Oberthur Technologies

White Paper

UICC in LTE

Mobile Product Marketing Date: 05.07.2011 05.07.2011 Oberthur Technologies 7171-73, rue des Hautes Ptures 92726 Nanterre, France

LTE White Paper

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................2 TABLE OF FIGURE .........................................................................................2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................3 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................4 WHY LTE NOW? .............................................................................................5 Mobile Data Usage is Exploding...................................................................5 Operators dilemma.......................................................................................7 LTE is the way to go.....................................................................................7 UICC ROLE IN LTE .......................................................................................10 A continuity with legacy technologies .........................................................10 Security/ Identity/Authentication in an all IP network ..................................11 Ubiquitous end user experience while connecting to most efficient network ...................................................................................................................12 Monitoring the network ...............................................................................13 Localisation tool..........................................................................................13 Monitoring and customising the devices.....................................................14 An application platform...............................................................................15 An HTTPs connected object.......................................................................16 WHAT IS NEXT? ...........................................................................................17 LTE-Advanced............................................................................................17 eUICC ........................................................................................................17 CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................18 ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................19 ABOUT OBERTHUR TECHNOLOGIES ........................................................20 DISCLAIMER .................................................................................................20 AUTHOR........................................................................................................20

TABLE OF FIGURE
Figure 1 Top actors are moving to wireless space ................................................ 5 Figure 2 Mobile data is exploding, devices are proliferating ............................... 6 Figure 3 Solving the economic dilemma ................................................................... 7 Figure 4 All paths leads to LTE .................................................................................... 8 Figure 5 UICC is evolving in the continuity............................................................. 10 Figure 6 Ubiquitous end user experience while moving to WiFi ...................... 12 Figure 7 Monitoring end user Quality of Experience ........................................... 13 Figure 8 Monitoring devices ........................................................................................ 15 Figure 9 UICC Terminal communication throughput ....................................... 16

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The exploding mobile data usage and the flattening of ARPU (Average Revenue per User) make mobile network operators profitability in danger. To lower the cost per byte, to enable new applications and to access a global ecosystem, operators are migrating their networks to LTE (Long Term Evolution). LTE introduces a new air of interface, offers IP end-to-end network and has better reactivity and more throughput per subscriber. Voice is now carried over IMS (IMS Subscriber Identity Module). The UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) is evolving as well to meet mobile network operators need and to smoothen end user experience. In most cases, LTE will not be deployed in a Greenfield but in parallel of legacy mobile networks and WiFi (Wireless Fidelity). Therefore, accessing the most efficient network (from a cost stand point or form a QoS (Quality of Service) stand point) is necessary. Mobile network operators need to offer a ubiquitous end user experience while attaching to those different network layers. This can be achieved with the use of UICC by integrating the following elements: 3GPP Network Access Applications to connect to GSM, UMTS and Femto layer CSIM (CDMA Subscriber Identity Module) to connect to CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) networks ISIM to leverage IMS capabilities in LTE, voice in particular EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) to have a smooth end user experience while leveraging the most efficient network (WiFi will be used to off-load mobile traffic) NFC application will be integrated eventually While introducing this new technology, it is critical for mobile network operators to monitor and enhance end users QoE (Quality of Experience) in order to not endanger their reputation. The UICC is a tool that evolves to monitor the network, install and configure applications to ease the usage of new applications while optimising operators investments. LTE is an enabler of new applications that can eventually be installed onto the UICC to be a device and operating system agnostic. They can leverage some new parameters such as the geolocalisation. Those applications can eventually be loaded remotely onto the UICC. Later on, the UICC can be updated from a remote server with HTTPs through the presence of Amendment B. The UICC could also be full IP, leveraging the end-to-end IP capabilities of LTE. Basically, networks are converging and the UICC is evolving to maximise end user experience and optimising investments.

