CN113924793A

CN113924793A - Multi-subscriber identity module user equipment and operation method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN113924793A
Application number: CN201980096778.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 时咏晟
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2019-05-31
Filing date: 2019-12-03
Publication date: 2022-01-11
Also published as: WO2020238126A1

Abstract

A multi-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) User Equipment (UE) and a method of operating the same are provided. The multi-SIM UE includes a first SIM and a second SIM. The method comprises the following steps: reading a framework comprising a plurality of priority groups, wherein each priority group of the plurality of priority groups comprises a plurality of UE processes and the plurality of priority groups are associated with corresponding priorities, and the method comprises: controlling one of the first SIM and the second SIM to perform UE procedures of the priority group using the corresponding priority to acquire the shared hardware resource.

Description

Multi-subscriber identity module user equipment and operation method thereof

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communication systems, and more particularly, to a multi-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) User Equipment (UE) and a method of operating the same.

Background

The use of wireless communication systems is rapidly increasing. Furthermore, wireless communication technologies have evolved from voice-only communications to also include data transmission such as the internet and multimedia content. In some scenarios, a wireless device may include or be capable of utilizing multiple Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs).

multi-SIM devices have been on the market for several years. Most such devices have a shared baseband, Radio Frequency (RF) antenna, and other hardware components between the two SIMs. 3GPP does not standardize this type of multi-SIM UE. Thus, when both SIMs operate independently in their own networks, both the network and the UE suffer performance degradation. Several examples are as follows:

1. when both SIMs are in idle mode, both SIMs need to monitor their paging messages on their own Paging Occasions (POs). The PO is calculated based on the UE Identity (ID). Because the two SIMs are independent, the POs they calculate may collide with each other (in the time domain). It should be noted that the UE ID is fixed, so when a collision occurs, the collision will be permanent. In this case, it is apparent that one or both UEs may lose the paging message from the network.

2. When one SIM is actively communicating with its network, for example, when the SIM is in a Packet Switched (PS) call, the other SIM may need to perform system information reading, cell reselection, or other UE procedures. Due to the shared hardware components, a first of the two SIMs may lose communication with its network (e.g., the first network) while a second of the two SIMs performs a process. This type of behavior is tune away. During the tune away period, the first network is unaware that the UE left the system. This can lead to inefficient scheduling behavior and server data throughput loss.

3. When both SIMs attempt to perform their own procedures, e.g. one SIM attempts to perform paging monitoring and the other SIM attempts to perform cell reselection, it is not clear at present which service can get higher priority. In this example, one can easily argue that the SIM that is to perform the paging monitoring is more important, but the opposite argument would say that the network will repeatedly send paging messages, so cell reselection can get a higher priority. Today, priority handling depends on the implementation of the UE and the network has no control over it.

With the increasing complexity of 5G capable UEs and the increasing demand for multi-SIM devices in the market, there is an urgent need to consider system enhancements that allow more cost-effective implementation in such devices. Determining how to operate efficiently and effectively with multi-SIM capabilities can be a challenging problem. Accordingly, there is a need for improvements in this area. Accordingly, there is a need for a multi-SIM UE and method of operation thereof.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present disclosure to propose a multi-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) User Equipment (UE) and a method of operation thereof, enabling efficient and effective operation with multi-SIM capabilities.

In a first aspect of the disclosure, a multi-SIM UE includes: a first SIM associated with a first network; a second SIM associated with a second network; a memory; a transceiver configured to communicate with a first network using a first SIM and to communicate with a second network using a second SIM; and a processor coupled to the memory, the transceiver, the first SIM, and the second SIM. The processor is configured to: reading a framework comprising a plurality of priority groups, wherein each priority group of the plurality of priority groups comprises a plurality of UE processes and the plurality of priority groups are associated with corresponding priorities, and the processor is configured to: controlling one of the first SIM and the second SIM to perform UE procedures of the priority group using the corresponding priority to acquire the shared hardware resource.

In a second aspect of the disclosure, a method for operating a multi-SIM UE is provided. The multi-SIM UE comprises a first SIM and a second SIM, and the method comprises the following steps: reading a framework comprising a plurality of priority groups, wherein each priority group of the plurality of priority groups comprises a plurality of UE processes and the plurality of priority groups are associated with corresponding priorities, and the method comprises: controlling one of the first SIM and the second SIM to perform UE procedures of the priority group using the corresponding priority to acquire the shared hardware resource.

