JP2015019265A - Mobile terminal, mobile phone service provider system, radio communication system, control method, and control program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the usage rate of a wireless LAN at a dual mode-enabled mobile terminal.SOLUTION: A mobile terminal comprises: a mobile communication unit for communicating with a mobile phone service provider system; a wireless LAN communication unit for connecting with a wireless LAN via an access point; a positional information acquisition unit for measuring a current position and outputting it as current position information; a setting unit for notifying the mobile phone service provider system of the current position information, and for downloading access point information, which is information on an access point situated in a management area corresponding to the current position, from the mobile phone service provider system; and a control unit that controls the wireless LAN communication unit on the basis of the downloaded access point information.

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal equipped with a mobile phone function and a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) communication function, a mobile phone operator system, a wireless communication system, a control method, and a control program.

  A so-called dual-mode portable terminal equipped with a cellular phone function and a wireless LAN communication function is known. In order to connect to the wireless LAN, it is necessary to set information on the wireless LAN access point (hereinafter referred to as “access point information”) in advance for the mobile terminal prior to connection. However, setting the access point information requires a troublesome manual setting operation. This is a major hindrance, and the wireless LAN usage rate in dual-mode portable terminals remains stagnant.

  In general, in terms of communication cost, a wireless LAN is often superior to a mobile phone network. Accordingly, the communication cost can be reduced when the wireless LAN is used compared to when the wireless LAN is not used at all.

  In recent years, the increase in traffic on the mobile phone network due to the spread of smartphones and the like has become a problem, and there is a demand for reduction in traffic on the mobile phone network. In other words, by using a wireless LAN, opportunities for communication using a mobile phone network are relatively reduced, and as a result, traffic on the mobile phone network can be reduced.

  In addition, in order to further improve the customer attraction rate, there are cases where a preferential service (coupon or the like) is provided only to those who use the wireless LAN. That is, by using the wireless LAN, the user can receive the above-described preferential service. Of course, the increase in the number of users using a wireless LAN is also beneficial for wireless LAN service providers.

  Regarding wireless LAN control, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a portable terminal that activates wireless LAN communication means when the current position enters a wireless LAN communicable area.

JP 2006-135727 A (Page Nos. 3 and 5)

  In Patent Document 1, communicable area information (that is, information defining the communication range of an access point) used for activation control of a wireless LAN communication unit is information included in the access point information described above. That is, Patent Document 1 only describes the control after the access point information is set, and does not mention at all how the access point information is set. Therefore, the technique of Patent Document 1 cannot solve the above problem that the usage rate of the wireless LAN does not improve due to the complexity of the wireless LAN setting (in other words, the setting of access point information).

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and is capable of improving the usage rate of a wireless LAN in a dual-mode portable terminal, a portable terminal, a cellular phone operator system, a wireless communication system, A control method and a control program are provided.

  The mobile terminal of the present invention includes a mobile communication unit that communicates with a mobile phone operator system, a wireless LAN communication unit that connects to a wireless LAN via an access point, a position that measures a current position and outputs it as current position information And an information acquisition unit that notifies the mobile phone operator system of the current location information, and provides access point information that is information about the access point existing in a management area corresponding to the current location. A setting unit that is downloaded from the system; and a control unit that controls the wireless LAN communication unit based on the downloaded access point information.

  The mobile phone operator system according to the present invention includes, for each management area divided into a predetermined range, a database that stores access point information that is information about access points existing in the management area, and a current position of the mobile terminal A management unit that reads out the access point information for the management area corresponding to the information from the database and transmits the information to the mobile terminal.

  The wireless communication system of the present invention includes, for each management area partitioned into a predetermined range, a database that stores access point information that is information about access points existing in the management area, and the access for each management area A mobile phone carrier system comprising: a management unit that reads point information from the database and transmits it to a mobile terminal; a mobile communication unit that communicates with the mobile phone carrier system; and a wireless LAN via the access point A wireless LAN communication unit connected to the mobile station, a location information acquisition unit that measures the current location and outputs the current location information, and notifies the mobile operator system of the current location information, and the management area corresponding to the current location The access point information for the mobile phone carrier system is downloaded from the mobile phone operator system. Comprising a part, and a control unit that controls the wireless LAN communication unit based on the access point information downloaded, and a portable terminal having a a.

