HK1123898A - Mobile phone with rfid reader and wlan transmitter integrated on sim card - Google Patents

Description

Mobile phone with RFID reader and WLAN transmitter integrated on SIM card

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of radio frequency communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to tag identification for accessing additional information about objects tagged with tags. Methods and systems are described that incorporate a variety of techniques for accessing the information. By combining telecommunications, WLAN, and radio frequency identification, a novel and flexible method and system is achieved.

The invention is suitable for different purposes, such as museum guidance, tourist guidance, contactless payment systems, wireless security and authentication, and smart objects.

Background

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology for storing data and retrieving data from an identification tag. RFID tags can be interrogated and read at short distances from the RFID reader.

RFID technology related to mobile phones has been pioneered by Felica technology of sony, and philips and sony have recently collaborated with nokia to establish an NFC (near field communication) forum that will facilitate the implementation and standardization of NFC technology.

In most of the previous cases, the mobile handset is the carrier of the tag, while the RFID reader is stationary. NFC technology has the possibility of being both an active reader and a passive tag. This opens up the possibility of having an RFID reader on the mobile handset, giving the possibility of making the tag stationary and the handset mobile.

In the fields of contactless payment and wireless security and authentication, etc., systems employing RFID technology for mobile phones are known to locate active RFID readers at stationary fixed locations (contact points) where communication will occur. This requires an infrastructure of active RFID readers at all contact points. The cost of an active RFID reader is significantly greater than a passive tag. It is therefore advantageous in some cases to use passive RFID tags.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention is focused on the situation where the application requires a large number of contact points and where it is advantageous to use an active RFID reader located in the mobile unit and a passive tag as contact point.

As an example, in the luo palace (Louvers), approximately 29000 pieces of art are displayed. Adding a passive RFID tag to each piece of art would save cost over an active RFID reader.

The invention integrates telecommunication, RFID, WLAN and SIM card technologies. By introducing the use of WLAN as a method for accessing additional information about tagged objects, the user of the present system will experience a more cost effective and faster service.

By transmitting the tag information to the local WLAN infrastructure, rather than through the mobile network, the user of the system will respond faster and can control the service locally.

The invention includes an active RFID reader circuit on a SIM card with its SIM card specific WLAN integrated circuitry and a handset. The tag is read by means of an RFID reader and the information of the tag is sent to the WLAN network by means of an integrated WLAN transmitter on the SIM card.

Since the communication process is performed on the SIM card, charging for local WLAN traffic can be performed.

The invention can be utilized by telecommunication operators, thereby giving the possibility of opening new services.

The invention covers different aspects of accessing information by using a mobile phone with RFID reader technology and a SIM card integrated with a WLAN device.

According to a first aspect, the present invention establishes a novel method for using a mobile phone to obtain additional information about an object equipped with an identification tag. The method is characterized by performing the following steps:

-broadcasting the presence and identity of the mobile phone by transmitting signals from the activated WLAN means on the SIM card integrated in the mobile phone via the local WLAN network to an available information processing server comprising means for communicating with the telecom operator of the mobile phone;

-receiving a request presented on the mobile phone from the telecom operator asking if the information acquisition service available to the user of the mobile phone is accepted and, if so;

-reconfiguring the mobile phone to be ready to obtain additional information about the object, said reconfiguring comprising activating a radio frequency identification tag reader in the mobile phone;

-reading identifier information from an identification tag in the vicinity of the mobile phone by means of a radio frequency identification tag reader;

-processing the read information on the SIM card;

-sending the identifier information to the information processing server via the WLAN to the local WLAN network embedded on the SIM card;

-receiving additional information on the mobile phone via the local WLAN network about the object provided with the information tag.

According to a second aspect, the invention describes a system for obtaining additional information about an object equipped with an identification tag using a mobile phone, and wherein the system comprises means for performing the above described method.

The above objects are achieved by means of a method, system and device as set forth in the appended set of claims.

