SIM Card Identity Pooling for Mobile Data Activation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Manufacturers face high initial activation costs for mobile data network SIM cards, especially when a small proportion of data-only devices sold eventually establish chargeable accounts, making it economically challenging to offer trial periods without incurring significant fees for each device.
Innovation Solution
Establishing a pool of temporary-use mobile network identities, where each device is allocated fewer temporary-use identities than the number of devices sold, allowing multiple devices to share these identities, and switching to individual, chargeable identities after the trial period, thereby reducing initial activation fees.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If each device is equipped with a unique activated SIM card for trial period, then users can access mobile data network freely during trial, but manufacturers incur high activation fees for each SIM card
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple devices share a single activated SIM card identity during the trial period. The system merges the network access rights of one SIM card across multiple user equipment devices, allowing them to collectively utilize the trial period benefits without each device requiring separate SIM card activations.
Solution Approach 2:
A single SIM card identity serves multiple functions by being shared across different devices. The same mobile network identity is universally used by multiple user equipment during trial, eliminating the need for separate activations and reducing overall activation fees while maintaining data access capability.
2Quantity of substance
If multiple devices share the same mobile identity, then activation fees are reduced, but network connection management becomes complex due to potential conflicts
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically manages SIM card identity allocation by enabling or disabling specific identities based on current network conditions and device status. When one device is connected, the system dynamically switches to alternative identities for other devices, providing adaptive management that resolves conflicts automatically.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms to monitor network connection status and automatically adjust identity usage. When connection conflicts are detected, the system receives feedback about the conflict state and automatically switches to alternative identities or manages device connections based on the feedback information.
3Quantity of substance
If a pool of temporary identities is used instead of unique SIM cards, then activation costs decrease significantly, but the system requires complex identity distribution and switching mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-configures multiple alternative mobile identities in advance within the SIM card or device memory before trial period begins. These identities are prepared and stored beforehand, allowing the system to quickly switch between them during trial without requiring complex real-time generation or activation processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary management layer that handles identity distribution and switching between devices. This intermediary component coordinates which device uses which identity at any given time, simplifying the overall system architecture by centralizing the complex identity management logic in a dedicated management module.
Data Source
AI summary
An identification module (such as a SIM card) for securely providing a mobile identity to a mobile data network for use in identifying mobile equipment in which that identification module is installed comprises a mobile identity memory which securely stores data defining two or more different mobile identities; a selector for selecting a mobile identity from the two or more mobile identities; a network interface for generating data derived from the selected mobile identity for transmission to a mobile network during a network authorization procedure, and for receiving acknowledgement data back from the mobile network indicating whether authorization was successful based on that selected mobile identity; and a detector for detecting whether the acknowledgement data indicates an unsuccessful authorization with the mobile network and, if so, for initiating a further network authorization procedure in which the selector selects a different one of the two or more mobile identities.