Method and apparatus for handling remote profile management exceptions

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication technology and a system thereof for combining IoT technology with a 5G communication system supporting a data transmission rate higher than that of a super 4G system. The present disclosure is applicable to smart services (e.g., smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart cars or connected cars, healthcare, digital education, retail business, security and safety related services) based on 5G communication technology and IoT related technology. A method of a terminal includes: receiving a request related to a first function from a profile server; identifying whether the first function can be executed; if the first function cannot be executed, identifying whether it is possible to switch to a second function; and if it is possible to switch to the second function, processing the request based on the second function. The terminal includes a transceiver and at least one processor. At least one processor receives a remote management command from a profile server, determines whether the remote management command can be processed, executes the received remote management command, and if necessary, switches the remote management command to a local management command according to the result of executing the remote management command, and controls the transceiver to send the result of executing the remote management command or the local management command to the profile server.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus capable of remotely managing profiles.

[0002] In addition, the present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for downloading and installing a SIM profile for a communication service to a terminal and then establishing a communication connection in the wireless communication system.

[0003] Additionally, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for efficiently managing SIM profiles regarding one or more terminals. Background Art

[0004] In order to meet the growing demand for wireless data services after the commercialization of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop improved 5G communication systems or quasi-5G communication systems. Therefore, 5G communication systems or quasi-5G communication systems are called super 4G network communication systems or post-LTE systems. In order to achieve high data transmission rates, 5G communication systems are being considered for implementation in mmWave bands (e.g., 60GHz bands). In 5G communication systems, technologies such as beamforming, massive MIMO, full-dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, analog beamforming, and massive antenna technology are being discussed as a means of alleviating propagation path losses in ultra-high frequency bands and increasing propagation transmission distances. In addition, technologies such as evolved small cells, advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (cloud RAN), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device communications (D2D), wireless backhaul, mobile networks, collaborative communications, coordinated multipoints (CoMP), and interference elimination have been developed to improve system networks in 5G communication systems. In addition, 5G systems have developed advanced coding modulation (ACM) schemes such as hybrid FSK and QAM modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC), as well as advanced access technologies such as filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and sparse code multiple access (SCMA).

[0005] Meanwhile, the Internet has evolved from a human-oriented connection network where humans generate and consume information to an Internet of Things (IoT) network where distributed components such as objects exchange and process information. Internet of Everything (IoE) technology has emerged, where big data processing technology involving connection with cloud servers, etc. is combined with IoT technology. In order to realize IoT, research is being conducted on technical factors such as sensing technology, wired / wireless communication and network infrastructure, service interface technology, and security technology, so technologies such as sensor networks, machine-to-machine (M2M), machine type communication (MTC), etc. are required for connection between objects. In the IoT environment, smart Internet technology (IT) services can be provided that collect and analyze data generated from connected objects and create new value in people's lives. Through the integration of traditional information technology (IT) and various industries, IoT can be applied to fields such as smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart cars, connected cars, smart grids, healthcare, smart home appliances, or high-tech medical services.

[0006] Therefore, various attempts are being made to apply 5G communication to IoT networks. For example, 5G communication technologies such as sensor networks, M2M communications, and MTC are implemented through beamforming, MIMO, and array antenna schemes. The application of cloud RAN as a big data processing technology can be an example of the fusion of 5G technology and IoT technology.

[0007] As described above, the development of mobile communication systems has made it possible to provide various services, and thus a scheme for efficiently providing such services is required.

[0008] The above information is presented as background information only to assist in understanding the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with respect to the present disclosure. Summary of the invention

[0009] Technical issues

[0010] The embodiment provides an apparatus and method capable of effectively providing a service in a mobile communication system.

[0011] In particular, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method and apparatus in which, if a remote management command from a profile server cannot be processed, the remote management command is abnormally processed.

[0012] In addition, another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a device and method in which, in a case where it is impossible to manipulate the screen of a terminal in which an eUICC is installed in a communication system (for example, if remote management of the terminal is required), operations for installing a profile in the terminal, enabling the installed profile, disabling the installed SIM profile, etc. can be remotely managed.

[0013] Technical Solution

[0014] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of a terminal includes: receiving a request related to a first function from a profile server; identifying whether the first function can be executed; if the first function cannot be executed, identifying whether it is possible to switch to a second function; and if it is possible to switch to the second function, processing the request based on the second function.

[0015] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal includes: a transceiver; and a controller, which is configured to receive a request related to a first function from a profile server, identify whether the first function can be executed, if the first function cannot be executed, identify whether it is possible to switch to a second function, and if it is possible to switch to the second function, process the request based on the second function.

[0016] According to an embodiment, a method may be provided, comprising: receiving a remote profile management command from a profile server; identifying whether the remote profile management command can be processed; additionally identifying whether the profile server is an administrator profile server; processing the remote profile management command and additionally identifying a result thereof; based on the result of the identification, switching the remote profile management command to a local profile management command and processing it; and sending the result of processing the remote profile management command and / or the local profile management command as a reply to the profile server.

[0017] In addition, according to some embodiments, a terminal may be provided: a transceiver; and a controller, which is configured to receive a remote profile management command from a profile server, identify whether the remote profile management command can be processed, additionally identify whether the profile server is an administrator profile server, process the remote profile management command and additionally identify its result, switch the remote profile management command to a local profile management command based on the identified result and process it, and send the result of processing the remote profile management command or the local profile management command as a reply to the profile server.

[0018] The technical subject matter pursued in the present disclosure may not be limited to the above-mentioned technical subject matter, and other technical subject matter not mentioned may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art in the field of the present disclosure through the following description.

[0019] According to various embodiments, the terminal in the communication system can check the authority of the profile server that has sent the remote management command based on whether the eUICC can process the remote management command and based on the SM-DP + information of the installed profile, etc., and if the authority of the remote management command of the profile server cannot be checked due to the absence of the manager profile server information in the profile, or if the eUICC cannot process the remote management command, the remote management command can be switched to a local management command and the local management command can be executed.

[0020] In addition, according to the embodiment, even if the terminal in which the eUICC is installed cannot be controlled, the profile in the terminal can be remotely managed.

[0021] Before proceeding to the following detailed description, it may be helpful to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms "include" and "comprising" and their derivatives are meant to include, but are not limited to; the term "or" is inclusive, meaning and / or; the phrases "associated with" and "associated with" and their derivatives may mean including, included within, interconnected with, containing, contained within, connected to or connected with, coupled to or coupled with, communicable with, cooperating with, interleaved, juxtaposed, proximate to, bound to or bound with, having, having the property of, and the like; and the term "controller" means any device, system, or portion thereof that controls at least one operation, such device may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or software, or some combination of at least two thereof. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.

[0022] In addition, the various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed by a computer-readable program code and embodied in a computer-readable medium. The terms "application" and "program" refer to one or more computer programs, software components, instruction sets, processes, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data or parts thereof suitable for implementation in a suitable computer-readable program code. The phrase "computer-readable program code" includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code and executable code. The phrase "computer-readable medium" includes any type of medium that can be accessed by a computer, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard drive, a compact disk (CD), a digital video disk (DVD) or any other type of memory. "Non-transient" computer-readable media does not include wired, wireless, optical or other communication links that transmit transient electrical signals or other signals. Non-transient computer-readable media include media that can permanently store data and media that can store data and rewrite it later, such as rewritable optical disks or erasable memory devices.

[0023] Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

[0024] Beneficial effects of the present invention

[0025] According to various embodiments, the terminal in the communication system can check the authority of the profile server that has sent the remote management command based on whether the eUICC can process the remote management command and based on the SM-DP + information of the installed profile, etc., and if the authority of the remote management command of the profile server cannot be checked due to the absence of the manager profile server information in the profile, or if the eUICC cannot process the remote management command, the remote management command can be switched to a local management command and the local management command can be executed.

[0026] In addition, according to the embodiment, even if the terminal in which the eUICC is installed cannot be controlled, the profile in the terminal can be remotely managed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts:

[0028] Figure 1 A diagram illustrating a method for connecting to a mobile communication network by a terminal according to an embodiment by using a UICC in which an embedded profile is loaded;

[0029] Figure 2 A diagram showing an example of a normal process in which a terminal receives a remote management command from a profile server and processes it according to an embodiment;

[0030] Figure 3 A diagram illustrating an example of a normal process in which a terminal according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server but fails in remote management because the profile server is not described as a manager profile server (management SM-DM+) of a target profile;

[0031] Figure 4A A diagram showing an example of a terminal operation process, in which the terminal according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server, but switches the remote management command to a local management command because the profile server is not described as an administrator profile server of a target profile;

[0032] Figure 4BA diagram showing an example of a terminal operation process, in which the terminal according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server, but performs a continuous operation of switching the remote management command to a local management command because the profile server is not described as a manager profile server of a target profile;

[0033] Figure 5 A diagram showing an example of a terminal operation process, in which the terminal according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server, but switches the remote management command to a local management command because the eUICC does not support remote profile management;

[0034] Fig. 6A A diagram illustrating an example of a terminal operation process in which a terminal successfully processes a command code through a specific application according to an embodiment;

[0035] Figure 6B A diagram illustrating an example of a terminal operation process in which a terminal fails to process a command code through a specific application according to an embodiment;

[0036] Figure 6C A diagram illustrating an example of a terminal operation process, in which, when a terminal according to an embodiment processes a command code through a specific application, an LPA switches the command code to an activation code and processes the activation code;

[0037] Figure 7 A diagram illustrating an example of a terminal operation process, in which a terminal according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server, but has failed to authenticate a signature of the profile server and therefore rejects remote management;

[0038] Figure 8 A diagram showing an example of a normal operation process, in which a terminal according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server, but cannot perform remote management because the eUICC does not support remote profile management;

[0039] Fig. 9 A diagram showing an example of a process in which a terminal replaces a remote management command with a local management command according to an embodiment;

[0040] Fig.10 A diagram showing an example of a process in which a terminal replaces a first-version eSIM function that cannot be processed by a second-version eUICC with an equivalent second-version function according to an embodiment;

[0041] Fig.11A A diagram showing a method for downloading a profile according to the present disclosure, and Fig. 11B A diagram showing a method for downloading a profile according to the present disclosure;

[0042] Fig. 12A A diagram showing a method for installing and activating a profile according to an embodiment, and Fig. 12B A diagram illustrating a method for installing and enabling a profile according to an embodiment;

[0043] Fig.13A A diagram showing another method for installing and activating a profile according to an embodiment, and Fig. 13B A diagram illustrating another method for installing and enabling a profile according to an embodiment;

[0044] Figure 14AA A diagram showing another method for installing and activating a profile according to an embodiment, Fig.14AB A diagram showing another method for installing and activating a profile according to an embodiment, and Fig. 14B A diagram illustrating another method for installing and enabling a profile according to an embodiment;

[0045] Fig.15 It is shown that according to the embodiment, Fig. 12A , Fig. 12B , Fig.13A , Fig. 13B , Figure 14AA , Fig.14AB and Fig. 14B diagrams of more specific operations implemented together;

[0046] Fig.16 A diagram showing a configuration of a terminal according to an embodiment;

[0047] Fig.17 A diagram showing a configuration of a profile server according to an embodiment; and

[0048] Fig.18 A diagram showing a configuration of a service server according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] The following discussion shows Figures 1 to 18 The various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are illustrative only and should not be interpreted in any way as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure can be implemented in any appropriately arranged system or device.

[0050] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0051] When describing the embodiments, descriptions of technologies known to those skilled in the art and not directly related to the present disclosure may be omitted. Such unnecessary omissions of descriptions are intended to prevent obscuring the main concept of the present disclosure and to convey the main concept more clearly.

[0052] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some elements may be exaggerated, omitted or schematically shown. In addition, the size of each element does not fully reflect the actual size. In the accompanying drawings, the same or corresponding elements are provided with the same reference numerals.

[0053] By referring to the embodiments described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the advantages and features of the present disclosure and the ways to achieve them will be clear. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described below, but can be implemented in various different forms. The embodiments are provided separately to make the present disclosure complete and to inform the full scope of the present disclosure to the technicians in the field to which the present disclosure belongs. The present disclosure is limited only by the scope of the claims. Throughout the specification, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements.

[0054] Here, it will be understood that each box of the flowchart illustration and the combination of boxes in the flowchart illustration can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device to generate a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device create a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowchart boxes. These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-usable or computer-readable memory, which can instruct the computer or other programmable data processing device to act in a specific way, so that the instructions stored in the computer-usable or computer-readable memory generate products including instruction devices that implement the functions specified in one or more flowchart boxes. Computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause a series of operating steps to be performed on a computer or other programmable device to generate a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowchart boxes.

[0055] Each frame of the flowchart diagram can represent a module, a fragment or a part of a code, which includes one or more executable instructions for realizing the specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative embodiments, the functions mentioned in the frame may not occur in order. For example, two frames shown in succession can actually be performed substantially simultaneously, or these frames can sometimes be performed in reverse order, depending on the functions involved.

[0056] As used herein, "unit" refers to a software element or hardware element that performs a predetermined function, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). However, "unit" does not always have a meaning limited to software or hardware. "Unit" can be constructed to be stored in an addressable storage medium or to execute one or more processors. Therefore, "unit" includes, for example, software elements, object-oriented software elements, class elements or task elements, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, program code segments, drivers, firmware, microcodes, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays and parameters. The elements and functions provided by "unit" can be combined into a smaller number of element "units", or divided into a larger number of element "units". In addition, elements and "units" can be implemented to reproduce one or more CPUs in a device or a secure multimedia card.

[0057] Specific terms used herein are provided to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure, and may be changed into other forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0058] A universal integrated circuit card (UICC) is a smart card used while being inserted into a mobile communication terminal, etc., and is also referred to as a UICC card. A UICC may include an access control module for accessing a network of a mobile communication operator. Examples of access control modules include a universal subscriber identity module (USIM), a subscriber identity module (SIM), and an IP multimedia service identity module (ISIM). A UICC including a USIM is also referred to as a USIM card. Similarly, a UICC including a SIM module is also referred to as a SIM card.

[0059] In the present disclosure, the terms "SIM card", "UICC card", "USIM card" and "UICC including ISIM" may be used in the same meaning hereinafter. In addition, the same technical applications as SIM card may be applied to USIM card, ISIM card or ordinary UICC card.

