Method for downloading a subscription profile to a user identification module, mobile terminal and medium

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for downloading a subscription profile into a subscriber identity module of a first mobile terminal, called target mobile terminal, comprising the steps of: sending a request to a network equipment item comprising an identifier of said mobile terminal and an identifier of said subscriber identity module; receiving a response message containing an activation code after positive verification of at least one of said identifier of said mobile terminal and said identifier of said subscriber identity module, wherein said activation code comprises a matching identifier; sending a request to download said subscription profile by said target mobile terminal to a provisioning equipment item, said download request comprising at least said matching identifier; and downloading said subscription profile into said subscriber identity module of said target mobile terminal after positive verification of at least said matching identifier. The invention also relates to a mobile terminal and a computer readable storage medium.

Description

[0001] This patent application is a divisional application of the following patent application:

[0002] Application Number: 201880047763.8

[0003] Filing Date: 13 July 2018

[0004] Invention Title: Loading of a new subscription profile to an embedded subscriber identity module TECHNICAL FIELD

[0005] The present invention relates to the field of mobile telecommunication and more particularly to the field of mobile devices items incorporating a subscriber identity module of the embedded SIM card type. BACKGROUND

[0006] From the first generation of mobile phones, the standard practice is that the user must insert a chip called a SIM card into his or her mobile phone. This SIM card is physically provided to him or her by the operator of the mobile telecommunication network to which the user is subscribed. When this SIM card is provided to the user, it already contains in memory a subscription profile comprising elements allowing this user to be authenticated to this network to access the services offered by this network on the basis of the subscription made. Thus, thanks to the physical separation between the mobile phone on the one hand and the SIM card on the other hand, the user can easily change the terminal while keeping his or her SIM card and thus the use of the same operator, or conversely, change the operator while keeping his or her terminal and thus the SIM card.

[0007] However, in recent years, an increasing number of mobile terminals, whether telephones or tablet computers, are integrated with a SIM card (that is to say physically inseparable from the terminal), in which case the term embedded SIM card or eSIM applies. Such technology was first used for M2M (“machine-to-machine”) terminals, then for so-called “companion” terminals (for example, connected watches) which can be configured via a so-called “master” terminal, like a smartphone.

[0008] In the case of a “master” terminal of the smartphone or tablet computer type, integrated with an embedded eSIM module, it is necessary to remotely download the secret data of the mobile operator to which the user is subscribed, in order to allow secure access to the network of this mobile operator. These secret data are generally referred to by the term subscription profile and correspond to the subscription of the user to the mobile operator.

[0009] As an illustration of such a download, patent application US 2012 / 0117635 A1 describes a device in which a "fake" SIM card is provided, which does not contain SIM type information as such, but which allows the download of eSIM type information from an eSIM server to an emulation software installed in an integrated circuit of UICC type. To this end, statically and deterministically, an activation code is printed in advance in the UICC integrated circuit, so as to be able to allow the user to re-enter this activation code in order to access the network and download the appropriate eSIM data.

[0010] Another example of a profile download is illustrated by patent application US 2014 / 0073292 A1 describing a profile transfer system between two terminals, in which a user profile request is transmitted from a target terminal to a management server, and user identification information is transmitted in order to authenticate the user associated with this profile request. The management server then interacts with another server in order to obtain the profile installed on the source terminal, in order to download this profile on the target terminal.

[0011] Finally, patent application EP 2 747 466 A1 describes a method for obtaining a security element in a mobile terminal with a subscription profile from a server of a network.

[0012] In order to recover such a subscription profile, a terminal with an embedded eSIM module must obtain the address of the server in which this subscription profile is located, and a reference that makes it possible to recover this subscription profile from this server during the initial provisioning. Now, in the case where a customer wants to use his or her subscription on a new terminal, this can be very cumbersome, the user must choose an operator to inform him of the use of a new terminal with an embedded eSIM module, then perform complex operations to be able to obtain this address and this profile reference, and continue to download the subscription profile in the eSIM module of his or her mobile terminal. SUMMARY

[0013] The aim of the present invention is to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks in the initialization of a mobile terminal with an embedded eSIM module, in the case where the user already has a mobile terminal with a SIM card of the same operator.

