Dual-card uplink transmission method and device, terminal equipment and chip

Abstract

The application discloses a dual-card uplink transmission method and device, a terminal device and a chip, relates to the technical field of communication, and is applied to a terminal device with two SIM cards and two transmission channels, wherein a first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, and a second SIM card does not support uplink transmission switching; the method comprises the following steps: determining the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards according to the uplink carriers available to the first SIM card, wherein the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are used to represent the transmission channel occupation states and RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on TDD time slots; and controlling the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on a TDD uplink carrier or an FDD uplink carrier according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards. In this way, the uplink resource utilization rate can be improved, the uplink coverage and the uplink throughput can be improved, and uplink enhancement can be realized.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a dual-card uplink transmission method and device, a terminal device and a chip. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of communication technology, many terminal devices have dual-card function, which are referred to as dual-card terminal devices. Dual-card means that two subscriber identity module (SIM) cards are installed on a terminal device at the same time, so as to access a network through the two SIM cards to perform relevant communication processes.

[0003] In order to realize uplink transmission, considering factors such as antenna design complexity and transmission power limitation, the current dual-card terminal device supports at most two transmission antennas, that is, at most two transmission channels (2Tx). Therefore, the two SIM cards need to occupy certain transmission channels for uplink transmission.

[0004] In addition, the standard protocol specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduces uplink transmission switching (UL Tx Switching), and the dual-card terminal device can more fully utilize uplink resources, improve uplink coverage and uplink throughput, and realize uplink enhancement by using uplink transmission switching. However, when the terminal device with two SIM cards and two transmission channels uses uplink transmission switching, how the terminal device performs dual-card uplink transmission to realize uplink enhancement needs further research. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a dual-card uplink transmission method and device, a terminal device and a chip, in order to solve the problem of how to perform dual-card uplink transmission to realize uplink enhancement when the terminal device with two SIM cards and two transmission channels uses uplink transmission switching.

[0006] In a first aspect, a dual-card uplink transmission method of the present application is applied to a terminal device, the terminal device has two subscriber identity module (SIM) cards and two transmission channels, and a first SIM card in the two SIM cards supports uplink transmission switching, and a second SIM card in the two SIM cards does not support uplink transmission switching; the method comprises:

[0007] determining uplink communication states of the two SIM cards according to uplink carriers available to the first SIM card, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards being used to represent transmission channel occupation states and radio resource control (RRC) states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on time division duplex (TDD) time slots respectively; wherein the uplink carriers available to the first SIM card include one of the following: the first SIM card can only use frequency division duplex (FDD) uplink carriers, and the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers in a time-division manner; the TDD time slots include one of the following: TDD uplink time slots, TDD downlink time slots, and TDD special time slots;

[0008] controlling the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on TDD uplink carriers or FDD uplink carriers according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards.

[0009] It can be seen that, since the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching and the second SIM card does not support uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers in a time-division manner, and perform carrier switching between FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card also need to occupy transmission channels to perform uplink transmission.

[0010] In addition, since the uplink carriers available to the first SIM card can be different under different uplink coverage, the first SIM card can not be able to perform carrier switching, so embodiments of the present application can dynamically determine the number of transmission channels occupied by the first SIM card and the second SIM card on TDD time slots and the RRC states in which the first SIM card and the second SIM card are located (i.e., represented by the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards) according to the different uplink carriers available to the first SIM card. Finally, the two SIM cards are controlled to perform uplink transmission on TDD uplink carriers or FDD uplink carriers according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards.

[0011] In this way, embodiments of the present application not only can improve uplink resource utilization, improve uplink coverage and uplink throughput by combining a dual-card terminal device with uplink transmission switching, but also can realize uplink enhancement through dual-card uplink transmission.

[0012] A second aspect is a dual-card uplink transmission apparatus of the present application, applied to a terminal device, the terminal device having two subscriber identity module (SIM) cards and two transmission channels, and a first SIM card of the two SIM cards supporting uplink transmission switching, and a second SIM card of the two SIM cards not supporting uplink transmission switching; the apparatus comprising:

[0013] determining unit configured to determine uplink communication states of the two SIM cards according to uplink carriers available to the first SIM card, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards being used to represent transmission channel occupation states and radio resource control (RRC) states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on time division duplex (TDD) time slots, wherein the uplink carriers available to the first SIM card include one of the following: the first SIM card can only use frequency division duplex (FDD) uplink carriers, and the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers in a time-division manner; the TDD time slots include one of the following: TDD uplink time slots, TDD downlink time slots, and TDD special time slots;

[0014] a control unit configured to control the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on TDD uplink carriers or FDD uplink carriers according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards.

[0015] In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided, which includes a processor, a memory, and a computer program or instructions stored in the memory, and the processor executes the computer program or instructions to implement the steps in the method according to the first aspect.

[0016] In a fourth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface, and the processor executes the steps in the method according to the first aspect.

[0017] In a fifth aspect, a chip module is provided, which includes a transceiver assembly and a chip, and the chip includes a processor, and the processor executes the steps in the method according to the first aspect.

[0018] In a sixth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instructions, and the computer program or instructions are executed to implement the steps in the method according to the first aspect. For example, the computer program or instructions are executed by a processor.

[0019] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program or instructions, and the computer program or instructions are executed to implement the steps in the method according to the first aspect. For example, the computer program or instructions are executed by a processor.

[0020] The technical effects brought by the technical solutions of the second aspect to the seventh aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the technical solutions of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments or prior art description will be briefly introduced as follows.

[0022] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a dual-card uplink transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 3 is a block diagram of functional units of a dual-card uplink transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] It should be understood that the terms "first", "second" and the like in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to describe a particular order. In addition, the terms "comprise" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, software, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the steps or units listed, but also includes steps or units not listed, or further includes other steps or units inherent to the process, method, product or device.

[0027] "Embodiments" referred to in the embodiments of the present application mean that the specific features, structures or properties described in connection with the embodiments can be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily mean the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment to other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0028] In the embodiments of the present application, "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone; A and B exist simultaneously; B exists alone. Wherein, A and B can be singular or plural.

[0029] In the embodiments of the present application, the symbol " / " can represent the relationship of "or" between the associated objects. In addition, the symbol " / " can also represent the division sign, that is, to perform division operation. For example, A / B can represent A divided by B.

[0030] The "at least one" or similar expressions in the embodiments of the present application refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or multiple items, refer to one or more, and multiple refers to two or more. For example, at least one of a, b or c can represent the following seven cases: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, a, b and c. Among them, each of a, b, c can be an element or a set containing one or more elements.

[0031] The "equal to" in the embodiments of the present application can be used with greater than, which is applicable to the technical solutions adopted when greater than, or can be used with less than, which is applicable to the technical solutions adopted when less than. When equal to is used with greater than, it is not used with less than; when equal to is used with less than, it is not used with greater than.

[0032] The "of", "corresponding / relevant", "corresponding", "indicated" in the embodiments of the present application can be mixed sometimes. It should be pointed out that when the difference is not emphasized, the meaning expressed is consistent.

[0033] The "configure" in the embodiments of the present application can be the same concept as "provide" and the like.

[0034] The "connection" in the embodiments of the present application refers to various connection modes such as direct connection or indirect connection to realize communication between devices, which is not limited.

[0035] The "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be the same concept as "system", and the communication system is the communication network.

[0036] The "belongs to" in the embodiments of the present application can be the same concept as "has", "corresponds to", "associates" or "maps" and the like.

[0037] The related content, concepts, meanings, technical problems, technical solutions, beneficial effects and the like involved in the embodiments of the present application are described below.

[0038] I. Communication system, terminal device and network device

[0039] 1. Communication system

[0040] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) system, New Radio (NR) system, evolved system of the NR system, LTE-based Access to Unlicensed Spectrum (LTE-U) system, NR-based Access to Unlicensed Spectrum (NR-U) system, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), 6th-Generation (6G) communication system, or other communication systems, etc.

[0041] It should be noted that the number of connections supported by the traditional communication system is limited and easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, the communication system can not only support the traditional communication system, but also support, for example, device to device (D2D) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) communication, etc., so the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the above communication systems.

[0042] In addition, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to beamforming, carrier aggregation (CA), dual connectivity (DC), or standalone (SA) deployment scenarios, etc.

[0043] In the embodiments of the present application, the spectrum used for communication between the terminal device and the network device, or the spectrum used for communication between the terminal device and the terminal device can be a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum, and no limitation is made on this. In addition, the unlicensed spectrum can be understood as a shared spectrum, and the licensed spectrum can be understood as a non-shared spectrum.

[0044] Since the embodiments of the present application describe various embodiments in combination with the terminal device and the network device, the terminal device and the network device involved will be specifically described below.

[0045] 2. Terminal device

[0046] The terminal device can be a device with transceiving function, and can also be referred to as a terminal, a user equipment (UE), a remote terminal device, a relay device, an access terminal device, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a mobile device, a user terminal device, a smart terminal device, a wireless communication device, a user agent or a user apparatus. It should be noted that the relay device is a terminal device capable of providing relay forwarding services for other terminal devices (including remote terminal devices).

[0047] For example, the terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiving function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in unmanned automatic driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical treatment, a wireless terminal device in smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in smart city or a wireless terminal device in smart home, etc.

