WO2009137820A2

WO2009137820A2 - Universal integrated circuit card detection

Info

Publication number: WO2009137820A2
Application number: PCT/US2009/043394
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frederic Danis; Francois Mare Amand; Jean-Yves Carre
Original assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
Priority date: 2008-05-08
Filing date: 2009-05-08
Publication date: 2009-11-12
Also published as: WO2009137820A3

Abstract

A system and method for automatically determining a type of electrical interface used by a Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") card (110). In one embodiment, a wireless device (102) includes a UICC card port (112), and UICC detector (130). The UICC detector determines which of a plurality of electrical interfaces are provided by a UICC card coupled to the UICC card port. The UICC detector configures the UICC card port in accordance with a provided electrical interface of the UICC card.

Description

UNIVERSAL INTEGRATED CIRCUIT CARD DETECTION

This relates to methods and apparatus for determining and configuring interfaces usable with subscriber identity cards connected to cellular phones and other wireless devices. BACKGROUND Cellular telephones and various other wireless devices utilizing the Global System for

Mobile Communications ("GSM") system are used worldwide. Such devices employ a smart card including a Subscriber Identity Module ("SIM") that identifies the subscriber, and stores various subscriber information. Technically, a SIM is an application residing in an integrated circuit card ("ICC"). However, the card itself is commonly referred to as a "SIM card." A SIM card is issued by a wireless networking company for insertion into a wireless device used on the company's network. The SIM card is advantageous in that the subscriber information stored therein, for example, contact information, text messages, etc., can be easily transferred from one device to another by moving the SIM card.

In the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ("UMTS"), the Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") is used. The UICC is analogous to the SIM card, but allows extended functionality. The UICC card comprises a Universal Subscriber Identity Module ("USIM") corresponding to the SIM of the GSM SIM card, and a USIM Application Toolkit that enables the wireless device to be configured directly via the UMTS radio network. Like the SIM, the USIM stores subscriber and authentication information that enable network access. The USIM also provides storage for third party application programs.

UICC cards generally employ an external interface specified by the International Organization for Standardization ("ISO"), specifically, ISO 7816. Different parts of the ISO 7816 standard specify different physical and electrical interfaces for use with various smart cards, such as the UICC card. SUMMARY

Various systems and methods for detecting the interface type of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") connected to wireless device are disclosed herein. In accordance with at least some embodiments, a wireless device includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") card port; and a UICC detector. The UICC detector determines which of a plurality of electrical interfaces are provided by a UICC card coupled to the UICC card port. The UICC detector configures the UICC card port in accordance with a provided electrical interface of the UICC card. In accordance with at least some other embodiments, a method includes determining whether a Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") card connected to a UICC port of a wireless device supports only an ISO 7816-3 interface, only a Universal Serial Bus ("USB") interface as defined per the Inter-Chip USB Supplement to the USB 2.0 specification, or both a USB interface and an International Organization for Standardization ("ISO") 7816-3 interface. The UICC port is configured to operate with a highest data rate interface supported by the UICC card.

In accordance with yet other embodiments, a system includes a mobile wireless device that supports a plurality of Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") interfaces. The mobile wireless device comprises means for automatically determining which of the plurality of UICC interfaces an installed UICC card supports, and means for configuring a UICC port in accordance with a determined UICC interface of the installed UICC card. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a detailed description of example embodiments of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an example wireless network including a wireless device that automatically detects a Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") card interface in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 2 shows an example block diagram of a wireless device that automatically detects a UICC card Interface in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 3 shows an example diagram of a portion of the UICC interface circuitry in accordance with various embodiments; and

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a flow diagram for a method for automatically detecting a UICC card interface in a wireless device in accordance with various embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Disclosed herein are a system and method for automatically detecting an interface type of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") card. To accommodate the increasing functionality of mobile wireless devices, the data and/or program storage provided by a UICC card must be increased. For example, high-density subscriber identity module ("HD-SIM") UICC cards can include gigabytes of storage. To facilitate access to such large amounts of storage, high-speed interfaces are being added to UICC cards. For example, the ISO 7816-12 specification, by the International Organization for Standardization ("ISO"), defines a smart card that includes a Universal Serial Bus ("USB") interface. Incorporating a USB interface, for example, a full-speed USB interface allowing up to 12 mega-bits per second ("Mb/s"), provides a substantial improvement over older interfaces, such as the interface specified by ISO 7816-3, which may be limited to a one hundred kilo-bits per second ("Kb/s") data transfer rate.