[0060] The SIM card stores the personal information of mobile communication subscribers, authenticates the subscriber when accessing the mobile communication network, and generates service security keys, thereby enabling secure mobile communication use.

[0061] At the proposed time point of the present disclosure, the SIM card is usually manufactured as a dedicated card for the corresponding operator at the request of a specific mobile communication operator, and the authentication information (e.g., USIM application, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), K value or OPc value) for accessing the network of the corresponding operator is loaded into the card before the card is shipped. Therefore, the manufactured SIM card is delivered to the corresponding mobile communication operator and then provided to the subscriber, and the application in the UICC can also be managed (e.g., installed, modified or deleted) by using technologies such as over-the-air download (OTA). The subscriber can insert the UICC card into his / her own mobile communication terminal to use the network and application services of the corresponding mobile communication operator. When the terminal is replaced, the UICC card can be moved / inserted from the existing terminal to the new terminal, so that the same authentication information, mobile communication phone number, personal phone book, etc. stored in the UICC card can be in the new terminal.

[0062] However, when a mobile communication terminal user wants to receive services from another mobile communication operator, the SIM card brings inconvenience to him / her. That is, in order to receive services from a mobile communication operator, the mobile communication terminal user needs to inconveniently physically obtain a SIM card. For example, when he / she is traveling in another country, it is inconvenient to obtain a local SIM card to receive local mobile communication services. Roaming services can eliminate this inconvenience to a certain extent, but there is a problem that the service is relatively expensive, and if there is no connection between the relevant communication operators, the service is not available.

[0063] If the SIM module is downloaded and installed in the UICC card remotely, this inconvenience can be eliminated to a certain extent. That is, the SIM module of the mobile communication service to be used can be downloaded to the UICC card at the time point desired by the user. Multiple SIM modules can be downloaded and installed in the UICC card, and only one SIM module can be selected and used. Such a UICC card may be embedded in the terminal or may not be embedded therein. The UICC used while being embedded in the terminal is called an embedded UICC (eUICC). The eUICC may generally refer to a UICC card, which is used while being embedded in the terminal, and which is configured so that the SIM module can be downloaded and selected remotely.

[0064] In the present disclosure, any type of UICC card configured so that a SIM module can be downloaded and selected remotely will be referred to as an eUICC as a whole. That is, a UICC card configured so that a SIM module can be downloaded and selected remotely will be referred to as an eUICC hereinafter, regardless of whether it is embedded in a terminal. In addition, the downloaded SIM module information will generally be referred to as an eUICC profile, or more simply as a profile.

[0065] Hereinafter, the terms used in the present disclosure will be described in more detail.

[0066] As used herein, "UICC" is a smart card used while being inserted into a mobile communication terminal, and may refer to a chip configured to store personal information of a mobile communication subscriber (such as network access authentication information, phone directory, and SMS), so that when accessing a mobile communication network (e.g., GSM, WDCMA, or LTE), the subscriber is authenticated and a traffic security key is generated, thereby enabling secure mobile communication usage. Depending on the type of mobile communication network accessed by the subscriber, the UICC may have a communication application (e.g., SIM, USIM, or ISIM) loaded therein. The UICC may also provide a higher-level security function for loading various applications (e.g., e-wallets, ticketing, and e-passports) therein.

[0067] As used herein, "eUICC" refers to a chip-type security module embedded in a terminal, which cannot be inserted into / removed from the terminal (non-"attachable / removable type"). A profile can be downloaded and installed in the eUICC by using OTA technology. In other words, the eUICC can be a UICC configured so that a profile can be downloaded and installed therein.

[0068] In the present disclosure, the method for downloading a profile and installing it in an eUICC by using OTA technology is also applicable to an attachable / detachable UICC that can be inserted into and detached from a terminal. That is, the embodiment is also applicable to a UICC configured so that a profile can be downloaded and installed therein by using OTA technology. Although the present disclosure will be described with reference to an eUICC configured so that a profile can be downloaded and installed therein, the content of the present disclosure is not limited to a chip-type security module embedded in a terminal (eUICC), and may also be applicable to an attachable / detachable UICC configured so that a profile can be downloaded and installed therein.

[0069] In the present disclosure, the term “UICC” may be used interchangeably with “SIM”, and the term “eUICC” may be used interchangeably with “eSIM”.

[0070] As used herein, a “profile” may refer to an application, a file system, an authentication key, etc. that is stored in a UICC and packaged in a software type.

[0071] As used herein, a "USIM profile" may be used in the same sense as a profile, or may refer to information included in a USIM application inside a profile and packaged in a software type.

[0072] As used herein, the operation of enabling a profile of a terminal may refer to an operation of changing the state of the profile to "enabled" so as to configure the terminal to be able to receive communication services through a communication operator that has provided the profile. A profile in an enabled state may be described as an "enabled profile".

[0073] As used herein, the operation of disabling a profile of a terminal may refer to an operation of changing the state of the profile to "disabled" and thereby configuring the terminal to be unable to receive communication services through a communication operator that has provided the profile. A profile in a disabled state may be described as a "disabled profile".

[0074] As used herein, the operation of deleting a profile of a terminal may refer to an operation of changing the state of the corresponding profile to "deleted" and thereby configuring the terminal to no longer be able to enable or disable the profile. A profile in a deleted state may be described as a "deleted profile".

[0075] As used herein, the operation of enabling, disabling or deleting a profile of a terminal may have the following meaning: instead of immediately changing the state of each profile to "enabled", "disabled" or "deleted", the terminal may first mark "to be enabled", "to be disabled" or "to be deleted" with respect to each profile, and after performing a specific operation (e.g., executing a "refresh" or "reset" command), the terminal or the UICC of the terminal may change each profile to "enabled", "disabled" or "deleted". The operation of marking a scheduled state (e.g., "to be enabled", "to be disabled" or "to be deleted") with respect to a specific profile is not necessarily limited to marking one scheduled state with respect to one profile, and one or more profiles may also be marked with the same or different scheduled states, one profile may be marked with one or more scheduled states, or one or more profiles may be marked with the same or different one or more scheduled states.

[0076] In addition, when the terminal marks a specific profile with one or more scheduling states, the two marks can be merged into one. For example, if a specific profile is marked with "to be disabled" and "to be deleted", the profile can be marked with "to be disabled and deleted" as a whole.

[0077] In addition, the operation of the terminal marking one or more profiles with the scheduled state can be performed continuously or simultaneously. In addition, the operation of the terminal marking one or more profiles with the scheduled state and then changing the actual state of the profile can be performed sequentially or simultaneously.

[0078] In the present disclosure, the profile provisioning server may include the functions of generating a profile, encrypting the generated profile, generating a remote profile management instruction, or encrypting the generated remote profile management instruction. The profile provisioning server may be represented as at least one of the following: subscription manager data preparation (SM-DP), subscription manager data preparation enhancement (SM-DP+), manager profile server, management subscription manager data preparation enhancement (management SM-DP+), off-card entity of profile domain, profile encryption server, profile generation server, profile provider (PP), profile provider, and profile provisioning credential holder (PPC holder).

[0079] In the present disclosure, the profile management server may be represented as at least one of a subscription manager secure routing (SM-SR), a subscription manager secure routing plus (SM-SR+), an off-card entity of an eUICC profile manager, a profile management credential holder (PMC holder), or an eUICC manager (EM).

[0080] As used herein, the profile provisioning server may also incorporate the functionality of the profile management server. Therefore, the operations of the profile provisioning server in the various embodiments described below may also be performed by the profile management server. Similarly, the operations described with respect to the profile management server or SM-SR may also be performed by the profile provisioning server. In addition, the profile provisioning server or the profile management server as used herein may be represented as a profile server. The profile server may be one of the profile provisioning server or the profile management server, or may be a device including both the profile provisioning server and the profile management server. In addition, the profile provisioning server and the profile management server may be referred to as a first profile server and a second profile server, respectively.

[0081] As used herein, an open / intermediary server may be represented as at least one of a subscription manager discovery service (SM-DS), a discovery service (DS), a root SM-DS, or an alternative SM-DS. An open / intermediary server may receive a registration event request or an event registration request from one or more profile provisioning servers or an open / intermediary server. In addition, one or more open / intermediary servers may be used in combination, and the first open / intermediary server in this case may receive not only an event registration request from a profile provisioning server, but also an event registration request from a second open / intermediary server. A profile server may also include one or more open / intermediary servers.

[0082] As used herein, the profile provisioning server and the open / broker server may be collectively referred to as a Remote SIM Provisioning (RSP) server. The RSP server may be denoted as Subscription Manager XX (SM-XX).

[0083] The term "terminal" used in this document may be referred to as a mobile station (MS), user equipment (UE), user terminal (UT), wireless terminal, access terminal (AT), terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station (SS), wireless device, wireless communication device, wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile node, mobile device or other terms.

[0084] Various embodiments of the terminal may include a cellular phone, a smart phone with a wireless communication function, a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a wireless communication function, a wireless modem, a portable computer with a wireless communication function, a shooting device with a wireless communication function (such as a digital camera), a gaming device with a wireless communication function, a home appliance with a wireless communication function for storing and reproducing music, an Internet home appliance capable of performing wireless Internet access and browsing, and a portable unit or terminal with an integrated combination of their functions. In addition, the terminal may include, but is not limited to, a machine-to-machine (M2M) terminal and a machine type communication (MTC) terminal / device. In the present disclosure, a terminal may also be referred to as an electronic device.

[0085] In the present disclosure, an electronic device may have a UICC embedded therein so that a profile can be downloaded and installed therein. When an electronic device does not have an embedded UICC, a UICC physically separated from the electronic device may be inserted into the electronic device and connected to the electronic device. For example, the UICC may be inserted into the electronic device in a card type. The electronic device may include a terminal, and the terminal may include a UICC configured so that a profile can be downloaded and installed therein. Not only can the UICC be inserted into the terminal, but the UICC can also be inserted therein when separated from the terminal, and can also be inserted and connected to the terminal. For example, a UICC configured so that a profile can be downloaded and installed therein may be referred to as an eUICC.

[0086] In the present disclosure, a terminal or an electronic device may include software or an application installed in the terminal or the electronic device to control the UICC or the eUICC. For example, the software or application installed in the terminal or the electronic device to control the UICC or the eUICC may be referred to as a local profile assistant (LPA).

[0087] As used herein, a "profile identifier" may be referred to as a profile ID, an integrated circuit card ID (ICCID), a match ID, an event ID, an activation code, an activation code token, a command code, a command code token, or a factor that matches an ISD-P or a profile domain (PD). The profile ID may indicate a unique ID for each profile. The profile identifier may include an address of a profile provisioning server (SM-DP+) that can index the profile.

[0088] In the present disclosure, the eUICC ID may be a unique ID embedded in the terminal and may be referred to as an EID. In addition, if the eUICC has a provisioning profile preloaded therein, the eUICC ID may be a profile ID of the provisioning profile. In addition, if the terminal and the eUICC chip are not separated as in the embodiment, the eUICC ID may be a terminal ID. In addition, the eUICC ID may refer to a specific security domain of the eUICC chip.

[0089] In this disclosure, a "profile container" may be referred to as a profile domain. A profile container may be a security domain.

[0090] In the present disclosure, an application protocol data unit (APDU) may be a message used by a terminal to interwork with an eUICC. In addition, an APDU may be a message used by a PP or a profile manager (PM) to interwork with an eUICC.

[0091] In the present disclosure, the profile provisioning credential (PPC) may be a means for mutual authentication, profile encryption, and signing between the profile provisioning server and the eUICC. The PPC may include at least one of a symmetric key, a Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) certificate and a personal key, an elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) certificate and a personal key, a root certification authority (root CA), and a certificate chain. In addition, if there are multiple profile provisioning servers, different PPCs may be stored or used in the eUICC for the multiple profile provisioning servers.

[0092] In the present disclosure, the profile management credential (PMC) may be a means for mutual authentication, transmission data encryption and signing between the profile management server and the eUICC. The PMC may include at least one of a symmetric key, an RSA certificate and a personal key, an ECC certificate and a personal key, a root CA, and a certificate chain. In addition, if there are multiple profile management servers, different PMCs may be stored or used in the eUICC for the multiple profile management servers.

[0093] In the present disclosure, ADI may be an application identifier. This value may be an identifier used to identify different applications within the eUICC.

[0094] In the present disclosure, the term "event" may be used to represent profile download, remote profile management, or other instructions for managing / processing profiles or eUICCs in an integrated manner. An event may be referred to as a remote SIM provisioning operation (or RSP operation) or an event record. Each event may be referred to as data including at least one of an event identifier (event ID or eventID) corresponding thereto, a matching identifier (matching ID or matchingID), or an address (FQDN, IP address, or URL) of a profile provisioning server (SM-DP+) or an open / mediation server (SM-DS) storing the event. Profile download may be used interchangeably with profile installation. In addition, the term "event type" may be used to indicate whether a particular event is a profile download, remote profile management (e.g., delete, enable, disable, replace, or update), or another command for managing / processing a profile or eUICC. An event type may be referred to as an operation type (or operationtype), an operation class (or operationclass), an event request type, an event class, or an event request class.

[0095] In the present disclosure, the term "profile package" may be used interchangeably with profile or to represent a data object of a specific profile, and may be referred to as a profile TLV or a profile package TLV. If the profile package is encrypted by using encryption parameters, it may be referred to as a protected profile package (PPP) or a protected profile package TLV (PPP TLV). When the profile package is encrypted by using encryption parameters that can only be decrypted by a specific eUICC, it may be referred to as a bound profile package (BPP) or a bound profile package TLV (BPP TLV). The profile package TLV may be a data set that expresses information constituting a profile in a tag / length / value (TLV) format.

[0096] As used herein, "local profile management (LPM)" may be referred to as profile local management, local management, local management command, local command, LPM package, profile local management package, local management package, local management command package, or local command package. LPM may be used to change the state (enable, disable, or delete) of a particular profile, or to update the content of a particular profile (e.g., a profile nickname of profile metadata) through software installed in a terminal, etc. LPM may include one or more local management commands, and in this case the profile that is the target of each local management command may be the same or different for each local management command.

