WO2004036856A1

WO2004036856A1 - Method for controlling access to a communication network, corresponding wireless network, device and computer programmes

Info

Publication number: WO2004036856A1
Application number: PCT/FR2003/003087
Authority: WO
Inventors: Philippe Guillemette
Original assignee: Wavecom
Priority date: 2002-10-17
Filing date: 2003-10-17
Publication date: 2004-04-29
Also published as: AU2003286227A1; FR2846175A1; FR2846175B1

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for controlling access to at least one long-distance communication network (111) for equipment items (221, 231) of a short-distance wireless network. The invention is characterized in that it consists in selectively assigning to at least one of the equipment items, specific conditions for implementing a communication on the long-distance communication network(s). The invention also concerns corresponding wireless network, device and computer programmes.

Description

Method for controlling access to a communication network, wireless network, device and corresponding computer programs.

The present invention relates to the field of short-range wireless communication systems, in particular, but not exclusively according to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standards (de facto standard of the Bluetooth SIG group or “Bluetooth Spécial Interest Group”), IEEE 802.11 ( IEEE standard or "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers") or HIPERLAN (from the English "HIgh Performance Enhanced Radio Local Area Network" standardized by ETSI ("European Telecommunication Standardization Institute")).

More specifically, the invention relates to a communication gateway between one or more short-distance wireless communication systems and a long-distance link which can be wired (for example of the switched network type or of the Internet type network) or wireless (for example, according to the GSM standard (for Global System for Mobile communication ”, in English), DCS1800 (“ for Digital Cellular System 1800 MHz ”in English), PCS 1900 (for“ Personal Communication System ”in English) or also UMTS (for "Universal Mobile Telecommunication System" in English) and more generally according to the standards of first, second or third generation mobile communication)

It is recalled that a radiocommunication module is an essential element of a radiotelephone. It hosts and executes main software (commonly called “radiocommunication software”) which in particular provides mobile communication functions (radiocommunication) and controls various hardware elements of the radiotelephone (screen, keyboard, speaker, etc.). Several of these modules are known to be marketed by the company WAVECOM (registered trademark) under the reference WISMO. Usually (first application), the radio communication module is included in a terminal which cooperates with a SIM card (for “Subscriber Identity Module” in English or “subscriber identification module”).

Thus, one possibility for enabling wireless short-distance communication terminals to connect to a long-distance communication network is to integrate into these terminals a radiocommunication module as described above. However, this solution has drawbacks since it is relatively cumbersome to implement, each short-distance wireless communication terminal having to be provided with a long-distance radiocommunication module.

Other applications have already been envisaged for the aforementioned communication module.

In particular, it has been proposed (second application) to integrate the communication module into devices other than radiocommunication terminals but nevertheless requiring functionality for communication to a remote network. By way of example, mention may be made of telemetry devices (meter readings), alarm devices or even bank card reader devices.

It has also been proposed (third application) to provide the radiocommunication module in independent form: it is then qualified as a modem. Such a modem does not include any hardware (screen, keyboard, speaker, etc.) of human-machine interface. It is intended to cooperate with third-party equipment (supporting client software), which has human-machine interface hardware elements. Third-party equipment may in particular, but not exclusively, be a microcomputer.

To allow wireless short-distance communication terminals to connect to a long-distance communication network, as illustrated in FIG. 1, another solution therefore consists in integrating gateway functionalities into the communication module; to connect to the remote network, each wireless terminal transmits instructions to the communication via the wireless link as if it were a serial link. The terminal hosts and executes a piloting client software, making it possible to control (that is to say command) the communication module, by means of a set of control commands in AT format. AT commands (for “ATTENTION command” in English) allow the terminal to require from the radiocommunication module to which it is connected, to execute certain predetermined actions. To this end, the main software (hosted by the radiocommunication module) includes means for executing AT commands, which are sent to it by the client control software (hosted by the terminal). For more details concerning AT commands, reference may be made on the one hand to standards “GSM 07.05” and “GSM 07.07” of ETSI and on the other hand to recommendation N42ter of ITU-T (“International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication standardization sector ”), which are inserted here by reference. The integration into a communication module of gateway-type functionalities, this module being controlled by the terminals, is cumbersome to implement.

In addition, it has the disadvantage of a lack of flexibility and in particular does not allow its use by terminals not adapted to its control.

The invention according to its various aspects aims in particular to overcome these drawbacks of the prior art.

More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a communication system and devices allowing terminals suitable for short-distance wireless communications to also communicate through a long-distance network in a simple manner to implement.

Another objective of the invention is to implement a communication system and devices allowing terminals suitable for short distance wireless communications to also communicate through a long distance network without the need to introduce in the terminals for fine control functionality of a long distance communication module.

The invention also aims to allow control and / or management of long distance communications in a local wireless network (that is to say dedicated to short distance communications) and / or for equipment having means of efficient, flexible and simple to implement short distance wireless communication.

