WO2021020855A1

WO2021020855A1 - Method and apparatus for assignment of service id

Info

Publication number: WO2021020855A1
Application number: PCT/KR2020/009907
Authority: WO
Inventors: Erik Arthur GUTTMAN; Lalith KUMAR; Sangsoo Jeong
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2019-07-29
Filing date: 2020-07-28
Publication date: 2021-02-04
Also published as: GB2587489A; GB202011572D0

Abstract

A method of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system is provided. The method may include: operating with a first USIM, related to a first network; receiving a page request from a second network, associated with a second USIM while the UE is operating with the first USIM, identifying the received paging request from the second network; determining a service ID associated with the paging request based on the identified paging request; and responding to the received paging request; neglecting the received paging request, or informing the second network that the UE is not intending to respond to the paging request based on the determined service ID.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSIGNMENT OF SERVICE ID

The present disclosure relates to improvements in the field of mobile devices or User Equipments (UEs) which support two or more Universal Subscriber Modules (USIM). The two or more USIMs may be provided from the same or different Mobile Network Operators (MNO).

To meet the demand due to ever-increasing wireless data traffic after the commercialization of the 4th generation (4G) communication system, there have been efforts to develop an advanced 5th generation (5G) system or pre-5G communication system. For this reason, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is also called a beyond 4th-generation (4G) network communication system or post long term evolution (LTE) system. Implementation of the 5G communication system using ultra-frequency millimeter wave (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 giga hertz (GHz) bands, is considered to attain higher data transfer rates. To reduce propagation loss of radio waves and increase a transmission range in the ultra-frequency bands, beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, analog beamforming, and large-scale antenna techniques are under discussion. To improve system networks, technologies for advanced small cells, cloud Radio Access Networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device to device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, moving networks, cooperative communication, Coordinated Multi-Points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellation and the like are also being developed in the 5G communication system. In addition, in the 5G system, an advanced coding modulation (ACM), e.g., hybrid frequency-shift keying (FSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) (FQAM), sliding window superposition coding (SWSC), and an advanced access technology, e.g., filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA), are being developed.

In the meantime, the Internet is evolving from a human-centered connectivity network where humans generate and consume information into an Internet of Things (IoT) network where distributed entities such as things transmit, receive and process information without human intervention. Internet of Everything (IoE) technologies combined with IoT, such as big data processing technologies through connection with a cloud server, for example, have also emerged. To implement IoT, various technologies, such as a sensing technology, a wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure, a service interfacing technology, and a security technology are required, and recently, even technologies for sensor network, Machine to Machine (M2M), Machine Type Communication (MTC) for connection between things are being studied. Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet Technology (IT) services that generate a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. IoT may be applied to a variety of areas, such as smart homes, smart buildings, smart cities, smart cars or connected cars, smart grids, health care, smart home appliances and advanced medical services through convergence and combination between existing Information Technologies (IT) and various industrial applications.

In this regard, various attempts to apply the 5G communication system to the IoT network are being made. For example, technologies regarding a sensor network, M2M, MTC, etc., are implemented by the 5G communication technologies, such as beamforming, MIMO, array antenna schemes, etc. Even application of a cloud Radio Access Network (cloud RAN) as the aforementioned big data processing technology may be viewed as an example of convergence of 5G and IoT technologies.

The present disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus for increasing an efficiency of handling paging messages in multi UMTS subscriber identity module (MUSIM) devices.

For a better understanding of the disclosure, and to show how embodiments of the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a message exchange between a UE and first network and second network;

FIG. 2 illustrates a message exchange according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a message exchange according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a message exchange according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a message exchange according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 shows a Multi-USIM UE according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a base station according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a user equipment (UE) according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

System performance and user experience are greatly impacted in at least two areas. Firstly, support for multi-USIM is handled in an implementation-specific manner without any support from the 3GPP standard specifications, resulting in a variety of implementations and UE behaviours. Secondly, a multi-USIM device implementation typically uses common radio and baseband components that are shared among the multiple USIMs. For example, while actively communicating with the first system/network associated with USIM A, the UE needs to occasionally check the other system/network associated with USIM B, e.g. to monitor the paging channel, perform signal measurements, or read the system information, and determine if it needs to respond to a paging request from the other system.