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INTRODUCTION
Since the first launch of 3G network in 2000, the industry had been wishing that mobile data traffic would take off. Now it is becoming a reality and mobile network operators are experiencing, somewhat painfully, this increased flow of data coming from a wide range of devices and applications. 3G networks need to evolve and the mobile industry had been preparing for a next generation network that can cope with this phenomenon. The 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standardisation body has defined this evolution of wireless network as LTE (Long Term Evolution). However, the name of this technology probably needs to be reviewed as LTE is not long term anymore; it is live now and very soon will be everywhere. The first commercial LTE networks were launched towards the end of 2009 in northern Europe. In 2010 North America, Japan, Eastern and Western Europe followed suit. 2011 is seeing some major developments with mobile network operators coming from different wireless technologies like CDMA, GSM, UMTS, TD-SCDMA etc. moving to LTE. With advent of LTE networks, the traditional SIM card is no longer good enough to support this new technology. Operators and technology companies have addressed this particular need for new services by introducing evolutions onto the UICC. So what is the UICCs role evolving in LTE? What additional value can the UICC bring in LTE networks? This paper will answer these underlying questions.

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WHY LTE NOW?

Mobile Data Usage is Exploding
The mobile industry has experienced the moving of wireline internet layers to wireless. The wireline model, in a lot of countries, is an access provider offering data connection to the internet with an all-you-can-eat mode under a flat fee. Some application providers or OTTs (Over the Top Players) are building applications on the internet using the access provider as a big pipe to reach the end user. They promote some value added services to the end user and they charge directly or indirectly through advertisements, for example. What we have seen in the past years is that these OTT players have been entering the wireless space. Wireless operators have seen their revenues from traditional revenuegenerating applications (voice) decreasing, though partially compensated by an increase in revenue through data usage (mainly SMS, but also other forms of data usage). Charging for data is not straightforward and there has been hesitation in the wireless market on how to charge for it. Initial charges were per MByte which later moved to an all-you-can-eat flat fee because end users need simplicity and do not understand what MBytes mean. More and more operators are charging data under a flat fee but with a cap on the MBytes per month. In any case, the mobile network operators ARPU is not increasing with this model but rather decreasing.

Figure 1 Top actors are moving to wireless space

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What we have seen on mobile networks is that more and more applications, devices, higher screen sise and resolution are leading to an explosion in terms of data traffic. Not only the data flows are exploding but more and more devices are also connected to the network. For instance, ABI research forecasts more than 110M M2M (Machine to Machine) units are connected to the mobile networks around the world. Some M2M devices will generate almost no traffic but will always stay connected. For example, devices counting the number of cars going through a street in real-time will always stay connected to the network even if the traffic is minimal (neither video nor sound, just glitches). Furthermore, we can imagine cameras, vending machines, surveillance devices and even traffic lights being connected at all times. That is thousands and thousands of devices per square kilometers being always connected, stressing dramatically the wireless networks, resulting in an overall cost increase. And this trend may even be accelerated with the cloud concept getting traction on the telecom industry: most data, applications and even operating systems will no more be into the devices but in the cloud, meaning on internet servers. This will require big pipes to carry those data exchanges from the devices to the cloud. Wireless operators are currently experiencing this stress/cost on their network and need to be prepared for more.

Figure 2 Mobile data is exploding, devices are proliferating

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Operators dilemma
Wireless operators are seeing their ARPU flattening and their costs increasing because of this stress on their networks. This results in an economic dead end which the wireless operators need to resolve. The solution is for the operators to find new sources of revenues and to reduce their costs.

