CN113453214B

CN113453214B - Communication control method and electronic device

Info

Publication number: CN113453214B
Application number: CN202010218680.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李颖
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-25
Filing date: 2020-03-25
Publication date: 2022-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-25
Also published as: CN113453214A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication control method and electronic equipment. The communication control method of the embodiment of the present application may be applied to an electronic device, where the electronic device includes an Embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM), a first physical card slot, a second physical card slot, a first modem, and a second modem, and the method includes: a first input is received, the first input to activate the eSIM. In response to the first input, it is determined whether a valid SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot. In response to determining that the first physical card slot is not plugged into a valid SIM card, the eSIM is activated to communicate over a third communication link. In response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, communicating via at least one of the following combinations of communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link. The application can improve the use performance of the terminal equipment.

Description

Communication control method and electronic device

Technical Field

The present application relates to terminal technologies, and in particular, to a communication control method and an electronic device.

Background

A dual-card dual-standby mobile phone refers to a mobile phone that can be provided with two Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, and the two SIM cards are both in a standby state, so that a user can use the two SIM cards to make and receive calls, send and receive short messages, and the like. With the continuous development of technology, an Embedded SIM (eSIM) card is proposed, and an eSIM card can be understood as a conventional SIM card directly Embedded on a chip of a terminal device, rather than being added to the terminal device as a separate removable component, and a user does not need to insert a physical SIM card.

By combining the characteristics and advantages of the eSIM, one more eSIM card can be added on the basis of the dual-card dual-standby mobile phone to realize three-card three-standby. However, adding an eSIM card requires adding a corresponding modem (modem) and adding a circuit connected to the eSIM card, which results in high power consumption of the mobile phone and affects the performance of the mobile phone.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication control method and electronic equipment, so as to improve the use performance of the electronic equipment.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication control method, where the method is applied to an electronic device, where the electronic device includes an Embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM), a first physical card slot, a second physical card slot, a first modem, and a second modem, and the method may include: a first input is received, the first input to activate the eSIM. In response to the first input, it is determined whether a valid SIM card is inserted in the first physical card slot. In response to determining that a valid SIM card is not inserted in the first physical card slot, the eSIM is activated and communications are conducted over a third communication link. In response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, communicating via at least one of the following combinations of communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link.

Wherein the first communication link includes the first modem and a SIM card in the first physical card slot, the second communication link includes a second modem and a SIM card in the second physical card slot, the third communication link includes the first modem and the eSIM, the fourth communication link includes the second modem and a SIM card in the first physical card slot, and the fifth communication link includes the second modem and the eSIM.

In this implementation, when receiving an input for activating the eSIM from a user, determining whether a valid SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot, and in response to determining that a valid SIM card is not inserted into the first physical card slot, activating the eSIM and communicating via the third communication link. In response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, communicating via at least one of the following combinations of communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link. The eSIM communication is performed, or any two of the eSIM, the SIM card in the second physical card slot or the SIM card in the second physical card slot are communicated, so that when the eSIM is activated, the usability of the entity SIM card is ensured, the service performance of the terminal equipment can be improved, and the multi-card use experience of a user is improved.

In one possible design, the determining whether the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card may include: determining whether a SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot, and determining whether the SIM card is valid.

For example, the specific implementation manner may be that a Personal Identification Number (PIN) in the SIM card is detected to determine whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, or that whether the SIM card has data returned or whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication is detected.

In one possible design, the determining that the first physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card may include: and determining that the SIM card is not inserted into the first physical card slot, or determining that the SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot and the SIM card is invalid.

The SIM card is not valid, also meaning that the SIM is not available for communication.

In one possible design, the communication is combined over at least one of the following communication links in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, may include: and in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card, displaying first prompt information, wherein the first prompt information is used for prompting to move the SIM card in the first physical card slot to the second physical card slot. And when the first physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, communicating with the third communication link through the second communication link.

According to the implementation mode, the first prompt information is displayed, so that the user moves the SIM card in the first physical card slot to the second physical card slot based on the first prompt information, the usability of the SIM card is guaranteed, and the multi-card use experience of the user is improved.

In one possible design, the communication is combined over at least one of the following communication links in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, include: in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, displaying a second prompt for prompting selection of a SIM card or the eSIM in the first physical card slot for communication. According to a first selection operation of a user, combining communication through at least one of the following communication links: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link. Wherein the first selection operation is to instruct selection of the SIM card or the eSIM in the first physical card slot.

According to the implementation mode, the second prompt information is displayed, so that the user selects the SIM card or the eSIM card in the first physical card slot for communication based on the second prompt information, and the multi-card use experience of the user is improved.

In one possible design, the communication is combined over at least one of the following communication links, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, include: in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card, communicating over at least one of the following combinations of communication links: the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link.

This implementation, when confirming that this first physical card slot inserts effective SIM card, and this second physical card slot does not insert effective SIM card, switch on through controlling corresponding communication link, realize through SIM card and the eSIM communication in the first physical card slot to promote terminal equipment's performance.

In one possible design, the communication may be combined over at least one of the following communication links in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, comprising: and in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, displaying a third prompt message for prompting selection of two of the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the SIM card in the second physical card slot and the eSIM for communication. According to the second selection operation of the user, the communication is combined through at least one of the following communication links: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link.

Wherein the second selection operation is to instruct selection of any two of a SIM card in the first physical card slot, the eSIM, or a SIM card in the second physical card slot.

According to the implementation mode, when the first physical card slot is determined to be inserted with the effective SIM card and the second physical card slot is determined to be inserted with the effective SIM card, the corresponding communication link is controlled to be conducted based on the second selection operation of the user, and any two items of communication among the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the SIM card in the second physical card slot or the eSIM card are realized, so that the use performance of the terminal equipment is improved.

In one possible design, an add-in operation is detected, the add-in operation being used to insert a SIM card in the first physical card slot, and in response to the add-in operation, it is determined whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot is valid. In response to determining that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is valid, determining whether the eSIM is activated. In response to determining that the eSIM is not activated, communicating over the first communication link. In response to determining that the eSIM is activated, communicate over at least one of the following communication links depending on whether a valid SIM card is inserted in the second physical card slot: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, including: one or more processors, memory, and a display screen, a first modem, a second modem, an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM), and a first physical card slot and a second physical card slot; the display screen is used for displaying contents according to the indication of the one or more processors; the memory is used for storing one or more programs; the first physical card slot and the second physical card slot are respectively used for setting a subscriber identity module SIM card; the one or more processors are configured to execute the one or more programs to perform the actions recited in the first aspect above or in any of the possible design manners of the first aspect.

In a third aspect, the present application provides an electronic device, comprising: one or more processors; a memory for storing one or more programs; when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method of any one of the first aspects as described above.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium comprising a computer program which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of the first aspects above.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program for performing the method of any of the first aspects described above when the computer program is executed by a computer.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a chip comprising a processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program, and the processor being configured to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method according to any one of the first aspect.

According to the communication control method and the electronic equipment, whether the eSIM is activated and whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication are detected respectively, when the eSIM is activated and the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, the eSIM and the SIM card in the second physical card slot are used according to the detection result of the second physical card slot, or the SIM card in the first physical card slot and the SIM card in the second physical card slot are used for communication, so that the terminal equipment can use the SIM card and the eSIM or the dual SIM for communication, that is, the availability of the SIM card is ensured when the eSIM is activated, the service performance of the terminal equipment is improved, and the multi-card use experience of a user is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a connection manner of a baseband chip according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a software structure of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a communication control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of another connection manner of the baseband chip according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of another communication control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of another communication control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a flowchart of another communication control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating a first prompt message according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9B is a schematic diagram of a first prompt message according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating results of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the present application.

The terms "first," "second," and the like, as used in connection with the embodiments of the present application, are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or order. Furthermore, the terms "comprises" and "comprising," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a list of steps or elements is included. A method, system, article, or apparatus is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements explicitly listed, but may include other steps or elements not explicitly listed or inherent to such process, system, article, or apparatus.

It should be understood that in the present application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or" is used to describe the association relationship of the associated object, indicating that there may be three relationships, for example, "a and/or B" may indicate: only A, only B and both A and B are present, wherein A and B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

The embodiment of the application relates to electronic equipment, which comprises a first physical card slot, a second physical card slot and an eSIM, wherein the eSIM and one of the physical card slots (the first physical card slot or the second physical card slot) share one modem, so that the electronic equipment supports various functions of the eSIM on the basis of not increasing the cost and the energy consumption, the service performance of the electronic equipment is improved, and the multi-card use experience of a user is improved.

