WO2021142819A1

WO2021142819A1 - Universal integrated circuit card (uicc) phone book access

Info

Publication number: WO2021142819A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/072944
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yun Peng; Jian Li; Meng Liu; Jingnan QU; Chao Chen; Wei He; Hong Wei; Hao Zhang; Xuefeng Chen
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 2020-01-19
Filing date: 2020-01-19
Publication date: 2021-07-22
Also published as: CN114982212A; TW202147819A

Abstract

A method for updating a phone book within a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) is described. The method includes detecting an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) of the UICC of the ME as readable but not writeable. This detection is performed in response to a request from a user of the ME to add/delete/update a phone book contact. The method also includes skipping a phone book synchronization procedure of the UICC. The method further includes writing to an elementary file (EF) abbreviated dialing number (EF _ADN) of the UICC to perform the request to add/delete/update the phone book contact.

Description

UNIVERSAL INTEGRATED CIRCUIT CARD (UICC) PHONE BOOK ACCESS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to methods and systems for accessing network services on a wireless device. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to accessing a phone book of a problematic universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a device.

BACKGROUND

Some designs of mobile communications/wireless devices (e.g., smart phones, tablet computers, and laptop computers) include a single universal integrated circuit card (UICC) , multiple universal integrated circuit cards, or multiple subscriber identity module (SIM) cards. These cards store user identity information for multiple subscriptions that enable users to access multiple separate mobile telephony networks. Some of the UICCs (e.g., embedded UICCs (eUICCs) ) are capable of supporting remote provisioning of network subscription information. A UICC may be removable or implemented within a memory of a mobile communications device.

The information stored in a UICC may enable mobile communications devices to communicate with a variety of different types of mobile telephony networks. Examples of mobile telephony networks include third generation (3G) , fourth generation (4G) , long term evolution (LTE) , fifth generation (5G) , time division multiple access (TDMA) , code division multiple access (CDMA) , CDMA 2000, wideband CDMA (WCDMA) , global system for mobile communications (GSM) , single-carrier radio transmission technology (1xRTT) , and universal mobile telecommunications systems (UMTS) . The UICC may store a phone book for a user of the mobile communications device. An update to the phone book, however, may fail to complete in a problematic UICC.

SUMMARY

An apparatus for updating a phone book within a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) is described. The apparatus includes means for detecting an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) of the UICC of the ME as readable but not writeable. This detection is performed in response to a request from a user of the ME to add/delete/update a phone book contact. The apparatus also includes means for skipping a phone book synchronization procedure of the UICC. The apparatus further includes means for writing to an elementary file (EF) abbreviated dialing number (EF _ADN) of the UICC to perform the request to add/delete/update the phone book contact.

An apparatus for updating a phone book within a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) . The apparatus includes a memory, a communication interface coupled to the UICC of the ME, and a processor (s) . The processor (s) is coupled to the memory and the communication interface of the UICC of the ME. The processor (s) is configured to detect an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) of the UICC of the ME as readable but not writeable. This detection is performed in response to a request from a user of the ME to add/delete/update a phone book contact. The processor (s) is also configured to skip a phone book synchronization procedure of the UICC. The processor (s) is further configured to write to an elementary file (EF) abbreviated dialing number (EF _ADN) of the UICC to perform the request to add/delete/update the phone book contact.

This has outlined, rather broadly, the features and technical advantages of the present disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the present disclosure will be described below. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this present disclosure may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the teachings of the present disclosure as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features, which are believed to be characteristic of the present disclosure, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages, will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present disclosure

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIGURE 1 shows a wireless device communicating with a wireless communications system.

FIGURE 2 shows a block diagram of the wireless device in FIGURE 1, according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 3 is a process flow diagram of a method for updating a phone book within a problematic universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) , according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 4 is a process flow diagram of another method for updating a phone book within a problematic universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) , according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 5 is a component block diagram of a wireless device suitable for implementing the method for updating a phone book within a problematic universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a device, according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGURE 6 is a block diagram showing an exemplary wireless communications system in which a configuration of the disclosure may be advantageously employed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with the appended drawings, is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts. As described herein, the use of the term “and/or” is intended to represent an “inclusive OR” , and the use of the term “or” is intended to represent an “exclusive OR” .

