Configuring gaps for MUSIM-capable UEs

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for including configuring gaps for user equipments (UEs) with MUSIM (Multiple Universal Subscriber Identity Module) capabilities. In some aspects, the UE includes: at least one antenna; at least one radio coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor coupled to the at least one radio. The UE supports multiple USIMs including at least a first SIM associated with a first network and a second SIM associated with a second network. The at least one radio and the processor are configured to: request, from the first network, a gap configuration associated with an operation in the second network, the gap configuration comprising a gap during which the operation in the second network is performed by the UE; receiving an indication of the gap configuration from the first network; and when the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with the first network and in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with the second network, performing an operation in the second network based on the gap configuration during each gap within an operation cycle, the operation cycle comprising at least one gap. The processor is further configured to extend the operational cycle if the gap within the operational cycle is discarded at the UE due to a collision of the gap with other gaps.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to a wireless communication system including user equipment (UE), network devices, methods, apparatus and media, including configuring gaps for UEs with MUSIM (Multi-Universal Subscriber Identity Module) capabilities. Background Art

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to send data between base stations and wireless communication devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols may include, for example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G), 3GPP New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G), and the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLANs) (commonly referred to within industry organizations as WLANs). ).

[0003] As envisioned by 3GPP, different wireless communication system standards and protocols may use various radio access networks (RANs) to communicate between base stations of the RAN (which may also sometimes be referred to as RAN nodes, network nodes, or simply nodes) and wireless communication devices referred to as user equipment (UE). 3GPP RANs may include, for example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), and / or Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN).

[0004] Each RAN may use one or more radio access technologies (RATs) to perform communications between base stations and UEs. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RAT, E-UTRAN implements LTE RAT (sometimes referred to as LTE), and NG-RAN implements NR RAT (sometimes referred to as 5G RAT, 5G NR RAT, or NR in this document). In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement NR RAT. In some deployments, NG-RAN may also implement LTE RAT.

[0005] The base stations used by the RAN may correspond to the RAN. An example of an E-UTRAN base station is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly denoted as an evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB). An example of an NG-RAN base station is a Next Generation Node B (sometimes also referred to as a gNodeB or gNB).

[0006] The RAN provides communication services together with external entities through its connection with the Core Network (CN). For example, E-UTRAN may utilize the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and NG-RAN may utilize the 5G Core Network (5GC).

[0007] The frequency bands of 5G NR may be divided into two or more different frequency ranges. For example, frequency range 1 (FR1) may include frequency bands operating at frequencies below 6 GHz, some of which are already in use and can potentially be expanded to cover new spectrum products from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Frequency range 2 (FR2) may include frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The frequency bands in the millimeter wave (mmWave) range of FR2 may have a smaller range but potentially higher available bandwidth than the frequency bands in FR1. The skilled person will recognize that these frequency ranges, provided by way of example, may change over time or from region to region. Summary of the invention

[0008] Embodiments relate to user equipment (UE), network devices, methods, apparatuses, and media for configuring gaps for MUSIM-capable UEs.

[0009] In some aspects, the UE includes: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor, the processor coupled to the at least one radio component. The UE supports multiple USIMs, the multiple USIMs including at least a first SIM associated with a first network and a second SIM associated with a second network. The at least one radio component and the processor are configured to: request a gap configuration associated with an operation in the second network from the first network, the gap configuration including a gap during which the operation in the second network is performed by the UE; receive an indication of the gap configuration from the first network; and when the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with the first network and in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with the second network, during each gap in an operation cycle, perform the operation in the second network based on the gap configuration, the operation cycle including at least one gap. The processor is further configured to: if the gap in the operation cycle is discarded at the UE due to a conflict between the gap and other gaps, extend the operation cycle.

[0010] In some aspects, a network device associated with a first network is provided. The network device includes: at least one antenna; at least one radio component, the at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor, the processor coupled to the at least one radio component. The at least one radio component and the processor are configured to: receive a request for a gap configuration associated with an operation in a second network from a UE, the gap configuration including a gap during which the operation in the second network is performed by the UE; and send an indication of the gap configuration to the UE. If the gap within the operation period is discarded at the UE due to a conflict between the gap and other gaps, the UE extends the operation period.

[0011] In some aspects, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) as previously described is provided.

[0012] In some aspects, a method is provided that is performed by a network device as previously described.

[0013] In some aspects, an apparatus for operating a user equipment (UE) is provided and includes one or more processors to cause the user equipment (UE) device to perform the above method.

[0014] In some aspects, an apparatus for operating a network device is provided, and the apparatus includes one or more processors to cause the network device to perform the above method.

[0015] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores program instructions, and the instructions may be executable by one or more processors to cause a user equipment (UE) device to perform the above method.

[0016] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores program instructions and that can be executed by one or more processors to enable a network device to perform the above method.

[0017] The techniques described herein may be implemented in and / or used with a number of different types of devices, including, but not limited to, any of cellular base stations, cellular telephones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players, and a variety of other computing devices.

[0018] This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the topics described in this document. Therefore, it should be understood that the above features are only examples and should not be construed as narrowing the scope or essence of the topics described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the topics described herein will become apparent through the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or action, the most significant digit(s) in a reference number refers to the drawing number that first introduces the element.

[0020] Figure 1 An example architecture of a wireless communication system according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated.

[0021] Figure 2 A system for performing signaling between a wireless device and a network device according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated.

[0022] Figure 3 An example architecture of a wireless environment in which a MUSIM device operates according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated.

[0023] Figure 4 A flow chart illustrating an example method at the UE side for configuring gaps for a MUSIM capable UE according to embodiments disclosed herein.

[0024] Figure 5 An example timing diagram showing the relationship between operating period, gap length, and gap repetition period according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated.

[0025] Fig. 6A An example timing diagram showing the relationship between an operating period, a gap length, a gap repetition period, and an operating window according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated.

[0026] Figure 6B An example timing diagram showing an extended operating period due to dropped gaps according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated.

[0027] Figure 6C An example timing diagram showing an extended operating period due to dropped gaps according to other embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated.

[0028] Figure 7 A flow chart illustrating an example method 700 for configuring gaps for MUSIM capable UEs at the network A side according to embodiments disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Various embodiments are described with respect to UE. However, reference to UE is provided for illustrative purposes only. The example embodiments may be used with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, UE as described herein is used to represent any suitable electronic component.

[0030] Figure 1 An example architecture of a wireless communication system 100 according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated. The description provided below is for an example wireless communication system 100 operating in conjunction with the LTE system standard and / or the 5G or NR system standard provided in the 3GPP technical specifications.

[0031] like Figure 1 As shown, wireless communication system 100 includes UE 102 and UE 104 (although any number of UEs may be used). In this example, UE 102 and UE 104 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touch screen mobile computing devices capable of connecting to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device configured for wireless communication.

