Patent Application
20140351121
1. Field
The present invention generally relates to managing applications on a secure element. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems, methods, and computer program products for managing the availability states of those applications.
2. Related Art
Mobile commerce is a rapidly growing industry in which users, through their mobile devices, purchase items in-store or online. To make these purchases, a mobile wallet is installed on a user's mobile device. The mobile wallet connects the user's bank account or credit cards to their mobile device. With the aid of a near-field communication chip (NFC), a user can use his/her mobile device to pay for goods and services from brick-and-mortar stores by contactlessly interacting with a NFC payment system. The mobile wallet itself is an application stored on the mobile device. Sensitive user information, in addition to one or more mobile commerce applications, may be stored on a secure element on the mobile device. The mobile commerce applications may originate from different sources, including service providers (e.g., a merchant, a banking institution, or a credit card company) or an operator of a mobile network over which the mobile device communicates (also referred to as a mobile network operator (MNO)).
Mobile commerce applications are occasionally updated with newer versions, which are then delivered to the mobile devices. There is the potential, however, that an unforeseen issue may arise with an updated version of an application which may cause the user's mobile device to malfunction, or be rendered inactive altogether (commonly referred to as “bricking” a device). Considering that many mobile devices automatically update themselves, or are routinely updated by their users, a defective version may quickly propagate through a user community. Thus, with the release of each new version of an application, there is a potential for a cascading failure. To minimize this risk, new versions of applications are tested extensively. Nevertheless, such testing cannot guarantee that an issue will not arise. Therefore, it would be advantageous to be able to stem the distribution of defective applications once a defect it discovered. Moreover, it would also be advantageous to quickly and efficiently stop the rollout of a defective application with minimal effort.
The present invention provides systems, methods, and computer program products for managing the availability states of applications on secure elements.
In one embodiment, a method of managing the availability of a service includes at least one receiving and modifying step. A request to modify an availability state of a version of the service is received. The availability state of the version of the service is stored in the memory and is modified in accordance with the request. The availability state is modified to: (i) unavailable in a case where the request includes an instruction to disable the version of the service, and (ii) available in a case where the request includes an instruction to enable the version of the service. The service is associated with a secure element profile.
In another embodiment, a data processing system for managing the availability of a service includes at least one memory that stores an availability state of a version of the service, a communication unit, and a processor. The communication unit is configured to receive a request to modify the availability state of the version of the service. The processor is coupled to the at least one memory and the communication unit, and is operable to: modify the availability state of the version of the service stored in the at least one memory in accordance with the request, wherein the availability state is modified to: (i) unavailable in a case where the request includes an instruction to disable the version of the service, and (ii) available in a case where the request includes an instruction to enable the version of the service. The service is associated with a secure element profile.
In yet another embodiment, a method of managing the availability of a function comprising at least one receiving and modification step is described. A request to modify an availability state of a function is received. The availability state of the function is modified in accordance with the request. The availability state is modified to: (i) unavailable in a case where the request includes an instruction to disable the function, and (ii) available in a case where the request includes an instruction to enable the function. The function is associated with a secure element.
In still a further embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a system including at least one processor and at least one memory, cause the system to perform at least one receiving and modification step is described. A request to modify an availability state of a version of the service, the availability state of the service being stored in a memory, is received. The availability state of the version of the service stored in the memory is modified in accordance with the request. The availability state is modified to: (i) unavailable in a case where the request includes an instruction to disable the version of the service, and (ii) available in a case where the request includes an instruction to enable the version of the service. The service is associated with a secure element profile.
The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the following drawings.
Mobile Commerce System
Through a corresponding SP TSM 103, a service provider 107 can provide applications or instructions regarding those applications to the central TSM 102. As such, each of the SP TSMs 103 is communicatively coupled to the central TSM 102 via a communications network 105. Communications network 105 may be a virtual private network (VPN), a network using Transfer Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP) standards (e.g., Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) standards), or the like. Each of the SP TSMs 103 and the central TSM 102 may also secure these communications by using security protocols such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), or the like. Each of the SP TSMs 103 may also communicate with the central TSM 102 by using an application programming interface (API) such as a web service API.
