Secure Element Broker for Multi-SE Channel Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile devices can typically handle only one secure element (SE) at a time, limiting the functionality and efficiency of transactions involving multiple secure elements.
Innovation Solution
A secure elements broker (SEB) manages concurrent secure elements by maintaining them in a sleeping mode and activating the appropriate element based on application needs, using logical functions to organize and prioritize SEs, and ensuring seamless communication protocols are used.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple secure elements are activated concurrently in a mobile device, then the functionality and transaction efficiency are improved, but the device complexity and management difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a secure element manager as an intermediary component that mediates between multiple secure elements and the application processor. This manager handles the complexity of concurrent SE management by providing a standardized interface, managing activation states, and coordinating communication protocols, thereby enabling multiple SEs to function simultaneously without proportionally increasing system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the secure element management functionality into distinct components: the secure element manager, individual secure element modules, and application interfaces. This segmentation allows each component to be independently managed and activated based on transaction requirements, improving versatility while keeping the overall system manageable through modular architecture
2Productivity
If only one secure element is active at a time, then the device complexity is reduced, but the transaction efficiency and productivity are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic activation and deactivation of secure elements based on real-time transaction requirements. The secure element manager can activate specific SEs only when needed for particular transactions, allowing multiple SEs to be available in the system without maintaining all of them active simultaneously, thus improving transaction efficiency while managing complexity dynamically
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic status checks and activation cycles where the secure element manager monitors transaction requests and activates appropriate secure elements on demand. This periodic action pattern allows the system to handle multiple SEs efficiently by activating them in response to specific transaction events rather than maintaining continuous active states
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for managing concurrent secure elements on a mobile device to coordinate with an application or “app” running on the mobile device and an appropriate communications protocol for conducting transactions using the mobile device include: informing, by the processor, the reader device of a preferred app and a communication protocol usable by the preferred app; receiving, by the processor, information about which apps and communication protocols are supported by a reader for processing a transaction; locating, by the processor, a secure element supporting an app and a communication protocol supported by the reader; channeling the communication protocol for the specific configuration of the app and the supporting secure element; activating the secure element that supports the app; and processing, with the activated secure element, using the supported app and communication channel, the transaction with the reader.