[0032] UE 102 and UE 104 may be configured to be communicatively coupled to RAN 106. In an embodiment, RAN 106 may be NG-RAN, E-UTRAN, etc. UE 102 and UE 104 utilize connections (or channels) (shown as connection 108 and connection 110, respectively) with RAN 106, where each connection (or channel) includes a physical communication interface. RAN 106 may include one or more base stations, such as base station 112 and base station 114, to implement connection 108 and connection 110.

[0033] In this example, connections 108 and 110 are air interfaces that enable such communicative coupling and may conform to the RAT used by the RAN 106 , such as, for example, LTE and / or NR.

[0034] In some embodiments, UE 102 and UE 104 may also directly exchange communication data via side link interface 116. UE 104 is shown as being configured to access an access point (shown as AP 118) via connection 120. By way of example, connection 120 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection conforming to any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 118 may include In this example, AP 118 may be connected to another network (eg, the Internet) without going through CN 124.

[0035] In an embodiment, UE 102 and UE 104 may be configured to communicate with each other or with base station 112 and / or base station 114 over a multi-carrier communication channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals according to various communication techniques, such as but not limited to orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the embodiment is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0036] In some embodiments, all or part of base station 112 or base station 114 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network. In addition, or in other embodiments, base station 112 or base station 114 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 122. In an embodiment where wireless communication system 100 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 124 is EPC), interface 122 may be an X2 interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more base stations (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to EPC and / or between two eNBs connected to EPC. In an embodiment where wireless communication system 100 is an NR system (e.g., when CN 124 is 5GC), interface 122 may be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more base stations (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to 5GC, between base station 112 (e.g., gNB) and eNB connected to 5GC, and / or between two eNBs connected to 5GC (e.g., CN 124).

[0037] The RAN 106 is shown as being communicatively coupled to the CN 124. The CN 124 may include one or more network elements 126 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., UE 102 and users of UE 104) connected to the CN 124 via the RAN 106. The components of the CN 124 may be implemented in one physical device or separate physical devices including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium).

[0038] In an embodiment, CN 124 may be an EPC, and RAN 106 may be connected to CN 124 via an S1 interface 128. In an embodiment, S1 interface 128 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface that carries traffic data between base station 112 or base station 114 and a serving gateway (S-GW); and an S1-MME interface that is a signaling interface between base station 112 or base station 114 and a mobility management entity (MME).

[0039] In an embodiment, CN 124 may be a 5GC, and RAN 106 may be connected to CN 124 via an NG interface 128. In an embodiment, NG interface 128 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface that carries service data between base station 112 or base station 114 and a user plane function (UPF); and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface that is a signaling interface between base station 112 or base station 114 and an access and mobility management function (AMF).

[0040] Generally speaking, the application server 130 may be an element that provides applications (e.g., packet-switched data services) that use Internet Protocol (IP) bearer resources with the CN 124. The application server 130 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, group communication sessions, etc.) for the UE 102 and the UE 104 via the CN 124. The application server 130 may communicate with the CN 124 via an IP communication interface 132.

[0041] Figure 2 A system 200 for performing signaling 234 between a wireless device 202 and a network device 218 according to an embodiment disclosed herein is illustrated. The system 200 may be part of a wireless communication system as described herein. The wireless device 202 may be, for example, a UE of a wireless communication system. The network device 218 may be, for example, a base station (e.g., an eNB or a gNB) of a wireless communication system.

[0042] The wireless device 202 may include one or more processors 204. The processor 204 may execute instructions to perform various operations of the wireless device 202, as described herein. The processor 204 may include one or more baseband processors implemented using, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a controller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0043] The wireless device 202 may include a memory 206. The memory 206 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 208 (which may include, for example, instructions executed by the processor 204). The instructions 208 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. The memory 206 may also store data used by the processor 204 and results calculated by the processor.

[0044] The wireless device 202 may include one or more transceivers 210, which may include radio frequency (RF) transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses an antenna 212 of the wireless device 202 to facilitate signaling (e.g., signaling 234) to and / or from the wireless device 202 and other devices (e.g., network device 218) according to a corresponding RAT.

[0045] The wireless device 202 may include one or more antennas 212 (e.g., one, two, four, or more). For embodiments with multiple antennas 212, the wireless device 202 may utilize the spatial diversity of such multiple antennas 212 to transmit and / or receive multiple different data streams on the same time-frequency resource. This behavior may be referred to as, for example, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) behavior (referring to multiple antennas used at each of the transmitting device and the receiving device to implement this aspect). MIMO transmission by the wireless device 202 may be implemented based on precoding (or digital beamforming) applied at the wireless device 202, which multiplexes the data streams across the antennas 212 based on known or assumed channel characteristics, so that each data stream is received at an appropriate signal strength relative to the other streams and at a desired location in the spatial domain (e.g., the location of the receiver associated with the data stream). Certain embodiments may use a single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) approach (where the data streams are all directed to a single receiver) and / or a multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) approach (where separate data streams may be directed to separate (different) receivers in different locations in the spatial domain).

[0046] In certain embodiments with multiple antennas, the wireless device 202 may implement analog beamforming techniques whereby the phases of signals transmitted by the antennas 212 are relatively adjusted so that the (joint) transmissions of the antennas 212 can be directed (this is sometimes referred to as beam steering).

[0047] The wireless device 202 may include one or more interfaces 214. The interfaces 214 may be used to provide input to or output from the wireless device 202. For example, the wireless device 202 (UE) may include an interface 214, such as a microphone, a speaker, a touch screen, and buttons, etc., to allow a user of the UE to provide input and / or output to the UE. Other interfaces of such a UE may consist of transmitters, receivers, and other circuits (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 210 / antenna 212 described above) that allow communication between the UE and other devices, and may be based on known protocols (e.g., and etc.) to perform the operation.

[0048] The network device 218 may include one or more processors 220. The processor 220 may execute instructions to perform various operations of the network device 218, as described herein. The processor 204 may include one or more baseband processors implemented using, for example, a CPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a controller, an FPGA device, another hardware device, a firmware device, or any combination thereof configured to perform the operations described herein.

[0049] The network device 218 may include a memory 222. The memory 222 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions 224 (which may include, for example, instructions executed by the processor 220). The instructions 224 may also be referred to as program code or a computer program. The memory 222 may also store data used by the processor 220 and results calculated by the processor.

[0050] The network device 218 may include one or more transceivers 226, which may include RF transmitter and / or receiver circuitry that uses an antenna 228 of the network device 218 to facilitate signaling (e.g., signaling 234) to and / or from the network device 218 and other devices (e.g., wireless device 202) according to a corresponding RAT.

