Method for arranging SIM facility to digital wireless terminal equipment and corresponding terminal equipment and server

• US 6,980,830 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2003
• Issued: 12/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Ahonen, Petri
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Lester G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KHAI MINH
• Application Number:
  US10/618,396
• Publication Number:
  US 20040023689A1
• Time in Patent Office: 901 Days
• Field of Search: 455/558, 455/557, 455/550.1, 455/418, 455/407, 455/420, 455/419
• US Class Current: 455/558
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0853 using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72406 by software upgrading or downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for arranging SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) facility to digital wireless terminal equipment communicating in a data communication network, wherein the said SIM facility is associated with a processor functionality and memory devices for storing application, subscriber and network specific data and wherein the terminal equipment is also associated with a processor functionality for carrying out of dynamic applications. In the method at least a main part of the application, subscriber and network specific data implementing the SIM facility is downloaded into the terminal equipment through the data communication network.

Claims

1. A method for instituting a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) facility in digital wireless terminal equipment communicating in a data communication network, wherein the SIM facility is associated with a processor functionality and memory devices for storing SIM data comprising application-, subscriber- and network-specific data and wherein the terminal equipment is also associated with a processor functionality for carrying out of dynamic applications, the method comprising:

downloading at least a main part of the application-, subscriber- and network-specific data of the SIM facility into the terminal equipment through the data communication network, where the application-specific data further comprises SIM logic and algorithms; and

implementing the SIM facility in the terminal equipment using the application-, subscriber- and network-specific data downloaded through the data communication network.

2. The method of claim 1, where the terminal equipment and the data communication network are equipped with a downloading application for downloading of the SIM data.

3. The method of claim 1, where the data communication network is associated with a functionality for management of the SIM data and devices for storing the SIM data.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein when the method is used with SIMless terminal equipment, the method further comprises:

at the SIMless terminal equipment, connecting to the data communication network,

forming identification information at the SIMless terminal equipment for downloading of the SIM data,

transmitting the identification information to a management functionality associated with the data communication network,

setting up and carrying out a data transmission session between the SIMless terminal equipment and the management functionality for downloading of the SIM data into the SIMless terminal equipment, and

freeing the user interface at the SIMless terminal equipment.

5. The method of claim 4, where the status of the SIM facility of the terminal equipment is updated as one subordinated step.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein when the SIM facility is instituted in a second piece of terminal equipment by transferring the SIM facility from a first piece of terminal equipment to the second piece of terminal equipment the following steps are carried out

at the first piece of terminal equipment, taking measures for transferring the SIM data for implementing the SIM facility,

at the first piece of terminal equipment, connecting to the data communication network,

setting up and carrying out a data transmission session between the first piece of terminal equipment and a management functionality associated with the data communication network for transferring the SIM data to the management functionality,

synchronizing the SIM data transferred to the management functionality,

at the second piece of terminal equipment, connecting to the data communication network, and

at the said second piece of terminal equipment downloading the SIM data from the management functionality, where the SIM data concerns a SIM facility having the same identification information.

7. The method of claim 6, where identification information is also formed in order to activate the new SIM facility.

8. The method of claim 7, where equipment-specific data arranged in connection with the first piece of terminal equipment is used to form the identification information.

9. The method of claim 6, where SIM data is destroyed at the first piece of terminal equipment as one subordinated step.

10. The method of claim 1, where the terminal equipment further comprises a physical SIM processor card having a dynamic processor environment for carrying out of downloaded applications.

11. The method of claim 1, where at least a part of the data to be downloaded and/or transferred is compressed.

12. The method of claim 1, where at least a part of the data to be downloaded and/or transferred is encrypted.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the downloading of SIM data into the terminal equipment is carried out locally.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the algorithms concern at least one of authentication and encryption.

15. Digital wireless terminal equipment comprising:

a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) facility having a processor functionality and memory devices for storing SIM data comprised of application-, subscriber- and network-specific data for use in implementing the SIM facility;

a processor functionality for carrying out of dynamic applications; and

a downloading application for downloading into the terminal equipment at least a main part of the application-, subscriber- and network-specific data implementing the SIM facility, where the application-specific data comprises at least SIM logic and alorithms.

16. A server for use in establishing a SIM facility in digital wireless terminal equipment, wherein the server is connected to a data communication network and wherein the SIM facility comprises SIM data comprising at least application-, subscriber- and network-specific data, the server comprising a management functionality for management of the SIM data belonging to the SIM facility and devices for storing the SIM data and wherein the management functionality is associated with a routing application for downloading the SIM data into the terminal equipment through the data communication network and where the application-specific data further comprises SIM logic and algorithms.