Apparatus and methods for electronic subscriber identity module (ESIM) installation and interoperability

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for managing processing of electronic Subscriber Identity Modules (eSIM) data at a mobile device are disclosed. An eSIM management entity of an embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC) in the mobile device obtains an encrypted eSIM package, decrypts the eSIM package to obtain eSIM contents formatted generically and not specifically tailored to requirements of the eUICC. In some embodiments, the eSIM contents are formatted based on an abstract syntax notation (ASN) distinguished encoding rules (DER) format. The eSIM management entity parses the formatted eSIM contents to retrieve individual eSIM components and installs each eSIM component for the eSIM in an eSIM security domain on the eUICC. In some embodiments, the eSIM management entity acts as a local, personalization server to provide local Trusted Service Manager (TSM) server functionality for eSIM installation that transforms generically formatted eSIM contents into eSIM components that match specific requirements of the eUICC.

Description

technical field [0001] The embodiments set forth techniques for handling an electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) and installing the eSIM on an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) included in a mobile device. Background technique [0002] Many mobile devices are configured to use a removable universal integrated circuit card (UICC) that enables the mobile device to access services provided by a mobile network operator (MNO). Specifically, each UICC includes at least a microprocessor and a read-only memory (ROM), wherein the ROM is configured to store an MNO profile that a mobile device can use to register with and interact with the MNO. Typically, the UICC takes the form of a small removable card (commonly referred to as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card) that is configured to be inserted into a UICC receiving cradle included in the mobile device. However, in recent implementations, the UICC is embedded directly into the system board of the mobil...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0004] It is worth noting that the aforementioned MNO-centric provisioning techniques may have a number of disadvantages

For example, one disadvantage is that different MNOs, different servers of the MNO, and / or different eUICCs may use different sets of proprietary protocols to communicate and manage the eSIM

The format used to convey the eSIM information and / or the specific command sequence used by the server to interact with the eUICC to communicate and manage the eSIM may vary significantly, which prevents the use of multiple MNOs and / or multiple provisioning servers in different Interoperability of eSIM management across different eUICC implementations in mobile devices

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