  The control method of the present invention includes a first step of communicating with a cellular phone operator system, a second step of connecting to a wireless LAN through an access point, and a third step of measuring the current position and outputting the current position information. The current location information is notified to the mobile phone operator system, and the access point information, which is information about the access point existing in the management area corresponding to the current location, is downloaded from the mobile phone operator system. And a fifth step of controlling the second step based on the downloaded access point information.

  The control program of the present invention includes a first process for communicating with a cellular phone operator system, a second process for connecting to a wireless LAN via an access point, and a third process for measuring the current position and outputting the current position information. The current location information is notified to the mobile phone operator system, and the access point information, which is information about the access point existing in the management area corresponding to the current location, is downloaded from the mobile phone operator system. And a fifth process for controlling the second process based on the downloaded access point information.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to improve the utilization rate of wireless LAN in the portable terminal corresponding to dual mode.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the radio | wireless communications system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a content explanatory view of access point information. It is a figure for demonstrating the management area used as the basic unit of access point integrated information. It is a structure explanatory view of access point integrated information. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 1. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing when a portable terminal exists in the communication area of wireless LAN. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing when a portable terminal exists outside the communication area of wireless LAN. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the mobile phone operator system shown in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the portable terminal which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a control program.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a radio communication system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication system 10 includes a wireless LAN service provider system 12, a mobile phone operator system 14, and a mobile terminal 16.

  The wireless LAN service provider system 12 includes a wireless LAN access point 20 and an information providing device 22.

  The wireless LAN access point 20 is an access point installed to provide a service provided by a wireless LAN service provider (for example, a store or a local government). The wireless LAN access point 20 is connected to a communication network (not shown in FIG. 1) configured by a packet switching network such as the Internet. The portable terminal 16 can be connected to the communication network via the wireless LAN access point 20.

  The information providing apparatus 22 transmits “access point information 100” that is information regarding the wireless LAN access point 20 to the mobile phone operator system 14.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the contents of the access point information 100. The access point information 100 includes, for example, position information 102, radio wave status information 104, and access information 106. The position information 102 is information about the latitude, longitude, and altitude of the wireless LAN access point 20, for example. The radio wave status information 104 is information about the radio wave intensity of the wireless LAN access point 20, for example. The access information 106 is information necessary for accessing the wireless LAN access point 20, such as a user ID and password of a user who can use the wireless LAN access point 20.

  The information providing device 22 updates the access point information 100 according to the state change of the wireless LAN access point 20, and transmits the updated access point information 100 to the mobile phone operator system 14.

  The mobile phone operator system 14 is connected to the communication network. The mobile terminal 16 can be connected to the communication network via the mobile phone operator system 14.

  The mobile phone operator system 14 includes a management unit 30 and a database 32.

  The management unit 30 creates “access point general information 150” based on the access point information 100 received from the information providing apparatus 22 and registers it in the database 32. The management unit 30 reads the access point management information 150 for the management area corresponding to the current location of the mobile terminal 16 included in the access point management information request received from the mobile terminal 16 from the database 32 and transmits it to the mobile terminal 16. To do.

  The access point control information 150 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a “management area” that is a basic unit of the access point management information 150. In FIG. 3, a case where there are nine management areas (A to I) is taken as an example. Each management area A to I has a predetermined range (for example, several kilometers square), for example. A wireless LAN access point 20 is appropriately installed in each of the management areas A to I. For example, three wireless LAN access points 20 are installed in the management area A, two wireless LAN access points 20 are installed in the management area B, and one wireless LAN access point 20 is installed in the management area C. No, etc.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the access point management information 150. The access point integrated information 150 includes range specifying information 152 and individual information 154 for each of the management areas A to I. The range specifying information 152 is information for specifying the ranges of the management areas A to I. For example, when the management area is a square, the range specifying information 152 includes starting point coordinate information (for example, coordinate information of the upper left point) and length information of one side. Alternatively, the range specifying information 152 includes, for example, center coordinates and radius information when the management area is circular. The individual information 154 includes access point information 100 of the wireless LAN access point 20 existing in each management area. For example, in the case of the management area A, the individual information 154 includes the access point information 100 of the three wireless LAN access points 20.