Revenue

Generating new source of revenues Network improvement

Cost

Figure 3 Solving the economic dilemma

LTE is the way to go

Evolving to LTE is a way for mobile network operators to solve this issue. LTE is an enabler for some new applications that will generate potential new revenues as stated in the following paragraph. LTE improves the reactivity of the network compared to legacy wireless technologies with a 20ms latency or response time. This enables, for example, real-time online gaming where the reactivity of the network is the key. LTE also has a higher throughput per subscriber with 10s of Mbps available for the end user, compared to a fix internet experience that allows video applications with a broadcasting capability known as eMBMS (evolved Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service). Voice is now carried over IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) providing rich services to be offered to the end user. With LTE, a lot of devices can be simultaneously connected to the same cell, making the scaling up of devices possible. Up to 400 devices can be connected to a cell with 200 active devices, which means up to 1200 connected devices for a 3-cell site. This will dramatically help the operator to cope with the M2M explosion. LTE also helps the mobile network operator to reduce its cost per bit which leads to a decrease in the overall cost of its network while the traffic is exploding. This cost reduction is due to several factors as follows.

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LTE is a more efficient air interface with MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) and OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation, where several antennas are connected to the mobile and the base stations are able to send several data streams in parallel instead of one data stream. LTE is a more cost-efficient transport scheme; it is all through IP. Instead of having one circuit switch and a packet switch domain, there is only a packet switch on IP. It means cheaper transmission from the base station to the core network to carry the massive amount of data back to the internet that comes from the devices. LTE has as much simpler network architecture with only one node in the radio access network (the eNode B) and a peer-to-peer architecture instead of two nodes with a hierarchical architecture (the Base Station and the Base Station Controller in GSM). The less complexity appears in the system, the less cost for the mobile network operator. For some mobile network operators LTE is a way to reach the global ecosystem which consists of devices, applications, network elements etc. In the present days, some CDMA operators do not have access to some terminal types such as the iPhone. When their subscribers have to go abroad, they need to borrow a terminal to support the networks abroad. Some others are on a technology that did not take off massively like WiMAX and TDSCDMA, so they need to go back to the main stream to save costs and to have access to the global ecosystem. LTE counters that difficulties, which makes not only applications such as M2M or TV are moving to LTE but all wireless technologies are also moving there.

M2M HSDPA W- CDMA

TD-SCDMA

CDMA/EvDO/Rev- B

2Peer Peer

TV with eMBMS

services

Figure 4 All paths leads to LTE

Thus, LTE is really the way to go. It is taking off and has already running in some countries. It is the evolution of all technologies worldwide. It is the first time that the telecom world is converging. After the G for Global in GSM and

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the U for Universal in UMTS, LTE brings the Globalisation and the Universality of wireless to reality, even though some frequency-related challenges are still ahead due to disparities across regions. This has an impact on the terminal that can support a limited number of frequencies. Terminals could still be limited to some regions. However, LTE is not a magical answer and legacy technologies will coexist for some time with LTE. The challenge for the mobile network operators is to orchestrate those technologies and connect the end user to the most efficient one. For example, to leverage the WiFi hot spots they have to carry non-delay sensitive data, keeping the delay sensitive data onto LTE and using GSM or W-CDMA for voice. Another way is using the Femto cell layer to offer good indoor coverage and new services within the office or the home.

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UICC ROLE IN LTE

As previously stated, LTE is the way to go for operators and since LTE enables new applications while reducing costs. It allows new applications to be used, creating not only an opportunity for operators but also an opportunity for OTT players. This can be a potential threat for operators if it is not for UICC. The next section will focus on the role of the UICC in LTE networks and how it can help mobile network operators.

A continuity with legacy technologies

The SIM has evolved from its GSM role to its UMTS role, from the SIM to the USIM hosted in the UICC, enabling the authentication of the subscriber to the network. The SIM had a lot of success and is widely spread across the world. Even the CDMA world that previously did not have a SIM card is moving to the SIM concept. Normally, in CDMA, authentication was embedded within the devices, with no simple portability from one device to the other. Now, some CDMA operators are now moving to the SIM concept called the CSIM. LTE is not an exception in the case, having followed the same 3GPP path to have the authentication module to the network put into a hardware component independent from the device (in this case, SIM card). Additional authentication features have been introduced to allow fast reconnection to LTE network; some network keys are now stored within the UICC so they can be retrieved for immediate reconnection, even after the shutdown of the device.