[0048] For example, the terminal device can also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless communication function, a computing device, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a next-generation communication system (e.g., an NR communication system, a 6G communication system), or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc., without specific limitation.

[0049] In some possible implementations, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable, or in-vehicle; can be deployed on water (e.g., a ship, etc.); can be deployed in the air (e.g., an airplane, a balloon, a satellite, etc.).

[0050] In some possible implementations, the terminal device can include a device with wireless communication function, such as a chip system, a chip, or a chip module. For example, the chip system can include a chip and can also include other discrete devices.

[0051] 3. Network device

[0052] The network device can be a device with transceiver function, configured to communicate with the terminal device.

[0053] In some possible implementations, the network device can be responsible for radio resource management (RRM), quality of service (QoS) management, data compression and encryption, data transmission, etc. on the air interface side.

[0054] In some possible implementations, the network device can be a base station (BS) in a communication system or a device deployed in a radio access network (RAN) to provide wireless communication function.

[0055] For example, the network device can be an evolutional node B (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE communication system, a next generation evolved node B (ng-eNB) in an NR communication system, a next generation node B (gNB) in an NR communication system, a master node (MN) in a dual connectivity architecture, a secondary node (SN) in a dual connectivity architecture, and the like, without specific limitation.

[0056] In some possible implementations, the network device can also be a device in a core network (CN), such as an access and mobility management function (AMF), a user plane function (UPF), and the like; an access point (AP) in a WLAN, a relay station, a communication device in a future evolved PLMN network, a communication device in an NTN network, and the like.

[0057] In some possible implementations, the network device can include a chip system, a chip, or a chip module having a device providing a wireless communication function for a terminal device. For example, the chip system can include a chip, or can include other discrete devices.

[0058] In some possible implementations, the network device can communicate with an Internet Protocol (IP) network. For example, the Internet, a private IP network, or other data network, and the like.

[0059] In some possible implementation, the network device can be one standalone node to implement the functions of the above-mentioned base station, or the network device can include two or more standalone nodes to implement the functions of the above-mentioned base station. For example, the network device includes a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), such as gNB-CU and gNB-DU. Further, in some other embodiments of the present application, the network device can also include an active antenna unit (AAU). Wherein, the CU implements part of the functions of the network device, and the DU implements another part of the functions of the network device. For example, the CU is responsible for processing non-real-time protocols and services, and implements the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) layer, the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer. The DU is responsible for processing the physical layer protocol and real-time services, and implements the functions of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer. In addition, the AAU can implement part of the physical layer processing function, the radio frequency processing, and the related functions of the active antenna. Since the information of the RRC layer will eventually become the information of the PHY layer, or be converted from the information of the PHY layer, in this network deployment, the high-layer signaling (such as RRC signaling) can be considered as generated by the CU, transmitted by the DU, or transmitted by the DU and the AAU together. It can be understood that the network device can include at least one of the CU, the DU, and the AAU. In addition, the CU can be divided into a network device in the RAN, or the CU can also be divided into a network device in the core network, which is not limited specifically.

[0060] In some possible implementations, the network device can be any one of multiple sites for coherent joint transmission (CJT) with the terminal device, or other sites outside the multiple sites, or other network devices in network communication with the terminal device, without specific limitation. The multiple-site coherent joint transmission can be joint coherent transmission of multiple sites, or different data belonging to the same physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is transmitted to the terminal device from different sites, or multiple sites are virtually formed into one site for transmission, and names of the same meaning specified in other standards also apply to the present application, i.e., the present application does not limit the names of these parameters. The sites in the multiple-site coherent joint transmission can be remote radio heads (RRHs), transmission and reception points (TRPs), network devices, etc., without specific limitation.

[0061] In some possible implementations, the network device can be any one of multiple sites for non-coherent joint transmission with the terminal device, or other sites outside the multiple sites, or other network devices in network communication with the terminal device, without specific limitation. The multiple-site non-coherent joint transmission can be joint non-coherent transmission of multiple sites, or different data belonging to the same PDSCH is transmitted to the terminal device from different sites, or different data belonging to the same PDSCH is transmitted to the terminal device from different sites, and names of the same meaning specified in other standards also apply to the present application, i.e., the present application does not limit the names of these parameters. The sites in the multiple-site non-coherent joint transmission can be RRHs, TRPs, network devices, etc., without specific limitation.

[0062] In some possible implementations, the network device can have a mobile characteristic, for example, the network device can be a mobile device. Alternatively, the network device can be a satellite, a balloon station. For example, the satellite can be a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite, a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (HEO) satellite, etc. Alternatively, the network device can also be a base station arranged at a position on land, water, etc.

[0063] In some possible implementations, network devices can provide services to a cell, and terminal devices within that cell can communicate with the network devices via transmission resources (such as spectrum resources). This cell can be a macrocell, small cell, metro cell, microcell, pico cell, or femto cell, etc.

[0064] 4. Example Explanation

[0065] The following is an exemplary description of the communication system according to an embodiment of this application.

[0066] For example, the network architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of this application can be found in [reference needed]. Figure 1 .like Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 10 may include network device 110 and terminal device 120.

[0067] Figure 1 This is merely an example of a network architecture for a communication system and does not constitute a limitation on the network architecture of the communication systems in the embodiments of this application. For example, the communication system 10 may also include a server or other devices. As another example, the communication system 10 may include multiple network devices and / or multiple terminal devices.

[0068] II. A Dual-SIM Uplink Transmission Method

[0069] 1. Description

[0070] In order to ensure uplink enhancement by switching uplink transmission between two SIM cards and two transmission channels in a terminal device, this application proposes a dual-SIM uplink transmission method. It should be noted that the terminal device can also be a chip, chip module, or communication module, etc., and there are no specific limitations.

[0071] like Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating a dual-SIM uplink transmission method according to an embodiment of this application. The method can be applied to a terminal device having two SIM cards and two transmission channels. One of the SIM cards (referred to as the "first SIM card" for ease of description and distinction) supports uplink transmission switching, while the other SIM card (referred to as the "second SIM card" for ease of description and distinction) does not support uplink transmission switching. Specifically, the method may include the following steps:

[0072] S210, determining uplink communication states of the two SIM cards according to uplink carriers available to the first SIM card, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards being used to represent transmission channel occupation states and RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on TDD time slots respectively.

[0073] The uplink carriers available to the first SIM card include one of the following: the first SIM card can only use FDD uplink carriers, and the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers in a time-division manner; and the TDD time slots include one of the following: TDD uplink time slots, TDD downlink time slots, and TDD special time slots.

[0074] S220, controlling the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on TDD uplink carriers or FDD uplink carriers according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards.

[0075] It can be seen that, since the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching and the second SIM card does not support uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers in a time-division manner, and perform carrier switching between FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card also need to occupy transmission channels to perform uplink transmission.

[0076] In addition, since the uplink carriers available to the first SIM card are different under different uplink coverage, the first SIM card may not be able to perform carrier switching, so embodiments of the present application can dynamically determine the number of transmission channels occupied by the first SIM card and the second SIM card on TDD time slots and the RRC states in which the first SIM card and the second SIM card are located (i.e., represented by the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards) according to the different uplink carriers available to the first SIM card. Finally, the two SIM cards are controlled to perform uplink transmission on TDD uplink carriers or FDD uplink carriers according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards.

[0077] In this way, embodiments of the present application not only can improve uplink resource utilization, improve uplink coverage and uplink throughput by combining a dual-card terminal device with uplink transmission switching, but also can realize uplink enhancement through dual-card uplink transmission.

[0078] The technical solutions, beneficial effects, concepts, etc. related to embodiments of the present application are described in detail below.

[0079] 2. Detailed description

[0080] 1) The first SIM card and the second SIM card

[0081] For the convenience of distinguishing and describing, the first SIM card and the second SIM card are introduced in the embodiments of the present application. The first SIM card can refer to one of the two specific SIM cards of the terminal device, and the second SIM card can refer to the other of the two specific SIM cards of the terminal device.

[0082] Since the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, and the second SIM card does not support uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can multiplex FDD (Frequency Division Duplexing) uplink carriers and TDD (Time Division Duplexing) uplink carriers in a time-division manner, and the second SIM card cannot multiplex FDD (uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers in a time-division manner.

[0083] In addition, the FDD uplink carrier can also be referred to as a "low-frequency uplink carrier", and the TDD uplink carrier can also be referred to as a "high-frequency uplink carrier", which is not specifically limited.

[0084] In some possible implementations, the first SIM card can be a primary SIM card in the two SIM cards, and the second SIM card can be a secondary SIM card in the two SIM cards.

[0085] It should be noted that the primary SIM card and the secondary SIM card usually have different service capabilities / communication capabilities, such as the service capabilities / communication capabilities supported by the primary SIM card are higher than the service capabilities / communication capabilities supported by the secondary SIM card, so the first SIM card and the second SIM card have different service capabilities / communication capabilities.

[0086] 2) First transmission channel and second transmission channel

[0087] It should be noted that the SIM card needs to occupy a certain transmission channel to perform uplink transmission, and the embodiments of the present application will discuss the cases that the SIM card does not occupy a transmission channel, the SIM card occupies one transmission channel, and the SIM card occupies two transmission channels.

