Capability determination, indication method and apparatus, communication apparatus, and storage medium

Abstract

Provided are a capability determination method and device, an indication method and device, a communication device and a storage medium, wherein the capability determination method comprises: receiving capability indication information sent by a network side device (S101); and determining the support capability of the network side device for multi-SIM card connection switching of a terminal according to the capability indication information (S102). According to the present disclosure, the network side device can send the capability indication information to the terminal, and after the terminal receives the capability indication information, the terminal can determine the support capability of the network side device for multi-SIM card connection switching of the terminal according to the capability indication information, for example, whether the network side device supports multi-SIM card connection switching, for example, in the case of supporting multi-SIM card connection switching, what kind of multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, so that the terminal can reasonably determine whether to inform a base station of multi-SIM card connection switching information in subsequent multi-SIM card connection switching.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular, to a capability determination method, a capability indication method, a capability determination apparatus, a capability indication apparatus, a communication apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] In a multi-card terminal, multiple SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards can be provided, and the terminal can communicate through the multiple SIM cards. For example, a terminal is provided with a SIM card #1 and a SIM card #2, and the terminal can perform a communication operation using the SIM card #1 or perform a communication operation using the SIM card #2.

[0003] However, in some scenarios, the terminal needs to perform a communication operation using the SIM card #2 while performing a communication operation using the SIM card #1, which requires the terminal to perform a multi-SIM card connection switching from performing a communication operation using the SIM card #1 to performing a communication operation using the SIM card #2. SUMMARY

[0004] Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a capability determination method, a capability indication method, a capability determination apparatus, a capability indication apparatus, a communication apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium to solve the technical problems in the related art.

[0005] According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a capability determination method is provided, which is performed by a terminal, and the method comprises: receiving capability indication information sent by a network side device; and determining, according to the capability indication information, a support capability of the network side device for multi-SIM card connection switching of the terminal.

[0006] According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a capability indication method is provided, which is performed by a network side device, and the method comprises: sending, to a terminal, capability indication information, wherein the capability indication information is used to indicate a support capability of the network side device for multi-SIM card connection switching of the terminal.

[0007] According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a capability determination apparatus is provided, which comprises one or more processors, and the processor is configured to perform: receiving capability indication information sent by a network side device; and determining, according to the capability indication information, a support capability of the network side device for multi-SIM card connection switching of a terminal.

[0008] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a capability indication device is provided, comprising one or more processors configured to perform: sending capability indication information to a terminal, wherein the capability indication information is used to indicate the network-side device's support capability for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching.

[0009] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, the above-described capability determination method is implemented.

[0010] According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, the above-described capability indication method is implemented.

[0011] According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the capability determination method described above.

[0012] According to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the capability indication method described above.

[0013] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the network-side device can send capability indication information to the terminal. After receiving the capability indication information, the terminal can determine the network-side device's support capability for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching based on the capability indication information, such as whether multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, and if multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, under what specific conditions multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, so that the terminal can reasonably determine whether to inform the base station of the multi-SIM card connection switching information when performing multi-SIM card connection switching in the future. Attached Figure Description

[0014] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of this disclosure. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a capability determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 2 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another capability determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another capability determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another capability determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another capability determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 6 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a capability indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 7 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another capability indication method according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 8 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus for capability indication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 9 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus for capability determination according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this disclosure, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0025] The terminology used in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. The singular forms “a” and “the” as used in this disclosure and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term “and / or” as used herein refers to and includes any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0026] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used to describe various information in embodiments of this disclosure, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish information of the same type from each other. For example, without departing from the scope of embodiments of this disclosure, a first SIM card may also be referred to as a second SIM card, and similarly, a second SIM card may also be referred to as a first SIM card. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "when," "when," or "in response to a determination."

[0027] For the sake of brevity and ease of understanding, this document uses the terms "greater than" or "less than", "higher than" or "lower than" to describe size relationships. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the term "greater than" also includes the meaning of "greater than or equal to", and "less than" also includes the meaning of "less than or equal to"; the term "higher than" also includes the meaning of "higher than or equal to", and "lower than" also includes the meaning of "lower than or equal to".

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a capability determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The capability determination method shown in this embodiment can be executed by a terminal, which includes, but is not limited to, communication devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices. The terminal can communicate with network-side devices as a user equipment, and the network-side devices include, but are not limited to, network-side devices in 4G, 5G, and 6G communication systems, such as base stations and core networks.

[0029] In one embodiment, the terminal may be equipped with multiple SIM cards, which may be traditional SIM cards or eSIM cards, i.e., embedded SIM cards.

[0030] The following description exemplifies the technical solution of this disclosure, primarily in the case of multiple SIM cards, including a first SIM card and a second SIM card. Here, "first SIM card" and "second SIM card" do not refer to a specific SIM card, but rather to any two different SIM cards among multiple SIM cards. The first SIM card and the second SIM card can belong to the same operator or different operators, depending on the requirements.

[0031] like Figure 1 As shown, the capability determination method may include the following steps:

[0032] In step S101, capability indication information sent by the network-side device is received;

[0033] In step S102, the network-side device's ability to support multi-SIM card connection switching for the terminal is determined based on the capability indication information.

[0034] In one embodiment, the terminal is provided with multiple SIM cards, including at least a first SIM card and a second SIM card. The multi-SIM card connection switching includes switching to the second SIM card for communication operation when communication is being performed through the first SIM card (in this case, the communication operation performed by the first SIM card can be interrupted). It should be noted that the multi-SIM card connection switching is not limited to the above situation; for example, it may also include activating the second SIM card for communication operation simultaneously when communication is being performed through the first SIM card (in this case, the communication operation performed by the first SIM card can be uninterrupted). The following mainly focuses on the case where multi-SIM card connection switching includes switching to the second SIM card for communication operation when communication is being performed through the first SIM card, providing an exemplary description of the technical solution of this disclosure.

