Methods, user equipments, systems or mobile communication networks, programs and computer readable media for operating a user equipment in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells of a plurality of mobile communication networks

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for operating a user equipment in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells of a plurality of mobile communication networks, each of these radio cells being associated to at least one mobile communication network of this plurality of mobile communication networks, wherein this user equipment measures or detects reception conditions with respect to this plurality of radio cells and subsequently selects a mobile communication network and / or registers to this mobile communication network out of this plurality of mobile communication networks, wherein this user equipment has or is associated to a home public land mobile network HPLMN and comprises a terminal equipment entity or functionality and a mobile terminal entity or functionality, wherein with respect to the cell selection and / or network selection by this user equipment, an enhanced selection criterion provided by this HPLMN is stored in this user equipment, - wherein with respect to the cell selection by this user equipment, a radio cell of a considered radio access technology is considered as a suitable radio cell only in case the corresponding reception conditions measured by the user equipment correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criterion provided by the HPLMN with respect to this considered radio access technology, and / or - wherein with respect to the network selection by this user equipment, only such mobile communication networks are considered for the network selection of this user equipment which correspond to suitable radio cells of a considered radio access technology having or corresponding to reception conditions which correspond to or exceed this enhanced selection criterion, wherein this method comprises the following steps: - in a first step, this terminal equipment entity or functionality requests selection parameter information, this selection parameter information relating to or indicating whether the enhanced selection criterion provided by this HPLMN is used or applied by this mobile terminal entity or functionality and / or relating to or indicating parameter values of this enhanced selection criterion provided by this HPLMN, - in a second step, this terminal equipment entity or functionality receives this selection parameter information.

Description

BACKGROUND

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for operating a user equipment in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells of a plurality of mobile communication networks, the user equipment measuring or detecting reception conditions with respect to the plurality of radio cells and subsequently selecting a mobile communication network from the plurality of mobile communication networks and / or registering to the mobile communication network, wherein the user equipment has or is associated with a home public land mobile network, HPLMN, and the user equipment comprises a terminal equipment entity or functionality and a mobile terminal entity or functionality.

[0002] Further, the present invention relates to a user equipment operated in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells of a plurality of mobile communication networks, the user equipment being configured to measure or detect reception conditions with respect to the plurality of radio cells and being configured to subsequently select a mobile communication network from the plurality of mobile communication networks and / or register to the mobile communication network, wherein the user equipment has or is associated with a home public land mobile network, HPLMN, and the user equipment comprises a terminal equipment entity or functionality and a mobile terminal entity or functionality.

[0003] Additionally, the present invention relates to a system or mobile communication network for operating a user equipment in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells of a plurality of mobile communication networks, each of the radio cells being associated with at least one of the plurality of mobile communication networks, the user equipment being configured to measure or detect reception conditions with respect to the plurality of radio cells and being configured to subsequently select a mobile communication network from the plurality of mobile communication networks and / or register to the mobile communication network, wherein a home public land mobile network, HPLMN, is associated with the user equipment and the user equipment comprises a terminal equipment entity or functionality and a mobile terminal entity or functionality, wherein with respect to the cell selection and / or network selection by the user equipment, enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are stored in the user equipment.

[0004] Further, the present invention relates to a program and a computer readable medium for operating a user equipment in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells of a plurality of mobile communication networks according to the method of the present invention.

[0005] In currently deployed mobile communication networks, a user equipment or mobile station typically experiences a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells which are at least detectable and / or receivable by the respective user equipment or mobile station (i.e. different radio frequency signals which the user equipment potentially can receive at its current location or position on different frequencies and / or frequency bands and / or at different points in time or time intervals or time slots). One such radio cell is typically provided by a base station entity, i.e. an antenna arrangement of a particular base station entity transmits a radio frequency signal such that the user equipment at its current location or position is able to receive such radio frequency signal with sufficient quality (typically with sufficient signal-to-noise ratio). If this is the case, the radio environment of the user equipment comprises the considered radio cell. The plurality of radio cells (i.e. the plurality of radio cells of base station entities) is typically part of a mobile communication network as a cellular mobile communication network. Thus, the plurality of radio cells of the radio environment of the user equipment is typically part of a plurality of mobile communication networks, typically each of these radio cells is associated with one of the plurality of mobile communication networks or with more than one of the plurality of mobile communication networks, respectively. Thus, by selecting a radio cell (from the plurality of radio cells present or receivable in the radio environment at the considered location or position of the user equipment), the user equipment selects a mobile communication network (associated with the radio cell) as well. However, before a mobile communication network is considered as a network selection candidate (i.e. a candidate mobile communication network), the user equipment needs to find a suitable radio cell in a mobile communication network or public land mobile network to camp on. The criteria to consider a radio cell as a suitable radio cell (to camp on) depends on the considered network technology (or radio access technology) which is defined in or by the relevant standardization documents (mostly referred to as 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) documents).