According to the embodiment of the application, the first modem is shared by the eSIM of the electronic equipment and the first physical card slot. The specific implementation mode can be as follows: controlling the connection of the eSIM and the first modem, and disconnecting the path between the first physical card slot and the first modem; or, the control eSIM is disconnected from the first modem, and the first physical card slot is connected with the first modem. Namely: the eSIM is time-shared with the first physical card slot with a first modem.

For example, the common modem may specifically be configured to have a switch, so that one of the common modem is turned on and the other common modem is turned off. For example, the first switch controls the first physical card slot to be connected with or disconnected from the first modem, and the second switch controls the eSIM to be connected with or disconnected from the first modem, so that the eSIM and the first physical card slot are connected with the first modem in a time-sharing manner, and the eSIM and the first physical card slot share the first modem.

The setting of the switch to connect the eSIM and the first physical card slot in a time-sharing manner with the first modem means that the eSIM and the SIM card in the first physical card slot are connected in a time-sharing manner with the first modem, in other words, the eSIM and the SIM card in the first physical card slot communicate in a time-sharing manner through the first modem, that is, the eSIM and the SIM card in the first physical card slot communicate with a communication network or other communication devices in a time-sharing manner through the first modem.

It should be noted that the manner of setting the switch is an example, and other manners may also be used to implement that the first modem is conducted with the eSIM or the first physical card slot, for example, the first modem is conducted with the eSIM or the first physical card slot by setting a register. It should be further noted that the number of switches in the above manner of setting the switches is also an example, and the number may also be other numbers, for example, the eSIM and the first physical card slot are connected to the first modem in a time-sharing manner through one switch, which is not an example in the embodiments of the present application.

The following embodiment exemplifies a manner of setting a switch, and the eSIM and the first physical card slot share the first modem.

Through the connection mode of the baseband chip shown in fig. 1, the eSIM and the first physical card slot share one modem. As shown in fig. 1, the baseband chip 1 may include a processing module 11, a first modem 12, a second modem 13, a first switch 14, and a second switch 15. The processing module 11 is connected to a first modem 12, a second modem 13, a first switch 14 and a second switch 15, respectively. The first modem 12 is connected to a first physical card slot 21 through a first switch 14, connected to an eSIM23 through a second switch 15, and the second modem 13 is connected to a second physical card slot 22, where the first physical card slot 21 and the second physical card slot 22 are respectively used for setting a SIM. Compared with the original dual-card dual-standby terminal equipment, the terminal equipment provided with the baseband chip 1, the first physical card slot 21, the second physical card slot 22 and the eSIM23 shown in fig. 1 can support various functions of the eSIM, can improve the service performance of the electronic equipment, and does not need to add a modem, so that the problem that the energy consumption of the electronic equipment is high can be avoided.

It should be noted that the connection method of the baseband chip shown in fig. 1 has the following problems: since the first physical card slot 21 and the eSIM23 share the same modem 12, when the eSIM is activated and the eSIM is connected to the first modem, a SIM card is set in the first physical card slot 21, and since the first modem is connected to the eSIM and the SIM card and the eSIM in the first physical card slot 21 cannot be connected to the first modem at the same time, the SIM card in the first physical card slot 21 cannot be enabled. When a user inserts a SIM card into the first physical card slot 21, the SIM card communicates through the first modem, and then activates the eSIM, which may cause the SIM card in the first physical card slot 21 to be disconnected from the network and the SIM card cannot be used. In order to solve the problem, embodiments of the present application provide a communication control method to ensure usability of an SIM card, improve usability of an electronic device, and improve multi-card use experience of a user. Reference is made to the following examples for specific embodiments thereof.

The baseband chip shown in fig. 1 of the embodiment of the present application, and the first physical card slot 21, the second physical card slot 22, and the eSIM23 connected thereto may be provided in a multi-card communication apparatus. The multi-card communication device may be part or all of the electronic apparatus described above. The connection between the first modem and the first physical card slot 21 and the connection between the first modem and the eSIM23 are not limited to the switch shown in fig. 1.

The electronic device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a Personal Computer (PC), a smart home device (e.g., a smart television, etc.), or a mobile terminal, which may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a Mobile Station (MS), a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The mobile terminal may be a smartphone, a tablet, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, etc.), and so on.

The "physical card slot" referred to in the embodiments of the present application, for example, the first physical card slot, the second physical card slot, and the like, may also be referred to as a "SIM interface" for connecting a SIM card. The terminal equipment can support N SIM interfaces, wherein N is a positive integer larger than 1. The SIM card can be inserted into the SIM interface or pulled out of the SIM interface to realize the contact and separation with the terminal equipment, and the SIM interface can support a Nano SIM card, a Micro SIM card, an SIM card and the like. Multiple cards can be inserted into the same SIM interface at the same time. The types of the plurality of cards may be the same or different. The SIM interface may also be compatible with different types of SIM cards. The SIM interface may also be compatible with external memory cards, such as SD cards. The terminal equipment interacts with the network through the SIM card to realize functions of conversation, data communication and the like. The terminal device may also employ eSIM, that is: an embedded SIM card. The eSIM card can be embedded in the terminal device and cannot be separated from the terminal device.

In the embodiment of the present application, N is equal to 2, and a terminal device is provided with one eSIM as an example for illustration, which is not taken as a limitation in the embodiment of the present application.

Illustratively, fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of the terminal device 300.

The terminal device 300 may include: such as the baseband chip 1, the SIM interface 2, and the eSIM23 shown in fig. 1, a memory 315 (one or more computer-readable storage media), a Radio Frequency (RF) module 316, and a peripheral system 317. These components may communicate over one or more communication buses 314. The SIM interface 2 comprises a first physical card slot 21 and a second physical card slot 22 as shown in fig. 1.

The peripheral system 317 is mainly used to implement an interactive function between the terminal device 300 and a user/external environment, and mainly includes an input/output device of the terminal device 300. In a specific implementation, the peripheral system 317 may include: at least one of a touch screen controller 318, a camera controller 319, an audio controller 320, and a sensor management module 321. Wherein each controller may be coupled to a respective peripheral device (e.g., touch screen 323, camera 324, audio circuitry 325, and sensor 326). In some embodiments, the touch screen 323 may be a touch screen configured with a self-capacitive floating touch panel, or may be a touch screen configured with an infrared floating touch panel. In some embodiments, camera 324 may be a 3D camera. It should be noted that the peripheral system 317 may also include other I/O peripherals.

The baseband chip 1 may adopt a baseband chip as shown in fig. 1, wherein the processing module 11 may be implemented by one or more processors, and the baseband chip may further include: clock module and power management module. The clock module integrated in the baseband chip 1 is mainly used for generating clocks required for data transmission and timing control for the processing module 11. The power management module integrated in the baseband chip 1 is mainly used to provide stable and high-precision voltage for the processor, the rf module 316 and peripheral systems.

A Radio Frequency (RF) module 316 for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals mainly integrates a receiver and a transmitter of the terminal device 300. Radio Frequency (RF) module 316 communicates with a communication network and other communication devices via radio frequency signals. In particular implementations, the Radio Frequency (RF) module 316 may include, but is not limited to: an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, etc. In some embodiments, the Radio Frequency (RF) module 316 may be implemented on a separate chip.

For example, the Radio Frequency (RF) module 316 may receive electromagnetic waves from the antenna system, filter, amplify, etc. the received electromagnetic waves, and transmit the electromagnetic waves to the modem 12 and/or the modem 13 in the baseband chip 1 for demodulation. The Radio Frequency (RF) module 316 can also amplify the signal modulated by the modem 12 or the modem 13, and convert the signal into electromagnetic waves through the antenna system to radiate the electromagnetic waves. In some embodiments, at least a portion of the functional blocks of the Radio Frequency (RF) block 316 may be disposed in the baseband chip 1. In some embodiments, at least some of the functional blocks of the Radio Frequency (RF) block 316 may be disposed in the same device as at least some of the blocks of the baseband chip 1.

Memory 315 is coupled to one or more processors in the baseband chip for storing various software programs and/or sets of instructions. In particular implementations, memory 315 may include high speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. The memory 315 may store an operating system (hereinafter referred to simply as a system), such as an embedded operating system like ANDROID, IOS, WINDOWS, or LINUX. The memory 315 may also store a network communication program that may be used to communicate with one or more additional devices, one or more terminal devices, and one or more network devices. The memory 315 may further store a user interface program, which may vividly display the content of the application program through a graphical operation interface, and receive a control operation of the application program from a user through an input control such as a menu, a dialog box, and a button.

