The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablets. GSM is also a trade mark owned by the GSM Association. "GSM" may also refer to the voice codec initially used in GSM.
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP, UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunication Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for networks based on the competing cdmaOne technology. UMTS uses wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technology to offer greater spectral efficiency and bandwidth to mobile network operators.
The international mobile subscriber identity is a number that uniquely identifies every user of a cellular network. It is stored as a 64-bit field and is sent by the mobile device to the network. It is also used for acquiring other details of the mobile in the home location register (HLR) or as locally copied in the visitor location register. To prevent eavesdroppers from identifying and tracking the subscriber on the radio interface, the IMSI is sent as rarely as possible and a randomly-generated TMSI is sent instead.
A SIMcard is an integrated circuit (IC) intended to securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephone devices. SIMs are also able to store address book contacts information, and may be protected using a PIN code to prevent unauthorized use.
A personal unblocking key (PUK), sometimes called personal unblocking code (PUC), is used in SIM cards to reset a personal identification number (PIN) that has been lost or forgotten.
The universal integrated circuit card (UICC) is the physical smart card used in mobile terminals in 2G (GSM), 3G (UMTS), 4G (LTE), and 5G networks. The UICC ensures the integrity and security of all kinds of personal data, and it typically holds a few hundred kilobytes.
Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) is a security protocol used in 3G networks. AKA is also used for one-time password generation mechanism for digest access authentication. AKA is a challenge–response based mechanism that uses symmetric cryptography.
A mobile phone feature is a capability, service, or application that a mobile phone offers to its users. Mobile phones are often referred to as feature phones, and offer basic telephony. Handsets with more advanced computing ability through the use of native code try to differentiate their own products by implementing additional functions to make them more attractive to consumers. This has led to great innovation in mobile phone development over the past 20 years.
An IP Multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM) is an application residing on the UICC, an IC card specified in TS 31.101. This module could be on a UMTS 3G or IMS VoLTE network. It contains parameters for identifying and authenticating the user to the IMS. The ISIM application can co-exist with SIM and USIM on the same UICC making it possible to use the same smartcard in both GSM networks and earlier releases of UMTS.
The StarTAC is a series of mobile phones released by Motorola starting in 1996. It is the successor of the MicroTAC, a semi-clamshell design first launched in 1989. Whereas the MicroTAC's flip folded down from below the keypad, the StarTAC folded up from above the display. The StarTAC was among the first mobile phones to gain widespread consumer adoption; approximately 60 million StarTACs were sold.
SIM Application Toolkit (STK) is a standard of the GSM system which enables the subscriber identity module to initiate actions which can be used for various value-added services. Similar standards exist for other network and card systems, with the USIM Application Toolkit (USAT) for USIMs used by newer-generation networks being an example. A more general name for this class of Java Card-based applications running on UICC cards is the Card Application Toolkit (CAT).
Phone cloning is the copying of identity from one cellular device to another.
CAVE-based authentication is a security protocol used to verify access in CDMA2000 1X, a type of third-generation (3G) mobile network system. The term "CAVE" stands for Cellular Authentication and Voice Encryption, which is the algorithm used to perform the authentication process. This system helps to confirm that a user is authorized to connect to the mobile network.
A UIMID is a 32-bit Electronic Serial Number (ESN) stored in a R-UIM or CSIM used for TDMA or CDMA2000 phones. It is given a different name to avoid confusion with the hardware ESN stored in the phone. In all known systems the UIMID displaces the ESN in signaling. Because the UIMID is allocated from the same numbering space as ESN its existence is transparent to the network. The reason the UIMID is transmitted instead of the ESN is because the card contains the MIN or IMSI and devices such as the HLR running the Asbi
EUIMID is a unique identifier for an R-UIM or CSIM card in CDMA2000 cellular systems that replaces the older UIMID identifier. There are two forms of EUIMID, known as Short Form (SF_EUIMID) and Long Form (LF_EUIMID). Both produce a 32-bit pseudo-UIMID (pUIMID) with 0x80 in the upper 8 bits and the least significant 24 bits of the SHA-1 hash of the entire SF_EUIMID or the entire ICCID EF in the lower 24 bits.
A CDMA subscriber identity module (CSIM) is an application to support CDMA2000 phones that runs on a UICC, with a file structure derived from the R-UIM card. By porting the application to the UICC, a card with CSIM, SIM, and USIM can operate with all major cellular technologies worldwide. The CSIM application allows users to change phones by simply removing the smart card from one mobile phone and inserting it into another mobile phone or broadband telephony device supporting the CDMA2000 radio interface.
The (U)SIM interface is the connecting point of the mobile phone and the UICC with its SIM or USIM application.
Remote SIM provisioning is a specification realized by GSMA that allows consumers to remotely activate the subscriber identity module (SIM) embedded in a portable device such as a smart phone, smart watch, fitness band or tablet computer. The specification was originally part of the GSMA's work on eSIM and it is important to note that remote SIM provisioning is just one of the aspects that this eSIM specification includes. The other aspects being that the SIM is now structured into "domains" that separate the operator profile from the security and application "domains". In practise "eSIM upgrade" in the form of a normal SIM card is possible or eSIM can be included into an SOC. The requirement of GSMA certification is that personalisation packet is decoded inside the chip and so there is no way to dump Ki, OPc and 5G keys. Another important aspect is that the eSIM is owned by the enterprise, and this means that the enterprise now has full control of the security and applications in the eSIM, and which operators profiles are to be used.
eUICC refers to the architectural standards published by the GSM Association (GSMA) or implementations of those standard for eSIM, a device used to securely store one or more SIM card profiles, which are the unique identifiers and cryptographic keys used by cellular network service providers to uniquely identify and securely connect to mobile network devices. Applications of eUICC are found in mobile network devices that use GSM cellular network eSIM technology.