To this end, the invention provides a method of controlling access to at least one long distance communication network for equipment of a short distance wireless network, remarkable in that it selectively assigns to at least one equipment, specific conditions for implementing communication on the long distance communication network (s).

Thus, the invention makes it possible to flexibly manage the communications between a short distance wireless network (for example, a local radio or infrared network) and one or more wired long distance networks (for example, switched networks or Internet type) or non-wired (for example, wireless or satellite mobile networks) depending on the specific conditions specific to each piece of equipment (for example as a device with certain technical characteristics or as a device used by a user with or without certain rights access).

According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that the specific conditions are part of the group comprising:

- authorizations to send and / or receive a communication on the long distance communication network (s);

- prohibitions on the transmission and / or reception of a communication on the long distance communication network (s); and

- the maximum duration of transmission and / or reception of a communication on the long distance communication network (s). According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that it controls at least one communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications over the long distance communication network (s) . According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that it controls:

- at least a first communication module (201), said long distance communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications over the long distance communication network (s);

- At least a second communication module, said short-distance communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications over the short-distance wireless communication network; and - at least one so-called local application each associated with at least one of the long distance communication module (s) and at least one of the short distance communication module (s).

According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that it comprises a step of transparent communication between the local application or applications and at least one of the pieces of equipment of the short-range wireless network.

Here, transparent communication can in particular be implemented in the upper level layers in the form of communication between communication layers of a higher level. In the case of a Bluetooth type wireless network, transparent mode can be implemented, in particular either in an application layer above the Bluetooth profiles, or by remote transfer of Bluetooth profiles (here, a Bluetooth profile being a defined profile according to, and / or compatible with a Bluetooth standard). Thus, the method makes it possible to facilitate communication between the local application and the equipment of the wireless network (for example terminals of the audio headset or fax or computers type).

According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that the short distance wireless network is a Bluetooth type network and in that the local application implements at least one remote Bluetooth profile.

Thus, the method allows great scalability of communication systems, in particular when it implements a Bluetooth communication module which is limited by its memory size and / or by construction, and / or which has not been designed or manufactured to receive specific Bluetooth profiles. In particular, it allows the use of relatively simple standard Bluetooth modules (the memory size of the Bluetooth modules then being reduced), the local application being able to easily adapt to different needs.

According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that it includes a switching step:

- a non-transparent communication mode between the local application, at least one of the short-distance communication modules and at least one of the equipment of the short-distance wireless network; at

- a transparent communication mode between the local application and the equipment (s) of said short-range wireless network, the transparent communication mode using at least one of the remote Bluetooth profiles. According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that there is associated with at least one of the equipment an equipment profile, defining in particular the specific conditions, and in that it implements a step of processing of each of the profiles, to determine whether the corresponding equipment will be authorized, subsequently, to access at least one of the long distance communication network (s). It is noted that the association with at least one of the items of equipment of a profile can in particular be made during a detection of an item of equipment carried out by the communication module or following a declaration of presence of the item of equipment at communication module. Thus, the invention does not require heavy and binding intervention by the user.

The invention, moreover, allows for early processing of each equipment profile or of certain profiles and thus advantageously makes it possible not to multiply the number of profile transmission and analysis and to make processing of requests for requests very simple. subsequent access.

Thus, according to the invention, the processing of the profile carried out in advance makes it possible to quickly and simply process the requests for access to the remote network or networks, which are received and processed subsequently.

According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that it comprises the following steps:

- request, by one of the devices, to implement communication on the long distance communication network (s);

- analysis of the request, in view of the specific conditions, and acceptance or refusal to implement communication on the long distance communication network (s); and,

- if acceptance of implementation during the analysis stage:

- Transmission to the communication module of a communication implementation command; - implementation of communication by the communication module; or

- if refusal to implement during the analysis step, transmission to the equipment of refusal information. It is noted that according to the invention, the analysis of the request can be done according to the preset profile or established during the first request to implement a communication on the long distance network (s).

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, all the equipment has such a profile and, if an equipment does not have the profile, by default, it will, for example, be prohibited from accessing the long network (s) distance.

According to a variant of the invention, only certain pieces of equipment have a profile, and it is possible in particular to configure the means of implementing the access control method to allow, by default, the pieces of equipment which do not have a profile , unconditional access or, on the contrary, reduced or no access to the long distance network (s).

According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that, when a long distance communication is authorized for an item of equipment, the communication passes through the communication module, or through an item of equipment integrating the latter, according to the protocol. communication network wireless short distance.

Thus, according to the invention, an authorization or prohibition access signal to the long distance network (s) can be transmitted to the communication module, which allows the communication module to discharge the task of processing authorizations. as such and to focus on the operations specific to the establishment, maintenance and termination of communications.