Drawings

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an overview of a system according to the invention, an

Fig. 2 shows a flow chart describing an example of using the invention.

Detailed Description

As mentioned, the present invention merges the SIM card, RFID system and WLAN system with the mobile phone system, thus opening a market for new applications and services of mobile phones.

The integration of SIM cards with active RFID readers/interrogators and WLAN transmitters introduces a number of new possibilities.

From a system perspective, a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card is a device in a GSM network that possesses the A3 and A8 algorithms as well as an IMSI (international mobile subscriber identity) and a subscriber authentication key (Ki). These keys and algorithms are used for authentication and identification in GSM networks. An RFID reader/interrogator was introduced in combination with the SIM card to perform the authentication and identification tasks of the SIM card over a separate new wireless interface. This enables operators, third party developers and content/service delivery companies to charge for these services.

One of the advantages of the GSM architecture and SIM is that the SIM card can be moved from one mobile phone to another. Placing the WLAN transmitter on the SIM card makes upgrading very simple for the user and makes the SIM card a "personal" device. When combined with the physical browsing concept, the user can be authenticated and authorized with respect to the RFID tag infrastructure and the WLAN infrastructure for traffic delivery.

The invention discloses a SIM card for controlling an RFID reader/interrogator in a mobile phone. The RFID based applications and services can thus be initiated by the user or the telecom operator, i.e. the services can use the location of the mobile phone within the GSM network to initiate the RFID services.

Fig. 1 shows the inventive system arrangement for accessing additional information about an object linked to an identification tag.

The system comprises at least one object 30 within the restricted area 10 equipped with an identification tag 40 which makes it possible to identify the object 30.

The system further comprises a local WLAN server 20 for storing and processing relevant additional information about the object 30.

To use the system, the mobile phone 60 with the display 70 presenting information to the user is further equipped with a SIM card 90 with integrated means for WLAN 100.

A key feature of the present invention is the RFID reader 80 integrated into the mobile phone 60. This makes it possible to read information from the identification tag 60.

When the RFID reader 80 has read the identity from the identification tag 40, the identity is transmitted by the integrated WLAN device on the SIM card 90, and can therefore request additional information from the local WLAN server 20.

The system also includes a mobile phone center 110 that communicates with the mobile phone 60 via the antenna 50 of the mobile phone 60 so that the network operator of the mobile phone 60 can charge for the services used. This is described further below.

Examples of how the system can be used are described below.

Fig. 2 shows a flow chart describing an example of using the system according to the invention. This is merely one case and is intended to illustrate some concepts of the system. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention can be used in a number of other embodiments.

A subscriber to a "museum guide" service within the restricted area 10 is walking to the restricted area 10. The museum local WLAN network 20 detects the active WLAN 100 on the SIM card 90 and includes the user on the subscriber list, shown in 1). The "museum service" starts the start-up procedure of the service by requesting the telecom operator to reconfigure the mobile phone 60 for the service via the cellular phone centre 110, shown in 2).

If the user accepts, he/she will receive a new configuration of the mobile phone from the operator, wherein the operator asks whether to agree with a welcome message before the new configuration is operational, denoted by 3) and 4). The new configuration may include activating the RFID reader 80, adding new themes, adjusting WLAN settings for content delivery, charging the customer, etc.

When a subscriber of the service walks to a picture and holds the mobile phone towards a passive RFID tag near the picture, indicated by 5), the tag containing the identifier and possibly the content data is read, 6). In 7) this information is processed so that the SIM card can transmit the identifier to the WLAN server 20 by means of its local WLAN 100, 8). The WLAN server 20 responds with the delivery of additional content to the subscriber over the operator controlled WLAN network, shown in 9).

In a preferred embodiment, the RFID reader 80 is located in a mobile phone 60, for example a mobile phone with a SIM card 90 containing an integrated WLAN circuit 100 and means for communicating with the RFID reader 80.

In another embodiment, the RFID reader 80 is mounted on the SIM card 90 along with the WLAN circuitry 100.

