WO2020046034A1

WO2020046034A1 - Method and apparatus for using softsim mobile data

Info

Publication number: WO2020046034A1
Application number: PCT/KR2019/011117
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yanyan He; Changbin Gao; Xiangxian ZHENG; Junfeng HUANG; Jingjing Zhao; Jun Jin
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-08-30
Filing date: 2019-08-30
Publication date: 2020-03-05
Anticipated expiration: 2021-02-28
Also published as: CN110876123A

Abstract

There is provided a method and device for obtaining mobile data. The method for obtaining mobile data includes predicting a user behavior, and obtaining a mobile data service from a network node according to the predicted user behavior. With the above method and device, it is possible to enrich functions of the existing mobile data service so that a user can use the mobile data service more conveniently and flexibly.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING SOFTSIM MOBILE DATA

The disclosure relates to a mobile communication field. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a method and device for obtaining, providing, sharing, calibrating and transferring mobile data .

As a tendency of global communication and interconnection becomes increasingly obvious, for a terminal device (for example, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a smart watch, a smart earphone and the like), there is higher demands for communication flexibility and convenience (for example, changing operators more conveniently, and one terminal in possession of several identification numbers), and as terminal equipment manufacturers seek to simplify manufacturing processes and look thinner and more sophisticated, a traditional real SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) card mode is no longer unparalleled in the word, yielding a lot of innovation models and technical means.

To address an existing problem, provided is method of using a virtual subscriber identification module (SOFTSIM) mobile data service in a mobile device, the method including detecting inaccessibility to data service, transmitting a request for a mobile data service, receiving the mobile data service in response to the request, and activating mobile data packet included in the mobile data service in response to the detecting of the inaccessibility to the data service, wherein the mobile data packet is used at the mobile device for wireless data communication without a physical subscriber identification module.

To address the problem, provided is an apparatus of using a virtual subscriber identification module (SOFTSIM) mobile data service, the apparatus comprising a display, and a processor configured to detect inaccessibility to data service, transmit a request for a mobile data service, receive the mobile data service in response to the request, and activate mobile data packet included in the mobile data service in response to the detecting of the inaccessibility to the data service, wherein the mobile data packet is used at the apparatus for wireless data communication without a physical subscriber identification module.

Using SOFTSIM data service, the user may adaptively use network data service in any situation and may save the cost for the mobile data.

The above and other purposes, features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will become clearer, from the detailed descriptions in combination with the accompanying drawings below, which exemplarily illustrate the embodiments, and in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a diagram of an electronic terminal and a network node according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic terminal and a network node for implementing a mobile data obtaining function according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart for implementing the mobile data obtaining function according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of predicting a user behavior according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 5 illustrates a diagram of performing an information interaction process for obtaining mobile data between the electronic terminal and the network node according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 6 illustrates a diagram of performing an information interaction process for obtaining mobile data between the electronic terminal and the network node according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 7 illustrates a block diagram for implementing a mobile data sharing function according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 8 illustrates a diagram for implementing the mobile data sharing function according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 9 illustrates a diagram of performing an information interaction process for mobile data sharing according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 10 illustrates a diagram of predicting a mobile data usage of the user according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 11 illustrates a diagram of dynamically adjusting a mobile data allocated to the user based on an actual mobile data usage amount of the user according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 12 illustrates a diagram of performing an information interaction process for mobile data sharing between the electronic terminal and the network node according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic terminal and a network node for implementing a mobile data calibrating function according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 14 illustrates a flowchart of performing mobile data calibrating based on a mobile data usage amount obtained from the network node according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 15 illustrates a flowchart of calculating a calibrating coefficient according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 16 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic terminal and a network node for implementing a mobile data transferring function according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 17 illustrates a flowchart for implementing the mobile data transferring function according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

Fig. 18 illustrates a diagram of performing an information interaction process for mobile data transferring between the electronic terminal and the network node according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

Fig. 19 illustrates a diagram of performing an information interaction process for mobile data transferring between the electronic terminal and the network node according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

An object of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure lies in providing a method and device for obtaining, providing, sharing, calibrating and transferring mobile data, so as to overcome at least one of the above defects.

Provided is method of using a virtual subscriber identification module (SOFTSIM) mobile data service in a mobile device, the method including detecting inaccessibility to data service, transmitting a request for a mobile data service, receiving the mobile data service in response to the request, and activating mobile data packet included in the mobile data service in response to the detecting of the inaccessibility to the data service, wherein the mobile data packet is used at the mobile device for wireless data communication without a physical subscriber identification module.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises analyzing behaviors of a user of the mobile device, determining that the mobile device needs the mobile data service based on the analyzing of the behaviors.

In an embodiment, the analyzing of the behaviors of the user comprises at least one selected from a group of: analyzing a travel plan of the user, analyzing a communication cost of the user, and analyzing a mobile data usage of the user.

In an embodiment, the analyzing of the travel plan of the user includes analyzing at least one selected from a group of location information searched for at the mobile device by the user, location information of the mobile device, information received by the mobile device, webpage usage data in the mobile device, and application usage data in the mobile device.

In an embodiment, the method further includes generating a group for sharing the mobile data packet, transmitting, to members of the group, an invitation of joining the group, and initiating sharing of the mobile data packet with the at least one member in response to receiving an acceptance of the invitation of joining the group.

In an embodiment, the method further includes analyzing data usage pattern of the members of the group, and allocating data of the mobile data packet to the members of the group based on the analysis of the data usage pattern.

In an embodiment, the method further includes detecting exhaustion of data of the mobile data packet, and deactivating the mobile data packet in response to the detecting the exhaustion of data packet.

In an embodiment, the method further includes transmitting information of the mobile data packet to a server for data transfer, receiving a request of transferring the mobile data packet in response to a transaction made between the server with a second mobile device based on the information of the mobile data packet, and transmitting, to the server, a confirmation of transferring the mobile data packet in response to the request.

In an embodiment, the mobile data service includes mobile data packet used for wireless data communication and information on purchasing the mobile data packet.

In an embodiment, the information on purchasing the mobile data packet includes information of reminding the second mobile device of purchasing the mobile data packet or information of recommending purchasing the mobile data packet.

In an embodiment, the mobile data service is a mobile data service using the virtual subscriber identification module.

Provided is an apparatus of using a virtual subscriber identification module (SOFTSIM) mobile data service, the apparatus comprising a display, and a processor configured to detect inaccessibility to data service, transmit a request for a mobile data service, receive the mobile data service in response to the request, and activate mobile data packet included in the mobile data service in response to the detecting of the inaccessibility to the data service, wherein the mobile data packet is used at the apparatus for wireless data communication without a physical subscriber identification module.

In an embodiment, the processor is further configured to analyze behaviors of a user of the apparatus, and determine that the apparatus needs the mobile data service based on the analyzing of the behaviors.

In an embodiment, the processor is further configured to generate a group for sharing the mobile data packet, transmit, to members of the group, an invitation of joining the group, and initiate sharing of the mobile data packet with the at least one member in response to receiving an acceptance of the invitation of joining the group.

In an embodiment, the processor is further configured to transmit information of the mobile data packet to a server for data transfer, receive a request of transferring the mobile data packet in response to a transaction made between the server with a second mobile device based on the information of the mobile data packet, and transmit, to the server, a confirmation of transferring the mobile data packet in response to the request. Provided is a method for obtaining mobile data, which includes: predicting a user behavior; and obtaining a mobile data service from a network node according to the predicted user behavior.

In an embodiment, the user behavior may include any one of a travel plan of the user, a communication cost of the user, and a mobile data usage of the user.

In an embodiment, the mobile data service may include at least one of a globally available mobile data packet, a mobile data packet available for a destination of the travel plan, a mobile data packet available for stopover sites of the travel plan, a directional mobile data packet, a free mobile data packet, a paid mobile data packet, information for reminding to buy a mobile data packet, and information for recommending buying a mobile data packet.

In an embodiment, the obtaining of the mobile data service from the network node according to the predicted user behavior may include: sending a request for obtaining the mobile data service to the network node according to the predicted user behavior; and receiving the mobile data service sent by the network node in response to the request for obtaining the mobile data service.

In an embodiment, the travel plan of the user may be predicted based on at least one of, in an electronic terminal used by the user, location information of the electronic terminal, information received by the electronic terminal, webpage usage data in the electronic terminal, and application usage data in the electronic terminal; and the mobile data usage of the user may be predicted according to at least one of a user portrait, a mobile data usage amount of the user, applications used by the user, a using durations of the applications by the user, and using frequencies of the applications by the user.

In an embodiment, the mobile data service may be a virtual Subscriber Identification Module SOFTSIM mobile data packet, and the network node may be an SOFTSIM management server and/or a virtual operator server.

With the above methods and devices, it is possible to enrich functions of the existing mobile data service so that a user can use the mobile data service more conveniently and flexibly.

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

A virtual SIM (SOFT Subscriber Identification Module (SOFTSIM)) card technology comes into attention by IT developers and IT consumers.

The SOFTSIM technology applied in a terminal device obtains code number resources from a cloud service provider (for example, a virtual operator) through a cloud SIM platform. The SOFTSIM technology provides international roaming data access products at a local mobile data fee level for a user having an international roaming demand, so as to solve the problem that international roaming mobile data fee of traditional operators are high. Since the SOFTSIM technology is based on a characteristic of software, and there is no need to add a physical chip, it has broad application scenarios in IOT and M2M fields.

In an embodiment, a processing of the SOFTSIM service is the following. As for a terminal device, the user of the terminal device may perform purchasing a mobile data plan -> receiving and storing SOFTSIM data packet information (for example, IMSI, KI and other information) -> activating the plan, and registering a network -> accessing an internet using a mobile data service -> cutting off internet access after the mobile data is run out. As for a network side, the server may perform the followings. A request for purchasing a mobile data plan is received -> SOFTSIM data packet information is distributed -> a request for activating the plan is received and a network is registered -> mobile data usage is monitored -> terminal side is informed that the mobile data has been run out.

However, the SOFTSIM service may have the following problems or defects.

First, when the terminal device cannot access a network due to the depletion of user's charge(payment), the user needs to go to a service hall or ask friends to recharge it so as to reconnect to the network. When the user goes to a business trip overseas and the user does not prepare an internet access means available at the destination in advance, no internet access may cause the user to loss contact with the outside world at the destination. When the user transfers an airplane, assuming that the user flies from an origin A to a destination B, the airplane will stop for a few hours at a stopover site C. In case the user does not prepare the internet access means available at the stopover site C in advance, the user may face a communication interruption at the stopover site C.

