WO2009017292A1

WO2009017292A1 - Mobile status detection contactless module

Info

Publication number: WO2009017292A1
Application number: PCT/KR2008/000695
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul Jolivet
Original assignee: Lg Electronics Inc.
Priority date: 2007-07-31
Filing date: 2008-02-04
Publication date: 2009-02-05
Also published as: KR101386472B1; KR20090021647A

Abstract

Mobile terminal status information is obtained and stored such that when a contactless service transaction is initiated, at least one of the mobile terminal itself, the transaction reader device, and the service provider can decide whether to begin the actual transaction. The status information or facility indicates various operation characteristics of the terminal that may be needed to support the actual transaction.

Description

Description MOBILE STATUS DETECTION CONTACTLESS MODULE

Technical Field

[I] The present invention relates to a mobile status detection contactless module. Background Art

[2] The background art related to contactless technologies do not sufficiently address the issues related to a mobile status detection contactless module for a mobile terminal, and thus do not offer appropriate solutions. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Solution

[3] The present inventor recognized some drawbacks of the background art. Based upon such recognition, the various features described hereafter have been conceived such that a mobile status detection contactless module is used to determine an operation status (state, facility, etc.) of the mobile terminal to decide whether a contactless transaction should be performed or not.

Brief Description of the Drawings [4] Figure 1 shows an example of how a mobile terminal and a contactless reader can cooperate with each other. [5] Figure 2 shows an example of a smart card (UICC) 220 having a particular allocation for eight (8) physical contacts, as indicated by the chart 240. [6] Figure 3 shows the concept of how the secure element and the contactless module may cooperate. [7] Figure 4 shows the concept of the contactless module being powered by the battery of the mobile terminal. [8] Figure 5 shows the concept of the contactless module being powered by induced current from electromagnetic (EM) fields or radio frequency (RF) signals. [9] Figure 6 shows a status command principle for a contactless module error based system according to the present invention. [10] Figure 7 shows a status command principle for a contactless module enhanced system according to the present invention.

[I I] Figure 8 shows an example of the structure and coding for the TERMINAL PROFILE as to how the thirtieth (30^th) byte can be defined in accordance with the present invention.

[12] Figure 9 shows an exemplary signal flow diagram regarding the procedures of the present invention. Mode for the Invention [13] The present disclosure claims priority benefit to U.S. Provisional Application No.

60/953,149 (filed July 31, 2007), which contents are all incorporated by reference herein.

[14] The inventive concepts and features described herein that are related to a mobile status detection contactless module will be explained in terms of implementation for a user terminal, such as a mobile phone. However, such details are not meant to limit the various features described herein, which are applicable to other types of devices.

[15] Hereafter, the term "terminal" will be used to refer to various types of user devices, such as mobile communication terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile equipment (ME), and other devices that support various types of wireless communication technologies.

[16] The definitions of some other terms used herein are provided as follows:

[17] CAT: Common Application Toolkit (the generic part of USAT, specified by ETSI)

[18] CLF: ContactLess Function (module)

[19] ICC: Integrated Circuit Card (smart card)

[20] ISO: International Standard Organisation.

[21] ETSI: European Telecommunication Standard Institute (that is in charge of the UICC specification).

[22] MMC: MultiMedia Card as defined by the MMC Association (By extension, the protocol can be defined on the card/reader interface).

[23] UICC: Smart card platform supporting SIM, USIM, and other applications.

[24] USB: Universal Serial Bus as defined by the USB Implementers¹ Forum (By extension, the protocol can be defined on the card/reader interface).

[25] USIM: Universal SIM, UICC application including parameters and tools to identify and authenticate a 3G/UMTS user and to run its applications, as specified by 3GPP.

[26] SIM: Subscriber Identity Module, UICC application including parameters and tools to identify and authenticate a GSM user and to run its applications, as specified by 3GPP.

[27] SAT: SIM Application Toolkit as specified by 3GPP.

[28] USAT: USIM Application Toolkit as specified by 3GPP.

[29] The present invention relates to a mobile status detection contactless module within a mobile terminal.

[30] It should be noted that mobile terminals under development (or to be developed in the near future) may have multiple card slots to receive more than one removable module (that could be a smart card, s SD card, etc.). Also, the contactless function module (CLF) itself may removable by being implemented on a smart card or the like.