In an exemplary embodiment, the central TSM 102 includes a processor 102a and a memory 102b. The central TSM 102 may be implemented via software stored on the memory 102b to serve as an intermediary between the SP TSMs 103 and the secure elements 106a-1, 106a-2, . . . , 106a-n (collectively “106a”). Secure elements 106a may be hardware and/or software implemented to store sensitive information and/or code applets, applications and packages. Physically, the secure element may be implemented as a universal integrated circuit card, an embedded secure element, or a micro secure digital (micro SD) card. Alternatively, the secure element may be implemented as a secure storage communicatively connected to the mobile device. For example, such a secure element may be cloud-based, virtual or remote storage.
More specifically, the central TSM 102 provides each of the SP TSMs 103 with means to, for example, load, modify, install, or delete applications on the secure elements 106a. In addition, the SP TSMs 103, through the central TSM 102, can request pre-personalization of a secure element 106a or personalization of a payment service. That is, the central TSM 102 manages the communications between the SP TSMs 103 and the secure elements 106a.
To manage the communications between the SP TSMs 103 and the secure elements 106a, the central TSM 102 is constructed to communicate with a plurality of service providers 107 and SP TSMs 103, and with a plurality of secure elements 106a over a plurality of mobile networks 104-1, 104-2, . . . , 104-n (collectively “104”). In one embodiment, the central TSM 102 may include or be communicatively coupled to an enterprise service bus (ESB) 101. The ESB 101 is an architecture model for implementing the interactions and communications between entities (e.g., secure elements 106a, SP TSMs 103, central TSM 102). In one example embodiment, the functions described herein that are performed by the central TSM 102 may be performed by an ESB (e.g., ESB 101) or any system or device that is specifically programmed to perform such functions.
As noted above, the central TSM 102 is communicatively coupled to the secure elements 106a via corresponding mobile networks 104 used and/or managed by corresponding MNOs. Generally, the mobile networks 104 are used by MNOs to provide wireless communications services. The mobile networks 104 may be mobile phone cellular networks, radio networks, or the like. The central TSM 102 may communicate with the secure elements 106a, via the mobile networks 104, using security protocols such as Global Platform secure channel protocol, SSL, TLS, or the like.
The secure elements 106a are associated with corresponding mobile devices 106-1, 106-2, . . . , 106-n (collectively “106”), respectively. The secure elements 106a may be communicatively coupled to one or more processors and one or more memories, for example, of their respective mobile devices 106.
As discussed above, the secure elements 106a may include code, applets, applications, and packages. These items may be provided by service providers 107, mobile network operators, or a system administrator, and may be preloaded on the secure element 106a at the time of manufacture. Packages may include uninstantiated applets and/or applications, and may be loaded on the secure element 106a, for example, over-the-air (OTA). Applets and/or applications on the secure element 106a may also be in uninstantiated or instantiated form. Uninstantiated applets and/or applications may be loaded on the secure element 106a and later instantiated to create one or more instances of said applet and/or application. In addition, applets and/or applications may be loaded, for example, OTA after the secure element 106a has been manufactured (e.g., after delivering the secure element 106a to a user).
Applets and applications may be generic or non-generic. Non-generic applets and applications correspond to a single service provider 107. For example, applets or applications corresponding to a single service provider's coupon or loyalty program are non-generic. Data used and/or associated with a non-generic applet or application (e.g., offers, coupons) may be stored in the secure element 106a or in memory outside of the secure element 106a (e.g., non-volatile memory of a mobile device 106).
Generic applets and applications can be used by multiple service providers 107. For example, a payment network application (e.g., MasterCard®) may be instantiated for multiple service providers 107 by the central TSM 102, and therefore used by more than one service provider.
Exclusive ownership, control, and/or management of uninstantiated applets or applications allows a single entity to efficiently and cost effectively supervise the applets and/or applications. Further, exclusive ownership, control, and/or management increases security and minimizes the complexities caused by multiple service providers loading and controlling different applets and/or applications on a secure element 106a. For example, a service provider may utilize an instance of an uninstantiated applet and/or application instead of certifying and installing an independent applet or application on the secure element 106a.
An application, applet, package, or code, when executed by a processor causes the mobile device 106 to perform a corresponding service (e.g., make a payment, receive a coupon, or receive an advertisement, etc.). An applet or application on a secure element 106a may function pursuant to requirements established by Global Platform, Europay, MasterCard®, Visa® (EMVCo.), MNOs, and payment networks (e.g., MasterCard®, Visa®, Discover®, American Express®). Applets or applications may be, for example, Expresspay™ payWave™, PayPass™, Zip™, and the like.