Drawings

In order to more clearly describe the embodiments of the related art or the present disclosure, drawings in the embodiments are briefly described below. It is apparent that the drawings are only some embodiments of the disclosure, and that other drawings may be obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without providing any premise from these drawings.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a multi-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) User Equipment (UE) and a network in a communication network system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for operating a multi-SIM UE in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a system for wireless communication in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in terms of technical subject matter, structural features, achieved objects, and effects. In particular, the terminology in the embodiments of the present disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 illustrates that in some embodiments, a multi-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) User Equipment (UE)10 and networks (e.g., a first network 20 and a second network 30) in a communication network system 1 according to embodiments of the present disclosure are provided. The communication network system 1 includes a multi-SIM UE 10, a first network 20, and a second network 30. The multi-SIM UE 10 may include: a first SIM 11 associated with the first network 20; a second SIM 12 associated with a second network 30; a memory 13; a transceiver 14 configured to communicate with a first network 20 using a first SIM 11 and with a second network 30 using a second SIM 12; and a processor 15 coupled to the memory 13, the transceiver 14, the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12. The processor 15 may be configured to implement the proposed functions, processes and/or methods described in this specification. Various layers of the radio interface protocol may be implemented in the processor 15. The memory 13 is operatively coupled with the processor 15 and stores various information to operate the processor 15. The transceiver 14 is operatively coupled with the processor 15, and the transceiver 14 transmits and/or receives wireless signals.

The processor 15 may comprise an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), other chipset, logic circuit and/or data processing device. The memory 13 may include Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, memory cards, storage media, and/or other storage devices. The transceiver 14 may include baseband circuitry that processes radio frequency signals. When the embodiments are implemented in software, the techniques described herein may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The modules may be stored in memory 13 and executed by processor 15. The memory 13 may be implemented within the processor 15 or external to the processor 15, wherein the memory 13 may be communicatively coupled to the processor 15 via various means known in the art.

Communication between UEs involves vehicle-to-anything (V2X) communication, including vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), and vehicle-to-infrastructure/network (V2I/N) in accordance with sidelink technologies developed under third generation partnership project (3GPP) release 14, 15, 16, 17, and beyond. UEs communicate with each other directly via a sidelink interface, such as a PC5 interface.

In some embodiments, the processor 15 is configured to: reading a framework (as shown in table 1) comprising a plurality of priority groups, wherein each priority group of the plurality of priority groups comprises a plurality of UE processes and the plurality of priority groups are associated with corresponding priorities, and the processor 15 is configured to: one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 is controlled to perform UE procedures of the priority group using the corresponding priority to acquire the shared hardware resource.

The framework is provided to handle UE process priorities in a multi-SIM device (e.g., multi-SIM UE 10). In some embodiments, the framework is known to the multi-SIM UE 10. In some embodiments, the framework is configured by networks (e.g., the first network 20 and the second network 30) that are pre-configured or predefined in the 3GPP specifications.

In some embodiments, the priority group includes a low-to-high priority acquisition low group, a data call low group, an acquisition high group, a system maintenance low group, a signaling connection group, a paging reception group, a system maintenance high group, and a data call high group.

In some embodiments, acquiring the low group and acquiring the high group include Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) search, initial frequency scanning, cell search, acquisition, and cell selection; the low group of data calls includes Downlink (DL) and/or Uplink (UL) data calls in Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected mode, Random Access Channel (RACH) procedures, and measurements during connected mode; the system maintenance low group and the system maintenance high group include system information reading, idle mode, intra-frequency (intra-frequency) measurement/inter-frequency (inter-frequency) measurement and inter-radio access technology measurement (inter-RAT measurement), and cell reselection; the signaling connection group includes non-access stratum (NAS) signaling including registration procedures, Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment and/or modification, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) registration, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), and supplementary services; the paging reception group includes paging monitoring and associated intra-frequency (on-frequency) measurements; the high group of data calls includes high priority data calls and voice calls.

Table 1: framework (e.g., Process priority table)

In some embodiments, when one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 is in an idle mode and subsequently enters a connected mode for a Packet Switched (PS) data call, the one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 performs system information reading and cell reselection in the idle mode using a corresponding priority of a system maintenance low group, monitors paging messages using a corresponding priority of a paging reception group, responds to paging by establishing an RRC connection, and performs the PS data call using a corresponding priority of a data call low group. Further, when the PS data call is completed, one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 is released to the idle mode by the corresponding one of the first network 20 and the second network 30, and the one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 performs an idle procedure including system information reading, cell reselection, and paging reception using the corresponding priority of the system maintenance low group.