  The mobile terminal 16 includes a mobile communication unit 36, a wireless LAN communication unit 38, a position information acquisition unit 40, a setting unit 42, and a control unit 44.

  The mobile communication unit 36 communicates with the mobile phone operator system 14. The wireless LAN communication unit 38 connects to the wireless LAN via the wireless LAN access point 20.

  The position information acquisition unit 40 receives a signal from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite (not shown), measures the current position of the mobile terminal 16, and sets the measured position information (latitude, longitude, etc.). Send to.

  When the mobile terminal 16 is activated, the setting unit 42 transmits an “access point general information request” to the mobile phone operator system 14. The access point general information request is for requesting the access point general information 150 for the management area including the current position of the mobile terminal 16. The access point general information request includes the current position information of the mobile terminal 16 acquired from the position information acquisition unit 40. The setting unit 42 downloads the access point general information 150 relating to the management area corresponding to the current position from the mobile phone operator system 14 and sets it in the mobile terminal 16.

  The setting unit 42 determines whether the mobile terminal 16 is in the management area by comparing the current position of the mobile terminal 16 with the set management area range specifying information 152. When outside the management area, the setting unit 42 downloads the access point general information 150 relating to the new management area corresponding to the current position from the mobile phone carrier system 14 and sets it in the mobile terminal 16.

  The control unit 44 controls connection to the wireless LAN based on the access point information 100 included in the downloaded access point management information 150.

  Specifically, when the mobile terminal 16 is present in the management area, the control unit 44 determines that the mobile terminal 16 is connected to the communication area (based on the access point information 100) of the wireless LAN access point 20 installed in the management area. It is determined whether or not it exists within a specified area. When the portable terminal 16 exists in the communication area, the control unit 44 turns on the wireless LAN communication unit 38. In this case, the control unit 44 connects the portable terminal 16 to the communication network via the wireless LAN access point 20. On the other hand, when the portable terminal 16 does not exist in the communication area, the control unit 44 turns off the wireless LAN communication unit 38. In this state, communication between the mobile terminal 16 and the communication network is performed via the mobile phone operator system 14.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the mobile terminal 16 shown in FIG.

  The position information acquisition unit 40 acquires the current position of the mobile terminal 16 (step S1). The setting unit 42 transmits an access point control information request including the acquired current position information to the mobile phone operator system 14 (step S2).

  The management unit 30 of the mobile phone carrier system 14 stores, from the database 32, the access point general information 150 for the management area corresponding to the current position of the mobile terminal 16 included in the access point general information request received from the mobile terminal 16. Read and transmit to mobile terminal 16. The setting unit 42 receives (downloads) the access point general information 150 transmitted from the mobile phone operator system 14 and sets it in the mobile terminal 16 (step S3).

  The setting unit 42 determines whether or not the mobile terminal 16 is present in the set management area (step S4).

  When the portable terminal 16 does not exist in the management area (No in step S4), the setting unit 42 performs a process of downloading the access point general information 150 relating to the new management area corresponding to the current position and setting it in the portable terminal 16. Execute (Steps 2 and 3 are executed again).

  When the mobile terminal 16 is present in the management area (Yes in step S4), the control unit 44 determines whether the mobile terminal 16 is present in the communication area of the wireless LAN access point 20 installed in the management area. Is determined (step S5).

  When the portable terminal 16 is present in the communication area (Yes in step S5), the control unit 44 turns on the wireless LAN communication unit 38 (step S6). The position information acquisition unit 40 acquires the current position of the mobile terminal 16 (step S7). Thereafter, the process of step S4 is executed again.

  When the portable terminal 16 does not exist in the communication area (No determination in step S5), the control unit 44 turns off the wireless LAN communication unit 38 (step S8). Thereafter, step S7 is executed.

  FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram when the mobile terminal 16 is present in the wireless LAN communication area. In this case, the wireless LAN communication unit 38 is turned on. Accordingly, the mobile terminal 16 can be connected to the communication network via the wireless LAN access point 20.

  In addition, when the mobile terminal 16 exists in the position where the communication areas of the plurality of wireless LAN access points 20 overlap, the radio wave intensity is the highest when the radio wave status information 104 of the access point information 100 of each communication area is compared. A high wireless LAN access point 20 can be connected.

  FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram when the mobile terminal 16 exists outside the wireless LAN communication area. In this case, the wireless LAN communication unit 38 is turned off. At this time, the mobile terminal 16 is connected to the communication network via the mobile phone operator system 14 (that is, by the mobile phone network).

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the cellular phone operator system 14 shown in FIG.

  The management unit 30 determines whether or not the access point information 100 has been received from the information providing device 22 of the LAN service provider system 12 (step S20). When the access point information 100 is received (Yes in step S20), the management unit 30 creates the access point general information 150 based on the received access point information 100 (step S21). The access point management information 150 is stored in the database 32.

  Thereafter, and when the access point information 100 has not been received (No determination in step S20), the management unit 30 determines whether an access point general information request has been received from the mobile terminal 16 (step S22). When the request is received (Yes in step S22), the management unit 30 stores the access point management information 150 for the management area corresponding to the current position of the mobile terminal 16 included in the received access point management information request in the database. The data is read from 32 and transmitted to the portable terminal 16 (step S23).

  After the process of step S23 and when an access point general information request is not received (No determination in step S22), the process of step S20 is executed again.

  In the first embodiment described above, the access point information (actually included in the access point management information for each management area) is stored in the mobile terminal 16 in units of management areas according to the position of the mobile terminal 16. Automatically downloaded and set. That is, in the present embodiment, the access point information is easily set without bothering the user.

  Accordingly, since the main factor that hinders the use of the wireless LAN is eliminated, the usage rate of the wireless LAN can be improved. Improvements in the usage rate of wireless LANs are expected to improve cost performance, reduce mobile phone network traffic, improve user convenience, and increase the number of customers.

  In the present embodiment, when the mobile terminal 16 is outside the communication area of the wireless LAN access point 20, the wireless LAN communication unit 38 is turned off. Therefore, the power consumption of the wireless LAN communication unit 38 can be reduced.

  In the case of the present embodiment, a method is adopted in which access point information is downloaded in units of relatively small management areas (for example, several kilometers square). This method is compared with a method in which access point information in an area larger than the management area (for example, a cell area of a mobile base station) is downloaded in a lump at the time of activation, for example.

  In the latter case, since the download range is wide, the number of access points is expected to be enormous. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a large-capacity memory area on the mobile terminal 16 side. Further, when the movement range of the mobile terminal 16 is relatively narrow, when the latter method is adopted, the access point information of the wireless LAN access point 20 that is very unlikely to be used is downloaded. Therefore, there is a concern about an increase in communication traffic and an increase in the amount of power consumed in the portable terminal 16 wastefully.

  On the other hand, in the former case (the method of the present embodiment), it is only necessary to secure a memory area that can store only information about the management area where the mobile terminal 16 is currently located. There is no need to provide a memory area. Furthermore, in the former case, it is relatively unlikely that unnecessary information is downloaded compared to the latter case. In the former case, since the appropriate access point information is downloaded every time the mobile terminal 16 moves, the performance does not deteriorate compared to the latter.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the wireless LAN access point 20 to be processed is an access point provided from a wireless LAN service provider (for example, a store or a local government) is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. . For example, the wireless LAN access point 20 registers an access point that can download the access point information 100 from the mobile phone operator system 14 to the mobile terminal 16 (that is, the access point information 100 is registered in the mobile phone operator system 14). Any access point can be used.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the number of management areas is nine is given as an example, but this is only an example, and the number of management areas is not limited to the above.

Further, the position measurement in the position information acquisition unit 40 is not limited to the position measurement by GPS, but may be other position measurement.
[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the mobile terminal 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The mobile terminal 200 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 202 and a memory 204.

  The memory 204 stores the control program 300. The control program 300 is executed by the CPU 202. Examples of the memory 204 include non-temporary storage means such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a hard disk, a removable medium, or a removable disk.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the control program 300. The control program 300 includes a first program 302, a second program 304, and a third program 306.

  The first program 302 is a program for measuring the current position of the mobile terminal 200 and outputting it as position information. The first program 302 corresponds to the processing in steps S1 and S7 in FIG.

