DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/29/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant’s arguments with respect to newly amended claims 1, 6, 11, and 16 have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection based on a new reference Fan ("Profile Generation Method, and Related Device and Storage Medium", WO 2019165941 A1, pub. date 2019-09-06) and new citations from Yin (US 10,708,761 B1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
6. Claims 1, 4-11, and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2018/0249322 A1) in view of Yin (US 10,708,761 B1), and further in view of Fan ("Profile Generation Method, and Related Device and Storage Medium", WO 2019165941 A1, pub. date 2019-09-06).
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches a method performed by an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) in a device in a wireless communication system ([0052], “Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic device 100 may include an application processor (AP) 111, a communication processor (CP) 113, an eUICC 121, the memory 130, and the RF circuit 140”; Fig. 2), the method comprising:
receiving, obtaining, from a local profile assistant (LPA) in the device, a first message to enable a profile, the first message including an identifier of the profile ([0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message to the eUICC. Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile”, wherein the enable request message includes an identifier of the profile to be enabled);
in case that a refresh flag is not set in the first message, selecting an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile as a target profile ([0097], in case that the enable request message contains a refresh flag set to ‘false’, reset is not performed, and a target profile is determined and enabled; [0097], “Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile (~enabling a certain target profile is selecting the certain target profile to enable). The electronic device may transmit a refresh flag together with the enable request message. The refresh flag may be set to ‘false’”); and
sending, to the LPA, a second message as a response to the first message, the second message including information indicating the target profile (Fig. 4, the second message (~Fig. 4 step 417 and [0099], “perform operation 417 ... LPA module ... obtain profile information (~second message) from the eUICC. The profile information is sent as a response to the first message (~Fig. 4 step 421 and [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message (~first message) to the eUICC ... (~for) enable (~of) the target profile (~includes information indicating the selected target profile)”); [0099], “LPA module may transmit a profile information request message to the eUICC and may obtain profile information (~second message) from the eUICC. The profile information received from the eUICC may indicate that the enabled profile is in a disable state and the target profile is in an enable state”; [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message (~first message) to the eUICC. Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile. The electronic device may transmit a refresh flag together with the enable request message. The refresh flag may be set to ‘false’”; Fig. 4, step 421 ([0097], in case refresh flag not set in the first message) [Wingdings font/0xE0] step 417 ([0099], obtaining, from the eUICC, a second message including information indicating a target profile) as a response to the first message (~Fig. 4 step 421 and [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message (~first message) to the eUICC”)).
Kim does not explicitly teach selecting a target profile is selecting an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile as a target profile and that the target profile is a target port for the target profile
However, Yin teaches selecting an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile as a target port (col. 9 lines 25-27, “Enabled profiles 168 (~Fig. 3, 168a and 168b) may be 25 disabled (~Fig. 3, all enabled profiles in eSIM 166 (including profile A (Fig. 3, 168a) and B (Fig. 3, 168b)) are disabled) and different disabled profiles 168 may then be routed to the interfaces (~target ports - Fig. 3 212a or 212b) 212”) and
a target port for a target profile (Fig. 3, target ports 212a and 212b; Fig. 2B, target port 212a (~logical interface) for profile A 168a; col. 8 lines 1-40, “a user device 160 with an eSIM chip 166 includes a single physical interface 210c. The single physical interface 210c may be multiplexed to support multiple logical interfaces 212a-b. Here, the first communication interface 200a includes the first logical interface 212a multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c and the second communication interface 200b includes the second logical interface 212b multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c. That is, each enabled profile 168a-b has a separate respective logical interface 212a-b as in FIG. 2A, but shares the single physical interface 210c via, for example, the T=1 transmission protocol”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
The combination does not explicitly teach that the information indicating the target port is information indicating a port number of the target port.
However, Fan teaches information indicating a port number of a target port (pg. 30, par. 3, “eSIM profile”, such as the port number”; pg. 32, par. 3, “port number is transferred to the eSIM user”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Fan with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin in order to ensures secure communication between the eUICC and the remote management platform by identifying specific logical channels/ports on an eUICC where a particular profile action should take place; thus, enabling dual SIM/multi-active functionality on a single chip, directing remote management commands, and orchestrating platform refresh actions.
