Mobile phone using subscriber identification card for updating information stored therein

• US 6,278,885 B1
• Filed: 08/24/1998
• Issued: 08/21/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: DRNC Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Orsini, Christian, Hubbe, Pascal
• Primary Examiner(s): Urban, Edward F.
• Application Number:
  US09/138,659
• Time in Patent Office: 1,093 Days
• Field of Search: 455/466, 455/553, 455/558, 455/559, 455/550, 455/566, 455/551
• US Class Current: 455/558
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/205 Transfer to or from user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/08 between user and terminal device

Abstract

A mobile phone uses a subscriber identification card which includes memory used by the mobile phone as external auxiliary memory. The mobile phone itself includes memory and can transfer data from the card'"'"'s memory to the phone'"'"'s memory. The card executes commands for updating data contained in the card'"'"'s memory which is transmitted by short mobile phone messages to the mobile phone and eliminates the commands contained in the short messages after they are executed. The mobile phone can detect if data has been eliminated from a short message by the subscriber identification card and triggers the phone'"'"'s memory to transfer data when elimination of data has been detected.

Claims

1. A mobile phone adapted to use a subscriber identification card, comprising:

a first memory in the subscriber identification card, said first memory used by said mobile phone as an auxiliary memory;

a second memory in said mobile phone;

transfer software for transferring first data from said first memory to said second memory;

a processor in the subscriber identification card to execute update commands relating to data contained in said first memory, said update commands being transmitted to said mobile phone in the form of second data via short radio messages;

means for eliminating said second data corresponding to said commands contained in said short messages when said commands have been executed by said processor;

a detector in said mobile phone for detecting if said second data has been eliminated from a short message by said subscriber identification card; and

means for triggering said transfer software to transfer said first data when said detector has detected that said second data has been eliminated from said short message.

2. The mobile phone claimed in claim 1, wherein said second memory comprises buffer devices and wherein said detector compares data from said message as received and stored in said buffer devices of said second memory of said mobile phone and data from said message after said message has been processed by said card.

3. A mobile phone, comprising:

a first memory to store a short message received by the mobile phone, the short message containing an update command and data related to said update command;

a first processor to initiate the storage of the short message in the first memory;

a subscriber identification card, having;

a second processor to execute the update command and to eliminate the update command from the short message; and

a second memory containing data to be updated by the update command;

a detector to detect the elimination of the update command from the short message; and

recovery software associated with the first processor and responsive to said detector to recover said related data after the update command contained in the short message has been executed by the second processor.

4. A method of updating information stored in a mobile phone, comprising:

in the mobile phone, receiving and storing a short message containing at least one update command for updating the information stored in the mobile phone, said short message further containing data associated with said update command;

transmitting the short message to a subscriber card in the mobile phone;

in the subscriber card, executing the update command to update the information stored in the mobile phone and eliminating the update command from the short message;

detecting if the the update command has been eliminated from the short message; and

storing said associated data in the mobile phone.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, in the detecting step, at least a portion of the short message as received by the mobile phone is compared with a corresponding portion of the short message after the update command has been executed in said subscriber card.