Thus, the access control method can be implemented independently of the communication module, which makes it possible both to have dedicated means of implementing the method and to implement a generic communication module, the authorization management remains very limited.

According to the invention, the control means are simple to implement and configure. Thus, it is very easy to provide a communication module which can communicate both with one or more long distance networks and one or more wireless local area networks, of a gateway-type functionality between one or more long distance networks and one or more wireless local area networks.

According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that the equipment implements an interface of the "Bluetooth" type.

According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that the equipment implements an interface belonging to the group comprising: - interfaces of the IEEE 802.11 type;

- HIPERLAN type interfaces.

Thus, the invention is particularly well suited to short distance wireless communication networks operating according to a standardized protocol. According to a particular characteristic, the access control method is remarkable in that the long distance communication network is a mobile telecommunication network.

The invention also relates to a short-distance wireless network, interconnecting at least two pieces of equipment, remarkable in that it comprises means for controlling access to at least one long-distance communication network, according to specific conditions of setting implementing a communication on the long distance communication network (s), selectively assigned, to at least one of the items of equipment.

The invention further relates to a device for controlling access to at least one long distance communication network for equipment of a short distance wireless network, remarkable in that it takes account of specific conditions for setting implementing a communication on the long distance communication network (s), selectively assigned, to at least one of the items of equipment. According to a particular characteristic, the access control device is remarkable in that it controls at least one communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications over the long distance communication network (s). . It should also be noted that the invention advantageously allows direct communication between the equipment (s) and the control device (in particular according to a layer protocol) by using the communication module only for managing the lower layers of the communication. According to a particular characteristic, the access control device is remarkable in that it controls:

- at least one communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications (201) on the long distance communication network (s); and - at least one communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications over the short distance wireless network. According to a particular characteristic, the access control device is remarkable in that it comprises means of transparent communication with at least one of the items of equipment of said short-range wireless network. According to a particular characteristic, the access control device is remarkable in that the short-distance wireless network is a Bluetooth type network and in that the device implements at least one remote Bluetooth profile.

According to a particular characteristic, the access control device is remarkable in that it comprises tilting means:

- a non-transparent communication mode between the device, at least one of the short-distance communication modules and at least one of the devices of said short-distance wireless network; at

- a transparent communication mode between the device and the equipment (s) of said short-range wireless network, the mode of transparent communication using at least one of the remote Bluetooth profiles. According to a particular characteristic, the access control device is remarkable in that it is grouped with the communication module or modules in an access gateway.

According to a particular characteristic, the access control device is remarkable in that it forms an item of equipment independent of the communication module or modules with which it cooperates.

According to a particular characteristic, the access control device is remarkable in that it is able to communicate with the remote network (s) through the communication module (s)

Thus, the control device can communicate with the remote network (s) using the means of the communication module, and can benefit from all access to the remote network (s) in the same way as the equipment (s).

In addition, the invention relates to a computer program for controlling access to at least one long distance communication network for equipment of a short distance wireless network, remarkable in that it comprises elements of program, recorded on at least one medium readable by at least one microprocessor, taking account of specific conditions for implementing communication on the long distance communication network (s), selectively assigned to at least one of the devices .

According to a particular characteristic, the computer program is remarkable in that it controls at least one communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications over the long distance communication network (s), the or the communication modules implementing communications themselves.

The advantages of the short-range wireless network, the access control device, and the computer program are the same as those of the access control method, they are not described in more detail. Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment, given by way of simple illustrative and nonlimiting example, and of the appended drawings, among which: - the figure 1 shows a block diagram of a communication system in an autonomous operating mode, known per se;

- Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a communication system according to the invention, in an operating mode controlled by a master application according to the invention according to a particular embodiment;

- Figure 3 shows a block diagram of the system of Figure 2 in a transparent operating mode;

- Figures 4 and 7 illustrate a communication protocol between different elements of Figures 2 and 3; and - Figures 5 and 6 illustrate BlueTooth protocol stacks in a BlueTooth module respectively of the system presented with reference to Figure 2 and according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

The general principle of the invention is based on the control of communications originating (respectively at destination) from short-distance wireless communication terminals (in particular of the Bluetooth type) intended for (respectively originating from) one or more remote networks (by example of GSM type) by a master control application.

This master control application acts, for example by means of specific AT commands, directly on the interface between a local network comprising the communication terminals and the remote network or networks. It is responsible in particular for managing authorizations and connection establishments to a remote network based on requests transmitted by short distance terminals via a wireless interface.

The master application appears as a high-level application. Thus, the remote application (s) present on each terminal of communication is easily identified with the master application which can, after identification, allow communications between the application or applications present on each communication terminal and the remote network (s).

There is presented, in relation to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a communication system in an autonomous operating mode, known per se.

