“Card holder” redirects here. For other uses of the word, see card enclosure.
 A mini SIM card next to its electrical contacts in a Nokia 6233. A Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) is a removable smart card for mobile phones. SIM cards securely store the service-subscriber key used to identify a mobile phone. The SIM card allows users to change phones by simply removing the SIM card from one mobile phone and inserting it into another mobile phone. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Subscriber Identity Module. ...
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This article is about the wireless subsidiary of AT&T. For the defunct wireless provider that was merged into Cingular in 2004, see AT&T Wireless Services. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 163 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)By Richard Wheeler (Zephyris) 2007. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 163 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)By Richard Wheeler (Zephyris) 2007. ...
The Nokia 6233 phone made by Nokia is the successor to the Nokia 6230i. ...
Smart card used for health insurance in France. ...
The use of SIM cards is mandatory in the GSM world. The equivalent of a SIM in UMTS is called the Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC), whereas the Removable User Identity Module (RUIM) is more popular in CDMA phones. The Global System for Mobile communications (GSM: originally from Groupe Spécial Mobile) is the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. ...
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ...
The UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) is the chip card used in mobile terminals in 3G telecom networks-Systems. ...
Removable User Identity Module, a card that is used in CDMA handsets and is equivalent to the GSM SIM card. ...
Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a form of multiplexing and a method of multiple access to a physical medium such as a radio channel, where different users use the medium at the same time thanks to using different code sequences. ...
SIM cards are available in two standard sizes. The first is the size of a credit card (85.60 mm × 53.98 mm x 0.76 mm). The newer, more popular miniature-version has a width of 25 mm, a height of 15 mm, and a thickness of 0.76 mm. Credit cards A credit card is a system of payment named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. ...
W-SIM is a SIM card which also integrates core cellular technology into the card itself. W-SIM is a SIM card made by Willcom which, in addition to standard SIM functions, also has the core components of the cell phone such as the radio and transmitter built inside. ...
Memory storage size
The typical low cost SIM card (GSM 11.11 only) has little memory, 2-3 KB as described in GSM 11.11 (telephone directory and so on). Such data storage is used by the phone directly. The market segment of low cost SIM is constantly shrinking.
SIMs with additional applications (GSM11.14) are available in many storage sizes, the largest being the 1 GiB SIM. Smaller sized SIMs such as the 32 KB and 16 KB are the most prevalent in areas with less-developed GSM networks. There are also Large Memory SIMs, on the order of 128-1024 megabytes. A gibibyte is a unit of information or computer storage. ...
SIM card memory will vary across mobile carriers.
At the end of 2006 the most common GSM SIM in the US is 64 KB - this stemmed from Nov 2004 when the Cingular and AT&T merger triggered the supply of 64 KB SIMs over 32 KB to better support both networks (and make them look like one).
Operating systems SIM operating systems come in two main types: Native and Java Card. Native SIMs are based on proprietary, vendor specific software whereas the Java Card SIMs are based on standards, particularly Java Card which is a subset of the Java programming language specifically targeted for small embedded devices. Java Card allows the SIM to contain programs that are hardware independent and interoperable. Java Card refers to a technology that allows small Java-based applications (applets) to be run securely on smart cards and similar devices. ...
Java is a programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems and released in 1995. ...
Data SIM cards store network specific information used to authenticate and identify subscribers on the Network, the most important of these are the ICCID, IMSI, Authentication Key (Ki), Local Area Identity (LAI). The SIM also stores other carrier specific data such as the SMSC (Short Message Service Center) number, Service Provider Name (SPN), Service Dialing Numbers (SDN), and Value Added Service (VAS) applications. (look to GSM 11.11)
ICCID Each SIM is Internationally identified by its[ICC-ID](Integrated Circuit Card ID). ICCIDs are stored in the SIM cards and are also engraved or printed on the SIM card body during a process called personalization.
IMSI SIM cards are identified on their individual operator networks by holding a unique International Mobile Subscriber Identity. Mobile operators connect mobile phone calls and communicate with their market SIM cards using their IMSI. IMSI IMSI is an acronym for International Mobile Subscriber Identity. ...
