Patentamt
`European Patent Office
`J E u r o p a i s c h e s
`Office europeen des brevets
`
`© Publication number : 0 562 8 9 0 A 1
`
`@
`
`EUROPEAN PATENT A P P L I C A T I O N
`
`@ Application number : 93302420.0
`
`@ Int. CI.5 : H04Q 7/04, H04B 7 / 2 6
`
`(22) Date of filing : 29.03.93
`
`(30) Priority : 27.03.92 GB 9206679
`
`(43) Date of publication of application :
`29.09.93 Bulletin 93/39
`
`@ Designated Contracting States :
`AT BE CH DE DK ES FR GB GR IE IT LI LU MC
`NL PT SE
`
`(ft) Applicant : HUTCHISON MICROTEL LIMITED
`St. James Court, Great Park Road
`Almondsbury, Bristol BS12 4QJ (GB)
`
`(72) Inventor : Green, Steven
`96 Oakleaze Road
`Thornbury Bristol BS12 1BP (GB)
`
`(74) Representative : Calderbank, Thomas Roger et
`al
`MEWBURN ELLIS 2 Cursitor Street
`London EC4A 1BQ (GB)
`
`(54) Mobile communication network with remote updating of subscriber identity modules in mobile
`terminals.
`
`(57) A communications network has a switching
`including a mobile switching centre
`network
`(MSC 10) which communicates, e.g. by radio
`telephony, with mobile equipment (ME 12),
`such as a mobile telephone. The mobile equip-
`ment contains a subscriber
`identity module
`(SIM 20) which stores data for controlling the
`operation of, and the facilities available to the
`user, of the mobile equipment (12). In accord-
`ance with the present invention, the switching
`network
`to
`the
`transmits updating
`signals
`mobile equipment (12) which alter the data
`stored in the subscriber identity module (20),
`and hence alter the operation on facilities avail-
`able.
`
`O
`o>
`00
`CM
`CO
`
`LU
`
`Jouve, 18, rue Saint-Denis, 75001 PARIS
`
`EX-1024
`US Patent 10,789,393
`
`

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`EP 0 562 890 A1
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`SIM from the mobile terminal, and its return to, or re-
`placement by, the supplier, now may be achieved re-
`motely. Of course, the SIM may be removed from any
`given mobile terminal and transferred to another mo-
`bile terminal, so that the user may transfer his use
`from one mobile terminal to another. Hence, the
`transfer of the SIM re-configures the mobile terminal
`according to the needs of the user. However, with the
`present invention, the configuration of the SIM itself
`10 may be changed according to changes in the needs
`of the user in any mobile terminal in which the SIM is
`located and which is arranged to embody the present
`invention.
`It can be noted that it is believed that existing
`SIMs have sufficient memory to permit suitable soft-
`ware to be stored therein in order to achieve the pres-
`ent invention. However, it may be desirable to en-
`hance the memory available in order to enhance the
`processing capability within a SIM forthe invention to
`be facilitated, although any such enhancement must
`keep within the appropriate standards for the mobile
`terminal, e.g. the GSM standard.
`An embodiment of the present invention will now
`be described in detail, by way of example, with refer-
`ence to the accompanying drawings in which:
`Fig. 1 shows a communication network in which
`the present invention may be embodied;
`Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing of
`a message by a SIM incorporating the present in-
`vention; and
`Figs. 3a to 3c show the structure of messages
`which may be used in the present invention.
`In Fig. 1 normal telephonic communication oc-
`curs between a switching network including a mobile
`switching center MSC 10 and a mobile telephone or
`other mobile equipment ME 12. Such communication
`is via one of a number of base station controllers BSC
`14, each of which control a number of radio cells in
`which the ME 12 is located, and communicate with
`the ME 12 via a base transceiver system BTS 16.
`The ME 12 contains a subscriber identity module
`or SIM 20 which stores pre-programmed data. A mo-
`bile equipment ME containing a SIM may be referred
`to as a Mobile Station MS or mobile Telephone. In par-
`ticular, the SIM 20 stores a unique identifier of a par-
`ticular user, and may also contain an authentication
`function.
`Thus, when the SIM 20 is located in a given ME
`12, the ME 12 is configured for use by the information
`in the SIM.
`Immediately at the start of communication be-
`tween the MSC 10 and the ME 12, the MSC checks
`whether the user is registered at the MSC itself, via
`a home location register HLR 22. If no match is found,
`the MSC 10 checks on one of a number of visitor lo-
`cation registers 24 which contain information used
`when a user is temporarily within the coverage of a
`MSC which is not the "home" MSC of the user.