[0035] In response to this situation, network-side devices need to perform appropriate operations and configurations for the terminal. Taking network-side devices, including base stations, as an example, if a terminal communicates with the first base station through the first SIM card, and then needs to communicate with the second base station through the second SIM card, for example, to receive system information sent by the second base station, then the communication operation between the first base station and the first SIM card needs to be interrupted for a period of time. After the communication between the first base station and the second SIM card is completed, the first base station will then resume the communication operation with the first SIM card.

[0036] However, not all network-side devices support resumption of communication after the first SIM card's operation is interrupted. For example, some base stations can perform appropriate operations and configurations for multi-SIM connection switching, i.e., they support multi-SIM card connection switching, while others cannot, i.e., they do not support multi-SIM card connection switching. Furthermore, even for network-side devices that support multi-SIM card connection switching, the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching may vary. For example, a base station may support multi-SIM card connection switching when the first SIM card is out of connection, or it may support multi-SIM card connection switching when the first SIM card remains in connection.

[0037] In view of the above-mentioned technical problems, in the embodiments of this disclosure, the network-side device can send capability indication information to the terminal. After receiving the capability indication information, the terminal can determine the network-side device's support capability for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching based on the capability indication information, such as whether multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, and if multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, under what specific conditions multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, so that the terminal can reasonably determine whether to inform the base station of the multi-SIM card connection switching information when performing multi-SIM card connection switching in the future.

[0038] In one embodiment, the support capability includes whether the network-side device supports the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when a first condition is met, wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0039] The first SIM card leaves the connected state; the first SIM card remains in the connected state.

[0040] In one embodiment, the network-side device can support the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when the first SIM card leaves the connected state.

[0041] For example, when a terminal needs to switch to a second SIM card for communication while the first SIM card is in a communication state, it can switch to the second SIM card for communication when the first SIM card is out of the connection state, or it can switch back to the first SIM card after the communication operation is completed through the second SIM card (for example, the first SIM card returns to the connection state).

[0042] In response to this situation, the network-side equipment can perform appropriate operations and configurations. For example, when the terminal is communicating through the second SIM card, it can instruct the first SIM card to enter a non-connected state (e.g., idle state, inactive state). After the terminal completes the communication operation through the second SIM card, it can instruct the first SIM card to enter a connected state. It can also prevent the configuration of time and frequency resources for the first SIM card when the terminal is communicating through the second SIM card.

[0043] In one embodiment, the network-side device can support the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections while the first SIM card remains connected.

[0044] For example, when a terminal needs to switch to a second SIM card for communication while the first SIM card is in a connected state, it can switch to the second SIM card for communication while the first SIM card remains connected. However, when communicating through the second SIM card, the first SIM card suspends communication with the base station.

[0045] In response to this situation, the network-side equipment can perform appropriate operations and configurations. For example, when the terminal is communicating via the second SIM card, communication with the first SIM card can be paused, and communication with the first SIM card can resume after the terminal completes the communication operation via the second SIM card.

[0046] It is evident that different terminals have varying levels of support for multi-SIM card connection switching, meaning their multi-SIM card connection switching capabilities differ.

[0047] In one embodiment, the terminal can report its ability to switch between multiple SIM cards to the network-side device, so that the network-side device can determine the specific support of the terminal for switching between multiple SIM cards and make appropriate configurations for the terminal, which is conducive to the efficient use of communication resources.

[0048] For example, if the network-side device determines, based on the capability information reported by the terminal, that the terminal supports switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card is out of connection, but does not support switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card remains connected, then the configuration for communication operations of the first SIM card can be determined based on the configuration for communication operations of the second SIM card.

[0049] For example, it can be determined that the time domain resources required for the second SIM card to perform communication operations are t1 to t2. When configuring time domain resources for the first SIM card to perform communication operations, time domain resources other than t1 to t2 can be configured to prevent the terminal from switching from the first SIM card to the second SIM card for communication between t1 and t2, which would result in the waste of resources configured for the first SIM card during this period.

[0050] For example, if the network-side device determines, based on the capabilities reported by the terminal, that the terminal supports switching to the second SIM card for communication while maintaining a connection with the first SIM card, then when it is determined that the terminal is using the second SIM card for communication, the communication context of the first SIM card can still be retained to quickly restore communication with the first SIM card. Of course, it should be understood that deleting the communication context of the first SIM card to reduce the storage space occupied by the network-side device is also possible.

[0051] In one embodiment, the first SIM card leaving connection state includes the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the access layer; and / or the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the non-access layer.

[0052] That is, the first SIM leaving the connection state can be based on the indication of the access layer signaling, such as the signaling sent by the base station, or it can be based on the signaling of the non-access layer, such as the signaling sent by the core network.

[0053] In one embodiment, the first SIM card remaining in a connected state includes the first SIM card remaining in a connected state based on the access layer; and / or the first SIM card remaining in a connected state based on the non-access layer.

[0054] That is, the first SIM card can remain in the connected state, either according to the indication of the access layer signaling, such as the signaling sent by the base station, or according to the signaling of the non-access layer, such as the signaling sent by the core network.

[0055] Figure 2 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another capability determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 2 As shown, the method further includes:

[0056] In step S201, an acquisition request is sent to the network-side device to request the network-side device to send the capability indication information.

[0057] In one embodiment, the capability indication information sent by the network-side device can be sent automatically, such as periodically, or only when requested by the terminal. For example, in an NR system, it can be sent via on-demand SI. When a terminal needs to obtain the capability indication information, it can send a request to the network-side device, and upon receiving the request, the network-side device can send the capability indication information.

[0058] In one embodiment, the capability indication information is carried in at least one of the following: System Information (SI); Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

[0059] Network-side devices can send capability indication information via broadcast, for example, by carrying it in the SI (System Indicator). This can be done periodically or after receiving an acquisition request from a terminal. Alternatively, capability indication information can be sent via unicast, for example, by carrying it in RRC (Resource Control Code) signaling and sending it to the terminal. This can be done in advance or after receiving a request from the terminal.

[0060] Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another capability determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 3 As shown, the capability indication information is carried in the System Information Block (SIB) of the SI, and the capability indication information sent by the receiving network-side device includes:

[0061] In step S301, the minimum system information minimum SI sent by the network-side device is read;

[0062] In step S302, the SIB is read according to the minimum SI.

