CN110431863B

CN110431863B - Tracking area updating method and device, communication equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN110431863B
Application number: CN201980001074.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 洪伟
Original assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-06-11
Filing date: 2019-06-11
Publication date: 2022-10-11
Anticipated expiration: 2039-06-11
Also published as: WO2020248140A1; CN115633343A; CN110431863A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a tracking area updating method and device, communication equipment and a storage medium. The tracking area update TAU method comprises the following steps: when the terminal comprises at least two subscriber identity modules, one subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules is utilized to carry out TAU of each subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

Description

Tracking area updating method and device, communication equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communications, but not limited to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a tracking area updating method and apparatus, a communication device, and a storage medium.

Background

With the development of wireless communication technology, multi-card terminal devices having two or more Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards have been increasingly popularized due to their convenience.

At present, the processing mode for the multi-card mobile phone is mainly realized based on each terminal manufacturer, and no unified standard is specified, so that various different terminal behaviors and processing modes are caused; the multi-card terminal consumes more electric quantity, and then the standby time of the terminal is shortened.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application discloses a tracking area updating method and device, communication equipment and a storage medium.

According to a first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a tracking area update TAU method is provided, including:

when the terminal comprises at least two subscriber identity modules, one subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules is used for TAU of each subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

According to a second aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is provided a tracking area updating method, including:

configuring tracking area TAU configuration information for the terminal;

sending TAU configuration information;

receiving a tracking area TAU request sent based on the TAU configuration information, wherein the TAU request comprises: a terminal comprising at least two subscriber identity modules uses a TAU request sent by one subscriber identity module.

According to a third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is provided a tracking area updating apparatus, including:

an updating module configured to perform, when the terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules, a TAU of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

According to a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is provided a tracking area updating apparatus, including:

the configuration module is configured to configure tracking area TAU configuration information for the terminal;

a sending module configured to send TAU configuration information;

a third receiving module, configured to receive a tracking area TAU request sent based on the TAU configuration information, where the TAU request includes: a terminal comprising at least two subscriber identity modules uses a TAU request sent by one subscriber identity module.

According to a fifth aspect of embodiments of the present application, there is provided a mobile terminal, including:

an antenna;

a memory configured to store an executable program;

a processor, connected to the antenna and the memory, respectively, and configured to control the transceiving of the antenna and execute the steps of the tracking area updating method according to any one of the preceding claims when running the executable program.

According to a sixth aspect of embodiments herein, there is provided a storage medium having stored thereon an executable program which, when executed by a processor, is capable of implementing the steps of the tracking area update method according to any one of the preceding claims.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, if the terminal comprises two or more than two subscriber identity modules, one subscriber identity module is utilized to perform TAU when the cell is selected, and each subscriber identity module is not required to perform TAU, so that the power consumption generated by repeated TAUs is reduced, the overall power consumption of the terminal is reduced, and the standby time of the terminal is prolonged.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a tracking area updating method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a tracking area updating method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a tracking area updating method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a tracking area updating method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a tracking area updating method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a tracking area updating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary examples do not represent all implementations consistent with the present invention. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the invention, as detailed in the appended claims.

Please refer to fig. 1, which illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the wireless communication system is a communication system based on a cellular mobile communication technology, and may include: a number of terminals 110 and a number of base stations 120.

Terminal 110 may refer to, among other things, a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user. The terminal 110 may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (RAN), and the terminal 110 may be an internet of things terminal, such as a sensor device, a mobile phone (or called "cellular" phone), and a computer having the internet of things terminal, and may be a fixed, portable, pocket, handheld, computer-included, or vehicle-mounted device, for example. For example, a Station (STA), a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a subscriber Station (subscriber Station), a mobile Station (mobile), a remote Station (remote Station), an access point (ap), a remote terminal (remote terminal), an access terminal (access terminal), a user equipment (user terminal), a user agent (user agent), a user equipment (user device), or a user terminal (user equipment, terminal). Alternatively, the terminal 110 may be a device of an unmanned aerial vehicle. Alternatively, the terminal 110 may also be a vehicle-mounted device, for example, a vehicle computer with a wireless communication function, or a wireless communication device externally connected to the vehicle computer. Alternatively, the terminal 110 may be a roadside device, for example, a street lamp, a signal lamp or other roadside device with a wireless communication function.