For example, by looking at table 1, the first SIM 11 or the second SIM 12 may find a corresponding priority for its processes. Consider one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 being in idle mode and subsequently entering connected mode for PS data calls. In detail, one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 performs system information reading and cell reselection in the idle mode using a system maintenance low priority. The SIM of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 monitors paging messages using paging reception priority. The SIM of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 responds to the page by establishing an RRC connection. The data call is low priority for the PS data call. Thereafter, when the PS data call is completed, the corresponding network releases the multi-SIM UE 10 to the idle mode. The SIM of the first and second SIMs 11, 12 again uses the idle mode priority for idle procedures including system information reading, cell reselection and/or page reception.

In some embodiments, the processor 15 is configured to use a common entity as an arbiter to allocate shared hardware resources to one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12. In detail, when the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 apply the priority defined by the framework shown in table 1 to request access to the shared hardware resources, a common entity is needed to determine which SIM (the first SIM 11 or the second SIM 12) can acquire the shared hardware resources. In some embodiments, the SIM (first SIM 11 or second SIM 12) with the higher priority process will win. However, there may be situations where the process on the first SIM 11 is about to end, so the first SIM 11 may reserve resources for a longer duration even if the process of the second SIM 12 has a higher priority. In this sense, the embodiments do not specify any particular rule of which SIM (first SIM 11 or second SIM 12) can acquire the shared hardware resources. Rather, the embodiments define a common entity to arbitrate.

In some embodiments, one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 is configured to use the current priority of the UE procedure if the current priority of the UE procedure cannot acquire the shared hardware resources for a period of time. In detail, one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 may use (flip to) the other (higher) priority if the current priority cannot acquire the hardware resources for a period of time. In some cases, when the first SIM 11 performs a procedure with a higher priority than the requested procedure of the second SIM 12, then the second SIM 12 cannot acquire the shared hardware resources for a long time.

An example is shown below. The first SIM 11 is in a data call using a low priority (e.g. 200) data call, for example downloading a large file. The second SIM 12 attempts to perform an initial cell search using a low acquisition priority (e.g., 100). As long as the data call on the first SIM 11 is active, the second SIM 12 cannot perform acquisition and will therefore be out of service. This is of course an undesirable behavior. The acquisition process may be completed in a few hundred milliseconds. Such a length of interruption on the data call (on the first SIM 11) is acceptable. Thus, the second SIM 12 may request shared hardware resources using a higher priority (in this case, using acquisition high priority). After the second SIM 12 completes acquisition and enters idle mode, the data call on the first SIM 11 may be resumed. Then, both the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 are in normal service.

In some embodiments, one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 is configured to reduce the priority of the UE procedures if the UE procedures meet or exceed quality of service (QoS) requirements. In detail, for a process, a SIM (first SIM 11 or second SIM 12) may lower its priority if the process meets certain criteria, e.g. meets QoS requirements. In some cases, a SIM (one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12) may choose to lower its current usage priority if the processes/services carried by the SIM may meet or exceed QoS requirements. This may provide the other SIM (the other of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12) with an opportunity to acquire shared hardware resources if the other SIM needs to perform a procedure. One example is when the first SIM 11 is executing a high priority video stream, if the application indicates that the quality is above the requirement, the first SIM 11 may reduce its priority (e.g. from 800 to 200) to allow processes of the second SIM 12, such as system information reading.

In some embodiments, the processor 15 is configured to control the transceiver 14 to introduce the multiple UE capabilities supported by the multi-SIM into one of the first network 20 and the second network 30, and the multiple UE capabilities supported by the multi-SIM include a capability to indicate whether the multi-SIM UE 10 supports multi-SIM operation, a capability to indicate whether the multi-SIM UE 10 supports dual reception operation, and/or a capability to indicate whether the multi-SIM UE 10 supports dual transmission operation.

