A Novel Application of the Phone Card and Its Authentication in Mobile Communications

The Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) is conventionally used in wireless communication systems. However, several limitations involving SIM significantly reduce public access in wireless communications. This study examined the feasibility of using public telephone cards in wireless communications. This novel application retains the merits of SIM. Among the relevent issues addressed are location tracking of the user, authentication of the phone card, and the billing scheme. Moreover, two implementations of phone card authentication are presented.