The terms “subscriber identification module, ” “SIM, ” “universal subscriber identity module, ” “USIM, ” “user identity module, ” “UIM, ” “removable user identity module, ” and “RUIM” are used herein to mean a memory that may be an integrated circuit or embedded into a removable card, which stores an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) , related key, and/or other information used to identify and/or authenticate a wireless device on a network. In some networks (e.g., GSM networks) , SIMs may store network specific information used to authenticate and identify subscribers on the network, the most important of which are the integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID) , international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) , authentication key (Ki) , and local area identity (LAI) . The SIM may also store other carrier specific data, such as short message service center (SMSC) numbers, service provider names (SPNs) , service dialing numbers (SDNs) , and value added service (VAS) applications. In various aspects, a USIM and a RUIM may be modules in UMTS and CDMA networks, respectively, which provide equivalent functions to a SIM in a GSM network. The terms “SIM, ” “USIM, ” and “RUIM, ” however, may be used interchangeably to refer to a general module that is not restricted to a particular standard or technology.

The term “SIM” may also be used as a shorthand reference to a communications network associated with a particular SIM, because the information stored in a SIM enables the wireless device to establish a communications link with a particular network. Thus, the SIM and the communications network, as well as the services and subscriptions supported by that network, correlate to one another.

The terms “smart card, ” “SIM card, ” “universal integrated circuit card, ” and “UICC” are used interchangeably to refer to a memory chip or integrated circuit used to provide a SIM, a USIM, and/or a RUIM, to a wireless device in order to store the described provisioning and/or other data. Various UICCs may have storage capabilities ranging from two to three kilobytes to up to one gigabyte of information.

A universal integrated circuit card (UICC) securely stores a phone book for a user of a mobile communications device, such as a mobile equipment (ME) . The UICC may perform a phone book synchronization process in response to a user request to update/delete an existing phone book entry or add a new phone book entry. The user request triggers the UICC to update an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) as part of the phone book synchronization process. Although readable, a problematic UICC may prevent an update to the EF _CC, causing the phone book synchronization process to fail and preventing the user from adding, updating, or deleting phone book entries. According to aspects of the present disclosure, a modified phone book update process compensates for a problematic (e.g., buggy) UICC of a mobile equipment.

FIGURE 1 shows a wireless device 110 that includes the disclosed update of a phone book within a problematic universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) . The wireless device 110 communicates with a wireless communications system 120. The wireless device 110 includes a multi-band (e.g., dual-band) concurrent millimeter wave (mmW) transceiver. The wireless communications system 120 may be a 5G system, a long term evolution (LTE) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, millimeter wave (mmW) technology, or some other wireless system. A CDMA system may implement wideband CDMA (WCDMA) , time division synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA) , CDMA2000, or some other version of CDMA. In a millimeter wave (mmW) system, multiple antennas are used for beamforming (e.g., in the range of 30 GHz, 60 GHz, etc. ) . For simplicity, FIGURE 1 shows the wireless communications system 120 including two

base stations

130 and 132 and one system controller 140. In general, a wireless system may include any number of base stations and any number of network entities.

A wireless device 110 may be referred to as a mobile equipment (ME) , a user equipment (UE) , a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, etc. The wireless device 110 may also be a cellular phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a wireless modem, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a handheld device, a laptop computer, a Smartbook, a netbook, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a Bluetooth device, etc. The wireless device 110 may be capable of communicating with the wireless communications system 120. The wireless device 110 may also be capable of receiving signals from broadcast stations (e.g., a broadcast station 134) , signals from satellites (e.g., a satellite 150) in one or more global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) , etc. The wireless device 110 may support one or more radio technologies for wireless communications such as 5G, LTE, CDMA2000, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, GSM, 802.11, etc.

The wireless device 110 may support carrier aggregation, which is operation on multiple carriers. Carrier aggregation may also be referred to as multi-carrier operation. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the wireless device 110 may be able to operate in low-band from 698 to 960 megahertz (MHz) , mid-band from 1475 to 2170 MHz, and/or high-band from 2300 to 2690 MHz, ultra-high band from 3400 to 3800 MHz, and long-term evolution (LTE) in LTE unlicensed bands (LTE-U/LAA) from 5150 MHz to 5950 MHz. Low-band, mid-band, high-band, ultra-high band, and LTE-U refer to five groups of bands (or band groups) , with each band group including a number of frequency bands (or simply, “bands” ) . For example, in some systems each band may cover up to 200 MHz and may include one or more carriers. For example, each carrier may cover up to 40 MHz in LTE. Of course, the range for each of the bands is merely exemplary and not limiting, and other frequency ranges may be used. LTE Release 11 supports 35 bands, which are referred to as LTE/UMTS bands and are listed in 3GPP TS 36.101. The wireless device 110 may be configured with up to five carriers in one or two bands in LTE Release 11.