[0088] For the case that the SIM card occupies one transmission channel, for the convenience of distinguishing and describing, the first transmission channel and the second transmission channel are introduced in the embodiments of the present application. The first transmission channel can refer to one transmission channel occupied by the first SIM card, and the second transmission channel can refer to one transmission channel occupied by the second SIM card.

[0089] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the transmission channel can also be understood as a transmission antenna or a transmission unit, which is not specifically limited.

[0090] 3) Uplink carrier available to the first SIM card

[0091] ①Description

[0092] In the embodiments of the present application, the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card can include one of the following: the first SIM card can only use FDD uplink carrier, the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carrier and TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner.

[0093] It should be noted that although the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card can be different under different uplink coverage, such as the first SIM card cannot perform carrier switching when the first SIM card can only use FDD uplink carrier, and the second SIM card can perform carrier switching when the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carrier and TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner.

[0094] In some possible implementations, the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carrier and TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, which can include one of the following:

[0095] The first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carrier and TDD uplink carrier by inter-band carrier aggregation, the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carrier and TDD uplink carrier by E-UTRAN New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC), and the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carrier and TDD uplink carrier by New Radio Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) in a time-division manner.

[0096] The following will be described in detail.

[0097] a. Inter-band carrier aggregation

[0098] It should be noted that since inter-band carrier aggregation can be applied to an area covered by multiple different frequency bands at the same time, when the electronic device is in the area, the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carrier and TDD uplink carrier by inter-band carrier aggregation in a time-division manner.

[0099] For FDD uplink carrier and TDD uplink carrier by inter-band carrier aggregation, it can be understood that the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier are respectively on different frequency bands, such as the FDD uplink carrier is on low frequency and the TDD uplink carrier is on high frequency, and the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier are carrier aggregated.

[0100] b. EN-DC

[0101] It should be noted that EN-DC belongs to non-standalone (NAS) and can be that the terminal device is connected to the NR communication system (such as the cell of the 5G network) and the LTE communication system (such as the cell of the 4G network) at the same time, so that the operator can utilize the wireless resources of the two network technologies at the same time.

[0102] For the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier of EN-DC, it can be understood as the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier under the dual connectivity between the NR communication system and the LTE communication system.

[0103] For example, the FDD uplink carrier is under the NR communication system, and the TDD uplink carrier is under the LTE communication system; or the FDD uplink carrier is under the LTE communication system, and the TDD uplink carrier is under the NR communication system.

[0104] c.NR-DC

[0105] It should be noted that NR-DC belongs to standalone (AS) and can be that the terminal device is connected to one NR communication system (such as the cell of the 5G network) and another NR communication system (such as the cell of the 5G network) at the same time, and one NR communication system adopts a Sub6G frequency band as a master node and a flow control point, and the other NR communication system adopts a millimeter wave frequency band as a secondary node.

[0106] For the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier of NR-DC, it can be understood as the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier under the dual connectivity between one NR communication system and another NR communication system.

[0107] For example, the FDD uplink carrier is in the Sub6G frequency band, and the TDD uplink carrier is in the millimeter wave frequency band; or the FDD uplink carrier is in the millimeter wave frequency band, and the TDD uplink carrier is in the Sub6G frequency band.

[0108] ②How to determine the uplink carrier that can be used by the first SIM card

[0109] It should be noted that since the TDD carrier is generally in a high frequency band, such as N78 is 3.5GHz and N79 is 4.9GHz, and the FDD carrier is usually in a low frequency band, the coverage range of the TDD carrier is much smaller than that of the FDD carrier.

[0110] In addition, since the terminal device has mobility, the terminal device can be close to the center of the cell (i.e., the terminal device is at a near point of the cell) or far away from the center of the cell (i.e., the terminal device is at a far point of the cell or at the edge of the cell). Therefore, when the terminal device is at the near point of the cell, for the uplink direction, the terminal device can be in the common coverage range of the FDD carrier and the TDD carrier, and the terminal device can use the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier for uplink transmission. When the terminal device is at the far point of the cell or at the edge of the cell, for the uplink direction, the terminal device can be in the coverage range of the FDD carrier only, and the terminal device can use the FDD carrier for uplink transmission.

[0111] In summary, the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card can be determined according to the uplink carrier coverage range in which the electronic device is located, and the uplink carrier coverage range can include one of the following: the coverage range of the FDD carrier, the common coverage range of the FDD carrier and the TDD carrier.

[0112] 4) TDD time slot

[0113] It should be noted that in the time domain, the terminal device can perform corresponding uplink and downlink transmission in the scheduled or configured TDD time slot.

[0114] The TDD time slot can include one of the following: a TDD uplink time slot, a TDD downlink time slot, and a TDD special time slot.

[0115] The TDD uplink time slot can be understood as a time slot for TDD uplink transmission. At this time, the terminal device can perform uplink transmission through the TDD uplink carrier in the TDD uplink time slot.

[0116] The TDD downlink time slot can be understood as a time slot for TDD downlink transmission. At this time, the terminal device can perform downlink transmission through the TDD downlink carrier in the TDD downlink time slot.

[0117] The TDD special time slot can be understood as a time slot for control information transmission. At this time, the terminal device can send or receive related control information in the TDD special time slot.

[0118] Specifically, the TDD special time slot can include three special time slots, i.e., a downlink pilot time slot (DwPTS), a guard period (GP), and an uplink pilot time slot (UpPTS).

[0119] 5) Uplink communication state of two SIM cards

[0120] ① Description

[0121] It should be noted that in combination with the above-mentioned content in "3) the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card", since the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card will be different under different uplink coverage, resulting in that the first SIM card cannot necessarily perform carrier switching, therefore, embodiments of the present application can dynamically determine the number of transmission channels respectively occupied by the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot and the RRC state in which they are respectively located according to the difference of the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card.

[0122] Based on this, embodiments of the present application introduce the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards, which can be used to represent / describe / indicate the transmission channel occupation state and the RRC state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot respectively.

[0123] The transmission channel occupation state can be used to represent / describe / indicate the number of transmission channels respectively occupied by the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot.

[0124] The RRC state can be used to represent / describe / indicate the RRC state in which the first SIM card and the second SIM card are respectively located on the TDD time slot.

[0125] ②How to determine the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards

[0126] The following embodiments of the present application explain from different ways how to determine the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards according to the difference of the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card, in order to ensure the diversity and flexibility of the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards.

[0127] Method 1:

[0128] In "Method 1", embodiments of the present application consider that the terminal device is at a cell far point or a cell edge, so that the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier. At the same time, the terminal device has accessed the network through random access and other ways, so that the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in the RRC connected state.

[0129] At this time, on the TDD uplink time slot, although the first SIM card can continue to use the FDD carrier, because the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card needs to perform carrier switching, resulting in switching from the FDD carrier to the TDD carrier.

[0130] Since the first SIM card cannot use the TDD uplink carrier, in order to avoid the case that the first SIM card occupies the transmission channel due to the inability to use the TDD uplink carrier, embodiments of the present application can allocate both transmission channels to the second SIM card for use, so that the second SIM card can occupy both transmission channels, and the first SIM card does not occupy the transmission channel. In this way, it is beneficial to improve the utilization efficiency of the transmission channel.

[0131] In addition, in order to ensure that the terminal device still accesses the network, embodiments of the present application can continue to keep the first SIM card and the second SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0132] In summary, if the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are determined as follows:

[0133] On the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card does not occupy both transmission channels, and the second SIM card occupies both transmission channels, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in the RRC connected state.

[0134] Method 2:

[0135] In "Method 2", embodiments of the present application consider that the terminal device is at a cell near point, and since the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, so that the first SIM can perform carrier switching. At the same time, the terminal device has accessed the network through random access and the like, so that the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in the RRC connected state.

[0136] At this time, on the TDD uplink time slot, since the first SIM card can switch from the FDD carrier to the TDD carrier and use the TDD uplink carrier, embodiments of the present application can allocate both transmission channels to the first SIM card for use, so that the first SIM card can occupy both transmission channels, and the second SIM card does not occupy the transmission channel. In this way, it is not only beneficial to improve the utilization efficiency of the transmission channel, but also beneficial to preferentially ensure that the first SIM card can fully utilize the uplink resources, improve the uplink coverage and uplink throughput. Especially when the first SIM card is the primary SIM card.

[0137] In addition, in order to ensure that the terminal device still accesses the network, embodiments of the present application can continue to keep the first SIM card and the second SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0138] In summary, if the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are determined as follows:

[0139] On the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card occupies two transmission channels while the second SIM card does not occupy two transmission channels, and both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0140] Mode 3:

[0141] In the "mode 3", the embodiment of the present application considers that the terminal device is at a far point of a cell or at a cell edge, so that the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier. Meanwhile, the terminal device has accessed the network through random access and the like, so that both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0142] At this time, on the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, although the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can continue to use the FDD carrier without switching to the TDD carrier. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can allocate one transmission channel to the first SIM card and another transmission channel to the second SIM card, so that the first SIM card can occupy the first transmission channel and the second SIM card can occupy the second transmission channel. In this way, it is beneficial to simultaneously ensure the uplink transmission of the first SIM card and the second SIM card, and realize dual-card dual-communication.

