eUICC Subscription Change

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016286379-A1
Application number	US-201615172427-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 3, 2016
Priority date	Nov 29, 2013
Publication date	Sep 29, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A connectivity service platform in a communication network manages changes to subscriptions for radio devices. When the connectivity service platform receives a subscription change message, it sends instructions to a radio device to change from the currently enabled subscription to a second subscription for its network connection. The connectivity service platform tests the second subscription network connection using a pre-defined testing procedure. More particularly, the test is performed uses a network connection from the second subscription to send and receive test messages to verify that the second subscription network connection has passed the testing. The first subscription is then disabled and the second subscription is enabled.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method performed by a card embedded in a radio device in a communication network, the method comprising:
receiving a subscription change message, comprising instructions to change from a currently enabled first subscription to a second subscription for a network connection of the radio device; enabling the second subscription within the radio device for the radio device to communicate via the network connection from the second subscription of the radio device instead of from the first subscription; testing the second subscription network connection of the radio device by using the network connection from the second subscription for sending at least one test message, and receiving at least one test message; and disabling the first subscription within the radio device, in response to a determination that the second subscription passes the testing, thereby disabling the radio device from communicating via the network connection from the first subscription of the radio device.

2 . The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the card is an embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC); wherein enabling the second subscription comprises enabling the radio device to communicate, via the network connection from a second subscription, to a connectivity service platform node in the communication network; and wherein disabling comprises disabling the radio device from communicating with the connectivity service platform node in the communication network via the network connection from the first subscription.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises verifying that the second subscription has passed the testing, and the disabling the first subscription comprises disabling after the verifying.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises synchronizing a verification result that the second subscription has passed the testing at the card with a verification result of a node in the communication network, and wherein the determination that the second subscription passes the testing comprises reconciling the different verification results.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising before the testing:
receiving a testing procedure message comprising information about a predefined testing procedure performed by a node in the communication network; and storing the received information about the predefined testing procedure, wherein the testing comprises testing in accordance with the predefined testing procedure.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, before the disabling of the first subscription, a verification message comprising information that the second subscription network connection has passed a corresponding testing procedure performed by the node in the communication network.

7 . The card of claim 1 , wherein the testing comprises acquiring information indicating how well the network connection via the second subscription is working.

8 . The card of claim 1 , wherein the enabling comprises enabling the second subscription while the radio device has a working network connection via the first subscription.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first subscription is with a first network operator, and the second subscription is with a second network operator, different than a first network operator.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one test message comprises at least one of: downlink SMS message, uplink SMS message, downlink data message, uplink data message, and message for setting up a voice call.

11 . A card configured to be embedded in a radio device, the card comprises memory and circuitry, the circuitry configured to:
receive a subscription change message comprising instructions to change from a currently enabled first subscription to a second subscription for a radio device's network connection; enable the second subscription within the radio device for the radio device to communicate via the network connection from the second subscription of the radio device instead of from the first subscription; test the second subscription network connection of the radio by using the network connection from the second subscription for sending at least one test message, and receiving at least one test message; and disable the first subscription within the radio device, in response to a determination that the second subscription passes the testing, thereby disabling the radio device from communicating with the connectivity service platform via the network connection from the first subscription of the radio device.

12 . The card of claim 11 ,
wherein the card is an embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC); wherein the circuitry is configured to enable by enabling the radio device to communicate, via the network connection from a second subscription, to a connectivity service platform node in the communication network; and wherein the circuitry is configured to disable by disabling the radio device from communicating with the connectivity service platform node in the communication network via the network connection from the first subscription.

13 . The card of claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to test the second subscription by verifying that the second subscription has passed the testing, and the determination comprises a verification result of the verifying.

14 . The card of claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to test the second subscription by synchronizing a verification result at the card that the second subscription has passed the testing with a verification result of a node in the communication network, and wherein the circuitry is configured to reconcile the different verification results to reach the determination that the second subscription passes the testing.

15 . The card of claim 11 ,
wherein the circuitry is configured to: receive a testing procedure message comprising information about a predefined testing procedure by a node in the communication network; and store the received information about the predefined testing procedure; wherein the circuitry is configured to test the second subscription by testing in accordance with the predefined testing procedure.

16 . The card of claim 11 , wherein the circuitry is configured to receive a verification message comprising information that the second subscription network connection has passed a corresponding testing procedure performed by the node in the communication network.

17 . The card of claim 11 , wherein the testing comprises acquiring information indicating how well the network connection via the second subscription is working.

18 . The card of claim 11 , wherein the first subscription is with a first network operator, and the second subscription is with a second network operator, different than a first network operator.

19 . The card of claim 11 , wherein the at least one test message comprises at least one of: downlink SMS message, uplink SMS message, downlink data message, uplink data message, and message for setting up a voice call.

20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer program code that, when run on circuitry of a card embedded in a radio device, causes the card to:
receive a subscription change message, comprising instructions to change from a currently enabled first subscription to a second subscription for a radio device's network connection; enable the second subscription within the radio device for the radio device to communicate via the network connection f

Assignees

• ERICSSON TELEFON AB L M (publ)

Inventors

• Li Qiang
• Petersson Justus

Classifications

• H04W24/08

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title

• H04W8/02

  Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks · CPC title

• H04W8/183 Primary

  Processing at user equipment or user record carrier · CPC title

• H04W4/14

  Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD] · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title