WO2019065402A1

WO2019065402A1 - Wireless terminal, and control method therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2019065402A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/034634
Authority: WO
Inventors: 光孝秦; 憲行増田
Original assignee: 京セラ株式会社
Priority date: 2017-09-26
Filing date: 2018-09-19
Publication date: 2019-04-04
Also published as: KR20200029044A; KR102211044B1; JP2021013045A

Abstract

This wireless terminal is provided with: a card drive unit which is capable of attaching and extracting an information card in which setting information required to perform wireless communication is recorded; a wireless communication unit which performs wireless communication with a base station on the basis of the setting information; a control unit for implementing control on the basis of the setting information; and a memory for storing a code indicating a host region. If a network of a detected communication carrier is determined to not be a host region network, the control unit sets a restricted state in which the service of the detected communication carrier is restricted. The control unit does not enable a user to select the communication carrier in the restricted state.

Description

Wireless terminal and control method thereof

The present disclosure relates to a wireless terminal using an information card such as a SIM card and a control method thereof.

In recent years, in a wireless terminal compliant with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card or a UIM (User Identity Module) card (hereinafter referred to simply as SIM card) corresponding to each carrier is referred to. It may be necessary to replace the memory card and attach it to the wireless terminal. The SIM card is an IC card in which subscriber (user) information and the like of the wireless terminal are stored. The user information includes IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity: identification number) and the like.

On the other hand, in other areas where users can not connect to the network of their own area (hereinafter referred to as "home area") to which the user has subscribed, they are connected to the networks of other communication companies to provide services similar to the home area. There are things that can be provided.

In this way, it is called roaming that a wireless terminal of a user of a telecommunications carrier in the home area connects to another telecommunications carrier's network to receive a wireless communication service. A wireless terminal using a SIM card of a specific carrier may not be able to roam.

Specifically, when a wireless terminal connects to another carrier's network, another carrier's network side checks the user's IMSI etc. from the wireless terminal's SIM card, and allows or disallows roaming. I assume.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-011781

The present disclosure provides a wireless terminal capable of causing appropriate roaming to be performed to a wireless terminal performing roaming using an information card such as a SIM card, and a control method thereof.

The wireless terminal of the present disclosure attaches a information card in which setting information necessary for performing wireless communication is recorded, and performs wireless communication with a base station based on the setting information and a card drive unit capable of taking out the card. A wireless terminal comprising: a communication unit; a control unit that performs control based on the setting information; and a memory that stores a code indicating an own area, wherein the control unit is the wireless terminal stored in the memory. Based on the code indicating the area and the code of the network of the communication carrier detected by the wireless communication unit, it is determined whether the network of the detected communication carrier is a local network, and the control unit If it is determined that the network of the detected telecommunications carrier is not the home area network, the detected telecommunications carrier's service is set to the restricted state to be limited. Wherein, in the restricted state, the user from being able to select carriers.

The present disclosure provides a wireless terminal that can cause a wireless terminal using an information card such as a SIM card to perform appropriate roaming, and a control method thereof.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a wireless communication system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless terminal according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the wireless terminal according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a front view of the wireless terminal according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram when a screen of a network available in the wireless terminal according to the present embodiment is displayed. FIG. 6 is a diagram when the user can not select the manual mode in the wireless terminal according to the present embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio communication system according to the present embodiment. The wireless communication system shown in FIG. 1 includes a wireless terminal 10, a network 8A, a network 8B, a base station 4A, a base station 4B, and a base station 3A.

The base station 3A, the base station 4A, and the network 8A are provided by the carrier A, and the base station 4B and the network 8B are provided by the carrier B. Hereinafter, when describing the base station 4 or the network 8 without distinction, it is simply described as the base station 4 or the network 8, and when describing the base station 4 or the network 8 separately, the

base station

4A, 4B or the network 8A, Write 8B.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the telecommunications carrier A carries out a project in the country A, and the telecommunications carrier B carries out a project in the country B. The wireless terminal 10 is basically set to be usable in the country A.

For example, the base station 4 is a base station compatible with the fourth generation mobile communication system, and the base station 3 is a base station compatible with the third generation mobile communication system.