[0006] In currently known mobile communication networks, i.e. in networks complying with currently defined standards or standard documents, a number of drawbacks can occur: the 3GPP defined order or prioritization of how to select a mobile communication network for obtaining a communication service or any service under bad or unfavorable radio coverage conditions (of the user equipment) is not suitable in all relevant cases. For example, in some cases the field strength and / or quality (of a radio signal or multiple radio signals) of a radio cell (of the radio environment of the user equipment) is not considered in the network selection procedure (PLMN selection procedure), which leads to the user equipment not being able to receive and / or transmit data after the initial network selection procedure (PLMN selection procedure). Such cases include situations in which some user equipment can fail to obtain data services, even though the selected public land mobile network fulfills the cell selection criteria for considering the respective mobile communication network (public land mobile network) in the network selection (or PLMN selection) procedure. In particular, in situations in which the user equipment is at or in an unfavorable location, the applicable cell selection criteria (e.g. the "RX Access Lev min" criterion in GSM or the S criterion in GSM successor technologies) can be barely fulfilled, such that the user equipment considers the respective public land mobile network for PLMN selection, but in fact the data transmission between the network and the user equipment can subsequently fail due to, for example, fading or local interference at the location of the user equipment. Such situations occur especially with respect to cellular user equipment or devices for Internet of Things or M2M (Machine-to-Machine) communication services, which devices are typically used in a stationary manner (e.g. meters or various sensors etc.) and in situations of unfavorable radio (reception) conditions, the problem can be permanent for such user equipment, leading to the situation that such user equipment (especially in automatic network selection mode) is stuck on a PLMN while being unable to transmit data.

[0007] Therefore, in currently known mobile communication networks, it has been proposed to apply an offset to the minimum required field strength to allow network access, or in the case of 3GPP technologies such as UMTS, LTE or 5G, to apply an offset or an absolute value (threshold) in the S criterion or in the network selection phase to mitigate the problem. However, in this case the application level control entity or functionality of the user equipment is not aware of whether such a mechanism is actually applied and / or whether an offset or absolute value (threshold) is used and / or which exact value is used. SUMMARY

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to provide a technically simple, efficient and cost-effective solution for operating a user equipment in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells of a plurality of mobile communication networks. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a corresponding user equipment, system or mobile communication network, as well as a corresponding program and computer readable medium.

[0009] The object of the present invention is achieved by a method for operating a user equipment in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells of a plurality of mobile communication networks, each of the radio cells being associated to at least one of the plurality of mobile communication networks,

[0010] wherein the user equipment measures or detects reception conditions with respect to the plurality of radio cells and subsequently selects a mobile communication network from the plurality of mobile communication networks and / or registers to the mobile communication network, wherein the user equipment has or is associated to a home public land mobile network, HPLMN, and the user equipment comprises a terminal equipment entity or functionality and a mobile terminal entity or functionality, wherein with respect to cell selection and / or network selection by the user equipment, enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are stored in the user equipment,

[0011] - wherein with respect to cell selection by the user equipment, a radio cell of a considered radio access technology is considered to be a suitable radio cell only in case the corresponding reception conditions measured by the user equipment correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN with respect to the considered radio access technology, and / or

[0012] - wherein with respect to network selection by the user equipment, only such mobile communication networks are considered for network selection of the user equipment which correspond to suitable radio cells of a considered radio access technology having or corresponding to reception conditions which correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria,

[0013] wherein the method comprises the following steps:

[0014] - in a first step, the terminal equipment entity or functionality requests selection parameter information, the selection parameter information relating to or indicating whether the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are used or applied by the mobile terminal entity or functionality and / or relating to or indicating parameter values of the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN,

[0015] - in a second step, the terminal equipment entity or functionality receives the selection parameter information.

[0016] Thereby, it is advantageously possible according to the present application, not only to flexibly apply the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN (instead of applying the conventionally used procedures), but also to ensure that the user equipment, in particular the terminal equipment entity or functionality or an application level entity or functionality within the terminal equipment entity or functionality, is aware of the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN and / or its application or use and / or its parameter values. Thus, according to the present application, network and / or cell selection can advantageously be performed in an optimized manner, resulting in particular in avoiding problems associated with the use of conventionally used network selection procedures, such as those mentioned above. In particular, commands towards the mobile terminal entity or functionality can be generated based on the knowledge of the terminal equipment entity or functionality on the selection parameter information (e.g. by settings of the user equipment application, i.e. settings of the terminal equipment entity or functionality, such as events, in particular periodic events, etc.); subsequently, the results of such commands can be reported to the network or backend application server (e.g. via application layer and / or non-access stratum (NAS) communication). Additionally, the home network (or HPLMN) or backend application server can send commands to the user equipment (e.g. via application layer and / or non-access stratum communication) to trigger the user equipment application (as part of or within the terminal equipment entity or functionality) to retrieve the threshold value. This information can advantageously be used in case of a manual selection of another network and / or radio access technology type, i.e. RAT type (e.g. a network or radio access technology which has not been selected yet in case the threshold or offset has already been applied during automatic selection); the application can want to make such a manual selection in case the automatic selection of the threshold value leads to an undesired result. Furthermore, with the knowledge of the application (of the terminal equipment entity or functionality) on whether and which offsets or threshold values (regarding the enhanced selection criteria) are set by the home operator, it is advantageously possible according to the present application to mitigate and exclude faults: according to the present application, the application executed on the user equipment can query this (enhanced selection criteria) value and report it to the backend application server (running on a server in the cloud) or directly to the home operator network; thus, in case the device becomes unresponsive or unavailable or suffers from coverage and connectivity problems, the customer can contact the operator to adjust the threshold or offset in order to solve the connectivity problem.