[0097] As used herein, "remote profile management (RPM)" may be referred to as profile remote management, remote management, remote management commands, remote commands, RPM packages, profile remote management packages, remote management packages, remote management command packages, or remote command packages. RPMs may be used to change the state of a particular profile (enable, disable, or delete) or to update the content of a particular profile (e.g., a profile nickname or profile metadata). An RPM may include one or more remote management commands, and in such a case the profile that is the target of each remote management command may be the same or different for each remote management command.

[0098] As used herein, the term "target profile" may refer to a profile that is a target of a local management command or a remote management command.

[0099] As used herein, "certificate" or "digital certificate" may refer to a digital certificate for mutual authentication based on an asymmetric key including a pair of public keys (PK) and secret keys (SK). Each certificate may include one public key or more than one public keys, a public key identifier (PKID) corresponding to each public key, an ID (certificate issuer ID) of a certificate issuer (CI) that issued the corresponding certificate, and a digital signature.

[0100] Additionally, a certificate issuer may be referred to as a certificate issuer, a certificate authority (CA), or a certificate certification authority.

[0101] In the present disclosure, "public key" and "public key identifier" may be used interchangeably with: a specific public key or a certificate including the public key; or a portion of a specific public key or a portion of a certificate including the public key; or an operation result (e.g., a hash value) of a specific public key or an operation result (e.g., a hash value) of a certificate including the public key; or an operation result (e.g., a hash value) of a portion of a specific public key or an operation result (e.g., a hash value) of a portion of a certificate including the public key; or a memory for storing data.

[0102] In the present disclosure, if a certificate (primary certificate) issued by a certificate issuer is used to issue another certificate (secondary certificate), or if a secondary certificate is used to issue a third-level or higher-level certificate in an interconnected manner, the correlation between certificates may be referred to as a certificate chain or certificate hierarchy. The CI certificate used to issue the initial certificate may be referred to as a certificate root, a top-level certificate, a root CI, a root CI certificate, a root CA, or a root CA certificate.

[0103] As used herein, "mobile operator" may refer to a commercial company for providing communication services to a terminal, and may be used in a comprehensive manner to represent a mobile operator's business support system (BSS), an operation support system (OSS), a point of sale (POS) terminal, and other IT systems. In addition, as used herein, a mobile operator is not limited to a specific commercial company for providing communication services, but may be used to represent a group or association (or alliance) of one or more commercial companies, or a representative of a group or association. In addition, a mobile operator may also be referred to as an operator (OP or Op.), a mobile network operator (MNO), a service provider (SP), or a profile owner (PO), and each mobile operator may have at least one name and / or object identifier (OI) configured or assigned thereto. If a mobile operator refers to a group, association, or representative of one or more commercial companies, the name or OID of a specific group, association, or representative may be a name or OID shared by all commercial companies belonging to the group or association, or a name or OID of all businesses that collaborate with the corresponding representative.

[0104] In the present disclosure, "version" may refer to a version of a specification or protocol supported by a specific entity, and may also be expressed as a specification version number (SVN) or the like. For example, "LPA version (or LPASVN)" may be used as a term referring to a version of a protocol supported by an LPA inside a terminal. For example, an eUICC version (or eUICC SVN) may be used as a term referring to a version of a protocol supported by an eUICC inside a terminal. For example, a device version (or device SVN) may be used as a term referring to at least one of a version of a protocol supported by an LPA inside a terminal and a version of a protocol supported by an eUICC. For example, a server version (or server SVN) may be used as a term referring to a version of a protocol supported by a corresponding server. For example, a profile version (or profile SVN) may be used as a term referring to a version of a protocol supported by a corresponding profile.

[0105] In the present disclosure, a version may be expressed as a combination of at least one selected from at least one digit indicating the corresponding version, a separator delimiting each digit, and a prefix indicating that the corresponding digit describes the version. For example, if three digits are used to describe the major, minor, and revision of the version, respectively, the version of a specific entity may be expressed by using a separator "." and a prefix "v", such as "v3.0.0", or "3.0.0" with the prefix omitted. If necessary, the digit "." may be additionally omitted, and the version of a specific entity may be indicated by only the major version. It should be noted that the above-mentioned example of version description using three digits, a specific separator, and a prefix may be similarly extended and applied to other cases using more digits or other separators and prefixes.

[0106] As used in this document, the expression “the second version is before the first version” with respect to two versions may be interpreted to mean that the number describing the first version is greater than the number describing the second version, or that some or all of the functions supported by the first version protocol are not supported by the second version protocol.

[0107] In the present disclosure, 'AKA' may refer to Authentication and Key Agreement, and may indicate an authentication algorithm for accessing 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks.

[0108] In the present disclosure, “K” (K value) may refer to an encryption key for the AKA authentication algorithm stored in the eUICC.

[0109] In the present disclosure, 'OPc' may be a parameter value for an AKA authentication algorithm that can be stored in the eUICC.

[0110] In the present disclosure, "NAA" may refer to a network access application stored in a UICC for accessing a network, such as a USIM or an ISIM. The NAA may be a network access module.

[0111] Furthermore, in the following description of the present disclosure, a detailed description of known functions or configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when the detailed description may make the subject matter of the present disclosure rather unclear.

[0112] Hereinafter, various embodiments will be described regarding: a method and apparatus for generating and managing a list of mobile operators capable of remotely managing profiles, a method and apparatus for downloading communication services to a terminal, installing communication services and connecting communications in a communication service, and a method and apparatus for downloading and installing profiles online in a communication system.

[0113] Figure 1 A diagram illustrating a method for connecting to a mobile communication network by a terminal according to an embodiment by using a UICC in the terminal in which an embedded profile has been loaded.

[0114] like Figure 1 As shown, the UICC 120 may be inserted into the terminal 110. For example, the UICC 120 may be an attachable / detachable type, or may be pre-embedded in the terminal 110.

[0115] The embedded profile of the UICC in which the embedded profile has been loaded means that "access information" is embedded therein, which can be used to access a specific mobile operator. For example, the access information can be a subscriber identifier (IMSI) and the K or Ki value necessary to authenticate the network together with the subscriber identifier.

[0116] The terminal 110 may use the UICC 120 to perform authentication with an authentication processing system (e.g., a home location register (HLR) or AuC) of a mobile operator. For example, the authentication process may be an AKA processor. After successful authentication, the terminal 110 may use mobile communication services (e.g., make a phone call or use mobile data) by using a mobile communication network 130 of a mobile communication system.

[0117] Figure 2 A diagram illustrating an example of a normal procedure in which a terminal receives a remote management command from a profile server and processes the same according to an embodiment.

[0118] exist Figure 2 In the present invention, the terminal 250 may have an eUICC 252 installed therein, and may have an LPA installed therein so as to control the eUICC 252. In addition, the terminal 250 or the eUICC 252 may have one or more profiles installed therein. In addition, each installed profile may have a description of one or more profile servers capable of remotely controlling the profile. Although it will be assumed in the following description that the profile server is, for example, a manager profile server (management SM-DP+) or SM-DP+, the profile server of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0119] The described list of administrator profile servers may include the address of each administrator profile server (in the type of IP address or FQDN) or its object identifier.Although not shown in the diagram, remote profile management commands generated at the request of the mobile operator may be pending in the profile server 260.

[0120] refer to Figure 2 In step 201, the terminal 250 and the profile server 260 may perform mutual authentication. Step 201 may include a TLS connection based on server authentication. In addition, step 201 may also include sending and receiving, for example, at least one or more steps of initiating an authentication request message, initiating an authentication response message, and authenticating a client request message. In addition, step 201 may be a process integrated with part or all of step 203.

[0121] In step 203, the profile server 260 may send the remote profile management command to the LPA 254. In step 203, the profile server 260 may use, for example, at least one remote management command and a terminal authentication response (authentication client response) message including a digital signature of the profile server 260. The digital signature of the profile server 260 may be calculated based on the at least one remote management command.

[0122] It will be noted that although the diagram shows an example of only one “enable profile” remote management command being sent in step 203, more than one remote management command may be sent as described above, and various types of remote management commands may be sent in addition to the “enable profile” remote management command, such as “disable profile” and “delete profile”.

[0123] In step 205, the LPA 254 may deliver the remote profile management command to the eUICC 252. In step 205, the LPA 254 may use, for example, at least one remote management command and a remote management input request (load RPM package request) message including a digital signature of the profile server 260. The remote management input request message may include part or all of the terminal authentication response message in step 203.

[0124] In step 207, the eUICC 252 may authenticate the digital signature of the profile server 260 received in step 205. The authentication of the digital signature may be calculated based on the at least one remote management command received in step 205. After successfully authenticating the digital signature, the eUICC 252 may perform step 209.

[0125] In step 209, regarding the one or more remote management commands received in step 205, the eUICC 252 may identify whether the profile server 260 that has sent the remote management command is described as a manager profile server of the target profile of each remote management command. That is, the remote management command may target different profiles installed in the eUICC, and the target profile of the corresponding remote management command may be identified based on the profile ID (or ICCID) within the remote management command. Regarding the target profile of the remote management command sent by the profile server 260 described as the manager profile server, the eUICC 252 may perform step 211.

[0126] In step 211, the eUICC 252 may execute one or more remote management commands received in step 205. If one or more remote management commands are received, the eUICC 252 may repeatedly execute each remote management command. After executing each remote management command, the eUICC 252 may generate a remote management input result (load RPM package result).

[0127] If each remote management is successful, the remote management input result regarding the one or more remote management commands received by the eUICC 252 may include at least one string type of "OK" or a numeric string corresponding thereto, and if each remote management fails, may include at least one string type of error code indicating the cause of failure or a numeric string corresponding thereto.

[0128] The diagram shows a case where the remote management command received in step 205 is “activate profile”, and the eUICC 252 has successfully activated the target profile and therefore generates a result of “OK” in step 211 .

[0129] In step 213, the eUICC 252 may send the remote management input result as a reply to the LPA 254. In step 213, the eUICC 252 may use a remote management input response (Load RPM package response) message including at least the remote management input result.

[0130] In step 215, LPA 254 may deliver the remote management input result (RPM package loading result) to profile server 260. In step 215, LPA 254 may use, for example, a process notification message. In step 213, the process notification message may include part or all of the remote management input response message.

[0131] refer to Figure 2 , if the profile server 260 is described as a management profile server in a specific profile installed in the terminal 250 or the eUICC 252, the profile server 260 may send a remote management command to the terminal 250 in order to remotely control a target profile.

[0132] Figure 3 A diagram showing an example of a general process in which a terminal according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server but fails in remote management because the profile server is not described as a manager profile server (management SM-DM+) of a target profile.

[0133] exist Figure 3 , the description and reference of terminal 350 and profile server 360 Figure 2 The description of step 301 to step 307 is the same as that of step 307, so it will not be repeated here. Figure 2 The descriptions of steps 201 to 207 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0134] In step 309, regarding the one or more remote management commands received in step 305, the eUICC 352 may identify whether the profile server 360 that has sent the remote management command is described as a manager profile server of the target profile of each remote management command. Regarding the target profile of the remote management command sent by the profile server 360 that is not described as the manager profile server, the eUICC 352 may perform step 311.

[0135] In step 311, the eUICC 352 may generate a remote management input result (load RPM package result). The remote management input result regarding one or more remote management commands received by the eUICC 352 may include at least one string type of "OK" or a numeric string corresponding thereto if each remote management is successful, and at least one string type of error code indicating a failure cause or a numeric string corresponding thereto if each remote management fails.

[0136] This diagram shows a case where the remote management command received in step 305 is “Enable Profile”, and the eUICC 352 fails to authenticate the administrator profile server and thus generates an error code “DisallowedManagingSM-DP+ (or disallowedManagingDp)” as a result in step 309.

[0137] The description of steps 313 to 315 is the same as Figure 2 The description of steps 213 to 215 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here. Figure 3 , by using the administrator profile server list of the profile installed in the terminal 350 or the eUICC 352, the terminal 350 can distinguish between a profile server having the authority to remotely manage the corresponding profile and a profile server without the authority, and can prevent the profile server without the authority from performing remote management, thereby securely protecting the profile. However, a disadvantage is that, in the case of a profile installed by a profile server that does not support the remote profile management function and therefore does not have the administrator profile server list configured therein, remote profile management cannot be supported before the administrator profile server list is generated by profile update.

[0138] Figure 4A A diagram showing an example of a terminal operation process in which a terminal according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server but switches the remote management command to a local management command because the profile server is not described as a manager profile server of a target profile.

[0139] exist Figure 4AIn the present invention, the terminal 450 may have an eUICC 452 installed therein, and may have an LPA 454 installed therein so as to control the eUICC 452. In addition, the terminal 450 or the eUICC 452 may have one or more profiles installed therein. In addition, each installed profile may have a description of one or more administrator profile servers capable of remotely controlling the profile, or may not have a description thereof. The case where there is no description of the administrator profile server may include a case where there is a data object representing a list of administrator profile servers but there is no entry thereof, and a case where there is no data object representing a list of administrator profile servers. In the present disclosure, for ease of description, the former case will be referred to as an "empty list" and the latter case will be referred to as an "invalid list". When processing the operation of the terminal 450, the LPA 454 may distinguish between an empty list and an invalid list.

[0140] Figure 4A The description of steps 401 to 407 in Figure 2 The description of steps 201 to 207 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here. In addition, Figure 4A The description of steps 409 to 413 in Figure 3 The descriptions of steps 309 to 313 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0141] In step 415, LPA 454 may check the remote management input result (Load RPM package result) sent as a reply by eUICC 452. If the remote management input result includes an error code "disallowedManagingDP+ or disallowedManagingDP), LPA 454 may check the manager profile server list of the target profile to determine the cause of the error code.

[0142] In order to check the administrator profile server list, the "get profile information" command in the local management command can be used as an operation for retrieving the profile metadata of the target profile. If the profile metadata of the target profile has been previously retrieved by using the same command and then cached in the temporary memory, the information in the temporary memory can be used. According to the result of checking the administrator profile server list of the target profile, LPA 454 can operate as follows:

[0143] (A) If one or more profile servers have been described in the manager profile server list, the LPA 454 may recognize an error code "disallowed management SM-DP+ (or disallowedManagingDp)" that has been generated because the profile server 460 does not have remote management rights with respect to the target profile. In this case, the LPA 454 may deliver the remote management input result (Load RPM package result) as a reply from the eUICC 452 to the profile server 460 in step 417 without performing additional operations.