Regarding claim 4, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the method of claim 1.
The combination of Kim and Fan does not explicitly teach wherein the first message is obtained on a predetermined port which is different from the target port.
However, Yin further teaches wherein a message is obtained on a predetermined port which is different from a target port (Fig. 3, a message (~such as an enable/disable request message) can be obtained on port 212a which is different than port 212b (~target port)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin and Fan in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
Regarding claim 5, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the method of claim 1,
wherein the eUICC supports multiple enabled profiles (Kim [0138], “eUICC 121 included in an electronic device may store a plurality of profiles”; [0095], “LPA module may update the profile list based on the obtained profile information. Since the profile information indicates the profile state of the eUICC, the state of the target profile may be displayed as an enabled state. The LPA module may update the profile list for the purpose of indicating that a plurality of profiles are in the enabled state”).
Regarding claim 6, Kim teaches a method performed by a local profile assistant (LPA) in a device in a wireless communication system (Fig. 2, LPA 160 in electronic device 100; [0052], “Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic device 100 may include an application processor (AP) 111, a communication processor (CP) 113, an eUICC 121, the memory 130, and the RF circuit 140”; [0055], “LPA module 160 may support the profile management of the eUICC 121”),
the method comprising: identifying a profile to be enabled ([0079], Referring to FIG. 4, a processor (e.g., the processor 110), an LPA module (e.g., the LPA module 160), or a SIM manager module (e.g., the SIM manager module 170) may perform profile enable or multi-profile enable depending on user selection. Hereinafter, in the description about FIG. 4, it is assumed that one profile is enabled in an eUICC (e.g., the eUICC 121). In the following description, at least one or more profiles enabled in the eUICC may be referred to “enabled profile”, and a profile selected by a user for the purpose of enabling the profile may be referred to as “target profile””);
sending, to the an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) in the device, a first message to enable the profile, the first message including an identifier of the profile ([0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message to the eUICC. Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile”, wherein the enable request message includes an identifier of the profile to be enabled); and
in case that a refresh flag is not set in the first message, obtaining, from the eUICC, a second message as a response to the first message, the second message including information indicating a target profile (Fig. 4, step 421 ([0097], in case refresh flag not set in the first message) [Wingdings font/0xE0] step 417 ([0099], obtaining, from the eUICC, a second message including information indicating a target profile) as a response to the first message (~Fig. 4 step 421 and [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message (~first message) to the eUICC”); Fig. 4, the second message (~Fig. 4 step 417 and [0099], “perform operation 417 ... LPA module ... obtain profile information (~second message) from the eUICC. The profile information ... indicate that ... the target profile is in an enable state”) is obtained as a response to the first message (~Fig. 4 step 421 and [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message (~first message) to the eUICC ... may enable the target profile (~enabling a certain target profile is selecting the certain target profile to enable)”); [0099], “LPA module may transmit a profile information request message to the eUICC and may obtain profile information (~second message) from the eUICC. The profile information received from the eUICC may indicate that the enabled profile is in a disable state and the target profile is in an enable state”; [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message (~first message) to the eUICC. Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile (~enabling a certain target profile is selecting the certain target profile to enable). The electronic device may transmit a refresh flag together with the enable request message (~first message). The refresh flag may be set to ‘false’ (~in case that a refresh flag is not set in the first message)”).
Kim does not explicitly teach that the target profile is a target port for the profile and wherein the target port is an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile.
