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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a mobile phone system with a mobile telephone
accounting protocol for mobile phones, and in particular to cellular
phones and radio phones that are capable of moving from one transmission
station to another in a communication network. In particular, the mobile
telephone accounting protocol is adapted for a mobile debit phone in which
the communication traffic with the service provider is minimized to expand
traffic handling capacity of the service provider by accomplishing the
accounting procedures within each mobile phone unit. The mobile telephone
accounting protocol is similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No.
5,325,418, which is incorporated herein by reference. In the referenced
patent, an accounting system is described which has particular application
to a rental phone system or a controlled phone system, such as an
intra-corporate system where periodic calculation of phone charges are
made prior to receipt of billings from public or switched service
providers. In such systems, phone call data is stored in the mobile phone
unit and charges are calculated by a host processor after a dialogue is
established between the host processor and the phone unit. This system
requires that a communication link be established between the host
processor and the mobile phone unit and may require that the phone unit be
physically connected to the host processor.
Although debit systems with internal debit and credit memory for cordless
phones have been previously proposed such systems do not account for the
particular complexities of mobile phone systems wherein multiple service
providers may be involved in a communication network and the mobile phone
is allowed to move or roam across defined zones or cells within a
particular service area or across multiple service area. In such
situations, the location of the mobile phone making the call is as
important for billing calculations as the location of the phone or
stations being called. This added complexity complicates billing
procedures for mobile phones and increases the communication session
required for remote debit systems, thereby adding to airway traffic.
In addition to the objective of eliminating an accounting session with a
service provider for each call made, the mobile phone with internal
accounting capabilities greatly expands the potential customer base by
enabling persons with inadequate credit to obtain mobile phone service by
the use of a pay-as-you-go debit account. In this case, the credit risk is
avoided by prepayment of service and call charges, and where credit is
extended permits the credit to be provided by an entity other than the
service provider, for example by the seller of the phone, or by a billing
service that provides credit or pre-paid accounts for mobile phone users.
The mobile phone unit of this invention can be used with a mobile phone
rental system as described in reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,418. Because
the mobile phone unit itself includes the accounting capabilities, the
rental system can be greatly expanded, allowing the return station to have
minimum system hardware, and indeed, requiring only the ordinary equipment
necessary to clear an account, collect the charges and store the returned
phone for pick-up or return to an initiating station. The mobile phone
unit itself calculates the charges on the fly and provides a cumulative
account record for review at the return station. The mobile phone system
of this invention is adapted for analog or digital cellular telephones,
radiophones in personal communication service networks (PCS's) and other
wireless communication systems where it is desirable that call accounting
be done on the fly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The mobile phone system with mobile phones having internal accounting of
this invention relates to wireless communication systems having mobile
communication devices, particularly mobile telephones that are part of a
wireless communication network. In particular, the invention relates to a
mobile communication device, such as a mobile telephone unit that includes
an internal accounting protocol for internal calculation of communication
charges on the fly. Such mobile telephone units or mobile phone units are
typically cellular telephones in a cellular phone network, radio
telephones in a personal communication service network or other
communication system where the communication device is moveable from place
to place and requires a complex accounting system for calculating calling
charges in real time or on the fly.
Although the primary intended use of the mobile phone system of this
invention is intended for mobile debit phone units, where real time
calculation of phone charges is necessary to limit phone use or to
immediately bill for phone use where the billings of public switched
service providers and involved wireless service providers are not yet
available.
A real time accounting system carried internally in the mobile phone unit
greatly expands the potential customer base for such units and coupled
with certain activation and deactivation features allows a new segment of
business to become involved in the mobile communications industry. Because
credit responsibility can be shifted from the service provider, retailers,
billing services, and a host of intermediate entities can be integrated
between the phone user and the service provider. Additionally, the service
provider can expand its customer base by providing mobile debit phones to
its customers with a pre-paid phone credit or with a preapproved credit
limit that will deactivate the phone unit if credit is exceeded or credit
is not extended by the airway activation and credit transfer procedures
that form a part of this mobile phone system. In this manner, the credit
risk is limited to an acceptable predefined level.
The accounting system that provides these features is carried internally in
the mobile communication device, for convenience, hereafter called the
mobile phone unit. The accounting system includes a complex billing
algorithm with a multiple factor accounting protocol to account for local
charges, roaming charges when the mobile phone unit moves from one zone to
another, long distance charges, international charges including country
independent local charges, and surcharges which may be per call or rate
based. The complex billing algorithm can be expanded to accommodate
special charges of service providers or called stations or special
discounts or premiums for data transfer calls.