[0143] In addition, in order to ensure that the terminal device still accesses the network and ensure that the first SIM card and the second SIM card can continue to perform uplink transmission, the embodiment of the present application needs to continue to maintain that both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0144] In summary, if the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier, it is determined that the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards is:

[0145] On the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, the first SIM card and the second SIM card occupy one transmission channel respectively, and both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0146] Mode 4:

[0147] In the "mode 4", the embodiment of the present application considers that the terminal device is at a near point of a cell, so that the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner. Meanwhile, the terminal device has accessed the network through random access and the like, so that both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0148] At this time, on the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, although the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can continue to use the FDD carrier without switching to the TDD carrier. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can allocate one transmission channel to the first SIM card and another transmission channel to the second SIM card, so that the first SIM card can occupy the first transmission channel and the second SIM card can occupy the second transmission channel. In this way, it is beneficial to ensure that the first SIM card and the second SIM card perform uplink transmission at the same time, realizing dual-card dual-communication.

[0149] In addition, in order to ensure that the terminal device still accesses the network and ensure that the first SIM card and the second SIM card can continue to perform uplink transmission, the embodiment of the present application needs to continue to keep the first SIM card and the second SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0150] In summary, if the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards is determined as:

[0151] On the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, the first SIM card and the second SIM card occupy one transmission channel respectively, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0152] 6) How to perform uplink transmission according to the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards

[0153] In combination with the content in the above "5) uplink communication state of the two SIM cards", the embodiment of the present application explains how to perform uplink transmission according to the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards according to the above "mode 1", "mode 2", "mode 3" and "mode 4".

[0154] Mode 1:

[0155] In "mode 1", the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards is that on the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card does not occupy the two transmission channels while the second SIM card occupies the two transmission channels, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0156] Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can control the second SIM card to use the two transmission channels on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier for uplink MIMO transmission, and control the first SIM card not to perform uplink transmission.

[0157] It can be seen that if the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier, on the TDD uplink time slot, since the second SIM card uses the two transmission channels for uplink MIMO transmission, the uplink resource utilization and uplink throughput of the second SIM card are improved.

[0158] Mode 2:

[0159] In the "mode 2", the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are as follows:

[0160] On the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card occupies the two transmission channels and the second SIM card does not occupy the two transmission channels, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in the RRC connected state.

[0161] Therefore, the embodiments of the present application can control the first SIM card to use the two transmission channels on the TDD uplink carrier for uplink MIMO transmission, and control the second SIM card not to perform uplink transmission.

[0162] It can be seen that if the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, on the TDD uplink time slot, since the first SIM card uses the two transmission channels for uplink MIMO transmission and the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, not only the uplink resource utilization and uplink throughput of the first SIM card are improved, but also uplink enhancement is realized.

[0163] Mode 3:

[0164] In the "mode 3", the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are as follows:

[0165] On the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, the first SIM card and the second SIM card respectively occupy one transmission channel, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in the RRC connected state.

[0166] Therefore, the embodiments of the present application can control the first SIM card to use the first transmission channel on one FDD uplink carrier (in order to facilitate distinction and description, the first FDD uplink carrier is referred to as "first FDD uplink carrier") for uplink Single Input Single Output (SISO) transmission, and control the second SIM card to use the second transmission channel on another FDD uplink carrier (in order to facilitate distinction and description, the another FDD uplink carrier is referred to as "second FDD uplink carrier") for uplink SISO transmission.

[0167] The first FDD uplink carrier and the second FDD uplink carrier are respectively on different carrier frequencies.

[0168] It can be seen that if the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier, on the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, since the first SIM card and the second SIM card can both perform uplink transmission, and the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, it is not only beneficial to realize dual-card dual-communication, but also beneficial to realize uplink enhancement.

[0169] Mode 4:

[0170] In the "mode 4", the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are as follows:

[0171] On the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, the first SIM card and the second SIM card respectively occupy one transmission channel, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in the RRC connected state.

[0172] Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can control the first SIM card to use the first transmission channel on the first FDD uplink carrier to perform uplink SISO transmission, and control the second SIM card to use the second transmission channel on the second FDD uplink carrier to perform uplink SISO transmission.

[0173] Wherein, the first FDD uplink carrier and the second FDD uplink carrier are respectively on different carrier frequencies.

[0174] It can be seen that if the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, on the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, since the first SIM card and the second SIM card can both perform uplink transmission, and the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, it is not only beneficial to realize dual-card dual-communication, but also beneficial to realize uplink enhancement.

[0175] 7) Change the transmission channel occupation state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot

[0176] Mode 1:

[0177] It should be noted that in the above "mode 1", during the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card does not occupy the two transmission channel switching, so that the first SIM card cannot perform uplink transmission, thereby causing the first SIM card to generate a packet error. When the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is long, it will cause the first SIM card to have a long time packet error, thereby seriously affecting the reliability of communication.

[0178] In this regard, in order to avoid the long time packet error of the first SIM card, the embodiment of the present application needs to change the transmission channel occupation state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot during the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, which can be as follows:

[0179] Mode 1-1:

[0180] In the "mode 1-1", the embodiment of the present application can introduce a first timer, and determine whether the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long by the duration of the first timer, so as to avoid the long time packet error of the first SIM card. The first timer can be started at the first symbol of the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0181] In this regard, if the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the duration of the first timer, it means that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long. Therefore, after the first timer expires, the first SIM card can be switched from not occupying two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card can be switched from occupying two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0182] In this way, the first SIM card and the second SIM card change the transmission channel occupation state in the TDD time slot by starting the first timer by the terminal device itself, which not only helps to avoid the long time packet error of the first SIM card, but also helps the first SIM card and the second SIM card to use the transmission channels occupied by themselves for uplink transmission, so as to realize dual-card dual-connection.

[0183] Specifically, the first timer can be network configured, pre-configured or protocol specified.

[0184] For example, taking network configuration as an example, during the process of cell camping, cell search, uplink and downlink synchronization, initial cell access, random access and the like, the network device can configure the first timer to the terminal device by RRC signaling, system message or DCI and the like.

[0185] Mode 1-2:

[0186] In the "mode 1-2", the embodiment of the present application can introduce first indication information, which can be used to indicate that the first SIM card is switched from not occupying two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card is switched from occupying two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0187] In this regard, if the network device determines that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, in order to avoid the long time packet error of the first SIM card, the network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0188] In this way, after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device can switch the first SIM card from not occupying two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and switch the second SIM card from occupying two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0189] Therefore, the first SIM card and the second SIM card change the occupying states of the transmission channels in the TDD time slot by the network device sending the first indication information to the terminal device, which not only helps to avoid the long-time packet error of the first SIM card, but also helps the first SIM card and the second SIM card to use the transmission channels occupied by themselves for uplink transmission, thereby realizing dual-card dual-connection.

[0190] Specifically, the first indication information can be carried by RRC signaling, MAC CE or DCI.

[0191] Mode 2:

[0192] It should be noted that in the above "mode 2", the second SIM card does not occupy the two transmission channel switches in the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, so that the second SIM card cannot perform uplink transmission, thereby causing the second SIM card to have a long-time packet error, which seriously affects the reliability of communication.

[0193] To this end, in order to avoid the long-time packet error of the second SIM card, the embodiments of the present application need to change the occupying states of the transmission channels of the first SIM card and the second SIM card in the TDD time slot in the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, and the specific modes can include the following modes:

[0194] Mode 2-1:

[0195] In "mode 2-1", the embodiments of the present application can introduce a third timer, and the duration of the third timer is used to determine whether the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, so as to avoid the long-time packet error of the second SIM card. The third timer can be started at the first symbol of the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0196] To this end, if the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the duration of the third timer, it means that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, so that after the third timer expires, the first SIM card can be switched from occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card can be switched from not occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0197] Therefore, the first SIM card and the second SIM card change the occupying states of the transmission channels in the TDD time slot by the terminal device starting the third timer itself, which not only helps to avoid the long-time packet error of the second SIM card, but also helps the first SIM card and the second SIM card to use the transmission channels occupied by themselves for uplink transmission, thereby realizing dual-card dual-connection.

[0198] Specifically, the third timer can be network configured, preconfigured or protocol specified.

[0199] For example, taking network configuration as an example, in the process of cell camping, cell search, uplink and downlink synchronization, initial cell access, random access and the like of the terminal device, the network device can configure the third timer to the terminal device by means of RRC signaling, system message or DCI and the like.

[0200] Mode 2-2:

[0201] In the "mode 2-2", the embodiments of the present application can introduce third indication information, which can be used to indicate that the first SIM card is switched from occupying two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card is switched from not occupying two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0202] In this regard, if the network device determines that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, in order to avoid the long-time packet error of the second SIM card, the network device can issue third indication information to the terminal device within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0203] In this way, after receiving the third indication information, the terminal device can switch the first SIM card from occupying two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and switch the second SIM card from not occupying two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0204] In this way, by means of the network device issuing third indication information to the terminal device to change the transmission channel occupation state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot, not only is it beneficial to avoid the long-time packet error of the second SIM card, but also is it beneficial to the first SIM card and the second SIM card to use the transmission channels occupied by each other for uplink transmission, thereby realizing dual-card dual-communication.

