Updating of internet access point settings in a mobile communication system

Abstract

A digital mobile communication system is provided with a facility by means of which it can establish a connection to the Internet network via an Internet access point “(IAP”). IAP settings needed for establishing a connection are stored in a mobile station. When a mobile station roams, the closest point may, however, change, and IAP settings should be updated in the mobile station. The invention comprises dividing the mobile communication system into IAP areas, which are given preferred IAPs. For example, an IAP area may be a mobile communication network. Mobile communication networks broadcast system information on the basis of which a mobile station may detect that the LAP area has changed and start a procedure for updating IAP settings. Updating may comprise retrieval of IAP settings from a special server in the network maintained by an Internet service provider. For example, retrieval can be done via a short message service center. In one embodiment, the mobile communication network broadcasts messages giving recommended IAP settings to mobile stations.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The invention relates generally to digital mobile communication systems and more particularly to supporting roaming in connection with Internet services in a mobile communication system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Mobile communication systems refer, in general, to different telecommunication systems providing personal wireless data transmission while subscribers roam the system area. A typical mobile communication system is the public land mobile network PLMN. [0003] Besides conventional speech transmission, digital mobile communication systems provide a plurality of services: short messages, facsimiles, data transmission, etc. Of these, the data transmission service, in particular, provides a mobile subscriber a chance of wireless access to nearly all data services of fixed networks. [0004] The use of the TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) data network, i.e. the Internet network, in fixed networks has increased very rapidl...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This solution provides a simple, automatic, and up-to-date Internet access point selection process, minimizing call costs for users and reducing the workload for service providers, ensuring efficient data communication during roaming.

Problems solved by technology

If the mobile subscriber always uses the same IAP (home IAP) to connect to the Internet, call costs (data transmission costs) may increase considerably.

As regards a mobile subscriber, selecting the best possible IAP easily and, if possible, automatically may be problematic.

Manual configuration is, however, troublesome and error prone.

Furthermore, the lists would not be up to date in the long run.

From the user's point of view this is troublesome and may cause a considerable amount of extra work to the service provider, especially when the number of subscribers is large.

This is, however, an inconvenient and expensive solution both for users and Internet service providers.

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