The memory 315 may also store one or more application programs. As shown in fig. 2, these applications may include: social applications (e.g., Facebook), image management applications (e.g., photo album), map-like applications (e.g., Google map), browsers (e.g., Safari, Google Chrome), and so forth. The applications may also include the card management application of the embodiments of the present application.

It should be understood that terminal device 300 is only one example provided in the embodiments of the present application and that terminal device 300 may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or may have a different configuration implementation of components.

Taking the terminal device 300 carrying the ANDROID operating system as an example, as shown in fig. 3, the terminal device 300 can be logically divided into a hardware layer 41, an operating system 51, and an application layer 61. The hardware layer 41 includes hardware resources such as a processor of the baseband chip, a modem of the baseband chip, the eSIM23, the memory 105, the touch screen 323, the camera 324, the audio circuit 325, and the sensor 326 as described above. The application layer 61 includes one or more applications, for example, the applications may be any type of application such as a card management application, a social type application, an e-commerce type application, a browser, and the like. The operating system 51 is a computer program that manages and controls hardware and software resources as software middleware between the hardware layer 41 and the application layer 61.

In one embodiment, the operating system 51 includes a kernel 513, a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) 514, libraries and runtimes (libraries and runtimes) 512, and a framework (frame) 511. The kernel 513 is used to provide the underlying system components and services, such as: power management, memory management, file system management, thread management, hardware drivers, etc.; the hardware drivers include an eSIM driver, a Wi-Fi driver, a sensor driver, and the like. The hardware abstraction layer 514 encapsulates the kernel driver, providing an interface to the framework 511, shielding the implementation details of the lower layers. The hardware abstraction layer 514 runs in user space and the kernel driver runs in kernel space.

The libraries and runtimes 512, also called runtime libraries, provide the required library files and execution environment for the executable program at runtime.

The framework 511 is used to provide various underlying common components and services for applications in the application layer 61, such as a window management module, a location management module, a multi-card management module, and so forth.

The functions of the various components of the operating system described above may be implemented by one or more processors in the baseband chip and an application processor (not shown) executing programs stored in memory 315.

One or more processors of the baseband chip in the embodiment of the present application may be configured to execute the program in the memory 315, thereby implementing the communication control method in the embodiment of the present application, so that the terminal device may ensure the availability of the SIM card, improve the usability of the terminal device, and improve the multi-card use experience of the user. Reference is made to the following description of various examples.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a communication control method according to an embodiment of the present application, where in this embodiment, an eSIM and a first physical card slot share one modem as an example, and an execution main body of this embodiment may be a processing module 11 of a baseband chip shown in fig. 1, that is, one or more processors in the baseband chip, and as shown in fig. 4, the method according to this embodiment may include:

step 101, detecting whether the eSIM is activated and whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication respectively.

As a further example, by taking the connection manner shown in fig. 1 as an example, it is possible to detect whether the eSIM23 is activated by controlling the first switch to be open and the second switch to be closed, so that the first modem 12 is connected to the eSIM23, and the first modem 12 is disconnected from the first physical card slot 21. The first switch is controlled to be closed, the second switch is controlled to be opened, so that the first modem 12 is conducted with the first physical card slot 21, and the first modem 12 is disconnected with the eSIM23, so as to detect whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot 21 can be used for communication, that is, whether the eSIM is activated and whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication are detected respectively. It should be noted that the order of detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot 21 can be used for communication and detecting whether the eSIM23 is activated is not limited in this respect.

The detection result obtained by detecting whether the eSIM is activated does not affect the performance of detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication. In other words, the step of detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication may be performed whether the eSIM is detected to be activated or whether the eSIM is detected not to be activated. Similarly, the detection result obtained by detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication does not affect the execution of detecting whether the eSIM is activated. In other words, the step of detecting whether the eSIM is activated may be performed whether it is detected that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication or whether it is detected that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not available for communication.

A specific implementation of detecting whether the eSIM23 is activated may be to detect whether a corresponding flag bit in the eSIM23 indicates that the eSIM is activated. For example, if the terminal device receives a user input for enabling the eSIM, the flag bit is 1, 1 is used to indicate that the eSIM is activated, and when the terminal device performs the above-mentioned detection of whether the eSIM is activated, the terminal device determines that the eSIM is activated by reading the flag bit in the eSIM. It is understood that the flag bit may also be stored in a memory of the baseband chip, and the storage location of the flag bit is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

When the eSIM is activated, the terminal device can communicate with the network by using the eSIM, however, since the eSIM and the first physical card slot share one modem, the embodiment of the application further needs to determine that the terminal device communicates with the network by using the eSIM and/or the SIM card according to the detection result of whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication.

One implementable way of detecting whether a SIM card in a first physical card slot can be used for communication: whether the first physical card slot has the SIM card or not is detected, and when the first physical card slot has the SIM card, whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication or not is detected. Whether the first physical card slot has the SIM card is detected, for example, the specific implementation manner may be that the level of a card detection pin of the first physical card slot is obtained, and whether the SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot is determined according to the level of the card detection pin. Whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication is detected, for example, a specific implementation manner of the method may be that whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication is determined by detecting a Personal Identification Number (PIN) in the SIM card, or whether the SIM card has data returned or data returned by the SIM card is detected to determine whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication. Illustratively, when there is a SIM card in the first physical card slot, the processor sends an instruction to the SIM card in the first physical card slot through the interface of the first physical card slot, where the instruction is used to read data in the SIM card. The SIM card may return response data to the processor in response to the instruction, and the processor determines that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication based on the received response data. At some time the SIM card does not return response data to the processor or the returned response data is erroneous, the processor determines based thereon that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not available for communication.

In some embodiments, the step of detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication is performed when the presence of the SIM card in the first physical card slot is detected, and the step of detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication is not performed when the presence of the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not detected.

It should be noted that the implementation manner of detecting whether the eSIM23 is activated and the implementation manner of detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication are all exemplary illustrations, and may also be other implementation manners, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

The following scenarios are the detection results obtained in step 101 (see table 1 below): (1) the eSIM is activated and the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not available for communication; (2) the eSIM is activated and the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication; (3) the eSIM is not activated and the SIM card in the first physical card slot may be used for communication; (4) the eSIM is not activated and the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not available for communication.

Table 1 test result examples

And 102, when the fact that the eSIM is activated and the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication is detected, communicating through the first communication link and the second communication link or communicating through the third communication link and the second communication link according to the detection result of the second physical card slot.

Wherein the first communication link includes a first modem and a SIM card in a first physical card slot, the third communication link includes the first modem and an eSIM, and the second communication link includes a second modem and a SIM card in a second physical card slot. The detection result of the second physical card slot comprises that no SIM card exists in the second physical card slot, or the SIM card in the second physical card slot cannot be used for communication, or the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication.

With respect to the scenario (2), in step 102, the embodiment of the present application communicates with the communication network and other communication devices through the eSIM and the SIM card in the second physical card slot, or communicates with the communication network and other communication devices through the SIM card in the first physical card slot and the SIM card in the second physical card slot.

For example, before or after the step 101, the step of detecting whether there is a SIM card in the second physical card slot and whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication may be further performed, and when it is detected that the eSIM is activated and the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, communication with the communication network or other communication devices is performed through the eSIM and the SIM card in the second physical card slot, or through the SIM card in the first physical card slot and the SIM card in the second physical card slot, in combination with a detection result of whether there is a SIM card in the second physical card slot or whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication.

For example, when it is detected that the eSIM is activated and a SIM card (e.g., a first SIM card) in a first physical card slot is available for communication, and the detection result of a second physical card slot is no SIM card, the user may be prompted to move the SIM card (e.g., the first SIM card) in the first physical card slot into the second physical card slot according to the detection result of the second physical card slot, and perform communication using the first SIM card and the eSIM in the second physical card slot, that is, to communicate through the second communication link and a third communication link, where the third communication link includes the first modem and the eSIM, and the second communication link includes the second physical card slot and the second modem.

As another example, when it is detected that the eSIM is activated and a SIM card (e.g., a first SIM card) in a first physical card slot is available for communication and the detection result of the second physical card slot is that a SIM card (e.g., a second SIM card) in a second physical card slot is available for communication, the user is prompted to select one of the first SIM card and the eSIM for use, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card are used, i.e., communication is performed through the first communication link and the second communication link, which include the first modem and the first SIM card in the first physical card slot, or the eSIM and the second SIM card are used, i.e., communication is performed through the third communication link and the second communication link, which include the first modem and the eSIM, according to the operation of the user.

