Cell locking method for mobile terminal and mobile terminal capable of locking cell

• US 8,825,010 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2010
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ZTE Corporation
• Original Assignee: ZTE Corporation
• Inventors: Wang, Yanping, Zuo, Yanqiang, Feng, Hu
• Primary Examiner(s): Prez-Gutirrez, Rafael
• Assistant Examiner(s): DONADO, FRANK E
• Application Number:
  US13/501,299
• Publication Number:
  US 20120202463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,469 Days
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point

Abstract

A cell locking method for a mobile terminal and a mobile terminal capable of locking a cell are disclosed in the present invention. The method includes: the mobile terminal acquiring a system identification (SID), a network identification (NID), a base station identifier (BASE ID) and a pseudo-random number (PN) of a current cell; judging whether the SID, NID, BASE ID and PN are already stored in a database of the mobile terminal, if yes, then setting the mobile terminal to a normal status; judging whether the SID, the NID, and the PN are already stored in the database of the mobile terminal and the database is not full, or whether the BASE ID and PN are already stored in the database of the mobile terminal, if yes, then transferring to D; and D. writing the SID, NID, BASE ID and PN into the database of the mobile terminal.

Claims

1. A cell locking method for a mobile terminal, wherein said method comprises:

searching, by the mobile terminal, a current cell at a current location to acquire a system identification (SID), a network identification (NID), a base station identifier (BASE ID) and a pseudo-random number (PN) of said cell;

judging, by the mobile terminal, whether said SID, said NID, said BASE ID and said PN of the current cell are already stored in a database of said mobile terminal;

when said SID, said NID, said BASE ID and said PN of the current cell are all already stored in the database of said mobile terminal, setting said mobile terminal to a normal status for normal operation;

when said SID, said NID and said PN are already stored in the database of said mobile terminal, but said BASE ID is not stored in the database and said database is not full, writing said BASE ID, with said SID, said NID and said PN, into the database, and setting said mobile terminal into the normal status for normal operation;

when said BASE ID and said PN are already stored in the database of said mobile terminal, but said SID and said NID are not stored in the database, writing said SID and said NID, with said BASE ID and said PN, into the database, and setting said mobile terminal into the normal status for normal operation;

for any other judgment results, setting said mobile terminal to a lock status for not normal operation.

2. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein before the step of searching, by the mobile terminal, a current cell at a current location, the method further comprises an initialization procedure, and said initialization procedure comprises:

setting a number N of limited dials;

limiting a maximum number of BASE IDs simultaneously supported by the mobile terminal of a user;

after the user acquiring the mobile terminal dials a (N+1)th non-emergent number, acquiring and storing, by the mobile terminal, said SID, said NID, said BASE ID and said PN in a system parameter message and a PN sequence set stored in said mobile terminal according to a current network signaling.

3. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 2, wherein when setting the mobile terminal to the lock status, the method further comprises:

if said mobile terminal responds or initiates a service connection, then forbidding said mobile terminal to access or to respond to the system and sending back a specified error code to the system.

4. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 2, wherein said PN sequence set comprises an active set, a candidate set and a neighbor set.

5. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 4, wherein when setting the mobile terminal to the lock status, the method further comprises:

if said mobile terminal responds or initiates a service connection, then forbidding said mobile terminal to access or to respond to the system and sending back a specified error code to the system.

6. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein after the mobile terminal is set to the lock status, the method further comprises an unlock procedure, and said unlock procedure comprises:

determining, by an operator, whether identity and requirement of said user is legal according to a cell unlock request of the user;

when the identity and requirement of said user is legal, sending, by the operator, an unlock instruction or unlock short message to the user terminal;

after receiving said unlock instruction or said unlock short message, emptying, by the mobile terminal, the SID, NID, BASE ID and PN stored in said database and resetting locked cell configuration.

7. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 6, wherein when setting the mobile terminal to the lock status, the method further comprises:

if said mobile terminal responds or initiates a service connection, then forbidding said mobile terminal to access or to respond to the system and sending back a specified error code to the system.

8. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 6, wherein when the cell unlock request of said user is sent to the operator by dialing a specified service number, the operator sends said unlock short message to the user terminal.

9. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 8, wherein when setting the mobile terminal to the lock status, the method further comprises:

if said mobile terminal responds or initiates a service connection, then forbidding said mobile terminal to access or to respond to the system and sending back a specified error code to the system.

10. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 6, wherein when the cell unlock request of said user is sent to the operator by sending said user terminal to the operator, the operator sends said unlock instruction to the user terminal by using a tool.

11. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 10, wherein when setting the mobile terminal to the lock status, the method further comprises:

if said mobile terminal responds or initiates a service connection, then forbidding said mobile terminal to access or to respond to the system and sending back a specified error code to the system.

12. The cell locking method for a mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein when setting the mobile terminal to the lock status, the method further comprises:

if said mobile terminal responds or initiates a service connection, then forbidding said mobile terminal to access or to respond to the system and sending back a specified error code to the system.

13. A mobile terminal capable of locking a cell, wherein said mobile terminal comprises a current cell parameter acquisition unit, a data storage unit, a parameter comparison unit, a database writing-in unit and a status setting unit, wherein

the current cell parameter acquisition unit is used for acquiring a system identification (SID), a network identification (NID), a base station identifier (BASE ID) and a pseudo-random number (PN) of a current cell;

the data storage unit is used for storing a database of the mobile terminal, wherein, the database includes SID, NID, BASE ID and PN parameters;

the parameter comparison unit is used for comparing the SID, NID, BASE ID and PN acquired by the current cell parameter acquisition unit with the parameters stored in said data storage unit by the following ways;

when said SID, said NID, said BASE ID and said PN of the current cell are all already stored in the database of said mobile terminal, sending a first comparison result to the status setting unit,

when said SID, said NID and said PN are already stored in the database of said mobile terminal, but said BASE ID is not stored in the database and said database is not full, sending a second comparison result to the database writing-in unit and the status setting unit,

when said BASE ID and said PN are already stored in the database of said mobile terminal, but said SID and said NID are not stored in the database, sending a third comparison result to the database writing-in unit and the status setting unit, and

when the comparison result does not meet any one of the above comparison results, sending a fourth comparison result to the status setting unit;

the database writing-in unit is used for;

when receiving the second comparison result, writing said BASE ID, with said SID, said NID and said PN, into said database;

when receiving the third comparison result, writing said SID and said NID, with said BASE ID and said PN, into the database;

the status setting unit is used for;

when receiving the first comparison result, the second comparison result, or the third comparison result, setting said mobile terminal to a normal status for normal operation;

when receiving the fourth comparison result, setting said mobile terminal to a lock status for not normal operation.

14. The mobile terminal according to claim 13, wherein said mobile terminal further comprises an unlock unit which is connected to said data storage unit and is used for emptying the SID, NID, BASE ID and PN in said database according to a received unlock instruction or unlock short message and resetting the locked cell configuration.