Figure 5 UICC is evolving in the continuity

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Security/ Identity/Authentication in an all IP network

Security, identity and authentication are major concerns on IP networks. From now on, the operators network will be based on IP technology that was not initially designed to implement security. The UICC is becoming even more critical for mobile network operators than in legacy technologies. UICC is the only high security component that identifies and authenticates the end user throughout this end of the IP network. This is clearly an asset that mobile network operators need to leverage, an asset that is independent from the device and OS (Operating System) of the device, and that the end user can bring with him and pass it on to another device. Voice is handled by IMS in an LTE network. Voice has been the historical source of revenue for wireless mobile network operators and it is critical not to jeopardise this business. Hacking voice business and IMS in general would be a great danger. This is why having an IMS secure element within the UICC to securely identify the subscriber is critical. This IMS secure element, called the ISIM, will uniquely identify the IMS end user. This is one evolution of the UICC in LTE. LTE will be a network where everything can be connected, including M2M devices and payment terminals. Peer-to-peer payment with mobile phones is a trend that is emerging and will probably grow significantly. Peer-to-peer payment can be proceeded online or offline, but at some point a connection to the servers is necessary. With the high reactivity of LTE network, this exchange can be really fast but it goes over an IP network. When talking about banking and payment, security is critical. The UICC is the ideal location where to store those banking secure elements, including NFC (Near Field Communication) secure elements. More and more applications are running onto the end device and more and more applications requiring security are developed. Some of those applications are developed for the devices and are requiring access to some secure elements in the UICC. A secure communication between the terminal and the UICC is becoming more and more critical. 3GPP R8 brings some additional security with the implementation of secure channels between the terminal and the UICC. Without these secure channels, the exchange of information is clear on this channel and each sensitive information, for example PIN code, is not encrypted. Hence, malicious software could eventually retrieve this information and harms both the end user and the mobile network operator. It is clear that LTE brings a lot of advantages, but there are also some drawbacks on the internet and the mobile devices.

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Ubiquitous end user experience while connecting to most efficient network

LTE is a more efficient network for data than legacy mobile technologies, but mobile network operators may still want to off-load some traffic from LTE to some WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) hotspots they have. WiFi is no longer seen as a threat to LTE but rather as a complementary network. The end goal for mobile network operators is to offer the best end user QoE (Quality of Experience) while optimizing the usage of its networks. Therefore, applications that do not require a high quality of service could be off-loaded to WiFi; for example, voice could be handled by 2G or 3G and live video streaming (high throughput QoS required) by LTE. However, the authentication to a WiFi hot spot can be troublesome: entering ID and password is not really handy, especially when users are moving from one hot spot to another. An efficient way to pass and warranty this identity on the WiFi layer is through the UICC and with EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) in particular. Several authentication schemes are available with EAP: EAP-SIM (2G authentication) and EAP-AKA (3G/4G authentication) are some of them. Those keys are stored within the UICC, make less hassle for the end user and provide a secured authentication to prevent hacking.

Figure 6 Ubiquitous end user experience while moving to WiFi

With the UICC, the mobile network operator can offer its ubiquitous services to the end user through the most efficient network. For example, most costeffective services are using WiFi (EAP smooth authentication), GSM/CDMA/UMTS/LTE (Network Access Applications in the UICC) are for voice, LTE is for high throughput and delay/jitter-sensitive applications (HD video), Femto layer (Network Access Applications in the UICC) is used at home or at the office.

