DESC:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
[39 of 1970]
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(Section 10; Rule 13)

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING CAPABILITY INFORMATION OF AN EMBEDDED UNIVERSAL INTEGRATED CIRCUIT CARD

SAMSUNG R&D INSTITUTE INDIA – BANGALORE PRIVATE LIMITED
# 2870, ORION Building,
Bagmane Constellation Business Park,
Outer Ring Road, Doddanakundi Circle,
Marathahalli Post, Bangalore-560 037

an Indian Company

The following Specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed

RELATED APPLICATION
Benefit is claimed to Indian Provisional Application No. 3624/CHE/2013 titled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR eUICC CAPABILITY EXCHANGE" filed on 14th August 2013, which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication and more particularly relates to method and system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) is a smart card used in communication device accessing the GSM and UMTS networks. The UICC secures the integrity and security of all kinds of network credentials provided by the Operator, personal data of the user like phone book, SMS, and the card usually holds a few megabytes. Since the slot of the card is standardized, a subscriber has the flexibility to easily move their wireless access credentials and subscription related information from one communication device to another.

Communication devices in a wireless network currently includes a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card that enables the user to make a wireless communication through a mobile network operator (MNO) to which the device user is subscribed. MNO grants appropriate access to the available network resources after verifying the authenticity of the SIM card. Users are able to change their subscription to a different MNO by inserting a new SIM card, subject to possible SIM-locks implemented within the communication devices or networks to prevent subscription changes that undermine device-cost-subsidy plans. A SIM is technically an application that resides within what is properly termed universal integrated circuit card (UICC).

In view of recent development, UICC is now embedded within a wireless device and such UICC embedded along with the device is called as embedded UICC (eUICC). Since eUICC is embedded inside the wireless device, there are several issues originated in respect of secure communication and management. Currently, European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) SCP requirement is to have a secure mechanism in order to provide the capability for authorization, authentication, integrity and confidentiality for the management of operational or provisioning profiles (such as Deleting, Enabling and Disabling). Another requirement is to protect all profiles against unauthorized access, unauthorized deletion or unauthorized modification.
In the current market, removable UICC are provided by a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) when a user signs for a subscription. As the removable UICC are customized by the MNO and only operator can provision, manage the UICC, the operators are well aware of the UICC capabilities thereby there is no need for exchange of the UICC capabilities. However, for eUICC, the MNO may not be aware of the eUICC capabilities since the MNO may not be involved during a device manufacture phase. In an event of customizing the MNO’s operational profile, the MNO need to know the capability of the eUICC for before and/or after provisioning of the profile for network access, profile management and MNO’s services.

Therefore, there is a need for method and system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO), the Profile Management Unit (SM-SR), and the Profile Provisioning Unit (SM-DP).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention describes a method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one off-card entity (may be mobile network operator (MNO), SM-DP, SM-SR) . The method comprises receiving and storing capability information of the eUICC at a profile management unit (SM-SR), providing the capability information of the eUICC by the profile management unit (SM-SR) to the mobile network operator (MNO) based on a request received, and generating a profile of the eUICC based on the received capability information by the mobile network operator (MNO). In an embodiment, the entity/units SM-SR and SM-DP may belongs to a MNO or may be owned by third parties and when mentioning MNO in this document, it can be from SM-SR or SM-DP or any other entity from the mobile operator network.
Another embodiment of the present invention describes a method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO). The method comprises providing capability information of the eUICC by a profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) or a profile management unit (SM-SR), authenticating the eUICC by the MNO on first network access, providing the capability information of the eUICC by the eUICC on successful authentication, generating profile information for the eUICC on the basis of the received eUICC capability information from eUICC and SM-DP, and configuring the profile in the eUICC based on the generated Customized/ Personalised profile.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention describes a method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one of a mobile network operator (MNO), profile management unit (SM-SR), and profile provisioning unit (SM-DP). The method comprises authenticating the eUICC by at least one of the mobile network operator (MNO), the profile management unit (SM-SR), and the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP), authenticating at least one of the mobile network operator (MNO), the profile management unit (SM-SR), and the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) by the eUICC, providing capability information by the eUICC to at least one of the mobile network operator (MNO), the profile management unit (SM-SR), and the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP), performing at least one process to generate profile for the eUICC on the basis of the received capability information; and configuring the profile on the eUICC based on the generated profile and received capability information from the profile management unit (SM-SR). In one embodiment, the authentication is performed using at least one a provisioning profile and operational profile.