[0205] Specifically, the third indication information can be carried by RRC signaling, MAC CE or DCI.

[0206] 8) Change the RRC state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot

[0207] Mode 1:

[0208] It should be noted that in the above "mode 1", within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, although the first SIM card does not occupy two transmission channels at all, so that the first SIM card cannot perform uplink transmission, the first SIM card is always in the RRC connected state. When the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is long, this will result in the first SIM card continuously occupying the RRC link, and the terminal device continuously wasting power in order to maintain the first SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0209] To this end, in order to avoid the first SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device, embodiments of the present application need to change the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot. Specifically, the following modes can exist:

[0210] Mode 1-3:

[0211] In the "mode 1-3", embodiments of the present application can introduce a second timer, and determine whether the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long through the duration of the second timer, so as to avoid the first SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device. The second timer can be started at the first symbol of the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0212] To this end, if the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the duration of the second timer, it means that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long. Therefore, after the second timer expires, the first SIM card can be switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the second SIM card can be kept in the RRC connected state, so as to ensure the uplink transmission of the second SIM card.

[0213] In this way, the second timer started by the terminal device itself is used to change the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot, so as to avoid the first SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device.

[0214] Specifically, the second timer can be network configured, preconfigured or protocol specified.

[0215] For example, in the case of network configuration, the network device can configure the second timer by sending RRC signaling, system message or DCI to the terminal device during the processes of cell camping, cell search, uplink and downlink synchronization, initial cell access, random access, etc.

[0216] Mode 1-4:

[0217] In the "mode 1-4", embodiments of the present application can introduce second indication information, which can be used to indicate that the first SIM card is switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the second SIM card is kept in the RRC connected state.

[0218] To this end, if the network device determines that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, in order to avoid the first SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device, the network device can send the second indication information to the terminal device within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0219] Thus, after receiving the second indication information, the terminal device can switch the first SIM card from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and keep the second SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0220] In this way, the network device sends the second indication information to the terminal device to change the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot, avoid the first SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link, and save the power of the terminal device.

[0221] Specifically, the second indication information can be carried by RRC signaling, MAC CE, or DCI.

[0222] Method 2:

[0223] It should be noted that in the above-mentioned "method 2", during the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, although the second SIM card does not occupy the two transmission channel switches, so that the second SIM card cannot perform uplink transmission, the second SIM card is always in the RRC connected state. When the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is long, this will cause the second SIM card to continuously occupy the RRC link, and the terminal device will continuously waste power in order to maintain the second SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0224] To this end, in order to avoid the second SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device, the embodiments of the present application need to change the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot during the duration of the TDD uplink time slot. Specifically, the following methods can exist:

[0225] Method 2-3:

[0226] In "method 2-3", the embodiments of the present application can introduce a fourth timer, and determine whether the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long by the duration of the fourth timer, so as to avoid the second SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device. The fourth timer can be started at the first symbol of the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0227] To this end, if the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the duration of the fourth timer, it means that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long. Thus, after the fourth timer expires, the second SIM card can be switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the first SIM card can be kept in the RRC connected state, so as to ensure the uplink transmission of the first SIM card.

[0228] Thus, the RRC state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot is changed by starting the fourth timer by the terminal device itself, the second SIM card is prevented from continuously occupying the RRC link, and the power of the terminal device is saved.

[0229] Specifically, the fourth timer can be configured by the network, preconfigured, or specified by a protocol.

[0230] For example, taking the network configuration as an example, in the process of cell camping, cell search, uplink and downlink synchronization, initial cell access, random access, and the like, the network device can send the RRC signaling, system message, or DCI to the terminal device to configure the fourth timer.

[0231] Mode 2-4:

[0232] In the mode 2-4, the fourth indication information can be introduced by the embodiments of the present application, which can be used to indicate that the second SIM card is switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the first SIM card is kept in the RRC connected state.

[0233] In this regard, if the network device determines that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, in order to avoid the second SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device, the network device can send the fourth indication information to the terminal device within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0234] In this way, after receiving the fourth indication information, the terminal device can switch the second SIM card from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and keep the first SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0235] Thus, the RRC state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot is changed by sending the fourth indication information to the terminal device by the network device, the second SIM card is prevented from continuously occupying the RRC link, and the power of the terminal device is saved.

[0236] Specifically, the fourth indication information can be carried by the RRC signaling, the MAC CE, or the DCI.

[0237] Three, an example of a dual-card uplink transmission device

[0238] 1. Description

[0239] The above describes the scheme of the embodiments of the present application mainly from the method side. It can be understood that the terminal device includes hardware structure and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function in order to implement the above functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is implemented in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0240] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functional units of the terminal device according to the above method examples. For example, each functional unit can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated in one processing unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software program module. It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical functional division, and actual implementation can have another division manner.

[0241] In the case of using integrated units, Figure 3 is a functional unit composition block diagram of a dual-card uplink transmission device according to an embodiment of the present application. The dual-card uplink transmission device 300 includes a determination unit 301 and a control unit 302.

[0242] In some possible implementations, the determination unit 301 can be a module unit for processing signals, data, information, etc., without specific limitation.

[0243] In some possible implementations, the control unit 302 can be a module unit for processing signals, data, information, etc., without specific limitation.

[0244] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission device 300 can further include a communication unit. The communication unit can be a communication interface, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, etc.

[0245] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission device 300 can further include a storage unit for storing computer program codes or instructions executed by the dual-card uplink transmission device 300. The storage unit can be a memory.

[0246] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission device 300 can be a chip or a chip module.

[0247] In a possible implementation, the determining unit 301 and the control unit 302 can be integrated in a same unit, or can be integrated in different units respectively.

[0248] For example, the determining unit 301 and the control unit 302 can be integrated in a processing unit.

[0249] It should be noted that the processing unit can be a processor or a controller, for example, can be a baseband processor, a baseband chip, a central processing unit (CPU), 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, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. The processing unit can implement or execute various exemplary logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in combination with the disclosure of the present application. The processing unit can also be a combination that implements a computing function, for example, a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and the like.

[0250] In a possible implementation, the determining unit 301 and the control unit 302 are configured to perform any step in the above method embodiments, for example, transmitting or receiving data, and the like. Details are as follows.

[0251] In a specific implementation, the determining unit 301 and the control unit 302 are configured to perform any step in the above method embodiments, and when performing an action such as transmission, other units can be optionally invoked to complete the corresponding operation. Details are as follows.

[0252] The determining unit 301 is configured to determine, according to an uplink carrier available to the first SIM card, uplink communication states of the two SIM cards, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards being used to represent transmission channel occupation states and radio resource control (RRC) states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on time division duplex (TDD) time slots respectively; the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card includes one of the following: the first SIM card can only use a frequency division duplex (FDD) uplink carrier, and the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and a TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner; the TDD time slot includes one of the following: a TDD uplink time slot, a TDD downlink time slot, and a TDD special time slot.

[0253] The control unit 302 is configured to control the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards.

[0254] It can be seen that, since the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching while the second SIM card does not support uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, and perform carrier switching between the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card also need to occupy a transmission channel to perform uplink transmission.

[0255] In addition, since the uplink carriers available to the first SIM card can be different under different uplink coverage, the first SIM card can not be able to perform carrier switching, and therefore, embodiments of the present application can dynamically determine the number of transmission channels occupied by the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot and the RRC states in which the first SIM card and the second SIM card are located (i.e., represented by the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards) according to the different uplink carriers available to the first SIM card. Finally, the two SIM cards are controlled to perform uplink transmission on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards.

[0256] In this way, embodiments of the present application not only can improve uplink resource utilization, improve uplink coverage and uplink throughput by combining the dual-card terminal device with uplink transmission switching, but also can realize uplink enhancement through dual-card uplink transmission.

[0257] It should be noted that, Figure 3 The specific implementation of each operation in the embodiments can be seen from the description of the method embodiments shown above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0258] 2. Some possible implementation manners

[0259] Some possible implementation manners are described below. Some specific descriptions can be seen from the above, and will not be described here.

[0260] In some possible implementations, in terms of determining the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards according to the uplink carriers available to the first SIM card, the determining unit 301 is configured to:

[0261] If the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are determined as follows:

[0262] On the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card does not occupy the two transmission channels while the second SIM card occupies the two transmission channels, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in the RRC connected state.

[0263] It should be noted that in combination with the content in the above "② How to determine the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards" in "Method 1", in "Method 1", the embodiment of the application considers that the terminal device is at a cell far point or a cell edge, so that the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier. At the same time, the terminal device has accessed the network through a random access or the like, so that the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in an RRC connected state.

[0264] At this time, on the TDD uplink time slot, although the first SIM card can continue to use the FDD carrier, because the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card needs to perform carrier switching, resulting in switching from the FDD carrier to the TDD carrier.

[0265] In addition, because the first SIM card cannot use the TDD uplink carrier, in order to avoid the case that the first SIM card cannot use the TDD uplink carrier and occupies the transmission channel, the embodiment of the application can allocate both transmission channels to the second SIM card for use, so that the second SIM card can occupy both transmission channels, and the first SIM card does not occupy the transmission channel. In this way, it is beneficial to improve the utilization efficiency of the transmission channel.