[0051] The network device 218 may include one or more antennas 228 (eg, one, two, four, or more). In embodiments with multiple antennas 228, the network device 218 may perform MIMO, digital beamforming, analog beamforming, beamsteering, etc. as described.

[0052] The network device 218 may include one or more interfaces 230. The interfaces 230 may be used to provide input to or output from the network device 218. For example, the network device 218 (base station) may include an interface 230 consisting of a transmitter, a receiver, and other circuits (e.g., in addition to the transceiver 226 / antenna 228 described above) that enables the base station to communicate with other equipment in the core network and / or enables the base station to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, etc., for the purpose of performing operations, management, and maintenance of the base station or other equipment operably connected to the base station.

[0053] In the following, three possible RRC states (ie, RRC_IDLE, RRC_CONNECTED and / or RRC_INACTIVE) in a wireless communication system are described.

[0054] In the RRC_IDLE state (or idle mode / state), an RRC context for communication between the UE and the network may not be established in the RAN, and the UE may not belong to a specific cell. In addition, in the RRC_IDLE state, there is no core network connection for the UE. Since the device remains in sleep mode most of the time to reduce battery consumption, data transmission between the UE and the network may not occur. The UE in RRC_IDLE may wake up periodically to receive paging messages from the network. Mobility may be handled by the UE through cell reselection. Since uplink synchronization is not maintained, the UE may not perform uplink transmission other than transmission for random access (e.g., random access preamble transmission) to move to RRC_CONNECTED.

[0055] In the RRC_CONNECTED state (or connected state / mode), an RRC context for communication between the UE and the network may be established in the RAN. In addition, in RRC_CONNECTED, a core network connection is established for the UE. Since the UE belongs to a specific cell, a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for signaling between the UE and the network may be configured for the UE. Data transmission between the UE and the network may occur. Mobility may be handled by the network, that is, the UE may provide measurement reports to the network, and the network may send mobility commands to the UE to perform mobility. It may be necessary to establish and maintain uplink time alignment based on random access for data transmission.

[0056] In the RRC_INACTIVE state (or inactive state / mode), the RRC context used for communication between the UE and the network may be maintained in the RAN. Data transmission between the UE and the network may not occur. Since the core network connection can also be maintained for the UE, the UE can quickly transition to the connected state for data transmission. During the transition, core network signaling may not be required. The RRC context may have been established in the network, and the idle to active transition may be handled in the RAN. The UE may be allowed to sleep in a manner similar to the RRC_IDLE state, and mobility may be handled by cell reselection without involving the network. The RRC_INCATIVE state may be interpreted as a mixture of the idle state and the connected state.

[0057] By performing an initial attach procedure or an RRC connection establishment procedure, the UE may transition from the RRC_IDLE state to the RRC_CONNECTED state. When detachment, RRC connection release (e.g., when the UE receives an RRC release message) and / or connection failure (e.g., radio link failure (RLF)) has occurred, the UE may transition from the RRC connected state to the RRC idle state. When the RRC connection is suspended (e.g., when the UE receives an RRC release message including a suspension configuration), the UE may transition from the RRC_CONNECTED state to the RRC_INACTIVE state, and when the RRC connection is restored by performing an RRC connection recovery procedure, the UE may transition from the RRC_INACTIVE state to the RRC_CONNECTED state. When a connection failure such as RLF has occurred, the UE may transition from the RRC_INACTIVE state to the RRC_IDLE state.

[0058] Hereinafter, discontinuous reception (DRX) is described.

[0059] The UE uses DRX in the RRC_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE states to reduce power consumption. The DRX cycle may be repeated periodically and includes a DRX on duration during which the UE wakes up and a DRX off duration during which the UE sleeps. Since the DRX cycle is repeated periodically, the DRX on duration and the DRX off duration may also be repeated periodically according to the DRX cycle.

[0060] Hereinafter, contents related to a Multi Universal Subscriber Identity Module (MUSIM) are described.

[0061] Nowadays, with the development of communication technology, UEs with MUSIM capabilities have become more and more popular. A user may have both personal and commercial subscriptions in one UE, or two personal subscriptions for different services in one UE.

[0062] Figure 3 An example architecture of a wireless environment in which a MUSIM device operates according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated.

[0063] refer to Figure 3 , the MUSIM UE 300 may have multiple Universal Subscriber Identity Modules (USIMs): SIM A 301 and SIM B 302. The MUSIM UE 300 may register with Network A (NW A) 310 based on subscription information in SIM A 301 to obtain a connection A 311 between the network A 310 and the MUSIM UE 300. The MUSIM UE 300 may register with Network B (NW B) 320 based on subscription information in SIM B 302 to obtain a connection B 321 between the network B 320 and the MUSIM UE 300. The MUSIM UE 300 may perform communication with the network A 310 through the connection A 311 using the SIM A 301, and perform communication with the network B 320 through the connection B 321 using the SIM B 302. The SIM A 301 and the SIM B 302 may belong to the same or different operators, and may be physical SIMs or embedded SIMs (eSIMs). Please note that Figure 3 The number of SIMs in is only exemplary, and the MUSIM UE 300 may have more than two SIMs.

[0064] UE 300 registered to two networks needs to be able to operate on both networks. In order to use hardware efficiently and economically and / or depending on UE capabilities (e.g., Rx capabilities and Tx capabilities), the hardware capabilities of UE 300 are shared by at least two SIMs, and the relevant capabilities need to be dynamically divided between the two SIMs. This may cause temporary hardware conflicts of UE. For example, when SIMA 301 is in a radio resource control (RRC) connection state in NW A310 and SIM B 302 is in RRC idle or RRC inactive in NW B 320, the two RF chains of UE 300 will be occupied by SIM A 301 for communication in NW A 310, and therefore UE 300 cannot operate on SIM B 302 (e.g., perform RRM measurements, paging reception). In addition, temporary hardware conflicts of UE may require UE to release some resources from one SIM and use these resources on another SIM. For example, one of the RF chains of the UE 300 needs to be switched to the SIM B 302 so that the UE 300 can operate on the NW B 320 associated with the SIM B 302. In this case, if the NW A 310 is unaware of the reduced capability of the UE in the RF chain, data may be lost due to demodulation failure and radio resources in the NW A 310 may be wasted.

[0065] In order to solve at least one of the above problems, a gap dedicated to MUSIM purpose is introduced. The concept of the gap is to create a small gap during which neither transmission nor reception occurs on one network, and thus the UE can perform corresponding operations in the measurement gap on another network and then switch back. Specifically, NW A 310 will provide a gap for UE 300 to perform operations in NW B 320.