The base station 120 may be a network side device in a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system may be the fourth generation mobile communication (4 g) system, which is also called Long Term Evolution (LTE) system; alternatively, the wireless communication system may also be a 5G system, which is also called a New Radio (NR) system or a 5G NR system. Alternatively, the wireless communication system may be a next-generation system of a 5G system. Among them, the Access Network in the 5G system may be referred to as NG-RAN (New Generation-Radio Access Network, new Generation Radio Access Network).

The base station 120 may be an evolved node b (eNB) used in a 4G system. Alternatively, the base station 120 may be a base station (gNB) adopting a centralized distributed architecture in the 5G system. When the base station 120 adopts a centralized distributed architecture, it generally includes a Centralized Unit (CU) and at least two Distributed Units (DUs). A Protocol stack of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Media Access Control (MAC) layer is set in the central unit; a Physical (PHY) layer protocol stack is disposed in the distribution unit, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner of the base station 120.

The base station 120 and the terminal 110 may establish a radio connection over the air. In various embodiments, the wireless air interface is based on a fourth generation mobile communication network technology (4G) standard; or the wireless air interface is based on a fifth generation mobile communication network technology (5G) standard, for example, the wireless air interface is a new air interface; alternatively, the wireless air interface may be a wireless air interface based on a 5G next generation mobile communication network technology standard.

In some embodiments, an E2E (End to End) connection may also be established between terminals 110. Such as a vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, a vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communication, and a vehicle to peer (V2P) communication in a vehicle to internet communication (V2X).

In some embodiments, the wireless communication system may further include a network management device 130.

Several base stations 120 are connected to the network management device 130, respectively. The network Management device 130 may be a Core network device in a wireless communication system, for example, the network Management device 130 may be a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Alternatively, the Network management device may also be other core Network devices, such as a Serving GateWay (SGW), a Public Data Network GateWay (PGW), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), or a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), for example. The embodiment of the present application is not limited to the implementation form of the network management device 130.

As shown in fig. 2, the present embodiment provides a tracking area updating method, including:

step S201: when the terminal comprises at least two subscriber identity modules, one subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules is utilized to carry out TAU of each subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

In this embodiment, the tracking area updating method is applied to a terminal. The terminal comprises but is not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device or an internet of things device.

In this embodiment, if a terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules, it is indicated that the mobile terminal includes 2 or more than 2 subscriber identity modules. In summary, the terminal may include N subscriber identity modules, N may be 2 or a positive integer greater than 2.

The terminal is a terminal comprising a multi-user identification module, and the behavior mode of the multi-user identification module terminal can be dual-card dual-standby single-pass, dual-card dual-standby double-pass, three-card three-standby and the like.

The Subscriber identity Module may be a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card existing in a separate individual form, or an integrated Subscriber identity Module (e-SIM) existing in an integrated form inside the terminal, and the like.

In this embodiment, 2 or more than 2 subscriber identity modules included in the terminal all move along with the movement of the terminal, so the current locations of the subscriber identity modules are the same, and thus, the same geographical area or network area is also updated when TAU is performed.

In this embodiment, in order to save power consumption, when the terminal includes two or more subscriber identity modules, one subscriber identity module is used for TAU, so that power consumption generated by repeating TAU between the terminal and the network side can be reduced and the standby time of the terminal can be prolonged, compared with the case that TAU is performed by using multiple or each subscriber identity module.

In this embodiment, the TAU may include: periodic TAU and aperiodic TAU. And if the terminal is in the periodic TAU, the terminal performs the TAU once in each period, periodically updates the TAI stored in the terminal, and reports the TA where the terminal is currently located to the core network. When TAU is performed, a TAU timer is set, and if the TAU timer is overtime, the TAU is performed after the last periodic TAU reaches a period.