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Monitoring the network

When mobile network operators deploy LTE, they are expecting their end users to have a great experience, especially at the service opening when they are on the spotlight. If something is going wrong on their network that causes the end users having bad QoE, the news will be spread really fast through the internet thus damaging the reputation of the mobile network operator. Therefore, network optimisation needs to be very good and monitoring end users QoE is critical. How to monitor end user QoE? Going onto the field with costly drive tours to check what is going on? There is no need to do that. UICC enables monitoring the real experience on-field. When the terminal receives a network rejection message, it will inform the UICC. This information can then be stored, retrieved and eventually analysed by the mobile network operators. This is really valuable information, since the operator can then pass it to the help desk to have better support to the end users and to the network design team to better design their network and check where the issues on field are and that they need to be fixed.

Figure 7 Monitoring end user Quality of Experience

Localisation tool
Combining the power of internet everywhere with the possibility of localization anytime is a great asset that is already leveraged by some applications and devices. This will probably be further developed in the future and the UICC can help the mobile network operator to develop from applications or give information to other applications.

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For example, in the security domain or health care we can imagine the possibility to track a physically challenged person in danger. A person with Alzheimer's disease could be localised while lost. It is currently possible with some devices specially designed for that or with an application constantly running on the devices. This localization information such as GPS localisation can now be retrieved through the network with the UICC without a special application running on a device. The UICC can get this information from the terminal by using a standardised command in 3GPP R8. No customisation required according to the OS of the device and no need for an application constantly running on the device and consuming battery power. This feature could also be relevant in the M2M world to monitor the roaming of their devices.

Monitoring and customising the devices

As described in the first part of this document, LTE will enable a lot of new applications. We also saw that the end users experience is the key, especially during the launch of a new technology such as LTE and that devices are proliferating on mobile networks. However, how can a mobile network operator monitor all those devices and applications to ensure a good QoE for their end user? For this, the UICC can help. New functionalities are coming with 3GPP R8 to monitor devices, and there are applications installed onto the devices that can be launched and configured from the UICC. Now, the end user does not have to configure some applications or get used to a new device and OS system. Instead, the mobile network operator can configure and eventually launch some applications on the mobile through the UICC. Hence no more trouble while configuring an email server, for example, or configuring some applications than where not forecasted by mobile network operators or device/OS manufacturers but eventually come. LTE dramatically smoothens the introduction of new applications onto the network for a high number of different devices and OS. This helps the end user to have an excellent experience, taking advantage of the great capacities of the network without the bad experience of time-consuming configurations. Some applications on the terminal can be launched once configured from the UICC. This would enable the applications to take best advantage of SCWS (Smart Card Web Server) enabling not only to launch applications on the UICC but also a close interaction between the UICC and the device. In the case of SCWS, the mobile network operator could, for example, display a webpage automatically.

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The installation and interconnections with the LTE networks can be eased with the existence of UICCs storage capacity that can eventually be used to store the mobile network operators communication manager software suite.

Figure 8 Monitoring devices

An application platform
The UICC is of an application platform where some new applications can be developed. Those applications can be loaded with the HTTPs protocol, a typical internet protocol as found in Amendment B. The platform to develop those applets is the SCWS. With SCWS and its associated browser, the end user can surf from its devices to the UICC applications. Those applications are device and OS independent, enabling mobile network operators to launch applications independently from device manufacturer. How is the SCWS evolving with LTE and 3GPP R8? New functionalities are brought to the SCWS, such as the ability for the UICC to act as HTTP server for a client application (e.g. web browser) in the terminal. LTE enables a better throughput and reactivity of the network aside from the USB-IC interface between the terminal and the UICC. The UICC can now take advantage of the important capability of the air interface.

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The applications developed on the UICC can leverage on the high throughput and eventually led to high capacity storage of the UICC where programs and databases can be stored and easily accessed. The UICC can also be an IP UICC, now directly connected to the network with IP end-to-end.

Figure 9 UICC Terminal communication throughput

An HTTPs connected object

As described previously, LTE is an all-IP network. The UICC can evolve to a HTTPs platform as well for LTE. This HTTPs interface was standardized in the Amendment B of Global Platform standardisation body. This means the UICC can now be remotely reached and updated with the HTTPs protocol, make possible to load heavy applications smoothly onto the UICC, optimising large files transport from servers to the UICC securely using TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption. Thus, the UICC is now reachable with a widely used protocol from the internet space in security manner.

