Radio communication method and a radio station with software reconfiguration features

• US 7,110,752 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2000
• Issued: 09/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Okajima, Ichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hashem, Lisa
• Application Number:
  US09/926,087
• Publication Number:
  US 20020160765A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,092 Days
• Field of Search: 455/419, 455/414, 340/825.52
• US Class Current: 455/419
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/406 with more than one transmission mode, e.g. analog and digital modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

A radio communication station and method of communications between two radio stations, uses information about the radio communication methods each radio station is equipped to use, such that software used to reconfigure a station is exchanged mutually between the two radio stations by conveying the software according to a predetermined first radio communication method. The radio communication method is suitable for a communication application to be conveyed after the application is selected, where at least one of the two radio stations is equipped with the application as the second radio communication method. Software is transmitted to the radio station that is not equipped with the second radio communication method so it can perform the requisite processing.

Claims

1. A radio communication method of communication between two mobile stations, comprising the steps of:

mutually exchanging information between said two mobile stations about one or more radio communication methods with which each mobile station is equipped as software by communicating according to a first radio communication method defined beforehand;

selecting a second radio communication method suitable for a communication application to be used for communication between said two mobile stations from among the one or more radio communication methods with which at least one of the two mobile stations is equipped;

identifying, based on the exchanged information about the one or more radio communication methods, one of the two mobile stations that is not equipped with software of the second radio communication method, wherein which one of the two mobile stations is identified as a result of said identifying step varies in response to the exchanged information about the one or more radio communication methods;

transmitting software of the second radio communication method to said one of the two mobile stations identified by said identifying step from another one of the two mobile stations according to said first radio communication method; and

conducting communications between said two mobile stations by the communication application according to said second radio communication method based on said software.

2. The radio communication method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said selecting step selects radio communication method that satisfies communication quality required by said communication application as the second radio communication method.

3. The radio communication method as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said identifying step checks whether both of the mobile stations are equipped with said second radio communication method or only one of the two mobile stations is equipped with said second radio communication method, and

said transmitting step transmits the software of said second radio communication method from said another one of the mobile stations to the identified one of the mobile stations when said another one of the mobile stations determines that only said another one of the mobile stations is equipped with said second radio communication method.

4. The radio communication method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the identified one of the mobile stations acquires the software of said second radio communication method transmitted from said another one of the mobile stations when the identified one of the mobile stations determines that only said another one of the mobile stations is equipped with said second radio communication method.

5. The radio communication method as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of the two mobile stations performs communications by said communication application according to the second radio communication method based on the software already installed when each of the two mobile stations determines that the second radio communication method is provided in both the mobile stations.

6. A mobile station that communicates with another mobile station by a communication application according to a radio communication method by controlling radio communication means that comprises hardware that is independent of radio communication methods, comprising:

memory means to store one or more sets of software of radio communication methods;

information exchange control means to mutually exchange information about one or more radio communication methods installed as software by communicating according to said first radio communication method defined beforehand;

radio communication method selection means to select a second radio communication method suitable for said communication application from radio communication methods available in at least one of the mobile station and said another mobile station;

checking means to check, based on the exchanged information about the one or more radio communication methods, whether said second radio communication method is installed in both the the mobile station and the other mobile station or only one of the mobile station and the other mobile station, and to identify one of the mobile station and the other mobile station that is not installed with the second radio communication method, wherein which one of the mobile station and the other mobile station is identified by said checking means varies in response to the exchanged information about the one or more radio communication methods; and

software transmitting control means to read the software of said second radio communication method from said memory means and transmit the same to said another mobile station by said first radio communication method when the checking means determines that said second radio communication method is installed only at the mobile station,

wherein communication with the other mobile station by said communication application according to said second radio communication method is conducted by controlling said radio communication means based on the software of said second radio communication method after transmission of the software of said second radio communication method to the other mobile station by said software transmission control means.

7. The mobile station as claimed in claim 6, comprising software acquisition control means to acquire software of said second radio communication method transmitted from the other mobile station when said checking step determined that said second radio communication method is equipped only with the other mobile station, and to store the same into said memory means.

8. The mobile station as claimed in claim 6, comprising controlling said radio communication means based on said software by reading the software of said second radio communication method from said memory means when said second radio communication method is determined available in both the mobile station and the other mobile station by said checking means.

9. The mobile station as claimed in claim 6, wherein said radio communication method selection means selects a radio communication method that will satisfy the communication quality that said communication application requires as the second radio communication method suitable for the communication application concerned.

10. The mobile station as claimed in claim 6, which is used as a mobile station in a mobile ad hoc communication system.