Authentication key (Ki) The Ki is a 128-bit value used in authenticating the SIMs on the mobile network. Each SIM holds a unique Ki assigned to it by the operator during the personalization process. The Ki is also stored on a database (known as Home Location Register or HLR) on the carrier’s network. The GSM Core network is the heart of a GSM system, the most common mobile phone system in the world. ...
The SIM card is designed so that the Ki cannot be obtained using the smart-card interface. Instead, the SIM card provides a function, "RUN GSM ALGORITHM", that allows the phone to pass data to the SIM card to be signed with the Ki. This, by design, makes usage of the SIM card mandatory unless the Ki can be extracted from the SIM card, or the carrier is willing to reveal the Ki. In practice, the GSM "crypto" algorithm for computing SRES_2 from the Ki has a weak point. This allows the extraction of the Ki from a SIM card and the making of a duplicate SIM card. SIM cloning consists of (often illegally) duplicating the GSM Subscriber Identity Module (a SIM card must be entered into a GSM phone in order for it to connect to a network, except for the basic GSM emergency 112 calls or local emergency calls (like emergency 911 calls for the United...
Authentication process - When the Mobile Equipment starts up, it obtains the IMSI from the SIM card, and passes this to the mobile operator requesting access and authentication. The Mobile Equipment may have to pass a PIN to the SIM card before the SIM card will reveal this information.
- The operator network searches its database for the incoming IMSI and its associated Ki.
- The operator network then generates a Random Number (RAND) and signs it with the Ki associated with the IMSI (and stored on the SIM card), computing another number known as Signed Response (SRES_1).
- The operator network then sends the RAND to the Mobile Equipment, which passes it to the SIM card. The SIM card signs it with its Ki, producing SRES_2 which it gives to the Mobile Equipment along with encryption key Kc. The Mobile Equipment passes SRES_2 on to the operator network.
- The operator network then compares its computed SRES_1 with the computed SRES_2 that the Mobile Equipment returned. If the two numbers match the SIM is authenticated and the Mobile Equipment granted access to the operator's network. Kc is used to encrypt all further communications between the Mobile Equipment and the network.
Location area identity The SIM stores network state information which is broadcast to it from the network, such as the Location Area Identity (LAI). Operator networks are divided into Location Areas, each having a unique LAI number. When the Mobile changes its location from one Location Area to another it stores its new LAI in SIM and sends it to the operator network to inform network with its new location. If the handset is turned off and back on again it will take data off the SIM and search for the LAI it was in. This saves time by avoiding having to search the whole list of frequencies that the telephone normally would. Each location area of a public land mobile network (PLMN) has its own unique identifier which is known as Location Area Identity (LAI). ...
Japan Japan's PDC system also specifies a SIM, but this has never been implemented commercially. The specification of the interface between the Mobile Equipment and the SIM is given in the RCR STD-27 annex 4. The Subscriber Identity Module Expert Group was a committee of specialists assembled by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to draw up the specifications (GSM 11.11) for interfacing between smart cards and mobile telephones. In 1994, the name SIMEG was changed to SMG9. Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) is a 2G mobile phone standard developed and used exclusively in Japan. ...
This article needs cleanup. ...
The Global System for Mobile communications (GSM: originally from Groupe Spécial Mobile) is the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. ...
Finland In July 2005, the Finnish government announced that a Citizen Certificate - a government-guaranteed 'electronic identity' included in a SIM card - would be made available to every individual resident in Finland before the end of 2005, allowing mobile phone users to access e-services on the move. The Citizen Certificate has been described as "basically an e-ID card that will be compatible with several hardware devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs, personal computers, Digital TV sets, and public web kiosks".It is based on open standards and secured Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) [1] Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The electronic identity card (eID) is an official electronic proof of ones identity. ...
For other uses, see Hardware (disambiguation). ...
User with PDA Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are handheld computers that were originally designed as personal organizers, but became much more versatile over the years. ...
Digital television (DTV) uses digital modulation and compression to broadcast video, audio and data signals to television sets. ...
In cryptography, a public key infrastructure (PKI) is an arrangement which provides for third-party vetting of, and vouching for, user identities. ...
Guides SIM Card guide SIM Card Guide(PDF 100kb)
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