CN106664541B

CN106664541B - Method and apparatus for UE throughput boosting for LTE + GSM phones in TDD-LTE networks without DTX detection support

Info

Publication number: CN106664541B
Application number: CN201480081625.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郭霁明; A·阿明扎德戈哈里; C·S·沙阿; 汝聪翀; A·戈尔米
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2014-09-02
Filing date: 2014-09-02
Publication date: 2019-12-17
Anticipated expiration: 2034-09-02
Also published as: JP2017527211A; EP3189682A4; EP3189682A1; WO2016033731A1; CN106664541A

Abstract

a method of managing new Uplink (UL) grants to a mobile communication device, comprising: receiving a new UL grant from a first communication network of a first Radio Access Technology (RAT); determining whether the new UL grant is received during a pre-tune-away phase to a second communication network of a second RAT; and if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase, disabling uplink transmission of first RAT data to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase in response to the new UL grant.

Description

Method and apparatus for UE throughput boosting for LTE + GSM phones in TDD-LTE networks without DTX detection support

background

a dual Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) dual standby (DSDS) mobile communication device may include two SIM cards, one for a first subscription and a second for a second subscription, and may be capable of receiving services from two different networks. Each SIM card may correspond to a subscription with a different service provider. In addition, each subscription may be associated with one or more radio access technology types (RATs). For example, the first subscription may support global system for mobile communications (GSM) for voice calls, while the second subscription may support Long Term Evolution (LTE) for data calls.

DSDS mobile communication devices (also referred to herein as mobile communication devices) typically contain one Radio Frequency (RF) chain (e.g., antenna, transceiver, etc.) that is shared between two subscriptions (e.g., LTE and GSM). If the mobile communication device is engaged in an active call using an LTE subscription, a tune-away to the GSM network must be performed in order for the GSM subscription to remain in contact with the GSM network.

for LTE networks, new Uplink (UL) grants to the mobile communication device are required for each uplink data transmission to the network. During the GSM tune-away period, neighboring GSM cell signal measurements may be combined with paging reception to reduce the duration of the tune-away gap. However, even with a short GSM tune-away period (e.g., between ten to twenty milliseconds), in a time division duplex LTE packet switched (TDD-LTE PS) connected state, the LTE data interruption time from a new UL grant to the last network of the mobile communication device before a tune-away to a new UL grant to the first network of the mobile communication device after a tune-away may be greater (e.g., between 40 to 50 milliseconds) than the GSM tune-away period.

fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating LTE data interruption times of a conventional mobile communication device. Referring to fig. 1, just prior to a tune-away (i.e., during a pre-tune-away phase), an UL request or UL data is sent from the mobile communication device to the network. During a tune-away to GSM, a new UL grant for LTE UL data sent by the network may not be received by the mobile communication device, i.e., the new UL grant may be blocked (block) during a GSM tune-away period. If no new UL grant is received, the mobile communication device will not transmit data upstream to the network. Thus, the network cannot decode the expected UL data from the mobile communication device.

the network has no mechanism for discovering that a new UL grant was not received by the mobile communication device and will repeatedly send a Re-transmit (Re-TX) UL grant to the mobile communication device. However, the mobile communication device cannot respond to the Re-TX UL grant received after GSM tune-away because the Re-TX UL grant does not contain UL resource information necessary for the mobile communication device to transmit data upstream to the network; the UL resource information is only contained in the new UL grant, which is blocked during GSM tune-away. Thus, even after the GSM tune-away period ends, the mobile communication device cannot uplink transmit data until another new UL grant is received after the network sends the maximum number of Re-TX UL grants.

disclosure of Invention

apparatus and methods are provided for disabling network downlink transmissions of new UL grants to a mobile communication device during a tune-away.

in accordance with various embodiments, a method of managing new Uplink (UL) grants to a mobile communication device is provided. The method may include: receiving a new UL grant from a first communication network of a first Radio Access Technology (RAT); determining whether the new UL grant is received during a pre-tune-away phase of a second communication network for a second RAT; and if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase, disabling uplink transmission of first RAT data to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase in response to the new UL grant.

in accordance with various embodiments, a method of managing new Uplink (UL) grants to a mobile communication device is provided. The method may include: receiving a new UL grant from a first communication network of a first Radio Access Technology (RAT); determining whether the new UL grant is received during a pre-tune-away phase of a second communication network for a second RAT; back off a transmission power of the mobile communication device; and if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase, uplink transmitting first RAT data to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase at a fallback transmission power in response to the new UL grant.

