UICC
Encyclopedia
- UICC can also mean International Union Against CancerInternational Union Against CancerThe International Union Against Cancer, or UICC is the only non-governmental organization dedicated exclusively to the global control of cancer. Its vision is of a world where cancer is eliminated as a major life-threatening disease for future generations...
(Union Internationale Contre le Cancer).
Smart card
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...
used in mobile terminals in GSM
Global System for Mobile Communications
GSM , is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe technologies for second generation digital cellular networks...
and UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System is a third generation mobile cellular technology for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed by the 3GPP , UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunications Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for...
networks. The UICC ensures the integrity and security of all kinds of personal data, and it typically holds a few hundred kilobytes. With the advent of more services, the storage space will need to be larger.
In a GSM
Global System for Mobile Communications
GSM , is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe technologies for second generation digital cellular networks...
network, the UICC contains a SIM
Subscriber Identity Module
A subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module is an integrated circuit that securely stores the International Mobile Subscriber Identity and the related key used to identify and authenticate subscriber on mobile telephony devices .A SIM is held on a removable SIM card, which...
application and in a UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System is a third generation mobile cellular technology for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed by the 3GPP , UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunications Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for...
network it is the USIM application. A UICC may contain several applications, making it possible for the same smart card to give access to both GSM
Global System for Mobile Communications
GSM , is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe technologies for second generation digital cellular networks...
and UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System is a third generation mobile cellular technology for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed by the 3GPP , UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunications Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for...
networks, and also provide storage of a phone book and other applications. It is also possible to access a GSM
Global System for Mobile Communications
GSM , is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe technologies for second generation digital cellular networks...
network using a USIM application and it is possible to access UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System is a third generation mobile cellular technology for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed by the 3GPP , UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunications Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for...
networks using a SIM application with mobile terminals prepared for this. With the UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System is a third generation mobile cellular technology for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed by the 3GPP , UMTS is a component of the International Telecommunications Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the CDMA2000 standard set for...
release 5 a new application, the IP multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM
ISIM
An IP Multimedia Services Identity Module is an application running on a UICC smart card in a 3G mobile telephone in the IP Multimedia Subsystem . It contains parameters for identifying and authenticating the user to the IMS...
) is required for services in the IMS
IP Multimedia Subsystem
The IP Multimedia Subsystem or IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem is an architectural framework for delivering Internet Protocol multimedia services. It was originally designed by the wireless standards body 3rd Generation Partnership Project , as a part of the vision for evolving mobile...
. The telephone book is a separate application and not part of either subscription information module.
In a cdmaOne/CDMA2000
CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
("CDMA") network, the UICC contains a CSIM
CDMA Subscriber Identify Module
A CDMA Subscriber Identity Module is an application that runs on a removable smart card. Originally, a subset of the CSIM application ran on an R-UIM card. The application has been ported to the UICC , so that a card with CSIM, SIM, and USIM can operate with all major cellular technologies...
application, in addition to 3GPP USIM and SIM applications. A card with all 3 features is called a removable user identitity card, or R-UIM. Thus, the R-UIM card can be inserted into CDMA, GSM, or UMTS handsets, and will work in all three cases.
In 2G networks, the SIM card and SIM application were bound together, so that "SIM card" could mean the physical card, or any physical card with the SIM application. In 3G networks, it is a mistake to speak of a USIM, CSIM, or SIM card, as all three are applications running on a UICC card.
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
, ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
, RAM, EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM stands for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices to store small amounts of data that must be saved when power is removed, e.g., calibration...
and I/O
Input/output
In computing, input/output, or I/O, refers to the communication between an information processing system , and the outside world, possibly a human, or another information processing system. Inputs are the signals or data received by the system, and outputs are the signals or data sent from it...
circuits. Early versions consisted of the whole full-size (85 × 54 mm, ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1) smart card. Soon the race for smaller telephones called for a smaller version of the card. The card was cropped down to 25 × 15 mm (ISO/IEC 7810 ID-000), as illustrated.
Since the card slot is standardized, a subscriber can easily move their wireless account and phone number from one handset to another. This will also transfer their phone book and text messages. Similarly, usually a subscriber can change carriers by inserting a new carrier's UICC card into their existing handset. However, it is not always possible because some carriers (e.g., in U.S.) SIM-lock
SIM lock
A SIM lock, simlock, network lock or subsidy lock is a capability built into GSM phones by mobile phone manufacturers. Network providers use this capability to restrict the use of these phones to specific countries and network providers...
the phones that they sell, preventing rival carriers' cards being used.
The use and content of the card can be protected by use of PIN
Personal identification number
A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...
codes. One code, PIN1, can be defined to control normal use of the phone. Another code, PIN2, can be set, to allow the use of special functions (like limiting outbound telephone calls to a list of numbers). PUK1 and PUK2 is used to reset PIN1 and PIN2 respectively.
The integration of the ETSI framework and the Application management framework of GlobalPlatform
GlobalPlatform
GlobalPlatform is an independent, not-for-profit organization concerned with a standardized infrastructure for development, deployment and management of smart cards...
is standardized in the UICC configuration