Due to these issues and others, 3GPP has defined requirements to improve the operation of multi-USIM devices to enable 3GPP system support of these UEs to achieve an efficient use of resources and to reduce missed paging [3GPP TS 22.278 version 17.1.0, 6.10.2, 3GPP TS 22.101, 10.9 and 13.4]. Particular issues which pose problems are: enabling support for terminal with multiple USIMs; supporting Mobile-Terminated (MT) Service; handling of emergency calls and sessions.

Further additional issues include: a desire to provide a mechanism for delivering paging destined to USIM A while the UE is actively communicating with USIM B; a desire to provide a mechanism allowing for suspension (or release) and resumption of an ongoing connection in the 3GPP system associated with USIM A, so that the UE can temporarily leave to the 3GPP system associated with USIM B, and then return to the 3GPP system in a network-controlled manner; a means to determine how the network handles MT data or MT control-plane activity occurrence on a suspended connection; a desire to provide a mechanism for avoidance of paging collisions occurring in the UE between USIM A and USIM B; handling of emergency calls and sessions; handling of service prioritization i.e. determining whether the UE behaviour upon reception of paging information is driven by USIM configuration or user preferences or both.

Embodiments of the disclosure aim to address updates to the service request procedures already defined in the relevant standard specification to optimize behaviour with respect to multiple SIM UEs. In particular, embodiments aim to focus on paging procedures that may happen with respect to a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) different from the one the UE is active at in that moment. Current state-of-the-art specifications force the UE to process an incoming page even if it is being active on a different PLMN.

Furthermore, as described in clause 4.3.3.3 of TS 23.502, step 6 of the network triggered service request procedure shows that the handling of a page by a UE is mandatory as there is no way to ignore it.

Embodiments of the present disclosure therefore aim to increase the efficiency of a system which handles paging messages in MUSIM devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates a message exchange between the UE 10 and first network 20 and second network 30.

Given a Dual SIM UE 10 of single Tx or Dual Rx, the UE is in CONNECTED mode using services on SIM1 (related to network-1 20). Then, the UE receives paging from network-2 30 for SIM2. The UE 10 does not have a knowledge of what kind of service is pending for SIM2 and so the UE 10 responds to paging and enters connected mode using SIM2.

After entering into connected mode, the UE 10 realizes that the SIM2 service is not a priority service compared to ongoing service on SIM1. Therefore, the UE 10 will have to abandon the service on SIM2 and fallback to the service on SIM1, which was active prior to the page request from SIM2.

This situation will have a considerable impact to the service (for example reduced throughput) on SIM1 on the UE side. At the same time, the network will face considerable resources wastage.

According to the present disclosure there is provided an apparatus and method as set forth in the appended claims. Other features of the disclosure will be apparent from the dependent claims, and the description which follows.

Rather than performing 'paging cause'-based discrimination of pages by category, embodiments of the present disclosure enable the UE and network to agree on specific service categories based upon information they both know (or which the UE can provide to the network) to specifically target individual services used by the UE. In this case the UE will know much more about a page than only its category.

Further, the ability to immediately associate an ID with one or more specific services allows not only deprioritization, but also prioritization (neglecting other communication) when a known service arrives. This is not possible in case of FIG. 1 if, for instance, a service of type 'Other' arrived without first attending and servicing the incoming page.

Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide the ability to associate the application protocol termination information (in packet filters, specifically the destination IP address and port) with the service ID to allow the upper layers of the UE to discriminate (a) what is being used, (b) group these together, and express to the lower layers (c) what the priority is of this group is, e.g. drop incoming pages.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of operating a Multi-USIM User Equipment, UE, comprising the steps of: if the UE is actively operating with a first USIM, related to a first network, and a paging request is received from a second network, associated with a second USIM, the UE examines the paging request from the second network to determine a service ID associated with the paging request, and will either respond to the paging request, neglect it, or inform the second network that it will not respond to the paging request, depending upon the service ID.

In an embodiment, the Service ID is assigned to a Protocol Data Unit, PDU, session identified by a Data Network Name, DNN.

In an embodiment, the Service ID is assigned to a particular network slice.

