A Seminar Report

on

e-SIM
for

09EC6561 - SEMINAR
in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY

in

ELECTRONICS DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

of

APJ ABDUL KALAM TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Submitted by,

Hariharan K

Electronics Design Technology(UCC18ECEED08)

NIELIT, CALICUT
NIT CAMPUS P.O.
CALICUT - 673601
KERALA, INDIA
2018-2019
e-SIM

In early 2012, Nano-SIM was introduced and it started existing in the Global
Smartphone Consumer Market. Google, the Tech-Giant Company released their new
version of Pixel 2 Smartphone with a provision for e-SIM card Technology on October
of 2017. On September 12th of 2018, Apple CEO, Tim Cook announced that upcoming
Apple Devices will be powered by e-SIM. All are quoting about e-SIM and What's this
technology is all about? This upcoming report gives a clear overview on:

- Basics of SIM Card Technology,

- Evolution of SIM Cards over a period of Time,

- Knowledge on e-SIM.

Since it's a vast area and an evolving technology, this report will be limited to the
basic technologies related to e-SIM.

The Report will begin by explaining a prelude to the modern day SIM card and the
standards involved in it. It will be followed by a brief note on GSMA Foundation, an
standard body under ETSI - the organization, that formulates and regulates protocols
for Mobile Communication. The complete description about e-SIM, Working, Real-
Time Teardown of e-SIM along with Evolution of SIM Cards over time & M2M
Technology (Core Area of application of e-SIM), Merits and De-Merits of e-SIM etc.,
will be discussed.

So, the synopsis will be,

- Introduction to SIM,

- Standards in Mobile Communication,

- The GSMA Foundation,

- Evolution over Time,

- Introduction to e-SIM,

- Rocket Science of e-SIM,

- Real Time Tear-down of e-SIM,

- Merits and Demerits of e-SIM.

Introduction to SIM:

SIM is an acronym, that stands out for Subscriber's Identity Module. It's a removable
Embedded Circuit Chip that resembles the operation of a Smart Card. The main
intention of a SIM Card is to act as a Intermediator, between a mobile phone user and
the Nobile Network Service Provider.

The appearance of the SIM card may look like a Normal Plastic Card, but inside it
carries information like:

- IMSI,

- MSISDN,

- ICCID,

- Algorithm,

-Network related data.

IMSI or International Mobile Subscriber Identity, is used to identify the network

participants and their location on the network. Mobile Station International Subscriber
Directory Number (MSISDN), is a number used to identify a mobile phone number
internationally. Integrated Circuit Card Identifier, is the number that is printed on the
SIM card. This number must be essential when a mobile user locked the SIM card, the
mobile will ask for a Personal Unblocking Key (PUK). Since, Security is a major
concern in SIM Cards, Algorithm section inside will contain Cryptographic Algorithms
like A8 along with some other network related data.

First SIM Cards were made by German SIM card maker, Giesecke & Devrient in 1991.
First 300 SIM cards were SOLD to the Finnish Wireless Network Radio Operator -
Radiolinja. The Physical Structure and Architecture of a SIM card contains several
blocks like RAM, ROM, EEPROM, Processor, I/O etc., along with Hardware Pinouts
like Vcc, Reset, Clock, Ground, Vpp etc.,

- Standards in Mobile Communication:

The various standards in Mobile Communication include:

1G - Advanced Mobile Phone Service (United States) & Nordic Mobile Telephone
(Northern Europe)

2G - Global System for Mobile Communication

3G - Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

4G - Long Term Evolution

The Standards are continually evolving over a period of time.

-The GSMA Foundation:

GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communication(GSM) and GSMA stands for
GSM Association. It was formed in 1987 by The European Telecommunications
Standard Institute (ETSI) and the primary role of GSMA Foundation is to represent the
Mobile Network Operators and the formulation of Standards. The GSMA works to
deliver a regulatory environment that maximises opportunities for mobile operators by
engaging regularly with:

- Ministries of Telecom,

-Telecom Regulatory Authorities,

International and Inter-Governmental Organisations etc.,

On a global level, the GSMA foundation has around 8 Billion Mobile Connections
worldwide and also they conduct Annual Mobile World Congress across the Globe to
promote and maintain the standards.

In a Nutshell, the ETSI and GSMA are the Standard Organizational and Administrative
Bodies that are responsible for Formulation of Protocols and Standards for Mobile
Communications.
Evolution over Time:

The Physical Structure and Dimension of SIM cards changed all the way around from
1991 to till date. As of now, SIM cards evolved into five different Form Factors (FF),

S.No SIM Card Name Form Factor Dimensions Year

1. Standard SIM 1FF 85.60mm 1991
x 53.98mm
with 0.76mm
thickness
2. Mini-SIM 2FF 25mm x 15mm 1996
with 0.76mm
thickness
3. Micro-SIM 3FF 15mm x 12mm 2003
with 0.76mm
thickness
4. Nano-SIM 4FF 12.3mm x Early 2012
8.8mm with
thickness
0.67mm
thickness
5. e-SIM MFF2 6.0mm x 2016
(M2M Form 5.0mm with
Factor) <1mm
thickness

From the above table, we could infer that the thickness of the SIM card changed
remained same between 0.67mm - 0.76mm thickness except for e-SIM for which the
thickness is <1mm.

