Method for querying number of logic channels available for eSIM (embedded subscriber identity module) and related device

Abstract

The invention discloses a method and a related device for inquiring the number of available logical channels in an eSIM (embedded subscriber identity module), which are used for accurately obtaining the number of available logical channels in the eSIM and ensuring the normal operation of a POS (point of sale) terminal. The method is applied to a POS terminal, the POS terminal comprises an application processor AP and a modem, and the method comprises the steps that the AP calls a message transmission interface and sends a query message to the modem, and the query message comprises an instruction used for querying the number of logic channels capable of being obtained by an eSIM; the Modem analyzes the query message and queries the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction; and the Modem transmits the inquired number of the available logical channels to the AP.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and related device for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by an eSIM. Background Art

[0002] As more and more devices have an increasing demand for eSIM functions, the logical channel established between the device and the eSIM is a virtual path for data transmission. If the logical channel is occupied, it may indicate problems such as network congestion and device failure.

[0003] In current POS terminal systems, the built-in LPA function of the modem is turned on by default, and automatically establishes a logical channel with the eSIM without manual intervention. However, when the logical channel of the eSIM is continuously occupied by the LPA function, the application processor AP will encounter obstacles when trying to establish the logical channel.

[0004] The application processor AP cannot determine whether there is an available logical channel to establish a logical channel with the eSIM, and cannot ensure a successful handshake with the logical channel, which causes the application processor AP to be unable to continue to perform necessary subsequent steps such as profile download, seriously affecting the normal operation of the POS terminal. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a method and related devices for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by eSIM.

[0006] The technical solution provided in this application is described below:

[0007] A first aspect of the present application provides a method for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by an eSIM, the method comprising:

[0008] The AP calls a message delivery interface to send a query message to the Modem, where the query message includes an instruction for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM;

[0009] The modem parses the query message and queries the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction;

[0010] The Modem transmits the queried number of obtainable logical channels to the AP.

[0011] Optionally, the message transmission interface is a QMI interface;

[0012] The AP calls the message transfer interface to send a query message to the Modem, including:

[0013] The AP calls the QMI interface through the pre-configured engineering mode APK;

[0014] The AP generates a QMI message through the QMI interface, where the QMI message includes an instruction for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM;

[0015] The AP sends the QMI message to the Modem through the QMI interface.

[0016] Optionally, the modem parsing the query message and querying the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction includes:

[0017] The modem parses the QMI message to obtain a query instruction and a target slot ID;

[0018] The modem calls a target function to access a target data structure based on the query instruction and the target slot ID, wherein the target data structure stores the number of obtainable logical channels of the target slot.

[0019] Optionally, the modem calling a target function to access a target data structure based on the query instruction and the target slot ID includes:

[0020] The Modem calls the target function mmgsdi_util_get_slot_data_ptr to obtain the data pointer of the mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure related to the target slot;

[0021] The modem accesses the available_logical_channels field in the mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure through the data pointer, and the value of the available_logical_channels field indicates the number of available logical channels.

[0022] Optionally, the modem transmitting the queried number of obtainable logical channels to the AP includes:

[0023] The Modem generates a response message based on the queried available logical channel quantity;

[0024] The Modem calls the message transfer interface and returns the response message to the AP through the message transfer interface.

[0025] Optionally, the modem returning the response message to the AP through the message transfer interface includes:

[0026] The Modem sends the response message to the engineering mode APK through the message transfer interface;

[0027] The modem parses the response message through the engineering mode APK to obtain the number of available logical channels;

[0028] The modem transmits the number of obtainable logical channels to the AP through the engineering mode APK.

[0029] Optionally, the method further includes:

[0030] The AP determines a control operation on the eSIM logical channel according to the number of obtainable logical channels.

[0031] A second aspect of the present application provides a device for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by an eSIM, the device comprising an application processor AP and a modem Modem:

[0032] The AP is used to call a message transfer interface to send a query message to the Modem, where the query message includes an instruction for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM;

[0033] The modem is used to parse the query message and query the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction;

[0034] The Modem is further used to transmit the queried number of obtainable logical channels to the AP.

[0035] A third aspect of the present application provides a device for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by an eSIM, the device comprising:

[0036] Processor, memory, input-output unit, and bus;

[0037] The processor is connected to the memory, the input and output unit, and the bus;

[0038] The memory stores a program, and the processor calls the program to execute the first aspect and any optional method in the first aspect.

[0039] A fourth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a program is stored. When the program is executed on a computer, the program executes the first aspect and any optional method in the first aspect.