[0063] In one embodiment, the network-side device may carry information about the SIB in the minimum SI. For example, the information in the minimum SI may indicate whether there is an SIB carrying the capability indication information in the currently broadcast SI, and may further indicate the scheduling information of the SIB carrying the capability indication information. Accordingly, the terminal can determine whether it can obtain the SIB carrying the capability indication information from the SI, and may further obtain the SIB carrying the capability indication information based on the scheduling information.

[0064] In one embodiment, the minimumSI sent by the network-side device is read if a second condition is met, wherein the second condition includes at least one of the following:

[0065] The terminal has multiple card slots, of which at least two card slots have SIM cards inserted.

[0066] The terminal has multiple card slots, of which at least two card slots have SIM cards inserted and at least two SIM cards are in an active state;

[0067] The terminal has multiple card slots, at least two of which have SIM cards inserted, and when the first SIM card is in a connected state, the second SIM card is required for communication operations.

[0068] The terminal supports switching between multiple SIM card connections.

[0069] In one embodiment, since the minimum SI is mainly used to indicate whether there is an SIB carrying the capability indication information in the currently broadcast SI, and further to indicate the scheduling information of the SIB carrying the capability indication information, the terminal can be configured to read the minimum SI only when it is necessary to obtain the capability indication information.

[0070] For example, the terminal can be configured to read the minimum SI only when multiple SIM card slots are present, and at least two of them have SIM cards inserted. In this case, the terminal may use at least two SIM cards for communication, and therefore may switch between multiple SIM card connections. Thus, the terminal can be configured to read the minimum SI to obtain the capability indication information.

[0071] For example, the terminal can be configured to read the minimum SI only when multiple SIM card slots are present, and at least two of them have SIM cards inserted and at least two SIM cards are active. In this case, the terminal is more likely to use at least two SIM cards for communication, and therefore may switch between multiple SIM card connections. Thus, the terminal can be configured to read the minimum SI to obtain the capability indication information.

[0072] For example, the terminal can be configured to read the minimum SI only when multiple SIM card slots are present, at least two of which have SIM cards inserted, and the first SIM card is connected, and a second SIM card is needed for communication. In this case, the terminal will need to use at least two SIM cards for communication and is more likely to switch between multiple SIM card connections. Therefore, the terminal can be configured to read the minimum SI to obtain the capability indication information.

[0073] For example, the terminal can be configured to read the minimum SI only when it supports multi-SIM card connection switching. In this case, the terminal is capable of switching to the second SIM card for communication while the first SIM card is connected. Only then, if the network-side device also supports multi-SIM card connection switching, can the terminal report the information about the terminal performing multi-SIM card connection switching to the network-side device. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the network-side device's support for multi-SIM card connection switching based on the capability indication information. Thus, the terminal can be configured to read the minimum SI to obtain the capability indication information.

[0074] In one embodiment, reading the SIB according to the minimum SI includes:

[0075] If, based on the minimum SI, it is determined that the network-side device is broadcasting the SIB, and the capability information carried in the SIB is used to instruct the network-side device to support the terminal in switching between multiple SIM cards, the SIB is read according to the scheduling information in the minimum SI.

[0076] In one embodiment, reading the SIB according to the minimum SI includes:

[0077] If, based on the minimum SI, it is determined that the network-side device has not broadcast the SIB, and the network-side device stores the SIB, and the capability information carried by the SIB is used to instruct the network-side device to support the terminal in switching between multiple SIM cards, a request to obtain the SIB is sent to the network-side device.

[0078] In one embodiment, the minimum SI can indicate whether the network-side device is broadcasting an SIB carrying the capability indication information, and whether the capability information carried by the SIB indicates that the network-side device supports the terminal for multi-SIM card connection switching or does not support the terminal for multi-SIM card connection switching. Where the network-side device is broadcasting the SIB, the minimum SI can also carry the scheduling information of the SIB.

[0079] When a terminal determines that the network-side device is broadcasting an SIB based on the minimum SI, and the capability information carried in the SIB is used to indicate that the network-side device supports the terminal in switching between multiple SIM cards, the terminal can further obtain the scheduling information of the SIB from the minimum SI. Then, the terminal can read the SIB based on the scheduling information. For example, the scheduling information can indicate the time-frequency resources of the SIB, and the terminal can receive the SIB on the time-frequency resources.

[0080] If a terminal determines, based on the minimum SI, that the network-side device is not broadcasting the SIB, but the network-side device stores the SIB, and the capability information carried in the SIB is used to indicate that the network-side device supports the terminal in switching between multiple SIM cards, the terminal can send a request to the network-side device to request the network-side device to send the SIB. Accordingly, the network-side device can either broadcast the SIB or send the capability indication information to the terminal in RRC signaling.

[0081] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another capability determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 4 As shown, the SIM card in the terminal used to receive the capability indication information is in a disconnected state, and the method further includes:

[0082] In step S401, based on the support capabilities of multiple network-side devices for multi-SIM card connection switching of the terminal, a target network-side device matching the terminal's multi-SIM card connection switching capability is determined;

[0083] In step S402, cell selection or cell reselection is performed on the target cell corresponding to the target network-side device.

[0084] In one embodiment, for example, the terminal receives capability indication information sent by the network-side device through the first SIM card. The first SIM card may be in a non-connected state, such as an inactive state or an idle state.

[0085] The first SIM card can receive broadcast information sent by multiple network-side devices. Each network-side device can carry its own capability indication information in the broadcast information. Based on this, the terminal can determine the support capability of multiple network-side devices for the terminal to switch between multiple SIM cards. Then, it can determine the target network-side device that matches the terminal's capability to switch between multiple SIM cards among these multiple network-side devices.

[0086] The terminal can first determine its own supported multi-SIM card connection switching capability, such as supporting multi-SIM card connection switching under certain target conditions. These target conditions may be the same as or different from the first condition in the above embodiment. Then, among multiple network-side devices, the target network-side device can be determined as the one that also supports multi-SIM card connection switching under the target conditions.