[31] As the concepts and aspects described herein are applicable to smart cards (or other types of storage media and memories), various standards that are related to and support such smart card technologies (such as ISO/IEC, ETSI, GSM, 3GPP, 3GPP2, OMA, IEEE, etc.) are also part of the exemplary embodiments described herein. It can be understood that the above exemplary standards are not intended to be limiting, as other related standards and technologies would also be applicable to the various features and concepts described herein.

[32] For example, a smart card can be considered to have a basic platform and various applications related thereto. The standardization to support the basic platform is handled by the ETSI, while the various applications running on the platform are handled by different standard organizations. For example, the USIM and SIM features are handled by the 3GPP, the R-UIM features is handled by the 3GPP2, certain financial applications are handled by EMV (Europay™, MasterCard™, Visa™), and the like.

[33] A smart card (also referred to as a chip card, an integrated circuit card (ICC) or the like) is defined as any pocket- sized card with embedded integrated circuits that can process information. Various ICC applications can be used to receive inputs, perform processing thereon, and deliver outputs. There are two types of ICCs, namely memory cards and microprocessor cards. Memory cards contain non-volatile memory storage components, and some logic circuitry for security. Microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. Such cards may be made of plastic or some other appropriate material and may have an embedded hologram or other security device to avoid counterfeiting.

[34] Smart cards may be categorized as having a contact interface, a contactless interface, or both. These smart cards typically do not have their own battery or power source.

[35] A contact-type smart card has a stamp (typically made of gold) that makes physical contact with electrical connectors of a smart card reader upon insertion of the smart card, such that information can be read from and written to the chip.

[36] A contactless-type smart card communicates with a card reader through radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Such contactless-type smart cards may also use near field communication (NFC), which is a short-range wireless communication technology that allows data exchanging between devices over a relatively short distance. NFC technology is based on RFID, which makes it compatible with the existing contactless infrastructure already in use for public transportation and payment applications. Also, in a contactless-type smart card, an inductor element can be used to capture and rectify incident RF signals in order to power the integrated circuits in the smart card.

[37] A dual-interface card, namely, a smart card implemented with contactless and contact interfaces, may use shared storage and processing.

[38] The term "contactless" may be used in reference to certain technologies, such as a contactless smart card, a proximity card, contactless payment, radio-frequency identi- fication (RFID), near field communication (NFC), and the like.

[39] The current standard for contactless smart card communications is ISO/IEC 14443 that defines two types of contactless cards (Types A and B) and allows for contactless communications at a distance of up to about 10 centimeters.

[40] To provide enhanced services and applications, more and more terminals will implement to so-called contactless features. Such enhanced services can support transportation applications (e.g., fare payments for riding the subway, metro, buses, etc.), e- purses (e.g., electronic financial transactions, e-banking, etc.), and the like.

[41] The principle of the contactless feature is that a relatively low range medium is used between the terminal and a reader (for instance, a metro/subway turnstile or gate) to execute a fee transaction, to identify the user, or to perform some other type of function or application.

[42] For security and service management reasons, it is likely that the UICC (the telecommunication smart card supporting SIM/USIM) will manage at least part of the contactless services/applications, therefore implementations must consider a physical or logical interface with the UICC.

[43] For technical reasons (such as, electromagnetic constraints (EMC), antenna implementation, etc.), it is impossible (or at least very difficult) to implement all (or the desired or necessary) contactless features in the smart card (UICC). At least part of such features shall be supported in a contactless function module (i.e., a functional entity implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof to support contactless services and/or applications), which is part of the terminal.

[44] New features are being added to the mobile terminal, including a contactless

(function) module to allow the mobile terminal to support various user applications, such as transportation pass services, banking services, electronic purse services, payment services, conditional access services, and the like. The applications themselves can be based on the UICC.

[45] Certain contactless transactions may be performed independently of the mobile terminal status (state, facility, network access, etc.). It is even possible to run a contactless transaction when the mobile terminal is turned off or using relatively low power based on current inducted through electromagnetic fields detected near the mobile terminal.