[0144] (B) If the administrator profile server list is an invalid list

[0145] LPA 454 may recognize that the error code “disallowedManagingDp+ (or disallowedManagingDp)” has been generated because the target profile does not support remote profile management (e.g., a profile in which a manager profile server list for remote profile management is not configured). In this case, LPA 454 may selectively perform additional authentication as to whether profile server 460 is authentic. The additional authentication may be performed as in the following method list (not shown in the figure), but is not necessarily limited to the following list:

[0146] - No separate additional verification

[0147] - Additional authentication data (token, signature, digital certificate, bitmap, logo, etc.) is received from the profile server in step 403 and the LPA 454 or eUICC 452 performs authentication

[0148] - Using a separate message other than the terminal authentication response in step 403

[0149] - By comparing the administrator profile server list of the target profile with the addresses (IP addresses of FQDN) of profile servers stored separately in the LPA 454 or eUICC 452, or with the list of object identifiers, the LPA 454 or eUICC 452 authenticates whether the profile server 460 is included in the corresponding list

[0150] - The LPA 454 or eUICC 452 requests the Profile Server 460 to provide additional authentication data (token, signature, digital certificate, bitmap, logo, etc.), and the LPA 454 or eUICC 452 authenticates the data received from the Profile Server 460 in reply

[0151] If the additional authentication is successful, LPA 454 can determine that although the target profile does not support remote profile management, profile server 460 has remote management authority, can switch the remote management command to an equivalent local management command (which does not require administrator profile server authentication), and can process the local management command. In addition, processing result data can be generated.

[0152] For example, the commands "RPM enable profile", "RPM disable profile", "RPM delete profile" and "RPM list profile information" can be switched to the commands "locally enable profile", "locally disable profile", "locally delete profile" and "locally obtain profile information" respectively and then executed.

[0153] (C) If the administrator profile server list is an empty list, LPA 454 may perform operation (A) or perform operation (B).

[0154] Description of step 417 Step 415 and Figure 2 The description of step 215 in is the same as that of step 215 in , so it will not be repeated here.

[0155] In step 417 , the LPA 454 may deliver the remote management input results and / or the local management input results (local management results) to the profile server 460 .

[0156] If LPA 454 has switched the remote management command to an equivalent local management command and then processed the local management command, LPA 454 may switch the local management input result to an equivalent remote management input result and then deliver the remote management input result. In step 417, LPA 454 may use, for example, a processing notification message. The processing notification message may include part or all of the remote management input result and / or the local management input result.

[0157] refer to Figure 4A , the terminal 450 may replace the remote management command delivered with respect to the profile that does not support remote profile management (i.e., the profile in which the administrator profile server list is not configured) with an equivalent local management command (which does not need to be compared with the administrator profile server list), and then execute the local management command, thereby supporting remote management of the corresponding profile. In addition, the terminal 450 may additionally authenticate the profile server that attempts to perform remote management with respect to the profile in which the administrator profile server list is not configured, so that the authorized profile server is controlled separately from the unauthorized profile server, thereby safely protecting the profile.

[0158] At the same time, it should be noted that although Figure 4AA case where the remote management command is an enable command is shown, but the present disclosure is not limited to the corresponding remote management command and is equally applicable to various remote management commands such as disable, delete, and update.

[0159] It should also be noted that although Figure 4A Although not shown in the figure, if necessary, LPA 454 may perform step 415 after step 403. For example, if LPA 454 has recognized that the administrator profile server list of the target profile is an empty list or an invalid list, LPA 454 may immediately switch the remote management command included in step 403 to a local management command and execute the local management command without exchanging additional messages with eUICC 452. This will be described in more detail later.

[0160] As another example, if the LPA 454 has identified through previous processing of the remote management command that the target profile does not support the remote management command, the LPA 454 may immediately switch the remote management command included in step 403 to a local management command and execute the local management command without exchanging additional messages with the eUICC 452. In such an example, steps 405 to 413 may be omitted.

[0161] Will refer to Figure 4B An example of such operation is described.

[0162] In addition, it should be noted that although not shown in the figure, the error code that causes LPA454 to replace remote management with local management is not necessarily limited to the error code "disallowed management SM-DP + (or disallowedManagingDp)", and can be extended to other error codes.

[0163] For example, LPA 454 can selectively perform additional authentication of profile server 460 in response to the remote management command "profile owner check" regarding the error code "profile owner mismatch (or profileOwnerMismatch)" as in step 415, and can replace the remote management requiring profile owner check with local management that does not require profile owner check only regarding the authenticated profile server, and can perform local management.

[0164] Figure 4B A diagram showing an example of a terminal operation process in which the terminal 450 according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from the profile server 460, but performs a continuous operation of switching the remote management command to a local management command because the profile server is not described as a manager profile server of a target profile.

[0165] exist Figure 4B , the description and reference of terminal 450 and profile server 460 Figure 4A The description is the same as that of , so it will not be repeated here. In addition, Figure 4B The description of steps 451 to 467 in Figure 4A The description of steps 401 to 417 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here. In addition, Figure 4B The description of step 469 and step 471 in Figure 4A The descriptions of steps 401 to 403 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0166] Since the LPA 454 has identified that the target profile does not support remote management by performing steps 455 to 465, the LPF 454 may not deliver the remote management command to the eUICC 452 in step 473, and may Figure 4A That is, the LPA 454 may perform local profile management without delivering a remote management command to the eUICC 452.

[0167] The description of step 475 is the same as Figure 4A The description of step 417 in is the same, so it will not be repeated here.

[0168] refer to Figure 4B If the terminal 450 receives a remote management command for a target profile that has been identified as not supporting remote profile management (i.e., a profile in which the administrator profile server list is not configured), the terminal 450 does not unnecessarily deliver the remote management command for remote management to the eUICC 452, and can immediately replace the delivered remote management command with an equivalent local management command (which does not require an administrator profile server list comparison), and can execute the local management command, thereby reducing unnecessary operations of the eUICC 452 and the LPA 454.

[0169] Figure 5 A diagram showing an example of a terminal operation procedure in which a terminal 550 according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server 560, but an LPA 554 switches the remote management command to a local management command because an eUICC 552 does not support remote profile management.

[0170] exist Figure 5In the embodiment, the terminal 550 may have an eUICC 552 installed therein, and may have an LPA 554 installed therein to control the eUICC 552. In addition, the terminal 550 or the eUICC 552 may have one or more profiles installed therein. In addition, each installed profile may have a description of one or more profile servers capable of remotely controlling the profile, or may not have a description thereof. In addition, the eUICC 552 may not have a remote management command processing function implemented therein, so that the eUICC 552 cannot execute a remote management command.

[0171] Figure 5 The description of step 501 and step 503 in Figure 2 The description of step 201 and step 203 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0172] In step 505, the LPA 554 may check the capabilities of the eUICC 552. More specifically, the LPA 554 may identify whether the eUICC 552 is capable of processing remote management commands. Step 505 may be performed in the following exemplary method, but is not necessarily limited thereto, and if the terminal 550 has already identified the capabilities of the eUICC 552, step 505 may be omitted.

[0173] -The specification version number of the eUICC may be checked so that if the specification version number is equal to a predetermined specification version number (e.g., v3.0.0), higher than the predetermined specification version number, or does not exist, it may be recognized that the remote management command can be processed. If the specification version number of the eUICC is lower than the predetermined specification version number (v3.0.0), it may be recognized that the remote management command cannot be processed.

[0174] - The eUICC RSP capability (or euiccRspCapability) may be checked so that if RPM support (or rpmSupport) is described in the eUICC RSP capability, it may be recognized that the remote management command can be processed. If the eUICC RSP capability does not exist or if RPM support is not described in the eUICC RSP capability, it may be recognized that the remote management command cannot be processed.

[0175] In addition, it can be determined whether the eUICC 552 is capable of Figure 4A and Figure 4B If such a process has been performed in advance, information about whether the eUICC 552 is capable of processing the remote management command may be stored, and the LPA may check the information in step 505. Alternatively, if the eUICC capability has been identified through the above process, step 505 may be omitted.

[0176] If it is determined in step 505 that the eUICC 552 cannot process the remote management command, the LPA 554 may selectively additionally authenticate the profile server 260 in step 507, may switch the remote management command to an equivalent local management command, and may process the local management command. In addition, processing result data may be generated. A more detailed description of step 507 is as follows Figure 4A The description of step 415 in is the same, so it will not be repeated here.

[0177] In addition, the description of step 509 is the same as Figure 4A The description of step 417 in is the same, so it will not be repeated here.

[0178] refer to Figure 5 , if it is determined that the eUICC 552 installed in the Terminal 550 does not support the remote profile management function, the Terminal 550 may switch the remote management command to an equivalent local management command and then process it, which is different from the normal process of delivering the remote management command (which cannot be processed) to the eUICC 552 in vain with respect to the same condition, and thus the remote management fails (corresponding to the reference Figure 8 The following process is described).

[0179] It should also be noted that Figure 5 Some embodiments of Figure 4A Some embodiments of the present invention are not mutually exclusive, and more than one of them can be implemented in combination. Figure 5 If it is determined in step 505 of the embodiment that the eUICC 552 cannot process the remote management command, the LPA 554 may Figure 4A The remote management command is preferentially delivered to the eUICC 552 as in step 405 of the method, and may be additionally delivered to the eUICC 552 according to the reply result as in step 406 of the method. Figure 4A The same operation is performed as in steps 413 to 415 of FIG. Fig. 9 Some embodiments are described with respect to this combined operation of terminal 250 .

[0180] At the same time, it should be noted that the operation of the terminal 550 determining the function of the eUICC 552 and switching the function that the eUICC 552 does not support so that the LPA 554 processes the function is not necessarily limited to the operation of switching the remote management command to the local management command, and may also be applicable to other operations that the eUICC 552 needs to perform.

[0181] For example, FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C As shown, if the eUICC cannot authenticate the signature of the profile server necessary to execute the command code, the LPA may switch the command code to an activation code and then process it. FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C Detailed description.

[0182] Fig. 6A A diagram illustrating an example of a terminal operation process in which the terminal 650 successfully processes a command code through a specific application according to an embodiment.

[0183] exist Fig. 6A In the embodiment, the terminal 650 may have an eUICC 652 installed therein, and may have an LPA 654 installed therein in order to control the eUICC 652. In addition, the terminal 650 may have a specific application 656 (device application or device app) installed therein. The specific application may have been installed in the terminal by a specific mobile operator so that the user subscribes to a communication service. The specific application may deliver a command code generated by an external server or the like to the LPA 654 in order to request the LPA 654 to install a profile in the eUICC 652 or manage a profile. Such a function may be referred to as an LPA application programmable interface or LPA API.

[0184] refer to Fig. 6A In step 601, the application 656 may request the LPA 654 to start the LPA API. In step 601, the application may use, for example, an "Initiate LPA API Request" message.

[0185] In step 603, the LPA 654 may request the eUICC 652 to provide eUICC information. In step 603, for example, a "get eUICC information request" message may be used.

[0186] In step 605, the eUICC 652 may send the eUICC information as a reply to the LPA 654. In step 605, the eUICC 652 may use, for example, a "Get eUICC Information Response" message including at least the eUICC information (euiccInfo2).

[0187] In step 607, LPA 654 may request eUICC 652 to provide a random string (random challenge). The challenge may include a random 16-byte number / string. In step 607, LPA may use, for example, a "Get eUICC Challenge Request" message.

[0188] In step 609, the eUICC 652 may generate a string and may send it as a reply to the LPA 654. In step 609, the eUICC 652 may use, for example, a "Get eUICC Challenge Response" message including at least a string (euiccChallenge) generated by the eUICC.

[0189] In step 611, LPA 654 may send LPA API information as a reply to application 656. In step 611, LPA 654 may use, for example, an "Initiate LPA API Response" message including at least euiccInfo2, euiccChallenge, and deviceInfo.

[0190] In step 613, the application 656 may generate a command code. The application 656 may generate the command code together with at least one external server (not shown). The application 656 may also generate the command code without interworking with an external server. The command code may include at least one or more activation codes, for example, and may also include a signature of a profile server generated based on the activation code, and may also include at least one digital certificate of the profile server that generated the signature.

[0191] In step 615, application 655 may deliver the command code to LPA 654. In step 615, LPA 654 may use, for example, an "execute command code request" message including at least one command code.

[0192] In step 617, the LPA 654 may deliver the command code to the eUICC 652. In step 617, the LPA 654 may use, for example, a "Verify Command Code Request" message including at least one command code.

[0193] In step 619, the eUICC 652 may verify the signature of the profile server included in the command code. The verification of the signature may be performed by using at least an activation code included in the command code and at least one digital certificate of the profile server.

[0194] In step 621, the eUICC 652 may send the result of the verification command code as a reply to the LPA 654. In step 621, the eUICC 652 may use, for example, a "Verify Command Code Response" message including at least a result value indicating the result of the verification command code as a numeric string or a character string. Step 621 shows an example of a successful verification command code result.

[0195] In step 623, LPA 654 may send the result of executing the command code as a reply to application 656. In step 623, LPA 654 may use, for example, an "execute command code response" message including at least a result value representing the result of executing the command code as a numeric string or a character string.

[0196] In step 625, the eUICC 652 and the LPA 654 may newly install a profile by using a command code, or may manage an already installed profile. Step 625 may include Fig. 6A Step 625 may be performed, for example, according to Figure 2 The process of managing the profile already installed in the terminal 250 is the same as the process in FIG.

[0197] refer to Fig. 6A , the application 656 installed in the terminal can deliver the command code to the LPA 654 by using the LPA API, and can authenticate the validity of the command code by using the eUICC 652. To this end, both the LPA 654 and the eUICC 652 will need a function for identifying and interpreting the command code.

[0198] Figure 6B A diagram illustrating an example of a terminal operation process in which the terminal 650 is unable to process a command code through a specific application according to some embodiments.