In an embodiment, the Service ID is assigned to a particular network slice and DNN combination.

In an embodiment, the Service ID is assigned to a Packet Filter Set.

In an embodiment, the Service ID is assigned to a Quality of Service, QoS, flow.

In an embodiment, the Service ID is assigned by network, by the UE or by negotiation between the UE and the network.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a User Equipment, operable to support a plurality of USIMs, and further operable to perform the method of the first aspect.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of configuring a paging request from a network to a Multi-USIM UE, wherein the paging request is configured to be associated with a Service ID, indicative of a priority of the paging request.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a base station, associated with a network, arranged to perform the method of the third aspect.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a means for a multi-USIM UE to be able to ignore or prioritize incoming paging requests from a different PLMN to the one where it is actively operating, whenever suitable. If the UE ignores an incoming page, it is as if the UE is 'out of coverage' for the different PLMN's radio transmissions. If the UE prioritizes an incoming page, it will service the page and potentially cease transmissions (neglecting) the PLMN it was communicating with prior to receiving the page.

Although a few preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Current state-of-the-art specifications force the UE to service a page request, and only if it is determined that the service priority that the page refers to is lower than the service currently being handled can the page be dropped. Alternatively, by considering the service the page refers to, the UE can decide to prioritize this page and proceed to communicate with the PLMN from which the page was sent.

Hence, it is currently impossible for the network to indicate to the UE that a paging message may be dropped or that it is prioritized without the need for the page to be serviced by the UE. This behaviour is non-optimal, as the UE may use significant transmission resources for services that are lower priority by responding to pages for services that the User would consider to be lower priority. Resources may also be wasted in continuing to communicate with other PLMNs while a high priority service page arrives.

The overall network performance when multi-USIM UEs are present may be increased if the efficiency of the system to handle paging messages in multi-USIM devices is improved, specifically to make it unnecessary to handle pages for services of lesser priority or to continue to communicate for applications of lesser priority when a high priority page appears.

It is therefore desirable to allow discrimination of pages based upon service categories. These categories include:

- IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and non-IMS based Voice service.

- IMS and non-IMS based Short Message Service (SMS) or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)

- IMS service other than voice or SMS

- Other service not listed above e.g. data services including video.

However, currently nearly all services would fall into the fourth category - 'other services' delivered over the Internet.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide better discrimination than is possible by these proposed standardized service categories, thereby allowing discrimination of incoming services with great flexibility and precision, to either prioritize the incoming page or determine that it can be dropped (because it has lower priority).

An embodiment of the present disclosure addresses the issue of adding a "paging cause" to the paging message so that it can inform the UE's decision - i.e. should the UE service the page?

The categories listed above (voice call, message, IMS media or 'other') do not help much in this regard. Embodiments of the disclosure enable the UE and networks to use discriminating information they already share (or can additionally share according to a further embodiment described later) to assign a new paging cause or service category dynamically. This service cause can be quite specific, entirely depending on how the UE is used.

Information has to be provided to the UE as part of Paging procedure or Notification procedure over non-3GPP access. This information indicates to the UE as to what kind of MT Service/data/signalling is pending for the UE on 3GPP access. Embodiments of the disclosure relate to how this information is negotiated between UE and network.

This information can be referred to as paging cause, service ID, service category ID, Application service category ID, Category ID, MT cause etc. The actual name is clearly not crucial, when compared to the use made of the information to which it relates.

Embodiments of the present disclosure make use of information that the UE and the Network know (or that the UE can provide the network) to assign a new ID. This ID is then sent with an incoming page to more precisely identify the 'service' associated with the incoming page.

In a first embodiment, a service ID is assigned to a PDU (Protocol data Unit) session identified by the DNN (Data Network Name). This is shown in the form of a message exchange between UE 110 and network 120 in FIG. 2.

When the UE 110 establishes a PDU session (S1), the network 120 assigns service ID to the UE 110 for that particular PDU session identified by DNN (S2)

Now when UE 110 is in IDLE mode or INACTIVE state (S3), if any data or signalling is pending for this PDU session the network 120 will page (S4) the UE 110 with (mobile terminated) MT cause carrying that particular service ID. Note that the same connection from the network 120 to the UE 110 can carry communication with more than one DNN i.e. the UE may have several PDU sessions simultaneously. The service ID identifies one of these in particular.