While the USB interface is advantageous in terms of access rate, the UICC USB interface will coexist, for at least the immediate future, with established UICC interface standards such as ISO 7816-3. Therefore, mobile wireless devices can benefit from the ability to automatically detect which interface standard(s) a UICC card supports and to configure a UICC port of the wireless device accordingly. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide such capabilities. FIG. 1 shows an example wireless network 100 including a wireless device 102 that automatically detects a ("UICC") card 110 interface in accordance with various embodiments. The example wireless network 100 includes base station 104, though in practice, a wireless network may include more base stations than illustrated. A base station may also be known as a fixed access point, a Node B, an e-Node B, etc. The mobile wireless device 102 can be a cellular telephone, a computer network access card, or any other user equipment ("UE") employed by a user to communicate via the wireless network 100. As a matter of convenience, only a single mobile wireless device is shown, however, in practice system 100 may include any number of UEs. The mobile wireless device 102 may also be called a mobile terminal, a mobile station, etc. The base station 104 transmits to the mobile wireless device 104 via down- link 106, and receives transmissions from mobile wireless device 104 via up-link 108.

The mobile wireless device 102 is configured to accept a UICC card 110. The UICC card 110 preferably includes a Universal Subscriber Identity Module ("USIM") that provides authentication of the remote wireless device 102 thus facilitating access to the wireless network. The UICC card 110 includes an interface conforming to one or more of a variety of interface standards. The UICC card 110 preferably employs a USB interface in conformance with ISO 7816-12 and/or an interface satisfying ISO 7816-3. Information regarding ISO 7816- 3 is available in the ISO/IEC 7816-3 specification, entitled "Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards - Part 3: Cards with contacts - Electrical interface and transmission protocols." Information regarding ISO 7816-12 is available in the ISO/IEC 7816-12 specification, entitled "Identification cards - Integrated circuit cards - Part 12: Cards with contacts - USB electrical interface and operating procedures."

Embodiments of the UICC card 110 include a set of contacts through which the UICC card 110 is electrically connected to the mobile wireless device 102. An embodiment of a UICC card 110 implementing an ISO 7816-3 interface preferably includes contacts 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, and 124. Note that although a preferred contact arrangement will now be described, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to any particular contact arrangement. Contacts 116 and 114 preferably respectively provide a power supply voltage and a ground reference to the UICC 110. The power supply voltage provided to the UICC card 110 through contact 116 can vary. In some embodiments (e.g., ("class B")) a voltage in the range of 2.7 volts ("V") to 3.3 V (i.e., about 3 V) is preferred. In some embodiments (e.g., (class "C")), a voltage in the range of 1.65 V to 1.95 V (i.e., about 1.85 V) is preferred. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to any particular voltages.

In at least some UICC card 110 embodiments implementing an ISO 7816-3 interface, contact 120 provides a reset signal, contact 118 provides a programming voltage, (e.g., for writing to non-volatile memories), contact 124 provides a clock signal (e.g., for synchronizing data input/output operations), and contact 122 provides data input/output signals. Contacts 126 and 128 are unused in some embodiments implementing an ISO 7816-3 interface.

In at least some UICC card 110 embodiments implementing a USB interface, contact 128 provides the positive signal of a USB differential data pair, and contact 126 provides the negative signal of the USB differential data pair.

Embodiments of a UICC card 110 can implement the USB interface, the ISO 7816-3 interface or both the USB and ISO 7816-3 interfaces.

