Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Security or fraud prevention
Patent
1997-09-18
2000-11-14
Bost, Dwayne D.
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Security or fraud prevention
455411, 455558, 379357, H04M 166
Patent
active
061481920
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method for checking the access right of a subscriber equipment in a mobile telephone system including a network infrastructure and mobile equipment. Each mobile is a combination of a subscriber equipment provided with an equipment identity and of an individual subscriber identification module that is detachably connected to the subscriber equipment, whereupon a mobile equipment can be formed by attaching the subscriber identification module to any subscriber equipment.
The invention relates to a mobile telephone system wherein subscribers and terminal equipments are not permanently connected together, and especially to terminal equipments and subscriber identification modules, such as SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards, situated in these networks. Such systems include for example cellular networks including telephones wherein a subscriber is identified by a subscriber-specific subscriber identification module placed in the telephone. An example of such cellular communications systems is the GSM system (Global System for Mobile Communications). Another example of such mobile telephone systems is the TETRA (Trans European Trunked Radio) mobile telephone system. The TETRA mobile telephone system is an example of PMR (Private Mobile Radio) mobile systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A subscriber identification module, such as a SIM card, is subscriber-specific, whereby the subscriber equipments are not bound to a certain subscriber. A subscriber identification module, for example a SIM card or a GSM card, is a functional card or a smart card that is placed in the mobile equipment and that contains information required for subscriber identification and for encryption of radio traffic. In the present application, a subscriber identification module, for example, a SIM card, refers to a functional card, which can be removed from the mobile equipment and with which a subscriber can use the card-controlled mobile equipment.
It is therefore not necessary for the user to own a mobile telephone, but it is sufficient to have a subscriber identification module, such as a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module), that is allocated by the operator of the mobile telephone system and that is, in a way, a phone card with which the subscriber can make (and receive) calls from any mobile equipment in the system.
The subscriber identification module can be a smart card which has the same outer dimensions as most common credit cards. An alternative form of a SIM card in hand-held mobile phones is the plug-in-SIM, which is a coin-sized element containing the electronics of the card. The plug-in-SIM is placed in a telephone so that it is not easy for the user to change it. A telephone may also comprise both a stationary plug-in-SIM and a card reader. If the card reader contains a card, the telephone is identified according to the external card. Otherwise the telephone is identified according to the stationary plug-in-SIM. In the present patent application, a subscriber identification module, for example a SIM card, refers to both plug-in-SIM and a smart-card SIM, unless otherwise mentioned.
GSM recommendation 02.17 (Subscriber Identity Modules, ETSI) generally defines the operation of the SIM card. It defines the terms related to the SIM card, sets the requirements for the security of the SIM card and for the functions of the highest level, and determines the tasks of the network operator and the information to be stored in the SIM card. It also determines the minimum requirements for a SIM card of a user interface of a telephone, such as a mobile phone, as regards, for example, the input and change of the personal identification number (PIN) of the user.
Further, GSM recommendation 11.11 (SIM Application Protocol, ETSI) describes in more detail the matters disclosed in the above-described GSM recommendation 02.17 by determining, for example, the protocol between the SIM card and the mobile equipment (ME), the content and lengths of the data fields of the SIM card, and matters
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Bost Dwayne D.
Nokia Telecommunications Oy
Trinh Sonny
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