Network operator controlled locking and unlocking mechanism for mobile telephones
AssigneeNEC Corporation
InventorDavid Edward Cooper
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Network operator controlled locking and unlocking mechanism for mobile telephones is disclosed. A method and means for enabling the locking of a mobile telephone to a specified network by the network operator. Locking may be implemented at the point of sale of the mobile telephone. A secret number is embedded in the mobile telephone through the SIM (subscriber identity module) interface in the locking process and the secret number is used subsequently in combination with a random number to allow network unlock. The secret numbers may be indexed and administered in relation to the SIM rather than the mobile telephone.
Claims32
A method for network operator control of locking and unlocking of a mobile telephone to selected networks, said method comprising the steps of:
- causing said mobile telephone to store a secret number therein by an outer-module at the time of network locking;
- instructing said mobile telephone to generate a random number by said outer-module at the time of network unlocking;
- generating a random number, transmitting said random number to said outer-module, and generating a first value using said secret number and said random number by said mobile telephone;
- generating a second value using said secret number and said random number transmitted from said mobile telephone by said outer-module;
- transmitting said second value back to the mobile telephone by said outer-module;
- and
- unlocking the network lock by said mobile telephone when said second value returned from said outer-module matches said first value.
A mobile telephone comprising:
- a non volatile memory for storing a secret number transmitted from an outer-module and network lock enabled flag indicating the current condition of a network lock;
- and
- a central processing unit for causing said non volatile memory to store said secret number transmitted from said outer-module at the time of network locking, generating a random number in accordance with instructions transmitted from said outer-module at the time of network locking, transmitting said random number to said outer-module, generating a first value using said secret number stored in said non volatile memory and said random number, and unlocking the network lock when a second value returned from said outer-module matches said first value.
A method for locking and unlocking of a mobile terminal to particular networks, comprising:
- (a) storing a secret number in said mobile terminal;
- (b) generating a random number by said mobile terminal;
- (c) supplying said random number from said mobile terminal to a module device;
- (d) generating a first value via said mobile terminal, wherein said first value is generated based on said secret number and said random number;
- (e) generating a second value via said module device, wherein said second value is generated using said random number supplied from said mobile terminal and said secret number;
- and
- (f) unlocking a network lock of said mobile terminal when said second value corresponds to said first value.
A mobile terminal system, comprising:
- a module device;
- and
- a mobile terminal having a memory and a processor,
- wherein said memory stores a secret number,
- wherein said processor generates a random number and supplies said random number to said module device,
- wherein said processor generates a first value based on said secret number and said random number,
- wherein said module device generates a second value using said random number supplied from said mobile terminal and said secret number, and
- wherein said processor unlocks a network lock of said mobile terminal when said second value corresponds to said first value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.