Patent Abstract:
A removable card for use with a mobile wireless communication device has a processor and a non-volatile memory, connected to the processor. The removable card has electrical connections for connecting to a mobile wireless communicating device for use by a user to access a common carrier network to access a network of interconnected computer networks (“Internet”). The card comprises a processor and a non-volatile memory connected to the processor. The non-volatile memory has two portions: a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is accessible by the provider of the common carrier network with the processor restricting access thereto by the user. The second portion is accessible by the provider of the common carrier network and with the processor granting access thereto to the user for storing user data therein. Finally, the removable card has logic circuit for encoding the user data to produce encrypted user data, for storing in the second portion.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a secured removable card having a processor and a non-volatile memory and is suitable for use with a mobile wireless communication device, for connecting to a network of interconnected computer networks (“Internet”) in which the non-volatile memory stores program code configured to be executed by the processor and user data. The removable card has a processor and a memory with two portions, with the processor restricting access to the first portion by the user, and granting user access to the second portion to store user data. However, because the network carrier provider has access to both portions and can store the user data in the second portion on the Internet as backup, the user data in the second portion must be rendered secure even from the network carrier. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Mobile wireless communication devices, such as cell phones are well known in the art. Typically, a cell phone has a removable card (called “SIM card”) which consists of a processor with RAM, ROM or EEPROM or Flash memory, I/O pads, and security monitoring circuit all mounted on a removable card. The non-volatile memory in the SIM card is to store information required to access the mobile operator&#39;s network. Thus, the card may store information such as telephone number, access code, number of minutes, calling plan etc. 
         [0003]    A network of interconnected computer networks (“Internet”) is also well known in the art. The Internet can be accessed by computers having a direct connection (wired or wireless), or through a common carrier wireless network. 
         [0004]    With the increase in speed in mobile networks, such as the 3G network, users of mobile wireless devices desire to access the Internet via their mobile wireless communication devices. Even though the speed of the mobile network is increasing, the cost of using that network may also increases with greater use of the common carrier network, especially when accessing the Internet. 
         [0005]    Hence, it is desirable to provide a mechanism whereby the user&#39;s experience to access the Internet through the mobile network is not diminished, but at the same time, providing means to reduce the cost of accessing the Internet through the mobile network. Further, as the cost of storage capacity continues to decrease, increasingly, the user will store valuable information including person and private information in such portable devices. Because the mobile device can access the Internet, the provider of the common carrier service may offer the service of backing up that data on the Internet. Thus, it is desired to secure the data stored in such portable mobile device. Further, even if the common carrier provider does not offer Internet data back up service, the user may still desire to secure the data, since the portable mobile device can easily be lost or stolen. 
         [0006]    Thus, is desired that the data supplied by the user be securely stored in such a mobile device. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Accordingly, in the present invention, a removable card has electrical connections for connecting to a mobile wireless communicating device for use by a user to access a common carrier network to access a network of interconnected computer networks (“Internet”). The card comprises a processor and a non-volatile memory connected to the processor. The non-volatile memory has two portions: a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is accessible by the provider of the common carrier network with the processor restricting access thereto by the user. The second portion is accessible by the provider of the common carrier network and with the processor granting access thereto to the user for storing user data therein. Finally, the removable card has logic circuit for encoding the user data to produce encrypted user data, for storing in the second portion. 
         [0008]    The present invention also relates to a mobile wireless communication device for use by a user to access a common carrier network to access a network of interconnected computer networks (“Internet”). The device comprises a transceiver for communication wirelessly via a wireless common carrier network. The device further has a first processor for controlling communication of the device to connect to the common carrier network. The device further has a second processor and a non-volatile memory connected to the second processor. The non-volatile memory has two portions: a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is accessible by the provider of the common carrier network with the second processor restricting access thereto by the user. The second portion is accessible by the provider of the common carrier network and with the second processor granting access thereto to the user for storing user data therein. Finally the device has a logic circuit for encoding the user data to produce encrypted user data for storing in the second portion. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of the removable card of the present invention connected to a mobile wireless communication device of the present invention for connection to a mobile network, as well as to the Internet. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of the removable card of the present invention connected to the mobile wireless communication device of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a block level diagram circuit diagram of the removable card of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a detailed circuit diagram of the processor portion of the removable card of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of the two modes of communication of the mobile wireless communication device with the removable card of the present invention with the Internet, wherein in the first mode, the removable card communicates through the wireless communication device wirelessly with the mobile network for access to the Internet, and wherein in a second mode the removable card is connected to a network portal device for connection to the Internet. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a block level diagram of the removable card of the present invention with its security feature. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0015]    Referring to  FIG. 1  there is a shown a graphic illustration of a mobile wireless communication device  100 , e.g. a cell phone  100  for use in a publicly accessible (common carrier) wireless communication network, such as a cellular network  110 , which includes cellular access towers  120 . The cellular network  110 , through access servers (not shown) located on or near the cell phone towers  120  can connect to a network of interconnected computer networks  150 , also known as the Internet  150 . Thus, the cell phone  100  can communicate wirelessly with other cell phones  100  on the cell phone network  110 . In addition, the cell phone  100  can communicate wirelessly with the Internet  150  through the cell phone network  110  which has the access servers connected to the Internet  150 . Further, as will be shown hereinbelow, the removable card  10  portion of the cell phone  100  can also be connected directly to the Internet  150  through a network portal device, such as docking station  160 , which is connected to a personal computer, which connects to the Internet  150 . 