Further embodiment of the present invention describes a system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO). The system comprises means for receiving and storing capability information and ID information of the eUICC at a profile management unit (SM-SR), means for providing the capability information and ID information of the eUICC by the profile management unit (SM-SR) to a mobile network operator (MNO) based on a request received, and means for generating a profile information of the eUICC based on the received capability information by the mobile network operator (MNO).

Further embodiment of the present invention describes a system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO). The system comprises means for receiving and storing capability information and ID information of the eUICC at a profile provisioning unit (SM-DP), means for authenticating the eUICC by the MNO on first network access, means for generating profile information for the eUICC on successful authentication on the basis of the received capability information, and means for configuring the profile in the eUICC based on the generated profile information.

Further embodiment of the present invention describes a system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO). The method comprises means for authenticating the eUICC by the MNO on first network access, means for providing capability information to the MNO, means for generating Customized/ Personalised profile information for the eUICC on the basis of the received capability information, and means for configuring the profile on the eUICC based on the generated profile information.

Further embodiment of the present invention describes a system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO). The system comprises means for storing split capability information in one or more network entities for the eUICC, means for receiving the capability information from the one or more network entities for the eUICC, and means for generating a personalized profile for the eUICC based on the received capability information of the eUICC from the one or more network entities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The aforementioned aspects and other features of the present invention will be explained in the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) and its capability information.

Figure 2 illustrates a schematic representation of three embodiments for exchanging capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC).

Figure 3 illustrates a schematic representation of exchanging capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to one embodiment.

Figure 4 illustrates a schematic representation of exchanging capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to another embodiment.

Figure 5 illustrates a schematic representation of exchanging capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to yet another embodiment.

Figure 6 illustrates a schematic representation of exchanging capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to further embodiment.

Figure 7 illustrates a method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to one embodiment.

Figure 8 illustrates a method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to yet another embodiment.

Figure 9 illustrates a method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to further embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. The present invention can be modified in various forms. Thus, the embodiments of the present invention are only provided to explain more clearly the present invention to the ordinarily skilled in the art of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals are used to indicate like components.
The specification may refer to “an”, “one” or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations. This does not necessarily imply that each such reference is to the same embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “includes”, “comprises”, “including” and/or “comprising” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations and arrangements of one or more of the associated listed items.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
The present invention provides a method and system for providing eUICC capabilities and status to remote entities or to devices. The system and method includes splitting the eUICC capability information into different categories (platform capability and profile capability) and storing it in one or more entities. The method further includes aggregating the eUICC capability information associated with the eUICC from one or more entities to customize/provision/manage the profile for a network application or service access based on the eUICC capability by the remote entities or the device. In one embodiment, the profile refers to Provisioning profile and/or Operational profile. The provisioning profile is used to enable a device to access a communication network for the purpose of provisioning other provisioning profile and operational profile. The operational profile is associated with an operational subscription for enabling a device to access a mobile network for the purpose of accessing telecommunication and related services and optionally for the purpose of management of operational profiles on the UICC.

Further, in an embodiment, the Profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP) and Profile Management Unit (SM-SR) are co-located. The profile management unit (SM-SR) performs management operation and the profile provisioning unit performs provisioning operation.

“Profile management unit” and “Subscription Manager - Secure Routing” are used interchangeably throughout the specification. Profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP) and Subscription Manager - Data Preparation are used interchangeably throughout the specification.