This communication system includes:

- a remote network 111 of GSM type;

- a gateway 100; and

- two terminals 121 and 131 Bluetooth. The gateway 100 itself comprises:

a module 101 for connection to the remote network 111, connected to the network 111 via a wireless link 110;

- a serial interface 102 of type N24;

- a Bluetooth 104 interface; and - a serial link 103 connecting the serial interface 02 to the Bluetooth interface

104. The Bluetooth terminal 121 (respectively 131) is connected to the gateway 100 via a wireless link 120 (respectively 130) and comprises:

- a Bluetooth interface 122 (respectively 132); - a remote application 123 (respectively 133); and

- an internal link 124 (respectively 134).

The gateway 100 allows the establishment of connection between the network 111 and a remote application 123 or 133. The wireless links 120 (respectively 130) act as a serial link and allow the transmission of AT commands from the terminal 121 (respectively 131) to the gateway 100, these commands being intended for the communication module 101. Thus, the terminals 121 and 131 directly control the communication module 101 to connect to the remote network 111. It is therefore necessary for the terminals 121 and 131 to have the means necessary for this management, in particular means for controlling and transmitting AT commands adapted to transmissions on the remote network 111.

On the communication module side, the interfacing means are relatively heavy to implement and include in particular means for managing batteries and conflicts between different communications to or from the remote network 111.

There is presented, in relation to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a communication system in an operating mode controlled by a master application 211 according to the invention according to a preferred embodiment.

This communication system includes:

- a remote network 111 of GSM type;

- a local application 211;

- a gateway 200; - a serial link 210 connecting the local application 211 to the gateway

200; and

- two terminals 221 and 231 Bluetooth. The gateway 200 itself comprises:

a module 201 for connection to the remote network 111, connected to the network 111 via a wireless link 110;

- two serial interfaces 202 and 203 of type N24;

- a Bluetooth 104 interface; and

a serial link 103 connecting the serial interface 202 to the Bluetooth interface 104. The communication module 201 is, for example, of the WISMO type

(registered trademark) of the company WAVECOM (registered trademark).

For more details on Bluetooth terminals and interfaces, reference can be made to the Bluetooth specifications (in particular to the "Specification of the Bluetooth system-Core" and "Specification of the Bluetooth system-Profiles" documents available on the website. www.bluetooth.com and edited by Bluetooth SIG) which are inserted here by reference.

The Bluetooth terminal 221 (respectively 231) is connected to the gateway 200 via a wireless link 220 (respectively 230) and comprises: - a Bluetooth interface 122 (respectively 132);

- a remote application 223 (respectively 233); and

- an internal link 124 (respectively 134).

The gateway 200 allows the establishment of a connection between the network 111 and a remote application 223 or 233 under the control of the master application 211 according to a protocol which is simple to implement and as described with reference to FIG. 4.

In relation to FIG. 3, the system of the invention is presented in a transparent operating mode.

Note that this system includes the same elements as Figure 2; these common elements are therefore not described further.

However, when the remote application 223 (respectively 233) communicates with the local application 211 to connect to the remote network 111, a transparent virtual link 300 (respectively 301) is established between the local application 211 and the application remote 223 (233 respectively). The transparent virtual link can in particular be implemented in the upper level layers in the form, for example, of a Bluetooth profile offset as illustrated with reference to FIG. 6 or according to a communication between communication layers of a higher level.

FIG. 4 illustrates a communication protocol between the gateway 200, the remote application 223, the local application 211 and the GSM network 111 of FIGS. 2 and 3.

When the remote application 223 wishes to access and connect to the GSM network 111, it must first be authorized.

This authorization takes place in several stages through exchanges with the local application 211 (whereas according to the state of the art, the authorization would be from the GSM network itself) and includes in particular a first phase of detection of the remote application 223 by the local application 211 allowing subsequently, if necessary, the remote application to make calls to the remote network 111 or to receive it. During a first step 400, the Bluetooth terminal located near the gateway 200 equipped with a Bluetooth interface 104 and the gateway 200 as a Bluetooth terminal detect each other and exchange Bluetooth identification messages. The Bluetooth messages arriving at the gateway 200 are transmitted to the module 201 via the interface 202 N24.

During a step 401, the communication module 201 (present in the gateway 200) analyzes the information received from the remote application 223 (present in the terminal 221), identifies a Bluetooth terminal and / or a remote application capable of connect to the remote network 111 and generate a declaration message containing a profile of the remote application 223 and / or of the corresponding Bluetooth terminal 221. This profile indicates, for example:

- the type of terminal (PDA (“Personal Digital Assistant”), microcomputer, etc.); - the functions supported by the terminal (for example, data type calls, voice, electronic mail, access to internet services, ...);

- the type of remote application (file management, electronic agenda, voice application, electronic mail, viewing web pages, ...); - ...

Then, during a step 402, the module 201 transmits the declaration to the local application 211.

