Apparatus and method for controlling use of a SIM card of a mobile terminal

• US 7,689,251 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2004
• Issued: 03/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Bae, Min-Ho
• Primary Examiner(s): Pan; Yuwen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jain; Ankur
• Application Number:
  US10/976,591
• Publication Number:
  US 20050096088A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,978 Days
• Field of Search: 455/558
• US Class Current: 455/558
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/082 using revocation of authorisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for controlling the use of a SIM card mounted in a mobile terminal by employing a fraud technology includes comparing data related to the SIM card received from a network to information read from the SIM card in the terminal as part of a terminal initialization process and generating a control signal to cause an RF antenna switch to open or close an RF antenna loop structure in order to disable or enable a requested SIM card function. The data received form the network and the information read from the SIM card in the terminal include subscriber information and transportation card information that allow a determination of whether a user requesting a SIM card function is the subscriber entitled to access the function. If the data received form the network and the information read from the SIM card are identical, the requested SIM card function is approved. If the data received from the network and the information read form the SIM card are not identical, the requested SIM card function is not approved. Optional password protection of SIM card functions may also be provided.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling the use of a subscriber identification module (SIM) card of a mobile terminal, the apparatus comprising:

a SIM card mounted in the terminal, wherein the SIM card stores subscriber identification information comprising a subscriber name and a subscriber identification number;

a radio frequency (RF) antenna connected to at least two terminals of the SIM card in a loop structure;

a terminal control unit configured to perform an initialization process comprising receiving data related to the SIM card from a network, reading the subscriber identification information from the SIM card and generating a control signal according to whether the received data is identical to the subscriber information stored on the SIM card; and

an RF antenna switch operatively coupled with the terminal control unit, the SIM card, and the RF antenna to enable using the SIM card according to the control signal generated by the terminal control unit and disable using the SIM card according to the control signal generated by the terminal control unit while the SIM card is mounted in the terminal and the terminal is turned on,

wherein the data related to the SIM card is not received from the network if a subscriber has reported the SIM card as one of lost or stolen,

wherein the control signal is generated according to a result of a comparison of the data received from the network to the information read from the SIM card,

wherein the RF antenna switch connects the SIM card to the RF antenna when the data received from the network is identical to the information read from the SIM card,

wherein the RF antenna switch disconnects the SIM card from the RF antenna when the data received from the network is not identical to the information read from the SIM card while the SIM card is mounted in the terminal and the terminal is turned on,

wherein using the SIM card is enabled when the SIM card is connected to the RF antenna and is disabled when the SIM card is disconnected from the RF antenna while the SIM card is mounted in the terminal and the terminal is turned on.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the SIM card comprises a payment function.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the payment function is one of a post payment-type transportation card function and a pre payment-type transportation card function.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a base station connected to at least a transportation institution system and a financial institution system.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data received from the network and the information stored on the SIM card comprise transportation card information.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the subscriber information comprises a date of subscription of the transportation card information.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the transportation card information comprises a specific number of a transportation card.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the terminal control unit is adapted to perform the initialization process upon power-up of the mobile terminal.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the terminal control unit is adapted to perform the initialization process whenever a user requests a SIM card function.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, the terminal control unit further adapted to perform the initialization process by receiving a password input by a user and comparing the input password to a preset password in order to generate the control signal and wherein the RE antenna loop structure is closed if the input password is identical to the preset password and the RF antenna loop structure is open if the input password is not identical to the preset password.