Figure 1 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) and its capability information. Figure 1 identifies a plurality of factors for the eUICC capability, where the mobile network operator (MNO) such as Subscription Manager - Data Preparation (SM-DP)) and profile installation/management server such as Subscription Manager - Secure Routing (SM-SR) need to know to customize/personalize/provision/manage the profile such as operational and/or provisioning profile, for a particular eUICC. The factors for customizing the profile include, but not limited to, Central Processing Unit (CPU) capability, Memory Size, Runtime environment, Java version, Multi-profile support, only single profile enabling at a time, Multi profile activation simultaneously, Supported security mechanisms, cryptographic Key Length/size, Authentication procedure supported (Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and/or Symmetric), Cryptographic Algorithm supported, Supported standard security algorithms, profiling of algorithm possibility, support for loading proprietary algorithm, eUICC–Device Interface type and mechanism/feature availability.

In one embodiment, the eUICC capabilities (also called as capability information) are categorized as platform capabilities and profile or application capabilities. In another embodiment the eUICC capabilities is categorized as static capabilities and dynamic capabilities. In yet another embodiment, the eUICC capabilities is categorized as general and specific capabilities. The platform capabilities, static capabilities, general capabilities are stored in a server or network and fetched from the server or network. The profile/application, dynamic capabilities, specific capabilities are stored in the eUICC and fetched from the eUICC. In an embodiment, the platform capabilities, static capabilities, general capabilities, profile/application capabilities, dynamic capabilities, and specific capabilities are stored in the eUICC and fetched from the eUICC.

The Platform capabilities are fetched from server (for e.g, SM-SR) or from the eUICC, for preparing initial profile (may be un-personalized profile) for the eUICC such as runtime environment, memory capacity, CAT (Card application toolkit). Profile capability is fetched from the eUICC for providing supported applications within the profile (i.e. personalized profile). Static capabilities are fetched from the server or from the eUICC such as for run time environment and Dynamic capabilities are fetched from the eUICC such as for available storage memory. General Capability includes but not limited to Total Memory Size, and Available memory. Specific Capability includes but not limited to List of active profiles in roaming scenario, if roaming network wants to know, application supported by a particular profile (to be known by roaming partner, like UMTS Auth, LTE Auth).

In an embodiment, the eUICC have Capability Filter functionality to filter the capability information based on the privileges, before sending the capability to the requested entity. After validating the request (based on the privileges), the eUICC reports its state and capability to the requesting entity. For example, profile from MNO-1 will disallow the MNO-2 to know its profile details, whereas MNO-1 would like to share the profile information with MNO-3 (its roaming partner). In another example, User is not informed on the MNO supported authentication mechanisms. In this case, the eUICC performs capability filtering functionality based on the privileges and disallow the capability information being requested.

Figure 2 illustrates various embodiments (such as network based embodiment, device based embodiment and identity based embodiment) for exchanging capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC).e. In Figure 2, a system provides capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to three embodiments. In a network based embodiment, the capability information of the eUICC is maintained by a Subscription Manager (SM). A device vendor/manufacturer 201 provides the capability information of the eUICC to a Subscription Manager - Secure Routing (SM-SR) 202. When a Subscription Manager - Data Preparation (SM-DP) 203 prepares a profile, it queries the SM-SR 202 for the capability information of the eUICC. Then the Mobile Network Operator (MNO) 204 along with the SM-DP 203, customize and prepare the profile based on the capability information and the subscription (such as tariff opted by the subscriber). In a User Equipment (UE) based embodiment (also called device based embodiment), the MNO 206 fetches the capability information of the eUICC from the UE /device 205 (or from the eUICC) directly and may stores the capability information of the eUICC in a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) along with the subscription information for further references. In this case, the eUICC information stored in the HSS is static, platform, or general capability information. In one embodiment, the capability information is encoded as bit streams and carried over to Application Protocol Data Unit (APDU). In an identity based embodiment, the MNO 208 fetches the capability information from the SM-SR 209, using the eUICC ID, Capability ID and TOKEN fetched from the eUICC 207 directly using over-the-air (OTA) and/or Card Application Toolkit (CAT) and/or (U)SIM Application Toolkit ((U)SAT) mechanisms.