During a step 403, the local application 211 analyzes the message received and identifies a declaration relating to the remote application 223. During this step, the local application 211 checks in particular as a function of the profile contained in the declaration whether the remote application 223 is authorized or not to make or receive calls to the remote network 111 and, if so, stores the declaration in a dedicated table of applications authorized to communicate with the remote network 211, allowing to induce the response of the communication module for future connections. This authorization is, for example, a function of the type of the remote application 223 itself, of its user, of the terminal 121 hosting it and / or of an available communication credit.

According to a variant not shown, the local application 211 transmits an acknowledgment type signal to the communication module 201 and / or to the remote application 223 (through the communication module 201) indicating whether the remote application 223 is authorized or not to connect to network 111.

After step 400 (or, where appropriate, after receipt of a positive acknowledgment), during a step 404, the remote application 223, wanting to connect to the remote network 111 sends a request in format Bluetooth to gateway 200; this request is received by the module 201.

During a step 405, the module 201 analyzes the content of the request received and identifies an authorization request in Bluetooth format originating from the application 211 and formats the request (for example by translating the commands into a format understandable by the local application 211 or in the form of AT commands specific to the local application or by updating certain fields).

Then, during a step 406, the module 201 transmits the reshaped request to the local application 211.

During a step 407, the local application 211 analyzes the message received, identifies an authorization request and its sender (the remote application

223), checks whether the remote application 223 is authorized or not to make calls to the remote network 111 or to receive them as a function, if necessary, of a previous declaration.

If so, during a step 408, the local application 211 transmits to the module 201 via the serial link 210 a signal of the message type authorization (ACK or acknowledgment of the connection request) for connection to the remote network 111.

If not, according to a variant not shown, during step 408, the local application 211 transmits to the module 201 via the serial link 210 a signal of the prohibition message type (NACK or non-acknowledgment of the connection request ) indicating that the remote application 223 is not authorized to connect to the remote network 111, with possibly the reason for this prohibition.

Then, during a step 409, the module 201 analyzes the content of the message received (authorization or non-authorization), identifies its recipient and formats it for transmission via a Bluetooth link.

Then, during a step 410, the module 201 transmits the authorization (ACK) or prohibition (NACK) message reformatted to the remote application via the Bluetooth link 220. When the remote application 223 has received a connection authorization to the remote network 111, it can send, during a step 411, a high level GSM request, encapsulated in a Bluetooth message to the module 201.

Then, during a step 412, the module 201 processes the request received, in particular verifying that it has been previously authorized by the local application 211.

Then, insofar as the request for connection to the remote network is valid (that is to say authorized by the local application 211) during steps 413 and following, the module 201 implements a communication (initialization, hold and end) with the remote network 111 according to the protocol specific to the remote network (for example GSM) in a manner known per se by carrying out the slight formatting necessary to switch from the protocol compatible with the remote network (here, for example , GSM) on link 110 to the Bluetooth protocol on link 220 (respectively vice / versa) by encapsulation of GSM messages in Bluetooth messages (respectively extraction of GSM messages from Bluetooth messages). According to a variant, the local application 211 is authorized or not itself to communicate with the remote network 111 via the communication module 201. In the case where the local application 211 is authorized to communicate with the remote network 111 , it indicates to the communication module 201 that it is authorized to connect to the remote network 111 and connects, if necessary, by transmitting a connection request to the remote network similar to the request sent during step 413. The communication module 201 then processes this request as if it came from a remote Bluetooth application.

FIG. 5 shows a Bluetooth type protocol stack used in the Bluetooth interface 104. This stack comprises four layers:

- a first level of physical interface known as HCI (from English “Host Controller Interface” or “interface de Controller Host” in French);

- a layer of level 2 called L2CAP (from English “Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol” or “protocol of adaptation and control of logical link” in French);

- a layer of level 3 comprising the following three protocols: RFCOMM, SDP and TCS (respectively "Sériai Cable Emulation Protocol", "Service Discovery Protocol" and "Telephony Control Specification" or "serial cable emulation protocol", "protocol service discovery "and" telephony control specification "in French); and

- a final software layer of generic GAP access Bluetooth profile.

The first three layers of the Bluetooth stack are specified in the specifications of core Bluetooth systems published by the standard "Specification of the Bluetooth System - Core" (version 1.1 of February 2001).

The GAP profile is itself, in whole or in part, used by the following profiles:

- an SDAP profile ("Service Discovery Access Profile" or "service discovery access profile" in French); - a TCS profile ("Telephony control specification" or "telephone control specification" in French); and

- an SPP profile ("Sériai Port Profile" or "serial port profile" in French). Bluetooth profiles are specified in the Bluetooth system profile specifications published in the "Specification of the Bluetooth System - Profiles" standard (version 1.1 of February 2001).

The specifications describe profiles used to identify the applications used on the Bluetooth radio link. Profiles define a set of pre-established behaviors associated with given events (for example, the possibility of accepting or refusing an incoming call) as well as the associated commands (AT commands for example).