[0066] The operation may include any kind of operation that can be performed through the gap / interruption. For example, the operation includes RRM measurement, paging reception, SI reception, etc. The measurement operation may be performed during any appropriate kind of wireless communication operation (including cell switching and / or access, carrier aggregation including at least carrier switching and management, load aggregation, etc., during any appropriate period / phase during wireless communication (including such as initialization, state transition, etc.), and may be used to measure any desired signal / parameter / indicator (including such as SSB, PRS, etc.) that may be, for example, performance-related.

[0067] The UE may be configured with multiple gaps, which may include, for example, periodic gaps and / or aperiodic gaps. In some examples, the UE may be configured with two concurrent gaps. In some other examples, for the case of a UE with MUSIM capability, the UE may be configured with no more than three periodic MUSIM gaps and / or one aperiodic MUSIM gap for MUSIM. It should be noted that the number of gaps described above is only exemplary and is not limited thereto.

[0068] However, it has not been specified how to perform operations in NW B according to the MUSIM gap. Therefore, it is still desirable to improve the configuration for the MUSIM gap to enhance the operation in the MUSIM case, for example, to guarantee network performance on NW A and NW B.

[0069] Hereinafter, some embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherein, the description may be mainly based on a specific type of gap (that is, a measurement gap), however, the description of the present disclosure and the concepts therefrom are equivalent to any other suitable type of gap.

[0070] Figure 4 A flow chart illustrating an example method 400 for configuring gaps for a MUSIM capable UE at the UE side according to embodiments disclosed herein. Figure 4 Aspects of the method may be implemented by a wireless device (such as UE 102, UE 104, and wireless device 202 illustrated in the various figures herein), and / or more generally, may be implemented in combination with any of the computer circuits, systems, devices, elements, or components, etc., shown in the above figures as needed. For example, the processor (and / or other hardware) of such a device may be configured to cause the device to perform any combination of the illustrated method elements and / or other method elements. In various embodiments, some of the elements of the method shown may be performed simultaneously in an order different from the order shown, may be replaced by other method elements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be performed as needed.

[0071] As shown in the figure, Figure 4 The method can be operated as follows.

[0072] At 402, the UE requests a gap configuration associated with operation in a second network (NW B) from a first network (NW A).

[0073] The first network may not be aware of the UE's requirement to perform operations in the second network, and therefore the UE may transmit a request for gap configuration to the first network. The request may be transmitted to any appropriate party in the first network, such as a first network side device, a control device in the first network, a transceiver point (TRP), etc.

[0074] The gap configuration includes a gap during which the UE performs an operation in the second network.

[0075] According to some embodiments, the gap configuration may include information related to a gap during which an operation in the second network is performed by the UE. In some embodiments, the gap configuration may correspond to a gap pattern. In some embodiments, the gap pattern may indicate characteristics of a gap type that can be used to perform a specific operation. Specifically, the gap pattern may have corresponding gap characteristics, including any of the following: a gap identity, a time period (MUSIM gap length, MGL) and a periodicity of the gap (MUSIM gap repetition period, MGRP), the start and end of the gap (e.g., a gap offset and a gap timing advance), a frequency segment in which the gap is located, an operation or object using the gap, etc. In general, when there are multiple gaps, each gap may have a corresponding gap configuration. On the other hand, all gap configurations may constitute the entire gap configuration for the UE. When there are multiple gaps, there may be multiple gap configurations correspondingly, and the multiple gap configurations may have similar or different forms / items.

[0076] The above exemplary gap configurations specifically define the characteristics of the gaps, and when there are multiple gaps, the gap configurations may specifically define the characteristics of the corresponding gaps. Of course, the gap configurations for multiple gaps may be in any other suitable form / format.

[0077] For example, the gap configuration may include a gap pattern index / indicator indicating the gap pattern, and based on the gap pattern index / indicator, the gap characteristics of the gap pattern may be directly derived. In such a case, the measurement gap configuration may indicate an association / mapping between the measurement gap pattern index / indicator and the operating frequency segment index / indicator. And when receiving the gap pattern index / indicator, the wireless device may obtain the gap characteristics of the gap pattern locally or from other appropriate parties.

[0078] According to some embodiments, for a particular type of gap (i.e., measurement gap), the gap pattern includes a time period of the measurement gap (MUSIM gap length, MGL) and a periodicity of the measurement gap (MUSIM gap repetition period, MGRP). For example, for a particular gap pattern, the MGL may have a value selected from 3 milliseconds (ms), 4 ms, 6 ms, 10 ms, and 20 ms, and the MGRP may have a value selected from 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms, 320 ms, 640 ms, 1280 ms, 2560 ms, and 5120 ms. Of course, the MGL and MGRP may have any other suitable values, and the values ​​of the MGL and MGRP may be combined with each other according to the actual requirements of the gap pattern.

[0079] According to some embodiments, information about the priority of the gap is also incorporated into the gap pattern or gap configuration. Specifically, the priority of the gap may actually indicate the priority of the operation performed at the gap when the gap conflicts with other gaps (i.e., when the gap overlaps with other gaps). For example, in the event of a conflict between two gap opportunities, the operation associated with the gap with a higher priority will be executed, while the operations of the other gaps will be discarded. In some embodiments, the priority may be given by any appropriate presentation (such as a positive numerical value), where the larger the value, the higher the priority. Of course, as is known in the art, any other appropriate presentation or expression may be used to indicate the priority, and will not be described in detail here. In addition, as is known in the art, any appropriate way of determining the appropriate priority of each gap configuration may be used, and will not be described in detail here.

[0080] At step 404, the UE receives an indication of a gap configuration associated with operation in a second network (NW B) from the first network (NW A).

[0081] According to the present disclosure, the wireless device may obtain the gap configuration in various ways. According to some embodiments, the gap configuration itself may be provided directly by the first network. According to some embodiments, the gap configuration may be derived by the wireless device itself, for example, the wireless device may obtain any appropriate information indicating the gap configuration from the first network, such as an index of the gap configuration, other information that can be used to derive the configuration, etc., and the wireless device may derive the configuration based on the information (such as by looking up a table). In some embodiments, the gap configuration or information for deriving the configuration may be provided by the first network through an RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., using MeasGapConfig signaling).

[0082] At step 406, when the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with the first network and in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with the second network, the UE performs an operation in the second network based on the gap configuration during each gap within the operation cycle.

[0083] Specifically, the wireless device may perform an operation based on the gap configuration, which may mean that the operation may be performed based on the gap pattern or gap characteristics indicated in the gap configuration. For a gap, the corresponding gap pattern may mean a characteristic of the gap, such as a time period, a cycle, a frequency attribute, etc. For example, for a gap, a corresponding operation may be performed according to the cycle of the gap, particularly in the duration of the opportunity of the gap.

