Method and apparatus for controlling 5g nsa capability in wireless communication system

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of a terminal including a plurality of SIMs in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: determining whether to enable a dual connectivity feature of the terminal based on a type of SIM for a current communication service of the terminal; and transmitting information about whether to activate the dual connectivity feature to the base station, in which the terminal and the base station are configured to support the dual connectivity feature, in which the plurality of SIMs includes a first SIM and a second SIM, and the first SIM and the second SIM include different subscription information.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The disclosure relates to a wireless communication or mobile communication system, and for example, to a method and apparatus for controlling a fifth generation (5G) non-standalone (NSA) capability of a terminal in a wireless communication or mobile communication system. BACKGROUND

[0002] Since the commercialization of the fourth generation (4G) communication system, in order to meet the increasing demand for wireless data traffic, an enhanced fifth generation (5G) communication system or pre-5G communication system is being developed. To this end, the 5G communication system or pre-5G communication system is called a beyond 4G network communication system or post long term evolution (LTE) system.

[0003] The 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in a super high frequency (mmWave) band (e.g., 60 GHz band) to achieve a high data transmission rate. For the 5G communication system, technologies for beamforming, massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, analog beam forming, and large scale antenna are discussed to mitigate a path loss of radio waves and increase a transfer distance of the radio waves in the super high frequency band.

[0004] In addition, technologies for the 5G communication system including evolved small cell, advanced small cell, cloud radio access network (RAN), ultra-dense network, device to device communication (D2D), wireless backhaul, mobile network, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-point (CoMP), and interference cancellation are being developed to improve the system network.

[0005] In addition, hybrid frequency shift keying and quadrature amplitude modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) are being developed as an advanced coding modulation (ACM) scheme, and filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) are being developed as an enhanced access technology in the 5G system. Due to the development of the wireless communication system as described above, various services can be provided, and thus, a solution for smoothly providing such services is required.

[0006] In order to meet the demand for wireless data traffic, a 5G system, new radio or next radio (NR) is commercialized, and a service providing a high data transmission rate to a user through a 4G system or a 5G system, and it is expected to provide a wireless communication service (e.g., Internet of Things (IoT)) with various purposes and a service requiring high reliability for a specific purpose. In the current system in which the 4G communication system and the 5G system are mixed, an open radio access network (O-RAN) established by an operator and a device provider defines a new network element (NE) and an interface standard based on the existing 3GPP standard, and an O-RAN structure is proposed.

[0007] A recent terminal can support dual connectivity to not only connect to an existing 4G network but also connect to a 5G (or NR) network. If the terminal has difficulty in receiving a service through only the 5G network, the dual connectivity can enable the 5G network and the existing 4G network to complement each other and provide a communication service.

[0008] However, if the terminal does not need to receive a service (for example, 5G mobile communication) from the 5G network but is connected to the 5G network, the terminal can have a battery waste problem because it performs a procedure of connecting to the 5G network. Therefore, if the terminal does not need to be connected to the 5G network, a technology for controlling to maintain a connection with only the existing 4G network is needed. SUMMARY

[0009] [TECHNICAL PROBLEM]

[0010] Embodiments of the disclosure provide an apparatus and a method for saving a battery by controlling dual connectivity of a terminal in a wireless communication system (or a mobile communication system).

[0011] For example, when a terminal connected to a 4G network does not need to be connected to a 5G network in a wireless communication system, embodiments of the disclosure can disable dual connectivity of the terminal. Embodiments of the disclosure provide a method for controlling evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) new radio (NR) dual connectivity (ENDC) of a terminal when the terminal does not need to receive a service from a 5G network in a 5G non-standalone (NSA) communication system.

[0012] [TECHNICAL SOLUTION] According to various example embodiments of the disclosure, a method of operating a terminal including a plurality of subscriber identity modules (SIMs) in a wireless communication system is provided, the method including determining whether to enable a dual connectivity feature of the terminal based on a type of a SIM for a current communication service of the terminal, and transmitting information about whether to enable the dual connectivity feature to a base station, wherein the terminal and the base station are configured to support the dual connectivity feature, wherein the plurality of SIMs include a first SIM and a second SIM, and the first SIM and the second SIM include different subscription information.

[0013] According to various example embodiments of the disclosure, a terminal including a plurality of subscriber identity modules (SIMs) in a wireless communication system is provided, the terminal including: a transceiver; a first SIM; a second SIM; and at least one processor including a processing circuit coupled with the transceiver, the first SIM, and the second SIM, wherein the at least one processor is individually and / or collectively configured to: determine whether to enable a dual connectivity feature of the terminal based on a type of a SIM for a current communication service of the terminal; and transmit information about whether to enable the dual connectivity feature to a base station, wherein the terminal and the base station support the dual connectivity feature, wherein the plurality of SIMs include the first SIM and the second SIM, and the first SIM and the second SIM include different subscription information.

[0014] [Advantages of the Invention] The apparatus and method according to various example embodiments of the disclosure can disable a dual connectivity of a terminal when the terminal does not need to receive a service from a 5G network. Further, when the terminal disables the dual connectivity, the terminal can not receive configuration information for connecting to the 5G network from the 5G network. Accordingly, the terminal does not perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G network, thereby reducing power consumption. Further, signaling overhead required for connecting to the 5G network can be reduced.

[0015] Effects the disclosure achieves are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned above will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description provided below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example wireless communication system according to various embodiments.

[0017] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of a base station in a wireless communication system according to various embodiments.

[0018] Figure 3 FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of a terminal in a wireless communication system according to various embodiments.