The UE 110 will identify that MT data or signalling is pending to be received for that particular PDU session. The UE, based on the operation on the stack of another SIM card, will take a decision to respond to paging, neglect the paging or inform the network that it will not be able to respond to paging. The UE may also determine to prioritize this page and the communication that ensues, and neglect communication that is ongoing with other PLMNs. In this case, the final step in FIG. 2 would show 'Service-2 ongoing' between the UE and Network-2 instead of 'Service-1 ongoing' between the UE and Network-1.

Note the term "paging the UE with MT cause" is same as "sending Notification message to the UE over N3GPPA with the same MT cause for 3GPPA".

In this embodiment, PDU session establishment procedure is used as an example for assignment of service ID by network to UE for a particular PDU session identified by DNN. The same Service ID can be assigned or modified by using any other Non-access stratum (NAS) procedure i.e. SM or MM procedures for example UE configuration update, DL NAS TRANSPORT, Modified PDU session.

In this embodiment, the network assigns the service ID. But this value can be proposed by UE (i.e. indicated by UE to the network) also. i.e. the value is assigned and negotiated between UE and network. The proposer of the service ID can be either of the UE and the network.

In a second embodiment, a Service ID is assigned to a network slice. This embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, but it relates to a specific network slice.

When the UE establishes a PDU session, the network can assign a service ID to the UE for that particular Slice ID (S-NSSAI). Now when UE is in IDLE mode or INACTIVE state if any data or signalling is pending for this slice (it can involve multiple PDU sessions), the network will page the UE with MT cause carrying that particular service ID. Note that the same connection from the network to the UE can carry communication with more than one slice - the UE may have several PDU sessions to different slices simultaneously over the same access network. The service ID identifies one of these in particular.

The UE identifies that MT data or signalling is pending to be received for that particular Slice. The UE, based on the operation on the stack of another SIM card, will take a decision to respond to paging, neglect the paging or inform the network that it will not be able to respond to paging.

The UE may also determine to prioritize this page and the communication that ensues, and neglect communication that is ongoing with other PLMNs. In this case, the final step would be 'Service-2 ongoing' between the UE and Network-2 instead of 'Service-1 ongoing' between the UE and Network-1.

The term "paging the UE with MT cause" is same as "sending Notification message to the UE over N3GPPA with the same MT cause for 3GPPA".

In this embodiment, PDU session establishment procedure is used as an example for assignment of service ID by network to UE for a particular Slice. Same Service ID can be assigned or modified by using any other NAS procedure i.e. SM or MM procedures for example Registration procedure, UE configuration update, DL NAS TRANSPORT, Modified PDU session etc.

In a third embodiment, a service ID is assigned to DNN + Slice (identified by "DNN name + Slice ID" or PDU session ID). This is shown in FIG. 3.

When the UE 210 establishes a PDU session (S11), the network 220 assigns a service ID to the UE for that particular Slice ID + DNN combination (S12). Now when UE is in IDLE mode or INACTIVE state (S13), if any data or signalling is pending for this slice+DNN, the network will page the UE with MT cause (S14) carrying that corresponding assigned service ID. Note that the same connection from the network to the UE can carry communication with more than one slice+DNN combination: the UE may have several PDU sessions to different slices simultaneously over the same access network. The service ID identifies one of these in particular.

The UE will identify that MT data or signalling is pending to be received for that particular Slice+DNN. The UE, based on the operation on the stack of another SIM card, will take a decision to respond to paging, neglect the paging or inform the network that it will not be able to respond to paging. The UE may also determine to prioritize this page and the communication that ensues, and neglect communication that is ongoing with other PLMNs. In this case, the final step would show 'Service-2 ongoing' between the UE and Network-2 instead of 'Service-1 ongoing' between the UE and Network-1.