[46] However, some services can only be operated when the terminal is active, if for example there is a need for user interaction via a display screen and keyboard of the mobile terminal. The service providers in that case would prefer that no transaction would be initiated (for security reasons) when the terminal cannot operate the complete transaction.

[47] The principle of this invention is to enable the contactless module and/or the UICC to know the mobile terminal (handset) status in order to give the contactless application or service provider the possibility to decide at initialisation of the link and depending on the mobile phone status, if the transaction shall be initiated or not.

[48] Figure 1 shows an example of how a mobile terminal and a contactless reader can cooperate with each other. The mobile terminal 100 has a contactless module 110 that interacts with a smart card 120 and with various terminal resources 130. When the mobile terminal 100 is placed at or near a contactless reader 140, wireless communications can be performed with the contactless module 110 via a wireless (or contactless) interface 150.

[49] As an example of a smart card 120, the UICC is a smart card platform that supports various telecommunication applications, such as SIM (for GSM) or USIM (for 3G). The UICC can also support other types of applications. The UICC is the evolution of the GSM SIM card that was only able to run a SIM application.

[50] The UICC continues to evolve with respect to two aspects; 1) employing a large memory and high-speed interface, and 2) supporting contactless services.

[51] A large memory and high-speed interface allow the UICC to support more applications, personal data of the user, certificate procedures, etc. without having trouble in transferring large amounts of data within a reasonable timeframe.

[52] Contactless services address the market of integrating access control services, transportation passes, and the like into the mobile terminal. The UICC would be used in such cases to secure information and applications, whereas for reasons detailed below, most of the actual contactless link management (modulation, power control and management, etc.) would be made in the mobile terminal.

[53] Figure 2 shows an example of a smart card (UICC) 220 having a particular allocation for eight (8) physical contacts, as indicated by the chart 240.

[54] Although it can be understood that the features of the present invention can also be adapted and implemented to smart cards with a different number of physical contacts, the exemplary embodiments will focus on an 8-contact type UICC.

[55] The physical interface between the UICC and mobile terminal can be based on an

8-contact module. It is currently unlikely that more contacts can be implemented in the future. Therefore, all extensions have to be considered based on the existing contacts, and minimum backward compatibility requirements, such that a session can be always opened on the ISO T=O protocol, as defined in the ISO 7816 series.

[56] Therefore, only 3 contacts are remaining for further development. Currently, 2 contact candidates are considered for a High-Speed interface between the UICC and the terminal. Additionally, MMC can be implemented by using the C4/C6/C8 contacts, and USB can be implemented by using the C4/C8 contacts.

[57] In order to obtain a physical I/O interface for connection with an external contactless module (such as, via a two-wire based connection), there is a need for either having a single wire interface, or adding new contacts (which is unlikely to be adopted), or multiplexing the signals on the existing contacts that would be used for several logical interfaces (which is heavy or burdensome to support and requires much software and probably hardware).

[58] Figure 3 shows the concept of how the secure element and the contactless module may cooperate.

[59] The secure element 310 (such as a smart card, UICC, etc.) may receive, via one of its contacts, appropriate power from the contactless module 320. A different contact of the secure element 310 may be grounded. As such, a data interface (Data I/O) may be formed between the secure element 310 and the contactless module 320 such that data and information exchange may take place.

[60] The principle of the contactless feature is to include in the terminal a contactless module 320 (i.e., a ContactLess Function (CLF) module). This CLF module is connected to the UICC, and optionally, to the baseband of the mobile terminal. Note that this CLF module can be connected to several secure elements simultaneously.

[61] Figure 4 shows the concept of the contactless module being powered by the battery of the mobile terminal.

[62] The mobile terminal 400 cooperates with a contactless reader 450 to carry out a contactless transaction. The mobile terminal 400 includes a contactless (function) module 420 that cooperates with a secure element 410 (smart card, UICC, etc.) and terminal resources 430 and a data interface (Data I/F) therebetween can carry information and data. A power management unit 445 can control a battery 440 such that appropriate battery power is supplied to the secure element 410, the contactless module 420, and/or the terminal resources 430.

[63] Figure 5 shows the concept of the contactless module being powered by induced current from electromagnetic (EM) fields or radio frequency (RF) signals.

[64] Unlike in Figure 4 above, this situation occurs when the battery 540 is found to have a relatively low power level or is in some other state that results in insufficient power for operating certain components of the mobile terminal 500.