[0266] In addition, in order to ensure that the terminal device still accesses the network, the embodiment of the application can continue to maintain that the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in an RRC connected state.

[0267] In some possible implementations, in terms of controlling the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier according to the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards, the control unit 302 is configured to:

[0268] control the second SIM card to use the two transmission channels on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier for uplink multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission, and control the first SIM card not to perform uplink transmission.

[0269] It should be noted that in combination with the content in the above "6) How to perform uplink transmission according to the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards" in "Method 1", in "Method 1", if the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier, on the TDD uplink time slot, because the second SIM card uses the two transmission channels for uplink MIMO transmission, it is beneficial to improve the uplink resource utilization rate and the uplink throughput of the second SIM card.

[0270] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission apparatus 300 can further include a changing unit, configured to:

[0271] If the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the length of the first timer, the first SIM card is switched from not occupying both transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel and the second SIM card is switched from occupying both transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel after the first timer expires, and the first timer is started at the first symbol of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0272] It should be noted that in combination with the above-mentioned content in "way 1-1" of "7) changing the transmission channel occupation states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot", in "way 1-1", the embodiment of the application can introduce a first timer, and determine whether the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long through the length of the first timer, so as to avoid long-time packet loss of the first SIM card. The first timer can be started at the first symbol of the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0273] In this case, if the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the length of the first timer, it means that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, so that the first SIM card can be switched from not occupying both transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel and the second SIM card can be switched from occupying both transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel after the first timer expires.

[0274] In this way, the transmission channel occupation states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot are changed by starting the first timer by the terminal device itself, which not only helps to avoid long-time packet loss of the first SIM card, but also helps the first SIM card and the second SIM card to use the transmission channels they occupy for uplink transmission, realizing dual-card dual-connection.

[0275] Specifically, the first timer can be network configured, preconfigured or protocol specified.

[0276] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission apparatus 300 can further include a changing unit configured to:

[0277] If the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the length of the second timer, the first SIM card is switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state and the second SIM card is kept in the RRC connected state after the second timer expires, and the second timer is started at the first symbol of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0278] It should be noted that in combination with the above-mentioned content in the "mode 1-3" of "8) changing the RRC state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot", in the "mode 1-3", the embodiment of the application can introduce a second timer, and determine whether the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long through the duration of the second timer, so as to avoid the first SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device. The second timer can be started at the first symbol of the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0279] In this case, if the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the duration of the second timer, it indicates that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long. Therefore, after the second timer expires, the first SIM card can be switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the second SIM card can be kept in the RRC connected state, so as to ensure the uplink transmission of the second SIM card.

[0280] In this way, the RRC state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot is changed by starting the second timer by the terminal device itself, so as to avoid the first SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device.

[0281] Specifically, the second timer can be network configured, preconfigured or protocol specified.

[0282] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission apparatus 300 can further include a changing unit, configured to:

[0283] In the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, the first indication information is received, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first SIM card is switched from not occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card is switched from occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0284] It should be noted that in combination with the above-mentioned content in the "mode 1-2" of "7) changing the transmission channel occupation state of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot", in the "mode 1-2", the embodiment of the application can introduce the first indication information, which can be used to indicate that the first SIM card is switched from not occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card is switched from occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0285] In this case, if the network device determines that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, in order to avoid the long-time packet error of the first SIM card, the network device can send the first indication information to the terminal device in the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0286] In this way, after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device can switch the first SIM card from not occupying two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and switch the second SIM card from occupying two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0287] In this way, the network device changes the transmission channel occupation states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot by issuing the first indication information to the terminal device, which not only helps to avoid long-time packet loss of the first SIM card, but also helps the first SIM card and the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission by occupying the respective transmission channels, thereby realizing dual-card dual-connection.

[0288] Specifically, the first indication information can be carried by RRC signaling, MAC CE, or DCI.

[0289] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission apparatus 300 can further include a changing unit, configured to:

[0290] In the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, the second indication information is received, and the second indication information is used to instruct the first SIM card to switch from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the second SIM card to remain in the RRC connected state.

[0291] It should be noted that in combination with the content in the above-mentioned "way 1-4" of "8) changing the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot", in the "way 1-4", the second indication information can be introduced by the embodiments of the application, and the second indication information can be used to instruct the first SIM card to switch from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the second SIM card to remain in the RRC connected state.

[0292] In this regard, if the network device determines that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, in order to avoid the first SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device, the network device can issue the second indication information to the terminal device within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0293] In this way, after receiving the second indication information, the terminal device can switch the first SIM card from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and keep the second SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0294] In this way, the network device changes the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot by issuing the second indication information to the terminal device, which avoids the first SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and saves the power of the terminal device.

[0295] Specifically, the second indication information can be carried by RRC signaling, MAC CE or DCI.

[0296] In some possible implementation, in determining the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards according to the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card, the determining unit 301 is configured to:

[0297] If the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are determined as:

[0298] On the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card occupies two transmission channels while the second SIM card does not occupy two transmission channels, and both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0299] It should be noted that, in combination with the content in the "mode 1" of "② how to determine the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards" described above, in the "mode 2", the embodiment of the present application considers that the terminal device is at a cell near point, and since the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, so that the first SIM card can perform carrier switching. At the same time, the terminal device has accessed the network through random access and the like, so that both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0300] At this time, on the TDD uplink time slot, since the first SIM card can switch from the FDD carrier to the TDD carrier and use the TDD uplink carrier, the embodiment of the present application can allocate both the transmission channels to the first SIM card for use, so that the first SIM card can occupy two transmission channels while the second SIM card does not occupy transmission channels. In this way, not only is it conducive to improving the utilization efficiency of the transmission channels, but also is conducive to preferentially ensuring that the first SIM card can fully utilize the uplink resources and improving the uplink coverage and uplink throughput. Especially when the first SIM card is the primary SIM card.

[0301] In addition, in order to ensure that the terminal device still accesses the network, the embodiment of the present application can continue to maintain that both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0302] In some possible implementation, in controlling the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards, the controlling unit 302 is configured to:

[0303] The controlling unit 302 controls the first SIM card to perform uplink MIMO transmission by using two transmission channels on the TDD uplink carrier, and controls the second SIM card not to perform uplink transmission.

[0304] It should be noted that in combination with the above-mentioned content in the "way 2" of "6) how to perform uplink transmission according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards", if the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, on the TDD uplink time slot, since the first SIM card performs uplink MIMO transmission by using the two transmission channels and the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, it is not only beneficial to improve the uplink resource utilization and the uplink throughput of the first SIM card, but also beneficial to realize uplink enhancement.

[0305] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission apparatus 300 can further include a changing unit, configured to:

[0306] If the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the length of the third timer, after the second timer expires, the first SIM card is switched from occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card is switched from not occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel, and the third timer is started at the first symbol of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0307] It should be noted that in combination with the above-mentioned content in the "way 2-1" of "7) changing the transmission channel occupation states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot", in the "way 2-1", the third timer can be introduced, and whether the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long can be determined by the length of the third timer, so as to avoid long-time packet loss of the second SIM card. The third timer can be started at the first symbol of the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0308] In this case, if the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the length of the third timer, it indicates that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, so after the third timer expires, the first SIM card can be switched from occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card can be switched from not occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0309] In this way, the transmission channel occupation states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot are changed by starting the third timer by the terminal device itself, which is not only beneficial to avoid long-time packet loss of the second SIM card, but also beneficial to uplink transmission of the first SIM card and the second SIM card by using the transmission channels occupied by the first SIM card and the second SIM card respectively, and to realize dual-card dual-access.

[0310] Specifically, the third timer can be network configured, preconfigured or protocol specified.

[0311] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission apparatus 300 can further include a changing unit, configured to:

[0312] If the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the length of the fourth timer, the second SIM card is switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state and the first SIM card is maintained in the RRC connected state after the fourth timer expires, the fourth timer being started at the first symbol of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0313] It should be noted that in combination with the above-mentioned content in the "mode 2-3" of "8) changing the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card in the TDD time slot", in the "mode 2-3", the fourth timer can be introduced, and the duration of the fourth timer can be used to determine whether the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, so as to avoid the second SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device. The fourth timer can be started at the first symbol of the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0314] In this case, if the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the length of the fourth timer, it indicates that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long. Thus, after the fourth timer expires, the second SIM card can be switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the first SIM card can be maintained in the RRC connected state, so as to ensure the uplink transmission of the first SIM card.

[0315] In this way, the changing of the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card in the TDD time slot is realized by starting the fourth timer by the terminal device itself, so as to avoid the second SIM card from continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device.

[0316] Specifically, the fourth timer can be network configured, preconfigured or protocol specified.

[0317] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission apparatus 300 can further include a changing unit configured to:

[0318] In the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, the third indication information is received, the third indication information being used to indicate that the first SIM card is switched from occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card is switched from not occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0319] It should be noted that in combination with the above-mentioned content in the "way 2-2" of "7) changing the occupying states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the transmission channels of the TDD time slot", in the "way 2-2", the third indication information can be introduced by the embodiments of the present application, and the third indication information can be used to indicate that the first SIM card is switched from occupying two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card is switched from not occupying two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0320] In this regard, if the network device determines that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, in order to avoid long-time packet errors of the second SIM card, the network device can issue third indication information to the terminal device within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0321] In this way, after receiving the third indication information, the terminal device can switch the first SIM card from occupying two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and switch the second SIM card from not occupying two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel.