If to the user wants to avoid aforementioned situation by using a communication service provided by the SOFTSIM data packet, the user need to purchase the SOFTSIM data packet on the user's initiative. However, if the user fails to purchase the SOFTSIM data packet in advance, it will cause the communication interruption and result in a great inconvenience for the trip. In addition, a wireless communication can also be implemented in a way of presetting a SOFTSIM data packet for each terminal device, but this way causes a high cost. Moreover, not all the terminal devices need to use the preset SOFTSIM data packet.

Second, since a terminal device at which the SOFTSIM data packet is activated is generally set as a mobile hot spot and other devices share the mobile data in the SOFTSIM data packet by connecting to the mobile hot spot, the terminal device may be subject to an increase of the power consumption. Moreover, since the terminal device, as the mobile hot spot, corresponds to a wireless router, its signal coverage has a certain range limitation (here, the coverage range is related to a source power of the hot spot, and generally, an effective range of a mobile hot spot is about 100 meters or so). If is the terminal device is placed beyond the range of the signal coverage, other devices may not be able to access the internet through the mobile hot spot.

Third, a precise measurement of the mobile data usage amount cannot be implemented at the terminal device. The mobile data usage amount of both the traditional SIM card mobile data packet and the SOFTSIM mobile data packet is generally measured by monitoring the transmitted and received data amount at the terminal device. However, there is a difference between the mobile data usage amount locally measured by the terminal device and the mobile data usage amount measured by the network operator.

Let's assume that the mobile data usage amount locally measured by the terminal device is used as a baseline. Where the mobile data measured by the network operator has run out and the terminal device cannot access the internet, the terminal device side displays that there is residual mobile data, causing the display to fail to show the actual network condition.

Fourth, when the purchased mobile data packet of the terminal device is not used up within the specified time limit, the unused mobile data can only be cleared upon expiration, causing a waste of mobile data resources.

To address the foregoing issues, provided is a method for obtaining mobile data, which includes predicting a user behavior; and obtaining a mobile data service from a network node according to the predicted user behavior.

In an embodiment, the obtaining of the mobile data service from the network node according to the predicted user behavior may include sending a request for obtaining the mobile data service to the network node according to the predicted user behavior; and receiving the mobile data service sent by the network node in response to the request for obtaining the mobile data service.

In an embodiment, the mobile data service may be a virtual Subscriber Identification Module (SOFTSIM) mobile data packet, and the network node may be a SOFTSIM management server and/or a virtual operator server.

Provided is a device for obtaining mobile data, which includes a user behavior prediction module to predict a user behavior; and a mobile data service obtaining module to obtain a mobile data service from a network node according to the predicted user behavior.

Provided is a method for providing mobile data, which includes receiving a request for obtaining a mobile data service, and the request for obtaining the mobile data service being sent by an electronic terminal according to a predicted user behavior; and sending the mobile data service to the electronic terminal in response to the request for obtaining the mobile data service.

Provided is a method for sharing mobile data, which includes receiving a mobile data sharing request; allocating a sub-mobile data service for a shared object from a to-be-shared mobile data service; and sending the sub- mobile data service to the shared object.

In an embodiment, the method for sharing mobile data may further include determining the sub-mobile data service allocated to the shared object according to a predicted mobile data usage of the shared object; and/or adjusting the sub-mobile data service allocated to the shared object according to an actual mobile data usage amount of the shared object.

In an embodiment, the mobile data usage of the shared object may be predicted according to at least one of a user portrait, a mobile data usage amount of the user, applications used by the user, using duration of the applications by the user, and using frequencies of the applications by the user.

In an embodiment, the mobile data service may be a virtual Subscriber Identification Module (SOFTSIM) mobile data packet, and the sub-mobile data service may be a sub-SOFTSIM mobile data packet.

Provided is a device for sharing mobile data, which includes a mobile data sharing request receiving module to receive a mobile data sharing request; a mobile data sharing module to allocate a sub-mobile data service for a shared object from a to-be-shared mobile data service; and a mobile data providing module to send the sub-mobile data service to the shared object.

Provided is a method for sharing mobile data, which includes sending a mobile data sharing request to a network node so that the network node provides a sub-mobile data service to a shared object from a to-be-shared mobile data service, and the shared object shares the to-be-shared mobile data service.

In an embodiment, the mobile data sharing method may further include obtaining information of the shared object by establishing a user group.

Provided is a mobile data calibrating method, which includes obtaining a locally measured mobile data usage value of a mobile data packet; and calibrating the mobile data usage value.

In an embodiment, the calibrating of the mobile data usage value may include at least one of calibrating the locally measured mobile data usage value using a mobile data usage value obtained from a network node; and calibrating the locally measured mobile data usage value according to a calibration coefficient.

In an embodiment, the mobile data packet may be a virtual Subscriber Identification Module (SOFTSIM) mobile data packet, and the network node may be a SOFTSIM management server and/or a virtual operator server.

Provided is a device for calibrating mobile data, which includes a mobile data obtaining module to obtain a locally measured mobile data usage value of a mobile data packet; and a mobile data calibrating module to calibrate the mobile data usage value.

Provided is a method for calibrating mobile data, which includes receiving a request for obtaining mobile data usage information of a mobile data packet; and sending mobile data usage information measured by a network node to an electronic terminal.

In an embodiment, the mobile data usage information may include a mobile data usage value and/or a calibration coefficient.

Provided is a method for transferring mobile data, which includes receiving a mobile data transferring request; and transferring mobile data of a mobile data packet of a transferer to a receiver according to the mobile data transferring request.

In an embodiment, the mobile data transferring request may include a mobile data transfer-out request of the transferer and/or a mobile data transfer-in request of the receiver.

In an embodiment, the transferring of the mobile data of the mobile data packet of the transferer to the receiver may include recovering the mobile data packet of the transferer; and allocating a new mobile data packet to the receiver.

In an embodiment, the mobile data packet may be a virtual Subscriber Identification Module SOFTSIM mobile data packet.

Provided is a device for transferring mobile data, which includes a transferring request receiving module to receive a mobile data transferring request; and a mobile data transferring module to transfer mobile data of a mobile data packet of a transferer to a receiver according to the mobile data transferring request.

In an embodiment, there is provided a method for transferring mobile data, which includes sending a data transferring request to a network node so that the network node transfers the mobile data of a mobile data packet of a transferer to a receiver according to the mobile data transferring request.

In an embodiment, the mobile data transferring request may include a mobile data transfer-out request and/or a mobile data transfer-in request.

In an embodiment, the method for transferring mobile data may further include recovering the mobile data packet according to an indication of the network node; and/or receiving a transferred mobile data packet sent by the network node.

Provided is an electronic device, which includes a processor; a memory which is stored with a computer program, when the computer program is performed by the processor, to implement any one of the above method for obtaining mobile data, the above method for sharing mobile data, the above method for calibrating mobile data and the above method for transferring mobile data.

Provided is a network node device, which includes a processor; a memory which is stored with a computer program, when the computer program is performed by the processor, to implement any one of the above method for obtaining mobile data, the above method for sharing mobile data, the above method for calibrating mobile data and the above method for transferring mobile data.

Provided is a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, when the computer program is performed by a processor, to implement any one of the above method for obtaining mobile data, the above method for sharing mobile data, the above method for calibrating mobile data and the above method for transferring mobile data.

Fig. 1 illustrates a diagram of an electronic terminal and a network node according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

It should be understood that, in an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, it is possible to implement functions of mobile data obtaining, mobile data sharing, mobile data calibrating and/or mobile data transferring through an information interaction between an electronic terminal 1000 and a network node 2000. Alternatively, the above mentioned mobile data may refer to SOFTSIM mobile data. Referring to Fig. 1, the electronic terminal 1000 may include , a SOFTSIM data packet management module 1010, a local mobile data statistical calibration module 1020, a transfer module 1030, a group module 1040, a SOFTSIM data packet request module 1050, a user behavior prediction module 1070 and a payment module 1060. The above modules can be implemented as at least one hardware processor or as respective modules in applications (such as SOFTSIM application 1200) installed in the electronic terminal 1000. Besides, the electronic terminal 1000 may also include a SOFTSIM data packet control module 1080, and a trust zone SOFTSIM logic module 1090 and a MODEM 1110.

The network node 2000 may include an order management module 2010, a billing module 2020, a data statistic module 2030, a recovery module 2040, a SOFTSIM data packet sending module 2050, a SOFTSIM data packet push module 2060, a group sending module 2070, a group management module 2080, and a SOFTSIM data packet management module 2090 and a payment module 2110. The foregoing modules may be implemented as at least one hardware processor. The above respective functions can be implemented through an information interaction between the electronic terminal 1000 and the network node 2000.

For example, as for the requirement of an emergency communication capability, the user behavior prediction module 1070 in the SOFTSIM application 1200 may request a corresponding SOFTSIM data packet for the SOFTSIM data packet request module 1050 of the SOFTSIM application 1200 after predicting or analyzing a user behavior, and may also inform the SOFTSIM data packet management module 2090 of the network node 2000 (such as a SOFTSIM application server) of the related prediction result through the SOFTSIM data packet request module 1050 of the SOFTSIM application 1200.

The SOFTSIM application server obtains the corresponding SOFTSIM data packet and sends the SOFTSIM data packet to the electronic terminal 1000 via the SOFTSIM data packet push module 2060.

As for a requirement of sharing the SOFTSIM data by a plurality of users, the group module 1040 in the SOFTSIM application 1200 notifies group information (for example, order number of a to-be-shared SOFTSIM data packet, device ID of a device having the to-be-shared SOFTSIM data packet, and device IDs of devices added into the user group) to the group management module 2080 of the SOFTSIM application server. The group management module 2080 of the SOFTSIM application server requests the corresponding SOFTSIM data packet for the SOFTSIM data packet request module 1050 of the SOFTSIM application server according to the corresponding group information. After the corresponding SOFTSIM data packet is obtained by the SOFTSIM application server, the SOFTSIM data packet will be sent to respective electronic terminals using the group sending module 2050.