In accordance with various embodiments, a method of managing new Uplink (UL) grants to a mobile communication device is provided. The method may include: receiving a new UL grant from a first communication network of a first Radio Access Technology (RAT); determining whether the new UL grant is received during a pre-tune-away phase of a second communication network for a second RAT; and if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase, uplink transmitting a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase in response to the new UL grant.

In accordance with various embodiments, a method of managing new Uplink (UL) grants to a mobile communication device is provided. The method may include: receiving a new UL grant from a first communication network of a first Radio Access Technology (RAT); determining whether the new UL grant is received during a pre-tune-away phase of a second communication network for a second RAT; and if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase, controlling uplink communications to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase in response to the new UL grant.

Other features and advantages of the inventive concept should be apparent from the following description, which is illustrated by exemplary aspects of the inventive concept.

drawings

Aspects and features of the present inventive concept will become more apparent by describing exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating LTE data interruption times for a conventional mobile communication device;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a mobile communication device in accordance with various embodiments.

fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating data transmission blanking according to various embodiments;

Fig. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for blanking a data transmission, in accordance with various embodiments;

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating data transmission with power backoff, in accordance with various embodiments;

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram of a method of data transmission with power backoff, in accordance with various embodiments;

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating control of data transmission using buffer status reports, in accordance with various embodiments; and

Fig. 8 is a flow diagram of a method of data transmission control using buffer status reporting, in accordance with various embodiments.

Detailed Description

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection. The apparatus, methods, and systems described herein may be embodied in various other forms. Additionally, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the exemplary methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a mobile communication device 200 in accordance with various embodiments. Referring to fig. 2, the mobile communication device 200 may include a control unit 210, a first modem 220, a second modem 230, a transceiver 240, an antenna 250, a first SIM 260, a second SIM 270, and a storage unit 280.

the mobile communication device 200 may be a DSDS mobile communication device and may be, for example, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a tablet, a computer, etc., capable of communicating with one or more wireless networks. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that: the mobile communication device 100 may include one or more transceivers (communication units) and may interface with one or more antennas without departing from the scope of the inventive concept.

the first SIM 260 may associate the mobile communication device 200 with a first subscription (Sub1)192 on the first communication network 190 and the second SIM 270 may associate the mobile communication device 200 with a second subscription (Sub2)197 on the second communication network 195.

the first communication network 190 and the second communication network 195 may be operated by the same or different service providers and/or may support the same or different Radio Access Technologies (RATs), such as, but not limited to, LTE and GSM.

The first modem 220 may be configured to: provide communication signals to the transceiver 240, and receive communication signals from the transceiver 240 according to the first RAT on Sub 1192. The second modem 230 may be configured to: provide communication signals to the transceiver 240, and receive communication signals from the transceiver 240 according to the second RAT on Sub 1197.

The transceiver 240 may be configured to: accepts communication signals from the first modem 220 and transmits communication signals to the first communication network 190 on the antenna 250 according to the first RAT on Sub 1192, and receives communication signals from the first communication network 190 on the antenna 250 according to the first RAT on Sub 1192 and provides the received signals to the first modem 220.

The transceiver 240 may also be configured to: accepts communication signals from the second modem 230 and transmits communication signals to the second communication network 195 over the antenna 250 according to the second RAT on Sub 2197 and receives communication signals from the second communication network 195 over the antenna 250 according to the second RAT on Sub 2197 and provides the received signals to the second modem 230.

For convenience, throughout this disclosure, Sub 1192 is associated with an LTE RAT, a first modem 220 (also referred to herein as an LTE modem), and a first communication network 190 (also referred to herein as an LTE network), and Sub 2197 is associated with a GSM RAT, a second modem 230 (also referred to herein as a GSM modem), and a second communication network 195 (also referred to herein as a GSM network). One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that: any subscription may be associated with any SIM and/or communication network and/or modem without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept. One of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that: the inventive concept may be applied to other RATs.

The control unit 210 may be configured to: controls the overall operation of the mobile communication device 200, including the control of the first and second modems 220, 230, the transceiver 240 and the memory unit 280. The control unit 210 may be a programmable device such as, but not limited to, a microprocessor or microcontroller.

The storage unit 280 may be configured to: application programs and application data and user data required for the operation of the mobile communication device 200, which are executed by the control unit 210, are stored.