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WHAT IS NEXT?
We saw that the evolution of wireless networks leads to LTE. However, this is not the ultimate evolution.

LTE-Advanced
Mobile network operators, standardisation bodies, vendors and the entire ecosystem is preparing for more. LTE-Advanced is the next step. This means evolutions on the air interface with more spectrum, more efficiency to reach the Gbps (gigabyte per second), basically reaching the full 4G capability. Of course, this does not mean that the whole network will have to be replaced: the evolution will be a step-by-step evolution, starting on 3GPP release 9 and 10. The same pillars will be used for this evolution: all IP, flat architecture, MIMO and OFDM. So, initially LTE networks will be launched by mobile network operators then they will smoothly evolve with additional LTE advanced features. The UICC will evolve as well with the network to offer more to the end user and to mobile network operators.

eUICC
One possible evolution of the UICC is the eUICC (embedded UICC). This is an evolution that currently being standardised to ease the deployment of M2M, but that could also be relevant beyond the M2M model. The miniaturisation of the UICC and the integration of this entity into devices is a clear trend that will shape the evolution of the UICC. Those two evolutions are currently being standardised and will be elaborated in a separate white paper.

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CONCLUSION
LTE is the way to embrace new developments and the UICC is evolving to make the best usage of those new capabilities. The UICC is evolving to an HTTP connected object where some secure elements can be stored, such as the CSIM, ISIM or NFC secure elements. It is evolving to an application platform with SCWS and new interfaces that can retrieve some localisation information from the device, for example. The device and the network can be monitored from the UICC, a crucial matter when introducing a new technology such as LTE to maximise end user experience while optimising operators network investments. It is critical to offer the end user a ubiquitous experience while maximising the usage of different networks like 2G, 3G, LTE or WiFi. Oberthur Technologies is ready to support all those evolution for mobile network operators to better serve their end users.

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ACRONYMS
3GPP API ARPU CDMA CSIM EAP eMBMS eNode B eUICC GSM IMS IP ISIM LTE M2M MIMO NFC Node B OFDM OS OTT QoE SCWS SIM TCP TD-SCDMA UMTS UICC USIM WiFi WiMAX 3rd Generation Partnership Project Application Program Interface Average Revenue per User Code Division Multiple Access CDMA Subscriber Identity Module Extensible Authentication Protocol evolved Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service evolved Node B embedded UICC Global System for Mobile Communications IP Multimedia Subsystem Internet Protocol IMS Subscriber Identity Module Long Term Evolution Machine to Machine Multiple Input, Multiple Output Near Field Communication Term used in UMTS to denote the base transceiver station Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Operating System Over The Top Quality of Experience Smart Card Web Server Subscriber Identity Module TC Protocol Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Universal Integrated Circuit Card Universal Subscriber Identity Module Wireless Fidelity Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

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ABOUT OBERTHUR TECHNOLOGIES

Oberthur Technologies is a world leader in the field of secure technologies: systems development, solutions and services for smart cards (payment cards, SIM cards, access cards, NFC, etc) and for secure identity documents, traditional and electronic (identity card, passport, health care card), production of banknotes, cheques and other fiduciary documents, intelligent systems to secure cash-in-transit and ATM. Oberthur Technologies has 6,800 employees through 40 countries and 65 sites. The Group posted 2010 sales of 979M.

DISCLAIMER
All trademarks and service marks referred to herein, whether registered or not in specic countries, are the property of their respective owners. Oberthur Technologies LTE White Paper is an independent publication and has not been authorised, sponsored, or otherwise approved by the owners of any trademarks or service marks referred to herein.

AUTHOR
Document written by Mobile Product Marketing, including Stphane Jacquelin.

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