of the A wireless communication device 51. In the time zones 27 to 33 used by the A wireless communication device 51 for communication, most (for example, about 80%) of the time zones 27 to 30 are for normal communication, that is, via the wireless access point device that is currently wirelessly connected. Used for communication. Further, the remaining time zones 31 to 33 are used for searching whether a broadcast from another wireless access point device (wireless access point device 10 in FIG. 16) is transmitted.

  However, the time zone used for the search is not assigned at regular intervals but is randomly assigned. By doing so, it becomes easy to receive broadcasts of other wireless access point apparatuses even in a short-time search. Note that the timing of broadcasting from the wireless access point device may be random, and the allocation of search timing in the mobile radio terminal 20 may be at regular intervals.

  Then, the communication control unit 53 executes this time-division search until it detects a broadcast of another wireless access point device (step 730), and if detected, the ID and information management server ( In FIG. 16, based on the IP address of the information management server 6), it is connected to the information management server of the IP address via the wireless access point device that is currently wirelessly connected using the A wireless communication device 51. (Step 740), requesting and receiving the setting information of the ID (Step 750), setting the A wireless communication device 51 based on the received setting information, and the wireless access point device to be wirelessly connected so far And wireless connection to the wireless access point device (step 760).

  As described above, the mobile radio terminal 20 performs wireless access in a time division manner using the A radio communication device 51 based on detecting that the power from the radio access point device 8 has become weak in the area 26. By alternately performing reception from the point device 8 and reception from the wireless access point device 10, the A wireless communication device is based on the ID included in the broadcast from the wireless access point device 10 and the IP address of the information management server 6. 51, the setting information of the wireless access point device 10 is received from the information management server 6 via the wireless access point device 8 that is currently wirelessly connected, and a new wireless access point device 10 and a wireless communication are received based on this setting information. Connecting.

(Seventh embodiment)
Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. The mobile radio terminal 20 according to the present embodiment obtains setting information of the radio access point device using communication with other mobile radio terminals.

  FIG. 21 shows a conceptual diagram of this embodiment. Vehicles 71 and 72 each carrying the mobile radio terminal 20 are traveling on the road 70. The mobile radio terminal 20 mounted on the vehicle 72 receives the broadcast transmitted from the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 by the radio access point device AP.

  FIG. 22 shows a hardware configuration of the mobile radio terminal 20 of the present embodiment. This embodiment has a C wireless communication device 55 in addition to the configuration of the mobile wireless terminal 20 shown in FIG. 7 of the first embodiment.

  The C wireless communication device 55 is a wireless communication device such as a well-known wireless LAN card for performing predetermined ad hoc communication between vehicles and a wireless LAN, and is controlled by the communication control unit 53.

  The configurations and operations of the information management server and the wireless access point device of this embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. However, the wireless access point device 7 has data as shown in FIG. 23, that is, the IP address of the information management server, the public key corresponding to the private key of the information management server, its own ID, and the provider name ( Or broadcast the provider ID).

  The operation of the mobile radio terminal 20 mounted on the vehicle 71 and the vehicle 72 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG.

  When the vehicle 71 is in the wireless LAN service area 73 within the communicable range of the wireless access point device AP, the communication control unit 53 of the mobile wireless terminal 20 mounted on the vehicle 71 receives a broadcast from the wireless access point device AP. Then, the data included in the received broadcast is transmitted to the mobile radio terminal 20 of another vehicle connected by ad hoc communication using the C radio communication device 55 (step 950). When the communication control unit 53 of the mobile radio terminal 20 mounted on the vehicle 72 outside the wireless LAN service area 73 receives this data from the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 via the C radio communication device 55, the communication control unit 53 receives the data. The authentication data (the own ID, password, etc.) for the IP address of the information management server and the public key corresponding to the private key possessed by the received information are encrypted using the received public key, and the encrypted data is transmitted to the C wireless communication Using the device 55, the data is transmitted to the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 that is the transmission source of the received data (step 952). In FIG. 25, the structure of the data which the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 of the vehicle 72 transmits here is shown.