[0087] For the target network-side device, since the target network-side device supports the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when the target conditions are met, that is, it can make appropriate configurations for the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when the target conditions are met. Therefore, the terminal can perform cell selection or cell reselection with the target cell corresponding to the target network-side device in order to access the target network-side device, and then report the information of switching between multiple SIM card connections to the target network-side device, so that the target network-side device can make appropriate configurations for the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections.

[0088] In one embodiment, the multi-SIM card connection switching information reported by the terminal includes at least one of the following:

[0089] During the process of switching between multiple SIM cards, the terminal will switch to the second SIM card, such as the identifier of the second SIM card;

[0090] Information about the communication operation performed when switching to the second SIM card, such as the type of communication operation performed when switching to the second SIM card and the duration of the communication operation.

[0091] In one embodiment, after receiving information about multi-SIM card connection switching, the network-side device can make appropriate configurations for the process of the terminal performing multi-SIM card connection switching. For example, the information about multi-SIM card connection switching includes a second type of communication operation to be performed when switching to the second SIM card. Since the first type of communication operation being performed by the first SIM card is known to the network-side device, the network-side device can make appropriate configurations for the process of the terminal performing multi-SIM card connection switching based on the first and second types after determining the second type.

[0092] For example, if the first type has a higher priority than the second type, the network-side device can be configured to prevent the terminal from switching to the second SIM card for communication. Conversely, if the second type has a higher priority than the first type, the network-side device can be configured to allow the terminal to switch to the second SIM card for communication.

[0093] The first type and the second type can refer to business types. The priority of a business type can be related to the latency allowed for that business type. For example, the lower the allowed latency, the higher the priority.

[0094] In addition to configuring the process of switching between multiple SIM cards on the terminal as described above, other methods can also be considered. For example, the allowed latency of the first type and the second type can be considered. If the allowed latency of the first type is relatively large, such as greater than the latency threshold, then the network-side device can be configured to allow the terminal to switch to the second SIM card for communication. If the allowed latency of the first type is relatively small, such as less than the latency threshold, then the network-side device can be configured to disallow the terminal to switch to the second SIM card for communication.

[0095] Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another capability determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 5 As shown, the SIM card in the terminal used to receive the capability indication information is in a connected state, and the method further includes:

[0096] In step S501, it is determined whether the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information supports the terminal's multi-SIM card connection switching capability and whether it matches the terminal's multi-SIM card connection switching capability.

[0097] In step S502, if the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information has a support capability for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching that matches the terminal's capability to perform multi-SIM card connection switching, then the information that the terminal is performing multi-SIM card connection switching is sent to the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information.

[0098] In one embodiment, for example, the terminal receives capability indication information sent by the network-side device through the first SIM card, and the first SIM card may be in a connected state.

[0099] The terminal can determine whether the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information supports the terminal's multi-SIM card connection switching capability and whether it matches the terminal's multi-SIM card connection switching capability. For example, the network-side device can send the capability indication information to the first SIM card through RRC signaling.

[0100] The terminal can first determine its supported multi-SIM card connection switching capability, such as supporting multi-SIM card connection switching under certain target conditions. These target conditions may be the same as or different from the first condition in the above embodiment. Then, based on the capability indication information sent by the network-side device to which the SIM card receiving the capability indication information is connected, it can determine whether the network-side device supports the terminal in performing multi-SIM card connection switching under the target conditions. If it does, a match can be determined.

[0101] For the matched network-side device, since the network-side device supports the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when the target conditions are met, that is, it can make appropriate configurations for the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when the target conditions are met, the terminal can report the information of switching between multiple SIM card connections to the network-side device, so that the network-side device can make appropriate configurations for the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections.

[0102] In one embodiment, the multi-SIM card connection switching information reported by the terminal includes at least one of the following: information about the second SIM card to which the terminal will switch during the multi-SIM card connection switching process, such as the identifier of the second SIM card; and information about the communication operation performed when switching to the second SIM card, such as the type of communication operation and the duration of the communication operation. The terminal may report the multi-SIM card connection switching information when it is about to perform a multi-SIM card connection switching, or during the multi-SIM card connection switching process.

[0103] Figure 6 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a capability indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The capability determination method shown in this embodiment can be executed by a network-side device, which includes, but is not limited to, network-side devices in communication systems such as 4G, 5G, and 6G, such as base stations and core networks. The network-side device can communicate with a terminal, which includes, but is not limited to, communication devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices.

[0104] In one embodiment, the terminal may be equipped with multiple SIM cards, which may be traditional SIM cards or eSIM cards, i.e., embedded SIM cards.

[0105] The following description exemplifies the technical solution of this disclosure, primarily in the case of multiple SIM cards, including a first SIM card and a second SIM card. Here, "first SIM card" and "second SIM card" do not refer to a specific SIM card, but rather to any two different SIM cards among multiple SIM cards. The first SIM card and the second SIM card can belong to the same operator or different operators, depending on the requirements.

[0106] like Figure 6 As shown, the capability indication method may include the following steps:

[0107] In step S601, capability indication information is sent to the terminal, wherein the capability indication information is used to indicate the network-side device's support capability for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching.

[0108] In one embodiment, the terminal is provided with multiple SIM cards, including at least a first SIM card and a second SIM card. The multi-SIM card connection switching includes switching to the second SIM card for communication operation while the first SIM card is performing a communication operation (in this case, the communication operation performed by the first SIM card can be interrupted). It should be noted that the multi-SIM card connection switching is not limited to the above situation; for example, it may also include activating the second SIM card for communication operation simultaneously while the first SIM card is performing a communication operation (in this case, the communication operation performed by the first SIM card can be uninterrupted). The following mainly focuses on the case where the multi-SIM card connection switching includes switching to the second SIM card for communication operation while the first SIM card is performing a communication operation, providing an exemplary description of the technical solution of this disclosure.

[0109] In response to this situation, network-side devices need to perform appropriate operations and configurations for the terminal. Taking network-side devices, including base stations, as an example, if a terminal communicates with the first base station through the first SIM card, and then needs to communicate with the second base station through the second SIM card, for example, to receive system information sent by the second base station, then the communication operation between the first base station and the first SIM card needs to be interrupted for a period of time. After the communication between the first base station and the second SIM card is completed, the first base station will then resume the communication operation with the first SIM card.