[0084] According to some embodiments, the operation for the gap may include an operation type depending on the type or characteristics of the gap. Specifically, depending on the type of the gap, the operations performed in the gap may be different from each other. For example, for the measurement gap, the measurement operation will be predetermined, such as the measurement object will be predetermined, and such measurement operation will be performed according to the measurement gap mode. In addition to the measurement gap, other types of gaps may include pre-configured measurement gaps (Pre-MG), network controlled small gaps (NCSG), gaps for non-terrestrial networks (NTN gaps), gaps for positioning (PosGap), and for each type of gap, the corresponding operation may be predefined and performed in the gap opportunity.

[0085] When the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with a first network (NW A) and in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with a second network (NW B), the UE may wake up in NW B to perform operations in NW B. For example, the UE may perform RRM measurements on NW B required for cell selection and / or reselection. In addition, the UE may also periodically wake up in NW B to receive a paging message from NW B. However, since the UE is in an RRC connected state with NW A, these operations may be performed during the gap in order to guarantee network performance on NW A.

[0086] According to some embodiments, the operation cycle may include at least one gap and is determined according to the characteristics of the operation and the gap configuration associated with the operation. For example, the length of the operation cycle is basically determined so that the operation can be implemented during the operation cycle. For some operations, the operation cycle may have periodicity so that the operation can be performed periodically.

[0087] During the operation period, the UE performs operation in the second network within a gap length (MGL) at each gap repetition period (MGRP). According to some embodiments, the operation period may include more than one gap when the MGRP is shorter than the operation period. Figure 5 An example timing diagram showing the relationship between the operating period, gap length, and gap repetition period according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated. Figure 5 As shown, the operating cycle includes two MGRPs and two gaps. Figure 5 The timing diagram shown is merely exemplary, and the relationship between the operation cycle, MGL, and MGRP may be appropriately modified according to actual needs.

[0088] As discussed above, the gap may conflict with other gaps, and in the event of a conflict between two gaps, the operation associated with the gap with a higher priority will be performed, while the operation of the other gap will be discarded. Therefore, during the operation period, there may be one or more gaps that are being discarded by the UE. In such a case, the operation in the second network may be affected or even cannot be completed.

[0089] In the above considerations, according to some embodiments, the UE can extend the operation cycle based on the gaps discarded at the UE due to conflicts with other gaps. With such a configuration, the impact on the operation due to the discarded gaps can be compensated, and thus the completion of the operation is promoted.

[0090] In some embodiments, for each gap dropped during the operation period, the UE may simply extend the operation period by one or more MGRPs. With such a configuration, the impact caused by each dropped gap may be compensated.

[0091] In some embodiments, an operating window within an operating cycle is defined as a basic unit for counting discarded gaps, and the operating cycle is a multiple of the operating window. The operating window is longer than or equal to the MGRP of the gap, and thus each operating window includes at least one gap. In some embodiments, the operating window is a multiple of the periodicity of the gap (MGRP). Fig. 6A An example timing diagram showing the relationship between an operating period, a gap length, a gap repetition period, and an operating window according to an embodiment disclosed herein is illustrated. Fig. 6A As shown, the operation cycle includes two operation windows, and each operation window includes three MGRPs.

[0092] For an operating window that is equal to a gap and therefore includes only one gap, if a gap within the operating window is dropped, then similar to the above embodiment, the UE may simply extend the operating period by one or more MGRPs for each operating window in which the gap is dropped.

[0093] For an operating window of a MGRP that is larger than a gap and thus includes more than one gap, the UE may extend the operating period by one or more operating windows for each operating window in which at least one gap is dropped. Figure 6B An example timing diagram showing an extended operating period due to dropped gaps according to embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated. Figure 6B As shown, in the first operation window, the first gap is discarded. Therefore, for the first operation window, the UE extends the operation period by one operation window. With this configuration, if one gap within the operation window is discarded, the operation period is extended, and therefore it is not necessary to determine whether other gaps within the same operation window are discarded. Therefore, the workload of the UE can be reduced.

[0094] Alternatively, the UE may extend the operating period by one or more operating windows only for each operating window in which all gaps are dropped. Figure 6C An example timing diagram showing an extended operating period due to dropped gaps according to other embodiments disclosed herein is illustrated. Figure 6C As shown, in the first operation window, all three gaps are discarded, and in the second operation window, only the first gap is discarded. Therefore, the UE extends the operation period by one operation window only for the first operation window, and ignores the discarded gaps in the second operation window. With this configuration, the operation period is extended only when all gaps within one operation window are discarded, and thus the operation period is not excessively extended. Therefore, the resource cost of the operation will be limited.

[0095] By defining an operating window, it is beneficial to modify the manner in which the operating period is extended in a more flexible manner.

[0096] In some embodiments, if the number of operation window groups during which one or more gaps are discarded is greater than a predetermined maximum number, the UE may stop extending the operation cycle. If several gaps are discarded within the operation cycle, the operation cycle may be extended to a relatively long period, which may adversely affect the communication on NW A. In addition, if a gap is discarded continuously, the gap configuration that may indicate the gap is incorrect and the operation in the gap cannot be performed. Therefore, the upper limit of the operation cycle can be set by defining the maximum number of the number of operation window groups during which one or more gaps are discarded. If the number of operation window groups during which one or more gaps are discarded exceeds the maximum number, the operation cycle is no longer extended, and the operation in the gap on NW B can be stopped. With this configuration, the adverse effect on the communication on NW A will be reduced.

[0097] Finally and optionally, at step 408, the UE performs cell selection / reselection based on the results of the RRM measurement. If the UE does not perform cell selection / reselection, this step may be omitted.

[0098] Hereinafter, some exemplary embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described, wherein the exemplary embodiments relate to operations in NW B during gaps. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments are mainly described based on measurement gaps including a measurement gap length (MGL) and a MUSIM gap repetition period (MGRP), but such description is not limiting and the concepts of the present disclosure can be equally applied to other types of gaps.

[0099] RRM measurements on the serving cell in NW B

[0100] Hereinafter, a first embodiment according to the present disclosure will be described, and in this embodiment, the operation in NW B during the gap is RRM measurement of the serving cell in NW B.

[0101] In the RRC idle state, the UE shall measure the synchronization signal based reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) and synchronization signal based reference signal received quality (SS-RSRQ) levels of the serving cell in NW B and serv_MUSIM The cell selection criterion S for the serving cell is evaluated in . The cell selection criterion S and the way of evaluating the cell selection criterion S for the serving cell are well known in the art and will not be described in the present disclosure.

[0102] The following table 1 provides T serv_MUSIM expression.

