Virtual SIM Bridge for Remote Identity Suspension
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Solution Overview
Problem
When a mobile device's identity is stored remotely and cannot be authenticated, it prompts the user to insert a SIM card, leading to unnecessary rebooting and service disruptions due to connectivity issues between the device and the remote identity.
Innovation Solution
A virtual SIM device acts as a bridge between the mobile device and the remotely stored SIM card, providing a 'parking' identity to prevent user notification of a missing SIM card and managing temporary identities during connectivity losses, ensuring seamless service by switching back to the valid identity once connectivity is restored.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the mobile device uses a virtual SIM device to bridge with remotely stored SIM card, then service continuity is improved during connectivity issues, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a virtual SIM device as an intermediary component between the mobile device and the remotely stored SIM card. This virtual SIM device acts as a mediator that can present different identities (valid IMSI or parking IMSI) to the network based on connectivity status, thereby maintaining service continuity without requiring direct access to the remote SIM card at all times.
Solution Approach 2:
The identity management function is segmented into multiple components: the mobile device, the virtual SIM device, and the remotely stored SIM card. This segmentation allows the virtual SIM device to independently manage identity presentation and switch between valid and parking identities without affecting the other components, thus improving reliability while keeping each component relatively simple.
2Loss of information
If the mobile device prompts user to insert SIM card during authentication failure, then user is notified of the issue, but unnecessary user intervention is caused due to transient connectivity issues
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring a parking identity in the virtual SIM device that can be immediately presented to the network when connectivity to the remote SIM card is lost. This preliminary preparation of alternative identity prevents authentication failures and eliminates the need for user intervention to insert a physical SIM card during transient connectivity issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual SIM device automatically detects connectivity status and self-manages identity presentation by switching between valid and parking identities without requiring user notification or intervention. The system serves itself by monitoring its own connectivity state and independently resolving authentication issues through identity switching.
3Reliability
If the mobile device reboots when no valid identity is presented, then authentication is enforced, but service disruption occurs due to transient connectivity issues
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides beforehand cushioning by preparing a parking identity in advance that can be presented to the network when connectivity to the remote SIM card is lost. This pre-prepared alternative identity acts as a cushion that prevents authentication failures and eliminates the need for device rebooting during transient connectivity issues, thus maintaining service continuity while still enforcing authentication when connectivity is restored.
Data Source
AI summary
This inventions relates to an identity suspension method and system for a mobile device designed for operation with a subscriber identification module (SIM) card, wherein the mobile device further includes a virtual SIM device. The virtual SIM device acts as a bridge between a remotely located SIM card, and the mobile device. The virtual SIM device can detect when the mobile device requests an identity or when the cellular services provider is attempting to authenticate the identity associated with the mobile device. Should the virtual SIM device sense that the process may not be completed for any reason, the virtual SIM device returns a transient error to the mobile device and effectively present a new “parking” identity to the mobile device using procedures defined in SIM toolkit.