Method and apparatus for managing mobile subscriber identification information according to registration errors

• US 10,470,030 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2019
• Issued: 11/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Campbell, Clifton Ashman, Chastain, Walter Cooper, Chin, Stephen Emille
• Primary Examiner(s): Doan, Phuoc H
• Application Number:
  US16/260,953
• Publication Number:
  US 20190174297A1
• Time in Patent Office: 280 Days
• Field of Search: 370235, 370312, 455433, 455411, 455439, 455440
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/082 using revocation of authorisation
• 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 12/72 Subscriber identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a system that manages utilization of mobile subscriber identity information including enabling reuse of such information by a different communication device and/or re-authorizing use by a communication device that previously was authorized to utilize the information by way of detecting registration error messages. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a network server including a processor, a notification of a registration error associated with a communication device;

responsive to the notification, determining, by the network server, that a first international mobile subscriber identity associated with the communication device is included in a subset of a group of international mobile subscriber identities, to obtain a first determination;

responsive to the first determination, determining, by the network server that the communication device is in a group of communication devices that has received a reassignment of one of the subset of the group of international mobile subscriber identities, to obtain a second determination; and

responsive to the second determination, facilitating a-provisioning, by an identity provisioning function, of the communication device with a provisioning information that enables registration of the communication device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, by an identity proxy function, the notification of the registration error to the network server, wherein the notification includes device identification data for the communication device, wherein the determination is based in part on the device identification data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the device identification data comprises an international mobile station equipment identity number that is obtained from the communication device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the device identification data and the first international mobile subscriber identity is obtained from a registration request received by the identity proxy function.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising:

providing a message to the communicate device to cause a re-registration by the communication device utilizing the first international mobile subscriber identity.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

responsive to a third determination that the communication device is not eligible for service, limiting the provisioning information to disabling use of the first international mobile subscriber identity by the communication device without providing a reassignment of a second international mobile subscriber identity.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the third determination is based on detecting an incompatibility of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card of the communication device with communication services provided by a network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the registration error comprises an authentication failure received from one of a visitor location register, a home location register, or a combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the network server is located between a base station subsystem and a mobile switching center.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the registration error comprises an authentication failure received from one of a mobility management entity, a home subscriber server, or a combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the network server is located between an eNodeB and a mobility management entity.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the provisioning of the communication device with the provisioning information utilizes an over-the-air interface, a short message service protocol, and a simulated registration process to enable establishing the over-the-air interface.

13. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system of a communication device that includes a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

receiving a registration request of a communication services provider, the registration request including a first international mobile subscriber identity;

determining that the first international mobile subscriber identity has been reassigned to another communication device and that the communication device is the another communication device, wherein the determining is based on information that identifies a group of international mobile subscriber identities and that indicates a subset of the group of international mobile subscriber identities that have been reassigned to other communication devices; and

responsive to the determining, facilitating a registration process that utilizes the first international mobile subscriber identity and that enables communication services at the communication device.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the determining comprises determining that the first international mobile subscriber identity is included in the subset, and wherein the operations further comprise:

disabling use of the first international mobile subscriber identity by a previous communication device.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the registration process utilizes a secret key that was previously associated with the first international mobile subscriber identity prior to the first international mobile subscriber identity being reassigned to the another communication device.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the receiving of the registration request is via a registration simulation and is responsive to a determination by a network server that the communication device is eligible for the communication services.

17. A network server, comprising:

a processing system including a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving information that identifies a group of international mobile subscriber identities and that indicates a subset of the group of international mobile subscriber identities that have been reassigned to other communication devices;

responsive to a first determination that a first international mobile subscriber identity of a communication device is included in the subset of the group of international mobile subscriber identities, determining that the communication device is one of the other communication devices that has received a reassignment of one of the subset of the group of international mobile subscriber identities, to obtain a second determination; and

responsive to the second determination, facilitating a-provisioning, by an identity provisioning function, of the communication device with a provisioning information that enables registration of the communication device.

18. The network server of claim 17, wherein the provisioning information is received via an over-the-air interface utilizing short message service protocol, and wherein the processing system comprises a plurality of processors operating in a distributed processing environment.

19. The network server of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

responsive to a third determination that the communication device is not one of the other communication devices that has received a reassignment to one of the subset of the group of international mobile subscriber identities and that use of the first international mobile subscriber identity by the communication device has been nullified, removing the first international mobile subscriber identity from the group of international mobile subscriber identities.

20. The network server of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

responsive to the first determination, providing reassignment information to a registration function indicating a reassignment of a second international mobile subscriber identity to the communication device.