Patent Description:
With the development of mobile Internet, most smart devices have the demands for accessing the Internet. In some particular application scenarios, for example, mobile smart devices, the demands for the smart devices to access the Internet are often temporary. Thus, how to make accessing to the Internet more flexible in such application scenarios where the demands for accessing the Internet are temporary becomes very important.

<CIT> discloses a method for accessing an operator network, where a request is made from an access control module that is pre-installed on the device prior to distribution to a user, wherein the access control module determines the available MNOs, and optionally determines their suitability for operation, and requests allocation of an eSIM, wherein an SPS may have the capabilities to generate SIMs for use with an MNO, or in other cases, an SPS may have a pool of eSIMs which it can allocate and deallocate, wherein the device may then be activated by programming the access data onto the device, wherein the access data may comprise an cSIM.

<CIT> discloses a method for remotely downloading provisioning information on a mobile device where the user selects a region and a service provider, a server receives the request and provisions the corresponding virtual SIM on the mobile phone.

<CIT> discloses a method and system for service provision to mobile communication subscribers with the use of so-called virtual SIM cards and also to respective machine-readable media.

In order to overcome the problems in related arts, the present disclosure provides a method and a device for accessing an operator network.

According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for enabling a smart device to access an operator network according to claim <NUM>.

Optionally, before uploading detected information regarding an operator network to a server end, the method further includes:.

Optionally, the uploading detected information regarding an operator network to a server end, includes:.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a device for accessing an operator network according to claim <NUM>.

Optionally, the device further includes:
a determining module configured to determine whether a preset function option is switched on; wherein when the preset function option is switched on, the uploading modul uploads the information regarding the operator network detected by the detecting module to the server end.

Optionally, the uploading module includes:.

According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a device for accessing an operator network, including:.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program, which when executed on a processor, performs any method as mentioned above or in the following, and a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon such a computer program.

The technical solutions provided by embodiments of the present disclosure may have the following advantageous effects:
In the above embodiments of the present disclosure, detected information regarding an operator network is uploaded to a server end, a local virtual SIM card which is sent from the server end and is corresponding to the operator network is received, and then the operator network is accessed based on the local virtual SIM card. Thus, virtual SIM card resources can be dynamically requested from the server end without need of building a physical SIM card in a device.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present disclosure, as claimed.

The terminologies used herein are only for describing particular embodiments but not for limiting the present disclosure. The singular form words "a", "the", and "said" used in the present disclosure and append claims are intended to include plural form, unless otherwise clearly stated. Also, it shall be appreciated that the terminology "and/or" used herein refers to any or all combinations of one or more listed related items.

It shall be appreciated that although the present disclosure uses terminologies "first", "second", and "third" and the like to describe various information, the information shall not be limited by these terminologies. Using these terminologies is only for distinguishing information of the same type. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the first information may be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information may be referred to as the first information. Depending on the context, the terminology "if" used herein may be interpreted as "when" or "in response to determining that.

At present, a smart device usually accesses the Internet via a physical Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or a Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) chip built in the smart device. On the one hand, for the solution of accessing the Internet via the built-in WIFI chip, because WIFI hotspots need to exist around the smart device during the accessing, there may be large limitations for outdoor mobile smart devices. On the other hand, for the solution of accessing the Internet via the built-in physical SIM card, because the built-in SIM number resources are rare, high production costs of the smart devices become problematic. Further, for a mobile smart device, since the demand for accessing the Internet is temporary, the built-in physical SIM card is a kind of resource waste.

In view of the above, the present disclosure proposes a method for accessing an operator network. A smart device uploads detected information regarding an operator network to a server end, and receives a local virtual SIM card which is sent from the server end and is corresponding to the operator network, and then accesses the operator network based on the local virtual SIM card. Thus, virtual SIM card resources can be dynamically requested from the server end without need of building a physical SIM card in the device.

<FIG> shows a method for accessing an operator network according to an exemplary embodiment. The method for accessing an operator network is applied in a smart device and includes the following steps.

In step <NUM>, detected information regarding an operator network is uploaded to a server end.

In step <NUM>, a local virtual SIM card which is sent from the server end and is corresponding to the operator network is received.

In step <NUM>, the operator network is accessed based on the local virtual SIM card.

In the above steps, the smart device may include mobile smart devices, such as mobile phones or other mobile smart devices; the server end may include distribution servers, server clusters or a cloud platform for providing virtual SIM card distribution services for smart devices. Different from the currently used physical SIM card which is removable from a mobile terminal, the virtual SIM card is a virtualization technology which simulates a virtual SIM card on a mobile terminal and uses the virtual SIM card to replace a physical SIM card to finish user identity verification and network authentication.