[65] In such case, the mobile terminal 500 (in particular, the contactless module 520) can detect electromagnetic (EM) fields of radio frequency (RF) signals generated from a contactless reader 550. Such detected electromagnetic (EM) fields of radio frequency (RF) signals can be used to induce current and generate a relatively small amount of power that can be (momentarily or temporarily) supplied to the secure element 510 (and/or other components in the mobile terminal) such that data and information can be accessed via a data interface (Data I/F).

[66] Referring to Figures 4 and 5, the contactless module (420, 520) is able to get power from either from the terminal battery or the electromagnetic field. This latter option is used when terminal battery is at too low a level to provide adequate power. The current generated in the contactless module (from the electromagnetic field) enables the possibility to (momentarily or temporarily) power the UICC (or a Secure Element, such as a SD Card). Thus, in battery off mode (i.e., when the battery has relatively low power, or the battery is empty or detached or broken or inoperable, etc.), the contactless service can still be supported (or performed).

[67] Some applications do not require any user interaction. Thus, they can work in battery off mode. This is typically the case of transportation passes, identification cards, tag/ information storage in the secure element (UICC), and the like.

[68] On the other hand, some functions or applications imply mandatory interactions with the user. This typically includes financial transactions (e.g., bank or fund transfers, etc.), making payments by credit card, e-purse services, and the like. In such cases, for security reasons, there is an added value in being able to not even start the transaction when it can be determined that the application will not be able to be properly executed or completed, because user interaction via the mobile phone would not be possible when the mobile phone is in battery off mode (i.e., when battery power is too low, when the battery is empty, the battery is inoperable, the battery is broken, and the battery is detached, etc.).

[69] In the background art, neither the contactless module nor the smart card (when powered by the contactless module) knows of the terminal status.

[70] A particular principle of the present invention is to identify the terminal status at any time and to store the information onto the contactless module so that when a transaction is initiated, the service provider (or the reseller) can decide whether to begin the actual transaction or not knowing if the application can be executed until its end.

[71] A particular principle of the present invention is that the contactless module shall get the information from the mobile terminal about its status. For instance, such status (state, facility, etc.) may indicate that the terminal is operating or ready to operate, that the terminal turned off (for whatever reason), and the like.

[72] At least two ways of getting this information may be performed. The first is to perform a communication trial without answer, and the second is to perform mobile registering or de-registering of the contactless module when the mobile terminal is switched on or off.

[73] The present invention can be further enhanced (or improved) by considering some more details about the terminal activity that could influence the behaviour of the function or application (such as a contactless transaction) to be performed. Such mobile terminal activities may include: terminal in idle mode (sleeping mode, displays off), active (displays on), in (video-) communication, used for music/television or used for web browsing, and the like.

[74] This information can be managed the same (or similar) way than the so-called

TERMINAL PROFILE for the secure element (UICC, smart card, etc.), which is a set of bytes including tags about many services that can be supported. The impact on the terminal software is to design a system that updates this database at any new state (a new communication, etc.).

[75] Such command(s) can either be: (1) an extension of the TERMINAL PROFILE

Toolkit commands or (2) a newly formed command (related to the contactless module) that can certainly be generic to any device willing to get information from the mobile terminal.

[76] The invention allows identification as to whether the terminal is turned off or not, for whatever reason (e.g., running out of battery power, being switched off by the user, etc.). A further enhancement of the present invention could be to obtain and use even more detailed status information (i.e., facilities), such as: (1) the mobile terminal was switched off by the user, but the battery has enough power, (2) the mobile terminal battery is empty, and the like.

[77] The contactless module power management system can be used in conjunction with the mobile terminal status information using the basic concepts of the present invention in another way.

[78] The basic principle herein is that the contactless module (or a processor or some other component) shall get the information from the mobile terminal about its status. This status information (i.e., facilities) could be for instance: (1) the terminal operating or ready to operate, (2) the terminal is turned off (for whatever reason, and the like.

[79] At least two basic ways of getting this status information are (1) performing a communication trial without answer, and (2) performing mobile registering or de- registering of the contactless module when the mobile terminal is switched on or off.