[0110] However, not all base stations support resumption of communication after the first SIM card's operation is interrupted. Some network-side devices can perform appropriate operations and configurations for multi-SIM connection switching, i.e., they support multi-SIM card connection switching, while others cannot, i.e., they do not support multi-SIM card connection switching. Furthermore, even for network-side devices that support multi-SIM card connection switching, the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching can vary. For example, it may support multi-SIM card connection switching when the first SIM card is out of connection, or it may support multi-SIM card connection switching when the first SIM card remains connected.

[0111] In view of the above-mentioned technical problems, in the embodiments of this disclosure, the network-side device can send capability indication information to the terminal. After receiving the capability indication information, the terminal can determine the network-side device's support capability for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching based on the capability indication information, such as whether multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, and if multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, under what specific conditions multi-SIM card connection switching is supported, so that the terminal can reasonably determine whether to inform the base station of the multi-SIM card connection switching information when performing multi-SIM card connection switching in the future.

[0112] In one embodiment, the support capability includes whether the network-side device supports the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when a first condition is met, wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following:

[0113] The first SIM card leaves the connected state, and the first SIM card remains in the connected state.

[0114] In one embodiment, the network-side device can support the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when the first SIM card leaves the connected state.

[0115] For example, when a terminal needs to switch to a second SIM card for communication while the first SIM card is in a communication state, it can switch to the second SIM card for communication when the first SIM card is out of the connection state, or it can switch back to the first SIM card after the communication operation is completed through the second SIM card (for example, the first SIM card returns to the connection state).

[0116] In response to this situation, the network-side equipment can perform appropriate operations and configurations. For example, when the terminal is communicating through the second SIM card, it can instruct the first SIM card to enter a non-connected state (e.g., idle state, inactive state). After the terminal completes the communication operation through the second SIM card, it can instruct the first SIM card to enter a connected state. It can also prevent the configuration of time and frequency resources for the first SIM card when the terminal is communicating through the second SIM card.

[0117] In one embodiment, the network-side device can support the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections while the first SIM card remains connected.

[0118] For example, when a terminal needs to switch to a second SIM card for communication while the first SIM card is in a connected state, it can switch to the second SIM card for communication while the first SIM card remains connected. However, when communicating through the second SIM card, the first SIM card suspends communication with the base station.

[0119] In response to this situation, the network-side equipment can perform appropriate operations and configurations. For example, when the terminal is communicating via the second SIM card, communication with the first SIM card can be paused, and communication with the first SIM card can resume after the terminal completes the communication operation via the second SIM card.

[0120] It is evident that different terminals have varying levels of support for multi-SIM card connection switching, meaning their multi-SIM card connection switching capabilities differ.

[0121] In one embodiment, the terminal can report its ability to switch between multiple SIM cards to the network-side device, so that the network-side device can determine the specific support of the terminal for switching between multiple SIM cards and make appropriate configurations for the terminal, which is conducive to the efficient use of communication resources.

[0122] For example, if the network-side device determines, based on the capability information reported by the terminal, that the terminal supports switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card is out of connection, but does not support switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card remains connected, then the configuration for communication operations of the first SIM card can be determined based on the configuration for communication operations of the second SIM card.

[0123] For example, if the time-domain resources required for communication operations by the second SIM card are determined to be t1 to t2, then when configuring time-domain resources for communication operations by the first SIM card, time-domain resources other than t1 to t2 can be configured to prevent the terminal from switching from the first SIM card to the second SIM card for communication between t1 and t2, thus avoiding waste of resources configured for the first SIM card during this period. For instance, if the network-side device determines, based on the capabilities reported by the terminal, that the terminal supports switching to the second SIM card for communication operations while the first SIM card remains connected, then when it is determined that the terminal is using the second SIM card for communication operations, the context of communication operations by the first SIM card can still be retained to quickly resume communication with the first SIM card. It should be understood that the context of communication operations by the first SIM card can also be deleted to reduce the storage space occupied by the network-side device.

[0124] In one embodiment, the first SIM card leaving connection state includes the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the access layer, and / or the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the non-access layer.

[0125] That is, the first SIM leaving the connection state can be based on the indication of the access layer signaling, such as the signaling sent by the base station, or it can be based on the signaling of the non-access layer, such as the signaling sent by the core network.

[0126] In one embodiment, the first SIM card leaving connection state includes the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the access layer, and / or the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the non-access layer.

[0127] That is, the first SIM leaving the connection state can be based on the indication of the access layer signaling, such as the signaling sent by the base station, or it can be based on the signaling of the non-access layer, such as the signaling sent by the core network.

[0128] In one embodiment, the first SIM card remaining in a connected state includes the first SIM card remaining in a connected state based on the access layer, and / or the first SIM card remaining in a connected state based on the non-access layer.

[0129] That is, the first SIM card can remain in the connected state, either according to the indication of the access layer signaling, such as the signaling sent by the base station, or according to the signaling of the non-access layer, such as the signaling sent by the core network.

[0130] In one embodiment, the capability indication information is carried in the System Information Block (SIB).

[0131] In one embodiment, the network-side device includes a New Radio (NR) network-side device, and the SIB includes an SIB carried in on-demand system information (SSI).

[0132] In one embodiment, the capability indication information is carried in Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

[0133] Network-side devices can send capability indication information via broadcast, for example, by carrying it in the SI (Signal Indicator), specifically by carrying it in the SIB (Signal Indicator Block). For example, it can be broadcast periodically, or it can be broadcast after receiving an acquisition request from a terminal. For NR network-side devices, the SIB broadcast after receiving an acquisition request can be the SIB in the on-demand SI.

[0134] Network-side devices can also send capability indication information via unicast, for example, by carrying it in RRC signaling and sending it to the terminal. For example, it can be sent to the terminal in advance, or it can be sent to the terminal after receiving a request from the terminal.

[0135] Figure 7 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another capability indication method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 7 As shown, sending capability indication information to the terminal includes:

[0136] In step S701, when a request is received from the terminal to obtain the capability indication information, the capability indication information is sent to the terminal.