However, Yin teaches a target port for a profile (Fig. 3, target ports 212a and 212b; Fig. 2B, target port 212a (~logical interface) for profile A 168a; Fig. 2B, target port 212a (~logical interface) for profile A 168a; col. 8 lines 1-40, “a user device 160 with an eSIM chip 166 includes a single physical interface 210c. The single physical interface 210c may be multiplexed to support multiple logical interfaces 212a-b. Here, the first communication interface 200a includes the first logical interface 212a multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c and the second communication interface 200b includes the second logical interface 212b multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c. That is, each enabled profile 168a-b has a separate respective logical interface 212a-b as in FIG. 2A, but shares the single physical interface 210c via, for example, the T=1 transmission protocol”) and wherein the target port is an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile (col. 9 lines 25-27, “Enabled profiles 168 (~Fig. 3, 168a and 168b) may be 25 disabled (~Fig. 3, all enabled profiles in eSIM 166 (including profile A (Fig. 3, 168a) and B (Fig. 3, 168b)) are disabled) and different disabled profiles 168 may then be routed to the interfaces (~target ports - Fig. 3 212a or 212b) 212”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
The combination does not explicitly teach the information indicating the target port is information indicating a port number of the target port.
However, Fan teaches information indicating a port number of a target port (pg. 30, par. 3, “eSIM profile”, such as the port number”; pg. 32, par. 3, “port number is transferred to the eSIM user”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Fan with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin in order to ensures secure communication between the eUICC and the remote management platform by identifying specific logical channels/ports on an eUICC where a particular profile action should take place; thus, enabling dual SIM/multi-active functionality on a single chip, directing remote management commands, and orchestrating platform refresh actions.
Regarding claim 7, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the method of claim 6,
further comprising: discarding cached information from a previously enabled profile on the target (Kim [0091] “In the case where the target profile is not the previously enabled profile, in operation 413, the electronic device may update the connection information of the enabled profile (~cached information from a previous enabled profile is discarded from the update of the enabled profile information) or may update the connection information table. The PSC module may store the enable state of the enabled profile, channel information or session information of the client connected to the corresponding profile, or the like”); and performing a network attach procedure based on the profile on the target (Kim [0107], “electronic device may perform the network communication associated with the profile of the enable state”).
Kim does not explicitly teach that the target is a target port.
However, Yin further teaches a port (each profile is associated with a separate logical interface (~target port) and enabling a profile requires sending a logical interface (~target port) information of the profile to be enabled; col. 8 lines 1-40, “a user device 160 with an eSIM chip 166 includes a single physical interface 210c. The single physical interface 210c may be multiplexed to support multiple logical interfaces 212a-b. Here, the first communication interface 200a includes the first logical interface 212a multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c and the second communication interface 200b includes the second logical interface 212b multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c. That is, each enabled profile 168a-b has a separate respective logical interface 212a-b as in FIG. 2A, but shares the single physical interface 210c via, for example, the T=1 transmission protocol”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin and Fan in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
Regarding claim 8, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the method of claim 6,
wherein the profile to be enabled is identified based on a user input (Kim [0079], Referring to FIG. 4, a processor (e.g., the processor 110), an LPA module (e.g., the LPA module 160), or a SIM manager module (e.g., the SIM manager module 170) may perform profile enable or multi-profile enable depending on user selection. Hereinafter, in the description about FIG. 4, it is assumed that one profile is enabled in an eUICC (e.g., the eUICC 121). In the following description, at least one or more profiles enabled in the eUICC may be referred to “enabled profile”, and a profile selected by a user for the purpose of enabling the profile may be referred to as “target profile””).
Regarding claim 9, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the method of claim 6.
The combination of Kim and Fan does not explicitly teach wherein the first message is obtained on a predetermined port which is different from the target port.
However, Yin further teaches wherein a first message is obtained on a predetermined port which is different than a target port (Fig. 3 and Fig. 2B, a message can be sent on port 212a which is different than port 212b (~target port)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin and Fan in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
Regarding claim 10, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the method of claim 6,
wherein the device supports multiple enabled profiles (Kim [0138], “eUICC 121 included in an electronic device may store a plurality of profiles”; [0095], “LPA module may update the profile list based on the obtained profile information. Since the profile information indicates the profile state of the eUICC, the state of the target profile may be displayed as an enabled state. The LPA module may update the profile list for the purpose of indicating that a plurality of profiles are in the enabled state”).