The present invention describes a system according to three embodiments (such as network based embodiment, device based embodiment and identity based embodiment) for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO).

In network based embodiment, the system comprises means for receiving and storing capability information of the eUICC at a profile management unit (SM-SR) 202, means for providing the capability information of the eUICC by the profile management unit (SM-SR) 202 to a SM-DP 203 based on a request received, and means for generating a profile information of the eUICC based on the received capability information by the mobile network operator (MNO) 204. Here, the means for receiving is a transceiver, the means for storing is a memory, the means for providing is a transceiver, and the means for generating is a processor.
In identity based embodiment, the system comprises means for receiving and storing capability information of the eUICC 207 at a profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) or at the profile management unit (SM-SR), means for authenticating the eUICC 207 by the MNO 208 on first network access, means for generating profile information for the eUICC 207 on successful authentication on the basis of the received capability information, and means for personalizing/configuring/provisioning/managing the profile in the eUICC 207 based on the generated profile. Here, the means for receiving is a transceiver, the means for storing is a memory, the means for authenticating is a processor, the means for generating is a processor, and means for configuring is a processor.
In device based embodiment, the system comprises means for authenticating the eUICC by the MNO 206 on first network access, means for providing capability information to the MNO 206, and means for generating profile information for the eUICC on the basis of the received capability information, and means for configuring the profile on the eUICC based on the generated profile. Here, the means for authenticating is a processor, the means for providing is a transceiver, the means for generating is a processor, and means for configuring is a processor.
In one embodiment, the system comprises means for storing split capability information in one or more network entities for the eUICC, means for receiving the capability information from the one or more network entities for the eUICC, and means for generating a personalized profile for the eUICC based on the received capability information of the eUICC from the one or more network entities. Here, the means for storing is a memory, the means for receiving is a transceiver, and the means for generating is a processor.
Figure 3 illustrates a method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) according to a network based embodiment. In this embodiment, a vendor/ manufacturer 301 of the eUICC provides the capability information of the eUICC to the SM-SR 302. The SM-SR 302 stores the capability information along with the eUICC Identity (ID). When the User request the MNO 304 for provisioning of profile such as Operational profile (Network access application (NAA)). The user request contains the eUICC ID. Then the MNO 304 requests the SM-DP 303 for the capability information of the eUICC or alternatively the MNO requests the SM-DP to provision the profile in the eUICC. Subsequently, the SM-DP 303 forwards the request for capability information to SM-DP 303 based on the request received from MNO 304. On receiving the request, the SM-SR 302 provides the capability information of the eUICC to the MNO 304 via SM-DP 303 or to the SM-DP 303. The MNO 304 generates a preferred profile requirements based on the capability information and informs the preferred profile details and parameters to the SM-DP 303 to prepare the eUICC profile. Finally, the SM-DP 303 creates the profile (i.e. personalized profile) based on the MNO’s profile requirements. In one embodiment, the SM-DP 303 is owned by Operator and may be in MNO’s network. In another embodiment, the above said MNO’s role and functionality is performed by the SM-DP itself.