[0019] Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a structure of 5G non-standalone (NSA) according to various embodiments of the disclosure.

[0020] Figure 5 FIG. 5 is a signal flow view illustrating an example procedure of connecting to a 5G network according to various embodiments.

[0021] Figure 6 FIG. 6 is a signal flow view illustrating an example operation between a terminal and a base station according to various embodiments.

[0022] Figure 7is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for controlling EN-DC of a terminal according to various embodiments.

[0023] Figure 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for controlling EN-DC of a terminal according to various embodiments.

[0024] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a database according to various embodiments.

[0025] Figure 10 is a signal flow view illustrating an example process for updating an EN-DC state of a terminal according to various embodiments.

[0026] Figure 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for controlling EN-DC of a terminal according to various embodiments.

[0027] Figure 12 is a signal flow view illustrating an example operation between a terminal and a base station according to various embodiments.

[0028] Figure 13 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for controlling EN-DC of a terminal according to various embodiments.

[0029] Figure 14 is a signal flow view illustrating an example operation between a terminal and a base station according to various embodiments.

[0030] Figure 15 is a flow diagram illustrating an example operation of a terminal according to various embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The terms used in the present disclosure are used to describe various example embodiments, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The singular forms are intended to include the plural forms unless otherwise specified. The terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, can have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. It will be further understood that terms defined in a dictionary can be interpreted as having a meaning that is identical to or similar to meanings within the context of related art, and are not to be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal manner unless expressly so defined in the present disclosure. In some cases, even if the terms are defined in the specification, they should not be interpreted to exclude embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0032] In various embodiments of the present disclosure described below, methods of hardware aspects will be described by way of example. However, various embodiments of the present disclosure include technologies using both hardware and software, and thus do not exclude software-based methods.

[0033] As used herein, the terms indicating a signal (e.g., message, information, preamble, signal, signaling, sequence, stream), the terms indicating a resource (e.g., symbol, slot, subframe, radio frame, subcarrier, resource element (RE), resource block (RB), bandwidth part (BWP), occasion), the terms indicating a computing state (e.g., step, operation, process), the terms indicating data (e.g., information, bit, symbol, codeword), the terms indicating a channel, the terms indicating control information (e.g., downlink control information (DCI), medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), radio resource control (RRC) signaling), the terms indicating a network entity, the terms indicating a component of a device are merely examples for convenience of explanation. Accordingly, the disclosure is not limited to the terms described below, and other terms having the same or similar technical meanings can be used.

[0034] In the following description, a physical channel and a signal can be used interchangeably with data or control signals. For example, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is a term indicating a physical channel through which data is transmitted, but the term PDSCH can be used to indicate data. That is, in the disclosure, the expression "transmitting a physical channel" can be interpreted as the same as the expression "transmitting data or a signal through a physical channel."

[0035] In the disclosure, "higher layer signaling" refers to a method of signal transmission in which a base station transmits a signal to a terminal using a downlink data channel of a physical layer or a terminal transmits a signal to a base station using an uplink data channel of a physical layer. The higher layer signaling can be understood as radio resource control (RRC) signaling or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0036] In addition, in the disclosure, the expressions "more than" or "less than" can be used to determine whether a certain condition is satisfied, fulfilled, but these are only used to express one example and do not exclude the expressions "greater than or equal to" or "less than or equal to". The condition indicated by "greater than or equal to" can be replaced with "more than", the condition indicated by "less than or equal to" can be replaced with "less than", and the condition indicated by "greater than or equal to and less than" can be replaced with "more than and less than or equal to".

[0037] Furthermore, various embodiments will be described using terms such as third generation partnership project (3GPP) that are used in various communication standards, but these are only examples for explanation. Various embodiments of the disclosure can be easily modified and applied to other communication systems.

[0038] Meanwhile, a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) in a wireless communication system can be a smart card inserted into a mobile communication terminal and used, and the UICC can include an access control module for accessing a network of a mobile communication provider. According to various embodiments, examples of the access control module can be a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), an IP Multimedia Service Identity Module (ISIM), but are not limited thereto. The UICC can be referred to as a UICC card, a USIM card, or a SIM card, and can be commonly referred to as a SIM card. The UICC can store private information of a mobile communication user, and can authenticate the user and generate a service security key when the UICC accesses a mobile communication network, thereby enabling secure use of mobile communication.

[0039] Due to expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) field, an embedded UICC (eUICC) is applied to various terminals, such as wearable devices, automobiles, smart meters. The eUICC can refer to a UICC card that downloads a SIM module and selects the SIM module. That is, the eUICC can include a UICC card that is embedded in a terminal or a UICC card that is not embedded among UICC cards that remotely download a SIM module and select the SIM module.

[0040] In the detailed description presented below, a term such as a SIM card or a SIM can be used to indicate a UICC card, a USIM card, a UICC including an ISIM. That is, a technology application to a SIM card can be equally applied to a USIM card, an ISIM card, or a typical UICC card. According to various embodiments, the SIM card can store private information of a mobile communication user, and can authenticate the user and generate a service security key when the SIM card accesses a mobile communication network, thereby enabling secure use of mobile communication. In addition, in various embodiments, when the SIM card is manufactured, according to a request of a specific mobile communication provider, the SIM card can be manufactured as a dedicated card for the corresponding mobile communication provider, and authentication information (for example, a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) application and an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), a user key (K) value, an operator constant (OPc) value) for accessing a network of the corresponding communication provider can be pre-loaded into the SIM card, and the SIM card can be released.