[0014] To this end, the invention proposes a method for downloading a subscription profile in a user identification module of a first mobile terminal, called target mobile terminal, comprising the following steps:

[0015] sending, by the target mobile terminal, a combined authentication and profile transfer request to an authentication system, said request containing a user identifier of the target mobile terminal;

[0016] in response, the target mobile terminal receives a response message containing an activation code;

[0017] the target mobile terminal sends to the provisioning device item a request to download the subscription profile, said download request comprising the activation code; and

[0018] the subscription profile is downloaded to the subscriber identity module of the target mobile terminal after positive validation of the activation code by the provisioning device item.

[0019] In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the method further comprises the following steps performed after reception by the authentication system of the combined authentication and profile transfer request:

[0020] sending by the authentication system a user authentication request to the subscriber identity module of a second mobile terminal, called the source mobile terminal;

[0021] authenticating the user by the subscriber identity module of the source mobile terminal; and

[0022] preparing the subscription profile by the provisioning device item when the authentication performed by the subscriber identity module of the source mobile terminal is positive.

[0023] Advantageously, the method can further comprise the following steps performed when the authentication performed by the subscriber identity module of the source mobile terminal is positive:

[0024] sending by the source mobile terminal a positive authentication response to the authentication system; and

[0025] sending by the authentication system a profile preparation request to a control processing device item to trigger the provisioning device item to prepare the subscription profile.

[0026] Advantageously, the method comprises sending by a control processing device item a profile preparation request to the provisioning device item to trigger the provisioning device item to prepare the subscription profile after positive authentication by the subscriber identity module of the source mobile terminal.

[0027] In one embodiment, the method further comprises, after positive authentication by the subscriber identity module of the source mobile terminal, the control processing device item generating the activation code and inserting said activation code in the profile preparation set.

[0028] In another embodiment, the method further comprises, after reception by the provisioning device item of the profile preparation request, the provisioning device item generating the activation code and sending a message containing said activation code to the control processing device item.

[0029] Advantageously, the combined authentication and profile transfer request also contains a unique identifier of the subscriber identity module of the target mobile terminal, said unique identifier being stored by the provisioning device item in association with the subscription profile, and the method further comprises verifying a match between the unique identifier stored by the provisioning device item in association with the subscription profile and the unique subscriber identity module identifier inserted in the download request.

[0030] The invention also proposes a mobile terminal comprising a subscriber identity module and a processing module capable of installing a subscription profile in the subscriber identity module, characterized in that the processing module is configured for:

[0031] sending a combined authentication and profile transfer request to an authentication system (30), said request comprising a user identifier of the mobile terminal;

[0032] in response, receiving a response message containing an activation code;

[0033] sending a request to a provisioning device item of the network to download the subscription profile, said download request containing the activation code; and

[0034] in response, receiving the subscription profile.

[0035] The invention also proposes an authentication system for downloading a subscription profile into a subscriber identity module of a first mobile terminal called target mobile terminal (10), the authentication system comprising:

[0036] a first authentication network device item capable of receiving a combined authentication and profile transfer request originating from the target mobile terminal, containing a user identifier of the target mobile terminal;

[0037] a second authentication network device item capable of receiving an authentication request containing the user identifier of the source mobile terminal from the first authentication network device item, and configured for transmitting an authentication request to the source mobile terminal by means of the user identifier of the source mobile terminal, to trigger the preparation of a subscription profile to be downloaded into the subscriber identity module.

[0038] The invention also proposes a system for downloading a subscription profile into a subscriber identity module of a first mobile terminal called target mobile terminal, the download system comprising the authentication system described above, a provisioning device item for storing the subscription profile, and a control processing device item for instructing the provisioning device item to prepare the subscription profile after receiving a profile preparation request received from the authentication system.

[0039] The application also proposes a computer program comprising code instructions for implementing at least one of the steps of the method described above and a storage medium which can be read by a mobile terminal or a server, the storage medium storing the computer program described above.

[0040] This program can use any programming language and can take the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source code and object code, such as in a partially compiled form, or in any other desirable form. This information medium can be any entity or device capable of storing the program. For example, this medium can include a storage means, such as a ROM (for example, a CD ROM or microelectronic circuit ROM), or even a magnetic storage means (for example, a magnetic disk (floppy disk) or hard disk). Also, this information medium can be a transmittable medium, such as an electrical or optical signal, which can be routed via a cable or an optical cable, by radio, or by other means. The program according to the application can in particular be downloaded via a network of Internet type. Alternatively, this information medium can be an integrated circuit incorporating the program, this circuit being adapted to execute or to be used in the execution of the method concerned.