The aperiodic TAU may be a TAU performed when a triggering event is satisfied. For example, if the terminal receives that the Tracking Area Identity (TAI) list carried in the system message sent by the base station at the current location is different from the TAI stored in the terminal, it is considered that the terminal has entered a new TA and the TAU update is required.

Through TAU update, the core network stores the TA where the terminal is located, and if the core network needs to page the terminal, the core network sends a paging message to the terminal in the corresponding TA so as to page the terminal successfully. In some embodiments, the step S201 may include:

sending a TAU request by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules, wherein the TAU request comprises: identification information of other subscriber identification modules except the subscriber identification module in the at least two subscriber identification modules.

In some embodiments, the core network may or may not know that the terminal includes 2 or more than 2 subscriber identity modules. In order to facilitate knowing that a TAU request sent by a terminal by using one subscriber identity module is a TAU for all subscriber identity modules included in the terminal, the terminal carries identification information of other subscriber identity modules in the TAU request.

For example, the terminal includes SIM1, USIM2, and eSIM3; if the SIM1 is used to send a TAU request, in order to inform the core network that the TAU request is simultaneously taued to the SIM1, USIM2, and eSIM3 included in the terminal, the TAU request carries identification information of the USIM2 and eSIM 3.

The identification information of the SIM1 may already inform the network side in the message interaction process of the SIM and the base station performing the random access request, etc., so that the identification information does not need to be carried in the TAU request again, thereby reducing the bit overhead of the TAU request.

The TAU request is transmitted to a core network element of the core network via the base station. The core network element includes, but is not limited to, a Mobility Management Entity (MME) or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

In some embodiments, the step S201 may include:

when the terminal comprises at least two subscriber identity modules and networks connected with the at least two subscriber identity modules belong to the same operator, one subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules is used for TAU of each subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

In some embodiments, at least two subscriber identity modules included in the terminal may belong to the same operator, or may belong to different operators.

In this embodiment, if at least two subscriber identity modules belong to the same operator, the TAU is performed only by using one subscriber identity module.

In other embodiments, if multiple operators share the same communication network or network convergence is completed, even if the at least two subscriber identity modules belong to different operators, the TAU may be performed by one subscriber identity module instead of performing respective TAUs by each subscriber identity module.

In some embodiments, the step S201 may further include:

the terminal comprises at least two subscriber identity modules, wherein networks connected with the at least two subscriber identity modules belong to the same operator, and when each subscriber identity module in the at least two subscriber equipment modules is in an idle state, one subscriber identity module in the at least two subscriber identity modules is utilized to carry out TAU of each subscriber identity module in the at least two subscriber identity modules.

In this embodiment, before the TAU is performed, each subscriber identity module may be in an idle state. The TAU request may be carried in: the terminal establishes a completion message with the base station through a random access process and radio resource control.

After receiving the TAU request, the core network updates the TA in which the terminal is located, and then sends a TAU receive (Accept) message to the terminal, indicating that the TAU update is completed. The TAU received message may carry the TAI of the current TA.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3, the method further comprises:

step S202: sending a notification to other ones of the at least two subscriber identity modules indicating that a TAU has been performed.

Since the TAU is completed by one subscriber identity module, the subscriber identity module needs to inform other subscriber identity modules that the TAU is completed, and sends a notification to inform the other subscriber identity modules that the TAU is completed. If the base station issues a new TAI, the notification also carries the new TAI, so that other user terminals and a user identification module of the core network perform TAU to synchronously update the TAI stored by the user terminals.

In some embodiments, the notification may also carry TAU configuration information for core network reconfiguration, including, but not limited to, TAI and/or TAU timer.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the method further comprises:

step S200a: receiving TAU configuration information of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules;

step S200b: selecting one subscriber identity module for the TAU from the at least two subscriber identity modules;

the step S201 includes:

and utilizing the selected subscriber identity module to perform the TAU of each subscriber identity module in the at least two subscriber identity modules according to the TAU configuration information of the selected subscriber identity module.