Figure 4 illustrates a schematic representation of exchanging capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) according to another embodiment. In this embodiment, a customized post provisioning of profile is performed by over the air (OTA) procedure. The eUICC vendor/ manufacturer 401 provide the capability information of the eUICC to the SM-SR. The capability information of the eUICC stored in the SM-SR being at least one of: static capability information, platform capability information and general capability information. The SM-SR stores the capability information of the eUICC along with the eUICC identity (ID). The eUICC 405 performs authentication with the MNO 404 using the general profile (such as Operational Profile), provisioned initially for network access (or using provisioning profile). Then the MNO 404 obtains the capability information of the eUICC from the eUICC 405. The capability information of the eUICC obtained by the eUICC 405 being at least one of: dynamic capability information, profile capability information and specific capability information. The MNO optionally generates a preferred profile requirements based on the capability information of the eUICC 405 and requests the SM-DP 403 to provide the capability information stored in the SM-SR 402. The SM-DP 403 requests the SM-SR 402 based on the request received from the MNO 404 to provide the stored eUICC capability. The SM-SR 402 provides the capability information along with eUICC ID to the MNO 404 via the SM-DP 403. The MNO 404 generates a preferred profile based on the capability information of the eUICC 405 and SM-SR 402. Alternatively, the MNO 404 requests the SM-DP 403 to prepare the profile (such as Operational profile, and NAA) based on the capability information. Then the SM-DP 403 prepares the profile (such as Operational profile, and NAA) based on the capability information received from SM-SR 402 and the eUICC 405 and optionally MNO’s profile requirements. Then SM-DP 403 provides the generated personalized profile to the MNO 404. Finally, the MNO configures the customized MNO’s profile (such as operational and/or provisional profile) in the eUICC using OTA mechanism. This embodiment hides the MNO customized profiles from the third party entities such as SM-SR. In this embodiment, the words “customized” and “personalized” mean the same and used interchangeably.

Figure 5 illustrates a schematic representation of exchanging capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) according to yet another embodiment. In this embodiment, customized provisioning of profile is performed by using OTA procedure using the network based embodiment. The eUICC vendor/ manufacturer provides the capability information of eUICC (based on eUICC category or device category or both) to the SM-DP 501 (or to the SM-SR). The SM-DP 501 provides the capability information of eUICC 503 to the MNO 502 in advance along with the initial provisioning response message (might fetch the capability information of the eUICC if available with the SM-SR). Once the eUICC 503 does successful authentication using the initial profile (either using the initial general operational profile or using provisioning profile), then the MNO 502 prepares customized profile (either operational or provisioning) based on the capability information of eUICC 503 which the MNO 502 received in advance from the SM-DP 501. Finally the MNO 502 configures the customized MNO’s profile in the eUICC 503 using OTA mechanism.

Figure 6 illustrates a schematic representation of exchanging capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) according to yet another embodiment. In this embodiment, a customized provisioning is performed may be via OTA procedure. During initial network access, the MNO 601 obtains the capability information of eUICC directly from the device (or from eUICC 602). The eUICC 602 and the MNO 601, does successful authentication using the initial profile (either using the initial general operational profile or using provisioning profile). Then the MNO 601 customizes the profile based on the capability information of eUICC 602 and configures the customized MNO’s profile in the eUICC 602 using OTA mechanism. The MNO 601 obtains the capability information of eUICC 602 either directly from the device (along with the device capability) or directly from the eUICC 602 using separate eUICC capability exchange procedure.

In an embodiment, the above illustrated examples are performed independently or can be performed in combination (example, combination of Figure 5 and Figure 6 procedures). Combined procedures are required to aggregate the static and dynamic capability information of the eUICC or to aggregate the platform and profile capability information or aggregate the general and specific capability information to prepare customized eUICC profile.

In one embodiment, fetching of the capability from a server is authorized by the eUICC which provides token to a network entity for fetching its capability from a capability server. In another embodiment, the capability identity (as illustrated in Figure 4) is used to identify eUICC capability for a plurality of eUICC. The capability identity is provided by a vendor or a manufacturer to the eUICC in a factory. Further, the capability identity is used to identify a particular eUICC capability (or may be for a particular eUICC category). This may be required in case, if the capability of the eUICC needs to be protected. The disclosure of the capability may provide device details such as eUICC of a car, smartphone, vending machine or what M2M application is running, etc.

In yet another embodiment, the capability identity may be the eUICC ID itself or separate ID which identifies capability for the plurality of eUICC or may be eUICC ID along with capability ID for some special eUICC capability for specific devices. The capability identity is used for identification of eUICC capability in SM-SR, SM-DP and in MNO. Further, the eUICC ID may have capability ID as a field. The capability ID and the token are issued to the off-card entities only after successful mutual authentication.

