Universal GUTI for simplified device onboarding

• US 10,021,557 B1
• Filed: 11/21/2017
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Mathison, James, Chen, Zhengfang
• Primary Examiner(s): Shedrick, Charles
• Application Number:
  US15/820,026
• Time in Patent Office: 231 Days
• Field of Search: 4554351
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3816 Mechanical arrangements for accommodating identification devices, e.g. cards or chips; with connectors for programming identification devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/654 International mobile subscriber identity [IMSI] numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4588 containing mobile subscriber information, e.g. home subscriber server [HSS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/50 Address allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/40 Security arrangements using identity modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/04 using triggered events
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/06 De-registration or detaching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/06 Registration at serving network Location Register, VLR or user mobility server
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/183 Processing at user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/20 Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A method includes determining, by a user equipment (UE) device, whether subscriber identification profile (SIDP) is stored within the UE device; sending, from the UE device, an attach request along with a universal globally unique temporary identifier (UGUTI) to a mobility management entity (MME) within a network, upon determining that the subscriber identification profile is not stored in the UE device; receiving, at the UE device, an authorization to attach to the network in response to the attach request; and accessing, by the UE device, the network in accordance with a pre-provisioned profile associated with the UGUTI, where the pre-provisioned profile limits access to the network.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining, by a user equipment (UE) device, whether subscriber identification profile (SIDP) is stored within the UE device;

sending, from the UE device, an attach request along with a universal globally unique temporary identifier (UGUTI) to a mobility management entity (MME) within a network, upon determining that the subscriber identification profile is not stored in the UE device;

receiving, at the UE device, an authorization to attach to the network in response to the attach request; and

accessing, by the UE device, the network in accordance with a pre-provisioned profile associated with the UGUTI, wherein the pre-provisioned profile limits access to the network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UGUTI comprises two parts, wherein a first part of the UGUTI is associated with the network, and a second part of the UGUTI is associated with the UE device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first part of the UGUTI comprises a globally unique mobility management entity identifier (GUMMEI), wherein the GUMMEI is selected from a plurality of predefined GUMMEIs.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the GUMMEI is preinstalled in the UE device, and is associated with at least one of a device vendor, a network operator, or a service.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the second part of the UGUTI comprises an M temporary mobile subscriber identity (M-TMSI), wherein the M-TMSI is generated by the UE device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

generating, by the UE device, an M-TMSI which is based on at least one of a random number or an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) associated with the UE device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE device is associated with a unique pseudo international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) assigned during attachment, wherein the pseudo IMSI is uniquely associated with the UGUTI and is used for downstream signaling in the network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein upon determining that the SIDP is stored in the UE device, further comprising:

determining whether a predetermined command was received to reset the SIDP, and in response to determining a predetermined command was received;

discarding the stored SDIP from the UE device, and

sending the attach request along with the UGUTI to the MME within the network; and

wherein upon determining that the predetermined command was not received, performing an attach procedure.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether a predetermined command was received further comprises:

receiving at least one of an activation of a switch sequence, a simultaneous activation of a combination of switches, an activation of a dedicated switch, or a switch actuation lasting a predetermined period of time.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether a predetermined command was received further comprises:

receiving the predetermined command upon powering on the UE device.

11. A user equipment (UE) device, comprising:

a secure element configured to store a universal globally unique temporary identifier (UGUTI);

at least one memory configured to store instructions; and

at least one processor couple to the secure element and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to;

determine whether subscriber identification profile (SIDP) is stored within the UE device,

send an attach request along with the UGUTI to a mobility management entity (MME) within a network, upon determining that the subscriber identification profile is not stored in the UE device,

receive an authorization to attach to the network in response to the attach request, and

access the network in accordance with a pre-provisioned profile associated with the UGUTI, wherein the pre-provisioned profile limits access to the network.

12. The UE device of claim 11, wherein the UGUTI comprises two parts, wherein a first part of the UGUTI is associated with the network, and a second part of the UGUTI uniquely identifies the UE device.

13. The UE device of claim 12, wherein the first part of the UGUTI comprises a globally unique mobility management entity identifier (GUMMEI), wherein the GUMMEI is selected from a plurality of predefined GUMMEIs.

14. The UE device of claim 13, wherein the GUMMEI is preinstalled into the UE device, and is associated with at least one of a device vendor, a network operator, or a service.

15. The UE device of claim 12, wherein the second part of the UGUTI comprises an M temporary mobile subscriber identity (M-TMSI), wherein the M-TMSI is generated by the UE device.

16. The UE device of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

generate, by the UE device, the M-TMSI based on at least one of a random number or an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) associated with the UE device.

17. The UE device of claim 11, wherein the UE device is associated with a unique pseudo IMSI assigned during attachment, and further wherein the pseudo IMSI is uniquely associated with the UGUTI and is used for downstream signaling in the network.

18. The UE device of claim 11, wherein in response to determining that the SIDP is stored in the UE device, the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

determine whether a predetermined command was received to reset the SDIP, and in response to determining a predetermined command was received,

discard the SDIP from the UE device, and

send the attach request along with the UGUTI to the MME within the network, and

wherein upon determining that the predetermined command was not received, the instructions further cause the at least one processor to perform an attach procedure.

19. The UE device of claim 18, wherein upon determining whether a predetermined command was received, the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

receive at least one of an activation of a switch sequence, a simultaneous activation of a combination of switches, an activation of a dedicated switch, or a switch actuation lasting a predetermined period of time.

20. A method, comprising:

receiving, from a user equipment (UE) device, an attach request along with a universal globally unique temporary identifier (UGUTI) at a mobility management entity (MME) within a network;

detecting, at the MME, the UGUTI received in the attach request;

applying, at the MME, a subscriber profile associated with the UGUTI, wherein the subscriber profile is stored within the MME and allows limited access to the network;

assigning, at the MME, a pseudo international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) to the UE device;

detecting, at a home subscriber server (HSS), the pseudo IMSI received in an authentication query; and

assigning, at the HSS, the subscriber profile associated with the pseudo IMSI.