[0017] Conventionally, cell selection criteria are used for radio cells which are considered suitable radio cells (i.e. for the user equipment to camp on) and these cell selection criteria usually depend on the considered network technology (or radio access technology) used, i.e. the radio access technology used by both the user equipment and the radio cells. Usually, different generations of mobile communication systems (i.e. different radio access technologies) are considered, most often including one, all or a subset of the following:

[0018] 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G technologies (i.e. second generation mobile communication system (GSM, i.e. Global System for Mobile Communications), third generation mobile communication system (UMTS, i.e. Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (including its radio technology UTRA, i.e. UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access)), fourth generation mobile communication system (LTE, i.e. Long Term Evolution (including its radio technology E-UTRA, i.e. Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access)), and fifth generation mobile communication system (5GS, i.e. 5G System (including its radio technology NR, i.e. New Radio))), but further or additional or alternative radio access technologies are not excluded according to the present invention.

[0019] Once the user equipment (or more specifically the so-called AS, access stratum part, of the user equipment) has read one or more PLMNs, i.e. one or more radio cells (which can belong to different mobile communication networks or public land mobile networks), the radio cells or public land mobile networks are reported to the so-called NAS, non-access stratum (or NAS part of the user equipment) by the radio cells (or public land mobile networks) via the cell selection criteria (which would be applied in view of potentially different radio access technologies, respectively) for the subsequent phase (or step) of network selection. Usually, this report also includes information of the respective field strength values (such as e.g. RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) values) (measured by the user equipment). Based on the report (especially the report by the AS part of the user equipment to the NAS part of the user equipment), the actual network selection can be made. Conventionally, in the network selection phase, all radio cells (of the previous cell selection phase) which were judged suitable radio cells are taken into account.

[0020] According to the present invention, the user equipment has or is associated with a home public land mobile network, HPLMN, and the user equipment comprises a terminal equipment entity or functionality (which usually an application level entity or functionality runs or is located in) and a mobile terminal entity or functionality. With respect to the cell selection and / or network selection of the user equipment, enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are stored in the user equipment (or at least can be stored in the user equipment).

[0021] According to the present application, with respect to cell selection of a user equipment, a radio cell of a considered radio access technology is considered to be a suitable radio cell only in case the corresponding reception conditions measured by the user equipment correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN with respect to the considered radio access technology (or at least, the cell selection performed by the user equipment can be performed so that in case the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are provided (transmitted) to the user equipment and stored therein, a radio cell of a considered radio access technology is considered to be a suitable radio cell only in case the corresponding reception conditions measured by the user equipment correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN with respect to the considered radio access technology). According to the present application, alternatively or cumulatively, with respect to network selection of a user equipment, only such mobile communication networks corresponding to suitable radio cells of a considered radio access technology having or corresponding to reception conditions corresponding to or exceeding the enhanced selection criteria are considered for the network selection of the user equipment (or at least, the network selection performed by the user equipment can be performed so that in case the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are provided (transmitted) to the user equipment and stored therein, only such mobile communication networks corresponding to suitable radio cells of a considered radio access technology having or corresponding to reception conditions corresponding to or exceeding the enhanced selection criteria are considered for the network selection of the user equipment).

[0022] According to the present application, it is proposed that the method of the present application comprises that, in a first step, the terminal equipment entity or functionality requests selection parameter information, the selection parameter information relating to or indicating whether the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are used or applied by the mobile terminal entity or functionality and / or relating to or indicating the parameter values of the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN, and, in a second step, the terminal equipment entity or functionality receives the selection parameter information.

[0023] According to the present application, it is proposed that the method of the present application comprises that, in a first step, the terminal equipment entity or functionality requests selection parameter information, the selection parameter information relating to or indicating whether the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are used or applied by the mobile terminal entity or functionality and / or relating to or indicating the parameter values of the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN, and, in a second step, the terminal equipment entity or functionality receives the selection parameter information.

[0024] According to the invention, advantageously and preferably, in addition to the terminal equipment entity or function and the mobile terminal entity or function, the user equipment also includes a terminal adapter entity or function, wherein the terminal adapter entity or function receives a request for selection information from the terminal equipment entity or function during or after the first step, and wherein the terminal adapter entity or function transmits the selection information to the terminal equipment entity or function during or before the second step.

[0025] In particular, the user equipment is a machine-type communication device.

[0026] Therefore, the invention can be implemented and realized relatively easily according to the invention, and provides greater applicability, because in addition to both the terminal equipment entity or function and the mobile terminal entity or function, the user equipment usually also has a terminal adapter entity or function.

[0027] Furthermore, according to the invention, it is advantageous and preferred that, during or after the first step, the terminal adapter entity or function transmits an additional request for selection parameter information to the mobile terminal entity or function, and wherein, during or before the second step, the terminal adapter entity or function receives the selection information from the mobile terminal entity or function.

[0028] Therefore, the invention can be implemented and realized relatively easily according to the present invention.

[0029] Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is advantageous, possible, and preferred to use an AT command interface between the terminal equipment entity or functionality and the terminal adapter entity or functionality or the mobile terminal entity or functionality.

[0030] Therefore, according to the invention, it is advantageous to use the AT command interface to allow the application (or the application-level entity or function of the terminal equipment entity or function) to become aware of whether an offset or threshold (i.e., the enhanced selection criterion provided by HPLMN) is set, and what the actual value of the threshold is, thereby making the invention easier to implement and realize.

[0031] Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is advantageous and preferred that the user equipment includes a universal integrated circuit card and / or a subscriber identity module, particularly including a security element or portion of the user equipment, and / or

[0032] The physical or functional aspects of the terminal equipment include applications or application programs.

[0033] Therefore, the invention can be implemented and realized relatively easily according to the present invention.