The term "paging the UE with MT cause" is same as "sending Notification message to the UE over N3GPPA with the same MT cause for 3GPPA". In this embodiment, the PDU session establishment procedure is used as an example for assignment of service ID by network to UE for a particular Slice+DNN. The same Service ID can be assigned or modified by using any other NAS procedure i.e. SM or MM procedures for example Registration procedure, UE configuration update, DL NAS TRANSPORT, Modified PDU session etc. In this embodiment, the network assigns the service ID. But this value can be proposed by the UE(i.e. indicated by the UE to the network) also. i.e. the value is assigned and negotiated between UE and network. The proposer of the service ID can be either of the UE and the network.

In a fourth embodiment, a service ID is assigned to a Packet Filter Set. This is shown in FIG. 4.

The UE 310 has established a PDU session. Prior to this procedure, the UE uses the PDU Session Modification procedure (S21) (or some other suitable procedure, this being just one example.) During the same procedure, the UE supplies a Packet Filter Set corresponding to a set of services that the UE is communicating with. This packet filter set can identify specifically the address/port number of applications that receive communication in the UE. The network 320 can assign a service ID to the UE for this particular Packet Filter Set. This Packet Filter Set and ID correspond to a set of applications that are running on the UE

Now when UE is in IDLE mode or INACTIVE state (S22) if any data or signalling is pending for this packet filter, the network will page the UE with MT cause (S23) with the corresponding service ID. Note that the same connection from the network to the UE can carry communication with more than one particular application, corresponding to the packet filter - the UE may have several applications running with different address/port combinations simultaneously over the same access network. The service ID identifies some set of applications amongst the possible communication to the UE, in particular.

The UE will identify that MT data or signalling is pending to be received for that particular packet filter. UE based on the operation on the stack of another SIM card will take a decision to respond to paging, neglect the paging or inform the network that it will not be able to respond to paging. The UE may also determine to prioritize this page and the communication that ensues, and neglect communication that is ongoing with other PLMNs. In this case, the final step would be 'Service-2 ongoing' between the UE and Network-2 instead of 'Service-1 ongoing' between the UE and Network-1.

The term "paging the UE with MT cause" is same as "sending Notification message to the UE over N3GPPA with the same MT cause for 3GPPA". In this embodiment, PDU session establishment procedure is used as an example for assignment of service ID by network to UE for a particular packet filter. The same Service ID can be assigned or modified by using any other NAS procedure i.e. SM or MM procedures for example Registration procedure, UE configuration update, DL NAS TRANSPORT, Modified PDU session etc.

In this embodiment, the network assigns the service ID. But this value can be proposed by UE(i.e. indicated by the UE to the network) also. i.e. the value is assigned and negotiated between UE and network. The proposer of the service ID can be either of the UE and the network.

In a fifth embodiment, a service ID is assigned to a QoS (Quality of Service) flow. This is shown in FIG. 5

When the UE 410 is establishing a PDU session, or during a PDU Modification Procedure, the UE can identify a particular QoS Flow to the network that it wants to assign a service ID to (S31). The network can assign a service ID to the UE for that particular QOS flow.

Now when the UE is in IDLE mode or INACTIVE state (S32) if any data or signalling is pending for this QOS Flow, the network will page the UE with MT cause (S33) carrying that particular service ID corresponding to respective QOS Flow. Note that the same PDU Session connection from the network to the UE can carry communication with more than one QoS Flow - the UE may have several applications running with different address/port combinations simultaneously over the same access network. The service ID identifies one QoS Flow amongst the possible communication to the UE, in particular.

The UE identifies that MT data or signalling is pending to be received for that particular QOS Flow. The UE, based on the operation on the stack of another SIM card, will take a decision to respond to paging, neglect the paging or inform the network that it will not be able to respond to paging. Note that the same connection from the network to the UE can carry communication with more than one particular application, corresponding to the packet filter - the UE may have several applications running with different address/port combinations simultaneously over the same access network. The service ID identifies some set of applications amongst the possible communication to the UE, in particular.

The term "paging the UE with MT cause" is same as "sending Notification message to the UE over N3GPPA with the same MT cause for 3GPPA".In this embodiment, PDU session establishment procedure is used as an example for assignment of service ID by network to UE for a particular packet filter. Same Service ID can be assigned or modified by using any other NAS procedure i.e. SM or MM procedures for example Registration procedure, UE configuration update, DL NAS TRANSPORT, Modified PDU session etc.

