SIM card data transfer system and methods
View Patent ↗System and method for transferring data from a first subscriber identity module (SIM) card to a second SIM card are provided. The first SIM card is inserted into a wireless telephone. Software is downloaded to the wireless telephone. The software converts the data from a format of the first SIM card to a format of the second SIM card. The second SIM card is inserted into the wireless telephone, and the converted data is written to the second SIM card.
1. A method for transferring data from a first subscriber identity module (SIM) card having a first data format to a second subscriber identity module (SIM) card having a second data format, the method comprising the acts of:
downloading, into a wireless device, software;
inserting the first SIM card into the wireless device when power to the wireless device is off;
reading, by the software, data from the first SIM card;
converting, by the software, the data having said first data format of the first SIM card to said second data format of the second SIM card;
replacing the first SIM card in the wireless device with the second SIM card; and
writing, by the software, the converted data onto the second SIM card when the power to the wireless device is on.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first SIM card is a GSM SIM card and the second SIM card is an iDEN SIM card.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first SIM card is an iDEN SIM card and the second SIM card is a GSM SIM card.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the act of sorting the converted data prior to writing the converted data onto the second SIM card.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data includes telephone numbers.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acts of downloading and converting occur when said wireless device is in a normal operating mode.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the software is stored in a memory of the wireless device, the method further comprising the act of:
deleting the software from the wireless device memory.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the act of:
activating, by a user of the wireless device, the software.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data read from the first SIM card is substantially all of the personal data stored on the card.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the software is downloaded from an over-the-air provisioning (OAP) server.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a user interface prompts a user as to whether the data should be transferred from the first to the second SIM card.
12. A method for transferring data from a first subscriber identity module (SIM) card having a first data format to a second subscriber identity module (SIM) card having a second data format, the method comprising the acts of:
downloading, into a wireless device, software;
reading, by the software, data from the first SIM card;
converting, by the software, the data having said first data format of the first SIM card to said second data format of the second SIM card;
writing, by the software, the converted data onto the second SIM card, wherein the method, further includes the acts of
turning off power to said wireless device and inserting said first SIM card into said wireless device prior to said act of reading data from said first SIM card;
replacing said first SIM card in said wireless device with said second SIM card; and
turning on power to said wireless device prior to said act of writing converted data to said second SIM card.
13. A program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying a program of instruction executable by the machine to perform method acts for directing a user to transfer data from a first subscriber identity module (SIM) card having a first data format to a second subscriber identity module (SIM) card having a second data format, said method acts comprising:
downloading, into a wireless device, software;
inserting the first SIM card into the wireless device when power to the wireless device is off;
reading, by the software, data from the first SIM card;
converting, by the software, the data from said first data format of the first SIM card to said second data format of the second SIM card; and
replacing the first SIM card in the wireless device with the second SIM card; and
writing, by the software, the converted data onto the second SIM card when the power to the wireless device is on.
14. The program storage device according to claim 13 wherein the first SIM card is a GSM SIM card and the second SIM card is an iDEN SIM card.
15. The program storage device according to claim 13 wherein the first SIM card is an iDEN SIM card and the second SIM card is a GSM SIM card.
16. The program storage device of claim 13 , wherein the software is stored in a memory of the wireless device, the method further comprising the act of:
deleting the software from the wireless device memory.