The mobile wireless device 102 includes a UICC port 112 that couples the UICC card 110 to the mobile wireless device 102. The mobile wireless device also includes a UICC port detector 130 that automatically determines which of the available interfaces (e.g., USB, ISO 7816-3, etc.) the UICC card 110 supports, and configures the UICC port 112 for operation with the UICC card 110. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure are capable of using a wide variety of UICC cards without user input as to the card's interface specifications.

FIG. 2 shows an example block diagram of a wireless device 102 that automatically detects a UICC card 110 interface in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless device 102 includes a UICC card 110, an interface detector 130, and a UICC port 112. The UICC port 112 couples the wireless device 102 to a UICC card 110, which is preferably installed in the wireless device 102. The UICC card 110 supports one or more of several electrical interface specifications, for example, USB, ISO 7816-3, etc. The wireless device 102 is compatible with at least the USB and ISO 7816-3 interface specifications. The UICC detector 130 automatically determines which interface specification(s) the UICC card 110 supports. In at least some embodiments, the UICC detector 130 includes a processor 202, and UICC detector software programming 204 stored in processor readable storage (e.g., semiconductor memory) to perform the detection. The processor 202 can be any processor available in the mobile wireless device 102, for example, a general purpose processor, microcontroller, or digital signal processor. The UICC detection software program can be stored in any storage device readable by the processor 202, for example, a semiconductor memory such as read-only-memory, random-access-memory, etc. In at least some embodiments, UICC detection software 204 implements the functions described in FIG. 4 below.

The UICC port 112 includes power switching module 206 to vary the power supply voltage provided to the UICC card 110 in accordance with a detected UICC 110 card interface. In some embodiments, the power switching module 206 selects from multiple voltages to provide a power supply voltage to the UICC card 110. In some embodiments, the power switching module 206 includes a variable output voltage regulator to provide a power supply voltage in accordance with the determined UICC card 110 interface. As shown, selection of a UICC card 110 power supply voltage via the power switching module 206 is preferably controlled by the UICC detector 130. At least some embodiments of the UICC port 112 include level shifters to shift signal voltages to/from the signal voltages employed by the UICC card 110 and the wireless device 102.

The mobile wireless device 102 also include radio frequency transceiver circuitry 206 for transmitting RF signals on up- link 106 and receiving RF signals on down- link 108, and user interface circuitry 208 (e.g., audio input/output, display, keyboard, touch screen, etc.) for providing data to and receiving data from a user. FIG. 3 shows an example diagram of a portion of the UICC 110 interface circuitry in accordance with various embodiments. The UICC 110 includes transceivers 302, 304 to drive and receive differential USB signals. Pull-up resistors RPUl 308 and RPU2 306 are coupled to the output positive side transceiver 302, the transceiver for the positive signal of the USB differential pair. As shown, RPU2 306 can be bypassed allowing RPUl alone to pull-up the signal line. In some embodiments the resistor RPUl 308 has a value in the range of 1-3 thousand ohms, and the resistor RPU2 306 has a value in the range of 30-150 thousand ohms.

The UICC port 112 includes transceivers 314, 316 for driving and receiving the positive and negative signals of the USB differential pair. Pull-down resistors 310, 312 are switchably coupled to transceivers 314 and 316 respectively. The pull-down resistors 310, 312 allow the UICC port 112 to force the inputs of the transceivers 314, 316 to a ground when no USB drive signals are present (e.g., when a non-USB UICC is connected to the UICC port 112). In some embodiments the pull-down resistors 310, 312 each have a value in the range of 30-50 thousand ohms.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a flow diagram for a method for automatically detecting a UICC card 110 interface in a wireless device 102 in accordance with various embodiments. Some embodiments implement the actions of FIGS. 4A and 4B as UICC detection program 204. Though depicted sequentially as a matter of convenience, at least some of the actions shown can be performed in a different order and/or performed in parallel. Additionally, some embodiments may perform only some of the actions shown.