[0034] Furthermore, according to the invention, it is advantageously possible and preferred that,

[0035] --Between the physical entity or functionality of the terminal equipment and the physical entity or functionality of the terminal adapter, or

[0036] --Between the physical or functional aspects of the terminal equipment and the physical or functional aspects of the mobile terminal

[0037] The AT command interface is used by terminal equipment entities or functional applications or programs, particularly to execute application settings, especially events (such as periodic events), or to execute commands from the HPLMN or backend application server.

[0038] In particular, the terminal equipment entity or functional application or application program then reports the results to the HPLMN or back-end application server (especially via the application layer and / or non-access layer communication NAS).

[0039] Therefore, according to the invention, it is advantageously possible that the terminal equipment entity or functional application or application can take into account the settings or configurations provided by the HPLMN and, in particular, react flexibly to them, and / or the terminal equipment entity or functional application or application can establish or close feedback loops toward the HPLMN or the back-end application server so as to be able to adjust the settings and / or values ​​of the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN or with respect to the settings and / or values ​​of the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN.

[0040] Furthermore, according to the invention, it is advantageous and preferred that the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN include or take into account a home operator-controlled value set by the HPLMN or its operator or adjustable by the HPLMN or its operator. The enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are particularly restrictive compared to cell selection criteria lacking a home operator-controlled component. In particular, the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are applied in the normal cell selection procedure once network selection has occurred, and / or in particular, the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN trigger network selection in cases where the corresponding reception condition measured by the user equipment does not correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN.

[0041] Therefore, according to the present invention, it is advantageous that the home operator can influence the network selection process of the user equipment, making it relatively easy to implement and realize the present invention.

[0042] Furthermore, according to the invention, it is advantageously possible and preferred that the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMMN and / or the home operator-controlled value of the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMMN correspond to at least one of the following:

[0043] --Absolute value, or

[0044] --Relative value compared to cell selection criteria that lack components controlled by the home operator.

[0045] --The offset value of the additional application compared to the cell selection criteria that lack components controlled by the home operator.

[0046] Therefore, the invention can be implemented and realized relatively easily according to the present invention.

[0047] Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is advantageously possible and preferred that the value of the home operator controlled by the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN is...

[0048] --Stored in user equipment, particularly stored within or as part of a general-purpose integrated circuit card and / or subscriber identity module, and / or

[0049] --Especially provided or transmitted to user equipment by HPLMN or its operators, particularly by means of over-the-air transmission methods, and / or

[0050] --Provided or transmitted to user equipment by HPLMN via NAS signaling.

[0051] Therefore, the invention can be implemented and realized relatively easily according to the present invention.

[0052] Furthermore, the present invention relates to a user equipment operating in a radio environment comprising multiple radio cells of multiple mobile communication networks, each of which is associated with at least one of the multiple mobile communication networks.

[0053] The user equipment is configured to measure or detect reception status with respect to the plurality of radio cells, and is configured to subsequently select a mobile communication network from the plurality of mobile communication networks and / or register to that mobile communication network. The user equipment has or is associated with a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN), and the user equipment includes terminal equipment entity or functionality and mobile terminal entity or functionality. Enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMMN regarding cell selection and / or network selection performed by the user equipment are stored in the user equipment.

[0054] --Regarding cell selection performed by the user equipment, a radio cell for the considered radio access technology is considered a suitable radio cell only if the corresponding reception conditions measured by the user equipment correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN for the considered radio access technology, and / or

[0055] --Regarding network selection by the user equipment, only mobile communication networks corresponding to suitable radio cells of the considered radio access technology, having or corresponding to reception conditions that are in line with or exceed the enhanced selection criteria, are considered for network selection by the user equipment.

[0056] The user equipment is configured such that:

[0057] --The terminal device entity or function requests selection parameter information, which relates to or indicates whether the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are used or applied by the mobile terminal entity or function, and / or relates to or indicates the parameter values ​​of the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN, and

[0058] --The terminal equipment entity or function receives the selection parameter information.

[0059] In particular, the user equipment is a machine-type communication device.

[0060] Furthermore, the present invention relates to a system or mobile communication network for operating user equipment in a radio environment comprising multiple radio cells of multiple mobile communication networks, each of which is associated with at least one of the multiple mobile communication networks. The user equipment is configured to measure or detect reception status with respect to the multiple radio cells and is configured to subsequently select a mobile communication network from the multiple mobile communication networks and / or register with that mobile communication network. A Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) is associated with the user equipment, and the user equipment includes terminal equipment entity or functionality and mobile terminal entity or functionality. Enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMMN regarding cell selection and / or network selection performed by the user equipment are stored in the user equipment.

[0061] --Regarding cell selection performed by the user equipment, a radio cell for the considered radio access technology is considered a suitable radio cell only if the corresponding reception conditions measured by the user equipment correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN for the considered radio access technology, and / or

[0062] --Regarding network selection by the user equipment, only mobile communication networks corresponding to suitable radio cells of the considered radio access technology, having or corresponding to reception conditions that are in line with or exceed the enhanced selection criteria, are considered for network selection by the user equipment.

[0063] The system or mobile communication network is configured such that:

[0064] --The terminal device entity or function requests selection parameter information, which relates to or indicates whether the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN are used or applied by the mobile terminal entity or function, and / or relates to or indicates the parameter values ​​of the enhanced selection criteria provided by the HPLMN, and

[0065] --The terminal equipment entity or function receives the selection parameter information.

[0066] Additionally, the present invention relates to a program comprising computer-readable program code that, when executed on a computer, and / or on a user equipment, and / or on a network node of a mobile communication network, or partially on a user equipment, and / or partially on a network node of a mobile communication network, causes the computer and / or the user equipment and / or the network node of the mobile communication network to perform the method according to the invention.