In some embodiments, the method of this embodiment of the application may further include, for scenario (1) above, performing communication using the eSIM and a SIM card in the second physical card slot, or performing communication using the eSIM according to a detection result of the second physical card slot. For example, when there is a SIM card in the second physical card slot, detecting whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, and when the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, using the eSIM to communicate with the SIM card in the second physical card slot; when the second physical card slot does not have a SIM card therein, or the SIM card in the second physical card slot is not available for communication, the eSIM is used for communication.

For scenario (3), according to the detection result of the second physical card slot, the SIM card in the first physical card slot and the SIM card in the second physical card slot may be used for communication, or the SIM card in the first physical card slot may be used for communication, or the user may be prompted to activate the eSIM. For example, when there is a SIM card in the second physical card slot, detecting whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, and when the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, using the SIM card in the first physical card slot and the SIM card in the second physical card slot for communication; when no SIM card is in the second physical card slot, or the SIM card in the second physical card slot is unavailable for communication, the SIM card in the first physical card slot is used for communication, or the user is prompted to activate the eSIM.

For the scenario (4), according to the detection result of the second physical card slot, communication may be performed using a SIM card in the second physical card slot, or the user may be prompted to insert the SIM card, or the user may be prompted to activate the eSIM. For example, when there is a SIM card in the second physical card slot, detecting whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, and when the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, using the SIM card in the second physical card slot for communication, or prompting the user to activate an eSIM; when the second physical card slot does not have a SIM card therein, or the SIM card in the second physical card slot is not available for communication, the user may be prompted to activate the eSIM or insert a SIM card.

In this embodiment, whether the eSIM is activated and whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication are detected respectively, and when it is detected that the eSIM is activated and the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication, according to a detection result of the second physical card slot, the eSIM and the SIM card in the second physical card slot are used, or the SIM card in the first physical card slot and the SIM card in the second physical card slot are used for communication, so that the terminal device can use the SIM card and the eSIM or the dual SIM card for communication, that is, the availability of the SIM card is ensured when the eSIM is activated, the service performance of the terminal device is improved, and the multi-card use experience of a user is improved.

Unlike the above-mentioned method for prompting the user to move the SIM card in the first physical card slot to the second physical card slot, the embodiment of the present application also provides an automatic switching manner, for example, referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of another connection manner of the baseband chip of the embodiment of the present application, and fig. 5 differs from fig. 1 in that a third switch 16 is added, one end of the third switch 16 is connected to the second modem 13, the other end of the third switch 16 is connected to the first physical card slot 21, the second physical card slot 22 and the eSIM23, respectively, and the third switch 16 can control the second modem 13 to be turned on in time division with the first physical card slot 21, the second physical card slot 22 and the eSIM 23. Upon detecting that the eSIM is activated and that a SIM card (e.g., a first SIM card) in a first physical card slot is available for communication and the detection result of a second physical card slot is no SIM card, the baseband chip may control the third switch 16 such that the second modem 13 is in conduction with the first physical card slot 21, the second modem 13 is disconnected with the second physical card slot 22, the second modem 13 is disconnected with the eSIM23, and the first switch 14 and the second switch 15 are controlled such that the first modem 12 is disconnected with the first physical card slot 21 and the first modem 12 is in communication with the eSIM 23. The terminal device may communicate using the first SIM card and eSIM in the first physical card slot, i.e., through the third communication link and the fourth communication link described above, the third communication link including the first modem and eSIM, and the fourth communication link including the SIM card and the second modem in the first physical card slot. The realization mode can ensure the usability of the SIM card through automatic switching, and improve the multi-card use experience of the user. Alternatively, upon detecting that the eSIM is activated and that a SIM card (e.g., a first SIM card) in a first physical card slot is available for communication and the detection result of a second physical card slot is no SIM card, the baseband chip may control the third switch 16 such that the second modem 13 is turned on with the eSIM, the second modem 13 is turned off with the second physical card slot 22, the second modem 13 is turned off with the first physical card slot 21, and the first switch 15 is controlled such that the first modem 12 is turned off with the eSIM, and the terminal device may communicate using the first SIM card and the eSIM in the first physical card slot, that is, through the first communication link and the fifth communication link, which include the first modem and the SIM card in the first physical card slot, and the fifth communication link includes the second modem and the eSIM. The realization mode can ensure the usability of the SIM card through automatic switching, and improve the multi-card use experience of the user.

The communication control method of the embodiment of the application can detect the eSIM and the physical card slot (for example, a first physical card slot) sharing one modem to determine whether the eSIM is activated, whether the SIM card in the physical card slot (for example, the first physical card slot) can be used for communication, and determine to use the eSIM, or the SIM card in one physical card slot, or two SIM cards in two physical card slots, or the eSIM and the SIM card in one physical card slot to communicate with a network or other communication devices in combination with the detection result of another physical card slot (for example, a second physical card slot).

The manner of triggering detection of the eSIM and the physical card slot (e.g., the first physical card slot) that share one modem may include manner one or manner two.

First, the card insertion operation is triggered by a user, and the card insertion operation may be an operation of inserting a SIM card into the physical card slot (e.g., a first physical card slot). A user inserts a SIM card in the physical card slot (e.g., the first physical card slot), and in response to the user inserting the SIM card in the physical card slot (e.g., the first physical card slot), the above step 101 is triggered to be performed, that is, whether esims sharing one modem are activated and whether the SIM card in the physical card slot (e.g., the first physical card slot) can be used for communication are detected respectively.

The implementation of the baseband chip determining that the user inserts the SIM card in the physical card slot (e.g., the first physical card slot) may be various, and is related to the hardware design of the terminal device. In an exemplary implementation, the processor of the baseband chip determines that a SIM card is inserted into a physical card slot (e.g., a first physical card slot) through a level change of a card detection pin (not shown in fig. 1) of the physical card slot (e.g., the first physical card slot), where the card detection pin may be connected to the processor of the baseband chip. When the physical card slot (for example, a first physical card slot) does not have the SIM card, the level of the card detection pin is a first level; when a SIM card is inserted into a physical card slot (for example, a first physical card slot), the level of a card detection pin is a second level; the processor may determine whether a SIM card is in a physical card slot (e.g., a first physical card slot) based on the level of the card detect pin. For example, the first level may be a low level and the second level may be a high level. Then, the processor may determine that a SIM card is inserted in a physical card slot (e.g., the first physical card slot) based on the card detect pin being high.

Mode two, the operation by the user to activate the eSIM triggers. The card management application receives an operation for activating an eSIM by a user, and in response to the operation for activating the eSIM, triggers execution of step 101, which is to detect whether the eSIM sharing one modem is activated and whether a SIM card in a physical card slot (e.g., a first physical card slot) can be used for communication, respectively.

Mode one and mode two will be explained below using specific examples, respectively.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of another communication control method according to the embodiment of the present application, where an execution main body of the embodiment may be a processing module of a baseband chip, that is, one or more processors in the baseband chip, and the embodiment is illustrated in a connection manner shown in fig. 1, and on the basis of the above embodiment, the communication control method according to the embodiment of the present application is explained by taking a first formula as an example, and as shown in fig. 6, the method according to the embodiment may include:

step 201, when a user inserts a SIM card into a first physical card slot, detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, and obtaining a detection result of the SIM card in the first physical card slot.

The detection result of the SIM card in the first physical card slot includes that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication or that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not available for communication.

In this embodiment, a user inserts a SIM card into a first physical card slot, and in response to an operation of inserting the SIM card into the first physical card slot by the user, the step 101 is triggered to be executed, for example, a step of detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication by controlling a first switch to be closed and a second switch to be opened is triggered to be executed, or a step of detecting whether eSIM is activated by controlling the first switch to be opened and the second switch to be closed is triggered to be executed. In this embodiment, a step of detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication by controlling the first switch to be closed and the second switch to be opened is performed first.

The implementation manner of the baseband chip determining that the user inserts the SIM card in the first physical card slot may refer to the above description, and is not described here any more. When the SIM card is in the first physical card slot, whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication is further detected. For an explanation on detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, refer to the explanation of step 101 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and details are not described here.

In this embodiment of the application, the following step 202 needs to be performed no matter the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication or the SIM card in the first physical card slot cannot be used for communication.

Step 202, detecting whether the eSIM is activated or not, and obtaining the detection result of the eSIM.