[0199] Figure 6B Description and reference of terminal 650, eUICC 652, LPA 654 and application 656 in Fig. 6A The descriptions are the same and therefore will not be repeated here. Figure 6B The description of steps 631 to 647 in Fig. 6A The descriptions of steps 601 to 617 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0200] Now refer to Figure 6B The application 656 installed in the terminal has delivered the command code to the LPA 654 by using the LPA API, but the eUICC 652 does not have a function for authenticating the validity of the command code. Since the eUICC 652 does not have a function for authenticating the validity of the command code, the LPA 654 cannot process the command code.

[0201] Therefore, in step 651, the eUICC 652 may send an error code indicating that the received command code cannot be processed as a reply to the LPA 654. For example, the error code may be represented by a character string or a number string indicating "reference data not found" (or 0x6a 0x88 in the hexadecimal number system). Step 651 shows an example of a result of failure to verify the command code.

[0202] In step 653, LPA 654 may send the result of executing the command code as a reply to application 656. In step 653, LPA may use, for example, an "execute command code response" message, which includes at least a result value representing the result of executing the command code as a numeric string or a character string. Step 653 shows an example of the result of failure to execute the command code.

[0203] Figure 6C A diagram illustrating an example of a terminal operation process, in which, when the terminal 650 according to some embodiments processes a command code through a specific application, the LPA 654 switches the command code to an activation code and then processes the activation code.

[0204] Figure 6C Description and reference of terminal 650, eUICC 652, LPA 654 and application 656 in Fig. 6A The descriptions are the same and therefore will not be repeated here. Figure 6C The description of steps 661 to 675 in Fig. 6A The descriptions of steps 601 to 615 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0205] In step 677, the LPA 654 may check the capabilities of the eUICC 652. More specifically, the LPA 654 may identify whether the eUICC 652 is capable of verifying the command code. This confirmation may be performed in the following exemplary method, but is not necessarily limited thereto, and if the terminal 650 has already identified the capabilities of the eUICC 652, step 677 may be omitted.

[0206] -The specification version number of the eUICC may be checked so that if the specification version number is equal to a predetermined specification version number (e.g., v3.0.0), higher than the predetermined specification version number, or does not exist, it may be recognized that the command code can be processed. If the specification version number of the eUICC is lower than the predetermined specification version number (v3.0.0), it may be recognized that the command code cannot be processed.

[0207] - The eUICC RSP capability (or euiccRSPCapability) may be checked to identify that the command code can be processed if signed command code support (or signedCommandCodeV3Support) is described in the RSP capability. If there is no RSP capability or if signed command code support is not described in the RSP capability, it may be identified that the command code cannot be processed.

[0208] Alternatively, it may be determined whether the eUICC 652 can be used by referring to Figure 6BIf such a process has been performed in advance, information about whether the eUICC 652 is capable of processing the command code may be stored, and the LPA may check the information in step 677. Alternatively, if the eUICC capability has been identified through the above process, step 677 may be omitted.

[0209] In step 679, LPA 654 may switch the command code to an activation code. More specifically, LPA 654 may operate in step 679 in the following manner:

[0210] -LPA 654 can perform the same Fig. 6A The same operation is performed as shown in step 619 where the eUICC 652 authenticates the signature of the profile server included in the command code. This authentication of the signature may be performed selectively.

[0211] -LPA 654 may extract (or determine) the activation code included in the command code. The extraction of the activation code may be an operation of leaving information necessary for the activation code (e.g., the address of the profile server and the profile identifier) ​​and excluding information included in the command code but unnecessary for the activation code (e.g., the signature or digital certificate of the profile server).

[0212] The description of step 683 is the same as Fig. 6A The description of step 623 in is the same, so it will not be repeated here. In step 685, the terminal can download the profile by using the activation code, or can receive remote profile management and process it.

[0213] refer to Figure 6C , the application 656 installed in the terminal may deliver the command code to the LPA 654 by using the LPA API. The LPA 654 may determine that the eUICC 652 cannot authenticate the validity of the command code, may extract the activation code from the command code, may receive a profile download or remote profile management corresponding to the activation code from the profile server, and may process the profile download or remote profile management. As used herein, the command code includes the activation code and additional data added thereto, and the additional data may be, for example, a signature of the profile server. According to Figure 6C An embodiment of Figure 6B Compared to the embodiment of the present invention, even if the eUICC 652 does not have a function for authenticating the validity of the command code, the LPA 654 can extract the activation code from the command code, can receive the profile download or remote profile management corresponding to the activation code from the profile server, and can process the profile download or remote profile management.

[0214] Figure 7A diagram illustrating an example of a terminal operation process in which a terminal 750 according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from a profile server 760 but has failed to authenticate a signature of the profile server 760, thus rejecting remote management.

[0215] exist Figure 7 , the description and reference of terminal 750 and profile server 760 Figure 2 The description is the same as that of , so it will not be repeated here. In addition, Figure 7 The description of steps 701 to 707 in Figure 2 The descriptions of steps 201 to 205 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0216] In step 707, the eUICC 752 may authenticate the digital signature of the profile server 760. The authentication of the digital signature may be calculated based at least on the one or more remote management commands received in step 705. If the digital signature fails to be authenticated, the eUICC 752 may perform step 711.

[0217] In step 711, the eUICC 752 may generate a remote management input result (load RPM package result). The remote management input result regarding one or more remote management commands received by the eUICC 752 may include at least one string type of "OK" or a numeric string corresponding thereto if each remote management is successful, and at least one string type of error code indicating the cause of failure or a numeric string corresponding thereto if each remote management fails.

[0218] The diagram shows a case where the remote management command received in step 705 is “enable profile”, and since the digital signature of the profile server 760 cannot be authenticated, an error code “invalid signature (or invalidSignature)” is generated.

[0219] The description of steps 713 to 715 is the same as Figure 2 The descriptions of steps 713 to 715 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0220] refer to Figure 7 ,and Figure 4AIn contrast, the error code "invalid signature (or invalidSignature)" included in the remote management input result is not the error code "disallowed management of SM-DP + (or disallowedManagingDP)", and after step 713, the LPA 754 may accordingly refuse to replace the remote management with the local management. It should be noted that such an error code that causes the LPA 754 to refuse to replace the remote management with the local management is not necessarily limited to "invalid signature (or invalidSignature)", and may be extended to other error codes.

[0221] Figure 8 A diagram showing an example of a normal operation process, in which the terminal 850 according to an embodiment has received a remote management command from the profile server 860, but cannot perform remote management because the eUICC 852 does not support remote profile management.

[0222] exist Figure 8 In the embodiment, the terminal 850 may have an eUICC 852 installed therein, and may have an LPA 854 installed therein so as to control the eUICC 852. In addition, the terminal 850 or the eUICC 852 may have one or more profiles installed therein. In addition, each installed profile may have a description of one or more profile servers capable of remotely controlling the profile, or may not have a description thereof. In addition, the eUICC 852 may not have a remote management command processing function implemented therein, and thus may not be able to execute a remote management command.

[0223] Figure 8 The description of steps 801 to 805 in Figure 2 The descriptions of steps 201 to 205 in are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0224] In step 807, the eUICC 852 may send an error code indicating that the received remote profile management command cannot be processed as a reply to the LPA 854. For example, the error code may be represented as a character string or a numeric string indicating "reference data not found" (or 0x6a 0x88 in a hexadecimal number system).

[0225] In step 809, LPA 854 may deliver the execution result in step 807 to profile server 860. In step 809, LPA may use, for example, a processing notification message. For example, the processing notification message may be represented as a character string or a numeric string indicating "RPM is not supported".

[0226] refer to Figure 8If the eUICC 852 does not support remote profile management even if the LPA 854 can process the remote profile management command, the Terminal 850 cannot process the remote management command received from the profile server 860 .

[0227] Fig. 9 A diagram illustrating an example of a process in which a terminal replaces a remote management command with a local management command according to an embodiment.

[0228] refer to Fig. 9 , in step 901, the terminal can start operation.

[0229] In step 903, the terminal may receive a remote management command from the profile server. In step 903, for example, the terminal may receive the remote management command via a terminal authentication response message including at least one remote management command and a digital signature of the profile server.

[0230] In step 905, the terminal may determine whether the remote management command can be executed. For example, the terminal may determine whether the eUICC supports the execution of the remote management command. The detailed description of the determination process in step 905 is as follows: Figure 5 The description of step 505 in FIG. 1 is the same as that of step 505 in FIG. 1 , so it will not be repeated here. If the terminal cannot execute the remote management command, the terminal may execute step 913. If the terminal can execute the remote management command, the terminal may execute step 907.

[0231] In step 907, the terminal may deliver the remote management command to the eUICC. In step 907, the terminal may use, for example, a remote management input request (load RPM package request) message including at least one remote management command and a digital signature of the profile server. The remote management input request message may include part or all of the terminal authentication response message in step 903.

[0232] In step 909, the terminal may receive a remote management input result (loading RPM package result) from the eUICC. In step 909, the terminal may use, for example, a remote management input response (loading RPM package response) message including at least the remote management input result.

[0233] In step 911, the terminal may check the content of the remote management input result, and may determine whether the remote management input result includes a specific remote management error code (or a predetermined remote management error code). The specific remote management error code may be, for example, an error code "disallowed management SM-DP + (or disallowedManagingDp)", an error code "profile owner does not match (or profileOwnerMismatch"), or any other error code known to the terminal.

[0234] If the remote management input result does not include the corresponding remote management error code, the terminal may execute step 919 .

[0235] If the remote management input result includes a corresponding remote management error code, the terminal may execute step 913. The details will be described below.

[0236] In step 913, the terminal may identify whether the remote management command can be switched to a local management command. For example, the terminal may check the administrator profile server list of the target profile. The administrator profile server list may be checked by using information stored in the eUICC or by using information cached in a cache of the terminal.

[0237] As another example, the terminal may additionally authenticate the profile server that sent the remote management command. To this end, the terminal may identify whether the profile server that sent the remote management command is included in the list of profile servers independently managed by the terminal; the terminal may send a character string (challenge) to the profile server that sent the remote management command, and may request a digital signature and / or a digital certificate in response thereto; the terminal may identify whether specific data (e.g., a token) has been delivered with the remote management command; or the terminal may use other authentication means. The above examples are not necessarily used one by one, and more than one of them may be used in combination. In addition, the above example is only one example of additional authentication, and other methods may also be used.

[0238] If the remote management command cannot be switched to a local management command (eg, if the administrator profile server list is not empty, and / or if additional authentication of the profile server fails), the terminal may perform step 919 .

[0239] If the remote management command can be switched to the local management command (for example, if the administrator profile server list is an invalid list and / or if the additional authentication of the profile server succeeds), the terminal can perform step 915. If it is unclear whether the remote management command can be switched to the local management command (for example, if the administrator profile server list is an empty list and / or if the results of performing two or more authentications are different from each other), the terminal can selectively perform step 915 or step 919.

[0240] In step 915, the terminal may perform local management equivalent to the remote management command. To this end, the terminal may deliver the local management command to the eUICC. The detailed description of step 915 is the same as Figure 4A The detailed description of step 415 in is the same and will not be repeated here.

[0241] In step 917, the terminal may switch the local management input result (local management result) to an equivalent remote management input result (RPM package loading result). Step 917 may be performed selectively. A detailed description of step 917 is as follows: Figure 4A The detailed description of step 415 in is the same and will not be repeated here.

[0242] In step 919, the terminal may deliver the remote management input result or the local management input result to the profile server. In step 919, the terminal may use, for example, a processing notification message. The processing notification message may include part or all of the remote management input result or the local management input result.

[0243] The terminal may end this step and may wait for subsequent receipt of additional remote management commands.

[0244] Fig.10 A diagram illustrating an example of a process in which a terminal replaces a first-release eSIM function (new function) that cannot be processed by a second-release eUICC with an equivalent second-release function (old function) according to some embodiments.

[0245] In the following description of the present disclosure, regarding the case where the second version is before the first version, the function (eSIM function) that can be processed by the first version eUICC will be referred to as the first function, and the function that can be processed by the second version eUICC will be referred to as the second function. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto, and various terms may be used, for example, a new function replaces the first function, and an old function replaces the second function.

[0246] refer to Fig.10 , the terminal can start operation.

[0247] In step 1003, the terminal may receive a first function related request from the profile server. That is, the terminal may receive an execution request for the first version of the eSIM function from a specific application installed in the profile server or the terminal. In step 1003, the terminal may use, for example, a terminal authentication response message including at least one remote management command and a digital signature of the profile server, or an "execution command code request" message including a command code of an activation code.

[0248] In step 1005, the terminal may determine whether the first function can be performed. For example, the terminal may determine whether the specification version number (SVN) of the eUICC or its RSP capability supports the first function. The detailed description of the determination process in step 1005 is as follows: Figure 5 Step 505 and Figure 6CThe detailed description of the determination process of step 677 in is the same as that of step 677 in FIG. 1 , so it will not be repeated here. If the terminal cannot execute the first function, the terminal may execute step 1013. If the terminal can execute the remote management command, the terminal may execute step 1007.

[0249] In step 1007, the terminal may send a first function related request (or a first function execution request) to the eUICC. In step 1007, the terminal may use, for example, a remote management input request message including at least one remote management command and a digital signature of the profile server, or a "verify command code request" message.

[0250] In step 1009, the terminal may receive a result of processing the first function from the eUICC. In step 1009, the terminal may use, for example, a remote management input response message or a "verification command code response" message including at least a remote management input result.

[0251] In step 1011, the terminal may check the result of processing the first function, and may determine whether a specific error code is included. The specific error code may be, for example, an error code "disallowed management SM-DP + (or disallowedManagingDp)", an error code "profile owner does not match (or profileOwnerMismatch"), an error code "reference data not found" (or 0x6a 0x88 in the hexadecimal number system), or any other error code known to the terminal.

[0252] If the processing result does not include the corresponding error code, the terminal may execute 1019. If the processing result includes the corresponding error code, the terminal may execute 1013.

[0253] In step 1013, the terminal may identify whether the first function can be switched to the second function. For example, the terminal may check the administrator profile server list of the target profile, or may check the SVN of the eUICC or its RSP capability. The information may be checked by using information stored in the eUICC or by using information cached in a cache of the terminal.

