Update of a trusted name list

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10141966-B2
Application number	US-201715807516-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 8, 2017
Priority date	Jul 28, 2016
Publication date	Nov 27, 2018
Grant date	Nov 27, 2018

Abstract

Methods, devices, and servers for as-needed update of a trusted list are provided herein. An electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) server receives a request for an eSIM of a particular type from a wireless device. The eSIM server evaluates the particular type and requests an eSIM of the particular type from a second eSIM server, which is not initially trusted by a secure element (SE) of the wireless device. The eSIM server sends a policy update to the wireless device. The wireless device passes the policy update to the SE, for example, a universal integrated circuit card (UICC). The UICC updates the trusted list with an identity of the second eSIM server. When the wireless device downloads a bound profile package (BPP) containing an eSIM from the second eSIM server, the UICC validates the BPP based on the updated trusted list. The eSIM is then installed on the UICC.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
by a first electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) server:
receiving, from a carrier server, a first request for an eSIM of a first type;
when the first eSIM server hosts eSIMs of the first type,
initiating an eSIM installation process with a device; and
when the first eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
sending, to a second eSIM server, a second request to reserve the eSIM on behalf of the device,
receiving, from the second eSIM server, a first identifier of the eSIM, and
sending, to the carrier server, the first identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first eSIM server is a certificate authority (CA).

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
when the first eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
receiving, from the carrier server, a bind command message, wherein the bind command message confirms a pairing of the eSIM with a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), and wherein the UICC is present in the device; and
forwarding, to the second eSIM server, the bind command message.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the UICC is an embedded UICC (eUICC).

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
when the first eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
determining that a policy update should occur because the UICC might not trust the second eSIM server.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
when the first eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
sending, to the carrier server, a first message indicating the eSIM is bound to the UICC.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
when the first eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
receiving, from the device, a policy inquiry; and
sending, to the device, a policy update message.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the policy update message includes a common name of the second eSIM server.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the policy update message includes a list of trusted servers.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
when the first eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
receiving, from the device, a third request for a pending eSIM; and
sending, to the device, a redirection message, wherein the redirection message indicates the second eSIM server.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the third request includes an integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID) or an embedded UICC identifier (EID).

12. An electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) server comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors, wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by a processor of the one or more processors cause the eSIM server to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a carrier server, a first request for an eSIM of a first type;
when the eSIM server hosts eSIMs of the first type,
initiating an eSIM installation process with a device; and
when the eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
sending, to a second eSIM server, a second request to reserve the eSIM on behalf of the device,
receiving, from the second eSIM server, a first identifier of the eSIM, and
sending, to the carrier server, the first identifier.

13. The eSIM server of claim 12 , wherein the eSIM server is a certificate authority (CA).

14. The eSIM server of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:
when the eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
receiving, from the carrier server, a bind command message, wherein the bind command message confirms a pairing of the eSIM with a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), and wherein the UICC is present in the device; and
forwarding, to the second eSIM server, the bind command message.

15. The eSIM server of claim 14 , further comprising:
when the eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
determining that a policy update should occur because the UICC might not trust the second eSIM server.

16. The eSIM server of claim 15 , further comprising:
when the eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
sending, to the carrier server, a first message indicating the eSIM is bound to the UICC.

17. The eSIM server of claim 16 , further comprising:
when the eSIM server does not host eSIMs of the first type:
receiving, from the device, a policy inquiry;
sending, to the device, a policy update message;
receiving, from the device, a third request for a pending eSIM; and
sending, to the device, a redirection message, wherein the redirection message indicates the second eSIM server.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) server, cause the eSIM server to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a carrier server, a first request for an eSIM of a first type;
sending, to a second eSIM server, a second request to reserve the eSIM on behalf of a device;
receiving, from the second eSIM server, a first identifier of the eSIM;
sending, to the carrier server, the first identifier;
receiving, from the carrier server, a bind command message, wherein the bind command message confirms a pairing of the eSIM with a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), and wherein the UICC is present in the device; and
forwarding, to the second eSIM server, the bind command message.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining that a policy update should occur because the UICC might not trust the second eSIM server.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving, from the device, a policy inquiry;
sending, to the device, a policy update message;
receiving, from the device, a third request for a pending eSIM; and
sending, to the device, a redirection message, wherein the redirection message indicates the second eSIM server.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Narasimhan Avinash
• Purswani Hemant
• Mueller Clark P
• Haggerty David T
• Ll Li
• Mathias Arun G
• Abdulrahiman Najeeb M

Classifications

• H04W4/24 Primary

  Accounting or billing · CPC title

• H04L41/0893

  Assignment of logical groups to network elements · CPC title

• H04B1/3816 Primary

  Mechanical arrangements for accommodating identification devices, e.g. cards or chips; with connectors for programming identification devices · CPC title

• H04M17/023

  Circuit arrangements · CPC title

• H04M15/80

  Rating or billing plans; Tariff determination aspects · CPC title