[0103]

[0104] Table 1

[0105] In this embodiment, T serv_MUSIM corresponds to the "operating cycle" as discussed above, and N1*max(DRX cycle, MGRP) corresponds to the "operating window" as discussed above. N1 is a scaling factor determined based on the frequency range adopted by the serving cell of NW B and max(DRX cycle, MGRP) as shown in Table 1. Depending on the value of max(DRX cycle, MGRP), the value of N1 can be 1 for FR1 and can be 8, 5, 4 and 3 for FR2. In addition, the value of N1 associated with FR2 shown in Table 1 is applicable to UEs supporting power classes 2, 3 and 4, and for UEs supporting power classes 1 or 5, the value of N1 associated with FR2 is equal to 8 for all values ​​of max(DRX cycle, MGRP).

[0106] The parameter max(DRX cycle, MGRP) refers to the largest of the DRX cycle length and the MGRP length. DRX is the DRX of the service cell configured by NWB, and MGRP belongs to the MUSIM gap pattern associated with the RRM measurement of the service cell in NW B. Generally, if the MGRP length is less than the DRX cycle length, the DRX cycle length is a multiple of the MGRP length. Therefore, regardless of whether the MGRP length is longer than the DRX cycle length, the parameter max(DRX cycle, MGRP) is a multiple of the MGRP, that is, the operating window is a multiple of the periodicity of the gap. In addition, the ratio between the operating window and the periodicity of the gap is determined based on the frequency range of the target cell of the second network, the DRX cycle of the target cell of the second network, and the MGRP. In some embodiments, the operating window is a multiple (N1 times) of the periodicity of the gap and the maximum value of the DRX cycle.

[0107] From Table 1, we can see that T serv_MUSIM is a multiple of N1*max(DRX cycle, MGRP), that is, the operating period is a multiple of the operating window. Specifically, for max(DRX cycle, MGRP) with values ​​of 0.32 seconds and 0.64 seconds, the operating window (N1*max(DRX cycle, MGRP)) is proportional to the operating period (T serv_MUSIM ) is M1*(4+Ns). In addition, for max(DRX cycle, MGRP) with values ​​of 1.28 seconds and 2.56 seconds, the operating window (N1*max(DRX cycle, MGRP)) is proportional to the operating period (T serv_MUSIM ) is M1*(2+Ns). In addition, the value of M1 is determined based on the periodicity of the measurement timing configuration (SMTC) based on the synchronization signal block (SSB) of the target cell of the second network. Specifically, if the SMTC periodicity (T SMTC )>20ms and DRX cycle ≤0.64 seconds, then M1=2, otherwise, M1=1.

[0108] The value Ns is the number of operation window groups (N1*max(DRX cycle, MGRP)) during which the operation window is set to the maximum value in the operation period (T serv_MUSIM ) during which one or more gaps are dropped. In addition, in some embodiments, Ns is the number of operating window groups (N1*max(DRX cycle, MGRP)) during which all gaps are dropped during the operating period (T serv_MUSIM If no gaps are dropped in all operating windows during the operating cycle, Ns is equal to 0.

[0109] In some embodiments, the value of Ns has a maximum number (N s,max ), and if the value of Ns is greater than the maximum number (Ns,max ), the UE stops extending the operation cycle. In one embodiment, the maximum number is determined based on the DRX cycle of the target cell of the second network. Specifically, for a DRX cycle length < 1.28s, N s,max =8, and for DRX cycle length ≥ 1.28s, N s,max =4.

[0110] In some embodiments, the UE may perform at least one RRM measurement on the serving cell in the second network in each restricted period in the operating period. The restricted period is provided to limit the interval between each RRM measurement so that adjacent RRM measurements will not be too far apart from each other. In one embodiment, the restricted period may be set to 3*M1*N1 DRX cycles. The expression for the restricted period is determined based on experiments, specific requirements of the UE, and the knowledge of the inventors. In one embodiment, the restricted period is shorter than or equal to the operating period, because if the restricted period is longer than the operating period, the restricted period will not have restrictions on measurements. In this embodiment, the restricted period may be min(3*M1*N1 DRX cycles, T serv_MUSIM ), i.e., 3*M1*N1 DRX cycles and T serv_MUSIM The minimum value of .

[0111] The specific numbers provided in the above embodiments are exemplary values, which are determined based on experiments, specific requirements of UE and the knowledge of the inventors, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0112] If the UE has already set the T serv_MUSIM If the UE has already selected the serving cell according to Table 1 in T serv_MUSIM If the serving cell does not satisfy the cell selection criterion S in the evaluation in NW B, the UE shall initiate measurement of all neighboring cells indicated by the serving cell in NW B, regardless of the measurement rules that currently restrict UE measurement activities.

[0113] The UE may perform RRM measurements on intra-frequency cells and / or inter-frequency cells, and criteria for determining cells to be measured are well known in the art and will not be described in the present disclosure.

[0114] RRM measurements for intra-frequency neighboring cells in NW B

[0115] Hereinafter, a second embodiment according to the present disclosure will be described, and in this embodiment, the operation in NW B during the gap is RRM measurement of intra-frequency neighboring cells in NW B.

[0116] The UE should be able to identify new intra-frequency cells in NW B and perform SS-RSRP measurements and SS-RSRQ measurements of the identified intra-frequency cells.

[0117] The UE should be able to evaluate whether the newly detectable intra-frequency cells in NW B meet T 检测,Intra_MUSIM In some embodiments, a T may be provided. 重选,intra_MUSIM timer, and the UE shall 重选,intra_MUSIM The intra-frequency cell is evaluated to determine whether the cell still meets the reselection criteria within the duration, and if so, the UE should reselect the cell.

[0118] In addition, for the intra-frequency cells identified and measured according to the measurement rules, the UE shall 测量,Intra_MUSIM Measure SS-RSRP and SS-RSRQ.

[0119] In addition, for intra-frequency cells that have been detected but not reselected, the UE should be able to 评估,Intra_MUSIM The intra-frequency cell is evaluated to see whether it meets the reselection criteria.

[0120] The reselection criteria for intra-frequency cells and the ways to detect, measure and evaluate intra-frequency cells are well known in the art and will not be described in this disclosure.

[0121] The following table 2 provides T 检测,Intra_MUSIM , T 测量,Intra_MUSIM , and T 评估,Intra_MUSIM expression.

[0122]

[0123] Table 2

[0124] In this embodiment, T 检测,Intra_MUSIM , T 测量,Intra_MUSIM , and T 评估,Intra_MUSIM Corresponding to the "operating cycle" discussed above. Specifically, T 检测,Intra_MUSIM It refers to the period during which the UE detects the newly detected intra-frequency adjacent cells in the second network. 测量,Intra_MUSIM T refers to the period during which the UE measures the intra-frequency neighboring cells identified and measured in the second network, and T 评估,Intra_MUSIM It refers to the period in which the UE evaluates the intra-frequency neighboring cells that have been detected in the second network.