  The second program 304 downloads access point information, which is information about a wireless LAN access point existing in the management area including the current position of the mobile terminal 200, from the mobile phone operator system and sets the access point information in the mobile terminal 200. It is a program for. The second program 304 corresponds to the processing in steps S2 and S3 in FIG.

  The third program 306 is a program for controlling the connection to the wireless LAN based on the downloaded access point information. The third program 306 corresponds to the processes in steps S5, S6, and S8 in FIG.

  According to the second embodiment described above, as in the first embodiment, the access point information is simply set without bothering the user. Accordingly, the main factor that hinders the use of the wireless LAN is eliminated, and the usage rate of the wireless LAN can be improved. Improvements in the usage rate of wireless LANs are expected to improve cost performance, reduce mobile phone network traffic, improve user convenience, and increase the number of customers.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wireless communication system 12 Wireless LAN service provider system 14 Mobile phone provider system 16 Mobile terminal 20 Wireless LAN access point 22 Information providing device 30 Management unit 32 Database 36 Mobile communication unit 38 Wireless LAN communication unit 40 Location information acquisition unit 42 Setting unit 44 Control unit 100 Access point information 102 Location information 104 Radio wave status information 106 Access information 150 Access point general information 152 Range specifying information 154 Individual information 200 Portable terminal 202 CPU
204 Memory 300 Control program 302 First program 304 Second program 306 Third program A to I Management area

Claims (8)

A mobile communication unit that communicates with the mobile phone operator system;
A wireless LAN communication unit connected to the wireless LAN via an access point;
A position information acquisition unit that measures the current position and outputs the current position information;
Setting for notifying the current location information to the mobile phone operator system and downloading access point information, which is information about the access point existing in the management area corresponding to the current location, from the mobile phone operator system And
A control unit that controls the wireless LAN communication unit based on the downloaded access point information;
A portable terminal comprising:   The setting unit compares the current position and range specifying information for specifying a range of the management area, and if the mobile terminal determines that the mobile terminal is outside the management area, the setting unit determines the access point information for the new management area. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is downloaded from the mobile phone operator system.   The control unit determines whether or not the mobile terminal exists in a communication area of the access point installed in the management area, and when the mobile terminal exists in the communication area, the wireless terminal The mobile terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a LAN communication unit is operated, and the operation of the wireless LAN communication unit is stopped when the mobile terminal does not exist in the communication area. For each management area partitioned into a predetermined range, a database that stores access point information that is information about access points existing in the management area;
A management unit that reads out the access point information about the management area corresponding to the current position of the mobile terminal from the database and transmits the information to the mobile terminal;
A mobile phone operator system comprising: For each management area partitioned into a predetermined range, a database for storing access point information, which is information about access points existing in the management area, and the access point information for each management area are read from the database. A mobile phone carrier system comprising: a management unit that transmits to a mobile terminal;
A mobile communication unit that communicates with the mobile phone carrier system, a wireless LAN communication unit that connects to a wireless LAN via the access point, a position information acquisition unit that measures a current position and outputs the current position information; Notifying the mobile operator system of the current location information, the setting point for downloading the access point information for the management area corresponding to the current location from the mobile phone operator system, and the downloaded access point information A mobile terminal comprising: a control unit that controls the wireless LAN communication unit based on
A wireless communication system comprising:   6. The wireless LAN service providing system for updating the access point information according to a change in the state of the access point and transmitting the updated access point information to the mobile phone operator system. The wireless communication system described. A first step of communicating with the mobile phone operator system;
A second step of connecting to a wireless LAN via an access point;
A third step of measuring the current position and outputting it as current position information;
The current location information is notified to the mobile phone operator system, and access point information, which is information about the access point existing in the management area corresponding to the current location, is downloaded from the mobile phone operator system. 4 steps,
A fifth step of controlling the second step based on the downloaded access point information;
A control method comprising: A first process for communicating with the mobile phone operator system;
A second process of connecting to a wireless LAN via an access point;
A third process for measuring the current position and outputting it as current position information;
The current location information is notified to the mobile phone operator system, and access point information, which is information about the access point existing in the management area corresponding to the current location, is downloaded from the mobile phone operator system. 4 treatments,
A fifth process for controlling the second process based on the downloaded access point information;
Is a control program for causing a computer of a portable terminal to execute.

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