As for the requirement of precisely measuring the mobile data usage amount at the electronic terminal 1000, the local mobile data statistical calibration module 1020 in the SOFTSIM application 1200 notifies the related statistical data to the data statistical module 2030 of the SOFTSIM application server, and the data statistical module 2030 of the SOFTSIM application server will calculate an available calibration coefficient according to recorded historical calibration data.

As for the requirement of mobile data transferring, after a deal of transfer transition is made between an electronic terminal 1000 as a transferer (hereafter, also referred to as a transferer electronic terminal) and an electronic terminal as receiver (hereafter, also referred to as a receiver electronic terminal) through a secondary mobile data market or terminal-to-terminal acknowledgment (for example, scanning a Quick Response (QR) code, NFC tags and other forms), the transfer module 1030 in the SOFTSIM application 1200 of transferer electronic terminal notifies a transfer request to the recovery module 2040 of the SOFTSIM application server, and the recovery module 2040 at the SOFTSIM application server side sends the recovered SOFTSIM data packet to the receiver electronic terminal through the SOFTSIM data packet sending module 2050.

In an embodiment, the electronic terminal 1000 may be a mobile communication terminal, a personal computer, a tablet computer, a portable wearable device, a personal digital assistant, a player, a digital multimedia player, and IoT (Internet of Things) device and an electronic device capable of supporting a mobile data service. As an example, a network node 2000 may be a server.

In the following, processes of implementing functions of mobile data obtaining, mobile data sharing, mobile data calibrating and mobile data transferring will be introduced in details by referring to respective accompanying drawings.

In an exemplary embodiment, a process of implementing a mobile data obtaining function through an information interaction between an electronic terminal 10 and a network node 20 is introduced.

Fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic terminal 10 and a network node 20 for implementing a mobile data obtaining function according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to Fig. 2, the electronic terminal 10 according to the embodiment of the disclosure includes a user behavior prediction module 101. Besides, the electronic terminal 10 according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure may further include a detection module 102 and a mobile data management module 105. The electronic terminal 10 may further include a request module 103 and a receiving module 104. These modules may be implemented as at least one hardware processor such as a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array and so on, and may also be implemented by a specialized hardware processor such as a specialized chip, and may also be completely implemented in a software module through a computer program. For example, the modules may be implemented as respective modules in an application 30 (for example, the applications for implementing the mobile data obtaining function) installed on the electronic terminal 10. The electronic terminal 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure may also include a mobile data control module 106, a trust zone 107 and a MODEM (modulator-demodulator) 108. The aforementioned modules included in the electronic terminal 10 may be implemented as at least one hardware processor.

The network node 20 according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure may include a mobile data service request module 201 and a mobile data service sending module 203. The network node 20 may also include a mobile data management module 202. The mobile data service request module 201, the mobile data service sending module 203 and the mobile data management module 202 may be implemented as at least one hardware processor.

In an embodiment, the user behavior prediction module 101 is used for predicting or analyzing a user behavior, and a receiving module 104 is used for receiving the mobile data service from the network node 20 based on the predicted or the analyzed user behavior.

For example, after the user behavior prediction module 101 predicts by analyzing the user behavior, the request module 103 may send a request for obtaining the mobile data service to the network node 20 based on the predicted user behavior and a determination that the mobile data service is need according to the predicted or analyzed user behavior. The mobile data service request module 201 receives the request for obtaining the mobile data service and requests the mobile data management module 202 for the mobile data service corresponding to the received request in response to the received request for obtaining the mobile data service. The mobile data management module 202 may send to the electronic terminal 10, a confirmation of providing the mobile data service and may distribute the mobile data service corresponding to the received request for obtaining the mobile data service. The mobile data service sending module 203 sends the distributed mobile data service to the receiving module 104 of the electronic terminal 10 so that the electronic terminal 10 can communicate using the mobile data service obtained from the network node 20.

Alternatively, the mobile data service obtained from the network node 20 may refer to the mobile data service related to SOFTSIM which is a virtual subscriber identification module, but the disclosure is not limited hereto. The above mobile data service may also be any mobile data services other than the mobile data service related to SOFTSIM.

In the situation where the mobile data service is related to SOFTSIM, the network node 20 may be any one of a SOFTSIM application server, a virtual operator server, and a SOFTSIM server having functions of the SOFTSIM application server and the virtual operator server (that is, the SOFTSIM application server and the virtual operator server are deployed on a same server). That is to say, the SOFTSIM server has the function of the SOFTSIM application server, and/or has a function of the SOFTSIM data packet management module of the virtual operator server.

Below, an information interaction flowchart for mobile data obtaining between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 may be introduced where the network node 20 is the SOFTSIM application server 21 and the mobile data service is related to SOFTSIM referring to FIGS. 3 to 5.

Fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart for implementing the mobile data obtaining function according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of predicting a user behavior according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 5 illustrates a diagram of performing an information interaction process for mobile data obtaining between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In the embodiment, the application 30, the request module 103, the receiving module 104, the mobile data management module 105, the mobile data control module 106, the mobile data service request module 201, the mobile data management module 202 and the mobile data service sending module 203 shown in Fig. 2 may correspond to a SOFTSIM application, a SOFTSIM request module, a SOFTSIM receiving module, a SOFTSIM management module, a SOFTSIM data packet control module and a SOFTSIM data packet request module, a SOFTSIM data packet management module and a SOFTSIM data packet sending module in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, respectively.

Referring to Fig. 5, at step S10, the user behavior prediction module 101 in the electronic terminal 10 predicts and/or analyzes a user behavior based on information for predicting the user behavior. Here, it should be understood that the user behavior prediction module 101 may be a module in the SOFTSIM application of the electronic terminal 10, and may also be a module outside of the SOFTSIM application. For a situation that the user behavior prediction module 101 is the module outside of the SOFTSIM application, the user behavior prediction module 101 may notifies a prediction result to the SOFTSIM application.

For example, the information for predicting the user behavior may include information in the electronic terminal 10 used by the user and/or information regarding the mobile data usage of the user.

For example, the user behavior prediction module 101 may predict the user behavior by using a user behavior prediction model. Here, the user behavior may refer to a future behavior of the user. As an example, a form of the user behavior prediction model may be SDK (Software Development Kit) embedded into the electronic terminal 10, and an interaction between the SDK and the network node 20 can be implemented through an API interface.

Alternatively, the user behavior may include any one of a travel plan of the user, a communication cost of the user, and a mobile data usage of the user. Here, predicting the travel plan of the user may include predicting a traveler number, a travel time, a travel location and/or a travel rule in the travel plan of the user.

In a first case, it is possible to predict the travel plan of the user by extracting information in the electronic terminal 10 used by the user.

In an embodiment, the travel plan of the user may be predicted or analyzed based on the analysis of at least one of location information searched for at the electronic terminal 10, location information of the electronic terminal 10, information received by the electronic terminal, webpage usage data in the electronic terminal 10, and application usage data in the electronic terminal 10. That is to say, the user behavior prediction module 101 may obtain the above information in the electronic terminal 10 from various data obtaining channels.

In an embodiment, the user behavior prediction module 101 may obtain a plurality of user behavior prediction results based on the information obtained from various data obtaining channels, respectively, and may determine a final prediction result according to the plurality of user behavior prediction results, so as to obtain the mobile data service from the network node 20 according to the final prediction result.

For example, the user behavior prediction module 101 may determine the final prediction result in the follow ways: setting a weight value for each data obtaining channel, and obtaining the final prediction result based on the user behavior prediction result corresponding to each data obtaining channel and a corresponding weight value.

Alternatively, the user behavior prediction results in the plurality of user behavior prediction results indicating the same prediction content are merged into one user behavior prediction result. Here, a weight value of the one user behavior prediction result after merger is a sum of the weight values corresponding to all the user behavior prediction results indicating the same prediction content. At this point, the user behavior prediction result corresponding to the maximum weight value is determined as the final prediction result.

Below, a process of predicting the travel plan of the user based on the location information of the electronic terminal 10 the location information searched for at the electronic terminal 10 is introduced.

Alternatively, the location information of the electronic terminal can be obtained in the following ways: obtaining the location information of the electronic terminal from a Global Positioning System (GPS); or determining the location information of the electronic terminal by an MCC (Mobile Country Code) contained in PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) data obtained from the PLMN. Here, since GPS of the electronic terminal 10 can be used after being activated, PLMN data can be used for analysis to determine the location information of the electronic terminal 10 in order to avoid unavailability of GPS data.

Here, the PLMN data includes MCC and MNC (Mobile Network Code), where MCC is the mobile country code with three digits and can uniquely identify the country where the mobile subscriber is located. For example, the MCC of China is 460. MNC is the mobile network code with two digits. The MNC used by the China Mobile TD system is 00, the MNC used by the China Unicom GSM system is 01, the MNC used by the China Mobile GSM system is 02, and the MNC used by the China Telecom CDMA system is 03. That is to say, the country to which the electronic terminal belongs can be determined through the mobile country code included in the PLMN data, and then whether the user using the electronic terminal is abroad can be identified.

In an embodiment, the location information of the electronic terminal 10 may be real-time location information of the electronic terminal. In this case, the user behavior prediction module 101 may predict the travel plan of the user based on the real-time location information of the electronic terminal 10.

For example, the travel plan of the user may be predicted based on the real-time location information of the electronic terminal 10 in the following ways. A server detects the real-time location information of the electronic terminal 10 When a change rate of the location in the detected real-time location information of the electronic terminal 10 is greater than a predetermined threshold (for example, there is a continuous change in directions), the server initiates predicting a travel destination of the user according to a trajectory of location in the detected real-time location information. When the predicted travel destination of the user is aboard, the travel plan of the user using the electronic terminal 10 can be determined as an overseas travel plan.

That is to say, the travel destination of the user can be predicted according to a tendency of change of the real-time location information of the electronic terminal 10 for a certain period of time. For example, when it is detected that the tendency of change (namely, a trajectory of change) of the real-time location information of the electronic terminal 10 indicates that the user is on the way from Seoul to Hong Kong at present, it is possible to predict that the destination of the user travel is Hong Kong.

In an embodiment, the location information of the electronic terminal 10 may be historical location information of the electronic terminal 10. In this case, the user behavior prediction module 101 may predict travel plan of the user based on the historical location information of the electronic terminal 10.