In a GSM network (e.g., the second communication network 195), the timing of the paging bursts to be sent by the network is known to the mobile communication device 200. Accordingly, the mobile communication device 200 can schedule RF chains (e.g., the transceiver 240 and the antenna 250) based on a GSM Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycle. Since GSM DRX scheduling is known, a GSM modem (e.g., the second modem 230) may provide a signal to the control unit 210 to reserve an RF chain for GSM tune-away. The control unit 210 may notify the LTE modem (e.g., the first modem 220) between three to five milliseconds (3-5ms) in advance of the tune-away to GSM (i.e., during the pre-tune-away phase).

Various embodiments provide methods for preventing a first network from sending a new UL grant to a mobile communication device during a tune-away to a second network.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating data transmission blanking according to various embodiments. Referring to fig. 2 and 3, in various embodiments, when the mobile communication device 200 receives a new UL grant 305 from the first communication network 190 during the pre-tune-away phase 310, the mobile communication device 200 may disable (i.e., blank) the UL data transmission 315 until a Re-TX UL grant 320 is received from the first communication network 190 after the second RAT tune-away period 325. Some Re-TX UL grants 321, 322 may be blocked during the second RAT tune-away period 325.

Since the new UL grant 305 received by the mobile communication device 200 contains UL resource information for uplink transmission of data by the mobile communication device 200, the data may be uplink transmitted 330 to the first communication network 190 upon receipt of the Re-TX UL grant 320 after the second RAT tune-away period 325. The number of Re-TX UL grants 326, 327 that may be sent by the first communication network 190 may be increased to ensure that sufficient data retransmissions are available to allow the first communication network 190 to correctly decode the data for the upstream transmission.

Fig. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 400 for blanking a data transmission, in accordance with various embodiments. Referring to fig. 2-4, the mobile communication device 200 may receive a new UL grant 305(410) from the first communication network 190 of the first RAT. If no new UL grant 305 is received during the pre-tune-away phase 310 of the second communication network 195 tuning away to the second RAT (420-N), the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to uplink the first RAT data to the first communication network 190 (470). In various embodiments, the pre-tune-away phase 310 may be a period of 3-5ms just prior to the tune-away period 325 and may be determined by the control unit 210 based on a signal received from the second modem 230 in order to reserve the RF chain for tuning away to the second communication network 195 of the second RAT. In other embodiments, the pre-tune-away phase 310 may last for other suitable periods of time.

If a new UL grant 305 is received during the pre-tune-away phase 310 (420-Y), the control unit 210 may cause the first modem 220 and/or the transceiver 240 to refrain (blank) from upstream transmitting 315 the first RAT data to the first communication network 190 during the pre-tune-away phase 310 in response to the new UL grant 305 (430).

The control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to tune away from the second communication network 195(440) of the second RAT. After the tune-away period 325 ends, the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to tune back to the first communication network 190 and may cause the first modem 220 to regain use of the RF chain to receive communication signals on the first RAT (450).

In response to receiving the Re-TX UL grant 320(460) from the first communication network 190 after the end of the tune-away period 325, the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to uplink the first RAT data 330(470) to the first communication network 190 because the mobile communication device 200 received UL resource information needed for uplink transmission of data in the new UL grant 305 received in the pre-tune-away stage 310.

since one or more Re-TX UL grants 321, 322 from the first communication network 190 may be blocked during the tune-away period 325, the number of Re-TX UL grants 326, 327 allowed to be sent by the first communication network 190 may be increased to ensure sufficient data retransmission to allow the first communication network 190 to correctly decode the upstream transmitted first RAT data.

fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating data transmission with power backoff, in accordance with various embodiments. Referring to fig. 2 and 5, in various embodiments, when the mobile communication device 200 receives a new UL grant 505 from the first communication network 190 during the pre-tune-away phase 310, the mobile communication device 200 can UL transmit data at a power backoff 530 during the pre-tune-away phase 310 to prevent the first communication network 190 from decoding the data correctly.

Upon receiving the Re-TX UL grant 520 from the first communication network 190 after the second RAT tune-away period 325, the mobile communication device 200 can uplink data 535 without a power backoff. Some Re-TX UL grants 521, 522 may be blocked during the second RAT tune-away period 325. The number of Re-TX UL grants 526, 527 that may be sent by the first communication network 190 may be increased to ensure that sufficient data retransmissions are available to allow the first communication network 190 to correctly decode the data transmitted upstream.

fig. 6 is a flow diagram of a method 600 of data transmission with power backoff, in accordance with various embodiments. Referring to fig. 2, 5 and 6, the mobile communication device 200 may receive a new UL grant 505(610) from the first communication network 190 of the first RAT. If no new UL grant 505 is received during the pre-tune-away phase 310 of the second communication network 195 tuning away to the second RAT (620-N), the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to uplink the first RAT data to the first communication network 190 (680). In various embodiments, the pre-tune-away phase 310 may be a period of 3-5ms just prior to the tune-away period 325 and may be determined by the control unit 210 based on a signal received from the second modem 230 in order to reserve the RF chain for tuning away to the second communication network 195 of the second RAT. In other embodiments, the pre-tune-away phase 310 may last for other suitable periods of time.