[0041] A user can insert a UICC card into his / her own mobile communication terminal to use a network and application services of a mobile communication provider, and when the terminal is replaced, the user can use authentication information, a mobile communication phone number, a personal phone number list stored in the UICC card as is by moving the UICC card from the existing terminal and inserting it into the new terminal. According to various embodiments, when a SIM module is remotely downloaded and installed in a UICC card, a SIM module for a mobile communication service that the user wants to use can be downloaded into the UICC card at a desired time. In various embodiments, the UICC card can have a plurality of SIM modules downloaded and installed therein, and only one SIM module can be selected and used. The UICC card can be embedded in or not embedded in a terminal. In particular, a UICC embedded in and used in a terminal can be referred to as an embedded UICC (eUICC).

[0042] A UICC card among UICC cards that remotely download a SIM module and select a SIM module embedded in or not embedded in a terminal can be referred to as an eUICC, and the remotely downloaded SIM module can be referred to as an eSIM. Further, downloaded SIM module information can be referred to as an eUICC profile or an eSIM profile, a profile. In the detailed description presented below, the terms "communication provider," "network operator" can be used as the same meaning as a service provider, a communication provider, a mobile communication provider. For ease of explanation, in the case of an eUICC, terms and names defined in the GSMA standard can be used. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described terms and names, and can be equally applied to systems following other standards.

[0043] The disclosure described below relates to a method and apparatus for supporting various services in a wireless communication system. For example, the present disclosure relates to a technology for controlling a dual connectivity (DC) function of a terminal according to a type of subscription information when the terminal has a plurality of pieces of subscription information in a wireless communication system. One terminal having a plurality of pieces of subscription information can refer to, for example, one terminal having two or more subscription identification modules (SIMs) storing subscription information, and each SIM can be included in a physical card (e.g., a UICC), and can be implemented in the form of software, or can be implemented through a combination of the two methods. In describing embodiments of the present disclosure, the terms "subscription information" and "SIM" can be used as having the same or similar meanings. Further, a terminal including two SIMs storing two pieces of subscription information, respectively, can be referred to as a dual-SIM-supported terminal.

[0044] Hereinafter, the disclosure will be described based on a terminal supporting dual SIMs (e.g., a terminal including two different types of SIMs). Of course, the embodiments described below are not limited to a terminal supporting dual SIMs, and can be applied to a terminal including a SIM storing three or more pieces of subscription information, respectively.

[0045] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example wireless communication system according to various embodiments. Figure 1 A base station 110, a terminal 120, and a terminal 130 are shown as part of nodes using a wireless channel in a wireless communication system. Although Figure 1 Only one base station is shown, but other base stations identical or similar to the base station 110 can also be included. Also, in embodiments of the disclosure, the base station 110 can indicate at least one of an LTE base station or a 5G base station.

[0046] The base station 110 can be a network infrastructure that provides radio access to the terminals 120, 130. The base station 110 can have a coverage defined as a predetermined geographic area based on a distance from which it transmits a signal. In addition to the base station, the base station 110 can be referred to as an "access point (AP)", an "eNodeB (eNB)", a "fifth generation (5G) node", a "next generation node B (gNB)", a "wireless point", a "transmission / reception point (TRP)", or other terms having the same technical meaning as the above terms.

[0047] Each of the terminals 120 and 130 is a device used by a user, and can perform communication with the base station 110 through a wireless channel. A link directed from the base station 110 to the terminal 120 or the terminal 130 can be referred to as a downlink (DL), and a link directed from the terminal 120 or the terminal 130 to the base station 110 can be referred to as an uplink (UL). The terminals 120 and 130 can perform communication with each other through a wireless channel, although this is not shown in Figure 1 In this case, a link (device-to-device link; D2D) between the terminal 120 and the terminal 130 can be referred to as a sidelink, and the sidelink can be used interchangeably with a PC5 interface. In some cases, at least one of the terminal 120 and the terminal 130 can operate without user intervention. That is, at least one of the terminal 120 and the terminal 130 can be a device performing machine type communication (MTC), and can not be carried by a user. In addition to the terminal, each of the terminal 120 and the terminal 130 can be referred to as a "user equipment (UE)", a "mobile station", a "subscriber station", a "remote terminal", a "wireless terminal", a "user device", or other terms having the same technical meaning as the above terms.

[0048] The base station 110, the terminal 120, and the terminal 130 can transmit and receive a wireless signal in a millimeter wave (mmWave) band (e.g., 28 GHz, 30 GHz, 38 GHz, 60 GHz). In this case, in order to enhance channel gain, the base station 110, the terminal 120, and the terminal 130 can perform beamforming. The beamforming can include transmission beamforming and reception beamforming. That is, the base station 110, the terminal 120, and the terminal 130 can give directionality for a transmission signal or a reception signal. In order to achieve this, the base station 110 and the terminal 120, 130 can select a serving beam 121, 131 through a beam search or a beam management procedure. After selecting the serving beam 121, 131, communication can be performed through resources having a quasi co-location (QCL) relationship with resources through which the serving beam 121, 131 is transmitted.

[0049] The first antenna port and the second antenna port can be evaluated to have a QCL relationship if a large-scale property of a channel through which a symbol on the first antenna port is transmitted can be inferred from a channel through which a symbol on the second antenna port is transmitted. For example, the large-scale property can include at least one of a delay spread, a Doppler spread, a Doppler shift, an average gain, an average delay, a spatial receiver parameter.