[80] (1) Communication trial without answer:

[81] This mechanism will be explained with reference to Figures 6 and 7.

[82] A fake (or simulated) communication is initiated at regular times (intervals) with the terminal. It should be noted that a comparable procedure exists for the terminal to detect the secure element (UICC) by pushing a STATUS message every 30 seconds in idle mode. If no answer is given before a timeout is reached (e.g., upon expiration of a timer), the terminal is considered as being not active (e.g., out of order, turned off, etc.). The proactivity of this mechanism is based on the management of the information polling interval (i.e. timer value).

[83] Figure 6 shows a status command principle for a contactless module error based system according to the present invention. Initially, the contactless module is in idle mode (S601). When the timer expires (S603), a communication attempt with the mobile terminal is made in order to obtain status information regarding the mobile terminal (S605). Depending upon whether there is an answer from the terminal (S607), the subsequent procedure is different. If the terminal does not answer, information indicating that the terminal is not active is stored (S608). If the terminal does answer, information indicating that the terminal is active is stored (S609).

[84] An enhancement of this mechanism is to consider the storage of a TERMINAL

STATUS or even more detailed TERMINAL PROFILE information in a dedicated memory part of the terminal. Instead of performing a communication attempt, it would be simpler to check (at regular slots of time) the status of the terminal in this memory part. The proactivity of this mechanism is based on the management of the information polling interval (i.e., a timer value).

[85] It should be noted that such storage of semi-permanent and accessible information is not only dedicated to a Contactless Interface, but other types of interface techniques may be used as well.

[86] Figure 7 shows a status command principle for a contactless module enhanced system according to the present invention.

[87] Initially, the contactless module is in idle mode (S701). When the timer expires

(S703), the status of the terminal is checked (S705). Depending upon whether there is any activity mentioned by the terminal (S707), the subsequent procedure is different. If there is no activity, information indicating that the terminal is not active is stored (S708). If there is activity, information indicating that the terminal is active is stored (S709).

[88] Note that another alternative is to check the terminal status only when a contactless transaction is tried. This would be advantageous in that power consumption may be reduced, because the information is checked once rather than regularly. But the drawback is the introduction of a minor delay in getting the information when required.

[89] (2) Mobile registering/deregistering the contactless module when mobile terminal is switched on or off:

[90] Upon turning the mobile terminal on or off, the contactless module is registered or de-registered accordingly. However, this proposal has the drawback that in case the battery is removed, the procedure can not be initiated. Note that in case the battery power is getting too low, the user may be warned at that time, and thus the contactless module can be deactivated. This system is comparable to the IMSI attach/detach procedure in the network.

[91] A first possible extension may be considered.

[92] Namely, the present invention can be enhanced by giving some more details about the terminal activity that could influence the behavior of the application: [93] 1) Terminal in idle mode (sleeping mode, displays off)

[94] T) Terminal active (displays on)

[95] 3) Terminal in (video-) communication

[96] 4) Terminal used for music/television

[97] 5) Terminal used for web browsing

[98] Such information can be managed the same way (or in a similar way) as that for the

TERMINAL PROFILE for the UICC. This information can be indicated by a set of bytes, including tags about many services that are supported. Considering the impact on the terminal software, a system that updates this database at any new state (a new communication, etc.) should be designed.

[99] One possibility is that TERMINAL PROFILE Toolkit commands may be extended and standardized, such that other modules (other than the UICC) can use these commands.

[100] Figure 8 shows an example of the structure and coding for the TERMINAL

PROFILE as to how the thirtieth (30^th) byte can be defined in accordance with the present invention.

[101] The contents of the TERMINAL PROFILE can indicate a list of Card Application Toolkit (CAT) functions (= status information) that are supported by the mobile terminal. As for coding, one bit is used to code each function, whereby bit = 1 means that the function is supported by the terminal, while bit = 0 means that the function is not supported by the terminal.

[102] The bits of a particular byte (i.e., the 30^th byte) can be defined and set to indicate various types of mobile terminal status information. As shown, bl can indicate that the terminal is active, b2 can indicate that the terminal is in idle mode, b3 can indicate that the terminal is in video conference mode, b4 can indicate that the terminal is in phone conversation mode. Additionally, b5 can indicate that the terminal is in television mode, b6 can indicate that the terminal is using an application (such as reading MP3 files, operating a game or other entertainment function, etc.), b7 can indicate that the terminal is being used for web (Internet) browsing, and b8 can indicate RFU, bit =0.