In an embodiment, the eUICC dynamic update of the capability and its current status in the capability database in the Subscription Manager entity whenever possible (push operation) or whenever requested by the Subscription Manager entity.

In an embodiment, the user equipment (or device) supports interworking functionality, which means to parse the capability information request (for example, from network entities), to fetch the capability from the eUICC and to send the capability information of eUICC (for example, to the requested network entity). In another embodiment, the user equipment (or device) supports proxy functionality, which means the UE fetch the capability information of eUICC from eUICC, stores the capability information of eUICC and provides to the external entities by itself when requested along with device capability or separately as capability information of eUICC.

The present method and system does not involve MNO in the eUICC manufacture phase and the capability information of the eUICC depends on the device. The eUICC have different capability information compared to an existing removable UICC, as the eUICC in the device is very diverse, low power consumption device, low computation device, etc. Also the requirements on the eUICC from device and network are different. For example, multi operator support, multiple profile handling, sharing of eUICC with different applications and the eUICC may itself support M2M application. The present invention describes a method and system for providing the capability information of eUICC and its status to the off-card entities (remote entities) or to the device for customizing at least one of a Operational profile, and provisioning profile based on the capability information of eUICC.

Figure 7 illustrates a flow diagram of method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to one embodiment of the present invention. Capability information of the eUICC are received and stored at a profile management unit (SM-SR) at step 701. The capability information of the eUICC is provided by the profile management unit (SM-SR) to the mobile network operator (MNO) based on a request received at step 702. Profile for the eUICC is generated based on the received capability information by the mobile network operator (MNO) at step 703.

The capability information is tagged with ID information and is based on one of a eUICC category and device in which eUICC is configured. In one embodiment, the capability information is provided to MNO by the eUICC. In another embodiment, the capability information is provided to MNO by one of a profile management unit (SM-SR) and profile provisioning unit (SM-DP), based on the capability information received from the eUICC.

In one embodiment, the method further comprising sending a request along with eUICC ID to obtain the capability information of the eUICC by the mobile network operator (MNO) to one of a profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) and Profile Provisioner (PP), and optionally forwarding the received request to the profile management unit by the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP). The Profile Provisioner (PP) performs a function of provisioning the profile and also called as the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) according to one embodiment,
In another embodiment, the method further comprises sending a subscription request to the mobile network operator (MNO) by user (subscriber).
In yet another embodiment, the method further comprises sending a profile creation request to the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP). The profile creation request comprises identification (ID) of eUICC, international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), Subscription master/base Key K, MNO preferred eUICC profile.
In yet another embodiment, the method further comprises authenticating the eUICC on first network access.
In further embodiment, the method further comprises configuring the profile in the eUICC by the mobile network operator (MNO).
In one embodiment, the capability information is provided to the profile management unit by one of the eUICC manufacturer, device vendor, and eUICC vendor. The capability information of the eUICC is dynamically updated in the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) on performing push operation by the eUICC. In an embodiment, the capability information of the eUICC is provided from the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) to MNO on receiving at least one authorization code from the eUICC. In another embodiment, the capability information of the eUICC from the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) to MNO by using at least one of an eUICC ID, capability ID, and authorization code from the eUICC. In yet another embodiment, the capability information is provided by performing an interworking function.
The steps of providing the capability information to the mobile network operator (MNO) comprises providing the capability information to the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) by the profile management unit (SM-SR), and forwarding the received capability information to the mobile network operator (MNO) by the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP).
In one embodiment, the capability information comprises a platform capability being fetched by the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) for preparing initial profile for the eUICC, the initial profile comprises runtime environment, memory capacity, Card Application Toolkit (CAT), and a profile capability being fetched from the eUICC, the profile capability comprises supported applications with the profile.
In another embodiment, the capability information comprises static capability being fetched from one of a server and eUICC, the static capability comprises run time environment, and dynamic capability being fetched from the eUICC, the dynamic capability comprises available storage memory. In yet another embodiment, the capability information comprises general capability and specific capability. The general capability comprises total memory and available memory. The specific capability comprises a list of active profiles in a roaming network and one or more applications being supported by the profile of the eUICC. The eUICC is configured to include a capability filtering module to filter the capability information based on privileges predefined in the eUICC. For example, profile capability information of Operator-A should not be exposed to Operator-B.
Figure 8 illustrates a flow diagram of a method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO) according to one embodiment of the present invention. Capability information of the eUICC is provided by a profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) at step 801. The eUICC is authenticated by the MNO on a first network access at step 802. On successful authentication, the capability information of the eUICC is provided by the eUICC at step 803. Profile for the eUICC is generated on the basis of the received eUICC capability information from eUICC and SM-DP at step 804. The profile is configured / provisioned in the eUICC based on the generated profile at step 805.