The detection result of the eSIM includes that the eSIM is activated or that the eSIM is not activated. For a specific explanation of detecting whether the eSIM is activated, reference may be made to the explanation of step 101 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, which is not described herein again.

Step 203, according to the detection result of the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the detection result of the eSIM, and the detection result of the second physical card slot, communicating through at least one of the first communication link, the second communication link, or the third communication link.

The first communication link includes a first modem and a SIM card in a first physical card slot, the third communication link includes the first modem and an eSIM, and the second communication link includes a second modem and a SIM card in a second physical card slot.

The detection result of the second physical card slot may be that no SIM card or the SIM card in the second physical card slot may be used for communication or the SIM card in the second physical card slot may not be used for communication, and when the user inserts the SIM card in the second physical card slot, in response to an operation of the user inserting the SIM card in the second physical card slot, whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot may be used for communication is detected, and the detection result of the second physical card slot is obtained. The mode for detecting whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication is the same as the mode for detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, that is, any mode for detecting whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication is detected. For a detailed explanation, reference may be made to the explanation of step 101 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, which is not described herein again. The detection result of the second physical card slot may be stored in the memory of the baseband chip.

It can be understood that the detection result of the second physical card slot may also be obtained by performing, after performing step 201 or step 202, detection on whether a SIM card is inserted into the second physical card slot and whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication. The manner of detecting whether the second physical card slot is inserted with the SIM card is the same as the manner of detecting whether the first physical card slot is inserted with the SIM card, and is not described here again.

The detection results obtained in steps 201 to 203 have the following scenarios (see table 2 below).

Table 2 test results examples

An example, scenario (2.1), that is, the detection result of the eSIM is that the eSIM is activated, the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication, and the detection result of the second physical card slot is that no SIM card or no SIM card is available for communication in the second physical card slot, may display first prompt information, where the first prompt information is used to indicate that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is unavailable, and exemplarily is used to indicate a user to move the SIM card into the second physical card slot, and when a SIM card is available for communication in the second physical card slot, the communication is performed through the SIM card and the eSIM in the second physical card slot. For example, before performing step 201, the terminal device interacts with the network through the eSIM, i.e., the eSIM is activated, i.e., a communication link is established between the first modem and the eSIM, according to which the terminal device communicates with the network. Then, the user inserts the SIM card into the first physical card slot to trigger the terminal device to perform the steps 201 to 203, and the first prompt message is displayed according to the eSIM being activated, the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, and the detection result that the SIM card is not present in the second physical card slot. When the SIM card can be used for communication, the processor of the baseband chip establishes a communication link between a second modem and the SIM card in the second physical card slot, and the terminal device communicates with the network through the communication link between the second modem and the SIM card in the second physical card slot and the original communication link between the first modem and the eSIM.

For example, before step 201 is executed, the terminal device interacts with the network through the eSIM, that is, the first switch is opened and the second switch is closed, and then, when step 201 is executed, the first switch needs to be controlled to be closed and the second switch is opened, which may cause a short-term disconnection of the communication link between the first modem and the eSIM. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the priority for detecting whether the SIM card and the eSIM in the physical card slot are activated is lower than the priority of the communication service (for example, making a call or accessing the internet) of the terminal device, and the method steps in the embodiment of the present application are executed on the basis of ensuring that the original communication service of the terminal device is normal, and the original communication service is not affected by the short disconnection.

Another example is scenario (2.2), that is, the detection result of the eSIM is that the eSIM is activated, the detection result of the first physical card slot is that a first SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, and the detection result of the second physical card slot is that a second SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, a second prompt message may be displayed, where the second prompt message is used to instruct the user to select one of the first SIM card and the eSIM for use, when the user selects the first SIM card, the first SIM card communicates with the second SIM card, and when the user selects the eSIM, the eSIM communicates with the second SIM card. Optionally, the second prompt message may also be used to prompt the number of the second SIM card. For example, before step 201 is performed, the terminal device interacts with the network through the eSIM and the second SIM card, that is, the eSIM is activated, that is, a communication link is established between the first modem and the eSIM, and the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, that is, a communication link is established between the second modem and the second SIM card. Then, the user inserts the first SIM card into the first physical card slot to trigger the terminal device to perform the above steps 201 to 203, and the second prompt message is displayed according to the detection result that the eSIM is activated, and the SIM card (first SIM card) in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, and the SIM card (second SIM card) in the second physical card slot can be used for communication. When the user selects the first SIM card based on the second prompt message, the terminal equipment establishes a communication link between the first modem and the first SIM card, communicates with the network through the communication link between the first modem and the first SIM card, and communicates with the network through the original communication link between the second modem and the second SIM card.

As another example, in scenario (1.1), as a result of the detection of the eSIM, the eSIM is activated, and as a result of the detection of the first physical card slot, the SIM card in the first physical card slot is unavailable for communication, and as a result of the detection of the second physical card slot, no SIM card is in the second physical card slot or the SIM card is unavailable for communication, the terminal device may communicate via the eSIM. For example, before performing step 201, the terminal device interacts with the network through the eSIM, i.e., the eSIM is activated, i.e., there is a communication link between the first modem and the eSIM. After that, the user inserts the SIM card into the first physical card slot to trigger the terminal device to execute the above steps 201 to 203, but when detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, since the SIM card cannot return the PIN to the processor of the baseband chip, the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card cannot be used for communication. According to the detection result that the eSIM is activated, the SIM card in the first physical card slot can not be used for communication, and the SIM card in the second physical card slot does not exist, the communication is carried out through the eSIM. In some embodiments, the terminal device may further display a third prompt message in this example, the third prompt message being used to prompt the user to check the SIM card in the first physical card slot or prompt the user to request to insert a card, etc.

As another example, in scenario (1.2), the detection result of the eSIM is that the eSIM is activated, and the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is unavailable for communication, and the detection result of the second physical card slot is that the SIM card in the second physical card slot is available for communication, and the terminal device may communicate with the SIM card in the second physical card slot through the eSIM. For example, before step 201 is executed, the terminal device interacts with the network through the eSIM and the SIM card in the second physical card slot, that is, the eSIM is activated, that is, there is a communication link between the first modem and the eSIM, and there is a SIM card in the second physical card slot, that is, there is a communication link between the second modem and the second SIM card. After that, the user inserts the SIM card into the first physical card slot to trigger the terminal device to perform steps 201 to 203, but when detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, the SIM card cannot return a PIN to the processor of the baseband chip, so that the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card cannot be used for communication. According to the detection result that the eSIM is activated, the SIM card in the first physical card slot can not be used for communication, and the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, the terminal equipment continues to communicate with the SIM card in the second physical card slot through the eSIM. In some embodiments, the terminal device may further display a fourth prompt message in this example, the fourth prompt message being used to prompt the user that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not detected.

As another example, scenario (3.2), that is, the detection result of the eSIM is that the eSIM is not activated, and the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the first SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication, and the detection result of the second physical card slot is that the second SIM card in the second physical card slot is available for communication, the terminal device may communicate through the first SIM card and the second SIM card. For example, before performing step 201, the terminal device interacts with the network through the second SIM card, i.e. there is a communication link between the second modem and the second SIM card. Then, the user inserts the first SIM card into the first physical card slot to trigger the terminal device to perform the above steps 201 to 203, and according to a detection result that the eSIM is not activated, and the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, and the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, the terminal device can communicate with the second SIM card in the second physical card slot through the first SIM card in the first physical card slot.

As another example, in scenario (3.1), that is, the detection result of the eSIM is that the eSIM is not activated, and the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication, and the SIM card is not present in the second physical card slot, the terminal device may communicate through the SIM card in the first physical card slot. For example, before performing step 201, the terminal device cannot communicate with the network, and the terminal device may display a prompt to please insert a card or activate an eSIM. Then, the user inserts the SIM card into the first physical card slot to trigger the terminal device to perform the above steps 201 to 203, and according to the detection result that the eSIM is not activated, and the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication, and the SIM card in the second physical card slot is not available for communication, a communication link between the first modem and the SIM card in the first physical card slot is established, and communication is performed through the SIM card in the first physical card slot. In some embodiments, the terminal device may further display a fifth prompt message in this example, the fifth prompt message being used to prompt the user that the second physical card slot does not have a SIM card.