[103] Clearly, such indications for each bit is not meant to be limiting, but merely exemplary. Addition and/or alternative types of status information (= functions) may be accommodated.

[104] Another possibility is to design a contactless module related command that can certainly be generic to any device willing to get information from the terminal. This extension is to be standardized at OMA level.

[105] A second possible extension may be considered.

[106] The present invention allows identification about whether the terminal is turned off or not, for whatever reason (such as, running out of battery or being switched off by the user). An extension of this concept could be to get an even more detailed status information, such as:

[107] 1) Terminal is switched off by the user, but battery with enough power

[108] 2) Terminal battery is empty

[109] A basic way of making the difference between these two types of status information is to use the contactless module power management system and the information from the basic proposal of the present invention in another way. For example, if power from the battery exists and the terminal activity cannot be detected, then the status is 1 (as above). If no power is detected, the status is 2.

[110] Several use cases (i.e., practical applications) for the concepts provided by the present invention can be considered.

[I l l] As case 1, if the user would like to pay with his terminal onboard MasterCard however his terminal is out of battery. Because anyway the transaction cannot be operated, the transaction will fail before even having transmitted any sensitive information.

[112] As case 2, a bank (or other financial institution) may like to reduce (as much as possible) the sensitive information exchange if the contactless transaction or application cannot be performed correctly. This possibility can be achieved with the present invention, because a trial to initiate the transaction is initially attempted, and then the terminal status is returned to the point of sale (PoS) terminal and a policy (or procedure) is defined as to whether to continue such transaction or not.

[113] Thus, the present invention allows various enhancements to security (i.e., user privacy), system performance, and user experience while using contactless services.

[114] Regarding security aspects, no (sensitive) information exchange will be initiated when it can easily be forecasted (or anticipated) that the application (i.e., contactless transaction) will not be able to operate correctly. Typically, such may be the case when the mobile terminal is off and the application needs mandatory user interaction via the mobile terminal.

[115] Regarding system performance, a reduction in the exchange of information to only those that are needed (i.e., by significantly reducing impossible transaction requests) will lead to a smaller number of terminal operations and thus resulting in savings in power and resources.

[116] Regarding user experience, the user will know that certain features may not be accessed from the beginning, because it can be known that such will not be available. A simple rejection is better than a rejection after trials (i.e., numerous transaction attempts) were made. For the user, a clear rejection is better than one or more unsuccessful attempts.

[117] Figure 9 shows an exemplary signal flow diagram regarding the procedures of the present invention.

[118] The mobile terminal 900 can cooperate with an external reader 906 (such as a PoS terminal) and/or a server 908 in order to perform a transaction. The mobile terminal 900 can have a contactless function module 901, a secure element 903 (such as a smart card, UICC, or the like) having a processor 904 (and other controllers, integrated circuits, and the like), and an interface 905 that may be part of the contactless function module 901, part of the secure element 903, or part of both.

[119] An instruction or command to download or otherwise obtain a terminal profile is sent from the contactless function module 901 to the secure element 903 via the interface 905 (S911). In response, the secure element 903 sends the capabilities of the terminal to the contactless function module via the interface 905 (S913). Here, it should be noted that the terminal capabilities may then be informed to the external reader 906, to the server 908, or to both.

[120] Next, a request for a contactless transaction (or application) may be received by the contactless function module 901 (S914). Such transaction request may originate from the secure element 903, from the external reader 906, from the server 908, or any combination thereof. Alternatively, the following procedures may be performed before any transaction request is received. As such, the transaction request step (S914) is depicted in Figure 9 as a dotted box.

[121] Then, a decision about how the requested contactless transaction should be processed is made (S915 through S918). Such decision may be made by the secure element 903 itself (S915), by the external reader 906 itself upon receiving information from the secure element 903 (S916), by the server 908 itself upon receiving information from the secure element 903 (S917), by both the external reader 906 and the server 908 (S918), or by any other combination of such procedures.