For example, the travel plan of the user using the electronic terminal 10 may be predicted based on the historical location information of the electronic terminal 10 in the following ways. The travel rule of the user is predicted using the electronic terminal 10 according to the obtained historical location information of the electronic terminal 10. Here, the travel rule of the user may include a travel frequency and/or a recent possible travel time of the user. The travel plan of the user is predicted according to the travel frequency and/or the recent possible travel time of the user. For example, when the current time reaches the travel time predicted based on the travel rule of the user, it can be determined that the user using the electronic terminal 10 is now leaving for the travel, to the electronic terminal 10 may obtain the mobile data service from the network node 20.

In order to predict the travel plan, the electronic terminal 10 may collect relevant information by extracting the usage pattern of the application at the electronic terminal 10. For example, if the user uses applications related to a trip or a travel, searches for hotels, travel packages, flights schedule, and/or restaurants related to the site for which the user is searching, or visits webpages relevant to the trip or the travel, the electronic terminal 10 may determine, by extracting the usage pattern of the electronic terminal 10 that the user has a travel plan sooner or later.

In another embodiment, the information received by the electronic terminal 10 may include a short message, a Push message, and/or an e-mail received by the electronic terminal 10. The webpage usage data in the electronic terminal 10 may include click/browse records and/or search records on the webpage of the user using the electronic terminal 10. The application usage data in the electronic terminal 10 may refer to application usage data of a predetermined application installed in the electronic terminal 10. Here, the predetermined application may refer to an application (for example, Online Travel Agent OTA) related to user travel installed in the electronic terminal 10, and the application usage data of the predetermined application may include order information, browse records and/or search records generated in the predetermined application by the user using the electronic terminal 10. As an example, the predetermined application may include at least one of an application for booking a flight, an application for reserving a hotel, and application for renting a car, and an application for buying travel package.

For example, the user behavior prediction module 101 may identify the information for predicting the user behavior from the information received by the electronic terminal 10, the webpage usage information in the electronic terminal 10, and the application usage data in the electronic terminal 10. Alternatively, the identified information for predicting the user behavior may be stored in a database in a form of structural data. For example, it is possible to detect information/data having predetermined keywords from the above information/data as the information for predicting the user behavior. The user behavior prediction module 101 may detect the keywords by using the existing various keyword detection technologies, for example, word segmentation technology, natural language processing technology and so on. As an example, the predetermined keywords may include related information indicating a message sender (such as, telephone number, e-mail address, name of the sender), a keyword indicating time, a keyword indicating a travel mode, and a keyword indicating a place.

In an embodiment, a telephone number database can be pre-built, in which various telephone numbers related to the user travel are stored, when the electronic terminal 10 receives a short message, the telephone number of the sender of the short message is extracted, and if the telephone number of the sender is found in the telephone database, the received short message will be determined as the information for predicting the user behavior, and the content of the short message is analyzed by matching the keywords (for example, "airport", "hotel", "flight", "rent" and so on) so that an airport name, a city name, a hotel name, a country/place name, a restaurant name and other information can be obtained, thereby the travel plan of the user is predicted. An overseas travel plan of the user can be predicted when the place indicated by the information obtained by analyzing the content of the short message is in overseas.

A domestic travel market has no strong need for using the SOFTSIM data packet service. Thus, the travel plan of the user may optionally refer to an overseas travel plan of the user and the mobile data service obtained from the network node 20 may be a mobile data service which is appropriate for overseas travel plan of the user so that the electronic terminal 10 has an emergency communication capability in overseas.

In an embodiment, the user behavior prediction module 101 may predict or analyze the mobile data usage of the user based on the information related to the mobile data usage of the user. Here, the mobile data usage of the user may refer to mobile data usage preference of the user so as to obtain the mobile data service matching the mobile data preference usage of the user from the network node 10 and satisfy the individualized mobile data demands of the user.

For example, the network node 20 may analyze a key consumption zone of the mobile data based on monitoring and measurement to the mobile data usage of respective applications in the electronic terminal 10, and may predict the mobile data usage preference of the user (for example, the network node 20 can predict whether the user prefers playing a game, watching a short video or watching a movie etc.), so as to send information from the network node 20 to the electronic terminal 10 to recommend the individualized mobile data service matching the mobile data usage preference of the user.

In an embodiment, the mobile data usage of the user may be predicted according to at least one of a user portrait, a mobile data usage amount of the user, applications used by the user, usage duration of the applications by the user, and usage frequencies of the applications by the user. For example, a mobile data consumption type of the user can be predicted based on at least one of the aforementioned information, and a mobile data usage value of the user of the mobile data consumption type is used as the mobile data usage value of the user. The process of predicting the mobile data usage of the user will be further described in details referring to Fig. 10.

In an embodiment, the user behavior prediction module 101 may predict the communication cost of the user based on the information of the electronic terminal 10 used by the user.

In an example, the communication cost of the user may refer to balance of the communication cost of the user. In this point, the information of the electronic terminal 10 used by the user may refer to a short message received by the electronic terminal 10.

That is to say, the balance of the communication cost of the user may be predicted based on the short message received by the electronic terminal 10, and when the predicted balance of the communication cost of the electronic terminal 10 is smaller than or equal to a predetermined value, the a mobile data service is obtained from the network node 20 to provide the emergency communication capability through the obtained mobile data packet when the electronic terminal 10 is out of service due to the exhaustion of communication cost for the mobile data service. On this basis, when the predicted balance of the communication cost of the electronic terminal 10 is smaller than or equal to the predetermined value, the network node 20 may also send a reminding message to the electronic terminal 10 to prompt the user that the communication cost needs to be refilled, and the obtained mobile data packet can be used for emergency communication when the electronic terminal 10 becomes out of service. In the situation where the mobile data service is the SOFTSIM mobile data packet, the aforementioned method will be effective for promoting the SOFTSIM mobile data service and promoting the traditional SIM users to be turned into SOFTSIM users.

In an embodiment, the communication cost of the user may refer to the mobile data consumption in a mobile fee package of the user (for example, residual mobile data value in the mobile fee package). In this point, the information of the electronic terminal 10 used by the user may refer to a short message received by the electronic terminal 10 (for example, a short message about the mobile fee package obtained from the network node 20) or a locally measured mobile data usage value of the electronic terminal 10.

That is to say, the residual mobile data value in the mobile fee package of the electronic terminal 10 can be predicted based on the short message received by the electronic terminal 10 or the locally measured mobile data usage value of the electronic terminal 10. When the predicted residual mobile data value in the mobile fee package of the electronic terminal 10 is smaller than a predetermined mobile data value, the network node 20 may send a reminding message to the electronic terminal 10 to prompt the user that the residual mobile data will be exhausted. In addition, the network node 20 may also send the mobile data service to the electronic terminal 10.

At step S20, the detection module 102 detects whether an available mobile data service exists in the electronic terminal 10. For example, it is possible to detect whether a mobile data packet that has been activated exists in the electronic terminal 10 (it may also detect whether the user has bought the SOFTSIM mobile data packet for the predicted travel destination) or to detect whether the residual mobile data value in the mobile data packet is greater than a mobile data threshold. The detection by the detection module 102 may include detecting accessibility or inaccessibility of data service.

If the detection module 102 detects that the available mobile data service exists in the electronic terminal 10, the detected available mobile data service is used for communication. For example, when it is detected that the mobile data packet that has been activated exists in the electronic terminal 10 or the residual mobile data value in the mobile data packet is greater than the mobile data threshold, it is determined that the available mobile data service existing in the electronic terminal 10 is detected.

If the detection module 102 detects that no available mobile data service exists in the electronic terminal 10, the method proceeds to step S30. The SOFTSIM request module sends a request for obtaining the mobile data service to a SOFTSIM application server 21. Alternatively, the request for obtaining the mobile data service is a request for requesting a free SOFTSIM mobile data packet.

For example, when it is detected that the mobile data packet that has been activated does not exist in the electronic terminal 10 or the residual mobile data value in the mobile data packet is not greater than (smaller than or equal to) the mobile data threshold, it is determined that the available mobile data service existing in the electronic terminal 10 is not detected.

Alternatively, the request for obtaining the mobile data service includes information regarding the predicted user behavior. For example, the request may include information regarding the travel plan of the user (such as a travel destination, stopover sites, a stopping place of the flight, travel days and so on).

At step S40, the SOFTSIM application server 21 requests the SOFTSIOM data packet management module in a virtual operator server (e.g., MVNE) 22, for a mobile data service in response to the received request for obtaining the mobile data service.

At step S50, the SOFTSIM data packet management module distributes the requested mobile data service (SOFTSIM data packet) according to the request for obtaining the mobile data service.

As an example, the mobile data service may include the mobile data packet user for wireless data communication and/or information on purchasing the mobile data packet. Alternatively, the mobile data packet may refer to SOFTSIM mobile data packet. The mobile data service may include at least one of a globally available mobile data packet, a mobile data packet available for a destination of the travel plan, and a mobile data packet available for stopover sites of the travel plan. Alternatively, the above mobile data packet may be a directional mobile data packet, a free mobile data packet, and a pay mobile data packet. The information on purchasing the mobile data packet may include information of reminding of purchasing the mobile data packet and/or information of recommending purchasing the mobile data packet.

After the SOFTSIM data packet management module receives the request for obtaining the mobile data service, if it is determined that the received request is a request for applying for the free mobile data packet, and thus there is no need to check a payment state for the request, that is, the user has no need to buy the mobile data packet, and the virtual operator server 22 directly pushes the free mobile data packet in response to the received request for obtaining the mobile data service.

In an example, the directional mobile data packet may refer to a mobile data packet available for a specified application in the electronic terminal 10 (for example, a mobile data packet only available for an application of Wechat or Google map) or a mobile data packet for realizing a specified function (for example, a mobile data packet that can only be used for buying the SOFTSIM data packet). Alternatively, a mobile data amount of the directional mobile data packet may be greater than that of a non-directional mobile data packet. The directional mobile data packet is very competitive in price for its limited use scope, and it is possible to efficiently trigger a buying behavior to the SOFTSIM mobile data service for the user using the electronic terminal 10 with low price, personalized accurate recommendation, an advantage of no need to change card of SOFTSIM, an additional free trial and so on.

The SOFTSIM data packet management module may determine a type of the distributed mobile data packet and an amount of the mobile data packet based on user demands.

In an embodiment, the SOFTSIM data packet management module may determine an amount of the distributed mobile data packet according to a mobile data consumption level of the user.