-Introduction to e-SIM:
e-SIM - Embedded Subscriber Identity Module or e-UICC Embedded Universal
Integrated Circuit Card is a type of improved version of SIM card and does the same
functionality of Traditional SIM card expect the fact for two major things,

-The Physical Plastic SIM cards are replaced by an Virtual Embedded Equivalent that
cannot be removed.

- User's has the provision to change the SIM Card/Service Provider Over-The-Air
(OTA), without needing to physically change the SIM card.

In short, an e-SIM is an Tamper Resistant Module and it's a combination of Hardware

and Software, with Hardware being soldered directly on the Mobile Phone
Motherboard and the Software is an Over-The-Air (OTA) in order to change the Service
Provider.

- Rocket Science of e-SIM:

From the previous definitions, it's clear that an e-SIM is going to be an Embedded SIM
or a chip that is directly soldered to the motherboard. Now, we are going to have a brief
explanation on the chip that is used for e-SIM. More obviously, e-SIM is going to be
manufactured by a company. On June25, 2018, STMicroelectronics got the official
approval for manufacturing e-SIM. The heart of e-SIM is STMicroelectronics ST33
SecurCore ARM 300 Microcontroller.
NESCRYPT - NExt Step Crypto-processor, Next Level of Cryptoprocessor

EDES - Enhanced DES (accelerator), DES - Data Encryption Standard

SWP - Single Wire Protocol, a specification for a single-wire connection between

the SIM card and a near field communication (NFC) chip in a cell phone.

MIFARE - Mikron FARE Collection system, a trademark of NXP Semiconductors -

widely used in contactless smart cards and proximity cards 13.56 MHz

AES - Advanced Encryption Standard, an data Encryption standard.

Except Hardware, everything else is Cloud Oriented Architecture.

Network Security, not a Big Deal!

M2M Architecture:

Real Time Tear-down of e-SIM:

Merits and Demerits of e-SIM:

MERITS:

- SPACE SAVING : When compared with previous versions of SIM cards, e-SIM's save
up to 90% of space including SIM card slot, SIM tray and all other SIM mechanics.

- THEFT FREE: SIM Cards can't be stolen anymore

- EASY PROCESS : No more longer process for buying a new SIM card or changing to a
new service provider.

- EMI FREE: Since, e-SIM Hardware belongs to SON-8 Package (Small Outline No
Leads), it is less prone to EMI Problems.

-MULTI -PROFILE: Possibility to manage several operator profiles simultaneously.

Professional Line and Personal Line on same device.

DE-MERITS:

-HARDWARE SERVICEABILITY: Since soldered to the motherboard, quite tedious to

repair and replace

-UNTRACKABILITY: Low levels of untrackability when compared with Physical SIM

Card
-LOW BATTERY PROFILES: When the phone is running out of battery and you want
to swap your SIM card into a new phone to access SIM cards, then it is not possible.

-LAVISH MOBILE USERS: e-SIM Technology is not suitable for someone who changes
their mobile phone often.

APPLICATIONS OF e-SIM:
CONCLUSION:

An e-SIM is an Tamper Resistant small MCU instead of Plastic SIM Cards, directly
being soldered to the motherboard of the electronic gadget. It's has various features
including Enhanced Encryption Techniques and Security Features, Over-The-Air
Technology (OTA) etc., Also, the service provider porting made easy with the a software
called Carrier Application. In India, e-SIM will be distributed by Reliance - Jio and
Airtel at first and later on by other companies. The following image shows the list
GSMA certified e-SIM Manufacturers and Vendors at a Global Scale.
Above all, being a new and emerging technological area, this e-SIM Sector is going to
be the future of SIM card Technology and could provide employment opportunities to
many Electronics Engineers!

REFERENCES:

http://techinsights.com/about-techinsights/overview/blog/apple-watch-series-3-
teardown/

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+Watch+Series+3+Teardown/97521

https://www.st.com/en/secure-mcus/sim-
esim.html?querycriteria=productId=SC2062

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSISDN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFTmQ27S7OQ

https://techhundred.com/2017/10/16/e-sim-the-future-of-communication/

https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/what-is-an-esim-embedded-sim-IC-
STMicroelectronics-GSMA-accreditation/

https://www.st.com/resource/en/data_brief/st33g1m2.pdf

https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT209096