[0041] The application also proposes a method for downloading a subscription profile into a user identification module of a first mobile terminal, called target mobile terminal, comprising the steps of:

[0042] sending, to a network device item, a request comprising an identifier of said mobile terminal and an identifier of said user identification module;

[0043] after positive validation of at least one of said identifier of said mobile terminal and said identifier of said user identification module, receiving a response message containing an activation code, wherein said activation code comprises a matching identifier;

[0044] sending, by said target mobile terminal, to a provisioning device item, a request to download said subscription profile, said download request comprising at least said matching identifier; and

[0045] after positive validation of at least said matching identifier, downloading said subscription profile into said user identification module of said target mobile terminal.

[0046] The application also proposes a mobile terminal comprising a user identification module and a processing module capable of installing a subscription profile in said user identification module, characterized in that said processing module is configured to:

[0047] sending, to a network device item, a request comprising an identifier of said mobile terminal and an identifier of said user identification module;

[0048] in response, receiving a response message containing an activation code, wherein said activation code comprises a matching identifier;

[0049] sending a request to a provisioning device of the network to download the subscription profile, the download request containing at least the matching identifier; and

[0050] receiving, in response, the subscription profile.

[0051] The application also proposes a computer-readable storage medium having recorded thereon a computer program comprising code instructions for implementing at least one step of the download method as described above, when this program is executed by a processor of a mobile terminal or of a network device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0052] Other features and advantages of the application will become apparent on reading the following detailed description of particular embodiments, given as non-restrictive examples, and the attached drawings, in which:

[0053] - Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile telecommunication system allowing the download of a subscription profile into a module of a mobile terminal through a telecommunication operator;

[0054] - Figure 2 illustrates the steps of a method for downloading a subscription profile into a user identification module of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the application; and

[0055] - Figure 3 illustrates a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] Reference will first be made to Figure 1 in which a mobile telecommunication system allowing the installation of a subscription profile into an embedded user identification module of a mobile terminal through a telecommunication operator is illustrated.

[0057] In this system, on the one hand, a first mobile terminal 10, also called target mobile terminal, which can be for example a phone, a smartphone, a tablet or a portable computer, is provided, this first mobile terminal 10 comprising in particular a user identification module 15, generally formed by a chip containing a microcontroller associated with a memory, which is installed in the terminal 10 and which is intended to store a subscription profile comprising information relating to a subscriber A of a mobile network 1. Such a module 15 can generally be implemented in the form of an embedded module which is permanently integrated in the mobile 10 and inseparable therefrom, and is generally denoted by the terms "embedded SIM" or "eUICC". Thus, in what follows, this module 15 will be considered as an embedded module of the eSIM type. However, this module 15 can alternatively also be an extractable eUICC module.

[0058] On the other hand, a second mobile terminal 20, also called source mobile terminal, is provided, which can also be for example a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet computer or a portable computer, comprising a user identification module 25 having stored therein a subscription profile of a subscriber A of a mobile network, comprising information relating to the subscriber A of the mobile network 1. This information can be in particular an identifier of this subscriber A, for example his or her IMSI number, and an identifier of the mobile telecommunication operator OP to which he or she has subscribed, for example the MCC and MNC numbers of the operator OP.

[0059] The user identification module 25 is generally a removable module of the SIM card type. However, the case is also envisaged where this module 25 is an embedded module of the eSIM type.

[0060] Furthermore, the system 1 comprises a certain number of network equipment items 31, 32, 40, 50, which allow the subscription profile PROF A obtained from the already existing subscription profile stored in the module 25 of the source mobile terminal 20 to be loaded into the embedded module 15 integrated in the terminal 10, this subscription profile corresponding to the subscription made by the subscriber A to his mobile operator OP.

[0061] In particular, on the one hand, a first network equipment item 50 is provided, for provisioning subscription profiles, generally in the form of a provisioning server in which the subscription profile of the subscriber to the same operator is stored once it is ready, and in this case the profile PROF A .

[0062] The subscription profile PROF A in the form of a digital file, which can in particular comprise the authentication elements of the subscriber in relation to the operator OP, the key(s) associated with this particular subscription, the identifier(s) of the subscriber, for example the IMSI, and the services to which the subscriber A has subscribed with the operator OP or with a third-party service provider. To download the profile, when the terminal 10 has the address of this network equipment item 50, it can download the profile PROF A .

[0063] Moreover, an authentication system is provided, consisting of a first authentication network equipment item 31, capable of receiving a request originating from the target mobile terminal 10, and a second authentication network equipment item 32, capable of sending an authentication request to the source mobile terminal 20.