For example, the SOFTSIM data packet management module may determine the mobile data consumption level of the user according to historical purchase records of the mobile data packet of the user, and determine the amount of the mobile data packet based on the mobile data consumption level of the user. Here, the higher the mobile data consumption level of the user is, the higher the amount of the mobile data packet becomes. It is possible to establish a user hierarchical grading mechanism, and to carry out a marking strategy to the users of different mobile data consumption levels.

In another example, the SOFTSIM data packet management module may determine the amount of the mobile data packet that is reminded and/or recommended to buy by measuring a daily average mobile data usage amount of the user, predicting the travel days according to the travel plan of the user, determining the mobile data usage amount of the mobile data packet that is reminded and/or recommended to buy by the user based on the measured daily average mobile data usage amount and the predicted travel days. For example, the daily average mobile data usage amount of the user can be determined on the basis of a measurement of a virtual operator server 22 or a measurement of the electronic terminal 10. It is possible to extract the daily average mobile data usage amount of the user measured by the electronic terminal 10, the predicted travel plan of the user and/or the predicted travel days of the travel plan of the user from the request for obtaining the mobile data service.

At step S60, the SOFTSIM data packet sending module of the SOFTSIM application server 21 sends the mobile data service (SOFTSIM data packet) distributed by the SOFTSIM data packet management module to the electronic terminal 10.

In an embodiment, the electronic terminal 10 may also include a display. When the received mobile data service is information of reminding or recommending buying the mobile data packet, the information can be displayed on the display of the electronic terminal 10.

As an example, it is possible to display the information of reminding or recommending buying the mobile data packet by any one of the following methods of displaying the information in a notification bar of the electronic terminal 10 by pushing notifications, displaying the information in a floating window of the electronic terminal 10, and displaying the information on an AI application of the electronic terminal 10.

At step S70, the SOFTSIM management module stores the SOFTSIM data packet information (for example, it may include an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and a Key Identifier (KI)) to a trust zone (Trusted Execution Environment (TEE)) 107 of the electronic terminal 10.

In an embodiment, the electronic terminal 10 may also include an input module for receiving an operation for activating the SOFTSIM data packet input by the user. For example, at step S80, the input module receives the operation for activating the SOFTSIM data packet input by the user.

As an example, when the SOFTSIM application 30 detects that the electronic terminal 10 has reached the predicted travel destination or cannot determine the place where the electronic terminal 10 is and is in a disconnected state, it is possible to remind the user to activate the free SOFTSIM data packet, and the user can select to activate the free SOFTSIM data packet so as to buy a locally available SOFTSIM data packet package online using the activated free SOFTSIM data packet. In an embodiment, no reminding may be needed in a connected state and the user can use the network available to perform the necessary operation of, for example, buying the local SOFTSIM data packet package.

At step S90, the SOFTSIM data packet control module 106 reads SOFTSIM data packet information from the trust zone 107 in response to the received operation. At step S110, a SOFTSIM data packet control module 106 writes SOFTSIM data packet information and drives MODEM 108 to perform network registration.

Referring to Fig. 5, a flow diagram is introduced to illustrate an information interaction for mobile data obtaining performed between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 where the network node 20 is the SOFTSIM application server 21. Referring to Fig. 6, another flow diagram is introduced to illustrate an information interaction for mobile data obtaining between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 where the network node 20 is the SOFTSIM server 23.

Here, a difference between the SOFTSIM server 23 and the SOFTSIM application server 21 is that the SOFTSIM server 23 may integrate functions of the SOFTSIM application server 21 and the virtual operator server 22. That is, the SOFTSIM server 23 includes the mobile data service request module 201, the mobile data management module 202 and the mobile data service sending module 203. Besides, other processes of the information interaction flowchart shown in Fig. 6 and the information interaction flowchart shown in Fig. 5 are the same, and this part of content will not be repeated in the disclosure.

In an exemplary embodiment, the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 for implementing a mobile data obtaining function can intelligently provide an emergency capability for the electronic terminal 10 in the disconnected state by predicting the user behavior and realize "what is provided is what is needed". Meanwhile, the disclosure can bring value to the terminal device manufacturers and network operators, for example, it may enable the terminal device manufacturers to provide more convenient and better user experience for the user using the electronic terminal 10, and it may be helpful for improving user activity and coherency, attracting new users, generating an advantage of competitive differentiation, and increasing revenue sharing. It is possible to make the network operator increase the number of the terminal users while reducing input costs, so as to increase returns.

In an exemplary embodiment, a process of realizing a mobile data sharing function through an information interaction between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 is introduced.

Fig. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic terminal 10 and a network node 20 for implementing a mobile data sharing function according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to Fig. 7, the mobile data sharing device in the electronic terminal 10 according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure includes a mobile data sharing request module (corresponding to a group module 120 in a case where the user group is established), a receiving module 104 and a mobile data management module 105. As an example, the above modules may be implemented by a general-purpose hardware processor such as a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, may also be implemented by a specialized hardware processor such as a specialized chip, and may also be completely implemented in a software module through a computer program. For example, the modules may be implemented as respective modules in applications 40 (for example, the applications for implementing the mobile data sharing function) installed on the electronic terminal. Here, the electronic terminal 10 according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure may also include a mobile data control module 106, a trust zone 107 and a MODEM 108 in addition to the above modules.

A mobile data sharing device in the network node 20 according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure may include a mobile data service request module 201 and a mobile data service sending module 203. In addition, the mobile data sharing device in the network node 20 may also include a mobile data management module 202, a group management module 204 and a mobile data dynamic adjustment module 205. The foregoing modules may be implemented as at least one hardware processor.

The mobile data sharing request module (the group module 120) of the electronic terminal 10 sends a mobile data sharing request to the network node 20. The group management module 204 in the network node 20 receives the mobile data sharing request. The mobile data management module 202 allocates a sub-mobile data service for a shared object from a to-be-shared mobile data service.

In an example, the to-be-shared mobile data service may be a mobile data service in the electronic terminal 10 which sends the mobile data sharing request, and the mobile data sharing request may include information of the shared object. As an example, the information of the shared object may include, but not limited to, an identification of the electronic terminal 10 used by the shared object.

In another example, the to-be-shared mobile data service may be a mobile data service in a specified electronic terminal, and the mobile data sharing request may include information of the shared object and information of the electronic terminals designated to share the mobile data service.

The mobile data service sending module 203 is used for sending the sub-mobile data service to the shared object. That is, the mobile data service sending module 203 sends the sub-mobile data service to the electronic terminal used by the shared object.

Alternatively, in the exemplary embodiment, the mobile data service may refer to the mobile data service of the virtual user identification module (SOFTSIM). Alternatively, the mobile data service may be a SOFTSIM mobile data packet, and the sub-mobile data service may be a sub-SOFTSIM mobile data packet, but the disclosure is not limited hereto. The aforementioned mobile data service may also be other mobile data services excluding the mobile data service related to SOFTSIM.

In the situation where the mobile data service is the SOFTSIM mobile data service, the network node 20 may be any one of a SOFTSIM application server, a virtual operator server, and a SOFTSIM server having functions of the SOFTSIM application server and the virtual operator server.

An information interaction flowchart for mobile data sharing between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 where the network node 20 is the SOFTSIM application server 21 is introduced when the mobile data service is the SOFTSIM mobile data service referring to Figs. 8 and 9.

Fig. 8 illustrates a diagram for implementing the mobile data sharing function according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to Fig. 8, the primary user 810 purchases a SOFTSIM data packet and the server 810 provides the SOFTSIM data packet in response to the purchase request of the primary user 810 at step S81.

The primary user 810 may create a user group 820 to share mobile data of the purchased SOFTSIM data packet at step S83. In an embodiment, the primary user 810 may generate a quick response (QR) code for group members to share the mobile data. At step S85, the group members may receive an invitation of joining the user group 820 to share the mobile data. In response to the invitation, the secondary user 830 and/or IoT devices 840 may scan the QR code to join the user group 820 and to initiate sharing the mobile data of the SOFTSIM data packet.

At step 87, the server 810 may provide the mobile data of the SOFTSIM data packet (sub-SOFTSIM data packet) and dynamically allocate the data usage amount based on the usage record or the usage pattern of each member of the user group 820.

Fig. 9 illustrates a diagram of performing an information interaction process for mobile data sharing between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In the embodiment, the receiving module 104, the mobile data management module 105, the mobile data service request module 201, the mobile data management module 202 and the mobile data service sending module 203 shown in Fig. 2 correspond to a SOFTSIM receiving module, a SOFTSIM data packet control module, and SOFTSIM data packet request module, a SOFTSIM data packet management module and a SOFTSIM data packet sending module in Fig. 9, respectively.

Referring to Fig. 9, at step S901, when a primary user wants to share a purchased SOFTSIM data packet with a secondary user/an IoT device, a group module 120 in an electronic terminal 10 used by the primary user may establish a user group, to obtain the information of a shared object by establishing a user group. The obtaining the information of the shared object by establishing a user group described above is only an example, and the information of the shared object can also be obtained in other ways.

Here, the electronic terminal used by the primary user may refer to an electronic terminal for providing a to-be-shared mobile data service, and the electronic terminal used by the secondary user may refer to an electronic terminal for sharing the to-be-shared mobile data service. As an example, the secondary user may include one or more secondary users. The shared object may refer to an object for sharing the to-be-shared mobile data service (that is, it may refer to a secondary user).

The primary user may add the shared object to the user group by invitation (such as, scanning a group QR code) or add manually, and the shared object may also actively apply to join the user group, or the SOFTSIM application server 21 recommends the shared object for the primary user based on the analyzed social relations about the primary user. When a new shared object joins the user group, the group module of the electronic terminal (or the IOT device) used by the primary user or the secondary user may update information of the new shared object to the group management module.

At step S902, the group module of the electronic terminal used by the primary user or secondary user updates and/or uploads the group information of the established user group to the group management module in the SOFTSIM application server 21. Here, the group information may include the information of the shared object and the information of the to-be-shared mobile data service, for example, the electronic terminal used by the primary user or secondary user may determine the mobile data service of a specified user in the user group as the to-be-shared mobile data service according to user's selection.

The group management module may generate a "mobile data pool" according to the to-be-shared mobile data service, and the mobile data consumed by all the users in the user group comes from this mobile data pool. That is to say, a total amount of the mobile data usage of all the users in the user group is a mobile data amount of the to-be-shared mobile data service.

Here, the group module updating the group information corresponds to sending a mobile data sharing request to the SOFTSIM application server 21.