Since mobile devices 106 operate on different mobile networks (104-1, 104-2, . . . , 104-n) and the secure elements 106a may have different hardware configurations, the central TSM 102 maintains a secure element profile that contains information regarding each of secure elements 106a. A secure element profile defines specific hardware and software features (e.g., installed applets and applet versions) of a given secure element. One example of a secure element profile, including fields and descriptions of information of the secure element profile, is shown below. It should be understood that the following is simply an example, and that a secure element profile might contain more, fewer, or different fields.
Other fields of the secure element profile may include, for example, OS version, GlobalPlatform version, extra capabilities of the secure element (e.g., on-board key generation), loaded applications and their versions, etc.
A secure element profile may include or be associated with a secure element profile availability table, which details, among other things, the applets and/or applications (and their versions) that are compatible with each secure element 106a and/or secure element profile. As noted above, applications may be updated over time with newer versions. However, a newer version of an application may not be compatible with every type of secure element 106a, or even those secure elements 106a with which the previous version of the application was compatible. Such a change in compatibility may be caused by, for example, the newer version of the application requiring a different hardware configuration, and thus rendering it incompatible with older secure elements. Accordingly, the secure element profile availability table includes information on the compatible versions of each application for each secure element profile, as illustrated below in Table 1. It should be understood that a secure element table can be stored in and managed by a central TSM (e.g., central TSM 102), ESB (e.g., ESB 101) or the like.
Table 1 is an exemplary secure element availability profile table, which includes fields for the secure element profile name, application ID corresponding to the application, and compatible version(s) of the application. In this example, each secure element profile name is based on the type of physical medium embodying the secure element 106a (e.g., universal integrated circuit card (UICC), embedded secure element, or micro SD), the release version (R1, R2), and the mobile network operator over which the mobile device 106 comprising the secure element 106a communicates (MNO1, MNO2). The application ID field (Appln. ID) is a unique numerical value assigned to each application. The version field tracks all versions of the application corresponding to the application ID that are compatible with the secure element profile. For example, secure element profile “UICC_R1_MNO1” is a profile of a first release secure element embodied in a universal integrated circuit card and to be used with mobile network operator 1. Version 1.0 and 1.1 of application 101 are compatible with UICC_R1_MNO1, but not version 1.2. In this example, version 1.2 is incompatible, for example, because the first release (R1) of the UICC lacks the necessary hardware. In contrast, UICC_R2_MNO1, which is the second release (R2) of the UICC is compatible with version 1.2. For similar reasons, version 1.2 of application 101 is also incompatible with UCC_R1_MNO2, MSD_R1_MNO1 and MSD_R1_MNO2. Of course, later versions of an application may be incompatible with a secure element profile for other reasons as well, such as the physical embodiment of the secure element 106a or the mobile network operator.
While multiple versions of an application may be compatible with a secure element 106a, not all versions of that application may necessarily be available at once. Rather, one or more of the compatible versions may be deemed to be available, while the other versions are unavailable. As such, the central TSM 102 is also constructed to store an availability state for each version of the application. Typically, the availability state of the latest version (e.g., most recent or newer version) of an application is set to available. The availability state for each of the application versions shown in Table 1 is represented visually in Table 2 below.
As shown in Table 2, versions of the application highlighted in bold and italics have availability states set to “available” while other versions of that application (which are not highlighted in bold) are set to unavailable.
Information on the availability states is especially useful when the secure element 106a is to be activated or personalized. The secure element 106a communicates with the central TSM 102 to determine whether the uninstantiated applications are the latest versions. This process is illustrated in
As shown in
A similar process is performed when the central TSM 102 identifies or determines that a new version of an application is available for installation on secure elements, as illustrated in
If the new version of the application is a critical update, then rather than waiting for the update query (S302) from the mobile device 106, the central TSM 102 can push the new application version to all the secure elements 106a corresponding to the secure element profile that includes the updated application.
As discussed above, with the release of a new version of an application, there is a risk that an unforeseen issue may arise that would impair the functionality of the application, or worse, cause the secure element 106a to become inoperative. As discussed below, however, by modifying the availability state of the malfunctioning version, the rollout of the malfunctioning version can be stopped quickly and efficiently.