[0064] A first authentication network equipment item 31 is thus provided, generally implemented in the form of an authentication server, to receive the combined authentication and subscription profile creation request sent by the terminal 10. This network equipment item 31 does not necessarily have to be managed by the operator of the network 1, on the contrary, it can advantageously be managed by a third party of this network operator, in which case the network equipment item 30 is able to retransmit any request received from a mobile terminal to the network equipment item of the operator identified by means of the user identifier inserted in this request.

[0065] Advantageously, this authentication server can be a server implementing the GSMA standardized "Mobile Connect" authentication mechanism, which is generally used to authenticate a user when he accesses a service or an Internet site, in which it is reused not only to authenticate the user, but also to trigger the installation of a subscription profile in the embedded identification module 15 of the mobile terminal 10.

[0066] As such, the second authentication network equipment item 32 is able to relay the authentication request to the mobile terminal 20 after receiving the request originating from the first equipment item 31. This network equipment item 32 is generally implemented in the form of a server (for example an SMS-SC server), in which case the authentication request transmitted to the terminal 20 can be implemented in the form of a command SMS, which is not visible to the user of the terminal 20 and which can be interpreted by the user identification module 25 of the source mobile terminal 20.

[0067] Another network equipment item 40, called control processing equipment item, is also provided, which is generally implemented in the form of a server and which is able to interact with the two network equipment items 32 and 40 to prepare the subscription profile to be downloaded into the terminal 10, as well as to interact with the terminal 10 to provide it with information intended to allow this download.

[0068] Reference is now made to Figure 2 in which a subscription profile loading method according to a first embodiment of the application is illustrated.

[0069] In this method, the user A has previously subscribed to a mobile operator OP in order to allow him or her to access the services provided by this operator by means of a first mobile terminal 20. He or she thus has a subscription profile stored in the user identification module 25 (here illustrated in the form of a SIM card) as well as in the network equipment item of the operator (for example an HLR).

[0070] The user A also owns a second mobile terminal 10 having an identification module 15 (here, for example, an embedded module of the eSIM type) for which he or she wants to create a new subscription profile PROF A .

[0071] To this end, the mobile terminal 10 first establishes a connection to the Internet network, for example, through a WiFi connection to an access point, a Bluetooth connection to another device with its own Internet access, or even by using a so-called "bootstrap" cellular connection.

[0072] Once a connection from terminal 10 to the Internet is established, user A can use his or her mobile terminal 10, for example, via a menu to trigger the process of installing a subscription profile in the embedded module 15 (step S10), which provides subscription delivery or extension options from an initial SIM or eSIM subscription to a target eSIM subscription, or enables connection to the user's client account via identifier / password pairing or even via a "mobile connectivity" authentication solution.

[0073] After user A triggers this installation process, the first authentication phase (phase S20) is triggered.

[0074] During this authentication phase, terminal 10 transmits an identifier Id, specifically for user A, to authentication system 30. A The authentication and new profile creation request (step S21) is a combination of (typically its phone number). Advantageously, this request may also include a unique identifier of the embedded identification module 15, such as an identifier of type “eID” (“eUICC identifier”) as defined in the GSMA.

[0075] In the embodiment shown here, the authentication system 30 includes a first authentication device item 31 associated with a second authentication device item 32. This first authentication device item is capable of receiving a combination of authentication and new profile creation requests originating from a target mobile terminal, such as terminal 10. The second authentication device item is capable of transmitting authentication requests to a source mobile terminal, such as terminal 20. This authentication system may specifically be based on the GSMA-standardized "Mobile Connectivity" mechanism, in which case device item 31 is a device item managed by a third party of the network operator, and device item 32 is an SMS-SC server for this operator's network.

[0076] In this case, after receiving this request by the authentication device item 31, the device item determines the user A's identifier Id based on the user A's identifier Id. A The address of authentication device item 32 of the network subscribed to by user A is deduced, and this identifier Id is included. A The authentication request is transmitted to this authentication device item 32 (step S22), which is implemented here as an SMS-SC server.

[0077] Upon reception of such a request at the SMS-SC server, the latter transmits an authentication request (here a command SMS) to the terminal 20 (step S23) so that the user identification module 25 generally by means of data stored in this module 25 and the identifier Id received A and authenticates the user A automatically (step S24).