[0067] Additionally, the present invention relates to a computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a computer, and / or on a user equipment, and / or on a network node of a mobile communication network, or partially on a user equipment, and / or partially on a network node of a mobile communication network, cause the computer and / or the user equipment and / or the network node of the mobile communication network to perform the method according to the invention.

[0068] These and other features, characteristics, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the principles of the invention are illustrated by way of example. This specification is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Reference is made to the accompanying drawings cited below.

[0069] Brief description of the attached figures

[0070] Figure 1 The illustration illustrates user equipment in a radio environment comprising multiple radio cells and multiple mobile communication networks.

[0071] Figure 2 The user equipment and its components are explained in more detail and schematically.

[0072] Figure 3 The illustration illustrates how user equipment measures different signal strengths in different radio cells.

[0073] Figure 4 The illustration illustrates an example of communication between different parts within a user equipment when using a general-purpose integrated circuit card as part of the user equipment. Detailed Implementation Plan

[0074] The invention will be described with reference to specific embodiments and certain accompanying drawings, but the invention is not limited thereto, but is defined only by the claims. The described drawings are merely illustrative and not restrictive. In the drawings, some elements may be enlarged and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes.

[0075] Use the indefinite or definite article when referring to a singular noun. For example, unless otherwise specified, “one,” “a,” and “the” include the plural form of the noun.

[0076] Furthermore, the terms first, second, third, etc., used in the specification and claims are used to distinguish between similar elements and are not necessarily used to describe order or chronological sequence. It should be understood that such terms are interchangeable where appropriate, and the embodiments of the invention described herein can operate in an order different from that described or illustrated herein.

[0077] exist Figure 1 The image schematically illustrates user equipment 20 in a radio environment comprising multiple radio cells and multiple mobile communication networks. Figure 1 In the exemplary representation, the first radio cell 11 is associated with or related to the first mobile communication network 100, the second radio cell 12 is associated with or related to the second mobile communication network 200, and the third radio cell 13 is associated with or related to the third mobile communication network 300.

[0078] Schematic, each of the three radio cells 11, 12, 13 detected or “seen” by user equipment 20 represents a base station entity: (typically but not necessarily of the first mobile communication network 100) a first base station entity 111 generates or provides radio coverage of or about the first radio cell 11, (typically but not necessarily of the second mobile communication network 200) a second base station entity 112 generates or provides radio coverage of or about the second radio cell 12, and (typically but not necessarily of the third mobile communication network 200) a third base station entity 113 generates or provides radio coverage of or about the third radio cell 13.

[0079] exist Figure 1In the diagram, user equipment 20 is shown located within the radio coverage area of ​​the first radio cell 11, the second radio cell 12, and the third radio cell 13 (illustrated by dashed circles). User equipment 20 measures or detects reception status with respect to the plurality of radio cells 11, 12, 13, and subsequently selects a mobile communication network from the plurality of mobile communication networks 100, 200, 300 and / or registers with that mobile communication network.

[0080] Figure 2 The user equipment 20 and its components are shown in more detail: According to the present invention, the user equipment 20 includes a terminal equipment entity or function 21 and a mobile terminal entity or function 23. Figure 2 In the exemplary embodiment shown, the user equipment 20 additionally includes a terminal adapter entity or functionality 22.

[0081] More generally, according to the present invention, in the first step of the method of the present invention, the terminal equipment entity or functionality 21 requests selection parameter information 521, which relates to or indicates whether the enhanced selection criterion 520 provided by the HPLMN is used or applied by the mobile terminal entity or functionality 23, and / or relates to or indicates the parameter value of the enhanced selection criterion 520 provided by the HPLMN, and in the second step of the method of the present invention, the terminal equipment entity or functionality 21 subsequently receives the selection parameter information 521.

[0082] exist Figure 2 In the exemplary embodiment shown, during or after the first step, the terminal adapter entity or function 22 receives a request 522 for (or about) selection information from the terminal equipment entity or function 21 (particularly triggered by user interaction and / or events of the application 211 of the terminal equipment entity or function 21), and during or before the second step, the terminal adapter entity or function 22 transmits selection parameter information 521 to the terminal equipment entity or function 21.

[0083] In addition, Figure 2 In the exemplary embodiment shown, during or after the first step, the terminal adapter entity or function 22 transmits an additional request 524 for the selection parameter information 521 to the mobile terminal entity or function 23, and during or before the second step, the terminal adapter entity or function 22 receives the selection parameter information 521 from the mobile terminal entity or function 23 (particularly as part of message 523). Between the mobile terminal entity or function 23 (of the user equipment 20) and the network 100 (exemplarily, in...), Figure 2In this context, the first mobile communication network 100 is considered to be the HPLMN of the user equipment 20; however, the second or third network 200, 300 may also play this role, typically exchanging multiple network messages 230.

[0084] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, request 522 (or request message 522) corresponds to an AT command; selection parameter information 521 corresponds to a corresponding response; additional request 524 (or additional request message 524) corresponds to a mobile terminal control command (typically based on the proprietary interface of the manufacturer of the terminal adapter entity or functionality 22 and / or mobile terminal entity or functionality 23); message 523 (conveying or including selection parameter information 521) corresponds to a mobile terminal status message.