         [0016]    The cell phone  100  of the present invention has a removable card  10 , much like the removable SIM card of the prior art. However, as will be seen, the features of the removable card  10  of the present invention are vastly different and improved over the removable SIM card of the prior art. 
         [0017]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a schematic diagram of the removable card  10  of the present invention connected to the mobile wireless communication device  100  of the present invention. Because the device  100  is designed to operate wirelessly across the cellular network  110 , the device  100  comprises an antenna  102 . A transceiver  104  is connected to the antenna  102 . The transceiver  104  transmits and receives modulated signals to and from the cellular network  110 . Such components are well known in the art. The received signals may be demodulated and then converted into digital signals and provided to a gateway  106 . The gateway  106  may also have an NAT (Network Address Translation) circuit. An NAT circuit  106  translates or maps a private IP address to one or more ports of a public IP address. As will be discussed hereinafter, the device  100  (through the removable card  10 ), may be assigned a public address (through the well known DHCP protocol) when the device is connected to the Internet  150 , and may have a private address when operating as a local server such that the device  100  is not connected to the Internet  150 . Digital signals to be transmitted are modulated and converted by the transceiver  104  into appropriate electromagnetic frequency signals for transmission by the antenna  102 . Because the device  100  can access the Internet  150 , a browser and media player  112  is also provided. The browser and media player  112  interfaces in the well known TCP/IP protocol as well as the HTTP protocol with the gateway  106  to provide and to receive digital signals received by the device  100  from the Internet  150 , which may be displayed on a display  108 . Associated with the browser and media player  112  is a processor (not shown) which also controls the transceiver  104  and other well known hardware circuits of the device  100  to communicate with the network  110 . 
         [0018]    The removable card  10  of the present invention is connected to the device  100  through a well known USB interface  114  through the docking station  160 . The USB interface  114  connects to the Gateway  106 . Thus, digital signals from the removable card  10  are provided to and from the device  100  through the docking station  160 , through the USB interface  114 , through the gateway  106  and through the transceiver  104  to the antenna  102 . 
         [0019]    The removable card  10  of the present invention is shown in greater detail in  FIG. 3 . in particular, the card  10  comprises a host controller  12  which interfaces with the USB interface  114  through a USB bus  113 . In addition, the host controller  12  is connected to a memory controller  14 , through a bus  16 . The memory controller  14  controls a NAND memory  20  and a PSRAM  22 . The operation of the memory controller  14  in controlling the NAND memory  20  and the PSRAM  22  is fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/637,420, published on Jun. 28, 2007 under publication 2007-0147115, and assigned to the present assignee, which disclosure is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The host controller  12  may also be optionally connected to a Near Field Communicator (NFC)  24 . An NFC  24  is a close range RF circuit that permits wireless communication in close proximity. Thus, the device  100  with the NFC  24  may act as an “electronic wallet” for financial transactions or for identification purpose, or as another access to the Internet  150 . Of course, the device  100  can also be connected wirelessly with the Internet  150  via other forms of wireless networks, such as a Wi-Fi network. 