In detail, introduction of UE capability supporting multiple SIMs is provided. The capabilities may further indicate to the network regarding UE transmit (Tx)/receive (Rx) support, including, but not limited to, a capability to indicate whether multi-SIM UE 10 supports multi-SIM operation, a capability to indicate whether multi-SIM UE 10 supports dual (multi) Rx operation, and/or a capability to indicate whether multi-SIM UE 10 supports dual (multi) Tx operation. The present embodiment allows the network to be aware of the capability of the multi-SIM UE 10 to handle process concurrency. For example, if the UE indicates a single Rx-single Tx, the UE cannot perform any procedure on both SIMs at the same time. If the UE indicates dual Rx-single Tx, the UE cannot simultaneously perform any connected mode (i.e., Tx required) procedure on both SIMs, but can simultaneously perform idle mode procedure and idle mode procedure (i.e., Rx and Rx) or idle mode procedure and connected mode procedure (i.e., Rx and Tx) on both SIMs. If the UE indicates dual Rx-dual Tx, the UE can perform any procedure on both SIMs simultaneously.

In some embodiments, the processor 15 is configured to control the transceiver 14 to introduce UE assistance information or multi-SIM supported capabilities into one of the first network 20 and the second network 30. The UE assistance information includes: one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 is used as a primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE 10, or one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12 is not used as a primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE 10, and the multi-SIM supported capabilities indicate whether the current cell supports multi-SIM operation, the multi-SIM supported capabilities being broadcast in system information or signaled in dedicated RRC signaling.

In detail, in some embodiments, introducing UE assistance information into the network is provided. UE assistance information includes (but is not limited to): the SIM (one of the first SIM 11 and the second SIM 12) is used as a primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE 10, and/or the SIM is not used as a primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE 10. With this embodiment, the network can understand the possible services running on the SIM, and therefore can apply different UE configurations. For example, if the first SIM 11 is not used as a primary data connection (meaning that the first SIM 11 is primarily used as a voice service SIM), the second network 30 may not configure the multi-SIM UE 10 to have Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), high modulation schemes, carrier aggregation, etc.

In detail, in some embodiments, network capabilities are provided that introduce multi-SIM support. The capability indicates whether the current cell supports multi-SIM operation. The capabilities may be broadcast in system information. This capability may also be signaled in dedicated RRC signaling.

Fig. 2 illustrates a method 200 for operating a multi-SIM UE in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. The multi-SIM UE includes a first SIM and a second SIM. The method 200 comprises the following steps: reading a framework comprising a plurality of priority groups, wherein each priority group of the plurality of priority groups comprises a plurality of UE processes, and the plurality of priority groups are associated with corresponding priorities, block 202; and block 204, controlling one of the first SIM and the second SIM to perform UE procedures of the priority group using the corresponding priority to acquire the shared hardware resource.

In some embodiments, the plurality of priority groups includes a low-to-high priority acquisition low group, a data call low group, an acquisition high group, a system maintenance low group, a signaling connection group, a paging reception group, a system maintenance high group, and a data call high group.

In some embodiments, acquiring the low group and acquiring the high group include Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) search, initial frequency scanning, cell search, acquisition, and cell selection; the low group of data calls includes downlink and/or uplink data calls in Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected mode, Random Access Channel (RACH) procedures, and measurements during connected mode; the system maintenance low group and the system maintenance high group include system information reading, idle mode, intra-frequency (intra-frequency) measurement/inter-frequency (inter-frequency) measurement and inter-radio access technology measurement (inter-RAT measurement), and cell reselection; the signaling connection group includes non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, which includes registration procedures, Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment and/or modification, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) registration, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), and supplementary services; the paging reception group includes paging monitoring and associated intra-frequency (on-frequency) measurements; the high group of data calls includes high priority data calls and voice calls.

In some embodiments, when one of the first and second SIMs is in idle mode and subsequently enters a connected mode for a Packet Switched (PS) data call, the one of the first and second SIMs performs system information reading and cell reselection in idle mode using a corresponding priority of a system maintenance low group, monitors paging messages using a corresponding priority of a paging reception group, responds to paging by establishing an RRC connection, and performs the PS data call using a corresponding priority of a data call low group.

In some embodiments, when the PS data call is completed, one of the first and second SIMs is released to idle mode by a corresponding one of the first and second networks, and the SIM of the first and second SIMs performs an idle procedure including system information reading, cell reselection, and paging reception using a corresponding priority of the system maintenance low group.

In some embodiments, the method 200 further comprises: a common entity is used as an arbiter to allocate a shared hardware resource to one of the first SIM and the second SIM.