[0050] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of a base station in a wireless communication system according to various embodiments. Figure 2 The illustrated configuration can be understood as a configuration of the base station 110. The term "unit" or a term ending with the suffix "-er" and "-ine" used in the following description refers to a unit processing at least one function or operation, and can be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The term "module" used in the following description refers to a unit including at least one of the above-mentioned elements, and can be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Figure 2 The base station can include a wireless communication unit (e.g., including communication circuitry) 210, a backhaul communication unit (e.g., including circuitry) 220, a storage unit (e.g., including a memory) 230, and a controller (e.g., including processing circuitry) 240.

[0051] The wireless communication unit 210 can include various communication circuitry and perform a function for transmitting and receiving a signal via a wireless channel. For example, the wireless communication unit 210 can perform a conversion function between a baseband signal and a bit stream according to a physical layer standard of a system. For example, when transmitting data, the wireless communication unit 210 can generate complex symbols by encoding and modulating a transmission bit stream. In addition, when receiving data, the wireless communication unit 210 can reconstruct a reception bit stream by demodulating and decoding a baseband signal.

[0052] Further, the wireless communication unit 210 can up-convert a baseband signal to a radio frequency (RF) band signal, and then can transmit the signal via an antenna, and can down-convert an RF band signal received via the antenna to a baseband signal. To implement this, the wireless communication unit 210 can include a transmission filter, a reception filter, an amplifier, a mixer, an oscillator, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), etc. Further, the wireless communication unit 1201 can include a plurality of transmission and reception paths. Further, the wireless communication unit 210 can include at least one antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements.

[0053] In terms of hardware, the wireless communication unit 210 can be configured of a digital unit and an analog unit, and the analog unit can be configured of a plurality of sub-units according to an operating power, an operating frequency, etc. The digital unit can be implemented by at least one processor (e.g., a digital signal processor (DSP)).

[0054] The wireless communication unit 210 can transmit and receive a signal as described above. Accordingly, the whole or a part of the wireless communication unit 210 can be referred to as a "transmitter", a "receiver", or a "transceiver". Further, in the following description, transmission and reception via a wireless channel can include processing of the wireless communication unit 1201 as described above.

[0055] The backhaul communication unit 220 can include various circuitry and provide an interface for communication with other nodes in a network. That is, the backhaul communication unit 220 can convert a bit stream to be transmitted from the base station to another node (e.g., another access node, another base station, a higher node, a core network, etc.) into a physical signal, and can convert a physical signal transmitted from another node into a bit stream.

[0056] The storage unit 230 can include a memory and store data such as a basic program for operation of the base station, an application program, configuration information, etc. The storage unit 230 can be configured of a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, or a combination of the volatile memory and the non-volatile memory. In addition, the storage unit 230 provides stored data according to a request of the controller 230.

[0057] The controller 240 can include a processor including various processing circuitry and control the overall operation of the base station. For example, the controller 240 can transmit and receive signals via the wireless communication unit 210 or the backhaul communication unit 220. Also, the controller 240 can write data on and read data out of the storage unit 230. Also, the controller 240 can perform the functions of a protocol stack required by a communication standard. According to another implementation example, the protocol stack can be included in the wireless communication unit 210. To implement this, the controller 240 can include at least one processor. According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the controller 240 can control the base station to perform operations according to various embodiments, which will be described below. For example, the controller 240 can control to provide configuration information for a measurement report of a terminal in order for a terminal supporting a dual connectivity function to perform a procedure for connecting to a 5G base station. In addition, the controller 240 can control to provide configuration information for a terminal to connect to a base station to a terminal based on a measurement report received from the terminal. Also, the processor can include various processing circuitry and / or a plurality of processors. For example, as used herein (including the claims), the term "processor" can include various processing circuitry including at least one processor, where one or more processors of the at least one processor can each and / or jointly be configured to perform various functions described herein, in a distributed manner. As used herein, when a "processor," "at least one processor," and "one or more processors" are described as being configured to perform a number of functions, these terms encompass, for example, and without limitation, a case where one processor performs some of the recited functions and another processor performs other of the recited functions, as well as a case where a single processor can perform all of the recited functions. In addition, the at least one processor can include, for example, a combination of processors that perform various recited / disclosed functions in a distributed manner. The at least one processor can execute program instructions to implement or perform various functions.

[0058] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of a terminal in a wireless communication system according to various embodiments. Figure 3 The illustrated configuration can be understood as a configuration of the terminal 120. The term "unit" or a term ending with the suffixes "-er" and "-machine" used in the following description refers to a unit processing at least one function or operation, and can be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Reference is made to Figure 3, the terminal 120 can include a transceiver (e.g., including circuitry) 310, a memory 320, a processor (e.g., including processing circuitry) 330, a first SIM 331, and a second SIM 332. The transceiver 310, the memory 320, the processor 330, the first SIM 331, and the second SIM 332 of the terminal 120 can operate according to a communication method of the terminal, which will be described below. However, the components of the terminal 120 are not limited to the above-described examples. For example, the terminal 120 can include more components than the above-described components or fewer components. For example, with reference to Figure 3 , only the first SIM 331 and the second SIM 332 are disclosed, but this should not be considered limiting. N SIMs (not shown) can also be included. In addition, the processor 330, the transceiver 310, and the memory 320 can be implemented in the form of one chip.

[0059] The transceiver 310 can include various circuitry and refers to a receiver of the terminal and a transmitter of the terminal, and can transceive signals with a base station. The signals transceived with the base station can include control information and data. To implement this, the transceiver 310 can include an RF transmitter for up-converting and amplifying a transmitted signal, and an RF receiver for low-noise amplifying and down-converting a received signal. However, this is merely an example of the transceiver 310, and the components of the transceiver 310 are not limited to the RF transmitter and the RF receiver.