The request may originate from a system administrator acting on the central TSM 102, for example, through a web portal, or may be received from a service provider 107 through one of the SP TSMs 103. Upon receipt of the request, the central TSM 102 determines whether or not the request includes the version ID of a specific version of the application whose availability state is to be modified. If the request does not identify a specific version of the application, then the availability state of the latest (i.e., most recent) version of the application is modified in accordance with the request (S403). If the request does identify a specific version of the application, then the central TSM 102 determines whether or not an earlier version of the application is compatible with the secure element profile (S404). If no earlier version of the application is present, then the availability state of the identified version of the application is modified in accordance with the request (S405). If, however, it is determined that an earlier version of the application is compatible with the secure element profile in S404, and the request includes an instruction to modify the availability state of the identified version to unavailable, then such a modification is made (S407) and the availability state of the earlier version of the application is modified to available (S408).
In an alternative embodiment, even if the request does not include a version ID (e.g., does not identify a specific version of the application), the central TSM 102 may refer to the secure element profile availability table to determine whether there is an earlier version of the application compatible with the secure element profile. If so, the central TSM 102 may modify the availability state of that earlier version to available when the availability state of the latest version is modified to unavailable.
Assuming the secure element profile availability table shown in Table 2 is modified in accordance with the request shown in Table 3, the availability state of version 1.2 of the application corresponding to application ID 101 is set to unavailable for secure element profile UICC_R2_MNO1. Moreover, because the request shown in Table 3 includes a version ID (version 1.2), the central TSM 102 determines that an earlier version of the application is compatible with the secure element profile (namely version 1.1), and will modify the availability state of the earlier compatible version to “available.” After these operations are performed, the salient portion of the secure element profile availability tableshown in Table 3, will appear as shown in Table 4 below.
1.1
1.2
In the case that the availability state of version 1.2 of the application corresponding to application ID 101 is set to unavailable, when the central TSM 102 compares information (in S204 and S5303) from a secure element 106a regarding the version of the application corresponding to Appln. ID 101 to information in the secure element profile availability table, the central TSM 102 determines version 1.1 of the application to be the latest available version of the application. By changing the availability state of version 1.2 to unavailable, the central TSM 102 may no longer provide or make available version 1.2 to the secure elements 106a, and the rollout of version 1.2 is stopped.
Through a similar process to the one described above, it also possible to make the latest version of an application, or a specific version of an application, available to the secure elements 106a. Such a process is useful when, for example, the error in the malfunctioning version of the application has been corrected.
Returning to
The central TSM 102 is also constructed to generate an error message that can be delivered to a system managed by a system administrator, for example, in the case where the availability state of the version to be modified is equal to unavailable and the request includes an instruction to disable the version of the service. Likewise, the central TSM 102 is constructed to generate an error message when the availability state of the version to be modified is equal to available and the request includes an instruction to enable the version of the service. That is, an error message can be sent by a central TSM 102, for example, when a request includes instructions to modify an availability state to a state in which an application is already in.
As described above, the central TSM 102 can modify the availability state of versions of applications stored on the secure element 106a. The central TSM 102, however, also is constructed to modify the availability state of a function. A function is a representation of executable code that when executed by the central TSM 102 causes one or more processes to be performed. Functions may be manifested as application program interfaces (APIs) that are exposed to some or all of the service providers 107, mobile network operators, and other systems managed by system administrators. Table 5 is an exemplary list of such functions and their description.
A system may disable, for example, any of the above-referenced functions through or with the assistance of the central TSM 102. In some instances, some functions may not be disabled, such as suspend wallet, terminate wallet, and reactivate wallet functions. As shown in
By disabling one or more functions, a system administrator can stop the rollout of a malfunctioning version of an application. For example, by disabling the INSTALL MOBILE WALLET, PERSONALIZE WALLET, INSTALL WALLET WITH PERSONALIZATION, WALLET UPGRADE, or UPGRADE WITH WALLET PERSONALIZATION functions, installation and upgrade functions are disabled, thus preventing a newer version of any application from being disseminated to the mobile devices 106.
As discussed above, by modifying the availability states of versions of applications and functions, the distribution of one or more applications to the secure elements 106a can be quickly and efficiently stopped.
The computer 600 may include without limitation a processor device 610, a main memory 625, and an interconnect bus 605. The processor device 610 may include without limitation a single microprocessor, or may include a plurality of microprocessors for configuring the computer 600 as a multi-processor system. The main memory 625 stores, among other things, instructions and/or data for execution by the processor device 610. The main memory 625 may include banks of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), as well as cache memory.