[0040] It can be seen from the above technical solutions that this application has the following advantages:

[0041] The application processor AP establishes a connection with the modem through a message passing interface, ensuring that the AP can accurately send query messages to the modem; parsing the query message by the modem ensures that the AP correctly identifies and understands the query requirements; querying the specific information of the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction can accurately obtain whether there are available logical channels in the eSIM, providing a basis for judging whether to establish a logical channel between the AP and the eSIM in the future, thereby improving the flexibility of establishing logical channels.

[0042] After inquiring the number of available logical channels, the modem sends the number of available logical channels to the processor AP to ensure the normal operation of the POS terminal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution in the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0044] Figure 1 An embodiment of the method for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by eSIM provided by the present application;

[0045] Figure 2 Another embodiment of the method for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by eSIM provided by the present application;

[0046] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of a device for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by an eSIM provided by the present application;

[0047] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of another embodiment of the device for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by eSIM provided in the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] It should be noted that the method for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by the eSIM provided in the present application is applied to a POS terminal, and the POS terminal includes an application processor AP and a modem Modem, and is described below through a specific embodiment:

[0049] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 An embodiment of a method for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by an eSIM provided in the present application includes:

[0050] S101. The AP calls a message delivery interface to send a query message to the Modem, where the query message includes an instruction for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM.

[0051] The application processor AP is a key component in the POS terminal, mainly responsible for running the operating system and various applications. The modem is a terminal hardware device that is mainly used to convert the digital signal of the POS terminal into an analog signal that can be transmitted through the telephone line, and convert the analog signal back to a digital signal at the receiving end. The eSIM is an embedded SIM card that is directly integrated into the motherboard or modem of the POS terminal.

[0052] When querying the number of available logical channels of the eSIM, it is necessary to communicate with the eSIM, but the AP cannot communicate with the eSIM directly because the eSIM is embedded in the modem and needs to interact with the outside through the modem. Therefore, the AP needs to send a query message to the modem, and the query of the number of available logical channels of the eSIM can be realized through the modem.

[0053] When the AP wants to establish a logical channel with the eSIM, the AP's software layer first needs to call a predefined messaging interface, which is responsible for building and sending a specific query message to the Modem. The query message contains instructions for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM, and the instructions clearly instruct the Modem to perform the operation of querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM. Logical channels are different paths or configurations that can be used to establish a network connection on the eSIM.

[0054] S102, the modem parses the query message and queries the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction;

[0055] After receiving the query message, the modem parses and identifies the instructions in the query message; the modem interacts with the eSIM according to the instructions to query the number of logical channels currently available from the eSIM.

[0056] The query operation is a direct communication between the Modem and the eSIM. It requires a specific communication protocol between the two to obtain the configuration information of the eSIM and then query the number of available logical channels of the eSIM.

[0057] S103. The modem transmits the queried number of available logical channels to the AP.

[0058] After the modem queries the number of available logical channels from the eSIM, it transmits the available logical channel number to the AP through the message transmission interface; after the AP receives the query result from the modem, the AP will perform further operations based on the query result.

[0059] In this embodiment, the application processor AP establishes a connection relationship with the modem Modem through a message transmission interface to ensure that the AP can accurately send query messages to the Modem; the query message can be parsed by the Modem to ensure that the AP correctly identifies and understands the query requirements; the specific information of the number of available logical channels of the eSIM can be queried according to the instruction, and whether there are available logical channels in the eSIM can be accurately obtained, which provides a basis for determining whether to establish a logical channel between the AP and the eSIM in the future, thereby improving the flexibility of establishing logical channels. After the number of available logical channels is queried, the number of available logical channels is sent to the AP through the Modem, and the AP performs subsequent operations based on the number of available logical channels to ensure the normal operation of the POS terminal.

[0060] The following is a detailed description of the method for querying the number of logical channels available for eSIM provided by this application, taking the message transmission interface as the QMI interface as an example, see Figure 2 , Figure 2 Another embodiment of a method for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by an eSIM includes:

[0061] S201, the AP calls the QMI interface through the pre-configured engineering mode APK;

[0062] Engineering mode APK (Android Package Kit) refers to a software package designed specifically for Android devices, mainly used to test and debug the hardware, software and network functions of the terminal.

[0063] The QMI interface (Qualcomm Message Interface) is a communication interface that is mainly used to transmit data, send control commands, monitor and manage device status, etc. between the modem and other system components.

[0064] First, activate the engineering mode APK pre-configured on the POS terminal; the AP calls the QMI interface through the pre-configured engineering mode APK to interact with the modem.

[0065] The AP sets advanced permissions for the engineering mode APK in advance, so that the engineering mode APK can access and configure the underlying hardware and interfaces of the POS terminal, including the ability to call the QMI interface for communication.

