Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W8/00—Network data management
  • H04W8/22—Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
  • H04W8/24—Transfer of terminal data
  • H04W8/245—Transfer of terminal data from a network towards a terminal

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the reconfiguration of reprogrammable components in an electronic device, such as a telecommunications terminal, including a radiotelephone terminal.
• the configuration modes relate to telecommunications interfaces in order to adapt the device to the telecommunications network to which it is likely to be temporarily connected depending on the location of the device.
• a known solution for solving the adaptation of the device to various telecommunications interfaces is to provide different independent hardware and software modules implementing the various desired interfaces and inserted into the terminal. If the device is to be connected to the telecommunications network corresponding to one of the interfaces entered, that interface is selected and the other interfaces remain inactive.
• Another less bulky solution is to interchange a telecommunications interface module with another in the device.
• the present invention aims to remedy the drawbacks of the aforementioned known solutions by taking advantage of the reprogrammable nature of certain components in the device in order to allow the user of the device to select a configuration mode independently, without the contribution specific modules each time a new configuration mode is created, while avoiding modifying the operating context of the device.
• a method for reconfiguring an electronic device of the cellular mobile radiotelephone type having programmable components according to configuration modes relating to radio communication interfaces comprises the steps of: providing an electronic device having memorized data defining several configuration modes and connecting the device to the device, saving operating context data in the device following a reconfiguration decision in the device,
• the electronic device when the user of the device which is of the mobile radiotelephone type wishes to change the configuration mode, that is to say the radio interface, the electronic device, preferably portable and removable from the device, erases all the data and programs in the programmable components of the device which are not necessary for the new mode of selected configuration and provides all the data to the device that is necessary for its operation according to the selected configuration mode. Operation of the radio telephone according to the selected configuration mode is therefore only possible if the device supplies it with the data of the selected mode.
• the electronic device supplied preferably contains hardware and software characteristics of the device, in particular relating to each of the programmable components. These device characteristics are necessary to acquire the program and the parameters of each configuration mode best suited to the architecture of the device defined by said device characteristics.
• the data such as program and parameters of a selected mode are downloaded into the electronic device according to the following steps: connect the device in a downloader means,
• the electronic device After the downloading of the configuration mode data selected in the downloading means subsequently into the terminal, the electronic device does not intervene in the operation of the terminal.
• the invention also relates to an electronic device for reconfiguring an electronic device of the cellular mobile radiotelephone type having programmable components, implementing the method according to the invention.
• the device is characterized in that it comprises a memory means for storing data respectively defining several modes of configuration of the device relating to radio communication interfaces, and a control means for deprogramming the programmable components and configuring the programmable components one of the selected configuration modes read from the memory means, operating context data which has been saved in the device following a reconfiguration decision in the device being used for the selected configuration mode.
• the device preferably comprises a memory means for storing hardware and software characteristics of the device.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a electronic device with programmable components connected to a reconfiguration device according to the invention
• FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a configuration mode data download system in the reconfiguration device.
• FIG. 1 is shown an electronic device AP such as a mobile cellular radiotelephone terminal having programmable components according to configuration modes.
• the apparatus AP comprises four types of programmable components C1 to C4.
• the first component C1 is generally unique and constitutes a microcontroller which manages the activation and the functioning of the device AP.
• the first component C1 is connected to a user interface comprising in particular an AF display and a keyboard CL, and manages the communication link and the management of the communication resource during a communication with a remote terminal, as well as the power supply source.
• One or more second components C2 are processors of the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) signal processing type.
• Each DSP processor is usually dedicated to signal processing tasks and its operation is controlled by the microcontroller C1.
• one or more DSP processors can be dedicated to a communication or radiocommunication interface and also perform the operations necessary for coding - decoding and transmission / reception of data.
• the components of the third type C3 are programmable circuits with sequential and combinational logic of the FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) type which may, for some, constitute slave coprocessors of C2 DSP processors.
• the fourth type of component relates to reprogrammable memories C4.