In the embodiment, there is no built-in physical SIM card in a smart device, and when the smart device is produced, information regarding the virtual SIM card may be built in a safe storage region in the smart device. A plurality of smart devices may share the same information regarding a virtual SIM card. The information regarding a virtual SIM card may be pre-configured as only having an ability of accessing a distribution server. When the information regarding a virtual SIM card is configured as only having an ability of accessing a distribution server, the smart device may perform normal detections and access an available operator network in surroundings via the built-in information regarding the virtual SIM card, but cannot obtain corresponding network data services from the available operator network in surroundings.

Further, a function option for starting a network access service may be pre-configured in the smart device. When the smart device needs to access the Internet, a user may enable the function for accessing an operator network by switching on the function option. The function option may be realized by a physical switching button preset on the smart device, or may be a virtual functional switching option in the system of the smart device.

After the above function option is switched on, the smart device may detect operator networks in surroundings by a built-in virtual SIM card and determine whether there is an available operator network among the detected operator networks in surroundings. If there is an available operator network among the detected operator networks in surroundings, the smart device may upload the information regarding the operator network to the distribution server, for example, information such as the country or region which the available operator network belongs to.

The uploading of the information regarding the operator network by the smart device may be realized by different implementations under different application scenarios.

On the one hand, for regions which are covered only by operator networks, for example, the wild, the built-in virtual SIM card in the device has the ability of accessing the distribution server, and thus when the smart device uploads the information regarding the operator network, the smart device may upload the information regarding the operator network to the distribution server based on the built-in virtual SIM card.

In implementations, when the built-in virtual SIM card detects the available operator network, the smart device may access the operator network and may try to establish a remote connection with the distribution server via the operator network. If the remote connection is successfully established, the smart device may upload the information regarding the available operator network to the distribution server. For detailed procedure of accessing the operator network via the virtual SIM card, existing implementations may be referred to and descriptions thereof are omitted in the embodiment.

Rather, if the built-in virtual SIM card detects a plurality of available operator networks, the smart device may output the plurality of available operator networks in a list form to the user to make the user select an operator network to be accessed.

On the other hand, for regions where there are free WIFI hotspots, when the smart device uploads the information regarding the operator network, the smart device may upload the information regarding the operator network to the distribution server via the WIFI hotspots.

In implantations, when the built-in virtual SIM card detects an available operator network, the smart device may detect whether there is an available WIFI hotspot in surroundings; if there is an available WIFI hotspot in surroundings, the smart device may access the WIFI network via the built-in WIFI chip and establish a remote connection with the distribution server via the WIFI network, and then upload the information regarding the available operator network to the distribution server based on the established remote connection.

In the embodiment, after the distribution server receives the information regarding the operator network uploaded by the smart device, the server may send the information regarding a local virtual SIM card corresponding to the operator network to the smart device and locally save a correspondence between the smart device and the information regarding the local virtual SIM card.

For example, when a user is internationally roaming carrying a smart device, the distribution server may determine whether a cooperation with an operator is established according to the information uploaded by the smart device such as the country or the region which the operator network belongs to; if the cooperation is established, the distribution server has a right of distributing local virtual SIM cards corresponding to the operator, and may thereby directly send a local virtual SIM card corresponding to the operator to the smart device.

After receiving the local virtual SIM card sent from the distribution server, the smart device may save the information regarding the local virtual SIM card in the safe storage region in the smart device. The smart device may initiate identity verification and network authentication to the local operator network via wireless channels according to the virtual SIM card. After the authentication is passed, the smart device may access the operator network using a local user identity to enjoy the network data services provided by the operator network.

In the embodiment, the information regarding the local virtual SIM card sent from the distribution server to the smart device may be recycled by the distribution server.

On the one hand, when the smart device does not need to access the operator network, the user may close the operator network access service by switching off the above function option. After the user switching off the above function option, the smart device is triggered to delete information regarding the local virtual SIM card stored in the safe storage region, and meanwhile to send to the server end a notification message for recycling the information regarding the local virtual SIM card.

On the other hand, when the built-in virtual SIM card detects that accessing the current operator network results in roaming, for example, the smart device carried by the user has moved out of the coverage of the operator network and entered into the coverage of another operator network, high charge will be incurred if the smart device still accesses the network via the received information regarding the local virtual SIM card. For such case, when the built-in virtual SIM card detects that accessing the current operator network will result in roaming, the smart device is triggered to delete the information regarding the local virtual SIM card stored in the safe storage region, and meanwhile to send to the server end a notification message for recycling the information regarding the local virtual SIM card. Rather, after roaming occurs, and the user still has the demand for accessing the operator network, the distribution server may re-send a local virtual SIM card for the smart device based on the above implementation procedure.