The computer 600 may further include a mass storage device 630, peripheral device(s) 640, portable non-transitory storage medium device(s) 650, input control device(s) 680, a graphics subsystem 660, and/or an output display interface 670. For explanatory purposes, all components in the computer 600 are shown in
The portable storage medium device 650 operates in conjunction with a nonvolatile portable storage medium, such as, for example, a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), to input and output data and code to and from the computer 600. In some embodiments, the software for storing information may be stored on a portable storage medium, and may be inputted into the computer 600 via the portable storage medium device 650. The peripheral device(s) 640 may include any type of computer support device, such as, for example, an input/output (I/O) interface configured to add additional functionality to the computer 600. For example, the peripheral device(s) 640 may include a network interface card for interfacing the computer 600 with a network 620.
The input control device(s) 680 provide a portion of the user interface for a user of the computer 600. The input control device(s) 680 may include a keypad and/or a cursor control device. The keypad may be configured for inputting alphanumeric characters and/or other key information. The cursor control device may include, for example, a handheld controller or mouse, a trackball, a stylus, and/or cursor direction keys. In order to display textual and graphical information, the computer 600 may include the graphics subsystem 660 and the output display 670. The output display 670 may include a cathode ray tube (CRT) display and/or a liquid crystal display (LCD). The graphics subsystem 660 receives textual and graphical information, and processes the information for output to the output display 670.
Each component of the computer 600 may represent a broad category of a computer component of a general and/or special purpose computer. Components of the computer 600 are not limited to the specific implementations provided here.
Software embodiments of the example embodiments presented herein may be provided as a computer program product, or software, that may include an article of manufacture on a machine accessible or machine readable medium having instructions. The instructions on the non-transitory machine accessible machine readable or computer-readable medium may be used to program a computer system or other electronic device. The machine or computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing or transmitting electronic instructions. The techniques described herein are not limited to any particular software configuration. They may find applicability in any computing or processing environment. The terms “computer-readable”, “machine accessible medium” or “machine readable medium” used herein shall include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or transmitting a sequence of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one of the methods described herein. Furthermore, it is common in the art to speak of software, in one form or another (e.g., program, procedure, process, application, module, unit, logic, and so on) as taking an action or causing a result. Such expressions are merely a shorthand way of stating that the execution of the software by a processing system causes the processor to perform an action to produce a result.
Portions of the example embodiments of the invention may be conveniently implemented by using a conventional general purpose computer, a specialized digital computer and/or a microprocessor programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure, as is apparent to those skilled in the computer art. Appropriate software coding may readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure.
Some embodiments may also be implemented by the preparation of application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or by interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component circuits.
Some embodiments include a computer program product. The computer program product may be a storage medium or media having instructions stored thereon or therein which can be used to control, or cause, a computer to perform any of the procedures of the example embodiments of the invention. The storage medium may include without limitation a floppy disk, a mini disk, an optical disc, a Blu-ray Disc, a DVD, a CD or CD-ROM, a micro-drive, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a RAM, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a DRAM, a VRAM, a flash memory, a flash card, a magnetic card, an optical card, nanosystems, a molecular memory integrated circuit, a RAID, remote data storage/archive/warehousing, and/or any other type of device suitable for storing instructions and/or data.
Stored on any one of the computer readable medium or media, some implementations include software for controlling both the hardware of the general and/or special computer or microprocessor, and for enabling the computer or microprocessor to interact with a human user or other mechanism utilizing the results of the example embodiments of the invention. Such software may include without limitation device drivers, operating systems, and user applications. Ultimately, such computer readable media further includes software for performing example aspects of the invention, as described above.
Included in the programming and/or software of the general and/or special purpose computer or microprocessor are software modules for implementing the procedures described above.
While various example embodiments of the invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example, and not limitation. It is apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made therein. Thus, the disclosure should not be limited by any of the above described example embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.
In addition, it should be understood that the figures are presented for example purposes only. The architecture of the example embodiments presented herein is sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized and navigated in ways other than that shown in the accompanying figures.
Further, the purpose of the Abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is not intended to be limiting as to the scope of the example embodiments presented herein in any way. It is also to be understood that the procedures recited in the claims need not be performed in the order presented.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/825,870 filed May 21, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61825870 | May 2013 | US |