• an apparatus AP comprises one or more of the programmable components C1 to C4.
• an apparatus AP comprises a microcontroller C1 with possibly a reprogrammable memory C4. All the components C1 to C4 are connected by a conventional BAP bus internal to the device AP. The device thus behaves like a programmable multi-processor system.
• a portable electronic device DI for configuring the device AP is also shown in FIG. 1.
• the device DI essentially comprises a microcontroller CT and memories ME which are connected by a bus BDI.
• the BDI bus of the DI device is connected to the BAP bus of the AP device by a LI link which can be a wired link, a universal USB serial bus, or a proximity radio link of the Bluetooth type or any other contactless link.
• the DI device is a small integrated circuit module or a microcontroller card, also called a smart card, and is embedded or plugged into the device AP and thus removable therefrom.
• the memory ME contains data relating to the hardware and software characteristics CAP of the device AP and to configuration modes M1 to MQ of the device AP.
• the CAP characteristics of the device relate to both the hardware resources and the software resources of the device.
• the hardware characteristics are for example the brand, the name of the manufacturer, the type and the serial number of each of the components C1 to C4, the number of components of the same type, the size of each of the memories C4, the frequency of clock of components C1 and C2, etc.
• the CAP characteristics also relate to the software resources of the AP device and in particular to the versions of the operating system and of the various programs, applications and libraries implemented in the components of the AP device, to the interdependence between the latter, etc.
• the set of hardware and software characteristics CAP constitutes a signature of the architecture of the device AP which will be used to download configuration modes in the device DI, as will be seen in the following description.
• Each configuration mode Mq, with 1 ⁇ q ⁇ Q, is defined by a specific program PRq and PAq parameters to configure each of the programmable components C1 to C4 in the AP device according to the Mq mode.
• the configuration modes relate to radio interfaces compatible with a local radiotelephone network of the DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone), PHS (Personal Handyphone System) or RLAN (Radio Local) type. Area Network) or HYPERLAN, or with a cellular radio network GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), or even with a radiocommunication network by non-geostationary satellites at low orbit.
• DECT Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone
• PHS Personal Handyphone System
• RLAN Radio Local
• GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
• AMPS Advanced Mobile Phone System
• UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
• These configuration modes relating to radio communication interfaces can be combined with different operating systems to be implemented in the microcontroller C
• the reconfiguration method of the radiotelephone apparatus AP essentially comprises main steps E0 to E7 shown in FIG. 2.
• the device AP is in a predetermined configuration mode and that the device DI is connected to the device AP and is in the standby state.
• All the programmable components C1 to C4 of the apparatus AP have been configured so as to carry out all the tasks associated with the predetermined configuration mode, whether the tasks are linked to a processing in baseband or to protocol layers for example.
• the DI device does not intervene in the operation of the AP device and when it is not autonomous in terms of electrical supply, is supplied by the power source of the AP device through the LI link.
• the memory ME of the device DI contains the programs PRl to PRQ and parameters PAl to PAQ of several configuration modes Ml to MQ.
• the user of the AP device selects a configuration menu from a main menu presented on the AF display of the AP device.
• the displays on the AF display of the camera and the selections by the user can be relayed by voice messages.
• step E1 When the mode configuration menu is selected in step E1, the device AP goes into standby state, that is to say the components C1 to C3 command in step E2 a saving of the data of the current operating context of the device AP in the memories C4 in order to find them after the mode change at a later step E7.
• step E2 the microcontroller CT in the device DI is awakened and takes control of the set DI and AP in order to install the configuration mode which will be selected.
• all the operations carried out in the following steps are controlled by the microcontroller CT directly or through the microcontroller C1 or one of the DSP processors C2 which then operates as a slave of the microcontroller CT.
• the AF display presents the list of configuration modes Ml to MQ recorded in the memory ME of the device DI, in the form of their names accompanied, where appropriate, by certain characteristics CAP.
