Patent ID: 11134376

Abstract:
A 5G user equipment (UE) can register for 5G services with a telecommunication network in part using a Subscription Concealed Identifier (SUCI), an encrypted version of a subscriber identifier, so that the actual subscriber identifier is not exposed during network registration. Legacy SIMs originally deployed for 4G/LTE and other legacy wireless access technologies store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), but do not store a network public key needed to generate a SUCI. However, a 5G UE can still use a legacy SIM to securely obtain 5G services by encrypting the IMSI from the legacy SIM using a network public key stored in the 5G UE's own memory to generate a SUCI, and then transmitting the generated SUCI to the telecommunication network during network registration. Accordingly, the IMSI on the legacy SIM is not exposed during network registration.