Regarding claim 11, Kim teaches an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) in a device in a wireless communication system, the eUICC configured to ([0052], “Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic device 100 may include an application processor (AP) 111, a communication processor (CP) 113, an eUICC 121, the memory 130, and the RF circuit 140”; Fig. 2):
obtain, from a local profile assistant (LPA) in the device, a first message to enable a profile, the first message including an identifier of the profile ([0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message to the eUICC. Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile”, wherein the enable request message includes an identifier of the profile to be enabled),
in case that a refresh flag is not set in the first message, select an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile as a target profile ([0097], in case that the enable request message (~first message) contains a refresh flag set to ‘false’, reset is not performed, and a target profile is determined and enabled; [0097], “Depending on the enable request message (~first message), the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile (~enabling a certain target profile is selecting the certain target profile to enable). The electronic device may transmit a refresh flag together with the enable request message. The refresh flag may be set to ‘false’ (~refresh flag is not set)”), and
send, to the LPA, a second message as a response to the first message, the second message including information indicating the selected target profile (Fig. 4, the second message (~Fig. 4 step 417 and [0099], “perform operation 417 ... LPA module ... obtain profile information from the eUICC. The profile information ... indicate that ... the target profile is in an enable state”) is sent as a response to the first message (~Fig. 4 step 421 and [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message to the eUICC ... (~for) enable (~of) the target profile (~includes information indicating the target profile)”); [0099], “LPA module may transmit a profile information request message to the eUICC and may obtain profile information from the eUICC. The profile information received from the eUICC may indicate that the enabled profile is in a disable state and the target profile is in an enable state”; [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message to the eUICC. Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile. The electronic device may transmit a refresh flag together with the enable request message. The refresh flag may be set to ‘false’”; Fig. 4, step 421 ([0097], in case refresh flag not set in the first message) [Wingdings font/0xE0] step 417 ([0099], send, to the LPA, a second message including information indicating a target profile) as a response to the first message (~Fig. 4 step 421 and [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message (~first message) to the eUICC”)).
Kim does not explicitly teach selecting an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile as a target profile and that the target profile is a target port for the profile.
However, Yin teaches selecting an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile as a target port (col. 9 lines 25-27, “Enabled profiles 168 (~Fig. 3, 168a and 168b) may be 25 disabled (~Fig. 3, all enabled profiles in eSIM 166 (including profile A (Fig. 3, 168a) and B (Fig. 3, 168b)) are disabled) and different disabled profiles 168 may then be routed to the interfaces (~target ports - Fig. 3 212a or 212b) 212”) and
a target port for a profile (Fig. 3, target ports 212a and 212b; Fig. 2B, target port 212a (~logical interface) for profile A 168a; Fig. 2B, target port 212a (~logical interface) for profile A 168a; col. 8 lines 1-40, “a user device 160 with an eSIM chip 166 includes a single physical interface 210c. The single physical interface 210c may be multiplexed to support multiple logical interfaces 212a-b. Here, the first communication interface 200a includes the first logical interface 212a multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c and the second communication interface 200b includes the second logical interface 212b multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c. That is, each enabled profile 168a-b has a separate respective logical interface 212a-b as in FIG. 2A, but shares the single physical interface 210c via, for example, the T=1 transmission protocol”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
The combination does not explicitly teach that the information indicating the target port is information indicating a port number of the target port.
However, Fan teaches information indicating a port number of a target port (pg. 30, par. 3, “eSIM profile”, such as the port number”; pg. 32, par. 3, “port number is transferred to the eSIM user”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Fan with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin in order to ensures secure communication between the eUICC and the remote management platform by identifying specific logical channels/ports on an eUICC where a particular profile action should take place; thus, enabling dual SIM/multi-active functionality on a single chip, directing remote management commands, and orchestrating platform refresh actions.
Regarding claim 14, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the eUICC of claim 11.
The combination of Kim and Fan does not explicitly teach wherein the first message is obtained on a predetermined port different than the target port.
