Radio management method and system using embedded universal integrated circuit card

#A portion of the disclosure of this document and accompanying materials contains material to which a claim for copyright is made. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but reserves all other copyright rights whatsoever.

#The present application generally relates to radio communications, in particular, to managing access to a radio in a wireless device using an embedded universal integrated circuit card.

#Mobile phones and other devices that operate on public land mobile networks (PLMNs) currently contain a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card that specifies the mobile network operator (MNO) to which the device user is subscribed. In this manner, the device is granted appropriate access to the available network resources and billing is allocated correctly. Users are able to change their subscription to a different MNO by inserting a new SIM card, subject to possible SIM-locks implemented within the phones or networks to prevent subscription changes that undermine device-cost-subsidy plans. A SIM is technically an application that resides within what is properly termed a universal integrated circuit card (UICC).

#Reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings which show example embodiments of the present application, and in which:

#FIG. 1 shows an example wireless device with an embedded universal integrated circuit card, in block diagram form;

#FIG. 2 shows, in flowchart format, one example method of managing access to a radio resource;

#Similar reference numerals may have been used in different figures to denote similar components.

#In some of the example embodiments, the present application describes a multi-active-MNO embedded universal integrated circuit card. The example card may include a time manager and a radio resource schedule for managing access to a radio within a wireless device. The time manager enables one of the active MNO profiles at a time in accordance with the radio resource schedule, effectively allocating respective time slices to applications associated with each of the active MNO profiles.

#In one aspect, the present application describes a system that includes a radio; an embedded universal integrated circuit card having a memory storing at least a first MNO profile and a second MNO profile, and storing a radio resource schedule, and a time manager configured to selectively enable one of the first MNO profile and the second MNO profile based upon the radio resource schedule; a first application associated with the first MNO profile; and a second application associated with the second MNO profile. When the first MNO profile is enabled the first application is able to access the radio and the second application is not able to access the radio, and when the second MNO profile is enabled the second application is able to access the radio and the first application is not able to access the radio.