FIGURE 2 shows a block diagram of the wireless device 110 in FIGURE 1, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The wireless device 110 may include a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) interface 202, which may receive an embedded UICC (eUICC) 204 that stores profiles associated with one or more subscriptions from network providers.

A UICC used in various examples may include user account information, an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) , a set of SIM application toolkit (SAT) commands, and storage space for phone book contacts. The UICC may further store home identifiers (e.g., a system identification number (SID) /network identification number (NID) pair, a home preferred list of mobile networks (HPLMN) code, etc. ) to indicate the network operator providers for each subscription of the UICC. An integrated circuit card identity (ICCID) SIM serial number may be printed on the UICC for identification. In some aspects, the UICC may be implemented within a portion of memory of the wireless device 110 (e.g., in a memory 214) , and thus need not be a separate or removable circuit, chip, or card.

The wireless device 110 may include at least one controller, such as a general processor 206, which may be coupled to a coder/decoder (CODEC) 208. The CODEC 208 may in turn be coupled to a speaker 210 and a microphone 212. The general processor 206 may also be coupled to the memory 214. The memory 214 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores processor-executable instructions. The memory 214 may store an operating system (OS) , as well as user application software and executable instructions. The memory 214 may also store locally cached profiles for subscriptions supported by the eUICC 204.

The general processor 206 and the memory 214 may each be coupled to at least one baseband processor or baseband modem processor 216. The eUICC 204 in the wireless device 110 may utilize one or more baseband-RF resources. A baseband-RF resource may include the baseband modem processor 216, which may perform baseband/modem functions for communications with and controlling of a radio access technology (RAT) . The baseband-RF resource may include one or more amplifiers and radios, referred to generally as radio frequency (RF) resources (e.g., RF resource 218) . In some examples, the baseband-RF resources may share the baseband modem processor 216 (e.g., a single device that performs baseband/modem functions for all RATs on the wireless device 110) . In other examples, each baseband-RF resource may include physically or logically separate baseband processors (e.g., BB1, BB2) .

The RF resource 218 may be a transceiver that performs transmit/receive functions for the eUICC 204 on the wireless device 110. The RF resource 218 may include separate transmit and receive circuitry, or may include a transceiver that combines transmitter and receiver functions. In some examples, the RF resource 218 may include multiple receive circuits. The RF resource 218 may be coupled to a wireless antenna (e.g., a wireless antenna 220) . The RF resource 218 may also be coupled to the baseband modem processor 216.

In some examples, the general processor 206, the memory 214, the baseband modem processor (s) 216, and the RF resource 218 may be included in the wireless device 110 as a system-on-chip 250. In some examples, the eUICC 204 and its corresponding communication interface (e.g., UICC interface 202) may be external to the system-on-chip 250. Further, various input and output devices may be coupled to components on the system-on-chip 250, such as interfaces or controllers. Example user input components suitable for use in the wireless device 110 may include, but are not limited to, a keypad 224, a touchscreen display 226, and the microphone 212.

In some examples, the keypad 224, the touchscreen display 226, the microphone 212, or a combination thereof, may perform the function of receiving a request to initiate an outgoing call or receiving a personal identification number. Interfaces may be provided between the various devices and modules to implement functions in the wireless device 110 to enable communications in the wireless device.

Functioning together, the eUICC 204, the baseband processors BB1, BB2, the RF resource 218, and the wireless antenna 220 may constitute two or more radio access technologies (RATs) . For example, the wireless device 110 may be a communications device that includes a UICC, baseband processor, and RF resource configured to support two different RATs, such as 5G or LTE and GSM. More RATs may be supported on the wireless device 110 by adding more RF resources, and antennae for connecting to additional mobile networks.

In some examples (not shown) , the wireless device 110 may include, among other things, additional UICC or SIM cards, UICC or SIM interfaces, multiple RF resources associated with the additional UICC or SIM cards, and additional antennae for supporting subscription communications with additional mobile networks.