[0254] As another example, the terminal may additionally authenticate the profile server that sent the remote management command. To this end, the terminal may identify whether the profile server that sent the remote management command is included in the list of profile servers independently managed by the terminal; the terminal may send a character string (challenge) to the profile server that sent the remote management command, and may request a digital signature and / or a digital certificate in response thereto; the terminal may identify whether specific data (e.g., a token) has been delivered with the remote management command; or the terminal may use other authentication means. The above examples are not necessarily used one by one, and more than one of them may be used in combination. In addition, the above example is only one example of additional authentication, and other methods may also be used.

[0255] If the first function cannot be switched to the second function, the terminal may execute step 1019. If the first function can be switched to the second function, the terminal may execute step 1015. If it is unclear whether the first function can be switched to the second function, the terminal may selectively execute step 1015 or step 1019.

[0256] In step 1015, the terminal may process a second function that is equivalent to the first function. That is, the terminal may deliver second function related information for processing the second function to the eUICC. The detailed description of step 1015 is the same as Figure 4A Step 415 or Figure 6C The detailed description of step 679 in is the same and therefore will not be repeated here.

[0257] In step 1017, the terminal may switch the result of processing the second function to the result of processing the first function. Step 1017 may be performed selectively. A detailed description of step 1017 is as follows: Figure 4A The detailed description of step 415 in is the same and will not be repeated here.

[0258] In step 1019, the terminal may deliver the first function processing result and / or the second function processing result to the profile server. In step 1019, the terminal may use a processing notification message.

[0259] The terminal may then end the operation and may wait for subsequent receipt of additional remote management commands.

[0260] Meanwhile, as described above, the UICC is a smart card used while being inserted into a mobile communication terminal, etc., and is also referred to as a UICC card. The UICC may include an access control module for accessing a network of a mobile communication operator. Examples of access control modules include USIM, SIM, and ISIM. A UICC including a USIM is also referred to as a USIM card. Similarly, a UICC including a SIM module is also referred to as a SIM card.

[0261] In the following description of the present disclosure, the term "SIM card" may be used in a normal sense, including a UICC card, a USIM card, and a UICC including an ISIM. That is, the same technical application for a SIM card may be performed on a USIM card, an ISIM card, or an ordinary UICC card.

[0262] The physical shape and logical functions of the UICC card are defined by a standardization organization called ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) in order to maintain international compatibility. In terms of the form factor that defines the physical shape, the size has gradually decreased, including the most widely used mini SIM, micro SIM and the recent nano SIM. This has made a great contribution to the compactness of mobile communication terminals, but it is expected that the standardization of UICC cards with a size smaller than the nano SIM is difficult because users may easily lose the UICC card. In addition, the characteristics of the attachable / removable UICC card require space for installing the attachable / removable slot in the terminal. Therefore, it is expected that any further compactness will be difficult.

[0263] The SIM card stores the personal information of mobile communication subscribers, authenticates the subscriber when accessing the mobile communication network, and generates service security keys, thereby enabling secure mobile communication use.

[0264] SIM cards are usually manufactured as dedicated cards for corresponding operators at the request of specific mobile communication operators, and authentication information (e.g., USIM application, IMSI, K value or OPc value) for accessing the network of the corresponding operator is loaded into the card before the card is shipped. Therefore, the manufactured SIM card is delivered to the corresponding mobile communication operator and then provided to the subscriber, and the application in the UICC can also be managed (e.g., installed, modified or deleted) by using technologies such as OTA. The subscriber can insert the UICC card into his / her own mobile communication terminal to use the network and application services of the corresponding mobile communication operator. When replacing the terminal, the UICC card can be moved / inserted from the existing terminal to the new terminal so that the same authentication information, mobile communication phone number, personal phone book, etc. stored in the UICC card can be in the new terminal.

[0265] However, when a mobile communication terminal user wants to receive services from another mobile communication operator, the SIM card brings inconvenience to him / her. That is, in order to receive services from a mobile communication operator, the mobile communication terminal user needs to inconveniently physically obtain a SIM card. For example, when he / she is traveling in another country, it is inconvenient to obtain a local SIM card to receive local mobile communication services. Roaming services can eliminate this inconvenience to a certain extent, but there is a problem that the service is relatively expensive, and if there is no connection between the relevant communication operators, the service is not available.

[0266] If the operator's subscriber authentication module executed in the SIM card (i.e., SIM profile) is remotely downloaded and installed in the UICC card, this inconvenience can be eliminated to a certain extent. That is, the SIM profile of the mobile communication service to be used can be downloaded to the UICC card at the time point desired by the user. Multiple SIM profiles can be downloaded and installed in the UICC card, and only one SIM can be selected and used. Such a UICC card may be embedded in the terminal or may not be embedded therein.

[0267] Meanwhile, an eUICC structure (a UICC that cannot be easily attached / detached) has been proposed by embedding a security module that performs functions similar to those of a UICC or a SIM card in a mobile communication terminal when manufacturing the mobile communication terminal. This has the same electrical characteristics and logical structure as those of a UICC defined by the standardization organization ETSI, while the physical form factor and packaging method have been modified to be more conducive to compactness, thereby providing eUICC chips of various sizes. Such eUICCs include eUICCs that follow the machine-to-machine form factor (MFF) 1 and MFF2 form factors, and also include chips that are not standardized by ETSI but are more conducive to compactness, such as dual flat no-lead (DFN) and wafer-level chip scale packaging (WLCSP) schemes.

[0268] Therefore, the UICC used while being embedded in the terminal is called eUICC. Generally, eUICC refers to a UICC card or a UICC chip used while being embedded in the terminal, and is configured to enable remote downloading and selection of a SIM module.

[0269] In the following description of the present disclosure, any type of UICC card configured to enable remote downloading and selection of a SIM module will be referred to as an eUICC as a whole. That is, a UICC card configured to enable remote downloading and selection of a SIM module will be referred to as an eUICC hereinafter, regardless of whether it is embedded in a terminal. In addition, the downloaded SIM module information will generally be referred to as a SIM profile, an RSP SIM profile, an eUICC profile, or more simply a profile. In addition, in the following description of the present disclosure, a terminal in which such an eUICC is loaded will be referred to as an eUICC terminal or an eSIM terminal.

[0270] As mentioned above, SIM modules can be downloaded and installed remotely via the following methods:

[0271] According to the first method, during mutual authentication between the eUICC in which the SIM profile is stored and the remote profile server, only the remote server having the same secret key as the secret key stored in the eUICC can install the profile (operation 1), enable the installed profile (operation 2), or disable the installed profile (operation 3).

[0272] That is, according to the first method, only the "authorized server" with a secret key can perform profile management on a specific eUICC (eg, operation 1, operation 2, operation 3), and can securely perform remote management of the profile of the terminal in which the eUICC is loaded.

[0273] According to the second method, during authentication between the eUICC in which the SIM profile is stored and the remote profile server, only a remote server that holds a certificate issued by a “trusted certificate issuer” stored in the eUICC and can sign with a personal key corresponding to the certificate can install (operation 1) the profile.

[0274] The advantage of the second method is that any server can install the SIM profile in the eUICC as long as the server holds a certificate issued by a reliable certificate issuer. For example, if the eUICC has certificate issuer information managed by a specific organization and stored in its secure area, and if the terminal manufacturer has released a terminal in which the corresponding eUICC is loaded, a mobile operator who wants to download the SIM profile to the terminal and thereby provide communication services can operate its own remote profile server, which has a server certificate issued by the certificate issuer and loaded therein, thereby providing communication services to the terminal through the server. In contrast, in the case of the first method, in order to install a SIM profile in a specific eUICC terminal, the profile can be downloaded only through one server with a secret key installed in the eUICC. Therefore, it is unclear who operates the server, thereby limiting marketability.

[0275] As in the case of the second method, the certificate-based method is advantageous in terms of manufacturing and operating eSIM terminals and remote servers. Therefore, most operators currently support the second method (providing SIM profiles through remote servers), and their number is increasing rapidly. However, since any server can install a profile as long as it holds the appropriate certificate, the profile may be installed against the user's intention. Therefore, while downloading and installing any profile, an additional confirmation / agreement process on the terminal screen by the user is mandatory. That is, the second method requires the user to intervene in the profile installation operation.

[0276] The second method is superior to the first method in terms of performance. Referring to the second method, the terminal receives the encrypted profile in batch mode through the ordinary Internet IP network at high speed and excellent communication performance during the application process (AP), and then installs it in the eUICC. Therefore, the download / installation speed is high and the possibility of download failure is small. In the case of the first method, the eUICC downloads and installs the profile in OTA type (the eUICC divides the encrypted profile into multiple parts and receives the multiple parts directly from the server through a modem without passing through the terminal's AP). The speed is much lower and the probability of download failure is higher.

[0277] However, the second method has limitations in that, as described above, the user needs to intervene in the profile installation, thereby making it difficult to remotely install and manage SIM profiles with respect to a large number of terminals.

[0278] Therefore, the present disclosure provides a method and apparatus, wherein, in the process of installing a profile in a terminal, instead of a confirmation process by a user operating the terminal, 1) the terminal user or administrator remotely makes a confirmation, or 2) a server remotely and automatically determines the legitimacy of the profile installation content and then installs the profile, thereby efficiently managing the profile with respect to one or more terminals.

[0279] Hereinafter, terms used in the present disclosure will be defined.

[0280] As used herein, "UICC" is a smart card used while being inserted into a mobile communication terminal, and may refer to a chip configured to store personal information of a mobile communication subscriber (such as network access authentication information, phone directory, and SMS), so that when accessing a mobile communication network (e.g., GSM, WDCMA, or LTE), the subscriber is authenticated and a traffic security key is generated, thereby enabling secure mobile communication usage. Depending on the type of mobile communication network accessed by the subscriber, the UICC may have a communication application (e.g., SIM, USIM, or ISIM) loaded therein. The UICC may also provide a higher-level security function for loading various applications (e.g., e-wallets, ticketing, and e-passports) therein.

[0281] As used herein, "eUICC" refers to a chip-type security module embedded in a terminal, which cannot be inserted into / removed from the terminal (non-"attachable / removable type"). The profile can be downloaded and installed in the eUICC by using OTA technology. The eUICC may be referred to as a UICC that is configured to enable the profile to be downloaded and installed therein.

[0282] In the present disclosure, the method for downloading a profile and installing it in an eUICC by using OTA technology is also applicable to an attachable / detachable UICC that can be inserted into and removed from a terminal. That is, the embodiment is also applicable to a UICC configured so that a profile can be downloaded and installed therein by using OTA technology.

[0283] The term “UICC” may be used interchangeably with “SIM” in the present disclosure, and the term “eUICC” may be used interchangeably with “eSIM”.

[0284] As used herein, a “profile” may refer to an application, a file system, an authentication key value, etc. that is stored in the UICC and packaged in a software type.

[0285] As used herein, "SIM profile" may be used in the same sense as a profile, or may refer to information included in a SIM application inside a profile and packaged in a software type.

[0286] In the present disclosure, the profile provisioning server (or remote profile provisioning server) may include a function of generating a SIM profile, performing mutual authentication with the eUICC by using a certificate and a digital signature, encrypting the generated profile by using an encryption key agreed upon during mutual authentication, or providing the encrypted profile to the terminal, and may be referred to as SM-DP+.

[0287] In the present disclosure, the profile management server (or remote profile management server) may include a function of generating a remote profile management command, performing mutual authentication with the eUICC by using a certificate and a digital signature, or subjecting the generated remote profile management command to MAC protection by using a MAC protection key agreed upon during mutual authentication, and may be referred to as a management SM-DP +.

[0288] As used herein, a profile provisioning server may also incorporate the functionality of a profile management server. Therefore, the operations of the profile provisioning server in the various embodiments described below may also be performed by the profile management server. Similarly, the operations described with respect to the profile management server may also be performed by the profile provisioning server. In addition, when the profile provisioning server incorporates the functionality of the profile management server, it may also be referred to as a profile server (or remote profile server) for short.

[0289] The term "terminal" as used herein may be referred to as a mobile station (MS), user equipment, user terminal, wireless terminal, access terminal, terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, wireless device, wireless communication device, wireless transmit / receive unit, mobile node, mobile device or other terms.

[0290] Various embodiments of the terminal may include a cellular phone, a smart phone with a wireless communication function, a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a wireless communication function, a wireless modem, a portable computer with a wireless communication function, a photographing device with a wireless communication function (such as a digital camera), a gaming device with a wireless communication function, a home appliance with a wireless communication function for storing and reproducing music, an Internet home appliance capable of performing wireless Internet access and browsing, and a portable unit or terminal having an integrated combination of their functions. In addition, the terminal may include, but is not limited to, an M2M terminal and an MTC terminal / device.

[0291] In the present disclosure, a terminal may also be referred to as an electronic device or simply as a device. Unless otherwise specified, a terminal or a device refers to a terminal in which an eUICC is loaded or can be loaded.

[0292] In the present disclosure, a terminal or device may include software or an application installed in the terminal or electronic device in order to control the UICC or eUICC. For example, the software or application may be referred to as an LPA.

[0293] In the present disclosure, a terminal or device may include software or an application installed in the terminal or device to approach the LPA and control the UICC or eUICC through the LPA. For example, the software or application may be referred to as a service app. The service app may be an independent application or have an API type.

[0294] In the present disclosure, the eUICC ID may be a unique ID of an eUICC embedded in a terminal and may be referred to as an EID.

[0295] In the present disclosure, the term "SIM profile" may be used interchangeably with a profile package, may be used to represent a data object of a specific profile, and may be referred to as a profile TLV or a profile package TLV. If the profile package is encrypted by using encryption parameters, it may be referred to as a protected profile package or a protected profile package TLV. When the profile package is encrypted by using encryption parameters that can only be decrypted by a specific eUICC, it may be referred to as a bound profile package or a bound profile package TLV. The profile package TLV may be a data set that expresses information constituting a profile in a tag / length / value (TLV) format.

[0296] As used herein, "remote profile management" may be referred to as profile remote management, remote management, remote management commands, remote commands, remote profile management packages, profile remote management packages, remote management packages, remote management command packages, or remote command packages. RPMs may be used to change the state of a particular profile (enable, disable, or delete) or to update the content of a particular profile (e.g., a profile nickname or profile metadata).

[0297] Furthermore, in the following description of the present disclosure, a detailed description of known functions or configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when the detailed description may make the subject matter of the present disclosure rather unclear.