  The mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 that has received the encrypted authentication data (encrypted ID and password) of the mobile radio terminal 20 and the public key of the vehicle 72 manages information included in the broadcast received by itself. A request for setting information about the wireless access point device having the ID included in the broadcast is transmitted to the IP address of the server 5 using the A wireless communication device 51 or the B wireless communication device 52 together with the received authentication data and public key. (Step 954).

  The information management server that has received the data transmitted from the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 decrypts the received authentication data using the private key that it has, and receives it when the authentication is successful. The ID setting information related to the request is encrypted with the received public key, and the encrypted data is transmitted to the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 that is the request source.

  The communication control unit 53 of the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 receives this setting information (step 956), and transmits this information to the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 72 using the C radio communication device 55 (step 958). .

  When the communication control unit 53 of the mobile wireless terminal 20 of the vehicle 72 receives the encrypted setting information via the C wireless communication device 55, the communication control unit 53 decrypts the setting information using its own secret key, Based on the set information, the setting for wireless connection by the C wireless communication device 55 is performed (step 960), and when the vehicle 72 enters the wireless LAN service area 73 (step 962), the area of the area is determined based on the setting. Wirelessly connect to a wireless access point device. That is, a DHCP request is transmitted to a DHCP server or a wireless access point device having a DHCP server function (step 964), a DHCP response is received as a result (step 966), and an IP address to be used is set based on the DHCP response. (Step 968).

  As described above, the mobile wireless terminal 20 in the wireless LAN service area 73 of the wireless access point device uses the communication between the mobile wireless terminals 20 to establish a wireless connection via the mobile wireless terminal 20 in the wireless LAN service area 73. By acquiring the information for the wireless connection, the wireless connection can be quickly established after entering the wireless LAN service area 73.

  When the mobile wireless terminal 20 of the vehicle 72 acquires broadcast information from the mobile wireless terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 and the communication device B of the vehicle 2 is usable, the wireless communication device B is the same as in the first embodiment. The information management server may be accessed using 52 to obtain setting information of the wireless access point device.

  The authentication information transmitted from the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 is encrypted with the public key of the information management server, and the setting information transmitted from the information management server to the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 72 is the mobile radio of the vehicle 72. Since it is encrypted with the public key of the terminal 20, the mobile radio terminal 20 of the vehicle 71 that relays transmission and reception of these data cannot eavesdrop on the contents of these data, and the confidentiality of the information is maintained.

(Eighth embodiment)
Next, an eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 26 shows a conceptual diagram of this embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, wireless access point devices AP1 and AP2 are installed in the parking lot 81, and form a wireless LAN service area 82 and a wireless LAN service area 83, respectively. In addition, there is a communication device 86 for DSRC (boundary area communication) near the parking lot entrance 85, and this DSRC communication device 86 is used as a communicable range in an area where the vehicle 84 always passes when entering the parking lot 81. A DSRC service area 87 is formed.

  The wireless access point devices AP1 and AP2 of the present embodiment have the same configuration and operation as the first embodiment except that only their own IDs are broadcast.

  The DSRC communication device 86 of this embodiment is equivalent to the information management server 5 of the first embodiment in which the communication unit 61 is replaced with a communication device that transmits and receives radio signals according to the DSRC standard. .

  The mobile radio terminal 20 of the present embodiment is equivalent to the mobile radio terminal 20 of the first embodiment in which the B radio communication device 52 is replaced with a communication device that transmits and receives radio signals according to the DSRC standard. It is.

  FIG. 27 shows an operation procedure of the mobile radio terminal 20 communicating with such radio access point devices AP1, AP2, and DSRC communication device 86.

  First, when the vehicle 84 enters the DSRC service area 87 (referred to as a narrow communication area in FIG. 27) (step 810), the communication control unit 53 of the mobile radio terminal 20 uses the B radio communication device 52 to perform DSRC communication. With the communication device 86, setting information about the wireless access point devices AP1 and AP2 is received through this communication (step 820). At this time, the contents of the setting information transmitted by the DSRC communication device 86 and received by the mobile radio terminal 20 are shown in FIG. This setting information includes the ID, the geographical area of the wireless LAN service area, the ESSID, the WEP key, the channel, the IP address assigned to the mobile wireless terminal 20, and the parking lot for each of the wireless access point devices AP1 and AP2. Includes billing information and advertisements.