In block 402, the UICC detector 130 determines that a UICC card 110 is coupled to the wireless device 102. The UICC detector 130 commences determination of the interface parameters of the UICC card 110, in block 404, by causing the power switching module 206 to provide the UICC card 110 with a power supply voltage. The provided power supply voltage is preferably the lowest power supply voltage of all power supply voltages applicable to an operational UICC card 110. In some embodiments, about 1.8 V can be supplied to power up the UICC card 110 in block 404.

USB interface detection operations begin in block 406 where at least some UICC operations and signals lines not relevant to the USB interface are disabled. In some embodiments, the UICC port 112 asserts the reset signal (e.g., on UICC card 110 contact 120), and prevents the clock signal from toggling (e.g., on UICC card 110 contact 124) to inhibit the UICC card 110 from performing ISO 7618-3 operations. In block 408, the UICC detector 130 determines whether the UICC card 110 is pulling up the positive signal line of the inter- chipJJSB with the resistor RPUl 308, thereby indicating a USB UICC.

Following detection of a USB capable UICC card 110 in block 408, the wireless device 102 asserts USB reset (brings low both signals of the USB data pair) to the USB UICC card 110 and subsequently enumerates the USB UICC card 110 in block 410. In parallel with the USB reset, the wireless device 102 preferably disconnects pull-down resistors 310, 312 from the inter-chip USB data lines while the UICC card preferably pulls up the positive data line with series pull-up resistors RPUl 308 and RPU2 306. Enumeration includes assigning an address, and determining the capabilities of the UICC card 110, etc. During enumeration, the UICC card 110 may report a preferred operating voltage different from the power supply voltage provided. If, in block 412, the UICC card 110 does not report a different preferred voltage, the UICC card 110 and the wireless device 102 are ready for USB operation, in block 414, at the initially provided power supply (e.g., Class C) voltage.

If, in block 412, the UICC card 110 reports a different preferred voltage, for example, some UICC card embodiments may report a class B preferred voltage (about 3 V), the UICC card 110 is power cycled at the preferred voltage. In block 416, the UICC card 110 power supply is switched off. Power to the UICC card 110 is reestablished, in block 418, where the UICC detector 130 causes the power switching module 206 to provide the UICC card 110 preferred power supply voltage (e.g., B class voltage, approximately 3 V) to the UICC card 110.

In block 420, non-USB operation is inhibited by asserting a signal to the ISO reset contact and negating the ISO clock signal. If, in block 422, the UICC detector 130 determines that the UICC card 110 is pulling up the positive signal line of the IC USB with the resistor RPUl 308, thereby indicating a USB UICC, USB enumeration is performed in block 424 after the wireless device 102 has reset the USB UICC card 110 via USB reset. In parallel with the reset, the wireless device 102 preferably disconnects its pull-down resistors 310, 312 while the UICC card 110 pulls up with RPUl 308 in series with RPU2 306. The UICC card 110 and wireless device 102 are ready for USB operation at the UICC card 110 preferred voltage (e.g., class B voltage) in block 426. If, in block 422, the positive signal line of the IC_USB is not pulled-up with resistor

RPUl 308, then UICC card 110 interface detection has failed and the UICC detector 130 causes the power switching module 206 to switch off the power supply to the UICC card 110 in block 428.

Returning to block 408, if the positive signal line of the IC_USB is not pulled-up with resistor RPUl 308 of UICC card 110, then the UICC detector 130 attempts to determine whether the UICC card 110 includes an ISO 7816-3 interface. Some embodiments can begin UICC card 110 interface detection with ISO detection in block 430, rather than USB detection in block 406. In block 429, the ISO detection procedure is initiated by asserting the reset signal to the UICC card 110, and providing an appropriate and stable clock to the UICC card 110. In accordance with ISO 7816-3, a UICC card 110 implementing an ISO interface will provide an answer to reset ("ATR") signal preferably comprising an initial character, a format character, optional interface characters, optional historical characters, and a check character. Embodiments of the UICC detector 130 preferably wait a predetermined interval of time for the UICC card 110 to provide an ATR. In some embodiments, the UICC detector 130 waits approximately 16 milliseconds ("ms") to receive an ATR.