The use of a first Bluetooth profile by a second Bluetooth profile means that the second profile is based on the functionalities provided by or respecting the first profile.

Thus, the SPP profile makes it possible to emulate a serial port and is used, in whole or in part, by PI to Pn profiles linked to particular applications, for example:

- an OBEX profile ("OBject EXchange" or "objects exchange") (allowing exchanges of entities defining types of v-card objects (from English "virtual card" or "virtual card" in French) or v-calendar (from “virtual calendar” or “virtual calendar” in French) and which can also contain FTP file transfer or synchronization profiles);

- a profile called Car SAP (from English “Car SIM Access Profile” or “SIM access profile for cars” in French);

- a dial-up networking profile;

- a profile associated with a fax machine;

- a headset profile; and

- an access profile to a local area network ("LAN access profile"). Bluetooth profiles are interdependent: a profile can reuse all or part of another profile. Thus, the FTP profile reuses all or part of the OBEX profile which itself reuses all or part of the SPP profile. As an illustration, the OBEX level data is transmitted on a Bluetooth emulated port. The emulation of the serial port implies compliance with the SPP profile which allows the establishment, maintenance and stopping of the emulated port.

According to the invention, the gateway 200 and the local application 211 are separate. More specifically, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the Bluetooth interface is in the form of a monolithic module. The capacity of the gateway 200 to memorize Bluetooth profiles is thus limited by construction.

According to a variant of the invention illustrated with reference to FIG. 6, the Bluetooth profiles of a gateway 600 are partially or entirely deported to a local application 610 communicating with the gateway 600 via a link 210 (for example serial link of N24 or USB type) capable of carrying AT commands. This increases the scalability of the communication system even if the Bluetooth module can only store a limited number of Bluetooth profiles or cannot store new Bluetooth profiles. The gateway 600 notably comprises: - a GSM interface 601 (or communication module) allowing communications to a GSM mobile network;

- a Bluetooth 605 interface dedicated to communications to a Bluetooth network; and

a V24 serial link interface 606 intended for the 607 link. The Bluetooth 605 interface comprises a protocol stack 604 comprising the various lower layers of the stack 500 (HCI, L2CAP, RFCOM / SDP / TCS layers) including a limited number of profiles (for example GAP, SDAP, TCS and SPP profiles).

According to the variant illustrated in FIG. 6, the SPP profile can be used by: - profiles P'1 toP'n stored or prerecorded in module 605; and

- a link 602 to one or more profiles P "l P" m deported in the local application 610. The local application (or master application for access to or from the long distance mobile network for Bluetooth terminals similar to terminals 221 or 231) includes:

- A serial link interface N24 608 intended for link 607; and

- one or more profiles P "l to. P" m Bluetooth remote 609, for example of type, SPP and profiles using SPP such as OBEX, SAP, dialing profiles, fax, headset, local area network (as illustrated opposite figure 5). According to an alternative embodiment, the link 607 can be arbitrary and in particular of the USB, IrDA, internal bus type of monolithic gateway. According to another alternative embodiment of the invention particularly well suited to a remote audio / video type application, the link 607 is supplemented by a purely audio / video link implemented in parallel with the link 607.

For the transfer of the Bluetooth profiles, the gateway 600 is in the transparent mode of profile level, that is to say that it lets pass the data frames of Bluetooth profile level.

The gateway 600, the serial link 210 and the local application 610 are, moreover, similar respectively to the gateway 200, the serial link 210 and the local application 211 illustrated with reference to FIG. 2 and will therefore not be described more.

The Bluetooth module 605 communicates with one or more remote Bluetooth terminals similar to the terminals 221 and 231. The profiles present in the terminal 221 illustrated with reference to FIG. 5 (which is identical to the terminal 221 of FIG. 2) allows Bluetooth communication between the remote application present in this terminal and either the Bluetooth 605 module (for a profile correspondent present in module 605) or the local application 610 (for a remote profile).

By way of illustration, it is assumed that the Bluetooth 605 module does not integrate the OBEX profile which is used in particular by the FTP profile, the OBEX profile being deported in the profiles 609 of the local application 610.

According to this example, it is not necessary for the general communication module 605 to hold these profiles. OBEX level communication is carried over a virtual serial port created and controlled by the 604 Bluetooth protocol stack and the SPP profile of module 605. In the context of the invention, the OBEX profile can be used during a prior step of address book synchronization (NCard) which holds information necessary for establishing long distance communication.

In another example, it is assumed that the terminal 221 is of the Bluetooth audio headset type and that the module 605 does not contain a profile specific to the processing of audio data. In this case, the local application 609 contains:

- a remote SPP profile for establishing virtual communication between the local application 610 and the remote application 223; and

- And a remote audio profile using the SPP profile allowing the implementation of the headset 221 for communication to a GSM network via the module 601.