In some embodiments, one of the first SIM and the second SIM is configured to: if the current priority of the current UE procedure cannot acquire the shared hardware resources for a period of time, another priority of the UE procedure is used.

In some embodiments, one of the first SIM and the second SIM is configured to: if the UE procedure meets or exceeds a quality of service (QoS) requirement, the priority of the UE procedure is reduced.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: multiple UE capabilities supported by multiple SIMs are introduced into one of the first network and the second network. Wherein the multiple UE capabilities supported by the multi-SIM include a capability indicating whether the multi-SIM UE supports multi-SIM operation, a capability indicating whether the multi-SIM UE supports dual reception operation, and/or a capability indicating whether the multi-SIM UE supports dual transmission operation.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: UE assistance information or multi-SIM supported capabilities are introduced into one of the first network and the second network. Wherein the UE assistance information comprises: one of the first SIM and the second SIM is used as a primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE, or one of the first SIM and the second SIM is not used as a primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE, and the multi-SIM supported capabilities indicate whether the current cell supports multi-SIM operation, the multi-SIM supported capabilities being broadcast in system information or signaled in dedicated RRC signaling.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an example system 700 for wireless communication in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein may be implemented in the system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. Fig. 3 shows that system 700 includes Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 710, baseband circuitry 720, application circuitry 730, memory/storage 740, display 750, camera 760, sensors 770, and input/output (I/O) interface 780, coupled to each other at least as shown.

The application circuitry 730 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., a graphics processor and an application processor). The processor may be coupled with the memory/storage and configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

The baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor may comprise a baseband processor. The baseband circuitry may handle various wireless control functions capable of communicating with one or more wireless networks via the RF circuitry. The wireless control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, and the like. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may provide communications compatible with one or more wireless technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may support communication with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) and/or other Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMANs), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). Embodiments of wireless communications in which the baseband circuitry is configured to support more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

In various embodiments, baseband circuitry 720 may include circuitry to operate with signals that are not strictly considered to be in baseband frequencies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include circuitry that operates with signals having an intermediate frequency between the baseband frequency and the radio frequency.

RF circuitry 710 may enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and the like to facilitate communication with the wireless network.

In various embodiments, RF circuitry 710 may include circuitry that operates with signals that are not strictly considered to be at radio frequencies. For example, in some embodiments, the RF circuitry may include circuitry that operates with signals having an intermediate frequency between a baseband frequency and a radio frequency.

In various embodiments, the transmitter circuitry, control circuitry, or receiver circuitry discussed above with respect to the user equipment, eNB, or gNB may be implemented in whole or in part in one or more of RF circuitry, baseband circuitry, and/or application circuitry. As used herein, "circuitry" may refer to, or include a portion of, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that perform one or more software or firmware programs, that provide the described functionality, or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the electronic device circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with, one or more software or firmware modules.

In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry, application circuitry, and/or memory/storage may be implemented together on a system on a chip (SOC).

Memory/storage 740 may be used to load and store data and/or instructions, for example, for a system. Memory/storage for one embodiment may include any combination of suitable volatile memory (e.g., Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)) and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory).

In various embodiments, I/O interface 780 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the system and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral components to interact with the system. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, a physical keyboard or keypad, a touchpad, a speaker, a microphone, and the like. The peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, an audio jack, and a power interface.

In various embodiments, the sensor 770 may include one or more sensing devices to determine environmental conditions and/or location information related to the system. In some embodiments, the sensors may include, but are not limited to, a gyroscope sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may also be part of, or interact with, baseband circuitry and/or RF circuitry to communicate with components of a positioning network, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites.

In various embodiments, display 750 may include displays, such as liquid crystal displays and touch screen displays. In various embodiments, system 700 may be a mobile computing device, such as, but not limited to, a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, a netbook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, and the like. In various embodiments, the system may have more or fewer components and/or different architectures. Where appropriate, the methods described herein may be implemented as computer programs. The computer program may be stored on a storage medium, such as a non-transitory storage medium.

In embodiments of the present disclosure, a multi-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) User Equipment (UE), and methods of operating the same, are provided that are capable of operating efficiently and effectively with multi-SIM capabilities. Embodiments of the present disclosure are a combination of techniques/procedures that may be employed in 3GPP specifications to create an end product.

It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that each of the units, algorithms, and steps described and disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using electronic hardware or a combination of software and electronic hardware for a computer. Whether the functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the design requirements and application conditions of the solution.