The complex algorithm is stored within the phone unit, together with a rate
schedule. The rate schedule may be periodically updated by a wireless
communication with a host or service provider.
It is to be understood that the mobile phone unit with internal accounting
can be implemented into existing wireless communication networks without
substantial modification to the network and can be implemented into most
existing mobile communication devices with minimal modification, primarily
by internal reprogramming of the device.
A mobile phone unit such as a cellular telephone currently includes an
internal processor and sufficient internal memory to incorporate the
programming and data storage necessary to accomplish the real time
accounting. The complex algorithm providing the multiple factor accounting
protocol is sufficiently compact that storage and processing of the call
data is enabled in real time with sufficient accuracy to account for
multiple charges from multiple service providers even for a roaming phone
unit. The accounting protocol enables internal tracking of phone usage
with activation and deactivation of the phone unit to insure unauthorized
usage is prevented. The accounting protocol further includes an encryption
system to permit activation and licensed use of the phone unit, and
account credit transfers on the fly over the airways.
These and other features of the mobile phone system with internal
accounting in the mobile phone units will become apparent upon
consideration of the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
that follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the components of the mobile phone
accounting system of this invention with part of the system shown
schematically.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the basic internal components of a mobile
phone unit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile phone accounting system of this invention
is designated generally by the reference numeral 10, and illustrates a
stand-alone, tracking and accounting unit 12 that may be used by a rental
agency or by a mobile phone dispensing center such as a retail store, or a
center associated with a wireless service provider.
The tracking and accounting unit 12 includes a central processing unit 14
that combines a data entry keyboard 16 coupled to a controller or data
processor 18, which in turn is coupled to a monitor 20 having a display
screen 22 for tracking data entry and review. Also connected to the
processor 18 are peripheral components including a printer 24, here with a
continuous paper roll 26 for printing statements, receipts, customer and
service provider contracts, and the like, and a credit card reader 27 for
credit verification.
Included in one embodiment of the tracking unit 18 of the mobile phone
accounting system is direct couple, interlink receiver 28, shown with an
installed hand-held, mobile phone unit 30. The interlink receiver 28
structurally forms a boot 32 into which the cellular phone unit 30 is
inserted for direct, electronic coupling of the phone unit 30 and the data
processor 18 of the central processing unit 14. As many of the accounting
functions of the accounting system are preferred internally in the phone
unit 30, satellite processors for activating and programming phone units
require only a personal computer with a modem and a bus connect to the
connection port of the phone unit.
In the arrangement of FIG. 1, the interlink receiver functions as a
terminal interconnect allowing for direct "hard wire" communication
between the data processor 18 and the mobile phone unit 30 through the
connection port of the phone unit 30. Programming and activation of the
phone unit 30 can be accomplished by the processing unit 14 through the
interlink receiver with minimal security procedures. The processing unit
14 is particularly useful in opening new customer accounts and includes
the necessary data base format for assigning a phone to a user and
tracking the assigned phone as described in detail in co-pending
application, entitled, "MOBILE PHONE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM," Ser. No.
08/265,373, filed 23 Jun. 1994.
The mobile phone unit 30 is preferably a contemporary unit with an LCD
display screen 32 for display of phone numbers, account data, and other
numeric or alphanumeric data. Additionally, the phone unit 30 includes one
or more light emitting diodes 34, to signal a user with color coded lights
during a call that an impending deactivation of the phone unit 30 is near.
The phone unit 30 includes conventional circuitry and firmware to perform
the customary communication, transmission and reception function, as shown
in FIG. 2. The phone unit 30 has a transceiver antenna 36 for wireless
communication, and as described hereafter, can be activated and programmed
over the airways.
In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the central processing unit 14 includes a
modem 38 that is linked to a transmission station 40 for establishing a
wireless communication link to a phone unit 30a, shown with its antenna
extended for reception. The transmission station 40 may be part of the
mobile phone system common to the central processing unit 14 and owned by
the system provider, or may be owned by an external service provider and
part of the external communications network that includes the public
switching network.
In this mode of operation, the central processing unit 14 communicates via
hardwire, possibly through a public service network to the RF transmission
station 40 for remote processing between the central processing unit 14
and the mobile phone unit 30a. Alternately, a low level transceiver 42,
preferably with control circuitry located within the interlink receiver
28, provides for RF communication with the phone unit 30a within local
range. This feature is useful in retail centers where it is desired that
the central processing unit 14 be located in a computer room and sales
clerks communicating with a customer, communicate to the central
processing unit through one or more floor terminals with limited
processing capabilities for security reasons.
