Telecommunications system, mobile terminal and method of registration of a terminal with a telecommunications network

• US 6,201,958 B1
• Filed: 03/25/1998
• Issued: 03/13/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Uniloc 2017 LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Boucher, Pierre-Hugues
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vuong, Quochien B.
• Application Number:
  US09/047,682
• Time in Patent Office: 1,084 Days
• Field of Search: 455/410, 455/411, 455/435, 455/575, 455/409, 380/43, 380/48, 380/23, 380/49, 340/825.34, 379/114
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/61 Time-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration

Abstract

The invention relates to a telecommunications network comprising at least a radio base station and a mobile terminal suitable for sending a secret authentication code to the radio station for making itself known to said network. The invention notably provides a registration procedure for the various terminals with base radio stations to enable the network to facilitate subscriber management. For this purpose, a period of time is allocated to the secret authentication code, so that the registration of a terminal results in the fact that said secret code is supplied at a date lying in said period of time.

Claims

1. A telecommunications system comprising at least a fixed part and a plurality of mobile terminals suitable for supplying the fixed part with a secret authentication code for registration with said telecommunications system, wherein at least a period of time is allocated to the secret authentication code so that said registration is accepted when a reception date of said secret authentication code is within said period of time, said secret authentication code being valid for all of said plurality of mobile terminals invited to be registered during said period of time.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of mobile terminals has an identification number, and wherein said secret authentication code is independent of said identification number.

3. A mobile telephone for communicating with at least a plurality of mobile terminals and for registration with a telecommunications network via a secret authentication code provided by said mobile telephone to a fixed part of said telecommunications network, wherein a period of time is allocated to the secret authentication code so that said registration is accepted when a reception date of said secret authentication code is within said period to time, said secret authentication code being valid for all different ones of said plurality of mobile terminals invited to be registered during said period of time.

4. A mobile telephone as claimed in claim 3, having a unique identification number which is different for each of said different ones of said plurality of mobile terminals, wherein said secret authentication code of said different ones of said plurality of mobile terminals is independent of said identification number.

5. A method for registering a plurality of mobile terminals with a telecommunications system having at least a radio base station comprising:

providing said plurality of mobile terminals with a secret authentication code;

allocating a period of time to said secret authentication code;

supplying from one of said plurality of mobile terminals to said at least a radio base station said secret authentication code for registration with said telecommunications system;

accepting said registration when a reception date of said secret authentication code is within said period of time, said secret authentication code being valid for all of said plurality of mobile terminals invited to be registered during said period of time.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising providing said one of said plurality of mobile terminals with an identification number, wherein said secret authentication code of said plurality of mobile terminals is independent of said identification number.