In this embodiment, the network assigns the service ID. But this value can be proposed by UE(i.e. indicated by UE) also. i.e. the value is assigned and negotiated between UE and network. The proposer of the service ID can be either of the UE and the network.

FIG. 6 shows, for the sake of completeness, a Multi-USIM UE 41, having two

USIMs

42, 43. The UE 41 is configured such that USIM 42 is associated with network 21 and USIM 43 is associated with network 31. The UE is located in a position where service is possible from either or both

networks

21, 31 and is operable according to one or more of the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a base station according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to the FIG.7, the base station 700 may include a processor 710, a transceiver 720 and a memory 730. However, all of the illustrated components are not essential. The base station 700 may be implemented by more or less components than those illustrated in Fig. 7. In addition, the processor 710 and the transceiver 720 and the memory 730 may be implemented as a single chip according to another embodiment.

The aforementioned components will now be described in detail.

The processor 710 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the proposed function, process, and/or method. Operation of the base station 700 may be implemented by the processor 710. For example, the processor 710 may configure a paging request from a network to a UE. Specifically, the processor 710 may transmit, via the transceiver 720, the configured paging request to the UE. The paging request may include a service ID and information indicating a priority of the paging request.

The transceiver 720 may include a RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a transmitted signal, and a RF receiver for down-converting a frequency of a received signal. However, according to another embodiment, the transceiver 720 may be implemented by more or less components than those illustrated in components.

The transceiver 720 may be connected to the processor 710 and transmit and/or receive a signal. The signal may include control information and data. In addition, the transceiver 720 may receive the signal through a wireless channel and output the signal to the processor 710. The transceiver 720 may transmit a signal output from the processor 710 through the wireless channel.

The memory 730 may store the control information or the data included in a signal obtained by the base station 700. The memory 730 may be connected to the processor 710 and store at least one instruction or a protocol or a parameter for the proposed function, process, and/or method. The memory 730 may include read-only memory (ROM) and/or random access memory (RAM) and/or hard disk and/or CD-ROM and/or DVD and/or other storage devices.

Referring to the FIG. 8, the UE 800 may include a processor 810, a transceiver 820 and a memory 830. However, all of the illustrated components are not essential. The UE 800 may be implemented by more or less components than those illustrated in FIG. 8. In addition, the processor 810 and the transceiver 820 and the memory 830 may be implemented as a single chip according to another embodiment.

The aforementioned components will now be described in detail.

The processor 810 may include one or more processors or other processing devices that control the proposed function, process, and/or method. Operation of the UE 800 may be implemented by the processor 810. For example, the processor 810 may receive, via the transceiver 820, a paging request from a second network associated with a second USIM while the UE 800 is operating with a first USIM related to a first network. The processor 810 may identify the received paging request from the second network and determine a service ID associated with the paging request based on the identified paging request. The processor 810 may respond to the received paging request, neglect the received paging request or inform the second network that the UE 800 is not intending to respond to the received paging request based on the determined service ID.

The transceiver 820 may include a RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a transmitted signal, and a RF receiver for down-converting a frequency of a received signal. However, according to another embodiment, the transceiver 820 may be implemented by more or less components than those illustrated in components.

The transceiver 820 may be connected to the processor 810 and transmit and/or receive a signal. The signal may include control information and data. In addition, the transceiver 820 may receive the signal through a wireless channel and output the signal to the processor 810. The transceiver 820 may transmit a signal output from the processor 810 through the wireless channel.