[0078] If the authentication result of the module 25 is indeed positive, the terminal 20 returns a positive authentication response message to the authentication system 30 (step S25) (here to the first device item 31 of such a system) so that the latter instructs the control processing device item 40 of the operator network to trigger the preparation of a new subscription profile PROF A to be transmitted to the terminal 10.

[0079] This positive authentication response message can take the form of a positive authentication response SMS transmitted by the terminal 20 to the SMS-SC server 32 in response to the authentication request. Upon reception of this response, the SMS-SC server transmits this response to the authentication device item 31, for example by converting this response SMS into a positive authentication response message that can be interpreted by the device item 31.

[0080] The latter can then deduce the address of the control processing device item 40 and transmit (step S26) to the latter a profile preparation request containing the identifier Id A of the user A and possibly the unique identifier of the module 15 (for example its eID).

[0081] Upon reception of this profile preparation request at the control processing device item 40, the latter triggers the preparation of a subscription profile PROF A and an activation code AC associated with this profile (phase S30).

[0082] To this end, the control processing device item 40 can advantageously verify (step S31) in advance that the terminal 10 indeed has the right to request the creation of a new subscription profile. Such a verification can contain verifying the eligibility of the user A for such a service, or even verifying that his or her identifier Id A does not form part of a blacklist of identifiers that cannot benefit from such a service.

[0083] In the case where this verification proves positive, or in the absence of such a verification (if this operation is not implemented), the control processing device item 40 sends a request to prepare a subscription profile PROF A to the provisioning device item 50 implemented here in the form of an SMDP+ server (step S32).

[0084] In one embodiment, at this stage, the device item 40 also generates an activation code AC associated with the subscription profile PROF A to be generated, and inserts this code into the preparation request before sending it to the provisioning device item 50.

[0085] In a particularly advantageous case, this activation code AC can contain the address of the provisioning device item 50 of other elements such as the matching identifier (“matching ID”) and optionally the confirmation code. A

[0086] This preparation request can thus comprise the identifiers (e.g. EIDs) of the embedded module 15 (if these identifiers have been received previously, or are already known), and / or the identifier of the terminal 10 (e.g. its IMEI), or even any combination of these identifiers, in particular in order to allow the operator to prepare a subscription profile PROF A associated with the subscriber A in particular. The provision of the identifier (e.g. EID) of the embedded module 15 makes it possible to prepare a subscription profile for the dedicated embedded module 15, and thus to secure the process by allowing the profile to be sent only to the eSIM of this eID.

[0087] After the provisioning device item 50 receives this request, it prepares (step S33) a new subscription profile PROF A for the operator. The data of this new profile can be associated by the operator with the existing subscription of the user A, using the HLR in which the data of the existing subscription have been stored, for example by the client account or the MSISDN identifying the subscription of the user A.

[0088] At this stage, in the embodiment in which the activation code has not been generated by the control processing device item 40 and inserted into the preparation request, this activation code AC can be generated by the provisioning device item 50 and transmitted to the control processing device item 40 (step S34).

[0089] Thus, whatever device item generates this activation code AC, the activation code can be shared at the end of these steps S31 to S33 by the device items 40 and 50.

[0090] Once the activation code AC has been generated and shared between the device items 40 and 50, the provisioning device item 50 stores the new subscription profile PROF A in the memory in association with the corresponding activation code AC, waiting for a possible subsequent request for the download of this profile.

[0091] ​The control processing device item 40 then returns (step S35) to the terminal 10 an affirmative response message containing the activation code AC and the address of the provisioning device item 40 in which the profile PROF A was stored (this address can be included in the activation code AC).

[0092] Once the terminal 10 receives this response message, it can trigger the phase of downloading the subscription profile (phase S40).

[0093] During this downloading phase, the terminal 10 transmits a download request to the provisioning device item 50 by means of the address of the provisioning device item 50 and using this address to transmit the download request, which the terminal has previously received from the device item 40 and which can be extracted from the activation code AC if this address is included in this code (step S41).

[0094] This download request contains in particular the activation code AC that the terminal has previously received from the control processing device item 40, and optionally the unique identifier of the embedded module 15 (for example, its eID).

[0095] The provisioning device item 50 can then verify a match between the activation code AC received from the terminal 10 and the activation code AC previously associated with the subscription profile PROF A stored in the memory of this provisioning device item (step S42).

[0096] In addition, when a unique embedded module identifier has previously been associated with the profile PROF A , the provisioning server 50 can also verify a match between this unique identifier previously associated with the profile and the unique embedded module identifier inserted in the download request by the terminal 10 (optional step S43).