The wireless terminal 10 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, or a mobile phone. The wireless terminal 10 may be a wireless communication device such as a communication module.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless terminal according to the present embodiment. The wireless terminal 10 includes a wireless communication unit 11, an operation input unit 15A, a display unit 15B, an audio input / output unit 15C, a control unit 16, an OS (Operating System) 17, a memory 18, a battery 19, a card drive unit 20, and wireless The communication unit 21 is provided. In the present embodiment, the wireless terminal 10 is described as a configuration such as a smartphone or a mobile phone, but the present invention is not particularly limited to such a configuration. The wireless terminal 10 may be a wireless communication device such as a communication module.

In the wireless terminal 10, the block of the wireless terminal 10 shown in FIG. 2 simply shows the actual product, and a module for realizing GPS communication, wireless LAN, short distance communication, sensor communication, etc., or an acceleration sensor There are also cases where various kinds of electronic components are mounted, but are omitted in this embodiment.

The wireless communication unit 11 and the wireless communication unit 21 are configured to perform wireless communication with a wireless wide area network (WWAN). For example, the wireless communication unit 11 corresponds to the fourth generation mobile communication system, and the wireless communication unit 21 corresponds to the third generation mobile communication system. Although not shown here, a wireless communication unit for the second or fifth generation WWAN may be mounted on the wireless terminal 10.

The wireless communication unit 11 includes a transmitting unit 12, a receiving unit 13, and a communication processing unit 14, and transmits and receives a wireless signal from an antenna (not shown in FIG. 2) for communicating with the base station 4. For example, the wireless communication unit 11 is configured to perform wireless communication in the LTE scheme. The wireless communication unit 11 is configured to detect the network of the telecommunications carrier via the base station of the telecommunications carrier's network.

The transmitter 12 is configured to encode and modulate the data output from the controller 16 and transmit the modulated data to the base station 4 as a radio signal. When receiving the radio signal from the base station 4, the receiving unit 13 outputs a signal obtained by demodulating and decoding the signal as data to the control unit 16.

The communication processing unit 14 controls the wireless communication unit 11 to execute connection with a base station and processes necessary for various services.

The wireless communication unit 21 also has a configuration similar to that of the wireless communication unit 11, but the wireless communication unit 21 is configured to perform wireless communication of the CDMA system. Although there are multiple types of communication methods in the CDMA method, the wireless communication unit 21 may perform wireless communication of any method.

The operation input unit 15A is configured of a touch screen or the like, and inputs an instruction operated by the user. The display unit 15B is a display such as a touch screen. The voice input / output unit 15C is a microphone that picks up a voice that is mainly required for a call and a speaker that outputs the voice.

The control unit 16 is a controller that controls electronic components mounted on the wireless terminal 10, and for example, a central processing unit (CPU) that executes a program, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a backup RAM, Mainly composed of a microcomputer consisting of I / O (Input / Output) and so on.

The OS 17 is software in which basic functions and the like of the computer are implemented, and the software is executed by the control unit 16. The OS 17 is a function for basic management and control of electronic components implemented in the wireless terminal 10, and software that can be used in common and manage a whole system.

The memory 18 stores programs and information necessary to control the wireless terminal 10. For example, the memory 18 is configured by a non-volatile memory, a flash memory, an EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), and the like. The memory 18 is simply illustrated as one block, but may be configured by a plurality of storage media as described above.

The memory 18 stores setting information necessary for performing wireless communication. For example, the setting information includes information for connecting to a base station corresponding to a communication carrier. Further, the memory 18 may store various setting information such as information when registering position information, information regarding a telephone number, and the like in order to receive a telephone or data communication service. For example, the

wireless communication units

11 and 21 perform wireless communication based on the setting information stored in the memory 18. For example, the

wireless communication units

11 and 21 connect to a base station and execute processing for receiving a service such as telephone or data communication.

The battery 19 is, for example, a rechargeable battery, and supplies power to each electronic component mounted on the wireless terminal 10.

The card drive unit 20 drives an IC card called an SIM card (or UIM card), that is, an information card. The card drive unit 20 can attach and remove the SIM card. When the card drive unit 20 receives the reading and writing of the setting information from the communication processing unit 14 or the OS 17, the card driving unit 20 reads the setting information recorded on the SIM card and writes the setting information on the SIM card.