Before performing TAU, the terminal may receive the TAU configuration information from the network side, where the TAU configuration information includes, but is not limited to: TAI and/or TAU timer.

After receiving the TAU configuration information, since the terminal includes a plurality of subscriber identity modules, in this embodiment, a subscriber identity module of one subscriber TAU is selected.

In some embodiments, for example, step S200b may include at least one of:

selecting cell information in a subscriber identity module with a higher use frequency to perform the TAU;

and selecting the user identification module which carries out the service data communication last time to carry out the TAU.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

receiving TAU configuration information of one subscriber identity module in the at least two subscriber identity modules;

the step S201 may include:

and utilizing a user identification module corresponding to the received TAU configuration information to carry out TAU according to the received TAU configuration information.

In some embodiments, the core network knows that the terminal includes a plurality of subscriber identity modules, and configures the same TAU configuration information for the subscriber identity modules, and at this time, only one TAU configuration information may be sent to one subscriber identity module, and compared with the TAU configuration information sent to each subscriber identity module, information interaction between the core network and the terminal may be reduced, signaling overhead is reduced, and power consumption of the terminal is saved at the same time.

As shown in fig. 5, the present embodiment provides a tracking area updating method, including:

step S301: configuring tracking area TAU configuration information for the terminal;

step S302: sending the TAU configuration information;

step S303: receiving a tracking area TAU request sent based on the TAU configuration information, wherein the TAU request comprises: a terminal comprising at least two subscriber identity modules uses a TAU request sent by one subscriber identity module.

The tracking area updating method provided in this embodiment may be a core network element of an application core network.

For example, a core network element such as an MME or an AMF performs TAU configuration for the terminal, and generates TAU configuration information.

The TAU configuration information may be used for a subscriber identity module including at least two subscriber identity modules to perform TAU, for example, sending a TAU request based on the TAU configuration information.

In some embodiments, the TAU request comprises: identification information of other subscriber identification modules except the subscriber identification module in the at least two subscriber identification modules.

Assuming that a TAU request sent by one subscriber identity module carries identification information of other subscriber identity modules, a core network element such as an MME may consider that the TAU request is a TAU request for performing multiple subscriber identity modules TAU, and may simultaneously request the subscriber identity module carrying the identification information for the TAU and the subscriber identity module sending the TAU request, and perform TAU at the same time. In some cases, the TAs of these subscriber identity modules are the same as the updated TAs thereafter, or the new TAU configuration information generated based on the TAU request is the same.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

and determining at least two subscriber identity modules belonging to the same terminal according to the identification information of the subscriber identity modules carried by the TAU request.

If a TAU request carries identification information of other subscriber identity modules, the network element of the core network may further determine, from the TAU request, whether a terminal includes multiple subscriber identity modules, which subscriber identity modules the terminal includes.

In some embodiments, before the terminal is attached, the core network may further determine whether the terminal includes the plurality of subscriber identity modules and which subscriber identity modules are included in the terminal according to a history interaction record between the terminal and the core network before the terminal is attached.

In some embodiments, the step S301 may include:

and if the at least two subscriber identity modules are determined to belong to the same terminal, configuring the same TAU configuration information for each of the at least two subscriber identity modules, otherwise, allocating the configured TAU configuration information for each of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

When TAU configuration information is carried out, if a core network knows that one terminal comprises a plurality of subscriber identity modules, the same TAU configuration information is configured for the subscriber identity modules, so that TAU configuration is simplified. If the core network does not know that the subscriber identity modules belong to the same terminal, the core network can individually configure TAU configuration information for each subscriber identity module. The TAU configuration information configured for different subscriber identity modules may be the same or different.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

when the same TAU configuration information is configured for the at least two subscriber identity modules, the TAU configuration information is sent to each of the at least two subscriber identity modules, or the TAU configuration information is sent to one of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

In this embodiment, if at least two subscriber identity modules of the terminal configure the same TAU configuration information, the core network may send the TAU configuration information to each subscriber identity module, may randomly select one subscriber identity module, or select one subscriber identity module according to a certain policy to select one subscriber identity module to send the TAU configuration information to one subscriber identity module. For example, the SIM with the highest frequency of use included in the same terminal is selected to transmit the TAU configuration information, thereby reducing signaling bits generated by transmitting the TAU configuration information and reducing power consumption of the terminal.