Skilled artisans may implement the functionality in varying ways for each particular application, and such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure. A person skilled in the art will understand that since the working processes of the above-described systems, devices and units are substantially the same, he/she may refer to the working processes of the systems, devices and units in the above-described embodiments. For ease of description and simplicity, these operations will not be described in detail.

It should be understood that the systems, devices, and methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in other ways. The above embodiments are merely exemplary. The partitioning of cells is based solely on logic functions, while other partitions exist in the implementation. Multiple units or components may be combined or integrated in another system. Some features may also be omitted or skipped. On the other hand, the mutual coupling, direct coupling or communicative coupling shown or discussed is operated through some ports, devices or units, whether operated indirectly or communicatively through electrical, mechanical or other kinds of forms.

The elements that are separate components for illustration are physically separate or not. The unit for displaying may or may not be a physical unit, i.e. located in one location or distributed over a plurality of network elements. Some or all of the units are used according to the purpose of the embodiment. Furthermore, each functional unit in each embodiment may be integrated into one processing unit, physically separate, or integrated into one processing unit having two or more units.

If the software functional unit is implemented, used, and sold as a product, the software functional unit may be stored in a readable storage medium in a computer. Based on this understanding, the technical plan presented in this disclosure may be implemented substantially or partially in the form of a software product. Alternatively, a portion of the technical plan that facilitates conventional techniques may be implemented in the form of a software product. A software product in a computer is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of commands for causing a computing device (e.g., a personal computer, server, or network device) to perform all or some of the steps disclosed in embodiments of the present disclosure. The storage medium includes a USB disk, a removable hard disk, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a floppy disk, or other types of media capable of storing program code.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, but is intended to cover various arrangements made without departing from the scope of the broadest interpretation of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multiple subscriber identity module, SIM, user equipment, UE, comprising:

a first SIM associated with a first network;

a second SIM associated with a second network;

a memory;

a transceiver configured to communicate with the first network using the first SIM and to communicate with the second network using the second SIM; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the transceiver, the first SIM, and the second SIM;

wherein the processor is configured to:

reading a framework comprising a plurality of priority groups, wherein each priority group of the plurality of priority groups comprises a plurality of UE processes, and the plurality of priority groups are associated with corresponding priorities; and

controlling one of the first SIM and the second SIM to perform UE procedures of a priority group using a corresponding priority to acquire shared hardware resources.

2. The multi-SIM UE of claim 1, wherein the plurality of priority groups comprises a low-to-high priority acquisition low group, a data call low group, an acquisition high group, a system maintenance low group, a signaling connection group, a paging reception group, a system maintenance high group, and a data call high group.

3. The multi-SIM UE of claim 2, wherein the acquisition low group and the acquisition high group comprise Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) search, initial frequency scan, cell search, acquisition, and cell selection; the low set of data calls comprises downlink and/or uplink data calls in a radio resource control, RRC, connected mode, random access channel, RACH, procedures, and measurements during connected mode; the system maintenance low group and the system maintenance high group include system information reading, idle mode, intra/inter-frequency and inter-radio access technology, RAT, and cell reselection; the signaling connection group comprises non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, and the non-access stratum (NAS) signaling comprises a registration process, Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment and/or modification, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) registration, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS) and supplementary service; the paging reception group includes paging monitoring and associated intra-frequency measurements; the high set of data calls includes high priority data calls and voice calls.

4. The multi-SIM UE of claim 3, wherein, when one of the first and second SIMs is in the idle mode and subsequently enters a connected mode for a packet-switched (PS) data call, the SIM of the first and second SIMs performs the system information reading and the cell reselection in the idle mode using a corresponding priority of the system maintenance low group, monitors paging messages using a corresponding priority of the paging reception group, responds to a page by establishing an RRC connection, and performs the PS data call using a corresponding priority of the data call low group.

5. The multi-SIM UE of claim 4, wherein, when the PS data call is completed, the one of the first and second SIMs is released to the idle mode by a corresponding one of the first and second networks, and the one of the first and second SIMs performs an idle procedure including the system information reading, the cell reselection, and paging reception using a corresponding priority of the system maintenance low group.

6. The multi-SIM UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to use a common entity as an arbiter to allocate the shared hardware resource to one of the first SIM and the second SIM.