• the user validates a selection of one of the configuration modes Mq displayed in particular by means of the keyboard CL so that the microcontroller Cl communicates an identifier of the mode selected to the microcontroller CT of the device DI, in step E4.
• step E5 the microcontroller CT commands the programmable components C1 to C4 to be put to rest in the apparatus AP, that is to say a partial or total deprogramming of one or more components so as to reinitialize program memories in components C1 and C2 as well as possibly in programmable circuits C3 and C4.
• the deprogramming in step E5 depends on a comparison between the previous predetermined configuration mode which must be deleted and the new configuration mode Mq which has just been selected.
• step E ⁇ the microcontroller CT of the device DI reconfigures the components C1 to C4 of the device AP as a function of the parameters PAq of the selected mode Mq according to determined operations controlled and controlled by the corresponding program PRq.
• the parameters PAq are loaded into the programmable zones of the components C1 to C4 in place of the parameters of the previous predetermined configuration mode which were erased in step E5.
• the device DI then returns to step E7 automatically in the standby state and becomes inactive with respect to the device AP which can now operate according to the configuration mode selected Mq.
• the device AP retrieves the data relating to the operating context saved in the memories C4 for use in the configuration mode Mq.
• the data PRq and PAq defining a configuration mode Mq are downloaded into the memory ME of the portable device DI as indicated in the initial step E0 in FIG. 2.
• the data PRq and PAq are included in a package in the form an applet written in Java object oriented language.
• the device DI is introduced into a download terminal TC which communicates with a server SE through a telecommunications network of internet type RT, as shown in FIG. 3.
• the download terminal contains an application dedicated to the download of configuration mode.
• the downloading of the data PRq and PAq of a predetermined configuration mode Mq in the device DI mainly comprises four steps E01 to E04.
• step E01 after connection of the device DI to the download terminal TC, the user enters in the terminal TC an identifier IDq of the mode Mq to be written in memory ME of the device DI and subsequently to be installed in the architecture of the AP device.
• step E02 the terminal TC produces and transmits to the server SE an IP (Internet Protocol) packet intended for the server SE and containing the identifier IDq of the selected mode Mq and the characteristics CAP of the architecture of the device AP which are read by the download terminal TC in the memory ME of the device DI.
• IP Internet Protocol
• the server SE contains characteristics of various configuration modes which are updated both by equipment manufacturers of AP devices and programmable components C1 to C4 as by telecommunications network operators.
• the latter returns to the download terminal TC an IP packet comprising the mode identifier IDq and the data PRq and PAq of the selected configuration mode Mq most suited to the device architecture defined by the characteristics received CAP, or where appropriate a packet indicating that there is no configuration of the Mq mode adaptable to the architecture of the device AP according to the characteristics CAP.
• the data PRq and PAq are then written by the download terminal TC in the memory ME of the device DI in correspondence with the mode identifier IDq.
• the microcontroller C1 of the device AP reads in the memory ME the identifier IDq of the mode Mq which has just been downloaded into the device DI in order to allow its selection in steps E3 and E4.
• the electronic device no longer intervenes in the operation of the terminal.
• the TC download terminal can constitute a public download terminal just like a bank terminal or other service terminal made available to the public.
• the download terminal TC can be confused with the device AP hosting the device DI.
• the application dedicated to downloading the configuration mode data is installed in the device DI, the microcontroller CT of which controls the exchange of packets with the server SE through the device AP which is transparent to the content of the packets.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
• Stored Programmes (AREA)
• Telephone Function (AREA)
• Transceivers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8869406

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Families Citing this family (17)

Family Cites Families (16)

• 2001
  • 2001-11-13 FR FR0114752A patent/FR2832233B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2002
  • 2002-11-06 WO PCT/FR2002/003800 patent/WO2003043303A2/fr active Application Filing
  • 2002-11-06 JP JP2003545007A patent/JP3894194B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2002-11-06 EP EP02788038A patent/EP1444848A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2002-11-06 AU AU2002352324A patent/AU2002352324A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2002-11-06 US US10/495,504 patent/US7245904B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events