The eUICC 204 may support multiple mobile network operator profiles, or subscription profiles. For example, a user may download multiple profiles onto the eUICC 204. Each profile may store static SIM information that is used to support a subscription with one or more mobile telephony networks. Thus, the eUICC 204 may play the role of multiple SIMs, because each SIM supports one profile.

In various examples, the wireless device 110 may be configured to locally cache one or more subscription profiles associated with or stored in the UICC. The profiles may be cached in the memory 214, part of which may be designated memory for the modem.

FIGURE 3 is a process flow diagram of a method 300 for updating a phone book within a problematic universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) , according to aspects of the present disclosure. According to aspects of the present disclosure, a modified phone book update process compensates for a problematic (e.g., buggy) UICC of a mobile equipment.

At block 302, a mobile equipment including a subsystem, such as a UICC, is powered up. For example, a processor (e.g., a baseband processor) of the mobile equipment powers up a UICC of the mobile equipment. At block 304, the processor of the wireless device initiates initialization of phone book entries within the phone book of the UICC. At block 306, it is determined whether UICC phone book synchronization values are readable. For example, the processor determines whether an elementary file (EF) phone book (P) synchronization counter (EF _PSC) , an elementary file (EF) unique identifier (EF _UID) , an elementary file (EF) previous unique identifier (EF _PUID) , and an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) are readable at block 306.

When the UICC phone book synchronization values (e.g., EF _PSC, EF _UID, EF _PUID, EF _CC) are readable, at block 308 a pb_sync_supported flag is set to ‘Yes. ’ Otherwise, control flow branches to block 310, in which the pb_sync_supported flag is set to ‘No. ’ At block 312, a request is received from a user interface (UI) of the mobile equipment to add/delete/update a phone book contact (s) . At block 320, it is determined whether a pb_sync_supported flag is set to ‘Yes. ’ If a pb_sync_supported flag is set to ‘Yes, ’ at block 330, it is determined whether the elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) is writeable. When the elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) is not writeable, an alternative UICC phone book synchronization process is performed at block 322, in which the UICC phone synchronization process of block 332 is skipped. Control flow proceeds with block 334, in which a write is performed to an elementary file (EF) abbreviated dialing number (EF _ADN) to perform the request to add/delete/update a phone book contact (s) .

According to aspects of the present disclosure, a modified phone book update process is achieved by adding

blocks

330 and 322 to compensate for a problematic (e.g., buggy) UICC of a mobile equipment. Otherwise, when the request to add/delete/update a phone book contact is triggered from the UI interface at block 312, the mobile equipment would conventionally attempt to update the EF _CC to the UICC as a first step for phone book synchronization of block 332, before updating the EF _ADN at block 334 by issuing a binary update command for the EF _CC. Conventionally, a problematic UICC would respond to the attempted update to the EF _CC with a ‘6982’ code ( “Security status not satisfied” ) . In response to the ‘6982’ code, the mobile equipment would conventionally halt the phone synchronization process, without writing to the EF _ADN at block 334. According to this aspect of the present disclosure, the modified phone book update process for adding a new contact from the UI interface does not fail.

In this aspect of the present disclosure, it is recognized that if phone book synchronization is supported by the UICC of a mobile equipment, the EF _CC should be readable and writeable. In the conventional failure case, however, the EF _CC is readable but NOT writeable. As a result, the problematic UICC does NOT have the capability to support phone book synchronization. According to further aspects of the present disclosure, a modified phone book update process provides a mobile equipment with access to a phone book residing in a buggy card in response to the request of adding/modifying/deleting contacts from the UI interface of the mobile equipment.

FIGURE 4 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method 400 for updating a phone book within a problematic universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) , according to aspects of the present disclosure. At block 402, an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) of the UICC of the ME is detected as readable but not writeable in response to a request from a user of the ME to add/delete/update a phone book contact. At block 404, the phone book synchronization procedure of the UICC is skipped. At block 406, a write is performed to an elementary file (EF) abbreviated dialing number (EF _ADN) of the UICC to perform the request to add/delete/update the phone book contact.