If a new UL grant 505 is received during the pre-tune-away phase 310 (620-Y), the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to back off 625 the transmission power and uplink 630 the first RAT data to the first communication network 190 at the backed-off power during the pre-tune-away phase 310 prior to the tune-away period 325 in response to the new UL grant 505. The transmission of the data for uplink transmission at the backed off power may prevent the first communication network 190 from successfully decoding the data for uplink transmission, resulting in a Re-TX UL grant but not a new UL grant being sent to the mobile communication device 200 through the first communication network 190.

the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to tune away from the second communication network 195(640) of the second RAT. After the tune-away period 325 ends, the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to tune back to the first communication network 190 and may cause the first modem 220 to regain use of the RF chain to receive communication signals on the first RAT (650).

in response to receiving the Re-TX grant 520(660) from the first communication network 190 after the tune-away period 325 ends, the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to reset the transmission power level to a power level suitable for successful upstream transmission and decoding of the first RAT data (670), and may cause the transceiver 240 to upstream transmit the first RAT data 330 to the first communication network 190 (680).

Since one or more Re-TX UL grants 521, 522 from the first communication network 190 may be blocked during the tune-away period 325, the number of Re-TX UL grants 526, 527 allowed to be sent by the first communication network 190 may be increased to ensure sufficient data retransmission to allow the first communication network 190 to correctly decode the upstream transmitted first RAT data.

Fig. 7 is a diagram of data transmission control using buffer status reporting, in accordance with various embodiments. Referring to fig. 5 and 7, in various embodiments, when a new UL grant 705 from the first communication network 190 is received by the mobile communication device 200 during the pre-tune-away phase 310, the mobile communication device 200 can send a Buffer Status Report (BSR)710 to the first communication network 190 during the pre-tune-away phase 310, wherein the BSR 710 indicates that the mobile communication device 200 has no data to uplink transmit to the first communication network 190 even when the mobile communication device 200 has data to uplink transmit to the first communication network 190. The mobile communication device 200 can then send a Service Request (SR)715 after the second RAT tune-away period 325, and receive a new UL grant 720 from the first communication network 190 and uplink data 725.

Fig. 8 is a flow diagram of a method 800 of controlling data transmission using buffer status reports, in accordance with various embodiments. Referring to fig. 2, 7 and 8, the mobile communication device 200 may receive a new UL grant 705(810) from the first communication network 190 of the first RAT. If a new UL grant 705 is not received during the pre-tune-away phase 310 to the second communication network 195 of the second RAT (820-N), the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to uplink the first RAT data to the first communication network 190 (880). In various embodiments, the pre-tune-away phase 310 may be a period of 3-5ms just prior to the tune-away period 325 and may be determined by the control unit 210 based on a signal received from the second modem 230 in order to reserve the RF chain for tuning away to the second communication network 195 of the second RAT. In other embodiments, the pre-tune-away phase 310 may last for other suitable periods of time.

If a new UL grant 705 is received during the pre-tune-away phase 310 (820-Y), the control unit 210 may cause a Buffer Status Report (BSR)710 to be uplinked to the first communication network 190 during the pre-tune-away phase 310, where the BSR719 indicates that the mobile communication device 200 does not have first RAT data to be uplinked (830), even when the mobile communication device 200 has first RAT data to be uplinked to the first communication network 190. In various embodiments, in response to receipt of a BSR, the first communication network 190 will not send a new UL grant until a next BSR or Service Request (SR) is received from the mobile communication device 200.

The control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to tune away from the second communication network 195(840) of the second RAT. After the tune-away period 325 ends, the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to tune back to the first communication network 190 and may cause the first modem 220 to regain use of the RF chain to receive communication signals on the first RAT (850).

