Cloud Over-The-Air (OTA) Server
Customer Presentation
Sierra Wireless is an Internet-of-Things market leader indexed on NASDAQ with a revenue of over 600M USD. Its device-to-cloud integrated solutions make their offer unique in the market. Sierra Wireless Smart SIM is now used in a wide variety of connected objects leveraging its global connectivity.
Customer Critical Challenge
Sierra Wireless needs a solution to remotely manage SIM cards deployed by its customers on connected objects over the world. This solution must respect the Over-The-Air standards defined by the 3GPP.
Mobile operators need to remotely provision SIM cards as part of their lifecycle management. In fact, having customers return their SIM cards for newer versions is not a viable option. In addition, this process is often part of connectivity and cost optimization.
As part of their mobile to cloud solution, the SIM card remote management enables efficient management of devices that are otherwise impossible to reach. This is especially true in Internet of Things deployments where SIM cards are often place in difficult locations.
Sierra Wireless innovative Smart SIM offer includes the embedded UICC card (eUICC) which consists of multiple operators’ profiles in the same card. Managing its own profile among the rest is done remotely using an Over-The-Air solution as per the standard.
Solution
Over-The-Air (OTA) remote provisioning server development following 3GPP telecommunications standards
Tight integration between the OTA and the information system (IS) for more agility
Custom OTA campaigns adapted to Sierra Wireless Smart SIM requirements
OTA solution must come with an API for an orchestration among the different network and IS elements
OTA solution relies on AWS for fast and reliable delivery
Benefits
Remote SIM card lifecycle management
Adaptability to the custom requirements of the Smart SIM
Efficient integration with both telecommunication nodes and the information system
Enhanced connectivity and better cost-efficiency
Business Challenge
As a mobile operator, Sierra Wireless needs its own platform to provision remotely its SIM cards. This is especially true since its network is that of a virtual mobile operator (MVNO) which poses specific constraints and relies more on an OTA solution due to its ever-changing mobile partner agreements.
Off-the-shelf solutions exist and might answer general requirements found in traditional or virtual mobile operators. But, Smart SIM requirements are very specific and require a better integrated solution.
Zen Networks Solution
As part of our offering, we have an Over-The-Air platform compliant with relevant 3GPP and GSMA requirements. Our solution can easily be integrated in a mobile core network by leveraging its inbound API and information system hooks.
Our OTA server follows a state-of-the art architecture relying on AWS services.
Campaign management, retransmission and enhanced reporting are all part of our OTA server.
The platform’s technological stack is based on state-of-the-art microservice architecture making it highly scalable and future-proof.
Our experts assist our customers in integrating our Over-The-Air server and customizing it per his specific requirements.
Results
Using our Over-The-Server, Sierra Wireless is able to build efficient SIM card resource management and manage its Smart card lifecycle in an integrated fashion with its information system.
Our Over-The-Air API enables integration with the operator’s orchestration platform while providing precise reporting to alleviate the unreliability seen in SMS communications.
Being at the core of critical services, OTA deployment has been done using a scalable and highly available architecture.
By leveraging AWS highly scalable managed services, we were able to deliver the solution with an efficient time to market. In fact, by correctly leveraging the different AWS services and adapting our software to it, deployment became faster and more reliable.