According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for updating a phone book within a problematic universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) is described. The apparatus may include means for detecting an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) of the UICC of the ME as readable but not writeable in response to a request from a user of the ME to add/delete/update a phone book contact. The apparatus may include means for skipping a phone book synchronization procedure of the UICC. The apparatus may include means for writing to an elementary file (EF) abbreviated dialing number (EF _ADN) of the UICC to perform the request to add/delete/update the phone book contact The detecting means, the skipping means, and/or the writing means may be the baseband modem processor 216, the general processor 206, and/or the memory 214. In another aspect, the aforementioned means may be any module or apparatus configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

FIGURE 5 is a component block diagram of a wireless device 500 suitable for implementing the method for updating a phone book within a problematic universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) . Aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of wireless devices, an example of which (e.g., wireless device 500) is illustrated in FIGURE 5. The wireless device 500 may be similar to the wireless device 110 and may implement the method 300 and the method 400.

The wireless device 500 may include a processor 502 coupled to a touchscreen controller 504 and an internal memory 506. The processor 502 may be one or more multi-core integrated circuits designated for general or specific processing tasks. The internal memory 506 may be volatile or non-volatile memory, and may also be secure and/or encrypted memory, or unsecure and/or unencrypted memory, or any combination thereof. The touchscreen controller 504 and the processor 502 may also be coupled to a touchscreen panel 512, such as a resistive-sensing touchscreen, capacitive-sensing touchscreen, infrared sensing touchscreen, etc. Additionally, the display of the wireless device 500 need not have touch screen capability.

The wireless device 500 may have one or more cellular network transceivers 508 coupled to the processor 502 and to one or more antennas 510 and configured for sending and receiving cellular communications. The one or more transceivers 508 and the one or more antennas 510 may be used with the above-mentioned circuitry to implement the various example methods described. The wireless device 500 may include one or more UICCs or SIM cards 516 coupled to the one or more transceivers 508 and/or the processor 502 and may be configured as described above.

The wireless device 500 may also include speakers 514 for providing audio outputs. The wireless device 500 may also include a housing 520, constructed of a plastic, metal, or a combination of materials, for containing all or some of the components discussed herein. The wireless device 500 may include a power source 522 coupled to the processor 502, such as a disposable or rechargeable battery. The rechargeable battery may also be coupled to the peripheral device connection port to receive a charging current from a source external to the wireless device 500. The wireless device 500 may also include a physical button 524 for receiving user inputs. The wireless device 500 may also include a power button 526 for turning the wireless device 500 on and off.

FIGURE 6 is a block diagram showing an exemplary wireless communications system 600 in which a configuration of the disclosure may be advantageously employed. For purposes of illustration, FIGURE 6 shows three

remote units

620, 630, and 650 and two base stations 640. It will be recognized that wireless communications systems may have many more remote units and base stations.

Remote units

620, 630, and 650 include

IC devices

625A, 625B, and 625C that include the disclosed wireless device including the subsystem or universal integrated circuit card. It will be recognized that other devices may also include the disclosed wireless device, such as the base stations, switching devices, and network equipment. FIGURE 6 shows forward link signals 680 from the base station 640 to the

remote units

620, 630, and 650 and reverse link signals 690 from the

remote units

620, 630, and 650 to base station 640.

In FIGURE 6, remote unit 620 is shown as a mobile telephone, remote unit 630 is shown as a portable computer, and remote unit 650 is shown as a fixed location remote unit in a wireless local loop system. For example, a remote unit may be a mobile phone, a hand-held personal communications systems (PCS) unit, a portable data unit such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) , a GPS enabled device, a navigation device, a set top box, a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a fixed location data unit such as meter reading equipment, or other communications device that stores or retrieves data or computer instructions, or combinations thereof. Although FIGURE 6 illustrates remote units according to aspects of the present disclosure, the disclosure is not limited to these exemplary illustrated units. Aspects of the present disclosure may be suitably employed in many devices, which include the wireless device.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. A machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methodologies described herein. For example, software codes may be stored in a memory and executed by a processor unit. Memory may be implemented within the processor unit or external to the processor unit. As used herein, the term “memory” refers to types of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or other memory and is not to be limited to a particular type of memory or number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with a data structure and computer-readable media encoded with a computer program. Computer-readable media includes physical computer storage media. A storage medium may be an available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD) , laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk and

disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

In addition to storage on computer-readable medium, instructions and/or data may be provided as signals on transmission media included in a communications apparatus. For example, a communications apparatus may include a standard cell circuit having signals indicative of instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to implement the functions outlined in the claims.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP) , an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made herein without departing from the technology of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, relational terms, such as “above” and “below” are used with respect to a substrate or electronic device. Of course, if the substrate or electronic device is inverted, above becomes below, and vice versa. Additionally, if oriented sideways, above and below may refer to sides of a substrate or electronic device. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular configurations of the process, machine, manufacture, and composition of matter, means, methods, and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding configurations described herein may be utilized according to the present disclosure. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