In some embodiments, the TAU configuration information includes at least one of: tracking area list TAI; a tracking area timer.

As shown in fig. 6, the present embodiment provides a tracking area updating apparatus, including:

the updating module 61 is configured to, when the terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules, perform TAU of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

In some embodiments, the update module 61 may be a program module, which is executed by the processor and is capable of performing TAU by a subscriber identity module.

In some embodiments, the update module 61 may be a soft-hard combination module; the soft and hard combination module includes but is not limited to various programmable arrays; the programmable array comprises a field programmable array or a complex programmable array.

In still other embodiments, the update module 61 may comprise a pure hardware module such as an application specific integrated circuit.

In some embodiments, the updating module 61 is configured to send a TAU request by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules, where the TAU request includes: identification information of other subscriber identification modules except the subscriber identification module in the at least two subscriber identification modules.

In some embodiments, the updating module 61 is configured to perform TAU of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules when the terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules and networks to which the at least two subscriber identity modules are connected belong to the same operator.

In some embodiments, the updating module 61 is configured to, when the terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules, networks to which the at least two subscriber identity modules are connected belong to a same operator, and each of the at least two user equipment modules is in an idle state, perform TAU of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

a notification module configured to send a notification indicating that a TAU has been performed to other subscriber identity modules of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

a first receiving module, configured to receive TAU configuration information of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules;

a selection module configured to select one subscriber identity module for the TAU from the at least two subscriber identity modules;

the updating module 61 is configured to perform, by using the selected subscriber identity module, TAU of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules according to the TAU configuration information of the selected subscriber identity module.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

a first receiving module configured to receive TAU configuration information of one of the at least two subscriber identity modules;

the updating module 61 is configured to perform TAU according to the received TAU configuration information by using a subscriber identity module corresponding to the received TAU configuration information.

As shown in fig. 7, the present embodiment provides a tracking area updating apparatus, including:

a configuration module 71 configured to configure tracking area TAU configuration information for the terminal;

a sending module 72 configured to send TAU configuration information;

a third receiving module 73, configured to receive a tracking area TAU request sent based on the TAU configuration information, where the TAU request includes: a terminal comprising at least two subscriber identity modules uses a TAU request sent by one subscriber identity module.

In some embodiments, the configuration module 71, the sending module 72 and the third receiving module 73 may be program modules, and the program modules may be executed by a processor to enable a subscriber identity module to perform TAU.

In some embodiments, the configuration module 71, the sending module 72 and the third receiving module 73 may be a hardware-software combination module; the soft and hard combination module includes but is not limited to various programmable arrays; the programmable array comprises a field programmable array or a complex programmable array.

In still other embodiments, the configuration module 71, the sending module 72, and the third receiving module 73 may comprise pure hardware modules such as an application specific integrated circuit.

In some embodiments, the TAU request includes: identification information of other subscriber identification modules except the subscriber identification module in the at least two subscriber identification modules.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

and the determining module is configured to determine at least two subscriber identity modules belonging to the same terminal according to the identification information of the subscriber identity modules carried by the TAU request.

In some embodiments, the configuring module 71 is configured to configure the same TAU configuration information for each of the at least two subscriber identity modules if it is determined that the at least two subscriber identity modules belong to the same terminal, and otherwise, allocate the configured TAU configuration information for each of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

In some embodiments, the sending module 72 is further configured to send the TAU configuration information to each of the at least two subscriber identity modules, or send the TAU configuration information to one of the at least two subscriber identity modules, when the same TAU configuration information is configured for the at least two subscriber identity modules.