[0060] In addition, the transceiver 310 can receive a signal through a wireless channel, and can output the signal to the processor 330, and can transmit a signal output from the processor 330 through a wireless channel.

[0061] The memory 320 can store programs and data required for the operation of the terminal 120. In addition, the memory 320 can store control information or data included in a signal acquired at the terminal 120. The memory 320 can be configured by a storage medium such as a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk, a compact disk (CD)-ROM, and a digital versatile disk (DVD), or a combination of storage media.

[0062] The processor 330 can include various processing circuitry and control a series of processes to operate the terminal 120 according to the above-disclosed embodiments. The processor 330 can include at least one processor. For example, the processor 330 can include a communication processor (CP) for controlling communication and an application processor (AP) for controlling a higher layer such as an application program. The processor 330 can include various processing circuitry and / or a plurality of processors. For example, as used herein (including in the claims), the term "processor" can include various processing circuitry including at least one processor, wherein one or more processors of the at least one processor can each and / or jointly be configured in a distributed manner to perform various functions described herein. As used herein, when a "processor," "at least one processor," and "one or more processors" are described as being configured to perform a number of functions, these terms encompass, for example but not limited to, a case where one processor performs some of the recited functions and another processor performs other of the recited functions, as well as a case where a single processor can perform all of the recited functions. In addition, the at least one processor can include a combination of processors that perform various recited / disclosed functions, e.g., in a distributed manner. The at least one processor can execute program instructions to implement or perform various functions.

[0063] The first SIM 331 and the second SIM 332 can be access control modules for accessing a network of a mobile communication provider. The processor 330 can perform a registration procedure at a predetermined network entity using the first SIM 331. In addition, the processor 330 can perform a registration procedure at a network entity using the second SIM 332.

[0064] Figure 4 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a structure of 5G non-standalone networking (NSA) in relation to various embodiments.

[0065] Reference Figure 4A 5G NSA network structure related to a terminal providing a dual connectivity function will be described. For example, in the present disclosure, a terminal can refer to a terminal providing a 5G NSA function to be able to not only connect to a 4G network but also connect to a 5G network. In this case, dual connectivity can be a technology for enabling an LTE base station to perform a control process with respect to a terminal as a master base station and enabling the terminal to enhance a transmission speed through a 5G base station. Further, dual connectivity can refer to a technology for connecting an LTE base station and a 5G base station to a core network (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC)) of a 4G network. That is, when one terminal is simultaneously connected to an LTE base station and a 5G base station in a mobile communication network and simultaneously exchanges data with the respective base stations, the LTE base station can handle control as a master base station, and the 5G base station can only increase a data transmission speed, and both base stations are connected only to the EPC as an LTE core network, without using a 5G core network (5GC).

[0066] In dual connectivity, a base station providing macro cell coverage can serve as a master base station (e.g., an eNB) to handle both a control plane and a user plane. Another base station (e.g., an eNB or a gNB) having small cell coverage can be referred to as a secondary base station and can perform a secondary role to handle only a user plane. That is, a master base station can handle control signaling, and a secondary base station can be used to increase a data transmission speed. In a 5G communication system, both a low frequency band (410 MHz to 7125 MHz band) and a high frequency band (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz) can be used, and coverage of a base station can be diversified, and thus, a service that fuses the advantages and disadvantages of a macro cell and a small cell becomes very important. In addition, dual connectivity based on two different radio resources (e.g., multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC)) can perform an important role while using NR as a radio access technology of 5G and E-UTRA as a radio access technology of LTE.

[0067] E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity (hereinafter referred to as EN-DC or ENDC) can be one of multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC) types. In EN-DC, an LTE base station providing E-UTRA and a 5G base station are both connected to an EPC as an LTE core network, and a 5GC can not be used. A control plane can be handled at the LTE base station, and a user plane can be handled at the LTE base station and the 5G base station. Specifically, EN-DC can be a technology used in a 5G NSA network structure. In the embodiments of the present disclosure described hereinafter, a 5G base station can refer to a 5G NSA base station supporting EN-DC. That is, in the present disclosure, a 5G base station, a 5G NSA base station, or a 5G NSA cell can be used as the same meaning.

[0068] Hereinafter, various example embodiments of the disclosure will be described based on dual connectivity (e.g., EN-DC) used in a 5G NSA network structure. Of course, the communication network structure and dual connectivity method in the embodiments of the disclosure are not limited to the above-described example.

[0069] Figure 5 is a signal flow view illustrating an example procedure for connecting to a 5G network related to various embodiments.

[0070] Referring to Figure 5 A measurement reporting and connection procedure between a UE and a base station (e.g., gNB) will be described. The UE can establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with the base station. Also, the UE can be in an RRC connected mode RRC_CONNECTED.

[0071] At step 510, the base station can transmit a predetermined RRC message (e.g., RRCResume or RRCReconfiguration) containing measurement configuration information to the UE. In an embodiment, the measurement configuration information can include reporting configuration information containing event trigger conditions (e.g., EventA3, EventA4, EventA5, EventB1, or EventB2) for triggering a measurement report of the UE. Also, the measurement configuration information can include information related to a measurement gap for the UE to measure surrounding cells.

[0072] At step 520, the UE can perform measurement on a neighboring cell (e.g., 5G NSA cell) based on the measurement configuration information received from the base station. For example, the UE can measure a signal quality (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ)) of the neighboring cell.