Other profiles can also be deported to the local application

610, in particular the profile "Car Kit Profile" or the profile

SAP grouped under the name "Car SAP profile" and more generally, the profiles based on the SPP profile. According to a first operating mode, the gateway includes a SIM card allowing access to the long distance network. When calling on the long distance network, this SIM card is used.

According to a variant of the invention illustrated with reference to FIG. 7, the communication system uses a SIM card located in a remote device using a SAP profile by deporting the SAP profile to the local application. During a first step 700, the local application 211 indicates to the gateway 200 that the latter has its own SIM card, if any, but that it must route all SIM type requests to the local application 211. The application local 211 also indicates to the gateway 200 during step 700, that the Bluetooth profile SAP is also deported to the local application 211. Thus, both a virtual deport of a SIM card physically present on a remote application is used (in a remote device) but seen by the gateway as being present on the local application.

Then, when establishing a long distance communication, the GSM 111 network requests the SIM card to perform, for example, an authentication. Thus, during a step 701, this authentication SIM request is transmitted to the gateway 200.

The gateway 200 is aware of the distance from the SIM to the local application; it therefore formats the request and returns it to the local application 211 during the steps 702 and 703 respectively.

Then, during a step 704, the local application 211 requests the gateway 200 to switch to transparent mode with the remote application 223, for example using AT commands.

The transparent mode being established, the SIM authentication request is transmitted to the remote application, during a step 705.

During a step 706, the remote application 223 has the request processed by the SEVI card present on the corresponding equipment, and the response from the SIM card is transmitted to the local application 211 during a step 707 .

Then, during a step 708, the local application requests the gateway to return in non-transparent mode to the link 607, for example using AT commands.

When the link in non-transparent mode is established, during a step 709, the local application 211 provides the response from the SIM card to the gateway 200.

Then, during steps 710 and 711, the gateway 200 formats the response of the SIM card (response to the authentication request sent during step 705) and then sends the formatted response to the long distance network 111.

Of course, this type of procedure alternating between transparent and non-transparent modes can be repeated for other access needs to the remote SIM card. To address the virtual port located on the general communication module 605, the latter becomes transparent from the point of view of the local application 610 (the latter wants "only" to use the Bluetooth services of the gateway 600).

In order to implement this system, control commands (typically AT commands specific to gateway 600) are used by the local application to:

- specify the profiles or remote services (necessary for the SDP discovery process); and or

- signal to the gateway 600 that it wishes to switch to transparent mode. As soon as the gateway 600 is in transparent mode, the data coming from and / or going to the port connected to the local application 610 are routed directly to / from the virtual Bluetooth port created for this purpose and the OBEX type data, for example, are no longer processed by the GSM part of gateway 600 (hence the concept of transparency). Thus, the invention makes it possible to implement a gateway between a mobile network associated with long distance communications (for example GSM or UMTS) and Bluetooth terminals with:

- access control on the mobile network for long distance communications; - support of a transparent mode between the local application and a remote application through the Bluetooth network; and

- implementation of a mode for transferring the Bluetooth profiles of the gateway to a master application (or local application linked to the gateway), the profiles being stored on the Bluetooth module of the gateway and / or deported to the local application . Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments mentioned above.

In particular, the person skilled in the art will be able to provide any variant in the definition of the remote network which may in particular be of the GSM, GPRS, UMTS mobile network type (from the English “Uni versai Mobile Telecommunications”

System ") or more generally of the second or third generation mobile type), wired (switched network, Internet, ADSL, ...) ...

It should be noted that local applications within local terminals (in particular of the Bluetooth type) are not limited to voice applications but extend to any type of telecommunication application, in particular to data transmission, to connection to sites Internet type, ....

It should be noted that the local application associated with the gateway is not necessarily connected via a serial link to the interface module present in the gateway but can be done by any type of short-distance link, in particular parallel link, internal bus to the gateway (the local application is then integrated into the gateway, for example in a microcontroller) ... Furthermore, this local application is not necessarily integrated into a dedicated module but can also be implemented in a personal computer.

It is also noted that the link between the gateway and the local terminals is of the local wireless type, for example Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, HIPERLAN (from the English “HIgh Performance Enhanced Radio Local Area Network” standardized by ETSI (“European Telecommunication Standardization Institute "), Infrared, by carrier currents, ... We note that for protocols not involving automatic detection of an application by the gateway, the detection phase is replaced by an explicit declaration phase.

It will be noted that the invention is not limited to a purely material implantation but that it can also be implemented in the form of a sequence of instructions of a computer program or any form mixing a material part and a part software. If the invention is implemented partially or completely in software form, the sequence of instructions corresponding may be stored in a removable storage means (such as for example a floppy disk, a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM) or not, this storage means being partially or fully readable by a computer or a microprocessor.

