Method and equipment for accessing a telecommunication network

• US 8,095,671 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2008
• Issued: 01/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Balogh, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): SHINGLES, KRISTIE D
• Application Number:
  US12/198,362
• Publication Number:
  US 20080316989A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,232 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/225, 709/227, 709/229
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service

Abstract

A method for accessing a network in a telecommunication system which comprises at least one terminal and a plurality of networks in which information sets describing settings needed to access networks and their resources are stored in the terminal. The terminal scans for information about available networks. Available information sets are determined by comparing the information about available networks to the stored information sets. At least one network is accessed based on the settings defined in the available information sets.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing information sets describing settings used to access wireless local area networks, their associated resources and security settings in a terminal;

wherein the security settings comprise wired equivalent privacy setting comprising at least one of key length, key mode, default key or information on one or more keys for authentication and/or encryption;

scanning for information related to names of available wireless local area networks using the terminal;

determining available information sets by comparing the information related to names of available wireless local area networks to the stored information sets, and

accessing at least one wireless local area network based on settings described in the available information set,

wherein the storing stores network names of wireless local area networks associated with the stored information sets, the scanning sends network identity requests and searches for network identity responses, and the determining available information sets determines the available information sets by comparing the stored network names to the scanned information related to names of available wireless local area networks.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

informing a user of the terminal about the available information sets;

receiving a user'"'"'s selection of one of the available information sets; and

accessing at least one wireless local area network based on the settings described in the available information set selected by the user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored information sets are stored separately for each wireless local area network as profiles.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing network identifiers representing a group of network names using wildcard characters in the stored information sets; and

determining the available information sets by comparing the stored network identifiers to the scanned information related to names of available wireless local area networks.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the information set comprises at least one of the following:

dynamic host control protocol settings, transport control protocol/Internet protocol settings, proxy settings, or domain logon and work-group settings.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the information sets describe first settings needed to access wireless local area networks and second settings for accessing services via wireless local area networks, and

at least one wireless local area network is accessed on the basis of first settings described in the available information set and at least one service is accessed via the accessed wireless local area network on the basis of second settings described in the available information set.

7. A terminal comprising:

a transceiver configured to communicate with a wireless local area network;

a memory configured to store information sets describing settings used to access wireless local area networks, their resources and security settings, wherein the security settings comprise wired equivalent privacy setting comprising at least one of key length, key mode, default key or information on one or more keys for authentication and/or encryption;

a scanner configured to scan for information relating to the identification of names of available wireless local area networks;

a processor configured to determine available information sets by comparing the information related to names of available wireless local area networks to information sets stored in the memory, wherein the processor is further configured to access at least one wireless local area network based on the settings described in or more of an available information set, wherein the processor is further configured to access at least one wireless local area network based on the settings described in one of more of an available information set,

wherein the memory is further configured to store names of wireless local area networks belonging to the stored information sets,

the scanner is configured to scan by sending network identity requests and searching for network identity responses, and

the process is further configured to determine available information sets by comparing the network names stored in the memory to the scanned information identifying the names of the available wireless local networks.

8. A terminal comprising:

a transceiver configured to communicate with a wireless local area network;

at least one memory device configured to store information sets describing settings used to access wireless local area networks, their resources and security settings, wherein the security settings comprise wired equivalent privacy setting comprising at least one of key length, key mode, default key or information on one or more keys for authentication and/or encryption;

at least one scanner configured to scan information related to identifying names of available wireless local area networks;

at least one determination module configured to determine available information sets by comparing the information related to names of available wireless local area networks to information sets stored by the at least one memory device; and

at least one access device configured to access at least one wireless local area network based on settings described in one or more of the available information sets,

wherein the at least one memory device is configured to store names of the wireless local area networks belonging to the stored information sets, the at least one scanner is configured to perform the scanning by sending network identity requests and searching for network identity responses, and the at least one determination module is configured to determine the available information sets by comparing the stored network names to the scanned information identifying the names of the available wireless local area networks.

9. The terminal of claim 8, further comprising:

at least one user interface configured to inform a user of the terminal about the available information sets and letting the user select one of the available information sets,

wherein the at least one access device is configured to access at least one wireless local area network based on the settings described in the one information set the user has accepted.

10. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the stored information sets are stored as network-specific profiles.

11. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the information set comprises at least one of the following:

dynamic host control protocol settings, transport control protocol/Internet protocol TCP/IP settings, proxy settings, or domain logon and work-group settings.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a memory configured to store information sets relating to settings used to access wireless local area networks, their resources and security settings, including information relating to names of the wireless local area networks, wherein the security settings comprise wired equivalent privacy setting comprising at least one of key length, key mode, default key or information on one or more keys for authentication and/or encryption; and

a processor configured to cause the apparatus to;

arrange scanning of information related to identifying names of available wireless local area networks at least by sending network identity requests and searching for network identity responses;

determine available information sets by comparing the information related to names of the available wireless networks to information sets stored in the memory and by comparing the stored network names to the scanned information identifying the names of the available wireless load area networks; and

arrange access to at least one wireless local area network based on settings described in one or more of the available information sets.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, where the information set comprises at least one of the following:

dynamic host control protocol settings, transport control protocol/Internet protocol settings, proxy settings, or domain logon and work-group settings.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the information sets describe first settings needed to access wireless local area networks and second settings for accessing services via the wireless local networks, and

the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to access at least one wireless local area network on the basis of first settings described in the available information set and at least one service via the accessed wireless local area network on the basis of second settings described in the available information set.

15. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to inform a user of the apparatus about the available information sets, and

the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to access at least one wireless local area network based on settings relating to said one of the available information sets selected by a user by an input to a user interface.

16. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to access a smart card, said smart card being configured to store the information sets as network-specific profiles therein.

17. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the wireless local area network access is based on IEEE 802.11 and the information settings comprise IEEE 802.11 specific settings.