[122] Thereafter, the requested contactless transaction is performed between the mobile terminal 900 and the external reader 906 (which may in turn need to communicate with the server 908) (S919).

[123] As described thus far, the concepts and features related to a mobile status detection contactless module to support various contactless services can also be summed up as follows.

[124] The present invention provides a contactless system comprising: a terminal having its status information stored in a contactless module; and a server that performs a certain contactless transaction upon connection with the contactless module. The status information relates to whether the terminal is in at least one of active mode, idle mode, video conference mode, phone communication mode, television viewing mode, application use mode (MP3 reader, games, etc.), web browsing mode, or the like. Also, the present invention provides a terminal comprising: a memory card having status in- formation of the terminal stored therein; and a contactless module that provides the status information to a server when a certain transaction is started.

[125] Also, the present invention provides a method of transmitting a terminal profile, the method comprising: sending, from a contactless module to a secure element, a profile download instruction for a profile that includes status information or facilities relevant to commands supported by the terminal, wherein the profile allows the secure element to determine what the terminal is capable of and the secure element is allowed to limit its instruction range accordingly.

[126] The method may further comprise: receiving instructions from the secure element that determined what the terminal is capable of. The instructions from the secure element are related to whether or not a transaction may be performed. The status information relates to whether the terminal is in at least one active mode, idle mode, video conference mode, phone communication mode, television mode, application mode, and web browsing mode. The commands are related to Card Application Toolkit (CAT) commands. The profile is downloaded by performing a communication trial without answer or by performing mobile registering or de-registering of the contactless module when the terminal is switched on or off.

[127] Additionally, the present invention provides a method of receiving a terminal profile, the method comprising: receiving, by a secure element from a contactless module of a terminal, a profile download instruction for a profile that includes status information or facilities relevant to Card Application Toolkit (CAT) commands supported by the terminal, wherein the profile allows the secure element to determine what the terminal is capable of and the secure element is allowed to limit its instruction range accordingly.

[128] The secure element and/or the application decides how to process the transaction.

The secure element transmits information to a server to allow the server and/or the application to decide about how to process the transaction. The profile is downloaded and stored in the secure element. The profile is downloaded by performing a communication trial without answer or by performing mobile registering or de -registering of the contactless module when the terminal is switched on or off.

[129] Furthermore, the present invention provides a method of using operation characteristics of a mobile terminal to support contactless transactions, the method comprising: obtaining information about certain operation characteristics of the mobile terminal; deciding whether a contactless transaction could be processed based upon the obtained information; and performing the contactless transaction if it is decided that the contactless transaction could be processed.

[130] The information is obtained by performing a communication trial without answer or by performing mobile registering or de-registering when the terminal is switched on or off. The information is related to a status, state, facility or capability of the mobile terminal. The status, the state, the facility, or the capability is related to a terminal profile of the mobile terminal. The steps are performed by the mobile terminal having a smart card. The steps are performed by a contactless reader or point-of-sale terminal upon cooperation with a smart card in the mobile terminal. The steps are performed by a network server in communication with a contactless reader or point-of-sale terminal upon cooperation with a smart card in the terminal.

[131] Moreover, the present invention provides a mobile terminal that supports a contactless transaction, the mobile terminal comprising: an interface that supports data and information exchange with a smart card; and a contactless function module operatively connected with the interface to send, to a smart card, a profile download instruction for a profile that includes status information or facilities relevant to Card Application Toolkit (CAT) commands supported by the mobile terminal, wherein the profile allows the smart card to determine what the mobile terminal is capable of and the smart card is allowed to limit its instruction range accordingly.

[132] As well, the present invention provides a smart card that supports a contactless transaction, the smart card comprising: an interface that supports data and information exchange with a mobile terminal; and a processor, that manages contactless applications and transactions, operatively connected with the interface to receive, from the mobile terminal, a profile download instruction for a profile that includes status information or facilities relevant to Card Application Toolkit (CAT) commands supported by the mobile terminal, wherein the profile allows the smart card to determine what the mobile terminal is capable of and the smart card is allowed to limit its instruction range accordingly. Industrial Applicability

[133] The features and concepts herein are applicable to and can be implemented for various types of user devices (e.g., mobile terminals, handsets, wireless communication devices, etc.) and/or entities that can support different types of air interfaces, protocols, and applications used in wireless communications.

