How SIM Cards Actually Work

A subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module. You most likely use it day by day, it’s all about your SIM card, that little chip in your phone. Do you know how it actually works? When, and by whom it was invented? Let’s check out.

When was it invented?

To begin with, have you ever ever wondered what SIM stands for? It truly means (subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module).

In 1991, The first SIM card was developed by a German company Giesecke & Devrient. They sold 300 SIM cards to Radiolinja, a Finnish wireless network operator. In 1992, the company sold the first GSM mobile phone with a SIM card; it was a Nokia 1101.

As we speak, it’s almost inconceivable to seek out an individual who’s by no means used a SIM card — More than 7 billion gadgets world wide use them to make calls, ship SMS, and surf the web. Consultants predict this number is going to develop to twenty billion in the near future.

The European Telecommunications StandardsInstitute (ETSI) still holds the foremost SIM patents, however different private phone firms even have some necessary patents because of which SIMs work.

The most important manufacturer of SIM cards on this planet is the Gemalto company, with headquarters in Amsterdam and 15,000employees. They’re now working towards the mass production of SIMs for 5G networks. First SIM cards price more than one dollar every to manufacture.

At this time, they’re basically value a few cents apiece. However that price doesn’t cover design, development, inserting chips into plastic cards, and shipping them.

A SIM card has unique identification information on it, like what mobile network it belongs to. It’s called an IMSI -(Worldwide Mobile Subscriber Identity). This unique ID connects your phone number with your gadget. When somebody is dialing your number, the call will go to the precise phone you’ve on the moment.

SIM additionally has its own memory. Even though it’s really small — just 64 kilobytes — it can store round 250 contacts and a few SMS.

By the way, the same memory was within the ApolloGuidance Computer used for the primary Moon landings.

In case your SIM card is mobile, that means you possibly can remove it and put it back into your phone your self, you can too use it on totally different phones. This is useful when your own gadget’s battery is dead, and you desperately must make a phone call out of your number.

Can phone work without a SIM card?

Technically it can, as a camera, or a tool that connects you to Wi-Fi, but not as a phone to make calls or text someone. For absolutely the mainity of phones, a gadget without a SIM card is like a human without a brain.

The Good news is, even for those who critically damaged your phone — smashed your screen or bent the casing — you can still use the identical phone number and keep your contacts. All it takes is a SIM card transplantation.

How does a SIM card work?

A SIM card basically looks like a little piece of plastic. It has an excellent smaller chip inside that is its Microcontroller. It’s made out of silicone and plated with gold or different metals to assist it keep in contact with the phone.

SIM card carries a processor, memory, and security circuits. Our mobile system reads the chip when you insert the SIM in it.

It Accommodates the operating system for the card, can do some fundamental math, and stores necessary information. This information is put on the chip on the production line.

Essentially the most primary types of that information are your International Mobile Subscriber Identity and a 128-bit key called Ki (Key Identification). These are basically your login and password in the mobile phone world. All messages from our phone to the network are in a categorized code.

The key to encrypt and decrypt messages can also be stored on the SIM card. This provides communication privacy. The SIM card chip also stores particular data, corresponding to your card’s distinctive serial number, the name of your mobile carrier, your PIN (if you’ve ever wondered what it stands for, by the way, it’s your Personal Identification Number) to lock and unlock the phone, PUK code from the service to unblock the phone and far more. Even your contacts and last dialed numbers are there.

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