[0085] Therefore, in particular, an AT command interface (or more generally, a terminal equipment-terminal adapter interface) is used between the terminal equipment entity or function 21 and the terminal adapter entity or function 22 or the mobile terminal entity or function 23, thereby allowing the application (or the application-level entity or function of the terminal equipment entity or function 21) to become aware of whether an offset or threshold (i.e., the enhanced selection criteria provided by HPLMN) is set, and what the actual value of that threshold is.

[0086] In particular, when using the AT command interface, commands directed towards the mobile terminal entity or function can be generated relatively easily based on knowledge of the selection parameter information based on the terminal equipment entity or functionality (e.g., through user equipment application settings). The results of such commands can then be reported to the network or backend application server. Additionally, the home network (or HPLMN) or backend application server can (e.g., via application layer and / or non-access layer communication) send commands to the user equipment to trigger the user equipment application to retrieve thresholds using AT commands. This information can be beneficially used in situations where the application manually selects another network and / or radio access technology type.

[0087] According to the present invention, preferably, the AT command interface is implemented between the terminal equipment entity or function 21 and the terminal adapter entity or function 22 or between the terminal equipment entity or function 21 and the mobile terminal entity or function 23.

[0088] Specifically, the AT command interface is used by the terminal equipment entity or the application or application of function 21, and specifically for executing application settings, particularly events (such as periodic events), or for executing commands from the HPLMN or back-end application server; specifically, the terminal equipment entity or the application or application of function 21 then reports the results to the HPLMN or back-end application server (particularly via application layer and / or non-access layer communication NAS).

[0089] According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, user equipment 20 is a machine-type communication device.

[0090] Furthermore, according to the present invention, preferably, the terminal adapter entity or function 22 corresponds to a GSM data card (e.g., equal to DCE, i.e., data circuit terminal equipment), and the terminal equipment entity or function 21 corresponds to a computer (e.g., equal to DTE, i.e., data terminal equipment), or in the case of an Internet of Things device (or machine-type communication device), it will be the actual application executed in the device.

[0091] In addition, user equipment 20 includes a general-purpose integrated circuit card and / or a subscriber identity module, particularly a security element or portion thereof, and / or

[0092] Terminal equipment entity or functionality 21 includes applications or application programs.

[0093] According to the present invention, regarding cell selection and / or network selection, user equipment 20 can apply enhanced selection criteria provided by HPLMN. Figure 3 The figure schematically illustrates the cell selection criteria provided by the HPLMN, as specified by reference numeral 520, which represents the situation where user equipment 20 measures different signal strengths of different radio cells 11, 12, and 13.

[0094] Figure 3 The vertical axis of the diagram shown corresponds to signal strength 500 or its indicator (such as field strength value or signal quality parameter). According to mechanisms commonly known in mobile communication networks, user equipment 20 applies conventionally defined cell selection criteria 510 during the cell selection phase. According to this (conventionally defined) cell selection criterion 510, both the first radio cell 11 and the third radio cell 13 will be considered suitable radio cells (in the cell selection phase and / or in the network selection phase according to or applying cell selection criterion 510) because these two radio cells 11, 13 are schematically shown as having or providing (at the location of user equipment 20) a signal strength corresponding to or exceeding (conventionally defined) cell selection criteria 510.

[0095] According to the present invention, the enhanced selection criteria 520 provided by the HPLMN are defined (i.e., received by the user equipment 20 from the HPLMN in some way (initially, for example, stored on a general-purpose integrated circuit card, or during the operation of the user equipment 20)) and taken into consideration when selecting radio cells and / or networks. Since the enhanced selection criteria 520 provided by the HPLMN generally require higher or increased received signal levels or quality (in... Figure 3In this context, the enhanced selection criterion 520 provided by the HPLMN is indicated above the conventionally defined cell selection criterion 510, i.e., the enhanced selection criterion 520 provided by the HPLMN is particularly restrictive compared to the conventionally defined cell selection criterion 510. Therefore, in the case where the enhanced selection criterion 520 provided by the HPLMN is applied (i.e. required), only the third radio cell 13 is considered by the user equipment 20 to be or correspond to a suitable radio cell and / or a suitable network (because it is the only one of the three radio cells that indicates that the corresponding reception condition measured by the user equipment 20 corresponds to or exceeds the enhanced selection criterion 520 provided by the HPLMN with respect to the radio access technology under consideration).

[0096] The enhanced selection criterion 520 provided by HPLMN may correspond to the cell selection criterion provided by HPLMN that is taken into consideration when selecting radio cells. Alternatively or cumulatively, the enhanced selection criterion 520 provided by HPLMN may correspond to the enhanced network selection criterion that is taken into consideration when selecting a network, particularly a public land mobile network, especially in the first or initial part of the network selection phase.

[0097] exist Figure 1 and Figure 3 In both cases, only radio cells and mobile communication networks 100, 200, and 300 are shown without distinguishing between different radio access technologies. However, it will be understood that this also applies to different radio access technologies. For example, the third radio cell 13 may only exceed the enhanced selection criterion 520 provided by the HPLMN for a specific radio access technology, but may also include radio cells of another radio access technology provided or generated by the third base station entity 113 (not shown in the original text). Figure 1 (or as specifically stated in 3) may not exceed the enhanced selection criteria 520 provided by the corresponding HPLMN for the application of the other radio access technology, and may also apply to other radio cells 11, 12.

[0098] According to the invention, user equipment 20 typically has or is associated with a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN), and wherein enhanced selection criteria 520 includes or takes into account home operator-controlled values ​​set by or adjustable by the HPLMN or its operator, wherein enhanced selection criteria 520 provided by the HPLMN is particularly restrictive compared to cell selection criteria 510 (or general cell selection criteria) which lacks home operator-controlled components, wherein enhanced selection criteria 520 provided by the HPLMN is also applied particularly during normal cell selection and / or during network selection procedures.