[0298] Hereinafter, the proposed embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0299] Fig.11A A diagram showing a method for downloading and manipulating a SIM profile while locally manipulating a terminal, and Fig. 11B A diagram illustrating a method for downloading and manipulating a SIM profile while locally manipulating a terminal.

[0300] refer to Fig.11A In step 1100, the eUICC terminal initiates profile downloading through user input through the UI of the terminal.

[0301] Therefore, in step 1105, the terminal delivers the eUICC challenge value to the profile provisioning server.

[0302] Then, the profile provisioning server may calculate signature data (or signature value) about the information including the eUICC challenge value by using a personal key corresponding to the server's certificate in step 1110. The server's certificate may include an Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) certificate, and the signature data may include ECDSA signature data.

[0303] In addition, in step 1115, the profile provisioning server may deliver the signature data and the certificate generated by the server to the eUICC terminal.

[0304] The terminal may then authenticate the certificate and signature data in step 1120 .

[0305] If the authentication is passed, the eUICC terminal may calculate eUICC signature data by using a personal key corresponding to the certificate stored in the eUICC in step 1125 .

[0306] In addition, in step 1130, the eUICC terminal may provide the profile provisioning server with the eUICC signature data and the eUICC certificate.

[0307] Thereafter, in step 1135 , the profile provisioning server may authenticate the eUICC certificate and the eUICC signature data.

[0308] If the authentication result is successful, and if there is a profile to be downloaded to the eUICC terminal, in step 1140, the profile server preferentially delivers the profile metadata to the eUICC terminal.

[0309] The eUICC terminal displays all or part of the received profile metadata through the UI of the terminal or through the UI of another terminal directly connected to the terminal via near field communication (e.g., BT, NFC, UWB, or WiFi), and the profile installation may be continued in step 1145 after the user checks the content of the UI.

[0310] When it is determined to continue the profile installation, the eUICC terminal requests the profile provisioning server to provide a profile in step 1150 .

[0311] The profile provisioning server checks the profile request in step 1155 and downloads the profile including the profile metadata to the eUICC terminal.

[0312] Thereafter, the eUICC terminal additionally authenticates whether the profile metadata in the profile in step 1155 is the same as the profile metadata in step 1140 , and then installs the profile in the eUICC.

[0313] Fig. 11B The following figure shows the process of enabling the profile on the terminal. Fig. 11B ,exist Fig.11A After the process, the terminal user can select a profile through the UI of the terminal in step 1170 to input "enable profile".

[0314] The eUICC terminal may then activate the profile in step 1180 and may access the mobile communication network by using access information (eg, IMSI or Ki) within the profile.

[0315] Fig. 12A An embodiment of an apparatus and method for remotely performing profile installation and profile activation through a remote management server according to the present disclosure is shown, and Fig. 12B An embodiment of an apparatus and method for remotely performing profile installation and profile activation through a remote management server according to the present disclosure is shown.

[0316] refer to Fig. 12A , the service server (or remote management server) may request the eUICC terminal to initiate profile download in step 1200. The service server may deliver all or part of the profile metadata information of the profile to be installed to the eUICC terminal. In addition, the information delivered to the eUICC terminal may include at least one of the second profile provisioning server information, the management SM-DP+ server information, or the profile management server information.

[0317] Meanwhile, before step 1200, the ID corresponding to the eUICC terminal may be pre-registered in the service server by the user of the eUICC terminal or by the administrator. The ID may be permanent or temporary. The ID may include the ID (EID) of the eUICC, the IMFI of the terminal, the serial ID of the terminal, or any other information (ID) that can be used to identify the terminal. In addition, the ID may be an ID that can be used to identify the terminal only between the terminal and the remote management server, or a globally unique terminal ID.

[0318] In addition, the eUICC terminal may register an ID or a value corresponding to the ID in the remote server before step 1200. This ensures that when a user or administrator has specified a specific eUICC terminal or a terminal group including the eUICC terminal, the profile initiation request in step 1200 can be delivered to the appropriate eUICC terminal.

[0319] In order to deliver the request to the appropriate eUICC terminal in step 1200, the eUICC terminal also needs to register the EID or ID in the remote management server, and will be referred to later. Fig.15 Describe the process associated with it.

[0320] Meanwhile, the above disclosure is applicable not only to the drawings but also to the entire specification of the present disclosure.

[0321] The subsequent steps 1210 to 1280 can be Fig.11A The steps 1105 to 1140 in the embodiment are the same or similar. A detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0322] In step 1245, the eUICC terminal may compare all or part of the profile metadata information received from the service server in step 1200 with all or part of the profile metadata information delivered from the profile provision server in step 1240. If the two match, the profile download and installation process may be performed, and if the two do not match, the profile download and installation process may be terminated. If the profile is remotely installed in this manner, the profile can be efficiently managed by additionally authenticating the validity of the profile, and the reliability of profile installation can be improved. Meanwhile, the profile provision server according to the present disclosure may be referred to as a first profile provision server to distinguish it from a second profile provision server. The first profile provision server is a server for profile downloading, and may include the above-mentioned SM-DP, SM-DP+, etc. The second profile provision server may include the above-mentioned management SM-DP+, an administrator profile server, etc.

[0323] Part of the profile metadata may be the second profile provisioning server information, the management SM-DP+ server information, or the profile management server information. This may also be applied to the following embodiments.

[0324] If it is determined to continue the profile download and installation, the eUICC terminal requests the profile provisioning server to provide the profile in step 1250 .

[0325] The profile provisioning server checks the profile request in step 1255 and downloads the profile including the profile metadata to the eUICC terminal.

[0326] Thereafter, the eUICC terminal may additionally authenticate whether the profile metadata in the profile in step 1255 is the same as the profile metadata in step 1240 , and may install the profile in the eUICC in step 1260 .

[0327] Fig. 12B A diagram illustrating a method for enabling a profile by a terminal according to an embodiment.

[0328] refer to Fig. 12B ,exist Fig. 12A After the process, in step 1265, the service server can start Fig. 12A The profile of the SIM profile installed in the eUICC terminal is delivered to the eUICC terminal. Fig. 12A and Fig. 12B The process shown in is not necessarily performed continuously and is Fig. 12A The process of downloading the profile and the basis Fig. 12B The profile activation process of can be performed as a separate process. It is also obvious that if the profile has been downloaded, it is possible to perform only Fig. 12B process.

[0329] The activation command initiation may directly indicate that a specific profile is enabled only through the corresponding initiation command, but in an embodiment may simply indicate that the eUICC challenge is sent to a specific second profile server or profile management server that manages SM-DP+ in order to request authentication.

[0330] The following operations between the eUICC terminal and the second profile server in steps 1270 to 1283 may be performed with Fig. 12A Steps 1205 to 1230 are the same or similar.

[0331] In step 1284 , the second profile server may authenticate the eUICC certificate and the eUICC signature data received in step 1200 .

[0332] If the authentication is successful, the second profile server may prepare an RPM command or RPM packet (if any) to be delivered to the eUICC terminal.

[0333] In step 1285, the second profile server may deliver the RPM command or the RPM packet to the eUICC terminal.

[0334] In step 1286, the eUICC terminal authenticates the received RPM command or RPM packet, and identifies whether the server information of the second profile provisioning server matches the information in the profile metadata included in the profile corresponding to the RPM command included in the RPM command or RPM packet.

[0335] If the two match, the terminal can execute the RPM command. If the RPM command indicates to enable a specific profile, the terminal can enable the profile in step 1287.

[0336] Therefore, the terminal can access the mobile communication network by using the access information (IMSI or Ki information) in the corresponding profile.

[0337] After enabling a profile that can be managed by the second profile provisioning server, it is also possible to disable the profile only by the second profile provisioning server. In addition, the eUICC of the eUICC terminal can enable only one SIM profile at a given time, and the installed profile can be enabled / disabled only by the second profile provisioning server.

[0338] Fig.13A Another embodiment of an apparatus and method for remotely performing profile installation and profile activation through a remote management server according to an embodiment is shown, and Fig. 13B Another embodiment of an apparatus and method for remotely performing profile installation and profile activation through a remote management server according to an embodiment is shown.

[0339] refer to Fig.13A , the service server (remote management server) may request the eUICC terminal to initiate profile download in step 1300 .

[0340] The subsequent steps 1305 to 1340 can be Fig. 12A The steps 1205 to 1240 in the embodiment are the same or similar. The detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0341] In step 1345 , the terminal may deliver all or part of the profile metadata information received from the profile provisioning server in step 1340 to the service server.

[0342] In step 1350, the service server may compare the information about all or part of the profile metadata received in step 1345 with all or part of the profile metadata preconfigured in the service server, thereby confirming whether the two are the same. In particular, the preconfigured value may include information about the second profile provisioning server, and the service server may compare the preconfigured second profile provisioning server information with the received information.

[0343] In this embodiment, the service server compares the information about all or part of the profile metadata received from the terminal with the information pre-configured in the service server, so that only the profile with the appropriate second profile provisioning server information confirmed therein is installed in the terminal, and only the second profile provisioning server is allowed to participate in the operation of managing the installed profile. After the authentication is passed, the following process is performed.

[0344] Meanwhile, if the authentication fails, the process may be ended so that the corresponding profile is not installed.

[0345] If the authentication is successful, the service server may send the result to the terminal to notify the authentication success in step 1355. After receiving the response regarding the successful authentication, the terminal may proceed from step 1360 to step 1370 and install the profile.

[0346] The operations between step 1360 and step 1370 can be performed with Fig. 12A The steps 1250-1260 in are the same or similar.

[0347] Fig. 13B A diagram illustrating a method for enabling a profile by a terminal according to an embodiment.

[0348] refer to Fig. 13B ,exist Fig.13A After the process, the service server can install Fig.13A The profile enabling initiation of the SIM profile in the terminal is delivered to the eUICC. Fig.13A and Fig. 13B The process shown in is not necessarily performed continuously and is Fig.13A The process of downloading the profile and the basis Fig. 13B The profile activation process of can be performed as a separate process. It is also obvious that if the profile has been downloaded, it is possible to perform only Fig. 13B process.

[0349] The activation command initiation may directly indicate that a specific profile is enabled only through the corresponding initiation command, but in an embodiment may simply indicate that the eUICC challenge is sent to a specific second profile server or profile management server that manages SM-DP+ in order to request authentication.

[0350] The following operations between the eUICC terminal and the second profile server in steps 1380 to 1385 may be performed with Fig. 12A Steps 1205 to 1230 are the same or similar.

[0351] In step 1386 , the second profile server may authenticate the eUICC certificate and the eUICC signature data received in step 1385 .

[0352] If the authentication is successful, the second profile server may prepare an RPM command or RPM packet (if any) to be delivered to the eUICC terminal.

[0353] In step 1387, the second profile server may deliver the RPM command or the RPM packet to the eUICC terminal.

[0354] In step 1388, the eUICC terminal authenticates the received RPM command or RPM packet, and confirms whether the server information of the second profile provisioning server matches the information in the profile metadata included in the profile corresponding to the RPM command included in the RPM command or RPM packet.

[0355] If the two match, the terminal can execute the RPM command. If the RPM command indicates to enable a specific profile, the terminal can enable the profile in step 1389.

[0356] Therefore, the terminal can access the mobile communication network by using the access information (IMSI or Ki information) in the corresponding profile.

[0357] After enabling a profile that can be managed by the second profile provisioning server, it is also possible to disable the profile only by the second profile provisioning server. In addition, the eUICC of the eUICC terminal can enable only one SIM profile at a given time, and the installed profile can be enabled / disabled only by the second profile provisioning server.

[0358] Figure 14AA Another embodiment of an apparatus and method for remotely performing profile installation and profile activation through a remote management server according to an embodiment is shown, Fig.14AB Another embodiment of an apparatus and method for remotely performing profile installation and profile activation through a remote management server according to an embodiment is shown, and Fig. 14B Another embodiment of an apparatus and method for remotely performing profile installation and profile activation through a remote management server according to an embodiment is shown.

[0359] refer to Figure 14AA and Fig.14AB The manager or user of the eUICC terminal can access the service server (or remote management server) through the management terminal, and can input the profile download initiation request through the UI of the management terminal. Therefore, in step 1400, the management terminal can send the profile download initiation request to the service server.

[0360] The subsequent operations from step 1405 to step 1455 can be performed with Fig.13A Steps 1300 to 1350 in the embodiment are the same or similar. A detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0361] If the authentication succeeds in step 1455, the service server may provide the management terminal with information about all or part of the profile metadata in step 1460. Therefore, the management terminal may determine whether to perform profile installation in step 1465. For example, the manager or user of the eUICC terminal may check the content of part or all of the metadata or the content corresponding thereto (e.g., icon) through the UI of the management terminal, and may determine whether to continue the profile installation. Alternatively, it may be determined whether to continue the profile installation based on a reference or rule pre-stored in the management terminal.

[0362] In step 1470, the management terminal may deliver the result of the determination in step 1465 (e.g., information indicating whether to continue profile installation) to the service server. If the received result indicates that profile installation will continue, the service server may proceed to the next process, and if not, the installation process may be terminated.

[0363] If you want to continue profile installation, the service server and the terminal can perform steps 1475 to 1486. ​​The process from step 1475 to step 1486 can be the same as Fig.13A The operations from step 1355 to step 1370 in are the same or similar. A detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0364] Fig. 14B A diagram illustrating a method for enabling a profile by a terminal according to an embodiment.

[0365] refer to Fig. 14B ,exist Figure 14AA and Fig.14AB After the process, the service server can Fig.14AB The profile enablement of the installed SIM profile initiates delivery to the eUICC terminal. Fig. 14B Steps 1487 to 1497 in Fig. 13B Steps 1375 to 1389 are the same as in .

[0366] Fig.15 It is shown that according to the embodiment, Fig. 12A , Fig. 12B , Fig.13A , Fig. 13B , Figure 14AA , Fig.14AB and Fig. 14B A diagram of more specific operations implemented together.

[0367] refer to Fig.15, eUICC, LPA, connection control app (interchangeably used with connection control client) and push client may be components of the eUICC terminal. In addition, the combination of connection control app and push client or a single connection control app may be referred to as a service app. In addition, the combination of connection control server and push server or a single connection control server may be referred to as a service server (or remote management server).