The SIM card includes user identification information (for example, IMSI etc.) for identifying a subscriber, operator identification information for identifying a subscribing telecommunications carrier (the own telecommunications carrier: home telecommunications carrier), and It is an IC card in which information on available services subscribed to by subscribers is recorded.

The SIM card is mainly issued from a subscribed telecommunications carrier. The user of the wireless terminal 10 may use the SIM card of the telecommunications carrier B from the SIM card of the telecommunications carrier A. At this time, the user replaces the SIM card of the communication carrier A with the SIM card of the communication carrier B, and attaches the SIM card to the wireless terminal 10.

In addition, the user may change part of the service provided by the telecommunications carrier A, and when using the changed service, may replace the SIM card corresponding to the service. Services may be added, deleted or changed.

The SIM card stores setting information necessary for receiving the service. For example, in order to receive a telephone or data communication service, there are various setting information such as information when registering location information and information regarding a telephone number.

The communication processing unit 14 is recorded in the SIM card at the time of insertion (introduction) of the SIM card, activation of the wireless terminal 10, or resumption of communication (for example, when the airplane mode is set to OFF to ON). The setting information may be read and written to the memory 18.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing of the wireless terminal according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a front view of the wireless terminal 10 according to the present embodiment. Before describing FIG. 3, FIG. 4 will be described.

The wireless terminal 10 has a touch screen 100 and an operation unit 110. Now, on the touch screen 100, a screen of cellular network settings is displayed.

By touching the network type 101 of this screen, the user can select the second generation wireless network, the third generation wireless network, or the network type 101 of the fourth generation wireless network.

Furthermore, by touching the network operator 102 on this screen, the user can manually connect to one carrier network from the detected one or more carriers according to the selected network type. The user can select one of the mode and the automatic mode in which the wireless terminal 10 automatically connects to one carrier. When the user touches the network operator 102, as shown in FIG. 5, a screen of available networks is displayed, and "search network" 103 (corresponding to manual mode) or "automatically select" 104 (automatic). The user can select one of the modes).

As shown in FIG. 3, when the wireless terminal 10 starts wireless communication, the control unit 16 reads information of the SIM card attached to the wireless terminal 10, and this SIM card is in its own area (home It is determined whether the area is used in the area (step S1).

As a specific example, the control unit 16 determines whether the code indicating the own area recorded in the memory 18 matches the code of the own area written in the SIM card. For example, the regional code may be a 3GPP compliant country code (MCC: Mobile Country Code). More specifically, the control unit 16 determines whether the permitted country code stored in the memory 18 matches the country code of the IMSI (user identification information) written in the SIM card. You may judge. If they match, the process proceeds to step S2.

When the wireless terminal 10 receives a wireless signal notified from the base station of the network of the telecommunications carrier, the control unit 16 determines whether the network of the telecommunications carrier (the network of the detected telecommunications carrier) is a network of its own area. Or not (step S2).

As a specific example, the control unit 16 determines whether or not the country code written in the SIM card matches the country code of a public land mobile network (PLMN) obtained from the signal broadcast from the base station. . Note that there may be multiple country codes written to the SIM card.

In the present embodiment, when the radio terminal 10 (country A) receives a radio signal broadcasted from a base station of the network 8A (country A), the process proceeds to step S7. When the radio terminal 10 receives a radio signal broadcasted from a base station of the network 8B (country B), the process proceeds to step S3.

As described above, there are cases where it is not possible to receive the radio signal notified from the base station. For example, when the wireless terminal 10 is powered on or when the in-flight mode is released, the wireless terminal 10 is out of communication range. In this case, since it can not be determined whether the wireless terminal 10 is in the country A, the control unit 16 refers to location information such as GPS (Global Positioning System) to locate the wireless terminal 10 It may be determined which country it is in.

When the wireless terminal 10 receives a wireless signal broadcasted from a base station of a network of a telecommunications carrier, if the network of the telecommunications carrier is not the network of the local area (step S2: no), the control unit 16 It sets to the restriction state which restricts the service of the telecommunications carrier (step S3).

The restriction on the services of other carriers means, for example, that after the wireless terminal 10 roams, available services will be only emergency calls, or only emergency calls and earthquake warning information will be received, etc. Means

Next, the control unit 16 sets the automatic mode described with reference to FIG. 5 regardless of the user's selection operation (step S4). When set to the automatic mode, the wireless terminal 10 will automatically select a network, but the user can not select a carrier (network operator) using the manual mode. That is, selection of the network operator is disabled.