[0097] When this or these checks prove positive, the provisioning device item 50 sends the file of the subscription profile PROF A to the terminal 10 (step S44), which can then store and install this file in its embedded identification module 15.

[0098] The terminal 10 then has in its embedded module 15 the data necessary to allow its user to access the mobile network and the data necessary to access the services to which he or she is subscribed via this network.

[0099] At this stage, the subscriber A has two "main" terminals 10 and 20 with valid subscription profiles, allowing him or her to use either of these terminals to access the mobile network, thus being in a so-called "multi-SIM" configuration, allowing him or her in particular to keep his or her mobile terminal 20 as a backup for his or her terminal 10.

[0100] Alternatively, once the subscription profile PROF A is installed in the terminal 10, it can be deactivated from the network's equipment items, either after confirmation by the user or automatically, associated with the identification module 25 of the source mobile terminal 20, which send instructions to the HLR where the subscription profile is stored to deactivate this subscription profile.

[0101] Reference will now be made to Figure 3 which shows a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the application.

[0102] Such a terminal 10 comprises:

[0103] - a communication module 11, generally implemented in the form of a radio interface, for connecting the terminal 10 to the mobile communication network, in particular for transmitting messages such as the requests generated by the processing module 13 as described previously to the network equipment items 20 to 40, and receiving responses from these equipment items to provide them to the module 13 for processing, and receiving the profiles PROF A to be loaded into the following embedded module 15;

[0104] - a processing module 13, generally implemented by a processor 131 associated with a memory 132 (for example, itself composed of a random access memory and a read-only memory), configured for generating the requests described previously intended to be transmitted to the network equipment items 20 to 40, and processing the responses to these requests received from these equipment items;

[0105] - an embedded user identification module 15, generally formed by a chip containing a microcontroller and a memory, integrated in the terminal 10, and intended to store information relating to the subscriber A of a mobile network, such as the identifier of this subscriber A (i.e. his or her IMSI number) and the identifier of the mobile telecommunication operator OP to which he or she has subscribed (for example, the MCC and MNC numbers of the operator OP). Unlike a conventional SIM card, this module 15, inseparable from the terminal 10, is generally denoted by the terms "embedded SIM" or "eUICC".

[0106] It is shown that the application is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described and represented above, according to which other modes and other embodiments can be provided, without in any way departing from the scope of the application as defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A method for downloading a subscription profile to a user identification module of a first mobile terminal, referred to as a target mobile terminal, the method comprising the following steps: Send a request to the network device item including the identifier of the target mobile terminal and the identifier of the user identification module; After positive verification of at least one of the identifier of the target mobile terminal and the identifier of the user identification module, a response message containing an activation code is received, wherein the activation code includes a matching identifier. The target mobile terminal sends a download request to the supply device to download the subscription profile, the download request including the activation code; and After the activation code is verified, the subscription profile is downloaded to the user identification module of the target mobile terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: After the positive verification that the target mobile terminal is eligible to create a subscription profile based on at least one of the identifier of the target mobile terminal and the identifier of the user identification module, the activation code associated with the subscription profile is generated.

3. The method as described in claim 2, wherein, The step of generating the activation code is performed by a control processing device item, and the method further includes: transmitting a request for preparing the subscription profile to the supply device item, wherein the activation code is inserted into the request for preparing the subscription profile.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The identifier of the user identification module is inserted into the request for preparing the subscription profile, so as to allow the preparation of the subscription profile specifically for the user identification module.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein, The step of generating the activation code is performed by the supply device item, and the method further includes sending a response message containing the activation code to the control processing device item.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: The subscription profile and the corresponding activation code are stored in memory by the supply device item.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: Verify the match between the unique identifier stored in association with the subscription profile by the supply device item and the unique user identification module identifier inserted into the download request.

8. A mobile terminal, comprising a user identification module and a processing module capable of installing subscription profiles in the user identification module, characterized in that, The processing module is configured as follows: Send a request to the network device item including the identifier of the mobile terminal and the identifier of the user identification module; After positive verification of at least one of the identifier of the mobile terminal and the identifier of the user identification module, a response message containing an activation code is received, wherein the activation code includes a matching identifier. Send a download request to the network's provisioning device to download the subscription profile, the download request including the activation code; and After the activation code is verified, the subscription profile is downloaded to the user identification module of the mobile terminal.

9. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program thereon containing code instructions that, when executed by a processor of a mobile terminal or network device, are used to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

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