         [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a detailed schematic block diagram of the host controller  12 . The host controller  12  comprises a high speed bus  50 , to which a host interface  30 , for connecting to the memory controller  14  is attached. The host interface  30  also comprises registers  32  for temporarily holding data that is supplied to and from the memory controller  14 . The host controller  12  also comprises a FIFO (First-In First Out) circuit  51  which is connected to the high speed bus  50 . The FIFO  51  is also connected to a USB controller circuit  54 , which is connected to a PHY circuit  56  (which is the standard physical layer interface for a USB port. The circuit  56  includes pads, voltage level shifters and clock recovery circuits.) for connection to the USB bus  113 . A secure processor, such as an ARM SC-100 processor  52  is also connected to the high speed bus  50 . 
         [0021]    The host controller  12  also comprises a RSA/AES/DES engine  60 , which is a secure co-processor to the ARM SC-100 processor  52 . The engine  60  is connected to the high speed bus  50  through an arbitration circuit  62 . Since both the engine  60  and the processor  52  can request memory or other resources of the high speed bus  50  at the same time, the arbitration circuit  62  arbitrates simultaneous requests for access to the bus  50 . The engine  60  also has access to a dedicated high speed cache RAM, such as an SRAM  64 . Finally, a bridge circuit  68  is also connected to the high speed bus  50 . The bridge circuit  68  is also connected to a slower bus  70 , to which a timer  72  is connected, a clock generator  74  is connected, a power management circuit  76  is connected, a security monitoring circuit  78  is connected, a UART  80  is connected, and a SPI circuit  82  (Serial Peripheral Interface—a well known bus) is connected. The UART  80  and the SPI  82  are also connected to a bus  90 , which is connected to the NFC  24 . The controller  12  is also connected to a bus  91  which is a ISO7816 serial interface bus. It is a byte oriented Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) interface commonly found in prior art cell phones between the phone and the SIM card. This type of interface (using UART) is being replaced by the USB interface. Thus, the presence of the bus  91  is for backward compatibility only. 
         [0022]    Operation of the Mobile Wireless Communication Device 
         [0023]    There are many modes of operation of the mobile wireless communication device  100  of the present invention. Initially, it should be noted that the mobile network operator (MNO), the operator of the cellular network  110 , distributes each of the removable cards  10 , and also has a server  200  connected to the Internet  150 . Each of the removable cards  10  of the present invention distributed by the MNO is assigned a unique public IP address by the MNO which is stored in the non-volatile memory portion of the removable card  10 . The unique public IP address directs the device  100  to the MNO server  200 . As disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/637,420, published on Jun. 28, 2007 under publication 2007-0147115, non-volatile memory is present in the NAND memory  20  as well as NOR memory being embedded in the controller  14 . In either event, the MNO assigns and pre-stores a unique public IP address in the non-volatile memory portion of the removable card  10 . The non-volatile memory may be divided into two portions, with the partition between the first portion  220   a  and the second portion  220   b  being alterable. The partitioning of the first portion/second portion can be done by the MNO provider of the removable card  10 . The first portion  220   a  can be accessed by the processor which controls the transceiver  104  and browser and media player  112 , and the other hardware circuits that control the communication of the device  100 . The second portion  220   b  can be accessed by the processor  52 , in the removable card  10 , which is accessible by the user. In addition, the processor  52  controls the degree of access (which includes the type of information) that a user may have to the first portion  220   a.  In any event, for reasons to be discussed, the unique public IP address assigned by the MNO is stored in the first portion  220   a,  and the processor  52  prohibits access thereto. However, other types of information, such as sensitive user information, such as user name, credit card, etc. may also be stored in the first portion  220   a  and the processor  52  may grant the user limited access to those type of information. 
         [0024]    After the removable card  10  of the present invention is distributed to users, and the user has inserted the card  10  into the device  100  of the present invention, the user can then use the device  100  to operate on the cellular network  110 , as it was done in the prior art. Similar to the prior art, the card  10  may also have information related to the usage of the device  100 , such as telephone number, access code, number of minutes, calling plan etc on the cellular network  110  stored in the first portion  220   a  (user restricted) of the memory portion of the card  10 . Clearly the storage of this type of information in the user restricted is appropriate, so that the user cannot have unlimited access. In this manner, the removable card  10  functions no differently than the SIM card of the prior art when used with the cellular network  110 . 
         [0025]    The inventive features of the present invention can be seen when the user attempts to use the device  100  to access the Internet  150 . There are at least two possible modes (first mode or second mode) to access the Internet  150 . The programming code stored in the non-volatile memory  14  can cause the processor  52  to access the Internet  150  in either the first mode or the second mode of operation. 