[0073] At step 530, the UE can transmit a measurement report including a result of measurement on the neighboring cell to the base station. In this case, the measurement report can be caused by the event trigger conditions included in the measurement configuration information at step 510. For example, the UE can report a measurement result when a specific event occurs. In this case, it can be predefined which cell each event is directed to. For example, there are events directed to a serving cell, a neighboring cell, a primary cell, a secondary cell, or a combination thereof. The measurement report can include at least one of a signal quality (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ) of the neighboring cell measured by the UE at step 520, an identifier of the neighboring cell.

[0074] At step 540, the base station can transmit configuration information for connecting the UE to a 5G base station (e.g., 5G secondary cell group (SCG)) to the UE based on the measurement report received from the UE.

[0075] At step 550, the UE can perform a procedure (camping) for connecting to the 5G base station based on the configuration information received at step 540.

[0076] The above-described operations of the UE and the base station are merely examples, and some of the above-described operations can be omitted, or more than the above-described operations can be combined. Furthermore, at least one new operation other than the above-described operations can be added and can be organically coupled with the existing operations.

[0077] Hereinafter, various example embodiments of the disclosure will be described based on the assumption that the UE supports EN-DC and dual SIM at the same time. Of course, the disclosure is not limited to the above-described example.

[0078] In an embodiment, the dual SIM supporting UE can include a default data SIM (DDS) stack (hereinafter, referred to as DDS) and a non-DDS stack (hereinafter, referred to as non-DDS). For example, the first SIM 331 of the UE can be the DDS, and the second SIM 332 can be the non-DDS. In this case, the stack can have the same meaning as the SIM. Accordingly, in the disclosure, the term "DDS" (including "non-DDS") can be used as having the same or similar meaning as the DDS stack or the default data stack. However, the DDS and the non-DDS can share one radio transceiver (for example, the communication unit 310) in the UE. Accordingly, the radio transceiver can perform the operation of only one SIM at a time. The DDS can be identified through a user input, and can be a SIM that supports all of the following: (mobile) data (for example, mobile data provided by the 5G base station), a voice call (for example, LTE voice (VoLTE) or new radio (VoNR) voice), and a short message service (SMS). In the embodiments of the disclosure described below, the mobile data can indicate wireless communication or mobile communication data serviced through the 5G base station. The non-DDS can be a SIM that supports the voice call and the SMS. However, unlike the DDS, the non-DDS can not support the transmission and / or reception of the mobile data. Accordingly, the first SIM 331 of the UE can be used for transmitting and / or receiving the mobile data, but the second SIM 332 can not be used for transmitting and / or receiving the mobile data. Of course, the above-described explanation of the UE is merely one example, and is not limited thereto.

[0079] Figure 6 is a signal flow view illustrating example operations between a UE and a base station according to various embodiments.

[0080] Referring to Figure 6 , a procedure for connecting the UE to the 5G base station regardless of whether the UE supporting EN-DC uses mobile data is illustrated.

[0081] At step 610, the DDS of the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and from the base station. In this case, the non-DDS of the UE can have difficulty in transmitting and receiving mobile data to and from the base station. For example, when the UE intends to transmit and / or receive mobile data to and from the base station, the UE can use the DDS. Accordingly, when the SIM used to provide the current communication service of the UE is the non-DDS, the UE should change (switch) the currently used SIM to the DDS to transmit and / or receive mobile data.

[0082] At step 620, the UE can identify the SIM for the current communication service. For example, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the DDS, the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data through the DDS in the same manner as step 610. However, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the non-DDS, the UE can not be able to transmit and / or receive mobile data through the non-DDS. Accordingly, when it is identified that the SIM for the current communication service is the non-DDS, it can indicate that the UE is currently connected to the 4G base station. Accordingly, the UE can not be able to use mobile data. Therefore, the UE can need to perform a procedure for connection to the 5G base station in order to use mobile data.

[0083] At step 630, the base station can transmit measurement configuration information for a measurement report of the UE on a 5G cell to the UE. For example, when the UE currently cannot use mobile data, the base station can transmit the measurement configuration information to the UE in order to connect to the UE (e.g., EN-DC).

[0084] At step 640, the UE can perform measurement on a neighboring cell (e.g., 5G cell) based on the measurement configuration information received from the base station. For example, the UE can measure the signal quality (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ)) of the neighboring cell.

[0085] At step 650, the UE can transmit a measurement report including the result of the measurement on the neighboring cell to the base station. In this case, the measurement report can be triggered by an event trigger condition included in the measurement configuration information of step 630. For example, when a specific event occurs, the UE can report the measurement result. In this case, it can be predefined which cell each event is directed to. The measurement report can include the signal quality (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ) of the neighboring cell measured by the UE at step 640, an identifier of the neighboring cell.

[0086] At step 660, the base station can transmit configuration information for connecting the UE to the 5G base station (e.g., 5G SCG) to the UE based on the measurement report received from the UE.

[0087] At step 670, the UE can perform a procedure (camping) for connecting to the 5G base station based on the configuration information received at step 660. The same purpose as the above-described operations (for example, steps S510 to S550) of the UE and the base station can be applied to the above-described connection procedure (for example, steps S630 to S670) of the UE to the 5G base station. Figure 5 Figure 6

[0088] The above-described operations of the UE and the base station are merely examples, and some of the above-described operations can be omitted, or more than the above-described operations can be combined. In addition, at least one new operation other than the above-described operations can be added and can be organically coupled with the existing operations.

[0089] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example procedure for controlling EN-DC of a UE according to various embodiments.

[0090] Referring to Figure 7 , a method for controlling an EN-DC feature (or capability) of a UE to not perform a procedure for connecting the UE to a 5G base station when the UE does not use mobile data will be described.