For another example, scenario (4.2), that is, the detection result of the eSIM is that the eSIM is not activated, and the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is unavailable for communication, and the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the second physical card slot is available for communication, the terminal device may communicate through the SIM card in the second physical card slot. For example, before performing step 201, the terminal device interacts with the network through the SIM card in the second physical card slot, i.e. there is a communication link between the second modem and the SIM card. After that, the user inserts another SIM card into the first physical card slot to trigger the terminal device to execute the above steps 201 to 203, but when detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, the SIM card cannot return a PIN to the processor of the baseband chip, so that the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card cannot be used for communication. Communication continues using the communication link between the second modem and the SIM in the second physical card slot, according to a detection that the eSIM is not activated and the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not available for communication and the SIM card in the second physical card slot is available for communication. In some embodiments, the terminal device may further display a sixth prompt message in this example, the sixth prompt message being used to prompt the user that the first physical card slot has no SIM card or that the eSIM is activated.

For another example, in a scenario (4.1), that is, the detection result of the eSIM is that the eSIM is not activated, the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not available for communication, and the detection result of the second physical card slot is that the SIM card is not available in the second physical card slot, the terminal device may display a seventh prompt message, where the seventh prompt message is used to prompt a user that no SIM card is available, or prompt the user to activate the eSIM. For example, before step 201 is executed, the terminal device cannot communicate with the network, and the terminal device may display the seventh prompt message. After that, the user inserts the SIM card into the first physical card slot to trigger the terminal device to execute the above steps 201 to 203, but when detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, the SIM card cannot return a PIN to the processor of the baseband chip, so that the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card cannot be used for communication. And according to the detection result that the eSIM is not activated, the SIM card in the first physical card slot cannot be used for communication, and the SIM card in the second physical card slot does not exist, displaying the seventh prompt message or prompting the user that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not available.

In this embodiment, when a user inserts a SIM card into a first physical card slot, whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication is detected, whether an eSIM is activated is detected, and according to a detection result of the first physical card slot, a detection result of the eSIM, and a detection result of a second physical card slot, communication is performed through at least one of a first communication link, a second communication link, or a third communication link, where the first communication link includes a first modem and the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the third communication link includes a first modem and the eSIM, and the second communication link includes a second modem and the SIM card in the second physical card slot, so that the usability of the terminal device is improved, and the multi-card usage experience of the user is improved.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of another communication control method according to an embodiment of the present application, where an execution subject of the present embodiment may be a processing module of a baseband chip, that is, one or more processors in the baseband chip, and the present embodiment is illustrated by using the connection manner shown in fig. 5, where when it is detected that an eSIM is activated, and a SIM card (for example, a first SIM card) in a first physical card slot is available for communication, and a detection result of a second physical card slot is no SIM card, a terminal device may communicate through a third communication link and a fourth communication link shown in fig. 5, and based on the foregoing embodiment, the communication control method according to the embodiment of the present application is explained by taking a first method as an example, as shown in fig. 7, the method according to the present embodiment may include:

step 301, when the user inserts the SIM card into the first physical card slot, detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, and obtaining a detection result of the SIM card in the first physical card slot.

For the explanation of step 301, reference may be made to step 201 above, which is not described herein again.

It should be noted that step 301 is different from step 201 in that the third switch 16 needs to be controlled when detecting whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication. That is, the first switch 14 is controlled to be closed, the second switch 15 is controlled to be opened, and the third switch 16 is controlled to disconnect the second modem 13 from the first physical card slot 21, so as to detect whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, and the detection manner may refer to the explanation of step 201 above, and is not described again here.

Step 302, detecting whether the eSIM is activated or not, and obtaining a detection result of the eSIM.

For the explanation of step 302, refer to step 202 above, which is not described herein again.

And step 303, according to the detection result of the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the detection result of the eSIM, and the detection result of the second physical card slot, communicating through at least one of the first communication link, the second communication link, the third communication link, or the fourth communication link.

For the detection result of the first physical card slot, the detection result of the eSIM, and the detection result of the second physical card slot, reference may be made to the explanation of step 203, which is not described herein again.

Since the present embodiment is based on the automatically switched connection method shown in fig. 5, the present embodiment displays a prompt message or a communication method according to the detection result of different scenes, which is different from the embodiment shown in fig. 7. See table 3 below for details.

The detection results obtained in steps 301 to 303 have the following scenarios (see table 3 below).

Table 3 test result examples

The prompt information or communication mode of the scene (1.1), the scene (1.2), the scene (3.1), the scene (3.2), the scene (4.1), and the scene (4.2) is the same as the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and is not described here again.

For the scenario (2.1), based on the detection result, the present embodiment may control the first switch 14 to be opened, the second switch 15 to be closed, and control the third switch 16 to enable the second modem 13 to be connected to the first physical card slot 21 and disconnected from the second physical card slot 22, and the terminal device may use the SIM card and the eSIM in the first physical card slot to perform communication, that is, to perform communication through the third communication link and the fourth communication link. The realization mode can ensure the usability of the SIM card through automatic switching, and improve the multi-card use experience of the user.

In some embodiments, after the scenario (2.1), the user inserts a SIM card into the second physical card slot, the baseband chip detects whether the SIM card in the second physical card slot is available for communication, when the SIM card in the second physical card slot is available for communication, the terminal device may detect whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication based on the detection result of the scenario (2.1) or re-detection, and based on the detection result, that is, the eSIM is activated, the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication, and the SIM card in the second physical card slot is available for communication, the terminal device may display an eighth prompt message for prompting two of the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the SIM card in the second physical card slot, and the eSIM to use.

For the scenario (2.2), in this embodiment, based on the detection result, the terminal device may display an eighth prompt message, where the eighth prompt message is used to indicate that two of the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the SIM card in the second physical card slot, and the eSIM are used for selection, and when the user selects the SIM card and the eSIM in the first physical card slot, the terminal device may control the first switch 14 to be turned off, the second switch 15 to be turned on, and control the third switch 16 to make the second modem 13 and the first physical card slot 21 be turned on and to be turned off from the second physical card slot 22, and use the SIM card and the eSIM in the first physical card slot to perform communication, that is, to perform communication through the third communication link and the fourth communication link. When the user selects the SIM card and the eSIM in the second physical card slot, the terminal device may control the first switch 14 to be turned off, the second switch 15 to be turned on, and control the third switch 16 to enable the second modem 13 to be turned on and off with the second physical card slot 22 and the first physical card slot 21, and perform communication using the SIM card and the eSIM in the second physical card slot, that is, perform communication through the third communication link and the second communication link. When the user selects the SIM card in the second physical card slot and the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the terminal device may control the first switch 14 to be closed, the second switch 15 to be opened, and the third switch 16 to make the second modem 13 and the second physical card slot 22 to be connected and disconnected from the first physical card slot 21, and use the SIM card in the second physical card slot and the SIM card in the first physical card slot to perform communication, that is, to perform communication through the first communication link and the second communication link.

In this embodiment, when a user inserts a SIM card into a first physical card slot, whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication is detected, whether an eSIM is activated is detected, and according to a detection result of the first physical card slot, a detection result of the eSIM, and a detection result of a second physical card slot, communication is performed through at least one of a first communication link, a second communication link, a third communication link, or a fourth communication link, where the first communication link includes a first modem and the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the third communication link includes a first modem and the eSIM, the second communication link includes a second modem and the SIM card in the second physical card slot, and the fourth communication link includes a second modem and the SIM card in the first physical card slot, so that usability of a terminal device is improved, and a multi-card use experience of the user is improved.

For the connection manner shown in fig. 5, when it is detected that the eSIM is activated and a SIM card (e.g., a first SIM card) in a first physical card slot can be used for communication, and a detection result of a second physical card slot is that no SIM card exists, the terminal device may communicate through the first communication link and the fifth communication link shown in fig. 5, taking the first manner as an example, the communication control method in the embodiment of the present application is similar to the embodiment shown in fig. 7, except that the fourth communication link is replaced by the fifth communication link, and the fifth communication link includes a second modem and the eSIM, which is not described herein again in detail.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of another communication control method according to an embodiment of the present application, where an execution main body of the present embodiment may be a processing module of a baseband chip, that is, one or more processors in the baseband chip, and the present embodiment is illustrated in a connection manner shown in fig. 1, and on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the present embodiment explains a communication control method according to the embodiment of the present application by taking a second equation as an example, and as shown in fig. 8, the method according to the present embodiment may include:

step 401, when receiving an operation of a user for activating an eSIM, detecting whether an SIM card is in a first physical card slot and whether the SIM card can be used for communication, and obtaining a detection result of the first physical card slot.