Claims

A method for updating a phone book within a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) , comprising:

detecting an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) of the UICC of the ME as readable but not writeable in response to a request from a user of the ME to add/delete/update a phone book contact;

skipping a phone book synchronization procedure of the UICC; and

writing to an elementary file (EF) abbreviated dialing number (EF _ADN) of the UICC to perform the request to add/delete/update the phone book contact.
The method of claim 1, in which writing comprises:

storing a dialing number into the phone book of the UICC without performing the phone synchronization procedure.
The method of claim 1, further comprising determining phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC when the EF _CC of the UICC is readable but not writeable.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that phone book synchronization is supported by the UICC when UICC phone book synchronization values are readable; and

determining that phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC when the EF _CC is not writeable.
The method of claim 4, further comprising setting a phone book synchronization supported flag to positive when phone book synchronization is supported by the UICC.
The method of claim 1, in which detecting comprises:

determining that phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC when UICC phone book synchronization values are not readable; and

skipping the detecting of whether the EF _CC is writeable.
The method of claim 6, further comprising setting a phone book synchronization supported flag to negative when phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC.
The method of claim 6, further comprising storing a dialing number into the phone book of the UICC without performing the phone synchronization procedure.
An apparatus for updating a phone book within a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) , comprising:

means for detecting an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) of the UICC of the ME as readable but not writeable in response to a request from a user of the ME to add/delete/update a phone book contact;

means for skipping a phone book synchronization procedure of the UICC; and

means for writing to an elementary file (EF) abbreviated dialing number (EF _ADN) of the UICC to perform the request to add/delete/update the phone book contact.
The apparatus of claim 9, in which the means for writing comprises means for storing a dialing number into the phone book of the UICC without performing the phone synchronization procedure.
The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising means for determining phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC when the EF _CC of the UICC is readable but not writeable.
The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

means for determining that phone book synchronization is supported by the UICC when UICC phone book synchronization values are readable; and

means for determining that phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC when the EF _CC is not writeable.
The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising means for setting a phone book synchronization supported flag to positive when phone book synchronization is supported by the UICC.
The apparatus of claim 9, in which the means for detecting comprises:

means for determining that phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC when UICC phone book synchronization values are not readable; and

means for skipping the detecting of whether the EF _CC is writeable.
The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising means for setting a phone book synchronization supported flag to negative when phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC.
The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising means for storing a dialing number into the phone book of the UICC without performing the phone synchronization procedure.
An apparatus for updating a phone book within a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) of a mobile equipment (ME) , comprising:

a memory;

a communication interface coupled to the UICC of the ME; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and the communication interface of the UICC of the ME, the at least one processor configured:

to detect an elementary file (EF) change counter (EF _CC) of the UICC of the ME as readable but not writeable in response to a request from a user of the ME to add/delete/update a phone book contact;

to skip a phone book synchronization procedure of the UICC; and

to write to an elementary file (EF) abbreviated dialing number (EF _ADN) of the UICC to perform the request to add/delete/update the phone book contact.
The apparatus of claim 17, in which the at least one processor is further configured to store a dialing number into the phone book of the UICC without performing the phone synchronization procedure.
The apparatus of claim 17, in which the at least one processor is further configured:

to determine that phone book synchronization is supported by the UICC when UICC phone book synchronization values are readable;

to set a phone book synchronization supported flag to positive when phone book synchronization is supported by the UICC; and

to determine that phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC when the EF _CC is not writeable.
The apparatus of claim 17, in which the at least one processor is further configured:

to determine that phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC when UICC phone book synchronization values are not readable;

to set a phone book synchronization supported flag to negative when phone book synchronization is not supported by the UICC; and

to skip the detecting of whether the EF _CC is writeable.