[0322] In this way, by means of the network device issuing the third indication information to the terminal device to change the occupying states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the transmission channels of the TDD time slot, not only can long-time packet errors of the second SIM card be avoided, but also the first SIM card and the second SIM card can use the transmission channels occupied by themselves for uplink transmission, thereby realizing dual-card dual-connection.

[0323] Specifically, the third indication information can be carried by RRC signaling, MAC CE or DCI.

[0324] In some possible implementations, the dual-card uplink transmission apparatus 300 can further include a changing unit, configured to:

[0325] Within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, the fourth indication information is received, and the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the second SIM card is switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the first SIM card remains in the RRC connected state.

[0326] It should be noted that in combination with the above-mentioned content in the "way 2-4" of "8) changing the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot", in the "way 2-4", the fourth indication information can be introduced by the embodiments of the present application, and the fourth indication information can be used to indicate that the second SIM card is switched from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and the first SIM card remains in the RRC connected state.

[0327] To this end, if the network device determines that the duration of the TDD uplink time slot is too long, in order to avoid the second SIM card continuously occupying the RRC link and save the power of the terminal device, the network device can send fourth indication information to the terminal device within the duration of the TDD uplink time slot.

[0328] In this way, after receiving the fourth indication information, the terminal device can switch the second SIM card from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and keep the first SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0329] In this way, the network device sends the fourth indication information to the terminal device to change the RRC states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card in the TDD time slot, avoid the second SIM card continuously occupying the RRC link, and save the power of the terminal device.

[0330] Specifically, the fourth indication information can be carried by RRC signaling, MAC CE, or DCI.

[0331] In some possible implementations, in terms of determining the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards according to the uplink carrier that can be used by the first SIM card, the determining unit 301 is configured to:

[0332] If the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are determined as follows:

[0333] On the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, the first SIM card and the second SIM card occupy one transmission channel respectively, and both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0334] It should be noted that in combination with the content in the above "way 3" of "how to determine the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards", in the "way 3", the embodiment of the application considers that the terminal device is at a cell far point or a cell edge, so that the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier. At the same time, the terminal device has accessed the network through a random access or the like, so that both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in the RRC connected state.

[0335] At this time, on the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, although the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can continue to use the FDD carrier without switching to the TDD carrier. Therefore, the embodiment of the application can allocate one transmission channel to the first SIM card and another transmission channel to the second SIM card, so that the first SIM card can occupy the first transmission channel and the second SIM card can occupy the second transmission channel. In this way, it is beneficial to simultaneously ensure the uplink transmission of the first SIM card and the second SIM card, and realize dual-card dual-communication.

[0336] In addition, in order to ensure that the terminal device still accesses the network and ensure that the first SIM card and the second SIM card can continue to perform uplink transmission, embodiments of the present application need to continue to keep the first SIM card and the second SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0337] In some possible implementations, in terms of determining the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards according to the uplink carrier that can be used by the first SIM card, the determining unit 301 is configured to:

[0338] If the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards is determined as:

[0339] On the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, the first SIM card and the second SIM card occupy one transmission channel respectively, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in the RRC connected state.

[0340] It should be noted that in combination with the content in the "mode 4" of the "how to determine the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards" described above, in the "mode 4", embodiments of the present application consider that the terminal device is at a cell near point, so that the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner. At the same time, the terminal device has accessed the network through a random access manner or the like, so that the first SIM card and the second SIM card are both in the RRC connected state.

[0341] At this time, on the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, although the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can continue to use the FDD carrier without switching to the TDD carrier. Therefore, embodiments of the present application can allocate one transmission channel to the first SIM card for use, and allocate another transmission channel to the second SIM card for use, so that the first SIM card can occupy the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card can occupy the second transmission channel. In this way, it is beneficial to simultaneously ensure that the first SIM card and the second SIM card perform uplink transmission, and realize dual-card dual-communication.

[0342] In addition, in order to ensure that the terminal device still accesses the network and ensure that the first SIM card and the second SIM card can continue to perform uplink transmission, embodiments of the present application need to continue to keep the first SIM card and the second SIM card in the RRC connected state.

[0343] In some possible implementations, in terms of controlling the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier according to the uplink communication state of the two SIM cards, the control unit 302 is configured to:

[0344] The first SIM card is controlled to use the first transmitting channel on the first FDD uplink carrier for uplink single-input single-output (SISO) transmission, and the second SIM card is controlled to use the second transmitting channel on the second FDD uplink carrier for uplink SISO transmission.

[0345] It should be noted that in combination with the content in the above-mentioned "way 3" of "6) how to perform uplink transmission according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards", if the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier, on the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, since the first SIM card and the second SIM card can both perform uplink transmission, and the first SIM card supports uplink transmitting switching, it is not only beneficial to realize dual-card dual-connection, but also beneficial to realize uplink enhancement.

[0346] In combination with the content in the above-mentioned "way 4" of "6) how to perform uplink transmission according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards", if the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, on the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, since the first SIM card and the second SIM card can both perform uplink transmission, and the first SIM card supports uplink transmitting switching, it is not only beneficial to realize dual-card dual-connection, but also beneficial to realize uplink enhancement.

[0347] In some possible implementations, the uplink carrier that can be used by the first SIM card can be determined according to an uplink carrier coverage range in which the electronic device is located, and the uplink carrier coverage range includes one of the following: an FDD carrier coverage range, and a common coverage range of an FDD carrier and a TDD carrier.

[0348] It should be noted that in combination with the content in the above-mentioned "② how to determine the uplink carrier that can be used by the first SIM card" of "3) the uplink carrier that can be used by the first SIM card", since the TDD carrier is generally in a high frequency band, for example, N78 is 3.5 GHz and N79 is 4.9 GHz, and the FDD carrier is usually in a low frequency band, the TDD carrier coverage range is much smaller than the FDD carrier coverage range.

[0349] In addition, since the terminal device has mobility, the terminal device can be very close to the cell center (i.e., the terminal device is at a near point of the cell), or very far from the cell center (e.g., the terminal device is at a far point of the cell or at the edge of the cell), and therefore, when the terminal device is at the near point of the cell, for the uplink direction, the terminal device can be in the common coverage range of the FDD carrier and the TDD carrier, and at this time, the terminal device can use the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier for uplink transmission; when the terminal device is at the far point of the cell or at the edge of the cell, for the uplink direction, the terminal device can only be in the FDD carrier coverage range, and at this time, the terminal device can only use the FDD carrier for uplink transmission.

[0350] In some possible implementations, the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, including one of the following:

[0351] The first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier aggregated by out-of-band carriers in a time-division manner, the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier aggregated by EN-DC and NR-DC in a time-division manner, and the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier aggregated by NR-DC.

[0352] It should be noted that, in combination with the content in the above "3) the uplink carrier that can be used by the first SIM card", the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in the embodiments of the present application can be aggregated by out-of-band carriers, EN-DC or NR-DC, so as to be applicable to various communication scenarios and improve the diversity and flexibility of the uplink carrier that can be used by the first SIM card.

[0353] Four, an example of a terminal device

[0354] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 is a structural schematic diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 400 can include a processor 410, a memory 420, and a communication bus for connecting the processor 410 and the memory 420.

[0355] In some possible implementations, the memory 420 includes, but is not limited to, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), which is used to store program codes executed by the terminal device 800 and transmitted data.

[0356] In some possible implementations, the terminal device 400 further includes a communication interface for receiving and sending data.

[0357] In some possible implementations, the processor 410 can be one or more CPUs, and in the case of one CPU, the CPU can be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

[0358] In some possible implementations, the processor 410 can be a baseband chip, a chip, a central processing unit (CPU), a general processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof.

[0359] In a specific implementation, the processor 410 in the terminal device 400 is configured to execute the computer program or the instruction 421 stored in the memory 420, and perform the following operations:

[0360] The uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are determined according to the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card, and the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are used to represent the transmission channel occupation states and the radio resource control (RRC) states of the first SIM card and the second SIM card on a time division duplex (TDD) time slot, respectively. The uplink carrier available to the first SIM card includes one of the following: the first SIM card can only use a frequency division duplex (FDD) uplink carrier, and the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and a TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner. The TDD time slot includes one of the following: a TDD uplink time slot, a TDD downlink time slot, and a TDD special time slot.

[0361] The first SIM card and / or the second SIM card are controlled to perform uplink transmission on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards.

[0362] It can be seen that, because the first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching and the second SIM card does not support uplink transmission switching, the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, and perform carrier switching between the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card also need to occupy a transmission channel to perform uplink transmission.

[0363] In addition, because the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card is different under different uplink coverage, the first SIM card may not be able to perform carrier switching, and therefore, embodiments of the present application can dynamically determine the number of transmission channels occupied by the first SIM card and the second SIM card on the TDD time slot and the RRC states in which the first SIM card and the second SIM card are located (i.e., represented by the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards) according to the different uplink carriers available to the first SIM card. Finally, the two SIM cards are controlled to perform uplink transmission on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier according to the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards.