At step S903, the SOFTSIM data packet request module requests allocating the sub-mobile data service to the shared object for the virtual operator server 22 in response to the received mobile data sharing request.

When the mobile data sharing request includes information of the shared object and information of specified electronic terminal, the SOFTSIM data packet request module may determine a mobile data service in the specified electronic terminal to be the to-be-shared mobile data service based on the mobile data sharing request.

In the above situation where the group module establishes a user group, the mobile data sharing request may include group information. Since the group information includes the information of the shared object and the information of the to-be-shared mobile data service, the SOFTSIM data packet request module may determine the shared object and the to-be-shared mobile data service based on the group information in the received mobile data sharing request.

When the mobile data sharing request includes the information of the shared object, the SOFTSIM data packet request module may determine the shared object based on the received mobile data sharing request, and determine the mobile data service in the electronic terminal that sends the mobile data sharing request to be the to-be-shared mobile data service.

At step S904, the SOFTSIM data packet management module in the virtual operator server 23 allocates sub-mobile data service (that is, sub-SOFTSIM data packet). Here, the number of the sub-SOFTSIM data packets is the number of all the users included in the user group subtracting 1.

At step S905, the SOFTSIM data packet sending module sends the sub-SOFTSIM data packet to the shared object. After the secondary user receives the sub-SOFTSIM data packet, the information regarding the sub-SOFTSIM data packet may be stored in the trust zone 107, and the sub-SOFTSIM data packet can be activated in response to an input of activating the sub-SOFTSIM data packet by the user so as to perform network communication based on the mobile data in the to-be-shared mobile data service shared by the sub-SOFTSIM data packet. Similarly, after each shared object in the user group receives a sub-SOFTSIM data packet and automatically selects to perform an activation operation, all the shared objects may perform network communication using the mobile data in the to-be-shared mobile data packet. It should be understood that there is no need to activate all of the sub-SOFTSIM data packets, and the sub-SOFTSIM data packets may be selectively activated and used by the shared objects according to their own needs.

In an embodiment, the SOFTSIM data packet management module may determine a sub-mobile data service allocated to a shared object according to a predicted mobile data usage of the shared object.

For example, the mobile data usage of the shared object may be predicted according to at least one of a user portrait, a mobile data usage amount of the user, applications used by the user, using duration of the applications by the user, and using frequencies of the applications by the user.

The process of predicting the mobile data usage of the user will be introduced in details referring to Fig. 10.

Fig. 10 illustrates a diagram of predicting a mobile data usage of the user according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

In an embodiment, a mobile data usage record of each user may be obtained, a mobile data usage amount of each user is predicted based on obtained mobile data usage of each user so as to determine the mobile data usage amount to be allocated to each shared object according to the predicted mobile data usage amount of each user.

Referring to Fig. 10, alternatively, a method of predicting the mobile data usage amount of any user based on the obtained mobile data usage record of the any user may include the followings.

A mobile data usage time distribution (namely, a usage schedule) of the any user may be determined according to a mobile data usage amount of the any user, applications used by the any user, using duration of the applications by the any user, using frequencies of the applications by the any user and a user portrait of the any user. In addition, a mobile data consumption distribution of the any user may be determined according to a mobile data usage amount of the any user, applications used by the any user, using durations of the applications by the any user, and using frequencies of the applications by the any user. An application preference of the any user may also be determined according to applications used by any user, using durations of the applications by the any user, using frequencies of the applications by the any user. Besides, a user type to which the any user belongs may be determined according to the mobile data usage time distribution and application preference of the any user. Finally, a mobile data usage amount of the any user may be predicted based on the mobile data usage time distribution, the mobile data consumption distribution, the application preference, the user type, and a mobile data historical usage of the user of the user type. Alternatively, the above prediction process may be implemented by a server or an electronic terminal based on a deep neural network technology.

Return to Fig. 9, at step S906, a mobile data dynamic adjustment module obtains an actual mobile data usage value of the electronic terminal, and adjusts the sub-mobile data service allocated to each shared object based on the actual mobile data usage value of the shared object so that mobile data usage amount allocated to each shared object can satisfy mobile data usage demands of different shared objects.

The mobile data dynamic adjustment module may obtain an actual mobile data usage amount of the electronic terminal from the electronic terminal, or may also obtain the actual mobile data usage value of each electronic terminal from the virtual operator server. For the situation of obtaining the actual mobile data usage amount from the electronic terminal, a primary electronic terminal and a secondary electronic terminal may use an accurate mobile data usage value obtained from a local mobile data statistical calibration module as the actual mobile data usage value to update to the mobile data dynamic adjustment module of the SOFTSIM application server 21 so that the mobile data dynamic adjustment module may obtain the actual mobile data usage value from the electronic terminal.

Here, the local mobile data statistical calibration module is used for calibrating the locally measured mobile data usage value of the electronic terminal so as to obtain an accurate mobile data usage value. Subsequently, a process of calibrating the locally measured mobile data usage value will be introduced in details in a third exemplary embodiment, and this part of content will not be repeated in the disclosure.

At step S907, when the mobile data dynamic adjustment module determines that a sum of an actual mobile data usage value of the primary user and the secondary user reaches a total amount of the to-be-shared mobile data service (namely, a mobile data amount of the mobile data pool), it is possible to send a notification indicating that the mobile data is exhausted at the primary electronic terminal and the secondary electronic terminal, and the SOFTSIM data packet control module in the primary electronic terminal and the secondary electronic terminal performs a deactivation operation on the SOFTSIM data packet.

Fig. 11 illustrates a diagram of adjusting a mobile data allocated to the user according to an actual mobile data usage amount of the user according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to Fig. 11, it is possible to allocate mobile data for each user according to user types obtained by analysis. After a lapse of time period from initiating data sharing, if the actual mobile data usage value of each user is inconsistent with a prospective mobile data usage value, the mobile data dynamic adjustment module may adjust the allocated mobile data according to the actual mobile data usage value of each user.

In an embodiment, the mobile data dynamic adjustment module may dynamically adjust the mobile data amount allocated to each user according to the usage pattern of each user and the actual mobile data usage value of each user. Here, a reverse adjustment and training can be performed on the aforementioned deep neural network according to the actual mobile data usage value of each user so as to improve an accuracy in predicting the mobile data usage for the user.

It should be understood that, in addition to the situation of adjusting the mobile data allocation according to the actual mobile data usage value of the user, the mobile data dynamic adjustment module may also allocate the residual mobile data in the "mobile data pool" again according to the actual mobile data usage value when the mobile data amount allocated to any one of the shared objects has been exhausted, until the mobile data in the "mobile data pool" is exhausted.

It should be understood that Fig. 9 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an information interaction for mobile data sharing performed between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 where the network node 20 is the SOFTSIM application server 21 whereas Fig. 12 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of information interaction for mobile data sharing between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 where the network node 20 is the SOFTSIM server 23.

The difference between the SOFTSIM server 23 and the SOFTSIM application server 21 lies in that the SOFTSIM server 23 may integrate functions of the SOFTSIM application server 21 and the virtual operator server 22. That is to say, the SOFTSIM server 23 includes a mobile data sharing request receiving module, a mobile data sharing module, and a mobile data providing module. Besides, other processes of the information interaction flowchart illustrated in Fig. 12 and the information interaction flowchart illustrated in Fig. 9 are the same, and this part of content will not be repeated in the disclosure.

The above electronic terminal 10 and network node 20 for implementing the mobile data sharing function according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure can implement that multiple users share the same SOFTSIM mobile data packet to communicate, and can dynamically adjust the mobile data usage amount allocated to each user according to the actual mobile data usage of the users sharing the same SOFTSIM mobile data packet. The aforementioned mobile data sharing method would not increase a power consumption of the electronic terminal for providing the to-be-shared mobile data service, and would not be limited by a distance between the shared objects.

In an exemplary embodiment, a process of implementing a mobile data calibrating function through an information interaction between an electronic terminal and a network node is introduced.

Fig. 13 illustrates a block diagram of the electronic terminal and the network node for implementing a mobile data calibrating function according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to Fig. 13, a mobile data calibrating device in the electronic terminal 10 according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure includes a mobile data obtaining module 140 and a mobile data calibrating module 150. Besides, the mobile data calibrating device in the electronic terminal 10 may also include a calibration request module 160. The foregoing modules may be implemented by a general-purpose hardware processor such as a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array and may also be implemented by a specialized hardware processor such as a specialized chip and may also be completely implemented in a software module through a computer program. For example, the modules may be implemented as respective modules in applications (for example, the applications for implementing the mobile data calibrating function) 50 installed on the electronic terminal.

A mobile data calibrating device in the network node 20 according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure may include a request receiving module 213, a sending module 211, and a calibration coefficient calculation module 212.

The mobile data obtaining module 140 is used for obtaining a locally measured mobile data usage value of a mobile data packet.

The mobile data calibrating module 150 is used for calibrating the locally measured mobile data usage value of the mobile data packet. In an example, a mobile data usage value obtained from the network node 20 can be used to calibrate the locally measured mobile data usage value. The calibration request module 160 may send a request for obtaining the mobile data usage value of the mobile data packet for the request receiving module 213. The request receiving module 213 receives the request for obtaining the mobile data usage value of the mobile data packet.

The sending module 211 sends a mobile data usage value measured by the network node 20 to the mobile data calibrating module 150 of the electronic terminal 10. The mobile data calibrating module 150 uses the mobile data usage value obtained from the network node 20 to calibrate the locally measured mobile data usage value.

Alternatively, using the mobile data usage value obtained from a network node to calibrate the locally measured mobile data usage value includes at least one of when the locally measured mobile data usage value reaches a set mobile data usage value, obtaining a mobile data usage value from the network node 20, and calibrating the locally measured mobile data usage value using the mobile data usage value obtained from the network node 20; or calibrating the locally measured mobile data usage value according to a mobile data usage value obtained from the network node 20 at a predetermined time.

In an embodiment, as for the situation of performing the calibration using the mobile data usage amount obtained from the network node 20, a plurality of calibration points can be set, one calibration point corresponds to one set mobile data usage value, and errors are diffused through a calibration method of "from coarse to fine, multi-point calibration".

For example, when it is detected that the locally measured mobile data usage value of the mobile data packet reaches a set mobile data usage value corresponding to one of the calibration points, a mobile data usage value is obtained from the network node 20, and the locally measured mobile data usage value at the one of the calibration points will be updated to the mobile data usage value obtained from the network node 20, and a local measurement is performed by taking the updated locally measured mobile data usage value as a baseline.

