Apparatus and method for providing network service in a portable communication system
An apparatus and method for providing a network service in a portable communication system are provided. A portable terminal for providing a network service includes at least two Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards for supporting networks different from each other, a network performance testing unit for measuring performance of network servers supported by the SIM cards, and a controller for identifying the performance of the network servers measured by the network performance testing unit and for selecting a SIM card supporting a network server having better performance.
1. A portable terminal for providing a network service, the terminal comprising:
at least two Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards for supporting networks different from each other;
a network performance testing unit for measuring performance of network servers supported by the SIM cards; and
a controller for identifying the performance of the network servers measured by the network performance testing unit by transmitting test signals to the network servers supported by respective SIM cards, receiving replies to the test signals from the network servers and comparing reception times of the test signal replies corresponding to the respective SIM cards, and for selecting a SIM card supporting a network server having better performance.
2. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein, after selecting the SIM card supporting the network server having better performance, the controller performs a process provided with the network service through the selected SIM card.
3. The terminal of claim 1 , wherein the performance of the network server supporting one of the SIM cards is better, if the test signal reply supporting the SIM card is faster than the test signal reply of another SIM card.
4. The terminal of claim 3 , wherein the performance of the network server supporting the other SIM card is better, if the test signal reply supporting the SIM card is slower than the test signal reply supporting the other SIM card.
5. A method for providing a network service in a portable terminal, the method comprising:
selecting at least two SIM card supporting networks different from each other and measuring performance of a network server providing the network service by transmitting test signals to network servers supported by respective SIM cards, receiving replies to the test signals from the network servers and comparing reception times of the test signals replies for respective SIM cards;
selecting a first SIM card supporting a network server with performance not measured and measuring the performance of the network server providing the network service; and
selecting a second SIM card supporting a network server having better performance among the measured performance of the network servers.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising, after selecting the second SIM card supporting the network server having better performance, providing the network service through the selected second SIM card.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the performance of the network server supporting the first SIM card is better, if the test signal reply supporting the first SIM card is faster than the test signal reply of the second SIM card.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the performance of the network server supporting the second SIM card is better, if the test signal reply supporting the first SIM card is slower than the test signal reply supporting the second SIM card.