[0066] S202. The AP generates a QMI message through the QMI interface, where the QMI message includes an instruction for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM.

[0067] After the QMI interface is called, a specific QMI message is generated through the QMI interface according to the AP's need to query the number of logical channels of the eSIM. The QMI message contains instructions for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM, as well as necessary parameters or identifiers. The instructions clearly instruct the modem to perform the operation of querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM.

[0068] S203, the AP sends a QMI message to the Modem through the QMI interface;

[0069] After generating a QMI message through the QMI interface, the AP calls the QMI interface through the engineering mode APK to send the generated QMI message to the modem, triggering the modem to start processing the received QMI message.

[0070] S204, the modem parses the QMI message to obtain the query instruction and the target slot ID;

[0071] The QMI message consists of a message header and a message body. The message body contains the query command and the target slot ID. When the modem receives the QMI message, it first parses the message header to identify the type and length of the QMI message and whether further processing is required. If further processing is required, the modem parses the specific content in the message body.

[0072] When parsing the QMI message body, the modem will search and identify the query instruction in the message. The query instruction is a specific code or identifier that instructs the modem to obtain the number of available logical channels in the eSIM. At the same time, the modem will also extract the target slot ID from the message body. The target slot ID is used to specify the specific SIM card slot that needs to be queried or operated. The target slot ID is a number or string that uniquely identifies a SIM card slot in the device.

[0073] After the modem recognizes the query command and the target slot ID, the AP will perform the corresponding query operation based on this information.

[0074] S205, Modem calls the target function mmgsdi_util_get_slot_data_ptr to obtain the data pointer of the mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure related to the target slot;

[0075] There are one or more functions in the modem for managing and accessing the data of the eSIM slot. After obtaining the query command and the target slot ID, the modem calls the target function mmgsdi_util_get_slot_data_ptr, which returns the data pointer of the mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure related to the specified slot ID.

[0076] The mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure defines some data fields related to the SIM card slot. The data fields may include slot status, SIM card information, network registration status, and the number of available logical channels.

[0077] S206. The modem accesses the available_logical_channels field in the mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure through the data pointer. The value of the available_logical_channels field indicates the number of available logical channels.

[0078] After the modem obtains a valid data pointer, the data pointer can point to a valid mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure and access any field in the mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure.

[0079] According to the requirement of the AP to query the number of eSIM logical channels in the above step S202, the data pointer accesses the available_logical_channels field in the mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure, and the value of this field indicates the number of logical channels currently available in the eSIM slot.

[0080] S207, the modem generates a response message according to the queried available logical channel quantity;

[0081] After the query operation is completed, the modem converts the queried number of available logical channels into a format suitable for transmission; the converted number of available logical channels is combined with the necessary protocol header, message type identifier, checksum or other metadata to construct a complete QMI response message.

[0082] S208, the modem sends a response message to the engineering mode APK through a message transfer interface;

[0083] The QMI response message generated by the modem is first transmitted to the QMI interface and then sent back to the engineering mode APK through the QMI interface.

[0084] S209, the modem parses the response message through the engineering mode APK to obtain the number of available logical channels;

[0085] After receiving the response message, the modem parses the content of the response message through the engineering mode APK and extracts the query result, that is, the number of available logical channels of the target slot.

[0086] S210. The modem transmits the number of available logical channels to the AP through the engineering mode APK.

[0087] After the engineering mode APK extracts the number of available logical channels, the modem reports the number of available logical channels to the processor through the engineering mode APK.

[0088] In some specific embodiments, after the number of available logical channels is transmitted to the AP, the AP determines the control operation on the eSIM logical channels according to the number of available logical channels.

[0089] After determining the number of available logical channels, the AP needs to decide whether to perform the operation of opening the eSIM logical channel according to the number of available logical channels.

[0090] If the number of available logical channels received by the AP indicates that there are no available logical channels, it is determined that all the logical channels of the current eSIM are occupied, and the AP will perform error processing or re-execute the query operation.

[0091] If the number of available logical channels received by the AP indicates that there are available logical channels, it is determined that there are idle logical channels in the current eSIM, and the AP will directly establish a connection between the idle logical channel and the eSIM logical channel.

[0092] In this embodiment, the query process of the number of eSIM logical channels is started by calling the QMI interface through the APK. The QMI message is constructed through the QMI interface, and the QMI message contains query instructions and parameters so that the Modem can understand and execute. The QMI message is passed to the Modem through the QMI interface, triggering the Modem to start processing the received QMI message and correctly parse and understand the instructions and parameters in the query message.

