Management of subscriber profiles simultaneously active in an eUICC card using a plurality of separate links

• US 11,064,343 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2019
• Issued: 07/13/2021
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IDEMIA France (Advent International Corporation)
• Original Assignee: IDEMIA France (Advent International Corporation)
• Inventors: Dos Santos, Elder, Dumoulin, Jerome, Esteban, Jean-Michel, Sohier, Sebastien, Michel, Alexis
• Primary Examiner(s): Heiber, Shantell L
• Application Number:
  US16/666,627
• Publication Number:
  US 20200137555A1
• Time in Patent Office: 623 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/086 using security domains
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/42 using virtual identity modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/45 using multiple identity modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/183 Processing at user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Disclosed is management of a plurality of active subscriber profiles at the same time within the same secure element integrated in a host terminal. A baseband processor of the terminal and a communication interface controller of the secure element together establish different separate links for each one of the active profiles. It is thus possible to address, and therefore to simultaneously use, a plurality of profiles. A link can be the conventional ISO 7816 link. The HCI/SWP interface allows a large number of logical links (or HCI pipes) to be established using a single additional tab for connecting the secure element in the terminal. Each active profile is thus associated with an HCI pipe for routing messages relating thereto. As a variant or in combination, an SPI interface allows master-slave logical links to be established.

Claims

1. A secure element configured to interact with a host terminal, the secure element comprising:

a communication interface controller for communicating with the host terminal and comprising a plurality of subscriber profiles, each subscriber profile authenticating a user in a mobile telephony network, and being configured to simultaneously activate a plurality of subscriber profiles,

wherein the communication interface controller is configured to respectively associate a plurality of separate communication links with the host terminal with the plurality of active subscriber profiles,

wherein a first communication link of the communication links, associated with a first active subscriber profile among the plurality of active subscriber profiles, is established on a first physical link between the secure element and the host terminal, and

wherein a second communication link of the communication links, associated with a second active subscriber profile among the plurality of active subscriber profiles and distinct from the first active subscriber profile, is established on a second physical link between the secure element and the host terminal,

the second physical link being distinct from the first physical link.

2. The secure element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of separate communication links comprises at least one logical link established through a Host Controller Interface (HCI) on a physical link between the secure element and the host terminal.

3. The secure element as claimed in claim 2, wherein a plurality of logical links established through the HCI on the physical link is associated with a respective plurality of active subscriber profiles of the secure element.

4. The secure element as claimed in claim 3, wherein the HCI is implemented on the Single Wire Protocol (SWP) between the host terminal and the secure element.

5. The secure element as claimed in claim 2, wherein the HCI is implemented on Single Wire Protocol (SWP) between the host terminal and the secure element.

6. The secure element as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plurality of separate communication links comprises one, two or more logical links established through a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).

7. The secure element as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plurality of separate communication links comprises one, two or more ISO links compliant with standard ISO 7816.

8. The secure element as claimed in claim 2, wherein the communication interface controller is configured to, during activation of a profile, instantiate a communication service and to establish a communication link between the instantiated service and a pre-assigned service of the host terminal.

9. The secure element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of separate communication links comprises one, two or more logical links established through a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).

10. The secure element as claimed in claim 5, wherein the plurality of separate communication links comprises one, two or more ISO links compliant with standard ISO 7816.

11. The secure element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of separate communication links comprises one, two or more ISO links compliant with standard ISO 7816.

12. The secure element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication interface controller is configured to, during activation of a profile, instantiate a communication service and to establish a communication link between the instantiated service and a pre-assigned service of the host terminal.

13. The secure element as claimed in claim 1, configured to simultaneously activate a plurality of subscriber profiles managed under a same root security domain.

14. The secure element as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of subscriber profiles present in the secure element is distributed under management of two or more root security domains, and the secure element is configured to activate a single subscriber profile per root security domain at a time.

15. A host terminal configured for integrating with a secure element, the host terminal comprising:

a baseband processor configured to associate a plurality of separate communication links with the secure element with a respective plurality of active subscriber profiles of the secure element,

wherein a first communication link of the communication links, associated with a first active subscriber profile among the plurality of active subscriber profiles, is established on a first physical link between the secure element and the baseband processor of the host terminal, and

wherein a second communication link of the communication links, associated with a second active subscriber profile among the plurality of active subscriber profiles and distinct from the first active subscriber profile, is established on a second physical link between the secure element and the baseband processor of the host terminal,

the second physical link being distinct from the first physical link.

16. The host terminal as claimed in claim 15, further comprising:

a host controller of the Host Controller Interface (HCI) implemented in a CLF contactless communication management module,

wherein a host process of the baseband processor establishes, for an active subscriber profile, a pipe with a service managing the active subscriber profile in the secure element, via the CLF management module acting as host controller of the HCI.

17. The host terminal as claimed in claim 15, wherein the baseband processor is configured to establish a master-slave link for each one of the one or more active subscriber profiles, with a dedicated slave entity provided in the secure element.

18. The host terminal as claimed in claim 15, wherein a plurality of communication services is pre-assigned to a plurality of communication resources on one or more mobile telephony networks, and said separate communication links are established on the basis of the pre-assigned communication services so that each active subscriber profile is associated with a respective communication resource.

19. A method for controlling communication between a host terminal and a secure element integrated in the host terminal and having a plurality of subscriber profiles stored therein that each authenticate a user in a mobile telephony network, the method comprising:

establishing, for each active subscriber profile of a plurality of subscriber profiles simultaneously active in the secure element, a separate communication link between the host terminal and the secure element,

wherein a first communication link of the communication links, associated with a first active subscriber profile among the plurality of active subscriber profiles, is established on a first physical link between the secure element and the host terminal, and

wherein a second communication link of the communication links, associated with a second active subscriber profile among the plurality of active subscriber profiles and distinct from the first active subscriber profile, is established on a second physical link between the secure element and the host terminal,

the second physical link being distinct from the first physical link; and

routing, in the host terminal or in the secure element, a stream of messages relating to an active subscriber profile to the communication link established for said active subscriber profile.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, on which are stored instructions of a computer program that implement the method of claim 19, when said instructions are executed by a microprocessor.