[0091] At step 710, the UE can generate and maintain a database about network operators. For example, the UE can receive information about network operators (for example, communication service providers) from a base station. The UE can store the information about network operators received from the base station and can generate a database based on the stored information. In addition, the UE can manage / maintain the generated database periodically or dynamically according to movement, a state (for example, power on / off) of the UE. In this case, the network operator can be a base station operator that controls a cell supporting EN-DC.

[0092] At step 720, the UE can identify (or determine) a changed mobile state. For example, the mobile state of the UE can be changed in at least one of a case where the use of mobile data of the UE is initiated (turned on) or terminated (turned off), a case where a DDS is changed, and a case where the power of the UE is turned on or restarted. In this case, the DDS can refer to changing a DDS configuration in which a user (or UE) uses an Internet connection, and can be an operation of changing to another SIM. For example, when the UE uses mobile data in a first SIM, the user can change the DDS configuration to a second SIM. Thereafter, all Internet data can be transmitted through the second SIM, and a data fee can be charged for the second SIM card.

[0093] ​​At step 730, the UE can identify (or determine) whether a particular network operator is capable of supporting EN-DC based on the database generated at step 710. For example, the UE can identify whether it is possible to connect to any one of the networks (e.g., 5G base stations) included in the database based on the information about at least one network operator supporting EN-DC. In this case, when it is identified based on the database that a particular network operator does not support EN-DC, the UE can not perform the EN-DC control method of the UE according to the disclosure.

[0094] At step 740, when it is identified based on the database that a particular network operator supports EN-DC, the UE can disable EN-DC for the "not using mobile data" state in the non-DDS. In this case, "not using mobile data" refers to a case where the UE cannot use mobile data, and "not using mobile data" can result in a SIM that is running being disabled. Also, disabling any one SIM (e.g., the DDS or the non-DDS) of the UE can mean changing / switching to another SIM (e.g., the non-DDS or the DDS), or using only another SIM (e.g., the non-DDS or the DDS). For example, when the SIM used for a current communication service is the non-DDS and the UE does not use mobile data, the UE can disable EN-DC of the UE. Accordingly, the UE can not receive measurement configuration information for performing a measurement report for a 5G cell from a base station. Or, even when the measurement configuration information for performing a measurement report for a 5G cell is received from the base station, the UE can not perform a subsequent procedure (e.g., steps 520 to 550 of FIG. 5) for connecting to the 5G base station. Figure 5

[0095] At step 750, the UE can enable EN-DC in the DDS. For example, when the SIM used for a current communication service of the UE is the DDS, the UE can be capable of using mobile data, and thus can enable EN-DC that is in a disabled state. In this case, EN-DC in a disabled state can indicate that the DDS is disabled due to "not using mobile data". However, when EN-DC of the UE is in an enabled state, the UE can omit step 750.

[0096] ​At step 760, the UE can update the state of the EN-DC feature (or capability) of the UE changed by step 740 or 750 to the base station. For example, when the state of the EN-DC of the UE is disabled by step 740 or enabled by step 750, the UE can transmit information about the changed state of the EN-DC to the base station. In an embodiment, the information about the state of the EN-DC feature of the UE can be included in the UE capability information which the UE transmits to the base station according to the request (e.g., UE capability enquiry) of the base station for the UE capability information. Accordingly, the base station can determine whether to perform a procedure for connecting the UE to the 5G base station based on the changed EN-DC state of the UE. For example, when the EN-DC of the UE is disabled by step 740, the base station can recognize (determine) that the UE does not need to be connected to the 5G base station, and can not transmit the measurement configuration information for the measurement report of the UE to the UE. Or, when the EN-DC of the UE is enabled by step 750, the base station can recognize (determine) that the UE needs to be connected to the 5G base station, and can transmit the measurement configuration information for the measurement report of the UE to the UE.

[0097] The above-described operations of the UE and the base station are merely examples, and some of the above-described operations can be omitted, or more than the above-described operations can be combined. Also, at least one new operation other than the above-described operations can be added and can be organically coupled with the existing operations.

[0098] Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example procedure for controlling the EN-DC of the UE according to various embodiments.

[0099] Referring to Figure 8 , the operation sequence of the UE according to the above-described Figure 7 embodiments will be described in detail according to the change of the mobile data and the type of the SIM for the current communication service of the UE. However, the explanation of the same content described in Figure 7 and Figure 8 may not be repeated here.

[0100] At step 810, the UE can generate and maintain a database about network operators. For example, the UE can receive information about network operators (e.g., communication service providers) from a base station. In this case, the information received from the base station can include at least information about whether each network operator is capable of supporting EN-DC. The UE can store the information about network operators received from the base station in a memory (or buffer), and can generate the database based on the stored information. For example, the UE can periodically or dynamically receive information about new network operators. In this case, the information about the new network operators can include network operator information about neighboring cells at new locations according to movement of the UE. Accordingly, the UE can update the stored information about existing network operators based on the information about the new network operators. The above-described method for generating and maintaining the database is merely one example, and is not limited to the above-described example.

[0101] At step 820, the UE can identify (determine) whether a movement state of the UE is changed. For example, the UE can identify whether a usage state of mobile data of the UE is changed or whether the DDS is changed.

[0102] At step 830, when a change in the usage of mobile data or the DDS of the UE is initiated, the UE can identify whether the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the DDS. For example, the UE can identify whether the SIM that is running is the DDS or the non-DDS.

