Method and system for utilizing a multi-identity UICC
A method at a user equipment including a mobile equipment and a smartcard, the method receiving from a remote server a plurality of subscriber identities and a roaming policy; storing the plurality of subscriber identities and roaming policy on the smartcard; selecting, based on the roaming policy, a subscriber identity; and attaching to a network based on the selected subscriber identity.
1. A method at a user equipment, the method comprising:
providing in said user equipment a smartcard having only first subscriber identity information stored thereon, the first subscriber identity information being associated with a home network of the user equipment;
receiving at the user equipment while connected to the home network, in a wireless transmission from a remote server, a plurality of second subscriber identities and corresponding roaming policies;
storing on the provided smartcard by the user equipment the plurality of received second subscriber identities and the corresponding roaming policies while maintaining said first subscriber identity on said smartcard, wherein each of the corresponding roaming policies includes expiry and revocation information necessary to enforce rules of when each of the plurality of the second subscriber identities is used during roaming and when each of the plurality of second subscriber identities needs to be removed from the provided smartcard;
determining that the user equipment is roaming in a visited network;
selecting in response to the determining, based on the roaming policy, one of the plurality of second subscriber identities; and
attaching to the visited network based on the selected one of the plurality of second subscriber identities;
wherein the smartcard includes common authentication parameters for the first subscriber identity and the plurality of second subscriber identities.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the smartcard receives a geographic location of the user equipment from the user equipment.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the selection of one of the plurality of second subscriber identities is also based on location information.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the location information is at least one of a mobile country code; a mobile network code; a location area code; a tracking area code; and a cellular identifier.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the plurality of second subscriber identities is based on a request from the user equipment.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the plurality of second subscriber identities is based on a message pushed to the user equipment.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein location information is received at the smartcard based on a location information request.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein location information is received at the smartcard whenever the user equipment receives an attach accept message.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the roaming policy includes a prioritized list of location identifiers and associated subscriber identifiers, and wherein the selecting utilizes the location identifiers to select the one of the plurality of second subscriber identities.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the location identifiers include at least one of a mobile country code; a mobile network code; a location area code; a tracking area code; a cellular identifier; a global positioning system location; and a WiFi service set identifier.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting further determines whether a currently active network connection needs to be detached.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the smartcard includes a common file area for data common between the plurality of subscriber identities.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the common file area is used to store address books for the user equipment.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the smartcard includes a separate authentication for each subscriber identity.
15. A user equipment comprising:
a processor;
a telecommunications subsystem; and
a smartcard having only first subscriber identity information stored thereon, the first subscriber identity information being associated with a home network of the user equipment, wherein the user equipment is configured to:
receive, while connected to the home network, in a wireless transmission from a remote server a plurality of second subscriber identities and corresponding roaming policies;
store on the provided smartcard the received plurality of second subscriber identities and the corresponding roaming policies while maintaining said first subscriber identity on said smartcard, wherein each of the corresponding roaming policies includes expiry and revocation information necessary to enforce rules of when each of the plurality of the second subscriber identities is used during roaming and when each of the plurality of second subscriber identities needs to be removed from the provided smartcard;
determine that the user equipment is roaming in a visited network;
select in response to the determining, based on the roaming policy, one of the plurality of second subscriber identities; and
attach to the visited network based on the selected second subscriber identity;
wherein the smartcard includes common authentication parameters for the first subscriber identity and the plurality of second subscriber identities.
16. The user equipment of claim 15 , wherein the smartcard receives a geographic location of the user equipment from the user equipment.
17. The user equipment of claim 16 , wherein the selection of the one of the plurality of second subscriber identities is also based on location information.
18. The user equipment of claim 15 , wherein the user equipment is configured to receive the plurality of second subscriber identities based on one of: a request from the user equipment; or a message pushed to the user equipment.
19. The user equipment of claim 15 , wherein the smartcard includes a common file area for data common between the plurality of subscriber identities.