[0099] Figure 4 This schematically illustrates an example of communication within user equipment 20 when using a general-purpose integrated circuit card 24 as part of user equipment 20; that is, Figure 4 The diagram illustrates communication between terminal equipment entity or function 21, terminal adapter entity or function 22, mobile terminal entity or function 23, and general-purpose integrated circuit card 24. A double arrow between terminal equipment entity or function 21 and terminal adapter entity or function 22 schematically and exemplarily indicates an AT command interface, and another double arrow between mobile terminal entity or function 23 and general-purpose integrated circuit card 24 schematically and exemplarily indicates a mobile terminal entity or function – general-purpose integrated circuit card interface.

[0100] To allow the application (i.e., terminal equipment entity or function 21) to query offsets or thresholds (of enhanced selection criterion 520) stored and remotely maintained by the home operator on the subscriber identity module or SIM card (or general-purpose integrated circuit card), corresponding command sets and procedures need to be defined for the "AT(-command) interface" and for the "MT-UICC" interface. The message flow between the application (or user) 211, terminal equipment entity or function 21, terminal adapter entity or function 22, mobile terminal entity or function 23, and general-purpose integrated circuit card 24 can, for example, result in the following processing steps:

[0101] In the first processing step, the user / application 211 triggers a query (towards the terminal device entity or functionality 21) to obtain the current status / value of the enhanced selection criterion 520 (accomplished via interaction with the terminal device based on API / software library).

[0102] In the second processing step (601), the terminal equipment entity or functionality 21 issues AT commands (sets) to the terminal adapter entity or functionality 22 via the AT command line interface (serial interface), for example,<AT+CURT> (“AT” is the typical start of an AT command sequence; “C” is usually used for interaction with 'cellular'; “URT” corresponds to the actual command, such as for “user-related threshold”); the second processing step corresponds to the first step of the method according to the invention, namely, the terminal equipment entity or functionality 21 requests the selection parameter information 521.

[0103] In the third processing step, the terminal adapter entity or function 22 forwards the request to the mobile terminal entity or function 23.

[0104] In the fourth processing step (602), the mobile terminal entity or functional 23 queries the general integrated circuit card 24.

[0105] In the fifth processing step (603), the general integrated circuit card 24 responds with the current threshold, that is, it provides selection parameter information 521 to the mobile terminal entity or functionality 23.

[0106] In the sixth processing step, the mobile terminal entity or function 23 forwards the result (i.e., the selection parameter information 521) to the terminal adapter entity or function 22.

[0107] In the seventh processing step (604), the terminal adapter entity or functionality 22 outputs an AT command result (e.g.: <cr> <lf>+ CURT: (0-20, 12) <cr> <lf>The result (i.e. the selection parameter information 521) is forwarded to the terminal equipment entity or functionality 21 in the form of a result (i.e. a query for the CURT value at the result; (0-20, 12) corresponds to the value range of 0-20 and the current value of 12).

[0108] In a eighth processing step, the terminal equipment entity or functionality 21 forwards the result to the application 211 (or the user).< / lf> < / cr> < / lf> < / cr>

Claims

1. A method for operating user equipment (20) in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells (11, 12, 13) including a plurality of mobile communication networks (100, 200, 300), each of the radio cells (11, 12, 13) being associated with at least one of the plurality of mobile communication networks (100, 200, 300), The user equipment (20) measures reception status with respect to the plurality of radio cells (11, 12, 13) and subsequently selects or registers with a mobile communication network from or to one of the plurality of mobile communication networks (100, 200, 300). The user equipment (20) is associated with a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN), and the user equipment (20) includes a terminal equipment entity or function (21) and a mobile terminal entity or function (23). An AT command interface is used between the terminal equipment entity or function (21) and the mobile terminal entity or function (23). Enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN are stored in the user equipment (20) regarding cell selection and / or network selection performed by the user equipment (20). --Regarding cell selection performed by the user equipment (20), a radio cell for the considered radio access technology is considered a suitable radio cell only if the corresponding reception condition measured by the user equipment (20) corresponds to or exceeds the enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN with respect to the considered radio access technology, and / or --Regarding network selection by the user equipment (20), only mobile communication networks corresponding to suitable radio cells of the considered radio access technology that have or correspond to reception conditions that correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria are considered for network selection by the user equipment (20). The method is characterized by including the following steps: --In the first step, the terminal equipment entity or functionality (21) requests selection parameter information (521) via the AT command interface. The selection parameter information (521) relates to whether the enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN is used by the mobile terminal entity or functionality (23), and / or relates to the parameter value of the enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN. --In the second step, the terminal equipment entity or function (21) receives the selection parameter information (521) via the AT command interface.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in addition to the terminal equipment entity or function (21) and the mobile terminal entity or function (23), the user equipment (20) further includes a terminal adapter entity or function (22), wherein the terminal adapter entity or function (22) receives a request (522) for the selection parameter information (521) from the terminal equipment entity or function (21) during or after the first step, and wherein the terminal adapter entity or function (22) transmits the selection parameter information (521) to the terminal equipment entity or function (21) during or before the second step. The user equipment (20) mentioned therein is a machine-type communication device.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein during or after the first step, the terminal adapter entity or function (22) transmits an additional request (524) for the selection parameter information (521) to the mobile terminal entity or function (23), and wherein during or before the second step, the terminal adapter entity or function (22) receives the selection parameter information (521) from the mobile terminal entity or function (23).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user equipment (20) comprises a general-purpose integrated circuit card.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user equipment (20) includes a security element of the user equipment (20).