`
`The present invention relates to a mobile terminal
`for telecommunications, for example a portable tele-
`phone, and to a communications network making use
`of such terminals.
`The use of mobile telephones is now increasing,
`and it is therefore increasingly desirable that the op-
`eration of a given mobile telephone is sufficiently
`adaptable for the user's needs.
`At present, mobile telephones, particularly those
`based on the Groupe Speciale Mobile (GSM) Stan-
`dards, contain an electronic module, known as a Sub-
`scriber Identity Module or SIM which stores data to be
`used by the mobile telephone. In the DECT stan-
`dards, the corresponding module is known as a
`DECT authentication module (DAM). The term sub-
`scriber identity module or SIM will be used in this text
`to include both types of modules. The SIM is pre-con-
`figured to contain a unique identifier for a particular
`user, and may also contain appropriate authentication
`functions. The SIM is also able to store temporary
`data such as paging messages and a telephone num-
`ber directory.
`Currently, the SIM has a purely passive function
`within the mobile telephone, and stores data only.
`Apart from the temporary data, the software config-
`uration of the SIM is entirely pre-determined by the
`organisation which supplies the SIM, which is normal-
`ly the operator of the mobile communications net-
`work, or its appointed agent, in orderthatagiven SIM
`may be configured according to the needs of a par-
`ticular user. The disadvantage with this is that if the
`needs of the user change, the user must return the
`SIM to the supplier of the SIM, for re-configuration or
`a new SIM to be issued to the user. In the former
`case, the user is without a SIM for a period during
`which he is unable to use the services of the network,
`thus resulting in inconvenience for himself and loss of
`revenue tothe network operator. In the latter case se-
`curity risks arise with the user being potentially in
`possession of two SIMs both relating to his single
`subscription to the supplier.
`Therefore, the present invention proposes that
`the data in the SIM is updatable by signalling from a
`central site, so that the SIM is re-configured by that
`data updating. The SIM then contains suitable soft-
`ware for processing commands received from the site
`to trigger that re-configuration.
`Hence, the supplier may signal remotely to the
`SIM (which is straightforward since the SIM is located
`within a mobile telephone) and enables the supplier
`to change the functions of the SIM without the SIM
`having to be removed from the telephone.
`Although the invention has been described
`above with reference to a mobile telephone, it is ap-
`plicable to any terminal of a communications network
`making use of SIMs.
`Thus, according to the present invention, opera-
`tions which previously required the removal of the
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`trying for a predetermined period, until successful
`otherwise, the next time the user uses the network,
`by activation of the ME 12, the MSC identifies such
`use by noting the unique identifier of the userasso-
`ciated with SIM 20, and immediately sends a signal
`to the ME 12 which causes the SIM 20 to re-configure
`itself according to the newly desired functions.
`Hence, very rapidly, the SIM 20 may perform the new
`functions requested by the user. Having re-config-
`ured itself, the SIM 20 carries out a verification proc-
`ess to ensure that the new configuration corresponds
`to that requested by the user. Verification involves
`the SIM 20 carrying out certain mathematical proc-
`esses on its reconfigured data, comparing the results
`of this with the expected results as received from the
`network and advising the network of a satisfactory
`conclusion.
`The re-configuration and verification process will
`now be described in detail. In the following descrip-
`tion, it is assumed that the SIM is pre-programmed
`with standard or default commands, and all data stor-
`ed has been initialised to known initial values. These
`operations will normally be carried out before the SIM
`20 is issued to the user, by a suitable initialisation
`step. That initialisation step may also program PINs
`and other data such as the International Mobile Sub-
`scriber Identity (IMSI) data, the authentication key
`(Ki) data and the Pin Unblocking Key (PUK) data into
`the SIM.
`Now suppose that a message is received by the
`SIM 20. This message may be a re-programming
`message, or it could be a conventional message
`which is stored at the SIM 20 and displayed to the
`user as previously described. Therefore, as shown in
`Fig. 2, the first step 100 when a message is received
`is to determine if the message is a remote SIM updat-
`ing (RSU) message. If the message is not an RSU
`message, processing branches at step 101 to step
`102, in which the message is stored in a suitable
`40 memory, such as a EEPROM of the SIM 20. The SIM
`20 may then signal to the ME 12 that the message
`has been received, and this may be achieved at step
`103 by returning a suitable status signal to the ME 12.
`With the message stored in the memory of the SIM
`20, the processing stops at step 104, and the mes-
`sage may be displayed subsequently, with the dis-
`play being triggered by a suitable input from the user.
