Process of sending access data to a vehicle mounted subscriber station for a special access mode to a service provider station

• US 7,395,052 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2004
• Issued: 07/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Siemens AG
• Inventors: Fischer, Michael, Mitterreiter, Ilse, Diessel, Thomas, Lange, Thorsten, Bueter, Michael, Ulke, Frank
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild; Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): SMITH, SHEILA B
• Application Number:
  US10/786,170
• Publication Number:
  US 20060143097A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,587 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/550.1, 455/569.2, 455/575.9, 455/99, 455/3.04
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2898 Subscriber equipments DSL modems H04M11/062; cable modems H04L12/2801
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service

Abstract

A process provides access data to a transportable subscriber station, for establishing access to a service provider station. A first access mode which can be provided using first access data includes a first network that is accessible by means of a selectable network account, a first switching station, and a second network. A second access mode can be provided by means of second access data by way of the first network and a fixedly defined second switching station. If first access data for the selected network account are not available a request for the second access mode is made to the service provider station, using the stored second access data, and a request is made for first access data for the selected network account in the second access mode. This requested access data for the selected network account are transmitted to the subscriber station in the second access mode and stored for the selected network account in the subscriber station.

Claims

1. A process for providing first access data to a transportable subscriber station, for establishing a first access mode to a service provider station via a first network using a network account which can be selected by the subscriber station, a first switching station and a second network;

wherein, a second access mode can be established, by means of stored second access data, via the first network and a fixedly defined second switching station;

said method comprising;

the subscriber station selecting a network account;

checking whether first access data for the selected network account are stored in the subscriber station;

if first access data are stored in the subscriber station, requesting the first access mode to the service provider station by means of the first access data;

if first access data are not stored in the subscriber station, requesting the second access mode to the service provider station by means of the stored second access data and requesting first access data for the selected network account in the second access mode;

transmitting the requested access data for the selected network account to the subscriber station in the second access mode; and

storing the transmitted first access data for the selected network account in the subscriber station.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the first access mode can be provided by establishing a first connection from the subscriber station to the first switching station by way of the first network and establishing a second connection from the first switching station to the service provider station by way of a second network by means of the first access data.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein the second access mode is provided by:

establishing a third connection from the subscriber station to the second switching station via the first network; and

establishing a fourth connection from the second switching station to the service provider station by means of the second access data.

4. The process according to claim 1, wherein the first network is a mobile telephone network.

5. The process according to claim 4, wherein the first access data include a mobile telephone number.

6. The process according to claim 5, wherein the first switching station is a switching station of a network provider that provides a network account which can be dialed by way of the mobile telephone number.

7. The process according to claim 5, wherein:

the subscriber station is situated in a motor vehicle;

the second access data include a mobile telephone number; and

the second switching station is a switching station of a motor vehicle manufacturer, which can be dialed by way of the mobile telephone number.

8. The process according to claim 5, wherein:

the process is automatically implemented after the insertion of a SIM card and log-in into a telephone network.

9. The process according to claim 1, wherein the second network is a global computer network.

10. The process according to claim 9, wherein the first access data include an address for accessing a site on the global computer network.

11. The process according to claim 10, wherein the first access data includes a user identification and a password.

12. The process according to claim 1, wherein immediately after storage of the transmitted first access data for the selected network account in the subscriber station, the second access mode is interrupted, and a request is made to the service provider station by means of the first access data, to establish the first access mode.

13. The process according to claim 1, wherein after occurrence of at least one defined error during requesting of the first access mode to the service provider station using the first access data, the first access data is erased, and a new request is made for first access data for a selected network account, in the second access mode.

14. The process according to claim 1, wherein first data are stored in a first storage device, in the form of a table memory which can store a defined number of sets of first access data.

15. The process according to claim 14, wherein the table memory is populated according to the FIFO principle.

16. The process according to claim 14, wherein:

respective expiration dates are automatically assigned to the sets of first access data; and

the respective data sets are automatically canceled on their expiration date.

17. The process according to claim 16, wherein the respective expiration dates are determined as a function of the first access data.

18. The process according to claim 1, wherein the same first access data are provided for different network accounts of the same network provider.