[0368] First, the description in reference Fig. 12A Step 1200 described above is a process of registering an ID corresponding to the eUICC in the service server.

[0369] In step A, the eUICC terminal may register the EID in the service server. More specifically, the push client may maintain a persistent IP connection with the push server. The push server may be separated from the connection control server.

[0370] The push client may then provide the push token to the connection control client. The connection control client may request the LPA to provide the EID. The LPA may then provide the EID to the connection control client.

[0371] The connection control client may then deliver both the EID and the push token received from the LPA to the connection control server, thereby registering the EID.

[0372] As the terminal registers the EID in the service server in this manner, the service server may send a profile initiation request to the appropriate terminal.

[0373] Step B corresponds to the following steps: executing on the service server Fig. 12A Step 1200, Fig. 12B Step 1265, Fig.13A Step 1300, Fig. 13B Step 1375, Figure 14AA Step 1405 and Fig. 14B Prior to step 1487 in step 1487, the service server pre-instructs the first profile server or the second profile server to prepare for profile download or RPM download, and receives a matching ID in response thereto. Fig. 12A In step 1230, the matching ID may be delivered to the first profile server or the second profile server to identify whether the first profile server or the second profile server has a profile or RPM to be provided to the terminal.

[0374] Step C may correspond to Fig. 12A Step 1200, Fig. 12B Step 1265, Fig.13A Step 1300, Fig. 13BStep 1375, Fig. 14B The entire process of step 1405 in step 14A and step 1487 in step 14B, or a partial process thereof.

[0375] In step C, the connection control server may initially provide a push token to the push server in order to deliver information to the terminal. The push server may deliver the push token to the push client corresponding to (or connected to) the push token in step A by using the push token.

[0376] The push client can then deliver the push token to the connection control app to ask the connection control app if there is an operation to process by providing the EID to the connection control server. For example, the connection control app can ask if there is an operation to process by checking the action request.

[0377] In response to the check action request, the connection control server may deliver an initialize LPA API to the connection control client.

[0378] The connection control client may then deliver it to the LPA, and thereafter may deliver the matching ID and the server address of the first profile server or the second profile server to the eUICC terminal. The matching ID and the server address of the first profile server or the second profile server may be values ​​signed by the signature of the SM-DP + 2.

[0379] Fig.15 The first profile server in may be FIG. 12A to FIG. 14B Similarly, Fig.15 The second profile server in can be connected with FIG. 12A to FIG. 14B The first profile provisioning server or the second profile provisioning server in the embodiment may be the same or separate.

[0380] After step D is the process of profile download or RPM download. After the profile or RPM download is completed, the first profile server can deliver the result to the connection control server.

[0381] Although referenced FIG. 12A to FIG. 15 Describes operations related to an eUICC Terminal, but can be FIG. 12A to FIG. 15 The same process is used to manage each of the multiple terminals.

[0382] In particular, one can use Fig. 12A , Fig. 12B , Fig.13A or Fig. 13B The solution in is used to effectively manage large-scale terminals.

[0383] Fig.16A diagram showing a configuration of a terminal according to an embodiment.

[0384] like Fig.16 As shown, the terminal may include a transceiver 1610 and at least one processor 1620. In addition, the terminal may include a UICC 1630. For example, the UICC 1630 may be inserted into the terminal, or may be embedded in the terminal. The at least one processor 1620 may also be referred to as a controller.

[0385] The transceiver 1610 according to an embodiment may transmit and receive signals, information, data, etc. using a profile server according to various embodiments.

[0386] For example, the transceiver 1610 according to various embodiments may receive a message including at least a remote management command from a profile server.

[0387] The transceiver 1610 according to an embodiment may transmit a message (processing notification) including a remote management input result to the profile server as a reply.

[0388] Meanwhile, at least one processor 1620 is a constituent element for overall control of the terminal. As used herein, a processor may be defined as a circuit, a dedicated integrated circuit, at least one processor or a controller. The processor 1620 may control the overall operation of the terminal according to various embodiments as described above.

[0389] For example, according to various embodiments, at least one processor 1620 may determine whether a received remote management command may be processed by UICC 1630, may input a remote management command to UICC 1630, may identify whether a profile server is included in a list of administrator profile servers in UICC 1630, may perform remote management in UICC 1630, may generate a remote management input result, may analyze an error code if the remote management input result includes an error code, may switch the remote management command to a local management command, may input a local management command to UICC 1630, may perform local management in UICC 1630, and may switch the local management input result (local management result) to the remote management input result (loading RPM package result).

[0390] In addition, at least one processor 1620 according to various embodiments may control the transceiver 1610 to receive a remote management command from the profile server, may process the remote management command, and may transmit the remote management input result to the profile server.

[0391] In addition, the processor 1620 according to the present disclosure can compare the profile metadata received from the service server with all or part of the metadata received from the profile provisioning server, thereby authenticating the profile download initiation request of the service server. In addition, in response to the profile activation request of the service server, the processor 1620 can authenticate the information of the profile provisioning server, thereby activating the profile.

[0392] Alternatively, the processor 1620 may send all or part of the profile metadata to the service server so that the service server can authenticate the profile download initiation request.

[0393] The processor 1620 may also control other operations of the terminal described in this disclosure.

[0394] The UICC 1630 according to various embodiments may download a profile and may install the profile. The UICC 1630 may also manage the profile.

[0395] The UICC 1630 may operate under the control of the processor 1620. Alternatively, the UICC 1630 may include a processor or controller for installing a profile, or may have an application installed therein. Part of the application may also be installed in the processor 1620.

[0396] Meanwhile, in the drawings showing the method of the present disclosure, the order of description does not necessarily correspond to the order of execution. The before / after relationship may be changed, or execution may be performed in parallel.

[0397] Alternatively, some constituent elements may be omitted from the drawings illustrating the method of the present disclosure, and only some constituent elements may be included without departing from the gist of the present disclosure.

[0398] In addition, in combination with the method of the present disclosure, part or all of the contents included in the various embodiments may be performed in combination without departing from the gist of the present disclosure.

[0399] At the same time, the terminal may also include a memory (not shown), and may store data for the operation of the terminal, such as basic programs, applications, and configuration information. The memory may include at least one storage medium selected from a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro, a card type memory (e.g., an SD or XD memory), a magnetic memory, a disk, an optical disk, a random access memory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), and an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). In addition, the processor may perform various operations by using various programs, contents, data, etc. stored in the memory.

[0400] Fig.17A diagram showing a configuration of a profile server according to an embodiment.

[0401] refer to Fig.17 , the profile server may include a transceiver 1710, a controller 1720, and a memory 1730. In the present disclosure, a controller may be defined as a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit, or at least one processor.

[0402] The transceiver 1710 may transmit / receive a signal with another entity.

[0403] The controller 1720 may control the overall operation of the profile server according to the embodiment proposed in the present disclosure. For example, the controller 1720 may control the signal flow between the various blocks so that the operation is performed according to the above-mentioned flowchart.

[0404] The memory 1730 may store at least one of information transmitted / received by the transceiver 1710 and information generated by the controller 1720 .

[0405] Fig.18 A diagram showing a configuration of a service server according to an embodiment.

[0406] refer to Fig.18 , the service server may include a transceiver 1810, a controller 1820, and a memory 1830. In the present disclosure, the controller may be defined as a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit, or at least one processor.

[0407] The transceiver 1810 may transmit / receive a signal with another entity.

[0408] The controller 1820 may control the overall operation of the profile server according to the embodiment proposed in the present disclosure. For example, the controller 1820 may control the signal flow between the various blocks so that the operation is performed according to the above flowchart.

[0409] The memory 1830 may store at least one of information transmitted / received by the transceiver 1810 and information generated by the controller 1820 .

[0410] In the above detailed embodiments of the present disclosure, the components included in the present disclosure are expressed in the singular or plural, depending on the detailed embodiments presented. However, the singular form or plural form is selected to facilitate the description suitable for the presented situation, and the various embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to its single element or multiple elements. In addition, multiple elements expressed in the specification can be configured as a single element, or a single element in the specification can be configured as multiple elements.

[0411] Although the present disclosure has been shown and described with reference to specific embodiments of the present disclosure, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to the embodiments, but should be limited by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0412] The various embodiments and terms used therein are not for the purpose of limiting the technology disclosed herein to a specific embodiment, but should be understood to include various changes, equivalents and / or alternatives of the corresponding embodiments. When describing the accompanying drawings, similar reference numerals may be used to represent similar constituent elements. Singular expressions may include plural expressions unless they are clearly different in context. The terms "A or B", "one or more of A and / or B", "A, B or C" or "one or more of A, B and / or C" may include all possible combinations thereof. The expressions "first", "second", "the first" or "the second" used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure may modify various components, regardless of order and / or importance, but do not limit corresponding components. When an element (e.g., a first element) is referred to as "connected (functionally or communicatively)" or "directly coupled" to another element (the second element), the element may be directly connected to another element or connected to another element by another element (e.g., the third element).

[0413] The term "module" as used herein may include a unit composed of hardware, software, or firmware, and may be used interchangeably with the terms "logic", "logic block", "component", "circuit", etc. A "module" may be an integrated component or a minimum unit for performing one or more functions or a portion thereof. For example, a module may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0414] Various embodiments may be implemented as a machine (e.g., computer) readable storage medium (e.g., software (e.g., program) including instructions stored in an internal or external memory). A machine refers to a device capable of retrieving stored instructions from a storage medium and operating according to the retrieved instructions, and may include a terminal according to various embodiments. If a command is executed by a processor (e.g., Fig.16 If the processor 1620 in the processor is executed, the processor can execute the function corresponding to the command directly or by using other components under the control of the processor. The command may include a code generated or executed by a compiler or interpreter.

[0415] The machine-readable storage medium may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. Here, the term "non-transitory" only means that the storage medium is tangible and does not include signals, regardless of whether data is stored in the storage medium semi-permanently or temporarily.

[0416] The method according to various embodiments disclosed herein can be provided while being included in a computer program product. The computer program product can be traded between a seller and a buyer as a product. The computer program product can be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM)), or can be distributed online via an application store (e.g., Play StoreTM). In the case of online distribution, at least part of the computer program product can be at least temporarily stored in a storage medium, such as a manufacturer's server, an application store's server, or a memory of a relay server, or can be temporarily generated. Each component element (e.g., a module or a program) according to various embodiments can include a single entity or multiple entities, and some of the above-mentioned corresponding sub-component elements can be omitted, or other sub-component elements can be further included in various embodiments. Alternatively or additionally, some elements (e.g., a module or a program) can be integrated into a single element, and the integrated element can still perform the function performed by each corresponding element in the same or similar manner as before the integrated corresponding element. The operations performed by the modules, programming modules or other elements according to various embodiments can be performed sequentially, in parallel, repeatedly or in a heuristic manner. At least some of the operations may be performed according to another order, may be omitted, or may further include other operations.

[0417] Although the present disclosure has been described with various embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art. The present disclosure is intended to encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a terminal including a first version embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) in a communication system, the method include: receiving, from a profile server, a request to perform a second function associated with a second release eUICC; determining whether the first-release eUICC supports the second function based on at least one of remote subscriber identity module provisioning (RSP) capability information of the first-release eUICC and version information of the first-release eUICC; If the first-release eUICC does not support the second function, determining whether to switch the second function to a first function supported by the first-release eUICC, wherein the first function is equivalent to the second function; and If it is determined that the second function is switched to the first function, the first function is executed. Therein, the first function is associated with a local profile management function, and the second function is associated with a remote profile management function.

2. The method according to claim 1, in, The local profile management function is used to change the status of the profile or update the content of the profile based on the software installed in the terminal. The remote profile management function is used to change the status of the profile or update the content of the profile via the profile server, and The request is received based on a terminal response message including a digital signature of at least one remote management function or a profile server.

3. The method according to claim 1, in, In a case where the version of the first-release eUICC is lower than a specific version, the first-release eUICC does not support the second function associated with the second-release eUICC.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining whether to switch the second function to the first function include: Whether to switch the second function to the first function is determined based on at least one of the profile server list of the target profile, the RSP capability information of the first-release eUICC, and the version information of the first-release eUICC.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining whether to switch the second function to the first function include: performing additional authentication using a profile server; as well as Whether to switch the second function to the first function is determined based on a result of the additional authentication. 6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the additional authentication is performed based on whether the profile server is included in a profile server list of the terminal, or whether specific data is included in the request.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: include: Switching the result of executing the first function to the result of executing the second function; as well as The result of the switching is sent to the profile server.

8. A terminal in a communication system, the terminal include: Transceiver; Version 1 of the embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC); as well as A controller is coupled to the transceiver and is configured to: receiving, from a profile server, a request to perform a second function associated with a second release eUICC; determining whether the first-release eUICC supports the second function based on at least one of remote subscriber identity module provisioning (RSP) capability information of the first-release eUICC and version information of the first-release eUICC; If the first-release eUICC does not support the second function, determining whether to switch the second function to a first function supported by the first-release eUICC, wherein the first function is equivalent to the second function; and If it is determined that the second function is switched to the first function, the first function is executed. Therein, the first function is associated with a local profile management function, and the second function is associated with a remote profile management function.

9. The terminal according to claim 8, in, The local profile management function is used to change the status of the profile or update the content of the profile based on the software installed in the terminal. The remote profile management function is used to change the status of the profile or update the content of the profile via the profile server, and The request is received based on a terminal response message including a digital signature of at least one remote management function or a profile server.

10. The terminal according to claim 8, in, In a case where the version of the first-release eUICC is lower than a specific version, the first-release eUICC does not support the second function associated with the second-release eUICC.

11. The terminal according to claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to: Whether to switch the second function to the first function is determined based on at least one of the profile server list of the target profile, the RSP capability information of the first-release eUICC, and the version information of the first-release eUICC.

12. The terminal according to claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to: performing additional authentication with the profile server, and Whether to switch the second function to the first function is determined based on a result of the additional authentication. 13 . The terminal according to claim 12 , wherein the additional authentication is performed based on whether the profile server is included in a profile server list of the terminal, or whether specific data is included in the request.

14. The terminal according to claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to: Switch the result of executing the first function to the result of executing the second function, and The result of the switching is sent to the profile server.

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