[134] The described mobile status detection contactless module to support various contactless services can be used in a wide variety of fields, such as financial applications (e.g., credit cards, ATM cards, fuel cards, etc.) service subscriptions (SIM cards for mobile phones, public transportation passes, etc.), identification applications (e.g., personal electronic ID cards, healthcare cards, etc.), security applications (e.g., biometric passports, cryptographic pass cards, employee badges, etc.), and the like.

[135] As the various concepts and features described herein may be embodied in several forms without departing from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its scope as defined in the appended claims. Therefore, all changes and modifications that fall within such scope or equivalents thereof are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

Claims

[I] A method of transmitting a terminal profile, the method comprising: sending, from a contactless module to a secure element, a profile download instruction for a profile that includes status information or facilities relevant to commands supported by the terminal, wherein the profile allows the secure element to determine what the terminal is capable of and the secure element is allowed to limit its instruction range accordingly.

[2] The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving instructions from the secure element that determined what the terminal is capable of.

[3] The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions from the secure element are related to whether or not a transaction may be performed.

[4] The method of claim 1 , wherein the status information relates to whether the terminal is in at least one active mode, idle mode, video conference mode, phone communication mode, television mode, application mode, and web browsing mode.

[5] The method of claim 1, wherein the commands are related to Card Application

Toolkit (CAT) commands.

[6] The method of claim 1 , wherein the profile is downloaded by performing a communication trial without answer or by performing mobile registering or de- registering of the contactless module when the terminal is switched on or off.

[7] A method of receiving a terminal profile, the method comprising: receiving, by a secure element from a contactless module of a terminal, a profile download instruction for a profile that includes status information or facilities relevant to commands supported by the terminal, wherein the profile allows the secure element to determine what the terminal is capable of and the secure element is allowed to limit its instruction range accordingly.

[8] The method of claim 7, wherein the secure element and/or the application decides how to process the transaction.

[9] The method of claim 7, wherein the secure element transmits information to a server to allow the server and/or the application to decide about how to process the transaction.

[10] The method of claim 7, wherein the profile is downloaded and stored in the secure element.

[I I] The method of claim 7, wherein the profile is downloaded by performing a com- munication trial without answer or by performing mobile registering or de- registering of the contactless module when the terminal is switched on or off.

[12] A method of using operation characteristics of a mobile terminal to support con- tactless transactions, the method comprising: obtaining information about certain operation characteristics of the mobile terminal; deciding whether a contactless transaction could be processed based upon the obtained information; and performing the contactless transaction if it is decided that the contactless transaction could be processed.

[13] The method of claim 12, wherein the information is obtained by performing a communication trial without answer or by performing mobile registering or de- registering when the terminal is switched on or off.

[14] The method of claim 12, wherein the information is related to a status, state, facility or capability of the mobile terminal.

[15] The method of claim 12, wherein the status, the state, the facility, or the capability is related to a terminal profile of the mobile terminal.

[16] The method of claim 12, wherein the steps are performed by the mobile terminal having a smart card.

[17] The method of claim 12, wherein the steps are performed by a contactless reader or point-of-sale terminal upon cooperation with a smart card in the mobile terminal.

[18] The method of claim 12, wherein the steps are performed by a network server in communication with a contactless reader or point-of-sale terminal upon cooperation with a smart card in the terminal.

[19] A mobile terminal that supports a contactless transaction, the mobile terminal comprising: an interface that supports data and information exchange with a smart card; and a contactless function module operatively connected with the interface to send, to a smart card, a profile download instruction for a profile that includes status information or facilities relevant to commands supported by the mobile terminal, wherein the profile allows the smart card to determine what the mobile terminal is capable of and the smart card is allowed to limit its instruction range accordingly.

[20] A smart card that supports a contactless transaction, the smart card comprising: an interface that supports data and information exchange with a mobile terminal; and a processor, that manages contactless applications and transactions, operatively connected with the interface to receive, from the mobile terminal, a profile download instruction for a profile that includes status information or facilities relevant to Card Application Toolkit (CAT) commands supported by the mobile terminal, wherein the profile allows the smart card to determine what the mobile terminal is capable of and the smart card is allowed to limit its instruction range accordingly.