Electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) transfer from inactive device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10764746-B1
Application number	US-201916665941-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Oct 28, 2019
Priority date	Oct 28, 2019
Publication date	Sep 1, 2020
Grant date	Sep 1, 2020

Abstract

A mechanism of obtaining electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) credentials from an inactive mobile communication device is described. This includes communicating, by an active mobile communication device, with an inactive mobile communication device via a peer-to-peer wireless interface. The active mobile communication device receives identification data for the eSIM credentials as stored in the inactive mobile communication device. The active mobile communication device transmits the identification data for the eSIM credentials to a subscription manager data preparation (SMDP+) server. The active mobile communication device also receives the eSIM credentials from the SMDP+ server.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of obtaining electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) credentials from an inactive mobile communication device, comprising:
communicating, by an active mobile communication device, with an inactive mobile communication device via a peer-to-peer wireless interface;
receiving, by the active mobile communication device, identification data for the eSIM credentials as stored in the inactive mobile communication device;
transmitting, by the active mobile communication device, the identification data for the eSIM credentials to a subscription manager data preparation (SMDP+) server; and
receiving, by the active mobile communication device, the eSIM credentials from the SMDP+ server.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating with the inactive mobile communication device includes communicating via a radio frequency identity (RFID) circuit in the inactive mobile communication device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating with the inactive mobile communication device includes communicating via a near field communication (NFC) circuit in the inactive mobile communication device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification data for the eSIM credentials include a stored confirmation code, and further comprising:
receiving, by the active mobile communication device, a user confirmation code from a user via user interface; and
confirming, by the active mobile communication device, a match between the user confirmation code and the stored confirmation code prior to transmitting the identification data for the eSIM credentials to the SMDP+ server.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting, by the active mobile communication device, a wireless command via a peer-to-peer wireless interface to clear the identification data for the eSIM credentials from the inactive mobile communication device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification data for the eSIM credentials includes a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) address of the SMDP+ server, and further comprising:
establishing, by the active mobile communication device, a data connection with the SMDP+ server based on the FQDN address of the SMDP+ server.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification data for the eSIM credentials includes an integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID) of the inactive mobile communication device, an embedded universal integrated circuit card identifier (EID) of the inactive mobile communication device, a matching identifier (ID) associated with the eSIM credentials, a confirmation code associated with a user, or combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification data for the eSIM credentials includes data uniquely identifying the inactive mobile communication device to support looking up an integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID) of the inactive mobile communication device, an embedded universal integrated circuit card identifier (EID) of the inactive mobile communication device, a matching identifier (ID) associated with the eSIM credentials, a confirmation code associated with a user, or combinations thereof.

9. A method of updating electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) credentials from an inactive mobile communication device to an active mobile communication device, comprising:
receiving, at a subscription manager data preparation (SMDP+) server, identification data for eSIM credentials associated with the inactive mobile communication device, the identification data for eSIM credentials received from the active mobile communication device;
validating, by the SMDP+ server, an integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID) of the inactive mobile communication device, an embedded universal integrated circuit card identifier (EID) of the inactive mobile communication device, a matching identifier (ID) associated with the eSIM credentials, and a confirmation code associated with a user;
assigning the eSIM credentials to an EID of the active mobile communication device; and
initiating, by the SMDP+ server, a package download to transfer the eSIM credentials to the active mobile communication device.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the identification data for eSIM credentials includes the ICCID of the inactive mobile communication device, the EID of the inactive mobile communication device, the matching ID associated with the eSIM credentials, the confirmation code associated with the user, and the EID of the active mobile communication device.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the identification data for eSIM credentials includes data uniquely identifying the inactive mobile communication device and the EID of the active mobile communication device, and further comprising:
querying a lookup table with the identification data for eSIM credentials to obtain the ICCID of the inactive mobile communication device, the EID of the inactive mobile communication device, the matching ID associated with the eSIM credentials, the confirmation code associated with the user, or combinations thereof.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
performing a fraud check with a mobile network operator (MNO) server prior to assigning the eSIM credentials to the EID of the active mobile communication device.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
deactivating a relationship between the eSIM credentials and the inactive mobile communication device contemporaneously with assigning the eSIM credentials to the EID of the active mobile communication device.

14. A first mobile communication device configured to obtain electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) credentials from an inactive mobile communication device, the first mobile communication device comprising:
a peer-to-peer wireless interface configured to:
communicate with an inactive mobile communication device via a peer-to-peer wireless interface; and
receive identification data for the eSIM credentials as stored in the inactive mobile communication device;

a wireless transmitter configured to transmit the identification data for the eSIM credentials to a subscription manager data preparation (SMDP+) server; and
a wireless receiver configured to receive the eSIM credentials from the SMDP+ server.

15. The first mobile communication device of claim 14 , wherein the peer-to-peer wireless interface includes a radio frequency identity (RFID) reader configured to communicate with an RFID circuit in the inactive mobile communication device.

16. The first mobile communication device of claim 14 , wherein the peer-to-peer wireless interface includes a near field communication (NFC) circuit configured to communicate with an NFC circuit in the inactive mobile communication device.

17. The first mobile communication device of claim 14 , wherein the peer-to-peer wireless interface is further configured to transmit a wireless command to clear the identification data for the eSIM credentials from the inactive mobile communication device.

18. The first mobile communication device of claim 14 , wherein the identification data for the eSIM credentials includes an integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID) of the inactive mobile communication device, an embedded universal integrated circuit card identifier (EID) of the inactive mobile communication device, a matching identifier (ID) associated with the eSIM credentials, a confirmation code associated with a user, or combinations thereof.

19. The first mobile communication device of claim 14 , wherein the identification data for the eSIM crede

Assignees

• Sprint Communications Co Lp

Inventors

• Dreiling Ryan P
• Guru Balasubramaniam
• Uehling Philip W

Classifications

• H04W4/60

  Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04W12/35 Primary

  Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning · CPC title

• H04W12/40

  Security arrangements using identity modules · CPC title

• H04W12/043

  using a trusted network node as an anchor · CPC title