The detection result of the first physical card slot comprises that no SIM card exists in the first physical card slot, or the SIM card in the first physical card slot cannot be used for communication, or the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication.

For example, the card management application receives an operation of a user for activating an eSIM, in response to the operation for activating the eSIM, the card management application sends an instruction for activating the eSIM to the multi-card management module in the framework layer, and the multi-card management module controls, according to the instruction for activating the eSIM, the first switch of the hardware layer to be opened and the second switch to be closed through the hardware abstraction layer, activates the eSIM, and detects whether the eSIM is successfully activated, and obtains a detection result of the eSIM.

For a specific explanation, reference may be made to the above embodiments, and details thereof are not repeated herein.

In order to detect whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, the detection result of whether the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication is also obtained by controlling the first switch to be closed and the second switch to be opened.

In some embodiments, when receiving an operation for activating an eSIM by a user, in response to the operation for activating the eSIM, before activating the eSIM, detecting a first physical card slot, obtaining a detection result of the first physical card slot, when a SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication, the terminal device may display a ninth prompt message for prompting the user whether to determine to activate the eSIM, and if the user selects to determine to activate the eSIM, may display a first prompt message for prompting the user to move the SIM card in the first physical card slot into a second physical card slot, and control the first switch to be opened and the second switch to be closed, so as to establish a communication link between the eSIM and the first modem. If the user selects the non-activated eSIM based on the ninth prompt message, the terminal device may communicate through a communication link between the first modem and the SIM card in the first physical card slot.

And step 402, according to the detection result of the first physical card slot and the detection result of the second physical card slot, communicating with a SIM card in the second physical card slot through the eSIM, or communicating through the eSIM.

The detection results obtained in steps 401 to 402 have the following scenarios (see table 4 below).

Table 4 test results examples

An example is given in scenario (2.1) of table 4, that is, the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, the detection result of the second physical card slot is that no SIM card is present in the second physical card slot or the SIM card cannot be used for communication, the terminal device may display the first prompt information, and the explanation of the first prompt information may refer to the relevant explanation in step 203, which is not described herein again. When the SIM card in the second physical card slot is available for communication, communication is made with the eSIM through the SIM card in the second physical card slot. For example, before step 401, the terminal device interacts with the network through the SIM card in the first physical card slot, that is, there is a communication link between the first modem and the SIM card in the first physical card slot, and then, when receiving an operation for activating the eSIM by the user (the trigger condition in the embodiment of the present application is different from the trigger condition in the embodiment shown in fig. 6), the terminal device is triggered to perform steps 401 to 402, and the first prompt information is displayed according to a detection result that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is available for communication and there is no SIM card in the second physical card slot. And after the user moves the SIM card to a second physical card slot based on the first prompt message, the processor of the baseband chip establishes a communication link between a second modem and the SIM in the second physical card slot, and the terminal equipment communicates with the network through the communication link between the second modem and the SIM in the second physical card slot and the communication link between the first modem and the eSIM.

For another example, in the scenario (2.2) in table 4, that is, the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, the detection result of the second physical card slot is that the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, the terminal device may display the second prompt information, and the explanation of the second prompt information may refer to the relevant explanation in step 203, which is not described herein again. For example, before step 401, the terminal device interacts with the network through the first SIM card in the first physical card slot and the second SIM card in the second physical card slot, that is, there is a communication link between the first modem and the SIM card in the first physical card slot, and there is a communication link between the second modem and the SIM card in the second physical card slot, and then, when receiving an operation of the user for activating the eSIM, the terminal device is triggered to perform the above steps 401 to 402, and the second prompt information is displayed according to a detection result that the SIM card in the first physical card slot can be used for communication, and the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication. When the user selects the eSIM card based on the second prompt message, the terminal device communicates with the network through the communication link between the first modem and the eSIM and the communication link between the original second modem and the second SIM card.

As another example, in scenario (1.1) of table 4, that is, the detection result of the first physical card slot is that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is not available for communication, the detection result of the second physical card slot is that no SIM card is present in the second physical card slot or the SIM card is not available for communication, and the terminal device may communicate through eSIM. For example, before step 401 is executed, the terminal device cannot communicate with the network, and the terminal device may display the seventh prompting message, and the explanation of the seventh prompting message may refer to the relevant explanation in step 203, which is not described herein again. And then, receiving an operation of a user for activating the eSIM to trigger the terminal device to execute the steps 401 to 402, and according to a detection result that the first physical card slot does not have the SIM card and the second physical card slot does not have the SIM card, the terminal device establishes a communication link between the first modem and the eSIM, and communicates with the network through the eSIM.

For another example, in scenario (1.2) in table 4, that is, the detection result of the first physical card slot is that there is no SIM card in the first physical card slot, and the detection result of the second physical card slot is that the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, and the terminal device may communicate with the SIM card in the second physical card slot through the eSIM. For example, before performing step 401, the terminal device interacts with the network through the SIM card in the second physical card slot, i.e. there is a communication link between the second modem and the SIM card. And then, receiving an operation of a user for activating the eSIM to trigger the terminal device to execute the steps 401 to 402, and according to a detection result that the SIM card is not in the first physical card slot and the SIM card in the second physical card slot can be used for communication, establishing communication of a communication link between the first modem and the eSIM, communication of the communication link between the first modem and the eSIM, and communication of the original communication link between the second modem and the SIM card.

In this embodiment, when receiving an operation that a user uses to activate an eSIM, whether an SIM card is in a first physical card slot and whether the SIM card can be used for communication is detected, a detection result of the first physical card slot is obtained, and according to the detection result of the first physical card slot and the detection result of a second physical card slot, the service performance of the terminal device can be improved through SIM card communication in the eSIM and the second physical card slot, or through eSIM communication, and the multi-card use experience of the user is improved.

Regarding the connection manner shown in fig. 5, taking the second manner as an example, the communication control method in the embodiment of the present application is similar to the embodiment shown in fig. 8, and the detailed description thereof is omitted here.

In the embodiment of the present application, the step 101 is exemplarily executed by taking the above fig. 6, fig. 7, or fig. 8 as an example, it should be noted that the step 101 may also be executed under other triggering conditions, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the triggering condition may also be that the step of the communication control method of the embodiment of the present application is triggered to be executed every time the computer is started or restarted, that is, every time the computer is started and restarted, which is not necessarily described in the embodiment of the present application.

In the above embodiments, one implementation manner of displaying the first prompt message to the ninth prompt message may be as follows: any one of the first through ninth prompts is displayed on a first user interface overlaid on the system main interface or a related user interface (e.g., an interface of the card management application), which may be smaller in size than the system main interface or the related user interface. For example, the first prompt message is "please insert the SIM card into the second SIM card slot to ensure that the SIM card is available". As shown in fig. 9A, the first prompt message is displayed on the eSIM card management interface of the card management application.

The first user interface may be a message prompt box, and the size and the shape of the first user interface may be flexibly set according to requirements, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Another way of implementation may be: and displaying any one of the first prompt message to the eighth prompt message in the system notification bar. Taking the example of displaying the first prompt information in the system notification bar, please refer to fig. 9B, the first prompt information pushed by the card management application may be displayed in the system notification bar, and exemplarily, the first prompt information is "please insert the SIM card into the second SIM card slot, so as to ensure that the SIM card is usable".

It is understood that, the two implementation manners may also be used in combination, that is, any one of the first prompt message to the eighth prompt message is displayed in a message prompt box and a system notification bar, or a part of the first prompt message to the eighth prompt message is selectively displayed in a message prompt box, and a part of the first prompt message to the eighth prompt message is displayed in the system notification bar.

The embodiment can prompt the user to perform correct operation by pushing the prompt information to the user, so as to ensure the usability of the SIM card, improve the service performance of the terminal equipment and improve the multi-card use experience of the user.