Since the mobile phone unit 30 includes the necessary accounting functions
to internally maintain a user's call account, at least within a a rental
period or within period of periodic polling by the central processing unit
14 during off hours, the unit 30 and a transaction station 44 need only
verify the validity of a money transfer or credit transfer. When
functioning as a debit phone, the phone can continue to operate until the
account is exhausted, without contact with the system provider. The
transaction station 44 shown in FIG. 1 includes an interlink receiver boot
46 in which is installed a mobile phone unit 30b. The transaction station
44 includes a cash receiving slot 48 for receiving cash for increasing the
internal pre-paid account of the phone. The transaction station 44 also
includes a card slot 50 for receiving pre-paid phone cards or credit cards
and a key pad 51 for data entry. Verification of the value of phone cards
and credit card may be accomplished by a stand alone transaction station
44, however, to prevent fraud it is preferred that a transaction station
44 having a card reader be connected by a communication line 52, as shown,
to credit verification center, here the central processing unit 14 via the
modem 38. The phone card is a discardable credit card-like device having a
magnetic strip coded with a pre-paid amount and can be sold independently
of the phone system. To prevent reuse of dispensed cards by reprogramming
the magnetic strip, the card is voided upon use, and the card serial
number is centrally logged as void.
Similarly, to provide an opportunity for a credit card verification, the
use of a direct communication line 52 to the modem 38 or alternately to a
local credit agency is preferred. The transaction station 44 also incudes
a key pad 54 allowing a user to select the amount to be added to the
internal account in the phone. In this manner, where the mobile phone user
desires to increase his phone use account amount without a dialogue with
the system provider, there is an opportunity to do so. The call data in
the phone unit is dumped to the transaction station or cleared to permit
the accumulation of new data related to the upgrade account. Alternately,
where an account has been established with the system provider, which may
be an entity different from the wireless service provider with whom the
system may contract, the mobile phone user may request an increase in the
internal debit account by contacting the system provider through the
airways as shown by the phone unit 30a in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, a generalized electronic schematic is shown of the
typical mobile phone unit 30 used in the system here described. The phone
unit 30 includes a processor 56 that acts as a controller to coordinate
the functions of the unit 30. The processor 56 has an associated memory
comprising an EPROM chip 58 which stores the firmware that forms the core
operating code of the unit and one or more RAM chips 60, that provide
programmable memory and may include command codes as well as data storage,
for example for logging the call data. Also, closely associated with the
controller is a clock chip 64, which provides a timer for calls. In the
preferred mobile phone unit 30, the clock chip is a real time chip that
provides time and date for improved call logging and for greater
flexibility in phone use plans. Use of a real time clock chip is not
required for the described mobile phone accounting system, but allows for
full use of the logging and tracking features. Additionally, certain
features such as deactivation of the phone of a set date is accomplished
using a real time clock chip. Call counters and cumulative time limits for
deactivation may be served by a timer chip.
Airway communication is provided through the antenna 36, which is connected
to an RF transceiver connected to the processor 56 and to an analog audio
circuit 68 with an ear phone output 70 and a microphone input 72. The
audio circuit 68 is also connected to the processor 56 for audio output of
touch-tones, warning signals and the like. The phone unit 30 includes DTMF
decoder chip 72 and a keypad 76 for data entry, such as telephone numbers,
and DTMF signals for code dialogues with the central processor over the
airways. Preferably, the phone unit 30 includes a LCD display screen 33 as
noted and a series of green, yellow and red LEDs 34 to visibly warn of a
forced termination of a call because of loss of credit of the like, with
yellow providing a five minute warning light, for example. Audio warnings
are transmitted through the earphone 74. The phone unit 30 is powered by a
battery pack 78.
Ordinarily, by displacing certain features in a manufacturer's stock phone
unit, such as the storage of frequently called numbers in a cellular
phone, the RAM is sufficiently large to accept the complex billing
algorithm and the command set necessary to convert a cellular phone to a
real time billing phone. Where the existing RAM is inadequate,
modification by installation of additional RAM or ROM will allow
incorporation of the conversion code and data. For example, in a newly
designed phone, the new auxiliary firmware in including parts of the
complex billing algorithm and much of the command set, could
advantageously be allocated to ROM, with changeable data such as the rate
tables and call log allocated to RAM. Alternately, all wireless auxiliary
firmware and changeable data can be allocated to existing RAM or added
RAM.
The phone unit 30 when received from the manufacture includes a fixed ESN
(electronic serial number) unique to each phone. To be functional, the
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