[0137] In one embodiment, the capability indication information sent by the network-side device can be sent automatically, such as periodically, or only when requested by the terminal, such as on-demand SI. When the terminal needs to obtain the capability indication information, it can send a request to the network-side device, and after receiving the request, the network-side device can send the capability indication information.

[0138] Corresponding to the embodiments of the capability determination method and capability indication method described above, this disclosure also proposes embodiments of a capability determination apparatus and a capability indication apparatus.

[0139] Embodiments of this disclosure also propose a capability determination device, which can be applied to a terminal, including but not limited to communication devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices. The terminal can communicate with network-side devices as a user equipment, including but not limited to network-side devices in 4G, 5G, and 6G communication systems, such as base stations and core networks.

[0140] In one embodiment, the terminal may be equipped with multiple SIM cards, which may be traditional SIM cards or eSIM cards, i.e., embedded SIM cards.

[0141] The following description exemplifies the technical solution of this disclosure, primarily in the case of multiple SIM cards, including a first SIM card and a second SIM card. Here, "first SIM card" and "second SIM card" do not refer to a specific SIM card, but rather to any two different SIM cards among multiple SIM cards. The first SIM card and the second SIM card can belong to the same operator or different operators, depending on the requirements.

[0142] In one embodiment, the capability determination device includes one or more processors configured to perform: receiving capability indication information sent by a network-side device; and determining, based on the capability indication information, the network-side device's support capability for multi-SIM card connection switching of the terminal.

[0143] In one embodiment, the terminal is provided with multiple SIM cards, including at least a first SIM card and a second SIM card, and the multi-SIM card connection switching includes switching to the second SIM card for communication operation when communication operation is performed through the first SIM card.

[0144] In one embodiment, the support capability includes whether the network-side device supports the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when a first condition is met, wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: the first SIM card leaves the connected state, or the first SIM card remains in the connected state.

[0145] In one embodiment, the first SIM card leaving connection state includes the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the access layer, and / or the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the non-access layer.

[0146] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to perform: sending an acquisition request to the network-side device to request the network-side device to send the capability indication information.

[0147] In one embodiment, the capability indication information is carried in at least one of the following: System Information SI, Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

[0148] In one embodiment, the capability indication information is carried in the System Information Block (SIB) of the SI, and the processor is configured to perform: reading the minimum system information (minimum SI) sent by the network-side device; and reading the SIB based on the minimum SI.

[0149] In one embodiment, under a second condition, the minimumSI sent by the network-side device is read. The second condition includes at least one of the following: the terminal has multiple card slots, of which at least two card slots have SIM cards inserted; the terminal has multiple card slots, of which at least two card slots have SIM cards inserted, and at least two SIM cards are in an active state; the terminal has multiple card slots, of which at least two card slots have SIM cards inserted, and while the first SIM card is in a connected state, a second SIM card is required for communication operations; the terminal supports multi-SIM card connection switching.

[0150] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to perform the following: if it is determined from the minimum SI that the network-side device is broadcasting the SIB, and the capability information carried in the SIB is used to instruct the network-side device to support the terminal in switching between multiple SIM cards, then read the SIB based on the scheduling information in the minimum SI.

[0151] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to execute: sending a request to the network-side device to obtain the SIB if, based on the minimum SI, it is determined that the network-side device has not broadcast the SIB, and the network-side device stores the SIB, and the capability information carried by the SIB is used to instruct the network-side device to support the terminal in performing multi-SIM card connection switching.

[0152] In one embodiment, the SIM card in the terminal used to receive the capability indication information is in a disconnected state, and the processor is further configured to perform: determining a target network-side device that matches the terminal's capability to perform multi-SIM card connection switching based on the support capabilities of multiple network-side devices for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching; and performing cell selection or cell reselection on the target cell corresponding to the target network-side device.

[0153] In one embodiment, the SIM card in the terminal used to receive the capability indication information is in a connected state, and the processor is further configured to perform: determining whether the support capability of the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information for multi-SIM card connection switching of the terminal matches the terminal's capability for multi-SIM card connection switching; if the support capability of the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information for multi-SIM card connection switching of the terminal matches the terminal's capability for multi-SIM card connection switching, sending information about the terminal performing multi-SIM card connection switching to the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information.

[0154] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a schematic block diagram of a capability indication device. The device can be applied to network-side equipment, including but not limited to network-side equipment in communication systems such as 4G, 5G, and 6G, such as base stations and core networks. The network-side equipment can communicate with terminals, including but not limited to communication devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices.

[0155] In one embodiment, the terminal may be equipped with multiple SIM cards, which may be traditional SIM cards or eSIM cards, i.e., embedded SIM cards.

[0156] The following description exemplifies the technical solution of this disclosure, primarily in the case of multiple SIM cards, including a first SIM card and a second SIM card. Here, "first SIM card" and "second SIM card" do not refer to a specific SIM card, but rather to any two different SIM cards among multiple SIM cards. The first SIM card and the second SIM card can belong to the same operator or different operators, depending on the requirements.

[0157] In one embodiment, the capability indication device includes one or more processors configured to perform: sending capability indication information to a terminal, wherein the capability indication information is used to indicate the network-side device's support capability for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching.

[0158] In one embodiment, the terminal is provided with multiple SIM cards, including at least a first SIM card and a second SIM card, and the multi-SIM card connection switching includes switching to the second SIM card for communication operation when communication operation is performed through the first SIM card.

[0159] In one embodiment, the support capability includes whether the network-side device supports the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when a first condition is met, wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: the first SIM card leaves the connected state; the first SIM card remains in the connected state.

[0160] In one embodiment, the first SIM card leaving connection state includes the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the access layer; and / or the first SIM card leaving connection state based on the non-access layer.

[0161] In one embodiment, the first SIM card remaining in a connected state includes the first SIM card leaving the connected state based on the access layer; and / or the first SIM card remaining in a connected state based on the non-access layer.

[0162] In one embodiment, the capability indication information is carried in the System Information Block (SIB).

[0163] In one embodiment, the network-side device includes a New Radio (NR) network-side device, and the SIB includes an SIB carried in on-demand system information (SSI).