Control unit 210 may cause SR 715 to uplink to first communication network 190(860) after the tune-away period 325 ends, and may receive a new UL grant 720(870) from first communication network 190 of the first RAT. In response to the new UL grant 720 from the first communication network 190, the control unit 210 may cause the transceiver 240 to uplink the first RAT data 725(880) to the first communication network 190.

the accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit. For example, the example apparatus, methods, and systems disclosed herein may be applied to multi-SIM wireless devices that subscribe to multiple communication networks and/or communication technologies. The various components shown in the figures may be implemented as software and/or firmware on, for example, but not limited to, a processor, an ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware. In addition, the features and attributes of the specific exemplary embodiments disclosed above can be combined in various ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

the foregoing method descriptions and process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order. Words such as "thereafter," "then," "next," etc. are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are used only to guide the reader through the description of the method. Furthermore, any reference to claim elements in the singular (e.g., using the articles "a," "an," or "the") should not be construed as limiting the element to the singular.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention

The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logical units, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.

In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium. The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions, which may be located on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium. A non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium may be any storage medium that is accessible by a computer or a processor. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one, or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

While this disclosure provides certain exemplary embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments that do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of managing new Uplink (UL) grants to a mobile communication device, the method comprising: at the location of the mobile communication device,

receiving a new UL grant from a first communication network of a first Radio Access Technology (RAT);

determining whether the new UL grant is received during a pre-tune-away phase of a second communication network for a second RAT, wherein the pre-tune-away phase is determined based on a received internal signal arranged to reserve an RF chain of the mobile communication device for a tune-away period of the second communication network for the second RAT, the pre-tune-away phase being located immediately before the tune-away period; and

Disabling upstream data transmission to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase in response to the new UL grant if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-tune-away phase is a 3-5ms period.

3. the method of claim 1, further comprising:

Receiving a retransmission (Re-TX) UL grant from the first communication network after an end of a tune-away period for the second communication network; and

Uplink transmission of the first RAT data to the first communication network in response to the Re-TX UL grant.

4. the method of claim 1, wherein the first RAT is different from the second RAT.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tuning the second communication network out of the second RAT; and

After the tune-away period ends, tuning back to the first communication network to regain use of the RF chain to receive communication signals on the first RAT.

6. A method of managing new Uplink (UL) grants to a mobile communication device, the method comprising: at the location of the mobile communication device,

Determining whether the new UL grant is received during a pre-tune-away phase of a second communication network for a second RAT, wherein the pre-tune-away phase is determined based on a received internal signal arranged to reserve an RF chain of the mobile communication device for a tune-away period of the second communication network for the second RAT, the pre-tune-away phase being located immediately before the tune-away period;

Back off a transmission power of the mobile communication device; and

Transmitting, in response to the new UL grant, first RAT data upstream to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase at a fallback transmission power if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the pre-tune-away phase is a 3-5ms period.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

Prior to uplink transmission of the first RAT data, resetting the transmission power of the mobile communication device to a power level suitable for successful uplink transmission and decoding of the first RAT data.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

Tuning the second communication network out of the second RAT; and

11. the method of claim 6, wherein the first RAT is different from the second RAT.

12. A method of managing new Uplink (UL) grants to a mobile communication device, the method comprising: at the location of the mobile communication device,

Uplink transmission of a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase in response to the new UL grant if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase, wherein the BSR indicates that the mobile communication device does not have first RAT data to uplink for transmission even when the mobile communication device has the first RAT data to uplink.

13. the method of claim 12, wherein the pre-tune-away phase is a 3-5ms period.

14. the method of claim 12, further comprising:

transmitting a Service Request (SR) upstream to the first communication network after the end of a tune-away period for the second communication network;

Receiving a new UL grant from the first communication network in response to the SR; and

Uplink transmission of first RAT data to the first communication network in response to the new UL grant.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the first RAT is different from the second RAT.

16. the method of claim 12, further comprising:

Tuning the second communication network out of the second RAT; and

17. a method of managing new Uplink (UL) grants to a mobile communication device, the method comprising: at the location of the mobile communication device,

Controlling uplink communications to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase in response to the new UL grant if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase.

18. the method of claim 17, wherein the controlling comprises: disabling uplink transmission of first RAT data to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase in response to the new UL grant if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

20. the method of claim 17, wherein the controlling comprises:

Back off a transmission power of the mobile communication device if the new UL grant is received during the pre-tune-away phase; and

In response to the new UL grant, uplink transmitting first RAT data to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase at a fallback transmission power.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the controlling comprises: uplink transmission of a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to the first communication network during the pre-tune-away phase in response to the new UL grant received during the pre-tune-away phase.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the first RAT is different from the second RAT.