In some embodiments, if the UICC detector 130 determines, in block 430, that no ATR was transmitted, then, in block 437, the UICC detector 130 checks for the positive signal line of the ICJJSB pulled-up with resistor RPUl 308 of UICC card 110. Signal line pull up with RPUl 308 indicates the presence of the UICC card 110. If the positive signal line of the ICJJSB is pulled up with resistor RPUl 308 of the UICC card 110, then USB interface detection commences in block 406.

If, in block 430, the UICC detector 130 determines that an ATR was transmitted by the UICC card 110, then, in block 432, the UICC detector 130 parses the ATR to determine whether the UICC card 110 is USB capable. If the ATR indicates that the UICC card 110 includes a USB interface in addition to an ISO 7816-3 interface, then USB interface detection commences in block 406.

If the ATR does not indicate the UICC card 110 is USB capable, then the UICC detector 130 parses the ATR to determine whether the UICC card 110 prefers a different operating power supply voltage (e.g., class B, 3 V) than is being provided. In block 434, if a different power supply voltage is not indicated, then the UICC card 110 and wireless device 102 are ready for ISO operation at the current (e.g., class C) power supply voltage in block 436. On the other hand, if the UICC card 110 prefers a different power supply voltage than is being provided, then, the UICC detector 130 causes the power switching module 206 to switch off UICC card 110 power in block 438, and to switch on the preferred UICC card 110 power supply voltage in block 440.

If the UICC detector 130 receives an ATR from the repowered UICC card 110 in block 442, then the UICC detector 130 parses the ATR. In block 446, if the ATR indicates that the UICC card 110 is USB capable, then USB detection commences at the preferred voltage in block 420. If USB interface capability is not indicated in block 446, then the UICC card 110 and the wireless device 102 are ready for operation using an ISO 7816-3 interface at the preferred power supply voltage (e.g., class B) in block 448.

If the UICC detector 130 does not receive an ATR in block 442, then, in block 443, some embodiments of the UICC detector 130 check for the positive signal line of the ICJJSB pulled-up with resistor RPUl 308 of UICC card 110. Such pull-up indicates the presence of the UICC card 110. If the positive signal line of the ICJJSB is pulled up with resistor RPUl 308, then USB interface detection commences at the preferred voltage in block 420. If no ATR is detected in block 442, and no positive signal line of the IC_USB pulled-up with resistor RPUl is detected in block 443, then UICC card 110 interface detection fails and the UICC detector 130 causes the power switching module 206 to remove power from the UICC card 110 in block 444.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the claimed invention encompasses other embodiments and modifications of the given embodiments.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising: determining whether a Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") card (110) connected to a UICC port (112) of a wireless device (102) supports only an International Organization for Standardization ("ISO") 7816-3 interface, only a Universal Serial Bus ("USB") interface of ISO 7816-12, or both a USB interface and an ISO 7816-3 interface; and configuring the UICC port (112) to operate with a highest data rate interface supported by the UICC card (110).