[0364] In this way, embodiments of the present application not only can improve uplink resource utilization, improve uplink coverage and uplink throughput by combining a dual-card terminal device with uplink transmission switching, but also can realize uplink enhancement by dual-card uplink transmission.

[0365] It should be noted that the specific implementation of each operation can be implemented by the corresponding description of the method embodiments shown above, and the terminal device 400 can be used to execute the method embodiments described above, and details are not described herein.

[0366] V. Other Related Examples

[0367] In some possible implementations, the method embodiments described above can be applied to a terminal device or in a terminal device. That is, the execution subject of the method embodiments described above can be a terminal device, a chip, a chip module or a module, etc., and no specific limitation is made.

[0368] The embodiments of the present application also provide a chip, including a processor, a memory and a computer program or instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor executes the computer program or instructions to implement the steps described in the above method embodiments.

[0369] The embodiments of the present application also provide a chip module, including a transceiver component and a chip, the chip including a processor, a memory and a computer program or instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor executes the computer program or instructions to implement the steps described in the above method embodiments.

[0370] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions, and the computer program or instructions are executed to implement the steps described in the above method embodiments.

[0371] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, including a computer program or instructions, and the computer program or instructions are executed to implement the steps described in the above method embodiments.

[0372] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system, including the terminal device and the network device described above.

[0373] It should be noted that, for the above-mentioned various embodiments, in order to simply describe, they are all expressed as a series of action combinations. Those skilled in the art should know that the application is not limited by the order of the actions described, because some steps in the embodiments of the application can be performed in other order or at the same time. In addition, those skilled in the art should know that the embodiments described in the specification all belong to preferred embodiments, and the actions, steps, modules or units involved are not necessarily required in the embodiments of the application.

[0374] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment of the embodiments of the present application has its own focus, and the parts not described in detail in a certain embodiment can be referred to the related description of other embodiments.

[0375] The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module can reside in RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk, a removable media, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium can be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an ASIC. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium can be located in a terminal device or an access device. The processor and the storage medium can also be located in any other

[0376] Those skilled in the art should clearly understand that, in one or more examples described above, the functions described in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented entirely or partially by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, the functions can be implemented in the form of a computer program product entirely or partially. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, the computer instructions entirely or partially generate the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that includes one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid state disk (SSD)), etc.

[0377] The various modules / units included in the various devices and products described in the above embodiments can be software modules / units or hardware modules / units, or partially software modules / units and partially hardware modules / units. For example, for the various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip, the various modules / units included therein can all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuitry, or at least some of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of software programs running on a processor integrated in the chip, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuitry; for the various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip module, the various modules / units included therein can all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuitry, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (e.g., a chip, a circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least some of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of software programs running on a processor integrated in the chip module, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuitry; for the various devices and products applied to or integrated into a terminal device, the various modules / units included therein can all be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuitry, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (e.g., a chip, a circuit module, etc.) or different components of the terminal device, or at least some of the modules / units can be implemented in the form of software programs running on a processor integrated in the terminal device, and the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented in the form of hardware such as circuitry.

[0378] The above detailed description of the specific implementation of the embodiments of the present application has further explained the purposes, technical solutions, and beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the above description is only a specific implementation of the embodiments of the present application and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made on the basis of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A dual-SIM uplink transmission method, characterized in that, The invention is applied to a terminal device, which has two user identification module SIM cards and two transmission channels. The first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, while the second SIM card does not support uplink transmission switching. The method includes: Based on the uplink carriers available to the first SIM card, the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are determined. These uplink communication states characterize the transmit channel occupancy status and Radio Resource Control (RRC) status of the first and second SIM cards on Time Division Duplex (TDD) time slots, respectively. The uplink carriers available to the first SIM card include one of the following: the first SIM card can only use Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) uplink carriers; the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers in a time-division manner. The TDD time slots include one of the following: TDD uplink time slot, TDD downlink time slot, and TDD special time slot. If the first SIM card can only use FDD uplink carriers, then the uplink communication states of the two SIM cards are determined as follows: on the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card does not occupy the two transmit channels while the second SIM card occupies the two transmit channels, and both the first and second SIM cards are in RRC connection state. Based on the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards, control the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on the TDD uplink carrier or the FDD uplink carrier.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of controlling the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on a TDD uplink carrier or an FDD uplink carrier based on the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards includes: The second SIM card is controlled to use the two transmit channels on either a TDD uplink carrier or an FDD uplink carrier to perform uplink multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission, and the first SIM card is controlled not to perform uplink transmission.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the duration of the first timer, then after the first timer expires, the first SIM card is switched from not occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card is switched from occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel. The first timer is started in the first symbol of the TDD uplink time slot; or, If the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the duration of the second timer, then after the second timer expires, the first SIM card is switched from RRC connected state to RRC idle state or RRC inactive state, and the second SIM card is kept in RRC connected state. The second timer is started in the first symbol of the TDD uplink time slot; or, During the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, a first indication message is received, which instructs the first SIM card to switch from not occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card to switch from occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel; or, During the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, a second indication information is received, which is used to indicate that the first SIM card switches from RRC connected state to RRC idle state or RRC inactive state, and that the second SIM card remains in RRC connected state.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards based on the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card includes: If the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, then the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards is determined as follows: In the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card occupies the two transmission channels while the second SIM card does not occupy the two transmission channels, and both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in RRC connection state.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of controlling the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on a TDD uplink carrier or an FDD uplink carrier based on the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards includes: The first SIM card is controlled to use the two transmit channels on the TDD uplink carrier for uplink MIMO transmission, and the second SIM card is controlled not to perform uplink transmission.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the duration of the third timer, then after the third timer expires, the first SIM card is switched from occupying both transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card is switched from not occupying either of the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel. The third timer is started in the first symbol of the TDD uplink time slot; or, If the duration of the TDD uplink time slot exceeds the duration of the fourth timer, then after the fourth timer expires, the second SIM card is switched from RRC connected state to RRC idle state or RRC inactive state, while the first SIM card remains in RRC connected state. The fourth timer is started in the first symbol of the TDD uplink time slot; or, During the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, a third indication message is received, which instructs the first SIM card to switch from occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the first transmission channel, and the second SIM card to switch from not occupying the two transmission channels to occupying the second transmission channel; or, During the duration of the TDD uplink time slot, a fourth indication message is received, which is used to indicate that the second SIM card switches from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state, and that the first SIM card remains in the RRC connected state.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards based on the uplink carrier available to the first SIM card includes: If the first SIM card can only use the FDD uplink carrier, or if the first SIM card can multiplex the FDD uplink carrier and the TDD uplink carrier in a time-division manner, then the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards is determined as follows: On the TDD downlink time slot or the TDD special time slot, the first SIM card and the second SIM card each occupy a transmit channel, and both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in RRC connection state.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The step of controlling the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on a TDD uplink carrier or an FDD uplink carrier based on the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards includes: The first SIM card is controlled to use a first transmit channel on a first FDD uplink carrier to perform uplink single-input single-output (SISO) transmission, and the second SIM card is controlled to use a second transmit channel on a second FDD uplink carrier to perform uplink SISO transmission.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The uplink carrier that the first SIM card can use is determined based on the uplink carrier coverage area where the terminal device is located. The uplink carrier coverage area includes one of the following: FDD carrier coverage area, and the coverage area of ​​both FDD and TDD carriers.

10. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers in a time-division manner, including one of the following: The first SIM card can time-division multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers aggregated by out-of-band carriers; the first SIM card can time-division multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers of Evolved Universal Terrestrial Access Network and New Radio Dual Connectivity; the first SIM card can time-division multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers of New Radio Dual Connectivity.

11. A dual-SIM uplink transmission device, characterized in that, The invention is applied to a terminal device, which has two user identification module SIM cards and two transmission channels. The first SIM card supports uplink transmission switching, while the second SIM card does not support uplink transmission switching. The device includes: The determining unit is configured to determine the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards based on the uplink carriers available to the first SIM card. The uplink communication status of the two SIM cards characterizes the transmit channel occupancy status and Radio Resource Control (RRC) status of the first SIM card and the second SIM card respectively on the Time Division Duplex (TDD) time slots. The uplink carriers available to the first SIM card include one of the following: the first SIM card can only use a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) uplink carrier; the first SIM card can multiplex FDD uplink carriers and TDD uplink carriers in a time-division manner. The TDD time slots include one of the following: a TDD uplink time slot, a TDD downlink time slot, or a TDD special time slot. If the first SIM card can only use an FDD uplink carrier, then the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards is determined as follows: on the TDD uplink time slot, the first SIM card does not occupy the two transmit channels while the second SIM card occupies the two transmit channels, and both the first SIM card and the second SIM card are in an RRC connection state. The control unit is used to control the first SIM card and / or the second SIM card to perform uplink transmission on a TDD uplink carrier or an FDD uplink carrier according to the uplink communication status of the two SIM cards.

12. A terminal device, comprising a processor, a memory, and a computer program or instructions stored in the memory, characterized in that, The processor executes the computer program or instructions to implement the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-10.

13. A chip, comprising a processor and a communication interface, characterized in that, The processor performs the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-10.

14. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, It stores a computer program or instructions that, when executed, implement the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1-10.

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