After the distribution server receives the notification message sent from the smart device for recycling the sent information regarding the local virtual SIM card, the distribution server may recycle the information regarding the local virtual SIM card, and delete the locally saved correspondence between the smart device and the information regarding the local virtual SIM card. Thus, the virtual SIM card may be reutilized by the distribution server, i.e., the virtual SIM card may be sent to other smart devices as virtual SIM card resources. In this way, recycling of virtual SIM card resources may be realized and thus the utilization of the virtual SIM card resources is improved.

In the above embodiments, the smart device uploads the detected information regarding an operator network to a server end, receives a local virtual SIM card which is sent from the server end and is corresponding to the operator network, and then accesses the operator network based on the local virtual SIM card. Thus, virtual SIM card resources can be dynamically requested from the server end without need of building a physical SIM card in the device. Consequently, enterprise costs are effectively reduced. Meanwhile, in the above embodiments, the recycling scheme of virtual SIM cards is introduced, and the distribution server may reutilize virtual SIM card resources which have already been sent, and thereby the utilization of the virtual SIM card resources is improved.

In step <NUM>, an available operator network is detected by a built-in virtual SIM card.

In step <NUM>, whether a preset function option is switched on is determined.

The sequence of steps <NUM> and <NUM> may be reversed.

In step <NUM>, when the preset function option is switched on, a remote connection with a server end is established via a virtual SIM card built in the smart device. The built-in virtual SIM card is pre-configured as only having an ability of accessing the server end.

In step <NUM>, based on the established remote connection, the detected information regarding the operator network is uploaded to the server end.

On the other hand, when the built-in virtual SIM card detects that accessing the current operator network results in roaming, for example, the smart device carried by the user has moved out of the coverage of the operator network and entered into the coverage of another operator network, high charge will be incurred if the smart device still accesses the network via the received information regarding the local virtual SIM card. For such case, when the built-in virtual SIM card detects that accessing the current operator network will results in roaming, the smart device is triggered to delete the information regarding the local virtual SIM card stored in the safe storage region, and meanwhile to send to the server end a notification message for recycling the information regarding the local virtual SIM card. Rather, after roaming occurs, and the user still has the demand for accessing the operator network, the distribution server may re-send a local virtual SIM card for the smart device based on the above implementation procedure.

Corresponding to the above embodiments of the method for accessing an operator network, the present disclosure further provides embodiments of a device.

<FIG> is a block diagram showing a device for accessing an operator network according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in <FIG>, the device <NUM> for accessing an operator network according to an exemplary embodiment includes an uploading module <NUM>, a receiving module <NUM> and an accessing module <NUM>.

The uploading module <NUM> is configured to upload detected information regarding an operator network to a server end.

The receiving module <NUM> is configured to receive a local virtual SIM card which is sent from the server end and is corresponding to the operator network.

The accessing module <NUM> is configured to access the operator network based on the local virtual SIM card.

In the above embodiment, the smart device uploads the detected information regarding an operator network to a server end, receives a local virtual SIM card which is sent from the server end and is corresponding to the operator network, and then accesses the operator network based on the local virtual SIM card. Thus, virtual SIM card resources can be dynamically requested from the server end without need of building a physical SIM card in the device.

<FIG> is a block diagram showing another device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. On the basis of the embodiment as shown in <FIG>, the device <NUM> in the embodiment in <FIG> may further include a detecting module <NUM> and a determining module <NUM>.

The detecting module <NUM> is configured to detect an available operator network by a built-in virtual SIM card.

The determining module <NUM> is configured to determine whether a preset function option is switched on. When the preset function option is switched on, the uploading module <NUM> uploads the information regarding the operator network detected by the detecting module <NUM> to the server end.

<FIG> is a block diagram showing another device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. On the basis of the embodiment as shown in <FIG>, the uploading module <NUM> in the embodiment in <FIG> may include a first establishing submodule 301A and a first uploading submodule 301B.

The first establishing submodule 301A is configured to establish a remote connection with the server end via a built-in virtual SIM card.

The first uploading submodule 301B is configured to, based on the established remote connection, upload the detected information regarding the operator network to the server end. The built-in virtual SIM card is pre-configured as only having an ability of accessing the server end.

It shall be noted that the structure of the first establishing submodule 301A and the first uploading submodule 301B in the embodiment of the device as shown in <FIG> may also be included in the embodiment of the device as shown in <FIG>, and the present disclosure does not impose limitations on this.

<FIG> is a block diagram showing another device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. On the basis of the embodiment as shown in <FIG>, the uploading module <NUM> in the embodiment in <FIG> may include an accessing submodule 301C, a second establishing submodule 301D and a second uploading submodule 301E.

The accessing submodule 301C is configured to access an available WIFI network via a built-in WIFI chip.

The second establishing submodule 301D is configured to establish a remote connection with the server end via the WIFI network.

The second uploading submodule 301E is configured to, based on the established remote connection, upload the detected information regarding the operator network to the server end.