[0125] In addition, similar to the above-described embodiments, N1*max(DRX cycle, MGRP) corresponds to the "operating window" discussed above. Item N1 and item max(DRX cycle, MGRP) have similar definitions to those in the above-described embodiments and will not be repeated here. Item M2 has a similar definition to M1 in the above-described embodiments and is also determined based on the SMTC periodicity of the intra-frequency cells of NW B. In a specific embodiment, if the measured SMTC periodicity of the intra-frequency cells is >20ms, then M2=1.5; otherwise M2=1.

[0126] Similar to Ns, Nd, Nm and Ne in the above embodiment, they also refer to the corresponding operation period T 检测,Intra_MUSIM , T 测量,Intra_MUSIM , and T 评估,Intra_MUSIM The number of operation window groups during which one or more gaps are dropped.

[0127] Similar to the above embodiment, Nd, Nm and Ne also have corresponding maximum numbers N d,max 、N m,max and N e,max , and if the value of one of Nd, Nm and Ne is greater than the corresponding maximum number, the UE stops extending the operation cycle. In one embodiment, the maximum number is determined based on the DRX cycle of the target cell of the second network. Specifically, for DRX cycle cycle=0.32s, N m,max =16; for DRX cycle length = 0.64s, N m,max =8; for DRX cycle length = 1.28s, N m,max =4; for DRX cycle length = 2.56s, N m,max =4. In addition, N d,max =4*N m,max And N e,max =2*N m,max .

[0128] If applicable, some of the discussion with reference to Table 1 may be used with reference to Table 2 and will not be repeated here.

[0129] RRM measurements of inter-frequency neighboring cells in NW B

[0130] Hereinafter, a third embodiment according to the present disclosure will be described, and in this embodiment, the operation in NW B during the gap is RRM measurement of inter-frequency neighboring cells in NW B.

[0131] The UE should be able to identify new inter-frequency cells in NW B and perform SS-RSRP measurements and SS-RSRQ measurements of the identified inter-frequency cells.

[0132] The process of performing RRM measurements on inter-frequency cells is similar to that of performing RRM measurements on intra-frequency cells, except that when there are several inter-frequency carriers to be measured, the operation period is equal to the sum of the operation periods of the RRM measurements on each inter-frequency carrier.

[0133] Specifically, the operation cycle includes:

[0134] The period (T) during which the UE detects the inter-frequency neighboring cells that can be newly detected in the second network 检测，Inter_MUSIM ) and the inter-frequency carrier (K

[0135] 载波_MUSIM ), that is, K 载波_MUSIM *T detect,Inter_MUSIM ,

[0136] The period (T) during which the UE measures the inter-frequency neighboring cells that can be newly detected in the second network 测量，Inter_MUSIM ) and the inter-frequency carrier (K

[0137] 载波_MUSIM ), that is, K 载波_MUSIM *T 测量,Inter_MUSIM ,and

[0138] The period (T) during which the UE evaluates the inter-frequency neighboring cells that can be newly detected in the second network 评估,Intra_MUSIM ) and the inter-frequency carrier (K

[0139] 载波_MUSIM ), that is, K 载波_MUSIM *T 评估,Inter_MUSIM .

[0140] T 检测,Intra_MUSIM , T 测量,Intra_MUSIM , and T 评估,Intra_MUSIM The format is the same as T in Table 2 检测,Intra_MUSIM , T 测量,Intra_MUSIM , and T 评估,Intra_MUSIM The format is the same and will not be repeated here.

[0141] The reselection criteria for inter-frequency cells and the ways to detect, measure and evaluate inter-frequency cells are well known in the art and will not be described in this disclosure.

[0142] Based on the results of the RRM measurements of the intra-frequency neighbor cells and the inter-frequency neighbor cells in NW B, the UE may perform cell reselection on the second network for the second SIM.

[0143] In some embodiments, the UE should keep detecting paging from NW B in MUSIM slots associated with paging reception. If the MUSIM slot associated with paging reception is discarded, for example, due to a conflict with other slot occasions with a higher priority, the UE may cause interruption of paging reception in NW B. The UE should be able to receive paging in NW B in slot occasions that are not discarded due to, for example, slot conflicts.

[0144] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of method 400. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as wireless device 202 (UE), as described herein).

[0145] Embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of method 400. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may be, for example, a memory of a UE (such as memory 206 of wireless device 202 (UE), as described herein).

[0146] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising logical components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method 400. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as the wireless device 202 (UE), as described herein).

[0147] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of method 400. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a UE (such as wireless device 202 (UE), as described herein).

[0148] Embodiments contemplated herein include a signal as described in or associated with one or more elements of method 400 .

[0149] Embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program or computer program product including instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processor causes the processor to perform one or more elements of the method 400. The processor may be a processor of a UE (such as the processor 204 of the wireless device 202 (UE), as described herein). These instructions may be located, for example, in a processor and / or on a memory of the UE (such as the memory 206 of the wireless device 202 (UE), as described herein).

[0150] Figure 7 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 700 for configuring gaps for UEs with MUSIM capabilities at the network side according to the embodiments disclosed herein. As shown, Figure 7 The method can be operated as follows.

[0151] At 702, a network device associated with a first network (NW A) receives, from a UE, a request for a gap configuration associated with an operation in a second network, the gap configuration comprising a gap during which the operation in the second network is performed by the UE.

[0152] At 704, a network device associated with NWA sends an indication of a gap configuration to the UE. Based on the received gap configuration, when the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with the first network and in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with the second network, during each gap in an operation cycle, an operation in the second network is performed based on the gap configuration, the operation cycle including at least one gap. In addition, if a gap in the operation cycle is discarded at the UE due to a conflict between the gap and other gaps, the operation cycle is extended.

[0153] The details of the steps of method 700 are similar to the details of the steps of method 400 and are therefore omitted here.

[0154] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of method 700. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a base station (such as network device 218 (base station) associated with NWA, as described herein).

[0155] Embodiments contemplated herein include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of method 700. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may be, for example, a memory of a base station (such as memory 222 of network device 218 (base station), as described herein).

[0156] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising logical components, modules, or circuits operable to perform one or more elements of method 700. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a base station (such as network device 218 (base station), as described herein).

[0157] Embodiments contemplated herein include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of method 700. The apparatus may be, for example, an apparatus of a base station (such as network device 218 (base station), as described herein).

[0158] Embodiments contemplated herein include a signal as described in or associated with one or more elements of method 700 .

[0159] Embodiments contemplated herein include a computer program or computer program product including instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform one or more elements of method 700. The processor may be a processor of a base station (such as processor 220 of network device 218 (base station), as described herein). These instructions may be located, for example, in the processor and / or on a memory of a UE (such as memory 222 of network device 218 (base station), as described herein).

[0160] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as described herein. For example, a baseband processor as described herein in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described herein. For another example, a circuit system associated with a UE, a base station, a network element, etc. as described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described herein.