[0164] In one embodiment, the capability indication information is carried in Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

[0165] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to: upon receiving a request from the terminal to obtain the capability indication information, send the capability indication information to the terminal.

[0166] Regarding the apparatus in the above embodiments, the specific manner in which each module performs its operation has been described in detail in the embodiments of the relevant methods, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0167] For the device embodiments, since they basically correspond to the method embodiments, the relevant parts can be referred to in the description of the method embodiments. The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement this without creative effort.

[0168] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a communication device, comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the capability indication method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0169] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a communication device, comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the capability determination method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0170] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the capability indication method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0171] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the capability determination method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0172] like Figure 8 As shown, Figure 8 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating a capability indication device 800 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 800 can be provided as a base station. (Refer to...) Figure 8 The device 800 includes a processing component 822, a wireless transmitting / receiving component 824, an antenna component 826, and a signal processing section specific to the wireless interface. The processing component 822 may further include one or more processors. One of the processors in the processing component 822 may be configured to implement the capability indication method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0173] Figure 9This is a schematic block diagram illustrating a capability determination device 900 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, device 900 may be a mobile phone, computer, digital broadcasting terminal, messaging device, game console, tablet device, medical device, fitness equipment, personal digital assistant, etc.

[0174] Reference Figure 9 The device 900 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 902, a memory 904, a power supply component 906, a multimedia component 908, an audio component 910, an input / output (I / O) interface 912, a sensor component 914, and a communication component 916.

[0175] Processing component 902 typically controls the overall operation of device 900, such as operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communication, camera operation, and recording operations. Processing component 902 may include one or more processors 920 to execute instructions to perform all or part of the steps of the capability determination method described above. Furthermore, processing component 902 may include one or more modules to facilitate interaction between processing component 902 and other components. For example, processing component 902 may include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between multimedia component 908 and processing component 902.

[0176] Memory 904 is configured to store various types of data to support the operation of device 900. Examples of this data include instructions for any application or method operating on device 900, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, etc. Memory 904 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic storage, flash memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0177] Power supply component 906 provides power to various components of device 900. Power supply component 906 may include a power management system, one or more power sources, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power to device 900.

[0178] Multimedia component 908 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the device 900 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touchscreen to receive input signals from the user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touches, swipes, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensors may sense not only the boundaries of the touch or swipe action but also the duration and pressure associated with the touch or swipe operation. In some embodiments, multimedia component 908 includes a front-facing camera and / or a rear-facing camera. When the device 900 is in an operating mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode, the front-facing camera and / or the rear-facing camera may receive external multimedia data. Each front-facing camera and rear-facing camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have focal length and optical zoom capabilities.

[0179] Audio component 910 is configured to output and / or input audio signals. For example, audio component 910 includes a microphone (MIC) configured to receive external audio signals when device 900 is in an operating mode, such as call mode, recording mode, and voice recognition mode. The received audio signals may be further stored in memory 904 or transmitted via communication component 916. In some embodiments, audio component 910 also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

[0180] I / O interface 912 provides an interface between processing component 902 and peripheral interface modules, such as keyboards, click wheels, buttons, etc. These buttons may include, but are not limited to, home buttons, volume buttons, power buttons, and lock buttons.

[0181] Sensor assembly 914 includes one or more sensors for providing status assessments of various aspects of device 900. For example, sensor assembly 914 may detect the on / off state of device 900, the relative positioning of components such as the display and keypad of device 900, changes in position of device 900 or a component of device 900, the presence or absence of user contact with device 900, orientation or acceleration / deceleration of device 900, and temperature changes of device 900. Sensor assembly 914 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. Sensor assembly 914 may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, sensor assembly 914 may also include an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure sensor, or temperature sensor.

[0182] Communication component 916 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between device 900 and other devices. Device 900 can access wireless networks based on communication standards, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, 4G LTE, 5G NR, or combinations thereof. In one exemplary embodiment, communication component 916 receives broadcast signals or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In one exemplary embodiment, communication component 916 also includes a near-field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) technology, ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

[0183] In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus 900 may be implemented by one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other electronic components to perform the above-described capability determination method.

[0184] In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions is also provided, such as a memory 904 including instructions, which can be executed by a processor 920 of the device 900 to complete the aforementioned capability determination method. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, random access memory (RAM), CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, and optical data storage device, etc.

[0185] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the following claims.

[0186] It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the precise structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

[0187] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. The terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0188] The methods and apparatus provided in the embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above. Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this disclosure. The descriptions of the embodiments above are only for the purpose of helping to understand the methods and core ideas of this disclosure. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope based on the ideas of this disclosure. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for determining capability, characterized in that, The method is executed by a terminal, which has multiple SIM cards, including at least a first SIM card and a second SIM card. Receive capability indication information sent by network-side devices; and The capability indication information is used to determine the network-side device's support for multi-SIM card connection switching for the terminal; The ability to perform multi-SIM card connection switching is reported to the network-side device. The ability to perform multi-SIM card connection switching is used by the network-side device to determine the specific support of the terminal for multi-SIM card connection switching, and to configure the terminal based on the specific support of the terminal for multi-SIM card connection switching. Specifically, regarding the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching by the terminal, including situations where the terminal supports switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card is out of connection, but does not support switching to the second SIM card for communication operations while the first SIM card remains connected, the terminal is configured based on the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching, including: determining the configuration for communication operations of the first SIM card according to the configuration for communication operations of the second SIM card.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The multi-SIM card connection switching includes switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card is being used for communication operations.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The support capability includes whether the network-side device supports the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when a first condition is met, wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: The first SIM card leaves the connected state; The first SIM card remains connected.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first SIM card out-of-connection state includes: The first SIM card is in an off-connection state based on the access layer; and / or The first SIM card is based on the non-access stratum out-of-connection state.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first SIM card remains in a connected state including: The first SIM card remains in a connected state based on the access layer; and / or The first SIM card remains in a connected state based on the non-access stratum.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The method further includes: Send an acquisition request to the network-side device to request the network-side device to send the capability indication information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The capability indication information is carried in at least one of the following: System Information (SI); Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The capability indication information is carried in the System Information Block (SIB) of the SI. The capability indication information sent by the receiving network-side device includes: Read the minimum system information (minimum SI) sent by the network-side device; and The SIB is read according to the minimum SI.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, If a second condition is met, the minimum SI sent by the network-side device is read, wherein the second condition includes at least one of the following: The terminal has multiple card slots, of which at least two card slots have SIM cards inserted. The terminal has multiple card slots, of which at least two card slots have SIM cards inserted and at least two SIM cards are in an active state; The terminal has multiple card slots, at least two of which have SIM cards inserted, and when the first SIM card is in a connected state, the second SIM card is required for communication operations. The terminal supports switching between multiple SIM card connections.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The step of reading the SIB according to the minimum SI includes: If, based on the minimum SI, it is determined that the network-side device is broadcasting the SIB, and the capability information carried in the SIB is used to instruct the network-side device to support the terminal in switching between multiple SIM cards, the SIB is read according to the scheduling information in the minimum SI.

11. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The step of reading the SIB according to the minimum SI includes: If, based on the minimum SI, it is determined that the network-side device has not broadcast the SIB, and the network-side device stores the SIB, and the capability information carried by the SIB is used to instruct the network-side device to support the terminal in switching between multiple SIM cards, a request to obtain the SIB is sent to the network-side device.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The SIM card in the terminal used to receive the capability indication information is in a disconnected state, and the method further includes: Based on the support capabilities of multiple network-side devices for multi-SIM card connection switching of the terminal, a target network-side device matching the multi-SIM card connection switching capability of the terminal is determined; and Perform cell selection or cell reselection on the target cell corresponding to the target network-side device.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The SIM card in the terminal used to receive the capability indication information is in a connected state, and the method further includes: Determine whether the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information supports multi-SIM card connection switching for the terminal, and whether this matches the terminal's multi-SIM card connection switching capability; and If the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information has a capability to support multi-SIM card connection switching for the terminal that matches the terminal's capability to perform multi-SIM card connection switching, then the information indicating that the terminal is performing multi-SIM card connection switching is sent to the network-side device connected to the SIM card used to receive the capability indication information.

14. A capability indication method, characterized in that, Performed by a network-side device, the method includes: Send capability indication information to the terminal, wherein the terminal is equipped with multiple SIM cards, the multiple SIM cards including at least a first SIM card and a second SIM card, and the capability indication information is used to indicate the network-side device's support capability for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching; The network-side device receives the terminal's ability to switch between multiple SIM card connections. This ability is used by the network-side device to determine the terminal's specific support for switching between multiple SIM card connections and to configure the terminal based on that support. Specifically, regarding the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching by the terminal, including situations where the terminal supports switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card is out of connection, but does not support switching to the second SIM card for communication operations while the first SIM card remains connected, the terminal is configured based on the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching, including: determining the configuration for communication operations of the first SIM card according to the configuration for communication operations of the second SIM card.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The multi-SIM card connection switching includes switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card is being used for communication operations.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The support capability includes whether the network-side device supports the terminal to switch between multiple SIM card connections when a first condition is met, wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: The first SIM card leaves the connected state; The first SIM card remains connected.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The first SIM card out-of-connection state includes: The first SIM card is in an off-connection state based on the access layer; and / or The first SIM card is based on the non-access stratum out-of-connection state.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The first SIM card remains in a connected state including: The first SIM card remains in a connected state based on the access layer; and / or The first SIM card remains in a connected state based on the non-access stratum.

19. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, characterized in that, The capability indication information is carried in the System Information Block (SIB).

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that, The network-side equipment includes New Radio (NR) network-side equipment, and the SIB includes an SIB carried in on-demand system information (on-demand SI).

21. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, characterized in that, The capability indication information is carried in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

22. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, characterized in that, The process of sending capability indication information to the terminal includes: Upon receiving a request from the terminal to obtain the capability indication information, the capability indication information is sent to the terminal.

23. A capability determining device, characterized in that, Includes one or more processors, the processors being configured to perform: Receive capability indication information sent by network-side devices; The network-side device is determined to support multi-SIM card connection switching for the terminal based on the capability indication information. The terminal is equipped with multiple SIM cards, and the multiple SIM cards include at least a first SIM card and a second SIM card. The ability to perform multi-SIM card connection switching is reported to the network-side device. The ability to perform multi-SIM card connection switching is used by the network-side device to determine the specific support of the terminal for multi-SIM card connection switching, and to configure the terminal based on the specific support of the terminal for multi-SIM card connection switching. Specifically, regarding the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching by the terminal, including situations where the terminal supports switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card is out of connection, but does not support switching to the second SIM card for communication operations while the first SIM card remains connected, the terminal is configured based on the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching, including: determining the configuration for communication operations of the first SIM card according to the configuration for communication operations of the second SIM card.

24. A capability indication device, characterized in that, Includes one or more processors, the processors being configured to perform: Send capability indication information to the terminal, wherein the terminal is equipped with multiple SIM cards, the multiple SIM cards including at least a first SIM card and a second SIM card, and the capability indication information is used to indicate the network-side device's support capability for the terminal to perform multi-SIM card connection switching; The network-side device receives the terminal's ability to switch between multiple SIM card connections. This ability is used by the network-side device to determine the terminal's specific support for switching between multiple SIM card connections and to configure the terminal based on that support. Specifically, regarding the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching by the terminal, including situations where the terminal supports switching to the second SIM card for communication operations when the first SIM card is out of connection, but does not support switching to the second SIM card for communication operations while the first SIM card remains connected, the terminal is configured based on the specific support for multi-SIM card connection switching, including: determining the configuration for communication operations of the first SIM card according to the configuration for communication operations of the second SIM card.

25. A communication device, characterized in that, include: processor; Memory used to store computer programs; When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the capability determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

26. A communication device, characterized in that, include: processor; Memory used to store computer programs; When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the capability indication method according to any one of claims 14 to 22.

27. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the capability determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

28. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the capability indication method according to any one of claims 14 to 22.

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