In some embodiments, the TAU configuration information includes at least one of:

tracking area list TAI;

a tracking area timer.

Several specific examples are provided below in connection with any of the embodiments described above:

example 1:

by the method, aiming at the condition that a plurality of SIM cards of the multi-card terminal belong to the same operator network and are in an idle state, only one SIM card is needed to perform TAU at the same time, so that the electric quantity of the terminal is saved.

The application provides a method for updating a tracking area.

Aiming at the scene that a plurality of SIM cards of a multi-card terminal belong to the same operator and two SIM cards of a double-card terminal are both in an idle state, if a core network knows that the plurality of SIM cards belong to the same terminal, the plurality of SIM cards are configured into the same TAI list and the same TAU timer.

When the multi-card terminal needs to perform periodic TAU and aperiodic TAU, only one SIM card performs periodic TAU and aperiodic TAU.

When the core network receives the TAU request sent by one of the SIM cards of the multi-card terminal, the core network also knows the locations of the other SIM cards of the multi-card terminal.

If the core network does not know that the plurality of SIM cards belong to the same terminal, when a certain SIM card of the multi-card terminal needs to perform periodic TAU and aperiodic TAU, the identity information of other SIM cards is also informed to the core network.

For example, through the TAU request, after receiving the signaling of the SIM card initiating the TAU, the core network knows the locations of the other SIM cards of the multi-card terminal.

When the SIM card performs TAU, the multi-card terminal needs to inform other SIM cards that the other SIM cards perform TAU, and then the other SIM cards do not perform TAU any more.

By the method, the cell reselection is performed by only one SIM card at the same time aiming at the condition that a plurality of SIM cards of the multi-card terminal belong to the same operator network, so that the electric quantity of the terminal is saved.

Example 2:

the method and the device aim at the situation that a plurality of SIM cards of the multi-card terminal belong to the same operator, and two SIM cards of the double-card terminal are both in an idle state.

If the core network knows that a plurality of SIM cards belong to the same terminal, the plurality of SIM cards are configured to be the same TAI list and the same TAU timer.

When the multi-card terminal needs to perform periodic TAU and aperiodic TAU, the periodic TAU and the aperiodic TAU are performed by using one SIM card.

If the core network does not know that a plurality of SIM cards belong to the same terminal, when a certain SIM card of the multi-card terminal needs periodic TAU and aperiodic TAU, the core network is also informed of the identity information of other SIM cards, for example, by TAU request.

After receiving the TAU request of the SIM card initiating the TAU, the core network knows the locations of the other SIM cards of the multi-card terminal.

The present embodiment also provides a communication device, including:

an antenna;

a memory;

and the processor is respectively connected with the antenna and the memory and used for controlling the antenna to transmit and receive wireless signals by executing the executable program stored in the memory and executing the steps of the tracking area updating method provided by any of the foregoing embodiments.

The communication device provided in this embodiment may be the aforementioned terminal or base station. The terminal can be various human-borne terminals or vehicle-borne terminals. The base stations may be various types of base stations, such as 4G base stations or 5G base stations, and so on.

The antenna may be various types of antennas, for example, a mobile antenna such as a 3G antenna, a 4G antenna, or a 5G antenna; the antenna may further include: a WiFi antenna or a wireless charging antenna, etc.

The memory may include various types of storage media, which are non-transitory computer storage media capable of continuing to remember the information stored thereon after a communication device has been powered down.

The processor may be connected to the antenna and the memory via a bus or the like for reading the executable program stored on the memory, by a tracking area update method such as shown in fig. 2 to 5, or the like.

The present application also provides a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, which stores an executable program, where the executable program when executed by a processor implements the steps of the tracking area update method provided in any of the foregoing embodiments, for example, at least one of the methods shown in fig. 2 to 5.

Referring to the terminal 800 shown in fig. 8, the present embodiment provides a terminal 800, which may be specifically a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, and the like.