Figure 9 illustrates a flow diagram of method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO), the Profile Management unit (SM-SR), and the Profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP), according to one embodiment of the present invention. The eUICC is authenticated by at least one of the mobile network operator (MNO), the Profile Management unit, and the Profile Provisioning unit at step 901. The eUICC authenticates at least one of the mobile network operator (MNO), the Profile Management unit and the Profile Provisioning unit at step 902.Capability information is provided by the eUICC to the mobile network operator (MNO), the Profile Management unit(SM-SR), and the Profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP) at step 903. At least one process is performed to generate the profile for the eUICC on the basis of the received capability information at step 904. The profile is configured on the eUICC based on the generated profile and received capability information from the profile management unit (SM-SR) at step 905. In one embodiment, authentication is performed using at least one of a provisioning profile and operational profile.

In one embodiment, the configuring or customizing is the profile provisioning operation performed by one or more external entity which includes but not limited to MNO, Profile Management unit (SM-SR), and Profile Provisioning Unit (SM-DP).

Although the invention of the method and system has been described in connection with the embodiments of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various substitutions, modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

,CLAIMS:We claim:
1. A method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO), the method comprises:
receiving and storing capability information of the eUICC at a profile management unit (SM-SR);
providing the capability information of the eUICC by the profile management unit (SM-SR) to the mobile network operator (MNO) based on a request received; and
generating a profile for the eUICC based on the received capability information by the mobile network operator (MNO).

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the Capability information is tagged with ID information and is based on one of eUICC category and device in which eUICC is configured.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein capability information is provided to MNO by the eUICC.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capability information is provided to MNO by one of a Profile Management unit (SM-SR) and Profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP), based on the capability information received from the eUICC

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the Profile Management unit performs management operation, and the Profile Provisioning unit performs provisioning operation.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capability information is provided to the profile management unit by one of the eUICC manufacturer, device vendor, and eUICC vendor.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capability information of the eUICC is dynamically updated in the Profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP) by the eUICC.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising providing the capability information of the eUICC from the Profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP) to MNO on receiving at least one authorization code from the eUICC.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising providing the capability information of the eUICC from the Profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP) to MNO by using at least one of an eUICC ID, capability ID, and authorization code from the eUICC.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising performing an interworking function in a device to fetch the eUICC capability, wherein performing the interworking function comprises:
parsing a request for capability information; and
providing the capability information of the eUICC to a requested network entity.
11. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising performing a proxy function in a device to fetch the eUICC capability information of the eUICC, wherein performing the proxy function comprises:
storing the capability information of the eUICC; and
providing the capability information of the eUICC to a requested network entity and optionally along with capability information of the device.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capability information comprises:
a platform capability being stored and fetched from at least one of a profile provisioning unit (SM-SR) and eUICC, for preparing initial profile for the eUICC, the platform capability comprises runtime environment, memory capacity, Card Application Toolkit (CAT); and
a profile capability being stored and fetched from the eUICC, the profile capability comprises supported applications with the profile.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capability information comprises:
static capability being stored and fetched from at least one of a server and eUICC, the static capability comprises parameters run time environment, memory capacity, and Card Application Toolkit (CAT); and
dynamic capability being stored and fetched from the eUICC, the dynamic capability comprises available storage memory.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the capability information comprises general capability and specific capability.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the general capability being stored and fetched from at least one of a server and eUICC, the general capability comprises at least one of a total memory, run time environment and available memory.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the specific capability being stored and fetched from the eUICC, the specific capability comprises a list of active profiles in a roaming network and one or more applications being supported by the profile of the eUICC.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the eUICC is configured to include a capability filtering module to filter the capability information based on privileges predefined in the eUICC after validating the request by the eUICC from the MNO.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising
sending a request along with eUICC ID to obtain the capability information of the eUICC by the mobile network operator (MNO) to one of a profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) and Profile Provisioner (PP)); and
optionally forwarding the received request to the profile Management unit (SM-SR) by the profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP).

19. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the providing the capability information to the mobile network operator (MNO) comprises:
providing the capability information to the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP) by the profile management unit (SM-SR); and
forwarding the received capability information to the mobile network operator (MNO) by the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP).

20. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising sending a subscription request to the mobile network operator (MNO).

21. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising sending a profile creation request to the profile provisioning unit (SM-DP).

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the profile creation request comprises at least one of an identification (ID) of eUICC, international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), Subscription master/base Key K, and MNO preferred eUICC profile.

23. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising authenticating the eUICC on first network access using the provisioning profile unit (SM-DP) and configuring an operational profile based on the eUICC capability.

24. A method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO), the method comprises:
providing capability information of the eUICC by at least one of a profile provisioning unit (SM-DP), and profile management unit (SM-SR);
authenticating the eUICC by the MNO on first network access;
providing the capability information of the eUICC by the eUICC on successful authentication;
generating profile for the eUICC on the basis of the received eUICC capability information from the eUICC and at least one of the SM-DP, and SM-SR; and
configuring a personalized profile in the eUICC based on the generated profile.

25. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the capability information includes but not limited to platform capability information, profile capability information, static capability information, dynamic capability information, specific capability information and general capability information.

26. A method of providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one of a mobile network operator (MNO), the Profile Management unit, and the Profile Provisioning unit the method comprising:
authenticating the eUICC by at least one of the mobile network operator (MNO), the Profile Management unit, and the Profile Provisioning unit;
authenticating at least one of the mobile network operator (MNO), the Profile Management unit and the Profile Provisioning unit by the eUICC;
providing capability information by the eUICC to at least one of the mobile network operator (MNO), the Profile Management unit, and the Profile Provisioning unit (SM-DP);
performing at least one process to generate a personalized profile for the eUICC on the basis of the received capability information from the profile management unit (SM-SR) and the eUICC; and
configuring the profile on the eUICC based on the generated personalized profile.

27. The method as claimed in claim 26 further comprising authentication is performed using at least one of a provisioning profile and operational profile.

28. A system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO), the system comprising:
means for receiving capability information of the eUICC at a profile management unit (SM-SR);
means for providing the capability information of the eUICC by the profile management unit (SM-SR) to a mobile network operator (MNO) based on a request received; and
means for generating a profile information of the eUICC based on the received capability information by the mobile network operator (MNO).

29. A system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO), the system comprising:
means for receiving and storing capability information of the eUICC at a profile provisioning unit (SM-DP);
means for authenticating the eUICC by the MNO on first network access;
means for generating profile for the eUICC on successful authentication on the basis of the received capability information; and
means for configuring/customizing the profile in the eUICC based on the generated profile .

30. A system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO), the system comprising:
means for authenticating the eUICC by the MNO on first network access;
means for providing capability information to the MNO;
means for generating profile for the eUICC on the basis of the received capability information; and
means for provisioning the profile on the eUICC based on the generated profile.
31. A system for providing capability information of an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) to at least one mobile network operator (MNO), the system comprising:
means for storing split capability information in one or more network entities for the eUICC;
means for receiving the capability information from the one or more network entities for the eUICC; and
means for generating a personalized profile for the eUICC based on the received capability information of the eUICC from the one or more network entities.