FIG. 6 is a diagram when the user can not select the manual mode. As shown in FIG. 6, graying out may be used to indicate that the user can not select the manual mode. Even when the user touches the grayed-out area of the touch screen 100, the wireless terminal 10 does not shift to the screen of FIG.

Next, the control unit 16 periodically searches the network (step S5). At this time, the wireless terminal 10 may operate as follows. Also when the wireless terminal 10 is in the out-of-service area, it may operate as follows.
(I) When the network of the telecommunications carrier of the local area (domestic) is detected, the above-mentioned manual mode is set. ("Search network" 103 described in Fig. 5 can be set)
(Ii) When the network of the telecommunications carrier which is not in your own area (outside the country) is detected, the setting of the above-mentioned automatic mode remains as it is. (You can not select the network operator described in Figure 6.)
(Iii) When the network of the telecommunications carrier of the local area (domestic) and the local area (domestic) is detected at short time intervals (near the border), the above-mentioned manual mode is set. ("Search network" 103 described in Fig. 5 can be set)
In (i) to (iii), although the network of the local network carrier and the network of the non-local network carrier are described, the permitted PLMN and the unauthorized PLMN may be replaced.

Although the local region (domestic) and non-local region (outside) are used, the local region is not limited to Japan.

When the manual mode is thus set, the restriction state is released, and the control unit 16 may connect to the PLMN written in the SIM card. Alternatively, the control unit 16 may be connected to the network of the telecommunications carrier selected by the user.

On the other hand, when the SIM card is not used in the own area (home area) in step S1 (step S1: no), the control unit 16 performs a predetermined process (step S6). As a specific example, the control unit 16 may determine whether the permitted country code recorded in the memory 18 matches the country code of the IMSI written in the SIM card.

The permitted country code may be set from the user interface of the wireless terminal 10 (for example, the touch screen 100). Also, the user may be prevented from setting the permitted country code, and may be able to set a communication carrier or the like.

As a specific example of the predetermined process, the control unit 16 can use the wireless communication only for the wireless LAN, can not use the wireless WAN, or can not use both the wireless LAN and the wireless WAN, etc. It is to limit wireless communication.

On the other hand, when the wireless terminal 10 receives a wireless signal broadcasted from a base station of the telecommunications carrier's network, if the telecommunications carrier's network is the local area network (step S2: yes), the control unit 16 Then, it is judged whether or not it is set to the restriction state in which the service of the other communication carrier is restricted (step S7).

If the restricted state is set (step S7: yes), the control unit 16 cancels the restricted state (step S8). In this case, the control unit 16 connects to the carrier's network (step S9), but may connect to the PLMN written in the SIM card. Alternatively, the control unit 16 may be connected to the network of the telecommunications carrier selected by the user. If the restricted state is not set (step S7: no), the process proceeds to step S9.

By the way, in step S2, if the wireless terminal 10 receives a wireless signal notified from the base station of the network of the telecommunications carrier, the process proceeds to step S3 if the network of the telecommunications carrier is not the network of the local area. However, changing this, “The SIM card attached to the wireless terminal 10 is that of the telecommunications carrier A, and the telecommunications carrier A (the SIM card is written to the network of the telecommunications carrier detected by the wireless terminal 10 In the case where the communication carrier permitted by the “communication carrier” is not included ”may proceed to step S3.

As an example, the control unit 16 compares the permitted PLMN with the PLMN obtained from the signal broadcast from the base station. Note that there may be a plurality of PLMNs permitted.

As a further example, there may still be a combination of the country code written on the SIM card and the authorized PLMN. Specifically, as permitted ones, countries A and C are permitted regardless of the telecommunications carrier, and only telecommunications carrier X of country B is granted.

The permitted PLMN (communication carrier: network operator) may be set from the user interface (for example, the touch screen 100) of the wireless terminal 10. The authorized PLMN may be stored in the memory 18 or may be written to the SIM card. Also, the user may be prevented from setting the authorized PLMN, and may be able to set a communication carrier or the like.

