UICC Carrier Switching Via Over-The-Air Technology

• US 20130023235A1
• Filed: 07/19/2011
• Published: 01/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fan, James, Kuo, Richard T., Chen, David Fenglin
• Granted Patent: US 9,351,236 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/005 Multiple registrations, e.g. multihoming
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed which relate to provisioning a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) with multiple services. The UICC enables a wireless communication device to communicate through multiple carriers by using a unique virtual subscriber identity module (SIM) to register with each carrier. The unique virtual SIM is one of a plurality of virtual SIMs stored on and managed by the UICC. A carrier network includes a server for provisioning a new virtual SIM on a UICC over-the-air (OTA) when a new customer requests a service such as voice, data, or other type of service. These UICCs may also include logic to automatically select the best carrier for a voice call depending on the user settings.

Claims

1. A method for provisioning a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) with a second service, the UICC coupled to a wireless communication device, the UICC including a first virtual subscriber identity module (SIM) provisioned with a first service, the method comprising:

receiving an offer for the second service on the wireless communication device;

provisioning a second virtual SIM with the second service;

adding the first second virtual SIM to the UICC; and

connecting the wireless communication device to the second service using the second virtual SIM;

wherein the first virtual SIM is still provisioned, such that first and second services can be used simultaneously.

2. The method in claim 1, further comprising protecting the virtual SIM with a password.

5. The method in claim 1, further comprising comparing a first rate of the first service with a second rate of the second service, wherein the first and second services are of substantially the same type.

6. The method in claim 5, further comprising selecting a cheaper service between the first and second services.

7. The method in claim 1, further comprising archiving at least one of the first and second virtual SIMs to an encrypted storage.

8. The method in claim 1, further comprising selecting to use the first service whenever the first service is available.

9. The method in claim 1, further comprising receiving an incentive with the offer for the second service.

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

10. A universal integrated circuit card (UICC) comprising:

a processor;

a memory in communication with the processor;

a first virtual subscriber identity module (SIM) stored on the memory, the first virtual SIM provisioned with a first service; and

a provision logic stored on the memory that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform functions including

receiving an offer for a second service,

provisioning a second virtual SIM with the second service,

adding the second virtual SIM to the memory, and

connecting a coupled wireless communication device to the second service using the second virtual SIM;

wherein the first virtual SIM is still provisioned, such that first and second services can be used simultaneously.

11. The UICC in claim 10, wherein the first virtual SIM is stored on an application layer of the memory along with the second virtual SIM.

12. The UICC in claim 11, wherein each virtual SIM stored on the application layer accesses a shared of the memory the shared layer including an over-the-air (OTA) service manager, a service analyzer, and an address book.

13. The UICC in claim 12, wherein the shared layer is controlled by a hypervisor layer of the memory.

14. The UICC in claim 10, wherein the memory stores a plurality of subscriber data, a plurality of carrier data, and a plurality of shared carrier data.

15. A system comprising:

an over-the-air (OTA) server in communication with a wireless communication device including a universal integrated circuit card (UICC); and

an OTA logic stored on the OTA server that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations including

provisioning a first virtual subscriber identity module (SIM) with a first service;

receiving acceptance of an offer for a second service from the wireless communication device, and

provisioning a second virtual SIM with the second service;

wherein the second virtual SIM is added to the UICC, and the wireless communication device connects to the second service using the second virtual SIM; and

wherein the first virtual SIM is still provisioned, such that first and second services can be used simultaneously.

16. The system in claim 15, wherein the OTA logic includes a further instruction that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform an operation for detecting a presence of the wireless communication device on a network.

17. The system in claim 15, wherein the OTA logic includes a further instruction that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform an operation for sending the offer for the second service.

18. The system in claim 17, wherein the OTA logic includes a further instruction that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform an operation for sending an incentive along with the offer for the second service.

19. The system in claim 15, wherein the OTA server includes an encrypted storage.

20. The system in claim 19, wherein the OTA logic includes a further instruction that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform an operation for storing at least one of the first and second virtual SIMs in the encrypted storage for the wireless communication device.