Telecommunication

Mobile Device and the (e)SIM

Imagine a new IoT device is delivered to an enterprise in a certain country, and it is switched on for the first time with a new SIM card or a new eSIM profile. Or think about a traveler landing in a foreign country on a plane switching on the smartphone after reaching the parking position. What if this fails? Angry customer? Traveler in trouble? Customer care cost? Business loss? Credibility loss?

COMPRION is your partner to prevent such issues before they happen. We provide all the necessary tools and test solutions for the industry. You can rely on the in-depth knowledge of our team, our strong engagement in all relevant standardization and industry bodies as well as on our strong network in the industry.

Challenges

Perfect understanding between device, (e)SIM and network

There is one small but very decisive component which has a huge influence on the ability to establish mobile connectivity: the SIM card – or nowadays the eSIM. The (e)SIM contains all device-side configuration for the mobile connectivity. Therefore, it is essential that:

whatever SIM card is plugged into a device or whatever eSIM is integrated into a device, it works as expected.
the (e)SIM and the baseband processor of the mobile device properly interact with each-other to establish the mobile network connection.
all the configurations on the SIM, or eSIM profile can be created, edited, reviewed, and validated that they comply with the standards and are interpreted by the (e)SIM as expected.
an (e)SIM profile can be remotely provisioned by the M(V)NO without any interoperability problems between the (e)SIM, the device, and the Remote SIM Provisioning backend.

You think this is a lot and complex? You are right. But we at COMPRION are specialized in this and provide a rich portfolio of products and services to facilitate the engineering of all such (e)SIM and device aspects, the certification of all components according to the relevant specifications and industry bodies and dealing with the SIM, or eSIM profile. Due to the obvious huge interoperability challenges, the telecommunication industry has not just defined a lot of high-quality technical standards (e.g. ETSI, 3GPP, GSMA, TCA) but also related standardized test specifications and conformance certification organizations (GCF, PTCRB, GP).

That’s where COMPRION is an expert in.

Areas

Chipset & Device Manufacturers

Within our scope of services for manufacturers of chipsets and mobile devices, we specialize in two distinct areas.

Firstly, we provide comprehensive support in designing development and testing environments. We can create either the entire framework or specific components. This flexible approach allows us to offer customized solutions that meet the needs of our clients. This involves utilizing a suite of tools, including the eUICC Profile Manager and its Loader modules, tailored for M2M, IoT, and consumer devices. Manufacturers can also opt for tools like the File Tree Express for SIM cards or the eUICC Profile Creator to generate (e)SIM profiles with diverse configurations, ensuring effective testing in various network scenarios.
Secondly, we provide support for the preparation and execution of official USIM/USAT mobile device conformance testing. Our COMPRION SIMfony product family is supporting you in this together with our Network Simulator partners Anritsu and Rohde & Schwarz.
Additionally, we conduct various device tests, e.g. according to the GSMA Handset Testbook and ETSI standards, to guarantee seamless execution of mobile device testing.

Test Laboratories

The industry’s conformance test frameworks for mobile devices, SIM and eSIM – GCF, PTCRB, Global Platform – ensure that conformance testing is conducted by accredited test laboratories. COMPRION serves test labs with qualified test tools for:

USIM/USAT mobile device conformance testing (GCF, PTCRB): COMPRION SIMfony
eSIM mobile device testing (GCF, PTCRB): Test Benches based on the Connectivity Test Center
eUICC testing (Global Platform): Test Benches based on the Connectivity Test Center

In addition, we provide tools which allow test automation which extends the automation we already implemented within our tools - the SIMplifyer

M(V)NOs

M(V)NOs purchase customized SIM cards to distribute them to their customers. Our test tools, based on our in-house software Connectivity Test Center, and GCF/PTCRB as well as Global Platform-certified hardware, enable us to guarantee the highest level of quality.

For checking and editing the configurations on the SIM card our File Tree Express tool can be used. And to analyze problems, major MNOs and MVNOs rely on our pocket tracer tool MiniMove.

EUMs

EUMs need to care about two major aspects:

Whether it is the classical SIM card, which is still not obsolete and will still be around for years to come, or the eSIM chip: EUMs need to test and certify their (e)SIM products according to the relevant technical specifications and the defined GP conformance framework. COMPRION is supporting this with the many qualified test benches based on its test management platform Connectivity Test Center.
The creation and testing of eSIM profiles on behalf of their customers. Tools for an efficient process, like the eUICC Profile Creator, are required.

Participation

Paper

Tool Chain for eSIM Profile Devlopment & Validation

The document outlines an E2E comprehensive and sophisticated tool chain for this task, based on COMPRION products. This is based on outlining the logical steps of the process and the requirements a tool chain needs to fulfill.

Highlights