In an embodiment, a calibration performed on the locally mobile data usage value when assuming that four calibration points are set is introduced as examples referring to Figs. 14 and 15.

Fig. 14 illustrates a flowchart of performing mobile data calibrating based on a mobile data usage value obtained from the network node 20 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to Fig. 14, the calibration process starts at a first calibration point (namely, calibration node 1).

When the locally measured mobile data usage value Ld0 (for example, a mobile data usage value that can be obtained from a system interface of a electronic terminal) reaches a first set mobile data usage value (as an example, the first set mobile data usage value may refer to 50% of a amount Pd of mobile data packet in the electronic terminal), a mobile data usage value Nd1 obtained from the network node is used to calibrate a locally measured mobile data usage value Cd1. That is, the mobile data usage value measured at the network node is used as a baseline, to update the locally measured mobile data usage value as the network node measured mobile data usage value, and a locally measurement proceeds by using the updated locally measured mobile data usage value as the basis in the subsequent. Meanwhile, the locally measured mobile data usage value Cd1 and the network node measured mobile data usage value Nd1 at the first calibration point and a model of the electronic terminal are uploaded to the network node (such as the SOFTSIM application server or the virtual operator server) to be stored in a historical mobile data measurement database.

At a second calibration point (namely, a calibration node 2), when the locally measured mobile data usage value (that is, a sum of the locally measured mobile data usage value Cd1 after calibrating at the last calibration point and a mobile data usage value Ld1 obtained through the system interface of the electronic terminal during an interval from the last calibration point to the current calibration point) reaches a second set mobile data usage value (as an example, the second set mobile data usage value may be 75% of the amount Pd of the mobile data packet in the electronic terminal), a network node measured mobile data usage value Nd2 obtained from the network node is used to calibrate a locally measured mobile data usage value Cd2, to update the locally measured mobile data usage value Cd2 as the network node measured mobile data usage value Nd2, and the locally measurement proceeds by using the updated locally measured mobile data usage value as the basis in the subsequent. Meanwhile, the locally measured mobile data usage value Ld1 the network node measured mobile data usage value Nd1-Nd2 at the second calibration point and a model of the electronic terminal are uploaded to the network node to be stored.

At a third calibration point (namely, a calibration node 3), when the locally measured mobile data usage value (that is, a sum of the locally measured mobile data usage value Cd2 after calibrating at the last calibration point and a mobile data usage value Ld2 obtained through the system interface of the electronic terminal during an interval from the last calibration point to the current calibration point) reaches a third set mobile data usage value (as an example, the third set mobile data usage value may be 87.5% of the amount Pd of the mobile data packet), a network node measured mobile data usage value Nd3 obtained from the network node is used to calibrate a locally measured mobile data usage value Cd3, to update the locally measured mobile data usage value Cd3 as the network node measured mobile data usage value Nd3, and the locally measurement proceeds by using the updated locally measured mobile data usage value as the basis in the subsequent. Meanwhile, the locally measured mobile data usage value Ld2 and the network node measured mobile data usage value Nd3-Nd2 at the third calibration point and a model of the electronic terminal are uploaded to the network node to be stored.

At a fourth calibration point (namely, a calibration node 4), when a locally measured mobile data usage amount (that is, a sum of the locally measured mobile data usage value Cd3 after calibrating at the last calibration point and a mobile data usage value Ld3 obtained through the system interface of the electronic terminal during an interval from the last calibration point to the current calibration point) reaches a fourth set mobile data usage value (as an example, the fourth set mobile data usage value may be 97% of the amount Pd of the mobile data packet), a network node measured mobile data usage value Nd4 obtained from the network node is used to calibrate a locally measured mobile data usage value Cd4, to update the locally measured mobile data usage value Cd4 as the network node measured mobile data usage value Nd4, if the mobile data usage value after calibration has reached or exceeds the amount of mobile data packet, it is considered that the mobile data packet has been exhausted, a reminder will be sent to the electronic terminal to prompt the user that the mobile data will be exhausted, and when the mobile data packet may be the SOFTSIM mobile data packet, the SOFTSIM data packet will also be deactivated. Otherwise, the reminder will be generated to prompt the user that the mobile data will be exhausted, and the network node measured mobile data usage value obtained from the network node will be used to calibrate the locally measured mobile data usage value again at a certain time interval (e.g., ten minutes), to start an iterative process. Meanwhile, the locally measured mobile data usage value and the network node measured mobile data usage value at the fourth calibration point and a model of the electronic terminal are uploaded to the network node to be stored.

If the locally measured mobile data usage amount reaches the fourth set mobile data usage value, or in the following iterative process, no mobile data usage value is obtained from the network node (that is, the network node does not respond the request for obtaining the mobile data usage value of the mobile data packet), it can be considered that the mobile data of the mobile data packet has been exhausted, at this time, the user of the electronic terminal is reminded. When the mobile data packet may be the SOFTSIM mobile data packet, the SOFTSIM data packet will also be deactivated. Alternatively, when the network node does not respond, it is possible to repeatedly send a mobile data calibrating request of predetermined times for the network node, and if the network node still does not respond, it is considered that the mobile data of the mobile data packet has been exhausted.

If the mobile data usage amount after calibration has reached or exceeds the amount of the mobile data packet in the following iterative process, it is considered that the mobile data of the mobile data packet has been exhausted, a reminder will be sent to the electronic terminal to prompt the user that the mobile data will be exhausted. When the mobile data packet may be the SOFTSIM mobile data packet, the SOFTSIM data packet will also be deactivated. Otherwise, iteration proceeds at a certain time interval (for example, ten minutes).

In another example, it is possible to calibrate the locally measured mobile data usage value according to a calibration coefficient.

Fig. 15 illustrates a flowchart of calculating a calibrating coefficient according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to Fig. 15, in an embodiment, the calibration coefficient can be generated based on historical calibration information, and the locally measured mobile data usage value is calibrated according to the generated calibration coefficient. Alternatively, the locally measured mobile data usage value and the calibration coefficient can be used as the locally measured mobile data usage value after calibration.

Here, the calibration coefficient may be generated by the electronic terminal or may be generated by a calibration coefficient calculation module 212 in the network node. Here, the historical calibration information may refer to the network node measured mobile data usage value and the locally measured mobile data usage value set at the calibration points. Alternatively, it is possible to calculate the calibration coefficients for the electronic terminals of various models based on the historical calibration information of the electronic terminals of different models.

In an embodiment, one calibration point may be set, when the product of the locally measured mobile data usage value Ld and the calibration coefficient.

As an example, the calibration coefficient may be calculated by an equation:

... Equation 1

In the above equation 1, α denotes a calibration coefficient, N _i denotes the network node measured mobile data usage value at i calibration point, C _i denotes the locally measured mobile data usage value of the electronic terminal at i calibration point, and 1≤i≤n, n is the number of the calibration points.

It should be understood that, the closer that a value of the calibration coefficient α is to 1, it indicates that an difference between the locally measured mobile data usage value of the electronic terminal and the network node measured mobile data usage value is smaller. It can be found according to experimental data, the closer that the value α of the electronic terminal of a higher-end model is to 1, the smaller the difference is, and the difference of the electronic terminal of a lower-end model is higher.

Alternatively, the mobile data packet may be a virtual Subscriber Identification Module SOFTSIM mobile data packet. In this case, as an example, a network node 20 may be any one of a SOFTSIM application server, a virtual operator server, and a SOFTSIM server having functions of the SOFTSIM application server and the virtual operator server. It should be understood that the above mobile data calibrating method and device can be used not only in the SOFTSIM mobile data service, and may also in other scene in which it is necessary to locally measure the mobile data precisely.

The above electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 for implementing the mobile data calibrating function according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure calibrate the locally measured mobile data usage value through the mobile data usage value measured at a network side or the calibration coefficient calculated based on the historical calibration information, and thus the accuracy of the locally mobile data measurement is improved, especially, the accuracy on measuring the mobile data of a large mobile data amount is improved significantly.

In the fourth exemplary embodiment, a process of implementing a mobile data transferring function through an information interaction between an electronic terminal and a network node is introduced.

Fig. 16 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic terminal 10 and a network node 20 for implementing a mobile data transferring function according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to Fig. 16, a mobile data transferring device in the electronic terminal 10 for implementing the mobile data transferring function according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure may include a mobile data transferring request module 170, a payment module 180 and a mobile data management module 105. When the electronic terminal 10 is used as a receiver of the mobile data transferring, the mobile data transferring device may also include a mobile data packet receiving module 190. As an example, the above modules can be implemented as respective modules installed in applications (such as an application for realizing the mobile data transferring function) 60 on the electronic terminal. Here, the electronic terminal 10 according to the exemplary embodiment of the disclosure may also include a mobile data control module 106, a trust zone 107 and a MODEM 108.

The network node 20 for implementing a mobile data transferring function according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure may include a secondhand data packet management module(not shown), a billing module 210, a payment management module 220 and a mobile data transferring module(not shown). The second hand data packet management module includes a transferring request receiving module 230, the mobile data transferring module includes a recovery module 260, a data packet management module 250 and a data packet sending module 240.

In an embodiment, the mobile data transferring request module 170 sends to the network node 20 a mobile data transferring request. Here, the mobile data transferring request may include a mobile data transfer-out request and/or a mobile data transfer-in request. The transferring request receiving module 230 receives a mobile data transferring request. The mobile data transferring module transfers mobile data of a mobile data packet of a transferer 11 to a receiver 12 according to the received mobile data transferring request.

For example, the mobile data transferring module transferring the mobile data of the mobile data packet of the transferer to the receiver may include recovering the mobile data packet of the transferer 11; and allocating a new mobile data packet to the receiver 12.

Alternatively, in the exemplary embodiment, the mobile data packet may be the SOFTSIM mobile data packet, and the electronic terminal 10 shall support a SOFTSIM card function. In this case, as an example, the network node 20 may be any one of a SOFTSIM application server, a virtual operator server, and a SOFTSIM server having functions of the SOFTSIM application server and the virtual operator server.

Below, an information interaction flowchart for mobile data transferring between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 in the case where the network node 20 is the SOFTSIM application server 21 is introduced referring to Figs. 17 and 18.