  Note that the DSRC communication device 86 and the mobile radio terminal 20 may perform authentication as shown in the first embodiment before the delivery of the setting information, and the DSRC communication device 86 may receive the setting information. May be broadcast.

  Thereafter, when the vehicle 84 enters the wireless LAN service area 82 or the wireless LAN service area 83, an ID broadcast is received via the A wireless communication device 51, and based on the setting information having a matched ID, the A wireless communication device The wireless connection is set by 51 (step 830).

  Due to the operation of the communication system including the wireless access point devices AP1 and AP2, the DSRC communication device 86, and the mobile wireless terminal 20, the mobile wireless terminal receives setting information on the wireless access point devices AP1 and AP2 from the DSRC communication device 86. Receive. When the mobile wireless terminal 20 is within the communicable range of the wireless access point device AP1 or AP2 that transmits the received ID, the mobile wireless terminal 20 wirelessly communicates with the wireless access point device using the setting information corresponding to the ID. Connecting.

  As described above, the mobile radio terminal 20 receives the setting information of the radio access point devices AP1 and AP2 from the DSRC communication device 86, and receives the ID received when the mobile radio terminal 20 is within the communicable range of the radio access point devices AP1 and AP2. Based on the above, it is possible to establish a wireless connection using appropriate setting information suitable for the wireless access point device. Therefore, the mobile wireless terminals 20 participating in the network through wireless connection with the wireless access point devices AP1 and AP2 are successively used without transmitting their own location information such as a GPS receiver in order to transmit their location information. The authentication information of the wireless access point device can be acquired.

  In the eighth embodiment, the DSRC communication device 86 corresponds to an information management server.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the information which each of the information management servers 5 and 6 broadcasts. It is a figure which shows the structure of an information management server. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of setting information of a wireless access point device 7. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the setting information transmitted. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement procedure of an information management server. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a mobile radio terminal 20. FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows the exchange of communication performed with the said radio | wireless access point apparatus, an information management server, etc. in order for the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 to carry out radio | wireless connection with either of the radio | wireless access point apparatuses 7-12. It is a figure which shows an example when the some wireless LAN service area respectively connected to the network in different ISP has overlapped, and the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 approached the overlapped area. It is a sequence diagram which shows exchange of the data for the wireless connection in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure including not only the IP address of the server and the ID of the wireless access point device, but also the ISP name or identification information in the broadcast data of the wireless access point device. It is a figure which shows the structure of the communication system 100 of 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement flow of the communication control part 53 of the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 of 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the management information which the information management server of 3rd Embodiment transmits. It is a flowchart which shows the action | operation of the communication control part 53 of the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 in 4th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the communication system 100 of 5th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the procedure in case the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 in 5th Embodiment hands over to the radio | wireless access point apparatus of a different ISP. It is the figure which expanded the area | region of the wireless LAN service area 14 and the wireless LAN service area 16 of FIG. It is a flowchart of the process which the communication control part 53 of the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 in 6th Embodiment performs. It is a figure which shows the mode of the time division of the communication time of A radio | wireless communication apparatus 51. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram of 7th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 of 7th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the data which the wireless access point apparatus 7 broadcasts in 7th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the data which the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 of the vehicle 72 transmits in 7th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the data which the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 of the vehicle 72 transmits. It is a conceptual diagram of 8th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement procedure of the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 which communicates with radio | wireless access point apparatus AP1, AP2, and the DSRC communication apparatus 86 in 8th Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the content of the setting information which the DSRC communication apparatus 86 transmits and the mobile radio | wireless terminal 20 receives.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Internet, 2-4 ... Network in ISP, 5, 6 ... Information management server,
7 to 12: Wireless access point device, 13 to 18: Wireless LAN service area,
19 ... mobile phone service area, 20 ... mobile radio terminal, 21 ... route,
51 ... A wireless communication device, 52 ... B wireless communication device, 53 ... communication control unit,
54 ... Application unit, 55 ... C wireless communication device, 61 ... Communication unit, 62 ... Authentication unit,
63 ... Setting information payout unit, 64 ... Setting information DB, 65 ... Authentication information DB,
71, 72 ... vehicle, 73 ... wireless LAN service area, 81 ... parking lot,
82, 83 ... Wireless LAN service area, 84 ... Vehicle, 85 ... Parking lot entrance,
86... DSRC communication device, 87... DSRC service area, 100.

