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eSIM Technology in IoT Architecture

Hang Yuan, Artiom Baloian, Jan Janak, Henning Schulzrinne

TL;DR

The paper analyzes how eSIM technology, traditionally used in mobile devices, can be extended to IoT deployments to solve provisioning, scalability, and UI limitations. It presents a general eSIM provisioning architecture based on GSMA standards (SGP21) and introduces IoT-specific extensions: the eSIM IoT Remote Manager (eIM) and IoT Profile Assistant (IPA), which enable remote state management and IoT-tailored profile operations. The work details secure provisioning flows, including Common Mutual Authentication and Profile Download, for both mobile and IoT contexts, emphasizing certificate-based security, trust chains, and multiple download methodologies. The findings demonstrate that incorporating eIM and IPA enables scalable, remote subscription management for large IoT fleets, reducing manual intervention, enabling offline or limited-connectivity devices, and supporting multi-operator profiles with efficient lifecycle handling.

Abstract

eSIM(embedded SIM) is an advanced alternative to traditional physical SIM cards initially developed by the GSM Association(GSMA) in 2013 [1][2]. The eSIM technology has been deployed in many commercial products such as mobile devices. However, the application of the eSIM technology in IoT devices has yet to start being primarily deployed. Understanding the eSIM architecture and the basic ideas of the eSIM provisioning and operations is very important for engineers to promote eSIM technology deployment in more areas, both academics and industries. The report focuses on the eSIM technology in the IoT architecture and two major operations of Remote SIM Provisioning(RSP) procedure: the Common Mutual Authentication procedure, a process used to authenticate eSIM trusted communication parties over the public internet, and the Profile Downloading procedure, the way to download the Profile from the operator SM-DP+ server and eventually remotely provision the end-user devices.

eSIM Technology in IoT Architecture

TL;DR

The paper analyzes how eSIM technology, traditionally used in mobile devices, can be extended to IoT deployments to solve provisioning, scalability, and UI limitations. It presents a general eSIM provisioning architecture based on GSMA standards (SGP21) and introduces IoT-specific extensions: the eSIM IoT Remote Manager (eIM) and IoT Profile Assistant (IPA), which enable remote state management and IoT-tailored profile operations. The work details secure provisioning flows, including Common Mutual Authentication and Profile Download, for both mobile and IoT contexts, emphasizing certificate-based security, trust chains, and multiple download methodologies. The findings demonstrate that incorporating eIM and IPA enables scalable, remote subscription management for large IoT fleets, reducing manual intervention, enabling offline or limited-connectivity devices, and supporting multi-operator profiles with efficient lifecycle handling.

Abstract

eSIM(embedded SIM) is an advanced alternative to traditional physical SIM cards initially developed by the GSM Association(GSMA) in 2013 [1][2]. The eSIM technology has been deployed in many commercial products such as mobile devices. However, the application of the eSIM technology in IoT devices has yet to start being primarily deployed. Understanding the eSIM architecture and the basic ideas of the eSIM provisioning and operations is very important for engineers to promote eSIM technology deployment in more areas, both academics and industries. The report focuses on the eSIM technology in the IoT architecture and two major operations of Remote SIM Provisioning(RSP) procedure: the Common Mutual Authentication procedure, a process used to authenticate eSIM trusted communication parties over the public internet, and the Profile Downloading procedure, the way to download the Profile from the operator SM-DP+ server and eventually remotely provision the end-user devices.
Paper Structure (28 sections, 8 figures)

This paper contains 28 sections, 8 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. General eSIM Provisioning Architecture
  3. Operator
  4. SM-DP+ (Subscription Manager - Data Preparation +)
  5. SM-DS (Subscription Manager - Discovery Server)
  6. LPA (Local Profile Assistant)
  7. eUICC
  8. Logical Interface
  9. eSIM on Android Device
  10. IoT eSIM Provisioning Architecture
  11. eIM (eSIM IoT remote Manager)
  12. IPA (IoT Profile Assistant)
  13. eSIM remote Provisioning for mobile devices
  14. Communication
  15. Certificate
  16. ...and 13 more sections

Figures (8)

  • Figure 1: Diagram of Simplified Remote SIM Provisioning(RSP) Architecture for Mobile Devices: major RSP components connected with logical interfaces
  • Figure 2: Android eSIM Module Architecture: operations are executed through different system and customized modules
  • Figure 3: Diagram of the eIM and corresponding logical interfaces are added to the general RSP Architecture for IoT Devices
  • Figure 4: Certificate Exchange: the certificate is issued and chained by different level of issuers in different processes
  • Figure 5: Procedure Flow of Common Mutual Authentication
  • ...and 3 more figures