         [0026]    In the first mode, the Internet  150  can be accessed by the removable card  10  through the device  100  through the cellular network  110 . In that event the device  100  is connected to the Internet  150  through the access servers connected to the cellular network  110 , near the tower  120 . When initiated, the access servers (similar to an Internet Service Provider (ISP)) may assign a dynamic public IP address to the device  100  during the session connecting the device  100  to the Internet  150 . Such dynamic assignment of public IP addresses when the device  100  is connected to the Internet  150  is well known in the art and is in accordance with the DHCP protocol. Alternatively, as discussed previously, the public IP address may be pre-assigned and stored in the removable card  10 . The browser and media player  112  of the device  100  is then used to browse or surf the Internet  150 . Contents from the Internet  150  can then be downloaded and saved in the removable card  10 , in either the user restricted memory portion or the user accessible portion of the card  10 . 
         [0027]    For secure communication with the Internet, the user restricted portion of the memory portion of the card  10  may store a secret key. The RSA/AES/DES engine  60  of the host controller  12  can use that secret key to encrypt and/or decrypt communication to and from the Internet  150 . The secret key can be provided by the MNO when it initially distributes the removable card  10  or it can be downloaded from the MNO server  200  which is connected to the Internet  150 , when the device is connected to the Internet  150 . 
         [0028]    The information retrieved from the Internet  150 , via the wireless network  110 , may be saved in the user restricted portion of the removable card  10  which is associated with an assigned private IP address. The private IP address can be first assigned by the MNO and stored in the removable card  10  before distribution. Alternatively, the private address may be assigned by the access server connected to the cellular network  120 . Finally, the private address may simply be the public IP address dynamically assigned by the access severs and then translated by the NAT circuit  106  into a private IP address. After the information from the Internet  150  is stored in the removable card  10 , it can be retrieved by the browser and media player  112 , and displayed on the display  108  of the device  100 , using the private IP address. This is similar to the operation of an intranet. Thus, the removable card  10  serves to function as a local (private) server in providing the data stored in its memory to the browser and media player  112 . 
         [0029]    The use of a “private” IP address when the browser  112  is accessing in a local mode is advantageous because it is more economical than having two public IP address assigned to the device  100 : one IP address for the phone portion of the device  100  when surfing or browsing the Internet  150  and another public IP address for the removable card  10 , when viewing the contents thereof. Since the content stored in the removable card  10  is for the user using the device  100 , there is no need for the removable card  10  to have a public IP address. Furthermore, the time when the user is viewing the contents stored in the removable card  10 , the device  100  may not be connected to the Internet  150 . 
         [0030]    In a second mode, the device  100  can access the Internet  150  other than through the cellular network  110 . One way is through a network portal device  170  such as a terminal connected to a PC (for example through a USB port). Another way is through a wireless link, such as Wi-Fi which connects wirelessly to a receiving device (not shown) that is connected to the Internet  150 . In either way, the device  100  has a docking switch  160 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , there is shown schematically a diagram of this mode of communication (along with the first mode) Normally, in the first mode, the removable card  10  is connected to the USB interface  114  through the docking switch  160 . However, when the device  100  is connected to the PC  170  or through the NFC  24 , the docking switch  160  is changed causing the removable card  10  to disconnect from the USB interface  114 . Thus, for example, when a USB cable is connected to the docking switch  160 , the removable card  10  disconnects from the USB interface  114  and connects directly to the PC  170  along its USB port. The docking switch  160  then breaks the connection between the removable card  10  and the rest of the device  100  including the transceiver  104 . Because the removable card  10  contains the cellular network  110  access information, if the device  100  was accessing the Internet wirelessly through the cellular network  110 , then the device  100  would cease to transmit/receive wirelessly to/from the cellular network  110 . Similar to the first mode of operation, when the device  100  is connected to the Internet  150  through the docking switch  160 , to the PC gateway  170 , it is initially assigned a public IP address, by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) for connection to the Internet  150 . Again, this is a dynamically assigned public IP address for use during the session that the device  100  is connected to the Internet  150 . 