`If the message is determined to be an RSU mes-
`sage, branching at step 101 passes to step 105, in
`so which the SIM 20 checks whether the updating func-
`tion is enabled. This function will normally be enabled,
`but may be disabled for a particular SIM if that SIM is
`to be excluded from being updated according to the
`present invention. If it is disabled, the processing
`branches at step 106 to step 107 at which the mes-
`sage is converted to a textual message and process-
`ing then jumps to step 102, for display of the message
`as previously described.
`
`In existing networks, it is possible to store a mes-
`sage in the SIM 20 of an ME 12. To do this, the sup-
`plier generates the message at a service center SC
`26 of the switching network using part of the service
`center 26 known as a short message entity SME 28.
`The supplier therefore inputs the message via the
`SME 28 and the service center 26 transmits the mes-
`sage to the MSC 10 via a gateway SMSG 30 in the
`MSC 10. The message is then transmitted from the
`MSC 10 in the normal way to the ME 12, via the ap-
`propriate BSC 14 and BTS 16, and the message is
`stored in the SIM 20 of the ME 12. In practice, the ME
`12 merely acts as a transferor of the message, and
`the message is passed to the SIM 20 in the form it
`was received from the MSC 10. The only function of
`the ME 12 in this operation is as a buffer. In currently
`defined practice, the only function of the message is
`to provide information to the user of the telephone via
`a textual display on the telephone. The message may
`thus be read, edited by the user, and sent to another
`user, or erased.
`As described so far the system is conventional.
`As has previously been mentioned, the SIM 20 con-
`tains information identifying a particular user, and
`constraining that user to perform certain functions of
`the ME 12, and not others. This information is pre-
`programmed in the SIM 20. Thus, to take a simple
`case, the user may be prevented from making inter-
`national calls, with appropriate data being stored in
`the SIM 20. However, if the user wants to change the
`functions available to him, he must return the SIM to
`the supplier for re-programming or request the issue
`of a new SIM. This imposes a delay on the changes
`in function which is undesirable, as well as creating
`security risks with the presence of two SIMs for one
`user subscription.
`Therefore, the present invention proposes that
`the SIM 20 contain software which permits the SIM
`20 to re-configure itself, in response to a suitable sig-
`nal thereby changing the functions which it permits
`for the ME 12 in which it is located, and enables the
`SIM 20 to verify its changes with the network. The
`whole process of SIM reconfiguration and verification
`is done transparently to the user who may continue to
`use the telephone for normal calls, whilst the recon-
`figuration/verification process is happening. The
`process is also independent of the type of ME 12and,
`as long as the ME 12 supports the GSM short mes-
`sage service, it can respond to a signal generated at
`the SME 28.
`Thus, if the user wishes to change the functions
`available to him, he notifies the supplier accordingly
`and the supplier arranges, via the service center 26,
`for a suitable signal to be stored in the network, either
`at the service center 26, or the MSC 10. The MSC im-
`mediately tries to send a short message to the ME,
`without waiting for the ME to be activated. If this fails,
`due to the ME being switched off, the MSC will keep
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`If the RSU feature is enabled, however, the next
`step after the branching of step 106 is to carry out a
`check that the message has been received correctly.
`The present invention is not limited to any particular
`validation check method, but a simple method is to
`make use of checksum data in the message. In this
`arrangement, every message contains, in addition to
`other necessary information, checksum data which,
`when the information in the message is summed ac-
`cording to a predetermined rule, produces a zero re-
`sult. Therefore, if the information is summed at vali-
`dation step 107, and the result is not zero, the mes-
`sage has been received incorrectly. Thus, if the result
`of that validation check is not zero, processing
`branches at step 108 to step 110 in which a signal is
`generated from the SIM 20 to the ME 12 which indi-
`cates that there was a problem in the transmission of
`the RSU message. The SC 26 may then re-transmit
`the RSU message. If, however, the validation check
`of step 107 produces a zero result, processing
`branches at step 108 to step 109 in which the RSU
`message is analysed by the SIM to execute each
`command in the message. If, during the processing
`of step 110, an error occurs, processing branches at
`step 111 back to step 109, and the error is signalled
`to the SC 26 so that the RSU message is retransmit-
`ted. If every command is executed correctly, process-
`ing branches at step 111 to step 112 in which a mes-
`sage is generated to confirm that the processing of
`the RSU message has been completed. The mes-
`sage is stored in the memory of the SIM 20 in step
`102.
`Thus, it is possible to generate signals to the SIM
`20 from the SC 26 which can cause the SIM to carry
`out specific commands. Each RSU message will
`therefore contain a series of commands, plus a
`checksum. The number of commands in the RSU
`message depends on the size of each command and
`is limited by the maximum size of the message func-
`tion of the SIM 20.