The memory 830 may store the control information or the data included in a signal obtained by the UE 800. The memory 830 may be connected to the processor 810 and store at least one instruction or a protocol or a parameter for the proposed function, process, and/or method. The memory 830 may include read-only memory (ROM) and/or random access memory (RAM) and/or hard disk and/or CD-ROM and/or DVD and/or other storage devices.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system is provided. The method may comprise: operating with a first universal subscriber identity module (USIM) related to a first network; receiving a paging request from a second network associated with a second USIM while the UE is operating with the first USIM; identifying the received paging request from the second network; determining a service ID associated with the paging request based on the identified paging request; and performing, based on the determined service ID, one of: responding to the received paging request, neglecting the received paging request, and informing the second network that the UE is not intending to respond to the received paging request.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a User Equipment (UE) operable to support a plurality of USIMs in a wireless communication system is provided. The UE may comprise: a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled with the transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to: operate with a first universal subscriber identity module (USIM) related to a first network; receive, via the transceiver, a paging request from a second network associated with a second USIM while the UE is operating with the first USIM; identify the received paging request from the second network; determine a service ID associated with the paging request based on the identified paging request; and perform, based on the determined service ID, one of: responding to the received paging request, neglecting the received paging request, and informing the second network that the UE is not intending to respond to the received paging request.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of a base station in a wireless communication system is provided. The method may comprise: configuring a paging request from a network to a UE; and transmitting the configured paging request to the UE. The paging request may include a Service ID and information indicating a priority of the paging request.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a base station associated with a network in a wireless communication system is provided. The base station may comprise: a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled with the transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to: configure a paging request from the network to a UE; and transmit, via the transceiver, the configured paging request to the UE. The paging request may include a Service ID and information indicating a priority of the paging request.

At least some of the example embodiments described herein may be constructed, partially or wholly, using dedicated special-purpose hardware. Terms such as 'component', 'module' or 'unit' used herein may include, but are not limited to, a hardware device, such as circuitry in the form of discrete or integrated components, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which performs certain tasks or provides the associated functionality. In some embodiments, the described elements may be configured to reside on a tangible, persistent, addressable storage medium and may be configured to execute on one or more processors. These functional elements may in some embodiments include, by way of example, components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. Although the example embodiments have been described with reference to the components, modules and units discussed herein, such functional elements may be combined into fewer elements or separated into additional elements. Various combinations of optional features have been described herein, and it will be appreciated that described features may be combined in any suitable combination. In particular, the features of any one example embodiment may be combined with features of any other embodiment, as appropriate, except where such combinations are mutually exclusive. Throughout this specification, the term "comprising" or "comprises" means including the component(s) specified but not to the exclusion of the presence of others.

Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The disclosure is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The disclosure extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

A method of a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

operating with a first universal subscriber identity module (USIM) related to a first network;

receiving a paging request from a second network associated with a second USIM while the UE is operating with the first USIM;

identifying the received paging request from the second network;

determining a service ID associated with the paging request based on the identified paging request; and

responding to the received paging request, neglecting the received paging request or informing the second network that the UE is not intending to respond to the received paging request based on the determined service ID.
The method of claim 1, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a Protocol Data Unit (PDU), session identified by a Data Network Name (DNN).
The method of claim 1, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a particular network slice.
The method of claim 1, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a particular network slice and DNN combination.
The method of claim 1, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a Packet Filter Set.
The method of claim 1, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a Quality of Service, QoS, flow.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the Service ID is assigned by network, by the UE or by negotiation between the UE and the network.
A User Equipment (UE) operable to support a plurality of USIMs in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising:

a transceiver; and

at least one processor coupled with the transceiver and configured to:

operate with a first universal subscriber identity module (USIM) related to a first network;

receive, via the transceiver, a paging request from a second network associated with a second USIM while the UE is operating with the first USIM;

identify the received paging request from the second network;

determine a service ID associated with the paging request based on the identified paging request; and

respond to the received paging request, neglect the received paging request or inform the second network that the UE is not intending to respond to the received paging request based on the determined service ID.
The UE of claim 8, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a Protocol Data Unit (PDU), session identified by a Data Network Name (DNN).
The UE of claim 8, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a particular network slice.
The UE of claim 8, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a particular network slice and DNN combination.
The UE of claim 8, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a Packet Filter Set.
The UE of claim 8, wherein the Service ID is assigned to a Quality of Service, QoS, flow.
A method of a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

configuring a paging request from a network to a UE; and

transmitting the configured paging request to the UE,

wherein the paging request includes a Service ID and information indicating a priority of the paging request.
A base station associated with a network in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising:

a transceiver; and

at least one processor coupled with the transceiver and configured to:

configure a paging request from the network to a UE; and

transmit, via the transceiver, the configured paging request to the UE,

wherein the paging request includes a service ID and information indicating a priority of the paging request.