Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Security or fraud prevention
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-25
2001-03-13
Maung, Nay (Department: 2681)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Security or fraud prevention
C455S410000, C340S870030, C380S029000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06201958
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a telecommunications system comprising at least a fixed part and a mobile terminal suitable for supplying the fixed part with a secret authentication code for being registered with said system.
The invention likewise relates to a mobile telephone terminal to be registered with a telecommunications network via a secret authentication code fed to a fixed part of said network.
The invention finally relates to a method of registration, via a secret authentication code, of a mobile terminal with a telecommunications network comprising at least one radio base station.
The invention has interesting applications in the field of mobile radio telecommunications, notably in the scope of the DECT standard (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications). The invention provides means for making the management of the various users of a mobile telephone network easier, for example, by facilitating their registration with a radio base station during a subscription to a network or to a particular service of a network.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,790 describes a method for registration of a portable terminal in a cordless telephone network that comprises a network controller, having a data base that contains the identification numbers of the known portable terminals of the network. The portable terminal communicates to a base station of the network a request for registration, which request contains the identification number of the portable terminal. The network controller favorably responds to the previous request if the identification number is found in the network controller database.
This method for registration of the terminals of a network by comparing a number with, in succession, all the numbers contained in a database is hard to implement and manage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to largely cope with this difficulty and provide simple means which are easy to implement and maintain, for managing the identification of the various users of a mobile telephone network, for example, during their subscription to the network or to a particular service of this network.
Therefore, a telecommunications system, a portable terminal and a method for registration of a terminal in a telecommunications network as defined in the opening paragraph are characterized in that at least a period of time is allocated to the secret code, so that said registration results in the supply of said code at a date that depends on said period of time.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, during a period of time there is a unique authentication code coupled to this period of time, which code is valid for all the users invited to be subscribed in this period of time. Just like the secret authentication code, this period of time may be discretely communicated (for example, by mail or orally) to the user of the portable terminal who notably desires to be subscribed to the network so that his secret code is formed by, for example, a date lying in this period of time. Thus, the network controller only needs to verify that the code sent to a radio base station of the network at a given instant (or date) is equal to the code required at that instant.
Furthermore, the invention has the advantage of presenting a perfect compatibility with the mobile telephony standard DECT. Indeed, when said system, said portable terminal and said registration method as defined above are compatible with the recommendation ETSI 300175-5 (called DECT standard in the following of the description), they are characterized in that the secret code is used as an AC (authentication code) in the procedure called Key allocation defined in said standard, paragraph 13.6 of the second edition dated January 1995.
Another object of the invention is to provide means for managing users notably of a telephone network to avoid that a network controller verifies in a database that the authentication code, for example, manually produced by the user corresponds well to that allocated to the number of his equipment (serial number of the mobile terminal) automatically fed to the base station while the request is being registered.
Therefore, a telecommunications system, a mobile terminal and a registration method as they have already been defined, while the terminal has an identification number or a serial number notably an IPEI (International Portable Equipment Identity) according to the DECT standard, are characterized in that said secret code is independent of the IPEI of the terminal.
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“The Complete Solution for Cordless Access” Philips Telecommunication Review, vol. 52, No. 3. Jan. 1995.
Halajian Dicran
Maung Nay
U.S. Philips Corporation
Vuong Quochien B.
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