Claims

1. A method of controlling access to at least one long distance communication network (111) for equipment (221, 231) of a short distance wireless communication network, characterized in that selectively, to at least one of said pieces of equipment, specific conditions for implementing communication on said long distance communication network (s).

2. Access control method according to claim 1, characterized in that said specific conditions are part of the group comprising:

- authorizations to send and / or receive a communication on said long distance communication network (s);

- prohibitions on transmitting and / or receiving a communication on said long distance communication network (s); and - the maximum duration of transmission and / or reception of a communication on said long distance communication network (s).

3. Access control method according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it controls:

- at least a first communication module (201), said long distance communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications over said long distance communication network (s);

- at least a second communication module, said short-distance communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications over said short-distance wireless communication network; and

- At least one application, called local, each associated with at least one of said at least one long-distance communication module and at least one of said at least one short-distance communication module.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a step of transparent communication between said local application (s) and at least one of said equipment of said short-range wireless network.

5. Method according to any one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that said short distance wireless network is a Bluetooth type network and in that said local application implements at least one remote Bluetooth profile.

6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a tilting step:

- a non-transparent communication mode between said local application, at least one of said short-distance communication modules and at least one of said equipment of said short-range wireless network; at

- a transparent communication mode between said local application and said at least one of said devices of said short-distance wireless network, said transparent communication mode using at least one of said remote Bluetooth profiles.

7. Access control method according to claim 3 to 6, characterized in that one associates with at least one of said equipment an equipment profile, defining in particular said specific conditions, and in that it implements a processing step (403) of each of said profiles, to determine whether the corresponding equipment will be authorized, subsequently, to access at least one of said one or more long distance communication network (s).

8. Access control method according to any one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: - request (404), by one of said equipment, for the implementation of a communication over said long distance communication network (s);

- Analysis (407) of said request, in view of said specific conditions, and acceptance (408) or refusal to implement said communication on said long distance communication network (s); and, if acceptance of implementation during said analysis step: transmission (411) to said communication module of a command to implement said communication; implementation (413) of said communication by said communication module; or

- if refusal to implement during said analysis step, transmission to said equipment of refusal information.

9. Access control method according to any one of claims 3 to

8, characterized in that, when long distance communication is authorized for an item of equipment, said communication passes through said communication module, or through an item of equipment integrating the latter, according to the communication protocol of said short distance wireless network.

10. Access control method according to any one of claims 1 to

9, characterized in that said equipment implements an interface of the "Bluetooth" type (122, 132).

11. Access control method according to any one of claims 1 to

10, characterized in that said equipment implements an interface belonging to the group comprising: interfaces of the IEEE 802.11 type; - HIPERLAN type interfaces.

12. Access control method according to any one of claims 1 to

11, characterized in that said long distance communication network is a mobile telecommunications network (111).

13. Wireless short-distance network, interconnecting at least two pieces of equipment, characterized in that it comprises means for controlling access (200) to at least one long-distance communication network, according to specific conditions for setting up communication work on said one or more long distance communication network (s), selectively assigned, to at least one of said items of equipment.

14. Access control device (200) to at least one long distance communication network for equipment of a short distance wireless network (221, 231), characterized in that it takes account of specific conditions of implementation of communication on said long distance communication network (s), selectively assigned, to at least one of said equipment.

15. Access control device according to claim 14, characterized in that it controls:

- at least one communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications (201) on said long distance communication network (s); and

- at least one communication module, capable of transmitting and or receiving communications over said short-range wireless network.

16. Access control device according to claim 15, characterized in that it comprises means of transparent communication with at least one of said equipment of said short distance wireless network.

17. Access control device according to any one of claims 15 and 16, characterized in that said short distance wireless network is a Bluetooth type network and in that said device implements at least one Bluetooth profile deported.

18. Device according to claim 17, characterized in that it comprises tilting means:

- a non-transparent communication mode between said device, at least one of said short distance communication modules and at least one of said equipment of said short distance wireless network; at

- a transparent communication mode between said device and said at least one of said devices of said short-distance wireless network, said transparent communication mode using at least one of said remote Bluetooth profiles.

19. Access control device according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that it is grouped with said one or more communication modules in an access gateway.

20. Access control device according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that it forms an independent equipment of said one or more communication modules with which it cooperates.

21. Access control device according to any one of claims 14 to 20, characterized in that it is capable of communicating with said remote network (s) through said communication module (s).

22. Computer program for controlling access to at least one long distance communication network for equipment of a short distance wireless network, characterized in that it comprises program elements, recorded on at least a medium readable by at least one microprocessor, taking account of specific conditions for implementing communication on said one or more long distance communication network (s), selectively assigned, to at least one of said devices.

23. Computer program according to claim 16, characterized in that it controls at least one communication module, capable of transmitting and / or receiving communications over said long distance communication network (s), said network or the communication modules implementing these communications by themselves.