As described above, if the network of the telecommunications carrier detected by the wireless terminal 10 is not the local area network, or if there is no permitted PLMN among the networks of the telecommunications carrier detected by the wireless terminal 10, By restricting the services of the other carriers provided by the wireless terminal 10 roaming, it is possible to prevent the user from using the services of the other carriers not intended.

In addition, by limiting the services of the other communication carriers provided by the wireless terminal 10 performing roaming, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of charging due to roaming (for example, international roaming charging etc.). In particular, there is no problem if the user uses a conventional wireless terminal in his / her area (domestic), but expensive charges will occur if the conventional wireless terminal is used in a network (overseas network) other than the local area There is. However, the wireless terminal 10 can suppress the occurrence of high-charge. The same applies to the case where there is no permitted PLMN written to the SIM card.

In the conventional wireless terminal, when roaming to another carrier's network, when the service of the roaming destination is restricted, the user manually operates the conventional wireless terminal to connect to another carrier's network Sometimes. Since the wireless terminal 10 can not be manually operated to connect to another carrier's network, it is possible to cause appropriate roaming and to suppress the occurrence of high charge.

In order to determine whether the service of the other communication carrier can be used by the wireless terminal 10 when determining whether the service of the other communication carrier can be used on the network side of the other communication carrier, This eliminates the need for determination on the network side and reduces the processing load on the network side.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-184439) filed on Sep. 26, 2017, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

3, 4 base station 8 network 9, 10

wireless terminal

11, 21 wireless communication unit 12 transmitter 13 receiver 14 communication processor 15A operation input unit 15B display 15C voice input / output unit 16 controller 17 OS
18 Memory 19 Battery 20 Card Driver

Claims

A card drive unit capable of attaching and taking out an information card in which setting information necessary for performing wireless communication is recorded;
A wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with a base station based on the setting information;
A control unit that performs control based on the setting information;
And a memory for storing a code indicative of the area where the mobile terminal is located.
The control unit is configured to, based on the code indicating the own area stored in the memory and a code of the network of the communication carrier detected by the wireless communication unit, the network of the detected communication carrier is Determine if the regional network,
If the control unit determines that the network of the detected communication carrier is not the home area network, the control unit sets a restriction state in which the service of the detected communication carrier is restricted;
The control unit prevents the user from selecting a communication carrier in the restricted state.
In the wireless terminal according to claim 1,
The wireless terminal is in a manual mode in which a user can manually connect to one carrier network from one or more detected carriers, or an automatic mode in which the wireless terminal is automatically connected to one carrier Equipped with a mode
The wireless terminal in which the control unit sets the automatic mode when in the restricted state.
In the wireless terminal according to claim 2,
The wireless terminal has a screen for selecting either the manual mode or the automatic mode,
The wireless terminal, wherein the control unit can not set the manual mode on the screen when in the restricted state.
In the wireless terminal according to claim 1,
The wireless terminal enabling the user to select the detected telecommunications carrier when the telecommunications carrier corresponding to the home area network is detected in the restricted state.
In the wireless terminal according to claim 1,
The wireless terminal which enables the user to select the detected telecommunications carrier when the control unit detects the home area network and a network of a telecommunications carrier that is not the home area at short time intervals in the restricted state. .
In the wireless terminal according to claim 1,
The wireless terminal for restricting wireless communication, when the own area set in the setting information is not a permitted area.
A card drive unit capable of attaching and removing an information card storing setting information necessary for performing wireless communication, a wireless communication unit performing wireless communication with a base station based on the setting information, and a local area A control method of a wireless terminal comprising:
Based on the code indicating the own area stored in the memory and the code of the telecommunications carrier's network detected by the wireless communication unit, it is determined whether the detected telecommunications carrier's network is the own area network And
If it is determined that the network of the detected communication carrier is not the home area network, the detected communication carrier's service is set to the restricted state,
In the restricted state, the user can not select the telecommunications carrier.
A card drive unit capable of attaching and taking out an information card in which setting information necessary for performing wireless communication is recorded;
A wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with a base station based on the setting information;
A control unit configured to perform control based on the setting information;
The control unit sets the restriction state in which the service of the detected communication carrier is restricted, when the network of the permitted communication carrier is not included in the network of the communication carrier detected by the wireless communication unit. ,
The control unit prevents the user from selecting a communication carrier in the restricted state.