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: providing a first power supply voltage to the UICC card (110); determining that the UICC card (110) prefers a second power supply voltage; disabling the first power supply voltage; and providing the second power supply voltage.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether a the UICC card (110) supports a USB interface based, at least in part, on detection of a voltage applied to a UICC port data (112) contact by a USB RPUl pull-up resistor of the UICC card (110).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the UICC port (112) for USB operation if the UICC card (110) provides both a USB interface and an ISO 7816-3 interface.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising disabling the UICC card (110) if neither an Answer To Reset signal, nor a data contact pulled up by voltage provided by the UICC card (110) are detected.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises automatically detecting the UICC card (110) interface capability in the wireless device (102) with a UICC detector (130), including: determining that the UICC card (110) is coupled to a UICC card port (112) of the wireless device (102); causing a power switching module (206) to provide the UICC card (110) with a power supply voltage that is a lowest of a plurality of power supply voltages available to the UICC card (110); determining with the UICC detector (130) whether or not the UICC card (110) has a USB interface capability, including: disabling at least some UICC operations and signal lines not relevant to the USB interface; asserting a reset signal on the UICC card (110) and preventing a clock signal from toggling on the UICC card (110) to inhibit the UICC card (110) from performing ISO 7618-3 operations; determining whether or not the UICC card (110) is pulling up a positive signal line of an inter-chip USB connection with a first resistor (RPUl 308), thereby indicating a presence or absence of the USB interface capability; if the USB interface capability is detected, asserting a USB reset signal to bring low signals of a USB data pair to the USB UICC card (110), and enumerating the UICC card (110) by identifying an address and a USB capability with the card; and in parallel with asserting the USB reset signal, disconnecting pull-down resistors (310, 312) from data lines of the inter-chip USB connection while the UICC card (110) pulls up a positive data line with the first resistor (RPUl 308) in series with a second resistor (RPU2 306); and determining with the UICC detector (130) whether or not the UICC card (110) has an ISO 7816-3 interface capability, including: asserting the reset signal and providing a clock to the UICC card 110; determining whether an ISO 7816-3 interface answer to reset (ATR) signal is transmitted by the UICC card (110); and if the transmission of the ATR signal is detected, parsing the ATR signal for an indication of also the USB interface capability of the UICC card (110);

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining with the UICC detector (130) whether or not the UICC card (110) has a USB interface capability further includes: if the UICC card (110) indicates a different one of the available power supply voltages as a preferred operating voltage, reestablishing power to the UICC card (110) causing the power switching module (206) to provide the UICC card (110) with the preferred operating voltage.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining with the UICC detector (130) whether or not the UICC card (110) has a USB interface capability further includes: if the USB interface capability is not detected, causing the power switching module (206) to switch off the power supply to the UICC card (110).

9. The method of claim 6, wherein determining with the UICC detector (130) whether or not the UICC card (110) has an ISO 7816-3 interface capability further includes: if the transmission of an ATR signal is detected, parsing the ATR signal to determine whether a different one of the available power supply voltages is indicated as a preferred operating voltage; and, if a different power supply voltage is indicated, reestablishing power to the UICC card (110) causing the power switching module (206) to provide the UICC card (110) with the preferred operating voltage.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining with the UICC detector (130) whether or not the UICC card (110) has an ISO 7816-3 interface capability includes parsing the ATR signal for the indication of USB interface capability of the UICC card (110) after the reestablishing power with the preferred operating voltage.

11. The method of claim 6, 9 or 10, wherein the step of determining with the UICC detector (130) whether or not the UICC card (110) has a USB interface capability is done after the parsed ATR signal indicates also the USB interface capability.

12. A wireless device, comprising: a Universal Integrated Circuit Card ("UICC") card port (112); and a UICC detector (130) that determines which of a plurality of electrical interfaces are provided by a UICC card (110) coupled to the UICC card port (112), and configures the UICC card port (112) in accordance with a provided electrical interface of the UICC card (110).

13. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the UICC detector (130) determines a preferred operating voltage of the UICC card (110) and configures the UICC card port (112) to provide the preferred voltage to the UICC card (110).

14. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the UICC card port (112) interfaces with both a UICC card (110) with an International Organization for Standardization ("ISO") 7816-3 interface and a UICC card (110) with a Universal Serial Bus ("USB") interface of ISO 7816-12, and the UICC detector (130) configures the UICC port (112) in accordance with a detected interface.

15. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the UICC detector (130) bases detection of a UICC card (110) supporting a USB interface, at least in part, on detection of a voltage applied to a UICC port (112) data contact by a USB RPUl pull-up resistor of the UICC card (110).

16. The wireless device of claim 12, wherein the UICC detector (130) configures the UICC port (112) for USB operation if the UICC card (110) supports both a USB interface and an ISO 7816-3 interface.