Referring to fig. 8, terminal 800 may include one or more of the following components: processing component 802, memory 804, power component 806, multimedia component 808, audio component 810, input/output (I/O) interface 812, sensor component 814, and communication component 816.

The processing component 802 generally controls overall operation of the terminal 800, such as operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing components 802 may include one or more processors 820 to execute instructions to perform all or a portion of the steps of the methods described above. Further, the processing component 802 can include one or more modules that facilitate interaction between the processing component 802 and other components. For example, the processing component 802 may include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component 808 and the processing component 802.

The memory 804 is configured to store various types of data to support operation at the terminal 800. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on terminal 800, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and so forth. The memory 804 may be implemented by any type or combination of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic or optical disks.

A power supply component 806 provides power to the various components of the terminal 800. The power components 806 may include a power management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for the terminal 800.

The multimedia component 808 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the terminal 800 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a Touch Panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive an input signal from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, slide, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundary of a touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 808 includes a front facing camera and/or a rear facing camera. The front camera and/or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data when the terminal 800 is in an operation mode, such as a photographing mode or a video mode. Each front camera and rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zoom capability.

The audio component 810 is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 810 includes a Microphone (MIC) configured to receive external audio signals when the terminal 800 is in an operational mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signals may further be stored in the memory 804 or transmitted via the communication component 816. In some embodiments, audio component 810 also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

The I/O interface 812 provides an interface between the processing component 802 and peripheral interface modules, which may be keyboards, click wheels, buttons, etc. These buttons may include, but are not limited to: a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

Sensor assembly 814 includes one or more sensors for providing various aspects of state assessment for terminal 800. For example, sensor assembly 814 can detect an open/closed state of terminal 800, a relative positioning of components, such as a display and keypad of terminal 800, sensor assembly 814 can also detect a change in position of terminal 800 or a component of terminal 800, the presence or absence of user contact with terminal 800, orientation or acceleration/deceleration of terminal 800, and a change in temperature of terminal 800. Sensor assembly 814 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of a nearby object without any physical contact. The sensor assembly 814 may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor assembly 814 may also include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

Communication component 816 is configured to facilitate communications between terminal 800 and other devices in a wired or wireless manner. The terminal 800 may access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as Wi-Fi,2G, or 3G, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 816 receives broadcast signals or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, communications component 816 further includes a Near Field Communications (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communications. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, ultra Wideband (UWB) technology, bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal 800 may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), digital Signal Processors (DSPs), digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors or other electronic components for performing the above-described methods.

In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, such as the memory 804 comprising instructions, executable by the processor 820 of the terminal 800 to perform the above-described method is also provided. For example, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium may be a ROM, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

The terminal may be configured to implement the aforementioned tracking area update method, for example, the tracking area update method as in fig. 2 to 5.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a base station 900 according to an example embodiment. For example, the base station 900 may be provided as a network side device. Referring to fig. 9, base station 900 includes a processing component 922, which further includes one or more processors and memory resources, represented by memory 932, for storing instructions, e.g., applications, that are executable by processing component 922. The application programs stored in memory 932 may include one or more modules that each correspond to a set of instructions. Furthermore, the processing component 922 is configured to execute instructions to perform the tracking area update method provided by any of the foregoing embodiments of the above-described method, for example, the method as shown in fig. 2 to 6.

The base station 900 may also include a power supply component 926 configured to perform power management of the base station 900, a wired or wireless network interface 950 configured to connect the base station 900 to a network, and an input/output (I/O) interface 958. The base station 900 may operate based on an operating system stored in memory 932, such as Windows Server, mac OS XTM, unixTM, linuxTM, freeBSDTM, or the like.

The wireless network interface 950 includes, but is not limited to, the antenna of the aforementioned communication device. Other embodiments of the present application will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the application and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the application being indicated by the following claims.

