Remote Profile Management via Owner Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems, particularly 5G, face challenges in efficiently managing profiles for user equipment (UE) in IoT environments, where remote profile management is cumbersome and often requires physical SIM card changes, leading to inconvenience and high roaming fees.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for user equipment (UE) to receive remote profile management commands from a profile server, verifying owner information to selectively execute commands, enabling or disabling profiles based on ownership, and allowing for remote profile updates and management without physical SIM card changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If physical SIM card changes are used for profile management, then profile switching is possible, but user convenience deteriorates and operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses eUICC (embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card) technology to create a digital copy of the physical SIM card functionality. The eUICC stores multiple operator profiles and enables remote provisioning and switching without requiring physical SIM card changes. This digital copying approach maintains profile management capability while eliminating the complexity of physical card handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical process of physically inserting and removing SIM cards with an electronic remote profile management system. The network side can remotely provision, switch, and manage profiles through communication protocols, substituting the mechanical SIM card change operation with an electronic control mechanism that improves user convenience.
2Ease of operation
If remote profile management is implemented, then profile switching becomes easier, but security verification complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the UE (user equipment) receives remote profile management commands from the network, verifies the profile owner information against stored credentials, and provides feedback on whether to execute the command. This feedback loop ensures security verification is performed while maintaining ease of remote operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables the UE to perform self-verification of profile owner information using stored credentials and authentication mechanisms. The device autonomously determines whether to execute remote management commands based on verification results, reducing the need for complex manual security checks while maintaining secure operation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple profiles are stored in eUICC, then profile management flexibility improves, but data storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the profile storage into distinct logical structures within the eUICC, organizing operator profiles, authentication data, and configuration information into separate manageable units. This segmentation allows efficient storage and retrieval of multiple profiles while maintaining clear data boundaries and reducing overall storage requirements through selective loading of only necessary profile data.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method, performed by a user equipment (UE), of controlling a profile is provided. The method includes receiving a remote profile management command regarding a target profile from a profile server, determining whether an enabled profile exists, verifying whether profile owner information of the target profile corresponds to profile owner information or sub-owner information of the enabled profile, based a result of the determination, and selectively executing the remote profile management command based on a result of the verification.