Authentication Device for Cellular Network Connectivity Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face inefficiencies and poor user experience due to the need for multiple SIM cards and separate cellular network connections for multiple devices, leading to increased power consumption and complex device management.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an authentication device that allows seamless sharing of a single SIM card across multiple user devices, using either active or passive authentication methods to switch network connectivity quickly and efficiently between devices based on user preference or signal conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple SIM cards are used for multiple devices, then each device can independently connect to the cellular network, but device complexity and management difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an authentication device as an intermediary between multiple user devices and the cellular network. This authentication device holds the SIM card and manages authentication for multiple devices sequentially, eliminating the need for each device to have its own SIM card while maintaining reliable network connectivity for all devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication device serves multiple functions: it acts as a SIM card holder, an authentication server, and a connectivity manager for multiple devices. This single multi-functional device replaces the need for multiple SIM cards distributed across different devices, simplifying the overall system architecture.
2Ease of operation
If multiple devices connect directly to the cellular network, then each device has independent network access, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication device serves as an intermediary that maintains a single active cellular connection. When a user switches between devices, the authentication device manages the connection handoff, allowing secondary devices to communicate through the authenticated connection rather than establishing separate cellular connections, thereby reducing overall power consumption.
3Reliability
If separate authentication credentials are used for each device, then each device can be independently authenticated, but user experience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple authentication credentials into a single SIM card held by the authentication device. This allows all user devices to share the same authentication credentials, enabling seamless switching between devices without requiring users to manage separate authentication profiles, thereby significantly improving user experience.
4Reliability
If multiple SIM cards are provisioned by the network operator, then each device has dedicated network access, but provisioning complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication device acts as an intermediary that the network operator provisions with a single SIM card. This single provisioned device then enables network access for multiple user devices through authentication management, eliminating the need for the network operator to provision and manage multiple SIM cards across different devices, thereby reducing provisioning complexity and cost.
Data Source
AI summary
In embodiments of network connectivity switching utilizing an authentication device for switching network connectivity from a first device to a second device, the authentication device maintains an address of the first device with a memory of a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, and the first device is authenticated for wireless communication via the cellular network. The authentication device receives an interrogation of the RFID tag from the second device, which can communicate via the cellular network, and responsive to an RFID tag response indicating the address of the first device, the second device communicates a device switch order to the first device, communicates an attach request to the cellular network, and writes an address of the second device to the memory of the RFID tag. The authentication device can then authenticate the second device to switch the network connectivity to the second device for wireless communication via the cellular network.