Electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) transfer from inactive device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11064347-B1
Application number	US-202016933989-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 20, 2020
Priority date	Oct 28, 2019
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

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 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 from the active mobile communication device, identification data for eSIM credentials associated with the inactive mobile communication device;
validating, by the SMDP+ server, an integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID) of the inactive mobile communication device 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.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification data for eSIM credentials includes the ICCID of the inactive mobile communication device and the confirmation code associated with the user.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the identification data for eSIM credentials further includes an EID of the inactive mobile communication device, a matching ID associated with the eSIM credentials, and the EID of the active mobile communication device.

4. The method of claim 1 , 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, an EID of the inactive mobile communication device, a matching ID associated with the eSIM credentials, the confirmation code associated with the user, or combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , 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.

6. The method of claim 1 , 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.

7. A system for updating electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) credentials from an inactive mobile communication device to an active mobile communication device, comprising:
a subscription manager data preparation (SMDP+) server configured to:
receive identification data for eSIM credentials associated with the inactive mobile communication device from the active mobile communication device,
validate an integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID) of the inactive mobile communication device and a confirmation code associated with a user,
assign the eSIM credentials to an EID of the active mobile communication device, and
initiate a package download to transfer the eSIM credentials to the active mobile communication device.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the identification data for eSIM credentials includes the ICCID of the inactive mobile communication device and the confirmation code associated with the user.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the identification data for eSIM credentials further includes an EID of the inactive mobile communication device, a matching ID associated with the eSIM credentials, and the EID of the active mobile communication device.

10. The system of claim 7 , 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 wherein the SMDP+ server is further configured to:
query a lookup table with the identification data for eSIM credentials to obtain the ICCID of the inactive mobile communication device, an EID of the inactive mobile communication device, a matching ID associated with the eSIM credentials, the confirmation code associated with the user, or combinations thereof.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the SMDP+ server is further configured to:
perform 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.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the SMDP+ server is further configured to:
deactivate 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.

13. 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;
receiving, by the active mobile communication device, the eSIM credentials from the SMDP+ server; and
transmitting, by the active mobile communication device, a wireless command via a peer-to-peer wireless interface to the inactive mobile communication device, wherein the identification data for the eSIM credentials is cleared from the inactive mobile communication device based on the wireless command.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein communicating with the inactive mobile communication device includes communicating via a radio frequency identity (RFID) circuit in the inactive mobile communication device.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein communicating with the inactive mobile communication device includes communicating via a near field communication (NFC) circuit in the inactive mobile communication device.

16. The method of claim 13 , 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.

17. The method of claim 13 , 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.

18. The method of claim 13 , 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 method of claim 13 , 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 car

Assignees

• T Mobile Innovations Llc
• Sprint Communications Co Lp

Inventors

• Dreiling Ryan P
• Guru Balasubramaniam
• Uehling Philip W

Classifications

• H04W4/80

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

• H04W4/60

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

• H04W8/26

  Network addressing or numbering for mobility support · CPC title

• H04W8/205 Primary

  Transfer to or from user equipment or user record carrier · CPC title

• H04W12/069

  using certificates or pre-shared keys · CPC title