         [0031]    Finally, because the removable card  10  stores a public IP address assigned by the MNO, in the user restricted portion of the memory, that public IP address directs the device  100  to the MNO server  200 . During the time period when the device  100  is connected to the Internet  150  through the PC portal  170 , and when the user is not browsing or surfing the Internet  150 , (as in e.g. when the device  100  is in the docking station connected to the docking switch  160  for charging the battery for the device  100 ) the device  100  can go the MNO server  200  using the public IP address stored in the removable card  10 . The MNO server  200  can then cause content, such as movies, or programming code (updates for the device  100 ) to be downloaded and stored in the user restricted portion of the removable card  10  of the device  100 . The benefit of this mode is that a large amount of content can be downloaded when the device  100  is not connected to the cellular network  110 , and when the user is not actively surfing or browsing the Internet  150 . The downloaded movies or other material can be subsequently activated by an authorization code and/or payment code. Since the movies or other content were downloaded from the MNO server  200 , the user can be sure of the trustworthiness of the content (i.e. free from virus etc.). In addition, since the owner of the content knows that the content is downloaded in a secure manner and stored in a user restricted portion, they can be assured that illicit copies will not be made. In this manner, this becomes a trustworthy procedure for all parties. Finally, by also permitting programming code to be distributed in this manner, an efficient and convenient mode is provided to assure the update of the devices  100 . 
         [0032]    Furthermore, each removable card  10  may also be assigned a unique IP address by the MNO operator. This offers another unique feature of the present invention. When the device  100  with the removable card  10  connected thereto is connected to the Internet  150 , and with the removable card  10  having a unique IP address, the MNO server  200  which is also connected to the Internet  150  can download information for all removable cards  10  or just certain removable cards  10  or even only a specific removable card  10 . The information downloaded to one or more removable cards  10  may be stored in the user restricted memory portion of the card  10 . Examples of information that can be stored in the user restricted portion may include: administrative information such as change in calling plan, increase in minutes etc. Further, the “information” may be data or it may be programming code (including Java applets) for execution by the host controller  12 . Thus, for example, the “information” downloaded from the MNO server  200  may be a program causing the host controller  12  to execute the code causing the device  100  to access the cellular network  110  to access the Internet  150  periodically or to access specified location on the Internet  150  (such as the IP address of the MNO server  200 ) or in some specified manner to retrieve updates, downloads, etc. 
         [0033]    Because the device  100  can connect to the Internet through the common carrier network, the user may store user data in the second portion  220   b  of the memory  20 . However, since the memory  20  is accessible by the MNO, the MNO may provide services to the user such as back up for the user data stored in the second portion  220   b  of the memory  20 . However, since the user data stored in the second portion  220   b  may be personal or confidential information of the user, the user will want the user data to be secure even from the MNO, and also in the event the device  100  is lost or stolen. Referring to  FIG. 6  there is shown a block level diagram of a portion of the secure removable card  10  of the present invention. The card  10  has a non-volatile memory  20  with its first portion  220   a  which has restricted access by the user, and a second portion  220   b  to which the user can store user data. The MNO can access both the first portion  220   a  and the second portion  220   b  of the memory  20 . The card  10  also has a volatile memory  250 , for storing a user supplied password. The volatile memory retains the password only when power is supplied to the card  10  or the device  100 . When the power is removed, the same password needs to be re-inputted by the user. The card  10  also comprises an encryption circuit  230 , which receives inputted user data, as well as the output of the volatile memory  250 . The encryption circuit encrypts the user data with the password and then the encrypted data is supplied to the second portion  220   b  of the memory  20  for storage. When it is desired to read the data from the second portion  220   b  of the memory  20 , the encrypted data is read from the second portion  220   b  and is supplied to a decryption circuit  240 . The decryption circuit uses the password from the volatile memory to decrypt the encrypted data and supplies the decrypted user data back to the user. 
         [0034]    As can be seen from the foregoing the card  10  of the present invention is extremely secure. What is stored in the a second portion  220   b  is always encrypted data. Thus, even if the device  100  is lost or stolen and a would be hacker attempts to read the data from the second portion  220   b,  the hacker would find only encrypted data. The degree of security is limited only by the sophistication of the encryption circuit  130  and the number of bits of the password to encrypt the user data. Further, the encryption is active only while power is supplied. In the event the device  100  is turned off, and back on, a new session commences and the user will need to re-input the password. 
         [0035]    Finally, in the event the user forgets the password, it should be noted that the password is not stored in any portion of the memory  20 . Thus, if the password is forgotten, the penalty is quite severe. One way to mitigate this harsh result may be to store a “hint” question or phrase (such as what&#39;s the name of your favorite pet) in the second memory  220   b,  so that the user may be prompted to recall the forgotten password. However, such “hint” may also compromise the security of the card  10 . Nevertheless, the password itself is never stored in the memory  20 .

Technology Classification (CPC): 7