7. The multi-SIM UE of claim 1, wherein one of the first SIM and the second SIM is configured to: if the current priority of the current UE procedure cannot acquire the shared hardware resource within a period of time, another priority of the UE procedure is used.

8. The multi-SIM UE of claim 1, wherein one of the first SIM and the second SIM is configured to: if a UE procedure meets or exceeds a quality of service, QoS, requirement, the priority of the UE procedure is reduced.

9. The multi-SIM UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to control the transceiver to introduce a plurality of UE capabilities supported by multi-SIM into one of the first network and the second network, and the plurality of UE capabilities supported by multi-SIM includes a capability to indicate whether the multi-SIM UE supports multi-SIM operation, a capability to indicate whether the multi-SIM UE supports dual receive operation, and/or a capability to indicate whether the multi-SIM UE supports dual transmit operation.

10. The multi-SIM UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to control the transceiver to introduce UE assistance information or capabilities supported by multi-SIM into one of the first network and the second network, the UE assistance information comprising: one of the first SIM and the second SIM is used as a primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE, or one of the first SIM and the second SIM is not used as the primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE, and a capability supported by the multi-SIM indicates whether a current cell supports multi-SIM operation, the capability supported by the multi-SIM being broadcast in system information or signaled in dedicated RRC signaling.

11. A method for operating a multi-SIM-UE, the multi-SIM-UE comprising a first SIM and a second SIM, the method comprising:

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of priority groups comprises a low-to-high priority acquisition low group, a data call low group, an acquisition high group, a system maintenance low group, a signaling connection group, a paging reception group, a system maintenance high group, and a data call high group.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the acquisition low group and the acquisition high group comprise Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) search, initial frequency scan, cell search, acquisition, and cell selection; the low set of data calls comprises downlink and/or uplink data calls in a radio resource control, RRC, connected mode, random access channel, RACH, procedures, and measurements during connected mode; the system maintenance low group and the system maintenance high group include system information reading, idle mode, intra/inter-frequency and inter-radio access technology, RAT, and cell reselection; the signaling connection group comprises non-access stratum (NAS) signaling, and the non-access stratum (NAS) signaling comprises a registration process, Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment and/or modification, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) registration, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS) and supplementary service; the paging reception group includes paging monitoring and associated intra-frequency measurements; the high set of data calls includes high priority data calls and voice calls.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein when one of the first and second SIMs is in the idle mode and subsequently enters a connected mode for a Packet Switched (PS) data call, the one of the first and second SIMs performs the system information reading and the cell reselection in the idle mode using a corresponding priority of the system maintenance low group, monitors paging messages using a corresponding priority of the paging reception group, responds to paging by establishing an RRC connection, and performs the PS data call using a corresponding priority of the data call low group.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein when the PS data call is completed, the SIM of the first and second SIMs is released to the idle mode by a corresponding one of the first and second networks, and the SIM of the first and second SIMs performs an idle procedure including the system information reading, the cell reselection, and paging reception using a corresponding priority of the system maintenance low group.

16. The method of claim 11, the method further comprising: using a common entity as an arbiter to allocate the shared hardware resource to one of the first SIM and the second SIM.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein one of the first SIM and the second SIM is configured to: if the current priority of the current UE procedure cannot acquire the shared hardware resource within a period of time, another priority of the UE procedure is used.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein one of the first SIM and the second SIM is configured to: if a UE procedure meets or exceeds a quality of service, QoS, requirement, the priority of the UE procedure is reduced.

19. The method of claim 11, the method further comprising: introducing a plurality of UE capabilities supported by a multi-SIM into one of the first network and the second network, wherein the plurality of UE capabilities supported by the multi-SIM includes a capability indicating whether the multi-SIM UE supports multi-SIM operation, a capability indicating whether the multi-SIM UE supports dual receive operation, and/or a capability indicating whether the multi-SIM UE supports dual transmit operation.

20. The method of claim 11, the method further comprising: introducing UE assistance information or multi-SIM supported capabilities into one of the first network and the second network, wherein the UE assistance information comprises: one of the first SIM and the second SIM is used as a primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE, or one of the first SIM and the second SIM is not used as the primary data connection subscription for the multi-SIM UE, and a capability supported by the multi-SIM indicates whether a current cell supports multi-SIM operation, the capability supported by the multi-SIM being broadcast in system information or signaled in dedicated RRC signaling.