DEVICE AND METHOD FOR UPDATING OF SERVICE LOGIC IN A MOBILE UNIT

Abstract: The present invention relates to a device and a method at a cellular digital radio communications system including means for mobile or semi-stationary communication which utilises SIMAT-based information messages and which makes possible for a user to load a service data structure to his/her mobile unit in form of a general application to the in the mobile unit arranged SIM-card, and where said application by means of the in the mobile terminal arranged device includes means to interpret the content in said service data structure and means to process and convert said service data structure to a specific telecommunications and/or data service. The invention allows an improved and capacity efficient utilisation of the transmission qualities of the digital radio communications system.

Description: DEVICE AND METHOD FOR UPDATING OF SERVICE LOGIC IN A MOBILE UNIT TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a new device and method at a cellular digital radio communications system including means for mobile or semi-stationary communication which utilises SIMAT-based messages and which makes possible for a user of with the system co-operating units to load to said mobile unit a service data structure in form of a general application to the in the mobile unit arranged SIM- card and where said service data structure can be converted, via by means of utilisation of a, on said SIM- card arranged and with the service data structure co- operating, service interpreter, to a specific telecommunications and/or data service, so that a capacity efficient utilisation of the transmission qualities of the system is achieved. PRIOR ART In cellular radio systems it is previously known to utilise technologies including means where one to the mobile unit loads, via the signalling channels of the system, a complete implementation of a telecommunications and/or data service. The technologies, however, are typically very resource demanding with regard to, i.a. the time consumption for loading of information, respective the transmission capacity in the radio system. With below stated problems as a consequence . What is not previously known and which consequently constitutes a new device and method is to, in a cellular radio communications system for mobile or semi-stationary communication which includes SIMAT-based message managing, have possibility to divide the information content into two separate logic parts and where a first part is arranged in the with the system co-operating SIM-card of the mobile terminal, including means to convert the message content of the second part to a telecommunications and/or data service which can be executed by the mobile unit, and where the method and the device primarily is aimed at improving the capacity utilisation in said system. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL PROBLEM The telecommunications services of the future will require an ever increasing bandwidth. At the same time the need for terminal mobility will increase further in comparison with the mobility possibilities of today. Terminal mobility normally takes for granted that radio communication is utilised for transmission of information between two or more in the system included units. The available frequency range, however, is a limited resource, so the allocation of this resource will necessarily be limited for the new technologies which primarily are intended for relative capacity demanding applications or services. The limitation of the frequency spectrum consequently results in that the use of it has to be extremely efficient if it shall be possible to execute the new services within the frame of requested quality. Mobile networks belong to the most signal intensive of all public networks. The signalling load will increase in the telecommunications networks by the introduction of new functions which are used for call managing. In the mobile networks, signalling loads which are caused by registration of the mobile unit, change of base station, authority checks etc will be added. In addition the signalling will be utilised for user data which are transmitted as short messages. Such short message traffic will strongly influence the signalling load in future networks as the short message services are expected to be very much utilised. SIMAT (SIM Application Toolkit) is a new amendment to the GSM-standard which describes the communication interface between SIM-cards and the mobile unit. As a consequence of this new amendment to the GSM-standard, the mobile telephone manufacturers have no longer monopoly of implementing new services in the mobile unit, but it has via the new standard also opened up quite new possibilities for telecommunications operators to implement own functionality on the in the mobile units arranged SIM-card. A SIM-card (Subscriber Identity Module) , however, holds a limited amount of storing capacity regarding the memory and which in reality only allows that a comparatively small number of applications can be stored on the card at the same time. One way of evading the problem of the limited storage capacity is to, via the radio system, load to the mobile unit a certain application which the user needs on a certain occasion. The problem is that such a procedure will take comparatively long time, of the order of minutes, to load new applications to the user's mobile unit, a fact which may make new services less attractive to the users. The invention aims at solving this problem. When SIMATs which can be loaded and which are based on telecommunications and data services will be utilised to a great extent, this will result in that the transmitting channels of the radio communications system will be heavily loaded, which will cause a considerable problem for the general capacity utilisation of the system. The invention aims at solving also this problem. THE SOLUTION The main characteristics of the invention are further stated in the following patent claims. ADVANTAGES The previously known technologies for loading telecommunications and data applications utilise, in comparison with the present invention, large amounts of transmitting capacity at the transmission of information between the base station and the mobile unit, and great time consumption during which the call capacity of the radio system decreases. These previously known technologies, however, will not be sufficiently efficient for bandwidth demanding applications, especially not when the number of attractive services increases. The chances for new broadband applications in cellular radio systems for that reason will increase considerably if one by utilisation of the present invention can optimise the transmission of signals at the loading of new services to the user's mobile unit. Another advantage of the present invention is that the network operator is given a complete control of the implementation of SIMAT-based services, that he/she can build in wanted safety and fault management in the general application, and that the system by that can be utilised in a more capacity efficient way. One further advantage is that the invention can be implemented essentially in all cellular radio systems which utilise SIMAT-based messages between the network and the with the network co-operating mobile units. DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS One at present suggested embodiment of a method which shows the for the invention significant characteristics is described below with reference to enclosed drawings where, Figure 1 shows the service logic in form of a tree structure . Figure 2 shows in the system included components and how these co-operate. DETAILED EMBODIMENT The present invention is above all applicable to such cellular radio communications systems for mobile communication which utilise SIMAT-based information messages including applications for telecommunications and data services. An implementation of a SIMAT-based service consists of an application on the SIM-card of the mobile unit and which includes all data structures and program logic which is required to build up a menu structure by means of which a user can select and initiate different events he/she wants to perform by means of the mobile unit. One application is based on that SIMAT-commands are transmitted in both directions between the SIM-card and the mobile unit. When a user makes a menu selection, a SIMAT- message is transmitted to the SIM-card where the application interprets the content of the message and after that transmits a new SIMAT-message to the mobile unit. By means of the SIMAT-message, menu structures can be defined, calls be established, SMS-messages be transmitted etc. See Figure 2. As example of a SIMAT-based service here a tree structure is described, see Figure 1, where the nodes of the tree symbolise SIMAT-commands and the "branches" between the nodes indicate different menu selections. The structure means that a user via a menu structure, which can be built up in several levels, finally will have selected what he/she wants to have executed. The SIMAT-command is divided into two categories, on one hand those which define the menu structure, see filled up circles in Figure 1, and on the other those which are executing something, see nonfilled up circles in Figure 1. This description of a service here is called service logic, which can be translated into a well defined data format, here called the service data structure, which for instance can be transmitted as an SMS-message (Short Message Service) between the in the system included base stations and the mobile unit in question. Thanks to that SIMAT-applications are strongly attached to transmit and receive well defined messages, and that a menu selection in its turn generates a new message, it is made possible to describe a specific service by means of utilising a service data structure which can be interpreted as a general application, here called service interpreter. By the division a service is loaded to a mobile terminal only in form of a service data structure which results in that the transmitted amount of information can be heavily reduced, which in its turn contributes to a reduced load on the signal transmission channels of the radio communications system, and that the services can be loaded considerably faster than by utilisation of the technologies of today. By the solution with a service data structure, the message content of which is interpreted by a service interpreter, a service is defined not in terms of source code or object code, but only by means of a service data structure. For the purpose of the service interpreter interpreting the service data structure, this is transmitted in form of a well defined message via SMS- or Cell Broadcast technology to the on the SIM-card arranged service interpreter. See Figure 2. The present embodiment is described on the basis of a perspective where telecommunications and data services are implemented on a GSM SIM-card which communicates with a mobile unit by means of utilising SIMAT-commands and where data storing for distribution of the service data structure is made via the previously known transmission technologies SMS or Cell Broadcast. The suggested solution, however, can also be applied to other systems, such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone System) . The invention consequently is not limited to the as example described embodiment, but may in addition be subject to modifications within the frame of the following patent claims and the idea of invention.