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the AT command interface between the terminal equipment entity or function (21) and the mobile terminal entity or function (23) is used by an application or application program of the terminal equipment entity or function (21) to execute settings of the application, or to execute commands of the HPLMN or backend application server. The terminal equipment entity or functional (21) application or application thereafter reports the results to the HPLMN or the backend application server.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the terminal equipment entity or functional (21) application or application reports the results to the HPLMN or the back-end application server via application layer and / or non-access layer communication (NAS).

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the enhanced selection criterion (520) provided by the HPLMN takes into account a home operator-controlled value set by the HPLMN or its operator or adjustable by the HPLMN or its operator, wherein the enhanced selection criterion (520) provided by the HPLMN is more restrictive than a cell selection criterion (510) lacking a home operator-controlled component.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the home operator-controlled value of the enhanced selection criterion (520) provided by the HPLMMN corresponds to at least one of the following: --Absolute value, or --The relative value compared to the cell selection criterion (510) that lacks components controlled by the home operator. --The offset value of the additional application compared to the cell selection criteria (510) for components lacking home operator control.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the home operator-controlled value of the enhanced selection criterion (520) provided by the HPLMMN. -- Stored in the user equipment (20), or --Provide or transmit to the user equipment (20), or --Provided or transmitted to the user equipment by the HPLMN via non-access stratum NAS signaling (20).

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the home operator-controlled value of the enhanced selection criterion (520) provided by the HPLMMN. --Stored within or as part of a general-purpose integrated circuit card, or --Provide or transmit to the user equipment by means of an over-the-air transmission method (20).

12. A user equipment (20) operating in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells (11, 12, 13) including a plurality of mobile communication networks (100, 200, 300), each of the radio cells (11, 12, 13) being associated with at least one of the plurality of mobile communication networks (100, 200, 300). The user equipment (20) is configured to measure reception status with respect to the plurality of radio cells (11, 12, 13) and is configured to subsequently select or register with a mobile communication network from the plurality of mobile communication networks (100, 200, 300), wherein the user equipment (20) is associated with a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN), and the user equipment (20) includes a terminal equipment entity or function (21) and a mobile terminal entity or function (23), wherein the user equipment (20) is configured to use an AT command interface between the terminal equipment entity or function (21) and the mobile terminal entity or function (23), wherein enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN are stored in the user equipment (20) regarding cell selection and / or network selection performed by the user equipment (20). --Regarding cell selection performed by the user equipment (20), a radio cell for the considered radio access technology is considered a suitable radio cell only if the corresponding reception condition measured by the user equipment (20) corresponds to or exceeds the enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN with respect to the considered radio access technology, and / or --Regarding network selection by the user equipment (20), only mobile communication networks corresponding to suitable radio cells of the considered radio access technology that have or correspond to reception conditions that correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria are considered for network selection by the user equipment (20). The user equipment (20) is characterized in that it is configured such that: --The terminal equipment entity or functionality (21) requests selection parameter information (521) via the AT command interface, the selection parameter information (521) relating to whether the enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN is used by the mobile terminal entity or functionality (23), and / or relating to the parameter values ​​of the enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN, and --The terminal equipment entity or function (21) receives the selection parameter information (521) via the AT command interface.

13. A system for operating a user equipment (20) in a radio environment comprising a plurality of radio cells (11, 12, 13) including a plurality of mobile communication networks (100, 200, 300), each of the radio cells (11, 12, 13) being associated with at least one of the plurality of mobile communication networks (100, 200, 300), wherein the system comprises the user equipment (20) and the plurality of mobile communication networks (100, 200, 300), the user equipment (20) being configured to measure reception status with respect to the plurality of radio cells (11, 12, 13), and being configured to subsequently receive data from the plurality of mobile communication networks. The user equipment (20) selects or registers with a mobile communication network from among networks (100, 200, 300), wherein the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) is associated with the user equipment (20), and the user equipment (20) includes a terminal equipment entity or function (21) and a mobile terminal entity or function (23), wherein the user equipment (20) is configured to use an AT command interface between the terminal equipment entity or function (21) and the mobile terminal entity or function (23), wherein enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN regarding cell selection and / or network selection performed by the user equipment (20) are stored in the user equipment (20). --Regarding cell selection performed by the user equipment (20), a radio cell for the considered radio access technology is considered a suitable radio cell only if the corresponding reception condition measured by the user equipment (20) corresponds to or exceeds the enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN with respect to the considered radio access technology, and / or --Regarding network selection by the user equipment (20), only mobile communication networks corresponding to suitable radio cells of the considered radio access technology that have or correspond to reception conditions that correspond to or exceed the enhanced selection criteria are considered for network selection by the user equipment (20). The system is characterized in that it is configured such that: --The terminal equipment entity or functionality (21) requests selection parameter information (521) via the AT command interface, the selection parameter information (521) relating to whether the enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN is used by the mobile terminal entity or functionality (23), and / or relating to the parameter values ​​of the enhanced selection criteria (520) provided by the HPLMN, and --The terminal equipment entity or function (21) receives the selection parameter information (521) via the AT command interface.

14. A program product comprising computer-readable program code, which, when executed on a computer associated with or on a user equipment (20), causes the computer or the user equipment (20) to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

15. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on or on a computer associated with a user equipment (20), cause the computer or the user equipment (20) to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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