However, Yin further teaches wherein a first message is obtained on a predetermined port which is different from a target port (Fig. 3, a message (~such as an enable/disable request message) can be obtained on port 212a which is different than port 212b (~target port)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin and Fan in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
Regarding claim 15, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the eUICC of claim 11,
wherein the eUICC supports multiple enabled profiles (Kim [0138], “eUICC 121 included in an electronic device may store a plurality of profiles”; [0095], “LPA module may update the profile list based on the obtained profile information. Since the profile information indicates the profile state of the eUICC, the state of the target profile may be displayed as an enabled state. The LPA module may update the profile list for the purpose of indicating that a plurality of profiles are in the enabled state”).
Regarding claim 16, Kim teaches a device in a wireless communication system, comprising a local profile assistant (LPA) wherein the LPA is (Fig. 2, LPA 160 in electronic device 100; [0052], “Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic device 100 may include an application processor (AP) 111, a communication processor (CP) 113, an eUICC 121, the memory 130, and the RF circuit 140”; [0055], “LPA module 160 may support the profile management of the eUICC 121”) configured to:
identify a profile to be enabled ([0079], Referring to FIG. 4, a processor (e.g., the processor 110), an LPA module (e.g., the LPA module 160), or a SIM manager module (e.g., the SIM manager module 170) may perform profile enable or multi-profile enable depending on user selection. Hereinafter, in the description about FIG. 4, it is assumed that one profile is enabled in an eUICC (e.g., the eUICC 121). In the following description, at least one or more profiles enabled in the eUICC may be referred to “enabled profile”, and a profile selected by a user for the purpose of enabling the profile may be referred to as “target profile””),
send, to an embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) in the device, a first message to enable the profile, the first message including an identifier of the profile ([0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message to the eUICC. Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile”, wherein the enable request message includes an identifier of the profile to be enabled), and
in case that a refresh flag is not set in the first message ([0097], “Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile. The electronic device may transmit a refresh flag together with the enable request message (~refresh flag in the first message). The refresh flag may be set to ‘false’ (~refresh flag is not set)”),
obtain, from the eUICC, a second message as a response to the first message, the second message including information indicating a target profile (Fig. 4, the second message (~Fig. 4 step 417 and [0099], “perform operation 417 ... LPA module ... obtain profile information from the eUICC. The profile information ... indicate that ... the target profile is in an enable state”) is obtained as a response to the first message (~Fig. 4 step 421 and [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message to the eUICC ... (~for) enable (~of) the target profile (~includes information indicating the target profile)”); [0099], “LPA module may transmit a profile information request message to the eUICC and may obtain profile information from the eUICC. The profile information received from the eUICC may indicate that the enabled profile is in a disable state and the target profile is in an enable state”; [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message to the eUICC. Depending on the enable request message, the eUICC may disable the enabled profile and may enable the target profile (~enabling a certain target profile is selecting the certain target profile to enable). The electronic device may transmit a refresh flag together with the enable request message. The refresh flag may be set to ‘false’”; Fig. 4, step 421 ([0097], in case refresh flag not set in the first message) [Wingdings font/0xE0] step 417 ([0099], obtaining, from the eUICC, a second message including information indicating a target profile) as a response to the first message (~Fig. 4 step 421 and [0097], “LPA module may transmit an enable request message (~first message) to the eUICC”)).
Kim does not explicitly teach that the target profile is a target port for the profile and wherein the target port is an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile.
However, Yin teaches a target port for a profile (Fig. 3, target ports 212a and 212b; Fig. 2B, target port 212a (~logical interface) for profile A 168a; Fig. 2B, target port 212a (~logical interface) for profile A 168a; Fig. 2B, target port 212a (~logical interface) for profile A 168a; col. 8 lines 1-40, “a user device 160 with an eSIM chip 166 includes a single physical interface 210c. The single physical interface 210c may be multiplexed to support multiple logical interfaces 212a-b. Here, the first communication interface 200a includes the first logical interface 212a multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c and the second communication interface 200b includes the second logical interface 212b multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c. That is, each enabled profile 168a-b has a separate respective logical interface 212a-b as in FIG. 2A, but shares the single physical interface 210c via, for example, the T=1 transmission protocol”) and
wherein the target port is an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) port which currently has no enabled profile (col. 9 lines 25-27, “Enabled profiles 168 (~Fig. 3, 168a and 168b) may be 25 disabled (~Fig. 3, all enabled profiles in eSIM 166 (including profile A (Fig. 3, 168a) and B (Fig. 3, 168b)) are disabled) and different disabled profiles 168 may then be routed to the interfaces (~target ports - Fig. 3 212a or 212b) 212”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
The combination does not explicitly teach that the information indicating the target port is information indicating a port number of the target port.