[0161] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In view of the above teachings, modifications and variations are possible or can be obtained from the practice of various embodiments.

[0162] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations that may be embodied in machine executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. A computer system may include one or more general or special purpose computers (or other electronic devices). A computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing operations; or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0163] It should be appreciated that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments may be combined into a single system, partially combined into other systems, separated into multiple systems, or otherwise divided or combined. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment may be used in one embodiment. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described only in one or more embodiments, and it should be appreciated that these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. may be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment unless expressly stated herein.

[0164] It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0165] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for the sake of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways to implement both the processes and the apparatus described herein. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the specification is not limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: at least one antenna; at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor coupled to the at least one radio; wherein the UE supports multiple universal subscriber identity modules (multi-USIMs), the multiple universal subscriber identity modules (multi-USIMs) comprising at least a first SIM associated with a first network and a second SIM associated with a second network, and The at least one radio component and the processor are configured to: requesting, from the first network, a gap configuration associated with an operation in the second network, the gap configuration comprising a gap during which the operation in the second network is performed by the UE; receiving an indication of the gap configuration from the first network; as well as When the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with the first network and in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with the second network, during each gap within an operation cycle, the operation in the second network is performed based on the gap configuration, the operation cycle including at least one gap, and the processor is further configured to: if the gap within the operation cycle is discarded at the UE due to a conflict between the gap and other gaps, extend the operation cycle.

2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the operation period is a multiple of an operation window, and the operation window is a multiple of the periodicity of the gap, and The processor is further configured to extend the operating period based on a number of operating window groups during which one or more gaps are discarded during the operating period.

3. The UE of claim 2, wherein each operating window comprises a plurality of gaps, and the processor is further configured to extend the operating period based on a number of operating window groups during which all gaps are discarded during the operating period.

4. The UE of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a ratio between the operating window and the periodicity of the gap based on a frequency range of a target cell of the second network, a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle of the target cell of the second network, and the periodicity of the gap. 5 . The UE according to claim 4 , wherein the operation window is a multiple of a periodicity of the gap and a maximum value of the DRX cycle.

6. The UE according to claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the ratio between the operating period and the operating window based on a synchronization signal block (SSB)-based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) periodicity of the target cell of the second network. 7 . The UE of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to stop extending the operating cycle if the number of operating window groups during which one or more gaps are dropped is greater than a maximum number.

8. The UE according to claim 7, wherein the maximum number is determined based on a DRX cycle of a target cell of the second network.

9. The UE according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the operation comprises: performing radio resource management (RRM) measurements on a serving cell in the second network to measure and evaluate the serving cell, and The operation period includes a period in which the UE measures and evaluates the serving cell in the second network.

10. The UE according to claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to: perform at least one RRM measurement on the serving cell in the second network in each restriction period in the operation period. The UE according to claim 10 , wherein the restriction period is shorter than or equal to the operation period.

12. The UE according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: perform cell selection on the second network for the second SIM based on the result of the RRM measurement.

13. The UE according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the operation comprises: performing RRM measurements on intra-frequency neighboring cells in the second network, and The operation cycle includes at least one of the following: The UE detects a period (T) of newly detectable intra-frequency neighboring cells in the second network. 检测,Intra_MUSIM ), The UE measures a period (T) of the intra-frequency neighboring cells identified and measured in the second network. 测量,Intra_MUSIM ),and The UE evaluates a period (T) of the intra-frequency neighboring cells that have been detected in the second network. 评估,Intra_MUSIM ).

14. The UE according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the operation comprises: performing RRM measurements on inter-frequency neighboring cells in the second network, and The operation cycle includes at least one of the following: The UE detects a period (T) of the inter-frequency neighboring cell that can be newly detected in the second network. 检测，Inter_MUSIM ) and the number of inter-frequency carriers indicated by the serving cell in NW B (K 载波_MUSIM ), The UE measures a period (T) of the inter-frequency neighboring cells identified and measured in the second network. 测量,Inter_MUSIM ) and the number of inter-frequency carriers indicated by the serving cell in NW B (K 载波_MUSIM ),and The UE evaluates a period (T) of the inter-frequency neighboring cells that have been detected in the second network. 评估,Inter_MUSIM ) and the number of inter-frequency carriers indicated by the serving cell in NW B (K 载波_MUSIM ).

15. The UE according to any one of claims 13 to 14, wherein the processor is further configured to: perform cell reselection on the second network for the second SIM based on the result of the RRM measurement.

16. A network device associated with a first network, the network device comprising: at least one antenna; at least one radio component coupled to the at least one antenna; and a processor coupled to the at least one radio; wherein the at least one radio component and the processor are configured to: receiving, from a UE, a request for a gap configuration associated with an operation in a second network, the gap configuration comprising a gap during which the operation in the second network is performed by the UE, and sending an indication of the gap configuration to the UE, wherein the UE supports multiple universal subscriber identity modules (multi-USIMs), the multiple universal subscriber identity modules (multi-USIMs) comprising at least a first SIM associated with the first network and a second SIM associated with the second network, and If the gap within the operating cycle is discarded at the UE due to a conflict between the gap and other gaps, the UE extends the operating cycle.

17. A method comprising: By user equipment (UE), requesting, from the first network, a gap configuration associated with operation in the second network, wherein the UE supports multiple universal subscriber identity modules (multi-USIMs), the multiple universal subscriber identity modules (multi-USIMs) comprising at least a first SIM associated with the first network and a second SIM associated with the second network, and The gap configuration includes a gap during which the operation in the second network is performed by the UE; receiving an indication of the gap configuration from the first network, and When the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state with the first network and in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state with the second network, during each gap in an operation cycle, performing an operation in the second network based on the gap configuration, the operation cycle including at least one gap, and The processor is further configured to extend the operating cycle if the gap within the operating cycle is discarded at the UE due to a collision of the gap with other gaps.

18. A method comprising: By a network device associated with a first network, receiving, from a UE, a request for a gap configuration associated with an operation in a second network, the gap configuration comprising a gap during which the operation in the second network is performed by the UE, and sending an indication of the gap configuration to the UE, wherein the UE supports multiple universal subscriber identity modules (multi-USIMs), the multiple universal subscriber identity modules (multi-USIMs) comprising at least a first SIM associated with the first network and a second SIM associated with the second network, and If the gap within the operating cycle is discarded at the UE due to a conflict between the gap and other gaps, the UE extends the operating cycle.

19. An apparatus for operating a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: A processor, wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to perform the method according to claim 17.

20. An apparatus for operating a network device, the apparatus comprising: A processor, wherein the processor is configured to cause the network device to execute the method according to claim 18.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when executed at a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform the method of claim 17.

22. A computer program product comprising program instructions which, when executed by a network device, cause the network device to perform the method according to claim 18.

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