Universal integrated circuit card

See also: SIM card, eUICC, and eSIM
A smart card taken from a GSM mobile phone
Black and white image of the contacts area of a SIM card showing the internal construction
X-Ray of a SIM card showing small rectangular semiconductor chip (central small rectangle) and five bond wires leading to the connection pads
A 25 × 15 mm Vodafone New Zealand SIM card

The universal integrated circuit card (UICC) is the physical smart card (integrated circuit card) used in mobile terminals in 2G (GSM), 3G (UMTS), 4G (LTE), and 5G networks. The UICC ensures the integrity and security of all kinds of personal data, and it typically holds a few hundred kilobytes.[1]

The official definition for UICC is found in ETSI TR 102 216, where it is defined as a "smart card that conforms to the specifications written and maintained by the ETSI Smart Card Platform project". In addition, the definition has a note that states that "UICC is neither an abbreviation nor an acronym".[2]

NIST SP 800-101 Rev. 1 and NIST Computer Security Resource Center Glossary state that, "A UICC may be referred to as a SIM, USIM, RUIM or CSIM, and is used interchangeably with those terms",[3][4] though this is an over-simplification. The primary component of a UICC is a SIM card.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Asif, Saad Z. (2011). Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem. John Wiley & Sons. p. 306. ISBN 978-1119995814.
  2. ^ "ETSI TR 102 216" (PDF). Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  3. ^ Ayers, Rick; Brothers, Sam; Jansen, Wayne (2014). "NIST SP 800-101 Rev. 1". nist.gov. National Information Technology Laboratory. doi:10.6028/NIST.SP.800-101r1.
  4. ^ "Universal Integrated Circuit Card". NIST CRISC Glossary. NIST. Retrieved 14 Sep 2022.