Claims: PATENT CLAIMS 1. Device at a cellular digital radio communications system including means for mobile or semi-stationary communication which utilises SIMAT-based information messages between the in the system included transmitting and receiving equipments in said system, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that to a cellular radio system belonging mobile unit is allocated device which includes means to interpret a service data structure containing a description of a telecommunications and/or data service, that said device is allocated means to manage all logic and data structures which are necessary to transmit and receive general SIMAT-commands, that said device is allocated means which guarantees that the functionality of new data structures which are received are within in advance set demands of information security, that said device includes means which detects and manages faults in the received data structure. 2. Device according to patent claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the radio communications system is arranged to transmit information over a common carrier wave including user unique codes, and that the carrier wave is arranged for transmission of said information to, respective from, one in said system transmitting and receiving equipment. 3. Device according to patent claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the digital radio communications system is arranged to transmit information in time slots divided into time frames, and that selected time frames are arranged for transmission of information to, respective from, a transmitting and receiving equipment in said system. 4. Device according to patent claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the device includes means to makes it possible to decompress received compressed data structure . 5. Device according to any of the preceding patent claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that said radio communications system is arranged with one or more units for reception and transmission of information, which can be called from, respective to, one in said system included mobile or stationary unit. 6. Device according to any of the preceding patent claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the service data structure is transmitted from one or more in the system included base stations to the mobile unit via SMS or Cell Broadcast . 7. Device according to any of the preceding patent claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the SIMAT-command is divided into one menu structure part and one executing part . 8. Device according to any of the preceding patent claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that one or more services in the radio communications system are loaded to one or more mobile units in form of a service data structure. 9. Device according to any of the preceding patent claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the SIMAT-command is arranged to be transmitted in both directions between the SIM-card and the mobile unit. 10. Method at a cellular digital radio communications system including means for mobile or semi -stationary communication which utilises SIMAT-based information messages between the in the system included transmitting and receiving equipments in said system, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that to a cellular radio system belonging mobile unit are allocated devices which include means for interpreting a service data structure containing a description of a telecommunications and/or data service, that said device is allocated means for managing all logic and data structures which are necessary to transmit and receive general SIMAT-commands, that said device is allocated means which guarantees that the functionality of new data structures which are received are within in advance set demands of information security, and that said device includes means which detects and manages faults in the received data structure.

Inventors: ANDERSSON PER, BLOMKVIST HAAKAN, EMILSSON STELLAN, KAAWE ROLF, ANDERSSON, PER, BLOMKVIST, HAAKAN, EMILSSON, STELLAN, KAAWE, ROLF
Applicants: ANDERSSON PER, BLOMKVIST HAAKAN, EMILSSON STELLAN, KAAWE ROLF, TELIA AB, ANDERSSON, PER, BLOMKVIST, HAAKAN, EMILSSON, STELLAN, KAAWE, ROLF, TELIA AB (PUBL)
Application year: 1999
Main classification: H04Q
IPC codes: H04W4, H04W8