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ARM wants mobile or IoT devices to include a tiny integrated SIM card:
Every millimeter of space matters when you're trying to build increasingly complex electronics into increasingly tiny packages, and the relatively spacious SIM card has long been an area of frustration for hardware manufacturers. Now, the chip design company ARM may have an answer: an integrated component called an iSIM that's built into the same chip as the processor.
ARM says the iSIM will take up a "fraction of a millimeter squared," whereas the current SIM standard — Nano SIMs — are about 12.3 x 8.8mm in size, not including the hardware usually needed to house them. Not only will that save space, but ARM says it'll more importantly save on costs, too: instead of paying "tens of cents" per card, manufacturers will be paying single-digital cents.
Also at CNET, Tom's Hardware, and Wccftech.
Related: Infineon Demos a 1.65 mm^2 eSIM Chip
(Score: 3, Insightful) by TheRaven on Thursday February 22 2018, @02:19PM (11 children)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 5, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday February 22 2018, @02:37PM (10 children)
I provide IoT devices lately and I absolutely do want a removable SIM. I can have a service guy with no computer skills whatsoever change out a faulty piece of hardware, put the old SIM and SD card in the new kit, and not have to do anything at all on my end of things. Anything that does nothing but cause me extra work is not a feature, it's a design flaw.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:31PM (9 children)
What kind of failure do you imagine in the SIM? If it's a physical failure of the SIM, then replacement is the only option. The iSIM is such a small part of the SoC though that it's basically eliminating this as a failure mode: if the iSIM is damaged then the SoC is badly damaged and you will need to replace it anyway. By putting it on die, you eliminate all failure modes related to the connection between the SIM and the rest of the unit.
If you're talking about needing to upgrade the software, would you rather send out a service guy (who, in spite of lacking computer skills, still needs paying) or just send an OTA update that updates the SIM? If you're switching to another mobile provider, you can send out a single update for all of the devices and update their iSIMs, rather than have to go and physically replace each one. If you don't want to support OTA updates, then your unskilled service guy will now be plugging in a USB device or similar, rather than swapping the SIM, but that doesn't sound like it would require more skill.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:33PM (3 children)
Reading comprehension: Massive fail.
If the old SIM card were defective, then why would he want to put it into the replacement hardware? And why would he want to replace the hardware instead of the SIM card in the first place?
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:55PM (2 children)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @06:50PM (1 child)
Except the SD card is, ideally, identical across devices and copied in bulk. Now each one will have to be have to be unique.
The same tech could have handled a software upgrade before by swapping a new SD card into the device. Now the SD card would have to be pre-programmed for that specific one with the sim card info, or each update is a manual thing on the device (and the SD card must be writable...)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @08:22PM
In other words, NextGen DRM.
I like modularity and modular components. This iSIM and the usecases and implementation ideas seem to be the contrary of it. Creating solutions for invented pdoblems. It is the same with phones with replacable batteries which are now almost nonexistent. Both of these things are devolutions only to the benefit of the vendor. Pissing on everyone's head but hey, they are courteus plenty because are calling it rain.
(Score: 2) by AndyTheAbsurd on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:48PM (4 children)
You missed the point pretty badly there. The case that The Mighty Buzzard is talking about is not failure of the SIM, but failure of something in the rest of the device. Having a hard-wired SIM means that the account that the device reports to changes every time the device is changed. With the existing, removable SIM system, you can slap a new device in place transferring the existing SIM (and OS/data log/whatever else on an SD card) and not have to worry about "oh, client X used have device 728 and now they've got device 989 so let's update their account"...and the associated potential errors that go with it, like the service guy having sloppy handwriting, so what he originally wrote as "989" he reads as "967" when he gets around to doing the updates two days later.
Please note my username before responding. You may have been trolled.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday February 22 2018, @04:52PM (3 children)
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @05:25PM
"Simple", the magic word here. From previous experience in life it will be insanely difficult for the first few years atleast, then it'll be a bit better, but the old HW is dropped of support and you can't do it anymore. Then there'll be another software version and it'll drop more support and copying stuff between different vendors will be shit from day 1 to day infinity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @08:34PM (1 child)
You are assuming a programmable SIM is a good thing.
No sir. Noone in my family would want to spend the day over the phone with customer support to activate a new phone with the same nr because they accidentally broke what they had. Pulling out of the drawer that old Nokia 3310 and inserting the simcard of the damaged phone will do perfectly.
I could agree to this tech uses in the industry or many other fields. But please keep it out of my phone.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Monday February 26 2018, @09:14AM
Much easier than trying to cut a SIM down to the newer smaller size that this generation of phones uses, or waiting for a replacement if you lose it.
sudo mod me up