www.iQsim.

com

Virtual SIM
iQsim Technology
Key benefits
SIM centralization avoids
having SIM cards spread
out all over the place with
potential risk of theft and
enables to manage them
more easily
Allocation of SIM cards on
demand allows for having
less SIM cards than actual
number of GSM devices

For an enterprise or an operator, managing a large number of SIM cards

in GSM devices located in different locations, can become a complex
and cumbersome process associated with a non-negligible risk of the
theft.
Each time a different SIM is required in a GSM device, it means someone
has to manually swap the existing SIM with the new one, which means
the availability on site of both the SIM card and the person to make the
change.
Changing SIM cards can quickly become a cumbersome process that
mobilizes resources, making it expensive and inefficient.
Virtual SIM

Physical SIM
3G/UMTS Router

Dynamic allocation of SIM

cards is a fast process that
can be automatized
SIM cards can be managed
and allocated by the
customer applications
thanks to iQsim APIs

Internet Cloud

SIM cards central storage

Voice GSM Gateway

GSM Test Probe

SIM cards can be allocated

to GSM devices in multiple
countries

SIM Virtualization

The best SIM can be

selected depending on
multiple criteria such as
SIM rotation, available
credit, etc

On the opposite, SIM virtualization can help enterprises and operators

manage efficiently their application environment with multiple SIM
cards.
iQsims Virtual SIM solution allows for hosting SIM cards in a central
site and allocate them to the appropriate GSM physical device when
required.

Local SIM can be allocated

to a GSM device depending
on its location

White Paper

Virtual SIM

www.iQsim.com

iQsim Technology

Virtual SIM Applicability

SIM virtualization can be used in a large variety of applications.
MOBILE COMMUNICATION
SMS
Application

Web Interface

SMPP

SIM Management
Activation & Allocation
Credit Management
HBS & Protection

Softswitch
PBX
SIP

Routing to
the Best SIM

Operators and service providers use SIM

virtualization in conjunction with Mobile
Gateway for reducing cost of voice and SMS
communication to mobile. SIM virtualization
allows for routing to the best SIM based on
multiple criterias.

Virtual SIM
GSM Gateway

SIM Rack

MOBILE TESTING

iQsim APIs

Web Interface

SIM Management
Activation & Allocation

Test
Application

Test commands
and results

Mobile robots combined with SIM virtualization

allow mobile operators to build a powerful test
environment with GSM devices spread all across
their network and allocating SIM cards on
demand directly from automated test scenarios.

Virtual SIM
Mobile Robot

SIM Rack

INTERNATIONAL ROAMING

Web Interface

iQsim APIs

Management
Application

Device
Location

SIM Management
Activation & Allocation

Virtual local SIM

SIM Rack

GSM Device

Local SIM for international roaming is used as a

way to significantly reduce the cost of voice and
data communication while abroad. This type of
service is used by service providers targeting
tourists or business travellers or for specific
communities such as transport, travel agencies

SIM virtualization fits well with this application

by avoiding to physically hosting the local SIM
card in the device but allowing for a local SIM
card to be allocated to a particular device when
this device is connecting from a given country.

Virtual SIM

www.iQsim.com

iQsim Technology
How it works

iQsims virtual SIM solution is built around the following components :

SIM RACK
SIM cards are stored in a central location called SIM Rack. iQsim SIM Rack can host 256 SIM cards in a single 2U
Rack. Additional racks can be clustered if more capacity is needed allowing to store up to 100 000s SIM cards.
IRON SUITE
iQsims IRON Suite includes all the software elements to Manage SIM cards.
Virtual SIM allocation to GSM devices can be done in various ways:
Automatic allocation based on configurable criterias including time, date, price plan limit and SIM validity.
When one of these criteria is matched, the IRON SIM Manager associates another SIM to the GSM device
and a new SIM is immediately allocated
Allocation through iQsims customer application programmatic interface (API)
Allocation based on device geographical location. When iQsims application in the GSM device detects the
device is in a visited country it sends a notification to IRON SIM Manager in order to allocate a local SIM card
matching the devices location.
IRON Suite includes also a service controller allowing to select and route SMS or voice calls to the best SIM.
iQsims IRON SIM Manager offers reliable SIM card protection, SIMulates traffic proportionally to SIM usage by
using a unique algorithm that reproduces human behavior.
The IRON Suite Management System also provides a common interface for all SIM management operations, such
as configuration and administration and also keeps tracks of all events generated in the IRON Suite database.
IQSIM GSM DEVICES (MOBILE GATEWAY OR MOBILE ROBOT)
iQsims Mobile Communication solution and Mobile Testing Solution are provided with respectively iQsims GSM
Gateway and Mobile Robots.
iQsim GSM Gateways and Mobile robots support up to 16 GSM 2G/3G/4G LTE ports with integrated virtual SIM
capabilities.
3RD PARTY GSM DEVICES
iQsims Virtual SIM solution can work with 3rd party GSM devices to providing them Virtual SIM capability.
Depending on the customers device GSM, several solutions can be envisaged.
External SIM Flex solution: The SIM Flex is an interface developed by iQsim which allows to make any probe
or GSM modem compatible with the IRON Suite SIM manager. On one side, it gets inserted in the SIM
cardholder in replacement of the SIM card (using the SIM Flex cable), on the other side it gets connected on
the probe on a computer with an USB cable. The SIM Flex is delivered with a driver both Windows and Linux
compliant. Just connect the SIM Flex to an USB port on your computer and install the driver.
Built-in SIM Flex solution: The SIM Flex as describe above can also be delivered as a built-in configuration,
fully integrated in the partner proprietary device.