It will be understood that the present application is not limited to the precise arrangements that have been described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A Tracking Area Update (TAU) method comprises the following steps:

when the terminal comprises at least two subscriber identity modules, utilizing one subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules to carry out TAU of each subscriber identity module of the at least two subscriber identity modules;

the performing, by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules, a TAU of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules includes:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing TAU of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules comprises:

when the terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules and networks connected to the at least two subscriber identity modules belong to the same operator, one of the at least two subscriber identity modules is used to perform TAU of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein when the terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules, the updating the tracking area using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules further comprises:

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises:

sending a notification to other ones of the at least two subscriber identity modules indicating that a TAU has been performed.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving TAU configuration information of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules;

selecting one subscriber identity module for the TAU from the at least two subscriber identity modules;

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises:

7. A tracking area update method, comprising:

configuring tracking area TAU configuration information for the terminal;

sending TAU configuration information;

receiving a tracking area TAU request sent based on the TAU configuration information, wherein the TAU request comprises: a terminal comprising at least two subscriber identity modules utilizes a TAU request sent by one subscriber identity module; the TAU request includes: identification information of other subscriber identity modules than the one of the at least two subscriber identity modules of the terminal.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

and determining at least two subscriber identity modules belonging to the same terminal according to the identification information of the subscriber identity module carried by the TAU request.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the configuring tracking area TAU configuration information for the terminal further comprises:

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the TAU configuration information comprises at least one of:

tracking area list TAI;

a tracking area timer.

12. A tracking area updating apparatus, comprising:

an update module configured to perform, when the terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules, a TAU of each of the at least two subscriber identity modules by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules;

the update module is configured to send a TAU request by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules, where the TAU request includes: identification information of other subscriber identification modules except the subscriber identification module in the at least two subscriber identification modules.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the updating module is configured to perform TAU for each of the at least two subscriber identity modules by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules when the terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules and networks to which the at least two subscriber identity modules are connected belong to a same operator.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the updating module is configured to perform TAU for each of the at least two subscriber identity modules by using one of the at least two subscriber identity modules when the terminal includes at least two subscriber identity modules, networks to which the at least two subscriber identity modules are connected belong to a same operator, and each of the at least two subscriber identity modules is in an idle state.

15. The apparatus of any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

16. The apparatus of any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

the update module is configured to perform, by using the selected subscriber identity module, TAU for each of the at least two subscriber identity modules according to the TAU configuration information of the selected subscriber identity module.

17. The apparatus of any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

and the updating module is configured to perform the TAU according to the received TAU configuration information by using the user identification module corresponding to the received TAU configuration information.

18. A tracking area updating apparatus, comprising:

a sending module configured to send TAU configuration information;

a third receiving module, configured to receive a tracking area TAU request sent based on the TAU configuration information, where the TAU request includes: a terminal comprising at least two subscriber identity modules utilizes a TAU request sent by one subscriber identity module; the TAU request includes: identification information of other subscriber identity modules than the one of the at least two subscriber identity modules of the terminal.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

20. The apparatus according to claim 18 or 19, wherein the configuration module is configured to configure the same TAU configuration information for each of the at least two subscriber identity modules if it is determined that the at least two subscriber identity modules belong to the same terminal, and otherwise, allocate the configured TAU configuration information for each of the at least two subscriber identity modules.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the sending module is further configured to send the TAU configuration information to each of the at least two subscriber identity modules, or to one of the at least two subscriber identity modules, respectively, when the same TAU configuration information is configured for the at least two subscriber identity modules.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the TAU configuration information comprises at least one of:

tracking area list TAI;

a tracking area timer.

23. A mobile terminal, comprising:

an antenna;

a memory configured to store an executable program;

a processor, connected to the antenna and the memory, respectively, and configured to control the transceiving of the antenna and execute the steps of the tracking area update method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or 7 to 11 when running the executable program.

24. A storage medium having stored thereon an executable program which when executed by a processor implements the steps of performing the tracking area update method of any one of claims 1 to 6 or 7 to 11 when the executable program is run as claimed.