It shall be noted that the structure of the accessing submodule 301C, the second establishing submodule 301D and the second uploading submodule 301E in the embodiment of the device as shown in <FIG> may also be included in the embodiments of the device as shown in <FIG>, and the present disclosure does not impose limitations on this.

<FIG> is a block diagram showing another device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. On the basis of the embodiment as shown in <FIG>, the device <NUM> in the embodiment in <FIG> may further include a deleting module <NUM>.

The deleting module <NUM> is configured to, when it is detected that the preset function option is switched off, or when it is detected that accessing the available operator network results in roaming, delete the received local virtual SIM card, and send to the server end a notification message for recycling the local virtual SIM card.

It shall be noted that the structure of the deleting module <NUM> in the embodiment of the device as shown in <FIG> may also be included in the embodiments of the device as shown in <FIG>, and the present disclosure does not impose limitations on this.

For realizing of functions and roles of respective modules in the above devices, refer to the above description regarding corresponding steps in the methods, and detailed descriptions are omitted.

The embodiments of devices basically correspond to the embodiments of methods, and thus for related portions, the description about the embodiments of methods may be referred to. The above described embodiments of devices are only illustrative, and portions described as separated modules may be or may not be physically separated, and the portions shown as respective modules may be or may not be physical modules, i.e., the portions may be located at one place, or may be distributed over a plurality of network modules. A part or whole of the modules may be selected to realize the objects of the technical solutions of the present disclosure according to actual requirements. One of ordinary skill in this art may understand and practice the technical solutions of the present disclosure without creative work.

Correspondingly, the present disclosure further provides a device for accessing an operator network, including:.

Correspondingly, the present disclosure further provides a smart device. The smart device includes a memory and one or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memory, and are configured to be executed by one or more processors to perform instructions including the following steps:.

<FIG> is a block diagram showing a structure of a device for accessing an operator network according to an exemplary embodiment.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a device <NUM> for accessing an operator network according to an exemplary embodiment. For example, the device <NUM> may be a mobile phone, a smart device, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a gaming console, a tablet, a medical device, exercise equipment, a personal digital assistant, and the like.

Examples of such data include instructions for any applications or methods operated on the device <NUM>, contact data, phonebook data, messages, , media files, video, etc. The memory <NUM> may be implemented using any type of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, or a combination thereof, such as a static random access memory (SRAM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, a magnetic or optical disk.

The audio component <NUM> is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, the audio component <NUM> includes a microphone ("MIC") configured to receive an external audio signal when the device <NUM> is in an operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal may be further stored in the memory <NUM> or transmitted via the communication component <NUM>. In some embodiments, the audio component <NUM> further includes a speaker to output audio signals.

The communication component <NUM> is configured to facilitate communication, wired or wirelessly, between the device <NUM> and other devices. The device <NUM> can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, <NUM>, or <NUM>, or a combination thereof. In one exemplary embodiment, the communication component <NUM> receives a broadcast signal or broadcast associated information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In one exemplary embodiment, the communication component <NUM> further includes a near field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communications. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on a radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, an infrared data association (IrDA) technology, an ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, a Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

In exemplary embodiments, the device <NUM> may be implemented with one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, or other electronic components, for performing the above described methods.

In exemplary embodiments, there is also provided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions, such as included in the memory <NUM>, executable by the processor <NUM> in the device <NUM>, for performing the above-described methods. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, an optical data storage device, and the like.

Claim 1:
A method for enabling a smart device to access an operator network, comprising:
detecting (<NUM>), by a built-in virtual SIM card, an available operator network which currently covers the smart device,
after the built-in virtual SIM card detects the available operator network, detecting whether there is an available WiFi network;
if there is the available WiFi network, accessing the available WIFI network via a built-in WIFI chip, and establishing a remote connection with a server end via the WIFI network; and
based on the established remote connection, uploading (<NUM>) detected information regarding the available operator network to the server end, the information enabling the server end to determine whether the server end has a right of distributing local virtual SIM cards corresponding to the operator network;
receiving (<NUM>) a local virtual SIM card which is sent from the server end and is corresponding to the operator network, in case the server end has determined that it has the right of distributing local virtual SIM cards corresponding to the operator network; and
accessing (<NUM>) the operator network based on the local virtual SIM card, the method further comprising:
determining (<NUM>) whether a preset function option is switched on;
when the preset function option is switched on, uploading (<NUM>) the detected information regarding the operator network to the server end;
when it is detected, by the built-in virtual SIM card, that roaming is resulted by moving the smart device out of the coverage from the available operator network into the coverage of another operator network, triggering by the built-in virtual SIM card deleting of the received local virtual SIM card in response to detection of that accessing the available operator network results in roaming, and sending to the server end a notification message for recycling the local virtual SIM card;
if it is determined that a need for continuing to access the another operator network exists, initiating uploading of detected information regarding the another operator network to request the server end to distribute a new local virtual SIM card.