Mounting the WLAN circuitry and SIM specific circuitry on a single SIM card presents challenges in terms of physical size and antenna construction, but this is feasible through careful construction.

The SIM card used in current GSM handsets has a smart card at ETSI TS 102221; a UICC terminal interface; the external dimensions defined in the physical and logical characteristics (6 th edition) are 15 × 25 × 1 mm.

Telenor has implemented WLAN circuitry on SIM cards. The addition of circuitry for communicating with an RFID reader that performs communication with the tag and facilitates data transfer will make the SIM card more flexible. The RFID reader/interrogator should perform functions like signal conditioning, parity error checking and correction, decoding and retransmission control algorithms.

The communication between the SIM card 90 and the mobile phone 60 is unchanged with respect to the standard SIM card (3GPP standard). The RFID reader 80 of the mobile phone 60 may be interacted with by programming with a SIM card. This enables turning on/off the reader and thus enabling/disabling mobile services from the mobile phone network.

Claims (8)

1. A method for obtaining additional information about an object (30) equipped with an identification tag (40) using a mobile phone (60), characterized by performing the steps of:

-broadcasting the presence and identity of the mobile phone (60) by transmitting a signal from an activated WLAN device (100) on a SIM card (90) integrated in the mobile phone (60) via a local WLAN network to an available information processing server (20), said information processing server (20) comprising means for communicating with a telecommunications carrier (110) of the mobile phone (60);

-receiving a request presented on the mobile phone (60) from the telecommunications carrier (110), the request asking the user of the mobile phone (60) whether the information acquisition service available is accepted and, if accepted;

-reconfiguring the mobile phone (60) to prepare it for acquiring additional information about the object (30), said reconfiguring comprising activating a radio frequency identification tag reader (80) in the mobile phone (60);

-reading identifier information from an identification tag (40) in the vicinity of the mobile phone (60) by means of a radio frequency identification tag reader (80);

-sending the identifier information to the information processing server (20) via the local WLAN network;

-receiving additional information on the object (30) provided with the information tag (40) via the WLAN network on the mobile phone (60).

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the presence and identification signal comprises SIM card specific parameters.

3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the reconfiguration of the mobile phone (60) is performed according to instructions received from the telecommunications carrier (110).

4. A system (10) for obtaining additional information about an object (30) provided with an identification tag (40) using a mobile phone (60), characterized in that the system (10) comprises:

-means for broadcasting the presence and identity of the mobile phone (60) by transmitting a signal from an active WLAN device (100) in the mobile phone (60) via a local WLAN network to an available information processing server (20), said information processing server (20) comprising means for communicating with a telecom operator (110) of the mobile phone (60);

-means for receiving a request presented on the mobile phone (60) from the telecommunications carrier (110), the request asking the user of the mobile phone (60) whether the information acquisition service available is accepted;

-means for reconfiguring the mobile phone (60) so that it is ready to obtain additional information about the object (30), said reconfiguring comprising means for activating a radio frequency identification tag reader (80) in the mobile phone (60);

-means for reading an identifier from an information tag (40) in the vicinity of the mobile phone (60) by means of a radio frequency identification tag reader (80);

-means for sending identifier information to the information processing server (20) via the local WLAN network;

-means for receiving additional information on the mobile phone (60) via the local WLAN network about the object (30) provided with the information tag (40).

5. A SIM card (90) for a mobile phone (60) comprising a processing device, a memory device, an I/O device, and a wireless communication device, characterized in that the SIM card further comprises means for communicating with a radio frequency identification tag reader (80).

6. The SIM card (90) according to claim 5, characterized in that the radio frequency identification tag reader (80) is arranged for being operationally enabled or disabled by a signal control provided by the wireless communication device via said I/O device.

7. The SIM card (90) according to one of claims 5 to 6, for use in a system as claimed in claim 4.

8. A mobile phone (60) comprising a SIM card (90) according to one of the claims 5 to 7.