Further embodiments of the present application further provide an electronic device, configured to perform the method in the above method embodiments. As shown in fig. 10, the electronic device may include: a modem module 1001, wherein the modem module 1001 is one or more chips or systems on a chip (SoC) and includes at least a first modem 1006 and a second modem 1007, the first modem 1006 and the second modem 1007 are connected to the first physical card slot 1009, the second physical card slot 1010, and the eSIM 1011 through a switch 1008, and the switch 1008 is configured to connect the modem module 1001 to any one or two of the first physical card slot 1009, the second physical card slot 1010, or the eSIM 1011; one or more processors 1002; a memory 1003; the various devices described above may be connected by one or more communication buses 1005. Wherein the memory 1003 stores one or more computer programs 1004, the one or more processors 1002 are configured to execute the one or more computer programs 1004, and the one or more computer programs 1004 include instructions, which can be configured to perform the steps performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

For example, the one or more processors 1002 are operable to execute the one or more computer programs 1004 to perform the following: a first input is received, the first input to activate the eSIM. In response to the first input, it is determined whether a valid SIM card is inserted in the first physical card slot. In response to determining that a valid SIM card is not inserted in the first physical card slot, the eSIM is activated and communications are conducted over a third communication link. In response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, communicating via at least one of the following combinations of communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link communicates with the second communication link, or the second communication link communicates with the third communication link, or the third communication link communicates with the fourth communication link, or the first communication link communicates with the fifth communication link. Wherein the first communication link includes a first modem and a SIM card in a first physical card slot, the second communication link includes a second modem and a SIM card in a second physical card slot, the third communication link includes the first modem and an eSIM, the fourth communication link includes the second modem and a SIM card in the first physical card slot, and the fifth communication link includes the second modem and an eSIM.

In some embodiments, determining whether the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card may include: determining whether a SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot, and determining whether the SIM card is valid.

In some embodiments, determining that the first physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card may include: and determining that no SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot, or determining that the SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot and the SIM card is invalid.

In some embodiments, in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, communication is combined over at least one of the following communication links, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, may include: and in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card, displaying first prompt information, wherein the first prompt information is used for indicating that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is moved to the second physical card slot. And when the first physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, communicating with the third communication link through the second communication link.

In some embodiments, in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, communication is combined over at least one of the following communication links, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, include: and in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, displaying a second prompt message for prompting selection of a SIM card or the eSIM in the first physical card slot for communication. According to a first selection operation of a user, combining communication through at least one of the following communication links: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link. Wherein the first selection operation is to instruct selection of the SIM card or the eSIM in the first physical card slot.

In some embodiments, in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, the communication is combined over at least one of the following communication links, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, may include: in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is not inserted into a valid SIM card, communicating over at least one of the following combinations of communication links: the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link.

In some embodiments, in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, communication is combined over at least one of the following communication links, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, may include: and in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, displaying an eighth prompt message for prompting selection of two of the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the SIM card in the second physical card slot, and the eSIM for communication. According to the second selection operation of the user, the communication is combined through at least one of the following communication links: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link. Wherein the second selection operation is used to instruct selection of any two of the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the eSIM, or the SIM card in the second physical card slot.

The first physical card slot and the second physical card slot may also be referred to as a first SIM card interface and a second SIM card interface.

Of course, the electronic device shown in fig. 10 may further include other components such as an audio module, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. When it includes other devices, it may be specifically the terminal device shown in fig. 2.

The electronic device according to the embodiment of the present application may be configured to execute the steps of the method embodiments shown in fig. 4, fig. 6, fig. 7, or fig. 8, and for technical principles and technical effects, reference may be made to the explanation of the method embodiments, which is not described herein again.

Further embodiments of the present application further provide a computer storage medium, which may include computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are run on an electronic device, the electronic device may be configured to perform the steps performed by the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments.

Further embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the steps performed by the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

Other embodiments of the present application further provide an apparatus, where the apparatus has a function of implementing a behavior of a terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions, for example, a receiving unit or module, a processing unit or module.

Through the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and simplicity of description, the foregoing division of the functional modules is merely used as an example, and in practical applications, the above function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device may be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the above described functions.

In the several embodiments provided in the embodiments of the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the modules or units is only one logical functional division, and there may be other divisions when actually implemented, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another device, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may be one physical unit or a plurality of physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed in a plurality of different places. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

The processor mentioned in the above embodiments may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor may be 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, or discrete hardware components. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware encoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the encoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and combines hardware thereof to complete the steps of the method.

The memory referred to in the above embodiments may be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), SLDRAM (synchronous DRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. 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 application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one position, or may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (personal computer, server, network device, or the like) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a portable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication control method applied to an electronic device, the electronic device including an Embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM), a first physical card slot, a second physical card slot, a first modem, and a second modem, the method comprising:

receiving a first input for activating the eSIM;

in response to the first input, determining whether a valid SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot;

in response to determining that a valid SIM card is not inserted in the first physical card slot, activating the eSIM to communicate over a third communication link;

in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, communicating over at least one of the following combinations of communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card:

a first communication link and a second communication link, or,

the second communication link and the third communication link, or,

the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or,

the first communication link and a fifth communication link;

wherein the first communication link comprises the first modem with a SIM card in the first physical card slot, the second communication link comprises a second modem with a SIM card in the second physical card slot, the third communication link comprises the first modem with the eSIM, the fourth communication link comprises the second modem with a SIM card in the first physical card slot, and the fifth communication link comprises the second modem with the eSIM.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card comprises:

determining whether a SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot, and determining whether the SIM card is valid.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining that the first physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card comprises:

determining that no SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot, or determining that a SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot and the SIM card is invalid.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, the communication is combined via at least one of the following communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, include:

in response to determining that a valid SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot and a valid SIM card is not inserted into the second physical card slot, displaying first prompt information, wherein the first prompt information is used for prompting that the SIM card in the first physical card slot is moved to the second physical card slot;

and when the first physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, communicating through the second communication link and the third communication link.

5. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, the communication is combined via at least one of the following communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, include:

in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, displaying a second prompt for prompting selection of a SIM card or the eSIM in the first physical card slot for communication;

according to a first selection operation of a user, combining communication through at least one of the following communication links: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link;

wherein the first selection operation is to indicate a selection of a SIM card or the eSIM in the first physical card slot.

6. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, the communication is combined via at least one of the following communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, comprising:

in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card, communicating over at least one of the following combinations of communication links: the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link.

7. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, the communication is combined via at least one of the following communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, include:

in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is inserted with a valid SIM card, displaying a third prompt for prompting selection of two of the SIM card in the first physical card slot, the SIM card in the second physical card slot, and the eSIM for communication;

according to the second selection operation of the user, the communication is combined through at least one of the following communication links: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link;

wherein the second selection operation is to indicate a selection of any two of a SIM card in the first physical card slot, the eSIM, or a SIM card in the second physical card slot.

8. An electronic device, characterized in that the electronic device comprises: one or more processors, a memory, a display screen, a first modem, a second modem, an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM), and first and second physical card slots; the display screen is used for displaying content according to the indication of the one or more processors; the memory is used for storing one or more programs; the first physical card slot and the second physical card slot are respectively used for setting a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card; the one or more processors are to execute the one or more programs to perform the following:

receiving a first input for activating the eSIM;

activating the eSIM to communicate over a third communication link in response to determining that the first physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card;

the first communication link communicates with the second communication link, or,

the second communication link is in communication with the third communication link, or,

the third communication link is in communication with a fourth communication link, or,

the first communication link and a fifth communication link are in communication;

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the determining whether the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card comprises: determining whether a SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot, and determining whether the SIM card is valid.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the determining that the first physical card slot is not inserted with a valid SIM card comprises: determining that no SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot, or determining that a SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot and the SIM card is invalid.

11. The electronic device of any of claims 8-10, wherein in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, the communication is combined via at least one of the following communication links depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, include:

in response to determining that a valid SIM card is inserted into the first physical card slot and a valid SIM card is not inserted into the second physical card slot, displaying first prompt information, wherein the first prompt information is used for instructing to move the SIM card in the first physical card slot to the second physical card slot;

12. The electronic device of any of claims 8-10, wherein, in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, the communication is combined via at least one of the following communication links, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, include:

according to a first selection operation of a user, communication is combined through at least one of the following communication links: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link;

13. The electronic device of any of claims 8-10, wherein in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, the communication is combined over at least one of the following communication links, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, include:

in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card and the second physical card slot is not inserted into a valid SIM card, communicating over at least one of the following combinations of communication links: a third communication link and a fourth communication link, or alternatively, a first communication link and a fifth communication link.

14. The electronic device of any of claims 8-10, wherein, in response to determining that the first physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card, the communication is combined via at least one of the following communication links, depending on whether the second physical card slot is inserted into a valid SIM card: the first communication link and the second communication link, or the second communication link and the third communication link, or the third communication link and the fourth communication link, or the first communication link and the fifth communication link, comprising:

15. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising a computer program which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-7.

16. A chip comprising a processor and a memory, the processor being connected to a first modem and a second modem respectively, a first physical card slot and an eSIM sharing the first modem, the first physical card slot being used for provisioning a subscriber identity module, SIM, card, the memory being used for storing a computer program, the processor being configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.