`The processing of the commands received by the
`SIM, after the checking process described with refer-
`ence to Fig. 2 has been carried out, will now be de-
`scribed. As previously mentioned, each RSU mes-
`sage contains a series of commands plus a check-
`sum. The first command in such a series has a secur-
`ity checking function, which will be described in more
`detail later. The other commands are those which up-
`date the SIM 20 in accordance with the present inven-
`tion. Data is stored in a SIM in one of a plurality of
`fields, and there are two types of such fields. The first
`type is known as a "binary" field and consists of a sin-
`gle block of data, with the data within that block being
`unformatted (unstructured). An example of such data
`is the IMSI data referred to previously. The othertype
`of field is a formatted field, and is a structured field
`consisting of a number of records, normally with a
`similar structure. In this embodiment of the present
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`invention, the command carries new data to be over-
`written into an appropriate binary or formatted field,
`together with data identifying that field. Thus, once
`the SIM 20 has confirmed that an appropriate RSU
`message has been received, using the processing of
`Fig. 2, then each command is processed by overwrit-
`ing the data contained within that command into a
`field (either binary or formatted) identified within that
`command.
`Fig. 3a shows the structure of a command for up-
`dating a binary field. As can be seen from Fig. 3a, the
`command has five elements. The first element nb is
`a coded representation of the total number of bytes
`(and hence the length) of the command. The second
`element is an identifier of the field in which the data
`is to be written. The third element is a coding element
`Ins, and then the length of data is identified. Finally,
`the data itself is carried within the command. Thus,
`the field into which the data carried by the command
`is stored in the Field ID element, and, once the field
`is identified, the data can be stored therein using
`standard processing operations known e.g. from the
`pre-conf iguration process.
`Fig. 3b is a structure of a command for updating
`formatted data, it can be seen that the structure is ef-
`fectively identical to that for updating a binary field.
`As previously mentioned, the first command in a
`RSU message has a special function, in that it carries
`out a verification check, as previously mentioned, the
`updating function involves overwriting data in to one
`or more fields of the memory of the SIM 20, but for
`security such overwriting of the memory should occur
`only when the operator of the mobile communication
`network instructs such updating. Therefore, this em-
`bodiment proposes that the first command in the
`RSU message be a verifying command, the structure
`of which is shown in Fig. 3c. The general structure of
`this command is similar tothatforupdating the binary
`or record data, and consists of five separate ele-
`40 ments. In fact, the data of this command is not to be
`written to a field, the Field ID data may be null. The
`data of this command then represents a code which
`is compared with a pre-recorded code within the SIM
`to act as validation.
`Thus, each RSU message first enables access to
`the memory fields of the SIM by interaction of the va-
`lidation command of Fig. 3c with an internal code of
`the SIM 20, and their successive commands can up-
`date binary and formatted fields by overwriting of
`data within the command into the appropriate field.
`Hence, the SIM can be updated remotely, and thus
`the network features available to the user of the ME
`12 can be varied.
`It may be noted that SIM 20 is normally remov-
`able from the ME 12 and is interchangeable amongst
`mobile terminals. Thus, the user is not limited to a
`particular terminal, provided he retains his own SIM
`20.
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`to be written into that field, and is further ar-
`ranged to alter the data in the field identified by
`the first information on the basis of the second in-
`formation, whereby the data controlling said
`transmission is varied.
`
`6. A method of operating a mobile communications
`network in which a plurality of mobile terminals
`(12) and at least one switching network (10,26)
`transmit signals therebetween, with the trans-
`mission of the signals from each terminal (12) to
`the at least one switching network (10,26) being
`controlled by a data in a subscriber identity mod-
`ule (20) within the corresponding terminal (12);
`characterised in that:
`the at least one switching network (10,26)
`transmits signals to at least one of the terminals
`(12) which alter the data of the subscriber identity
`module of the at least one terminal (12).
`
`It should also be noted that the conventional
`SIMs 20 contains sufficient memory space to store
`appropriate software, although that memory space
`has not previously been used for anything other than
`data storage of e.g. paging messages. However, in or-
`der that the existing functions of the SIMs 20 are not
`limited by the present invention, it may be necessary
`to increase the amount of memory space within the
`SIM 20, working within the limits imposed by the
`needs of the telecommunications network itself.
