Supporting a decision by a mobile terminal whether to use an available access point
First Claim
1. A method for supporting a decision by a mobile terminal whether to connect to an available access point for accessing a desired service, said method comprising at said mobile terminal:
- receiving from said access point reputation information on said access point;
determining whether said reputation information makes a connection to said access point appropriate;
if a connection to said access point is determined to be appropriate, initiating a connection to said access point;
rating said access point depending on a quality of an access service provided by said access point; and
transmitting rating information resulting in said rating to a central control apparatus.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
For supporting a decision by a mobile terminal whether to connect to an available access point for accessing a desired service, the mobile terminal receives from the access point reputation information on the access point and determines whether the reputation information makes a connection to the access point appropriate. A connection is initiated in case the connection is determined to be appropriate. Then, the mobile terminal rates the access point depending on a quality of a provided access service and transmits resulting rating information to a central control apparatus. The central control apparatus updates respective reputation information for various access points based on rating information received from mobile terminals, and provides the respective updated rating information to the concerned access point for transmission to mobile terminals.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for supporting a decision by a mobile terminal whether to connect to an available access point for accessing a desired service, said method comprising at said mobile terminal:
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receiving from said access point reputation information on said access point;
determining whether said reputation information makes a connection to said access point appropriate;
if a connection to said access point is determined to be appropriate, initiating a connection to said access point;
rating said access point depending on a quality of an access service provided by said access point; and
transmitting rating information resulting in said rating to a central control apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A mobile terminal comprising:
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an evaluating component adapted to determine whether a reputation information on an access point, received from said access point, makes a connection to said access point appropriate for accessing a desired service;
an access component adapted to initiating a connection to an access point if a connection to said access point is determined to be appropriate by said evaluating component; and
a rating component adapted to rate an access point depending on a quality of an access service provided by said access point and to cause a transmission of rating information resulting in said rating to a central control apparatus.
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6. A software program product in which a software code for supporting a decision by a mobile terminal whether to connect to an available access point for accessing a desired service is stored, said software code realizing the following steps when being executed in a processing unit of a mobile terminal:
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receiving from said access point reputation information on said access point;
determining whether said reputation information makes a connection to said access point appropriate;
if a connection to said access point is determined to be appropriate, initiating a connection to said access point;
rating said access point depending on a quality of an access service provided by said access point; and
causing a transmission of rating information resulting in said rating to a central control apparatus.
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7. A method for supporting a decision by a mobile terminal whether to connect to an available access point for accessing a desired service, said method comprising at said access point:
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receiving from a central control apparatus reputation information on said access point;
broadcasting said reputation information via a radio interface for enabling mobile terminals to determine whether a connection to said access point is appropriate;
enabling a connection of a mobile terminal upon a request by said mobile terminal; and
providing a requested service to a connected mobile terminal. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. An access point for a radio access network comprising:
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a broadcasting component adapted to broadcast reputation information on said access point via a radio interface for enabling mobile terminals to determine whether a connection to said access point is appropriate, wherein said reputation information is provided by a central control apparatus; and
an access component adapted to enable a connection of a mobile terminal upon a request by said mobile terminal. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A software program product in which a software code for supporting a decision by a mobile terminal whether to connect to an available access point for accessing a desired service is stored, said software code realizing the following steps when being executed in a processing unit of an access point:
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receiving reputation information on said access point, which reputation information is provided by a central control apparatus; and
causing a broadcasting of said reputation information via a radio interface for enabling mobile terminals to determine whether a connection to said access point is appropriate for accessing a desired service.
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13. A method for supporting a decision by a mobile terminal whether to connect to an available access point for accessing a desired service, said method comprising at a central control apparatus:
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receiving rating information for a particular access point from a mobile terminal, said rating information indicating a quality of an access service provided by said access point to said mobile terminal;
updating reputation information on said access point based on said rating information; and
transmitting said updated reputation information to said access point. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A central control apparatus comprising an updating component,
wherein said updating component is adapted to receive rating information for a particular access point from a mobile terminal, said rating information indicating a quality of an access service provided by said access point to said mobile terminal; -
wherein said updating component is adapted to update reputation information for said access point based on said rating information; and
wherein said updating component is adapted to cause a transmission of said updated reputation information to said access point. - View Dependent Claims (18, 20)
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19. A software program product in which a software code for supporting a decision by a mobile terminal whether to connect to an available access point for accessing a desired service is stored, said software code realizing the following steps when being executed in a processing unit of a central control apparatus:
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receiving rating information for a particular access point from a mobile terminal, said rating information indicating a quality of an access service provided by said access point to said mobile terminal;
updating reputation information for said access point based on said rating information; and
causing a transmission of said updated reputation information to said access point.
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Specification