Fig. 17 illustrates a flow diagram for implementing the mobile data transferring function according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to Fig. 17, the first user 1710 comes back from a travel and finds out unused mobile data of the SOFTSIM data packet at step S1701 and the second user 1720 intends to travel and also looks for mobile data to be used during the travel at step S1703. The first user 1710 may transmit information of the SOFTSIM data packet for sale and try to sell the unused mobile data to the second user 1720 at the secondary mobile data market 1730 at step S1705.

If a transaction for the unused mobile data is made, the information of the deal is transmitted to a sever 1740 and the second user 1720 may pay the bill for the mobile data to be purchased associated with the deal made with the first user 1710 at step S1707.

Upon recovering the SOFTSIM data packet at step S1709, the server 1740 may refund a payment amount corresponding to the unused mobile data to the first user 1710 at step S1711. In an embodiment, the refund by the server 1740 may be made in response to a confirmation, by the first user 1710, of transferring the unused mobile data to the second user 1720.

The server 1740 may repack the unused mobile data as new SOFTSIM data packet for the second user 1720 at step S1713 and allocate the new SOFTSIM data packet to the second user 1720 at step S1715.

Fig. 18 illustrates a diagram of performing an information interaction process for mobile data transferring between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In the embodiment, the mobile data management module 105, the data packet sending module 240, and the transferring request receiving module 230 shown in Fig. 16 correspond to the SOFTSIM data packet management module, the SOFTSIM data packet sending module, and the second hand data packet management module in Fig. 18, respectively.

Referring to Fig. 18, at step S1810, the electronic terminal as the transferer 11 may send a mobile data transferring request to the SOFTSIM application server 21. Or, at step S1811 the electronic terminal as the receiver 12 may send a mobile data transferring request to the SOFTSIM application server 21. For example, the mobile data transferring request may include a mobile data transfer-out request in S1810 and/or a mobile data transfer-in request in S1811. That is to say, the electronic terminal as the transferer 11 may send the mobile data transfer-out request to the SOFTSIM application server 21, and/or the electronic terminal as the receiver 12 may send the mobile data transfer-in request to the SOFTSIM application server 21. Alternatively, the electronic terminal as the transferer 11 may send a mobile data directional transferring request to the electronic terminal as the receiver 12, and the electronic terminal as the receiver 12 may send the mobile data transfer-in request to the SOFTSIM application server 21 based on the mobile data directional transferring request. The mobile data transfer-in request includes related information of a to-be-transferred mobile data packet (namely, information of the mobile data packet of the transferer).

The transferring request receiving module 230 in the second hand data packet management module receives the mobile data transferring request. A type of the mobile data transferring request is determined after the transferring request receiving module 230 receives the mobile data transferring request.

When the type of the mobile data transferring request received by the transferring request receiving module 230 is the mobile data transfer-out request, the payment management module 220 and the billing module 210 determine the payment. It is necessary to determine whether the receiver makes the payment. For example, at step S1812, the payment management module 220 receives payment information sent by the receiver 12 to indicate that the payment is successful. The payment management module 220 makes a confirmation with the payment with the billing module 210, and the billing module 210 sends a confirmation certificate to the payment management module 220 after the confirmation is completed.

At step S1813, when the payment management module 220 confirms that the payment is successful, the payment management module 220 sends the information indicating that the payment is successful to the recovery module 260, and the recovery module 260 recovers the mobile data packet of the transferer 11.

For example, when receiving the mobile data transfer-out request, sale information regarding a residual mobile data value in a mobile data packet for sale is released to all the electronic terminals that establish connections with the SOFTSIM application server 21. When payment information indicating that a user of any one of all electronic terminal has purchased the residual mobile data value in the mobile data packet for sale successfully is received from the one of the electronic terminals, the mobile data packet is recovered from the transferer 11 in response to the payment information.

At step S1814, the SOFTSIM data packet management module recovers the mobile data packet according to an indication of the recovery module. That is, the SOFTSIM data packet management module sends a notification of recovering the mobile data packet to the SOFTSIM data packet control module.

At step S1815, the SOFTSIM data packet control module deletes the SOFTSIM data packet from the trust zone 107.

At step S1816, the SOFTSIM data packet control module sends a notification of indicating that the data packet recovery is successful to the SOFTSIM data packet management module.

At step S1817, the SOFTSIM data packet management module sends the notification for indicating that the data packet recovery is successful to recovery module 260.

At step S1818, the recovery module 260 informs the data packet management module 250 of a recovery result.

At step S1819, the data packet management module 250 generates a new SOFTSIM data packet and sends the new SOFTSIM data packet to the SOFTSIM data packet sending module. That is to say, the data packet management module allocates a new mobile data packet to the receiver 12. Here, the data packet management module 250 may generate a new data packet according to the residual mobile data value in the mobile data packet of the receiver 12.

At step S1820, the data packet sending module 240 sends the new data packet to the SOFTSIM receiving module of the receiver 12.

At step S1821, when the SOFTSIM application server 21 determines that the residual mobile data value is transferred to the receiver 12 or the data packet recovery is successful, the SOFTSIM application server 21 returns a refund corresponding to the residual mobile data value in the mobile data packet to the electronic terminal.

It should be understood that Fig. 18 illustrates an information interaction flowchart for mobile data transferring performed between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 in the case where the network node 20 is the SOFTSIM application server 21. Fig. 19 illustrates an information interaction flowchart for mobile data transferring between the electronic terminal 10 and the network node 20 in the case where the network node 20 is the SOFTSIM server 23.

Here, a difference between the SOFTSIM server 23 and the SOFTSIM application server 21 lies in that the SOFTSIM server 23 integrates functions of the SOFTSIM application server 21 and the virtual operator server 22. Besides, the processes of the information interaction flowchart shown in Fig. 19 and the information interaction flowchart shown in Fig. 18 are the same, and this part of content will not be repeated in the disclosure.

The above electronic terminal 10 and network node 20 for implementing mobile data transferring function according to the embodiment of the disclosure transfer the unused SOFTSIM data packet among devices through a series of operations like recovery, reallocation and so on, which realizes a transfer and secondhand trading of the SOFTSIM data packet among users, thereby avoiding a waste of mobile data resources.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, there is also provided an electronic device, which includes: a processor; a memory which is stored with a computer program, when the computer program is performed by the processor, to implement any one of the above method for obtaining mobile data, the above method for sharing mobile data, the above method for calibrating mobile data and the above method for transferring mobile data.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, there is also provided a network node device, which includes: a processor; a memory which is stored with a computer program, when the computer program is performed by the processor, to implement any one of the above method for obtaining mobile data, the above method for sharing mobile data, the above method for calibrating mobile data and the above method for transferring mobile data.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, there is also provided a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program. The computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, when the computer program is performed by a processor, to enable the processor to implement any one of the above method for obtaining mobile data, the above method for sharing mobile data, the above method for calibrating mobile data and the above method for transferring mobile data. The computer readable recording medium is any data storage device that can store data readout by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include a read-only memory, a random access memory, a CD-ROM, a storage tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device and a carrier (such as data transmission over the Internet via a wired or wireless transmission path).

With the above mobile data obtaining, providing, sharing, calibrating and transferring method and device, it is possible to enrich functions of the existing mobile data service so that a user can use the mobile data service more conveniently and flexibly.

While the disclosure has been particularly shown and described with reference to the exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A method of using a virtual subscriber identification module (SOFTSIM) mobile data service in a mobile device, the method comprising:

detecting inaccessibility to data service;

transmitting a request for a mobile data service;

receiving the mobile data service in response to the request; and

activating mobile data packet included in the mobile data service in response to the detecting of the inaccessibility to the data service,

wherein the mobile data packet is used at the mobile device for wireless data communication without a physical subscriber identification module.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing behaviors of a user of the mobile device;

determining that the mobile device needs the mobile data service based on the analyzing of the behaviors.
The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing of the behaviors of the user comprises at least one selected from a group of:

analyzing a travel plan of the user;

analyzing a communication cost of the user; and

analyzing a mobile data usage of the user.
The method of claim 3, wherein the analyzing of the travel plan of the user comprises:

analyzing at least one selected from a group of:

location information searched for at the mobile device by the user;

location information of the mobile device;

information received by the mobile device;

webpage usage data in the mobile device; and

application usage data in the mobile device.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a group for sharing the mobile data packet;

transmitting, to members of the group, an invitation of joining the group; and

initiating sharing of the mobile data packet with the at least one member in response to receiving an acceptance of the invitation of joining the group.
The method of claim 5, further comprising:

analyzing data usage pattern of the members of the group; and

allocating data of the mobile data packet to the members of the group based on the analysis of the data usage pattern.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting exhaustion of data of the mobile data packet; and

deactivating the mobile data packet in response to the detecting the exhaustion of data packet.
The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting information of the mobile data packet to a server for data transfer;

receiving a request of transferring the mobile data packet in response to a transaction made between the server with a second mobile device based on the information of the mobile data packet; and

transmitting, to the server, a confirmation of transferring the mobile data packet in response to the request.
The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile data service comprises mobile data packet used for wireless data communication and information on purchasing the mobile data packet.
The method of claim 9, wherein the information on purchasing the mobile data packet comprises information of reminding the second mobile device of purchasing the mobile data packet or information of recommending purchasing the mobile data packet.
The method of claim 1,

wherein the mobile data service is a mobile data service using the virtual subscriber identification module.
An apparatus of using a virtual subscriber identification module (SOFTSIM) mobile data service, the apparatus comprising:

a display; and

a processor configured to

detect inaccessibility to data service;

transmit a request for a mobile data service;

receive the mobile data service in response to the request; and

activate mobile data packet included in the mobile data service in response to the detecting of the inaccessibility to the data service,

wherein the mobile data packet is used at the apparatus for wireless data communication without a physical subscriber identification module.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to analyze behaviors of a user of the apparatus, and determine that the apparatus needs the mobile data service based on the analyzing of the behaviors.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to

generate a group for sharing the mobile data packet;

transmit, to members of the group, an invitation of joining the group; and

initiate sharing of the mobile data packet with the at least one member in response to receiving an acceptance of the invitation of joining the group.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to

transmit information of the mobile data packet to a server for data transfer;

receive a request of transferring the mobile data packet in response to a transaction made between the server with a second mobile device based on the information of the mobile data packet; and

transmit, to the server, a confirmation of transferring the mobile data packet in response to the request.