`
`Claims
`
`1. A mobile communications network comprising at
`least one switching network (10,26) and a plural-
`ity of mobile terminals (12), the at least one
`switching network (10) and each terminal (12)
`being arranged to transmit signals therebetw-
`een, each terminal (1 2) having a subscriber iden-
`tity module (20) containing data for controlling the
`transmission of signals from the corresponding
`terminal (12) to the at least one switching net-
`work (10,26);
`characterised in that:
`the switching network (10,26) is arranged
`to transmit updating signals to at least one of said
`terminals (12) which alter the data of the sub-
`scriber identity module (20) of the at least one ter-
`minal (12).
`
`2. A network according to claim 1 wherein the mo-
`bile terminals (12) are mobile telephones.
`
`3. A network according to claim 1 or claim 2, where-
`in each subscriber identity module (20) has a
`memory comprising a plurality of fields storing
`said data, and each updating signal comprises in-
`formation identifying one of those fields and in-
`formation to be written into that one field, thereby
`altering said data.
`
`4. A network according to any one of the preceding
`claims, wherein each subscriber identity module
`(20) is arranged to analyse each updating signal
`received to validate said updating signal prior to
`altering of the data of the subscriber identity mod-
`ule (20).
`
`5. A mobile terminal (12) for a communication net-
`work having a subscriber identity module (20)
`containing data for controlling the transmission of
`signals from the mobile terminal (12), the data
`being stored in a plurality of memory fields;
`characterised in that:
`the terminal (12) is arranged to receive an
`updating signal comprising field information iden-
`tifying one of the fields and second information
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`EP 0 562 890 A1
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`t o o
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`Determine if the short message is an RSU
`short message
`
`No
`
`Determine if RSU feature is
`enabled
`
`/ 0 7
`_ >
`
`JConvert RSU to textual short message:
`single space
`
`m
`
`1
`Return 6F 00 error to ME:
`"Technical Problem with
`No Diagnostics Given"
`
`Convert RSU to textual short message:
`Text defined at administrative phase.
`
`Store short message in SIM EEPROM
`
`Return 90 00 status to ME
`
`-W"
`
`FINISH
`
`)
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`EP 0 562 890 A1
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`nb
`
`Field ID
`
`Ins
`
`Data
`Length
`Number of bytes Data-field ID 3
`Length of Data,
`in this command.
`(4 bytes).
`bytes data.
`
`Data
`
`Field ID
`nb
`Number of bytes in 4 bytes
`this command.
`
`Ins
`3
`bytes
`
`Data Length
`Length of
`data.
`
`Data
`Data,
`
`f 0
`
`3 c
`
`nb
`Number of bytes in this command.
`Always OF.
`
`Field ID
`(FFFF).
`
`Data Length
`Ins
`3 bytes Length of
`data. (08)
`
`Data
`Data
`(8 bytes).
`
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`EP 0 562 890 A1
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`3
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` European Patent
`Office
`
`EUROPEAN SEARCH REPORT
`
`DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED TO BE RELEVANT
`Citation of document with indication, where appropriate,
`category
`of relevant passages
`US-A-5 046 082 (ZICKER ET AL.)
`* column 3,
`line 43 - column 4,
`* column 8,
`line 35 - line 48 *
`* column 16,
`line 27 - column 19,
`* column 28,
`line 3 - line 21 *
`fcP-A-0 459 065 (ETAT
`* column 2,
`line 9 -
`* column 9,
`line 5 -
`* column 13,
`line 11
`
`FRANCAIS)
`column 7,
`line 33 *
`
`
`- column 15, 3,
`
`line 58
`
`Relevant
`to claim
`1-6
`
`L-6
`
`line 4 *
`
`line 47
`
`line 21 *
`li
`
`Application Number
`
`EP
`
`93 30 2420
`
`CLASSIFICATION OF THE
`APPLICATION (Int. CI.5 )
`H04Q7/04
`H04B7/26
`
`TECHNICAL FIELDS
`SEARCHED ant. CI.5 )
`
`H04Q
`
`column 16,
`
`line 37 - line 45
`
`tP-A-U 459 344 (ALCATEL CIT)
`* column 1,
`line 47 - column 2,
`* column 2,
`line 45 - column 3,
`* column 4,
`line 56 - column 5,
`
`line 16 *
`line 51 *
`line 40 *
`
`L-6
`
`I he present search report has been drawn up for all claims
`riace ai seven
`Date ot compJetio* of the search
`Examiner
`THE HAGUE
`25 JUNE 1993
`BEHRINGER L.V.
`heory or principle underlying the invention
`arlier patent document, but published on, or
`iter the filing date
`locument cited in the application
`ocument cited for other reasons
`Bi : member of the same patent family, corresponding
`document
`
`X : particularly relevant if taken alone
`¥ : particularly relevant if combined with another
`document of the same category
`A : technological background
`O : non-written disclosure
`P : intermediate document
`
`