Method for enabling direct encrypted communication between two terminals of a mobile radio network, and corresponding station and terminal facilities

摘要

A method for enabling encrypted communication to be performed directly in a single hop or merely directly between two terminals of a mobile radio network by satellite and/or of the GSM/DCS type, after one of said terminals has called via a fixed radio station of the network. After a first encryption stage, performed in conventional manner, a cipher key is simultaneously generated by the identity card associated with the calling terminal and by the network control structure for encrypting/decrypting data transmitted over the radio link between said calling terminal and the station. This cipher key is then stored in a memory of the station so as to be transmitted to the called terminal when a radio link is set up between said station and said called terminal for the call requested by the calling terminal, and the key is used for the purpose of encrypting/decrypting the data interchanged between the calling and called terminals.