[0093] According to the instruction, the target function is called through the Modem to obtain the pointer of the detailed information related to the specified eSIM slot, and then the relevant fields are read through the pointer to obtain the number of available logical channels of the eSIM slot. The response message generated by the obtained number of available logical channels is passed back to the engineering mode APK, and the number of available logical channels in the response message is correctly parsed and understood by the engineering mode APK and passed to the processor.

[0094] This complete process ensures that the POS terminal can accurately obtain the number of available logical channels, establishes logical channels between the subsequent POS terminal and eSIM, and provides data guarantee for the normal operation of the POS.

[0095] See also Figure 3 , Figure 3 The present application provides a device for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by eSIM, the device including an application processor AP and a modem Modem:

[0096] AP301 is used to call the message transfer interface and send a query message to the Modem, where the query message includes an instruction for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM;

[0097] Modem 302 is used to parse the query message and query the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction;

[0098] Modem 302 is also used to transmit the queried available logical channel quantity to the AP.

[0099] See also Figure 4 The present application also provides a device for querying the number of logical channels that can be obtained by the eSIM, including:

[0100] Processor 401, memory 402, input and output unit 403, bus 404;

[0101] The processor 401 is connected to the memory 402, the input and output unit 403 and the bus 404;

[0102] The memory 402 stores a program, and the processor 401 calls the program to execute any of the above methods.

[0103] The present application also relates to a computer-readable storage medium, on which a program is stored. When the program is run on a computer, the computer executes any of the above methods.

[0104] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0105] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0106] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0107] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

[0108] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, read-only memory), random access memory (RAM, random access memory), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code.

Claims

1. A method for querying the number of logical channels available in an eSIM, characterized in that: Applied to a POS terminal, the POS terminal includes an application processor AP and a modem Modem, and the method includes: The AP calls a message delivery interface to send a query message to the Modem, where the query message includes an instruction for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM; The modem parses the query message and queries the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction; The Modem transmits the queried number of obtainable logical channels to the AP.

2. The method for querying the number of logical channels available on an eSIM according to claim 1, characterized in that: The message transmission interface is a QMI interface; The AP calls the message transfer interface to send a query message to the Modem, including: The AP calls the QMI interface through the pre-configured engineering mode APK; The AP generates a QMI message through the QMI interface, where the QMI message includes an instruction for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM; The AP sends the QMI message to the Modem through the QMI interface.

3. The method for querying the number of logical channels available for eSIM according to claim 2, characterized in that: The modem parsing the query message and querying the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction includes: The modem parses the QMI message to obtain a query instruction and a target slot ID; The modem calls a target function to access a target data structure based on the query instruction and the target slot ID, wherein the target data structure stores the number of obtainable logical channels of the target slot.

4. The method for querying the number of logical channels available for eSIM according to claim 3, characterized in that: The modem, based on the query instruction and the target slot ID, calls a target function to access a target data structure, including: The Modem calls the target function mmgsdi_util_get_slot_data_ptr to obtain the data pointer of the mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure related to the target slot; The modem accesses the available_logical_channels field in the mmgsdi_slot_data_type structure through the data pointer, and the value of the available_logical_channels field indicates the number of available logical channels.

5. The method for querying the number of logical channels available for eSIM according to claim 1, characterized in that: The modem transmits the queried available logical channel quantity to the AP including: The Modem generates a response message based on the queried available logical channel quantity; The Modem calls the message transfer interface and returns the response message to the AP through the message transfer interface.

6. The method for querying the number of logical channels available for eSIM according to claim 5, characterized in that: The modem returns the response message to the AP through the message transfer interface, comprising: The Modem sends the response message to the engineering mode APK through the message transfer interface; The modem parses the response message through the engineering mode APK to obtain the number of available logical channels; The modem transmits the number of obtainable logical channels to the AP through the engineering mode APK.

7. The method for querying the number of logical channels available for an eSIM according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The AP determines a control operation on the eSIM logical channel according to the number of obtainable logical channels.

8. A device for querying the number of logical channels available on an eSIM, characterized in that: The device comprises an application processor AP and a modem Modem: The AP is used to call a message transfer interface to send a query message to the Modem, where the query message includes an instruction for querying the number of logical channels available to the eSIM; The modem is used to parse the query message and query the number of available logical channels of the eSIM according to the instruction; The Modem is further used to transmit the queried number of obtainable logical channels to the AP.

9. A device for querying the number of logical channels available on an eSIM, characterized in that: The device comprises: Processor, memory, input-output unit, and bus; The processor is connected to the memory, the input and output unit, and the bus; The memory stores a program, and the processor calls the program to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a program stored thereon, wherein the program, when executed on a computer, performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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