Claims (10)

Includes a wireless access point device authentication information is different multiple respectively, and information management server having a set of respective identification information and authentication information of said plurality of wireless access point device, a mobile radio terminal, a
Each of the plurality of wireless access point devices transmits its own identification information and the address of the information management server to mobile wireless terminals within its communicable range,
The information management server, based on a request from the mobile radio terminal, transmits to the mobile radio terminal a set of identification information and authentication information of its own wireless access point device,
The mobile wireless terminal is configured to request a pair of wireless access point device identification information and authentication information to the address of the information management server received from at least one of the plurality of wireless access point devices; and the request Communication between a receiving unit that receives a set of identification information and authentication information of a wireless access point device transmitted from the information management server based on a request of the unit, and a wireless access point device that transmits the identification information received by the receiving unit A communication system comprising: wireless connection means for wirelessly connecting to the wireless access point device using authentication information corresponding to the identification information when within the possible range. The request means possessed by the mobile radio terminal is based on the address of the information management server and the identification information of the radio access point device received from the radio access point device that has entered the wireless communicable range. Requesting a set of identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device by transmitting data including the identification information to
Based on the request from the mobile radio terminal, the information management server transmits to the mobile radio terminal a set of identification information included in the data related to the request and authentication information corresponding to the identification information. The communication system according to claim 1. Includes a wireless access point device authentication information is different multiple respectively, and information management server having a set of respective identification information and authentication information of said plurality of wireless access point device, a mobile radio terminal, a
Each of the plurality of wireless access point devices transmits its own identification information and the address of the information management server to mobile wireless terminals within its communicable range,
The information management server , based on a request from the mobile radio terminal, transmits authentication information corresponding to identification information included in the data related to the request to the mobile radio terminal,
Based on the address of the information management server and the identification information of the wireless access point device received from the wireless access point device that has entered the communicable range of the mobile wireless terminal, By transmitting data including information, request means for requesting authentication information of the wireless access point apparatus, and authentication information of the wireless access point apparatus transmitted from the information management server based on the request of the request means A communication system comprising: receiving means for receiving; and wireless connection means for wirelessly connecting to the wireless access point device using the authentication information.   The request unit requests the information management server by wireless communication using a wireless communication method having a higher wireless connection possibility than a wireless communication method for wireless connection with a wireless access point device. Item 4. The communication system according to any one of Items 1 to 3. The information management server includes a plurality of information management servers , each of which corresponds to a different wireless connection service provider, and each of the plurality of information management servers is provided by the corresponding wireless connection service provider. communication system according to with only the wireless access point device, any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it has a set of identification information and authentication information provided for. An information management server used in the communication system according to claim 1 or 2 ,
An information management server, which transmits a set of identification information and authentication information of a wireless access point device owned by itself to the mobile radio terminal based on a request from the mobile radio terminal . An information management server used in the communication system according to claim 3 ,
The information management server, based on a request from the mobile radio terminal, transmits authentication information corresponding to identification information included in data related to the request to the mobile radio terminal . A mobile radio terminal used in the communication system according to claim 1 or 2 ,
Request means for requesting a set of identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device to the address of the information management server received from at least one of the plurality of wireless access point devices;
Receiving means for receiving a set of identification information and authentication information of the wireless access point device transmitted from the information management server based on the request of the request means;
Wireless connection means for wirelessly connecting to the wireless access point apparatus using authentication information corresponding to the identification information when the receiving means is within a communicable range of the wireless access point apparatus that transmits the received identification information; And a mobile radio terminal . A mobile radio terminal used in the communication system according to claim 3 ,
Data including the identification information is transmitted to the address based on the address of the information management server and the identification information of the wireless access point apparatus received from the wireless access point apparatus within the communicable range. Requesting means for requesting authentication information of the wireless access point device,
Receiving means for receiving authentication information of the wireless access point device transmitted from the information management server based on the request of the requesting means; and wireless connection means for wirelessly connecting to the wireless access point device using the authentication information; And a mobile radio terminal . A wireless access point device used in the communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
A wireless access point device that transmits its own identification information and the address of the information management server to a mobile wireless terminal within its communicable range .

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