However, Fan teaches information indicating a port number of a target port (pg. 30, par. 3, “eSIM profile”, such as the port number”; pg. 32, par. 3, “port number is transferred to the eSIM user”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Fan with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin in order to ensures secure communication between the eUICC and the remote management platform by identifying specific logical channels/ports on an eUICC where a particular profile action should take place; thus, enabling dual SIM/multi-active functionality on a single chip, directing remote management commands, and orchestrating platform refresh actions.
Regarding claim 17, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the device of claim 16,
wherein the LPA is further configured to: discard cached information from a previously enabled profile (Kim [0089], when LPA receives updated profile information from eUICC, cached information from a previous enabled profile will be replaced or discarded; [0089], “eUICC may transmit profile information to the LPA module, as a response to the profile information request message. The profile information may include at least one of the states of profiles or the metadata of a profile”), and perform a network attach procedure based on the profile on the target (Kim [0107], “electronic device may perform the network communication associated with the profile of the enable state”).
The combination of Kim and Fan does not explicitly teach that the previously enabled profile is a previous enabled profile on the target port.
However, Yin further teaches a previously enabled profile on a target port (Fig. 2B, previous enabled profile A 168a on a target port 212a (~logical interface); col. 8 lines 1-40, “a user device 160 with an eSIM chip 166 includes a single physical interface 210c. The single physical interface 210c may be multiplexed to support multiple logical interfaces 212a-b. Here, the first communication interface 200a includes the first logical interface 212a multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c and the second communication interface 200b includes the second logical interface 212b multiplexed from the single physical interface 210c. That is, each enabled profile 168a-b has a separate respective logical interface 212a-b as in FIG. 2A, but shares the single physical interface 210c via, for example, the T=1 transmission protocol”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin and Fan in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
Regarding claim 18, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the device of claim 16,
wherein the profile to be enabled is identified based on a user input (Kim [0079], Referring to FIG. 4, a processor (e.g., the processor 110), an LPA module (e.g., the LPA module 160), or a SIM manager module (e.g., the SIM manager module 170) may perform profile enable or multi-profile enable depending on user selection. Hereinafter, in the description about FIG. 4, it is assumed that one profile is enabled in an eUICC (e.g., the eUICC 121). In the following description, at least one or more profiles enabled in the eUICC may be referred to “enabled profile”, and a profile selected by a user for the purpose of enabling the profile may be referred to as “target profile””).
Regarding claim 19, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the device of claim 16.
The combination of Kim and Fan does not explicitly teach wherein the first message is obtained on a predetermined port different than the target port.
However, Yin further teaches wherein a first message is obtained on a predetermined port which is different from a target port (Fig. 3, a message (~such as an enable/disable request message) can be obtained on port 212a which is different than port 212b (~target port)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Yin with the teaching of Kim as modified by Yin and Fan in order to effectively communicate with a profile accessible via an associated port or a logical interface among a plurality of ports or logical interfaces multiplexed in a single physical interface, providing capability to handle priority and increase in bandwidth.
Regarding claim 20, Kim in view of Yin, and further in view of Fan teaches the device of claim 16, wherein the device supports multiple enabled profiles (Kim [0138], “eUICC 121 included in an electronic device may store a plurality of profiles”; [0095], “LPA module may update the profile list based on the obtained profile information. Since the profile information indicates the profile state of the eUICC, the state of the target profile may be displayed as an enabled state. The LPA module may update the profile list for the purpose of indicating that a plurality of profiles are in the enabled state”).
Conclusion
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/ALEXANDER J YI/Examiner, Art Unit 2643
/JINSONG HU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2643
