Method, apparatus and article to remotely associate wireless communications devices with subscriber identities and/or proxy wireless communications devices

• US 7,363,055 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2002
• Issued: 04/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RcatsOne Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Casabyte, Inc. (Lumentum Holdings Inc.)
• Inventors: Read, John S., Castrogiovanni, Benedetto
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THUAN T
• Application Number:
  US10/194,937
• Publication Number:
  US 20030220101A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,112 Days
• Field of Search: 455/558, 455/425, 455/550.1, 455/445, 455/551, 455/419, 455/405, 455/415, 455/566.1, 455/414.1, 455/557, 455/111, 709/219, 709/217
• US Class Current: 455/558
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/745 Customizing according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. friends or family
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/765 Linked or grouped accounts, e.g. of users or devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/77 involving multiple accounts per user
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8033 location-dependent, e.g. business or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0108 Customization according to wishes of subscriber, e.g. customer preferences, friends and family, selecting services or billing options, Personal Communication Systems [PCS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/22 Bandwidth or usage-sensitve billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/724 Linked accounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7254 Multiple accounts per user
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7435 Location dependent, e.g. Bussiness or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/45 using multiple identity modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/06 Testing, supervising or monitoring using simulated traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

Apparatus and methods provide remote access to subscriber identity information and subscriber configuration information stored on one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), to allow remote configuration of wireless communications devices. A SIM server provides access to the SIMs, a SIM librarian catalogs the SIMs, and a SIM accounting system tracks and/bills for SIM usage. Apparatus and methods provide remote access to proxy wireless communications devices, allowing such devices to operate as if actually present in the remote locations.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating remote access to subscriber identity modules by wireless communications devices, the method comprising:

remotely receiving a first request from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module;

passing the received first request to the subscriber identity module;

receiving a first response to the first request from the subscriber identity module;

remotely passing the first response from the subscriber identity module to the wireless communications device; and

caching the first response received from the subscriber identity module.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second request from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module;

determining that the received second request is the same as the received first request; and

passing the first response from the subscriber identity module to the wireless communications device without passing the second request to the subscriber identity module.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second request from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module;

determining that the received second request is the same as the received first request;

retrieving the first response from a data cache; and

passing the retrieved first response to the wireless communications device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein caching the first response received from the subscriber identity module includes storing the first response in a data cache with a defined relationship to the first request and the subscriber identity module.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein caching the first response received from the subscriber identity module includes storing the first response in a data cache with a defined relationship to the first request and the subscriber identity module, and with an indication of a direction of data flow with respect to the subscriber identity module.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a response from the wireless communications device to an authentication request using a signed response from the subscriber identity module, where the subscriber identity module is remotely located from the wireless communications device.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a first request from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module includes receiving the first request at a subscriber identity module server remotely located from the wireless communications device making the first request.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a first request from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module includes receiving the first request at a geographically fixed subscriber identity module server remotely located from the wireless communications device making the first request.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein caching the first response received from the subscriber identity module includes caching the first response at a subscriber identity module server positioned in a communication flow between the subscriber identity module and the wireless communications device.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein remotely receiving a first request from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module includes wirelessly receiving the first request from the wireless communications device.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein remotely passing the first response from the subscriber identity module to the wireless communications device includes wirelessly passing the first response from the subscriber identity module to the wireless communications device.

12. A method of facilitating remote access to subscriber identity modules by wireless communications devices, the method comprising:

remotely receiving a plurality of requests from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module;

passing a number of the received plurality of requests to the subscriber identity module;

receiving a number of responses to the respective requests from the subscriber identity module;

remotely passing the number of received responses from the subscriber identity module to the wireless communications device;

recognizing a relationship between at least one of the requests and at least one of the responses; and

caching the at least one of the responses having a recognized relationship to the at least one of the requests.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

for each of a number of the requests, determining whether the response to the request is cached; and

passing the cached response to the wireless communications device without passing the corresponding request to the subscriber identity module.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

for each of a number of the requests, determining whether the response to the request is cached;

retrieving the corresponding one of the responses from a data cache if the response to the request is cached; and

passing the retrieved one of the responses to the wireless communications device.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein recognizing a relationship between at least one of the requests and at least one of the responses includes at least one of recognizing the request as one of a number of requests identified as suitable for caching, recognizing a level of consistency in the response to the request over a number of identical requests to the subscriber identity module, and recognizing a frequency of the occurrence of the request during operation.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

providing a response from the wireless communications device to an authentication request using a signed response from the subscriber identity module, where the subscriber identity module is remotely located from the wireless communications device.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein receiving a plurality of requests from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module includes receiving at least a first request at a subscriber identity module server remotely located from the wireless communications device making the first request.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein receiving a plurality of requests from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module includes receiving at least a first request at a geographically fixed subscriber identity module server remotely located from the wireless communications device making the first request.

19. The method of claim 12 wherein caching the at least one response received from the subscriber identity module includes caching at least a first response at a subscriber identity module server positioned in a communication flow between the subscriber identity module and the wireless communications device.

20. The method of claim 12 wherein remotely receiving a plurality of requests from a wireless communications device for an action by a subscriber identity module includes wirelessly receiving the plurality of requests from the wireless communications device.

21. The method of claim 12 wherein remotely passing the number of received responses from the subscriber identity module to the wireless communications device includes wirelessly passing the number of received responses from the subscriber identity module to the wireless communications device.