[0103] At step 840, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the DDS, the UE can identify whether the EN-DC of the UE is in a disabled state due to "no usage of mobile data". In this case, "no usage of mobile data" is a case in which the UE cannot use mobile data, and "no usage of mobile data" can cause the running SIM to be disabled. For example, although the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the DDS, the UE can identify whether the EN-DC of the UE is in a disabled state because the UE does not use mobile data.

[0104] At step 850, when the current EN-DC of the UE is in a disabled state, the UE can enable the EN-DC of the UE. Accordingly, the UE can perform EN-DC to connect to a 5G base station.

[0105] At step 860, when the moving state is not changed at step 820 or the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is non-DDS at step 830, the UE can identify whether a specific network operator can support EN-DC based on the database generated at step 810. For example, the UE can identify whether it is possible to connect to any one network (e.g., a 5G base station) included in the database based on information about at least one network operator supporting EN-DC. In this case, when it is identified based on the database that a specific network operator does not support EN-DC, the UE can not perform the EN-DC control method of the UE according to the disclosure.

[0106] At step 870, when it is identified based on the database that a specific network operator supports EN-DC, the UE can disable EN-DC in the "not using mobile data" state. For example, when the SIM for the current communication service is non-DDS and the UE does not use mobile data, the UE can disable EN-DC of the UE. Accordingly, the UE can not receive measurement configuration information for performing a measurement report on a 5G cell from a base station. Even when the measurement configuration information for performing a measurement report on a 5G cell is received from the base station, the UE can not perform a subsequent procedure (e.g., steps 520 to 550 of FIG. 5) for connecting to a 5G base station. Figure 5

[0107] At step 880, the UE can update the state of the EN-DC feature (or capability) of the UE changed through step 850 or step 870 to the base station. For example, the UE can transmit information about the state of EN-DC changed at the time when EN-DC of the UE is disabled through step 870 or enabled through step 850 to the base station. In one embodiment, the information about the state of the EN-DC feature of the UE can be included in UE capability information which the UE transmits to the base station according to a request (e.g., a UE capability query) of the base station for the UE capability information. Accordingly, the base station can determine whether to perform a procedure for connecting the UE to a 5G base station based on the changed EN-DC state of the UE. For example, when EN-DC of the UE is disabled through step 870, the base station can identify (determine) that the UE does not need to be connected to a 5G base station and can not transmit measurement configuration information for a measurement report of the UE to the UE. Or, when EN-DC of the UE is enabled through step 850, the base station can identify (determine) that the UE needs to be connected to a 5G base station and can transmit measurement configuration information for a measurement report of the UE to the UE.

[0108] The above-described operations of the UE and the base station are merely examples, and some of the above-described operations can be omitted, or more than the above-described operations can be combined. Furthermore, at least one new operation other than the above-described operations can be added and can be organizationally coupled with the existing operations.​

[0109] Figure 9 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a database according to various embodiments.

[0110] Referring to Figure 9 information about a network operator (e.g., a communication service operator) received by the UE from the base station can include at least one of a name of the network operator, a public land mobile network (PLMN), or information about whether EN-DC is supported. Of course, the above-described configuration of the database is merely one example and is not limited to the above-described example. Thus, the database can include only information about a network operator that supports EN-DC.

[0111] The UE can periodically or dynamically receive information about a new network operator from the base station. Thus, the UE can update the database stored in the UE based on newly received information about a network operator.

[0112] In an embodiment, when the UE receives information about a new network operator from the base station, the UE can add information about the new network operator to the database.

[0113] In an embodiment, when information about a network operator received by the UE from the base station is different from information about a network operator stored in the UE, the UE can update information about a network operator included in the database based on newly received information about a network operator.

[0114] In one embodiment, when the UE receives information about a new network operator from the base station, the UE can erase information about existing network operators other than the new network operator, the erased information not being included in the database.

[0115] The above-described embodiments are merely examples.

[0116] Figure 10 FIG. 2 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example procedure for updating an EN-DC state of a UE according to various embodiments.

[0117] Referring to Figure 10 the update operation of the changed EN-DC state (e.g., step 880) when the UE uses mobile data will be described in detail. Figure 8 The explanation of the same content described in Figure 7 , Figure 8 and Figure 9 may not be repeated here.

[0118] At step 1010, the DDS of the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the base station. For example, the DDS can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the base station through one transceiver. Accordingly, the non-DDS of the UE can have difficulty in transmitting and receiving mobile data to and from the base station through the transceiver.

[0119] At step 1020, the UE can identify a current stack. For example, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the DDS, the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data as in step 1010. On the other hand, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the non-DDS, the UE can not transmit and / or receive mobile data. Accordingly, when it is identified that the SIM for the current communication service is the non-DDS, it can indicate that the UE is connected to the 4G base station. Accordingly, the UE can be in a state in which the UE cannot use mobile data. Accordingly, the UE can perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G base station in order to use mobile data. At step 1030, the UE in the "not using mobile data" state can disable EN-DC when it is identified that a specific network operator supports EN-DC based on the database. In this case, "not using mobile data" refers to a case in which the UE cannot use mobile data and "not using mobile data" can cause the SIM that is being run to be disabled. For example, when the SIM for the current communication service is the non-DDS and the UE does not use mobile data, the UE can disable EN-DC of the UE.

[0120] At step 1040, the UE can update the state of the EN-DC feature (or capability) of the UE changed by step 1030 to the base station. For example, the UE can transmit information about the state of EN-DC changed when EN-DC of the UE is disabled by step 1030 to the base station. In an embodiment, the UE can transmit a message (e.g., a TRACKING AREA UPDATE REQUEST message) including information indicating that EN-DC is not supported to the base station. In an embodiment, the information about the state of the EN-DC feature of the UE can be included in UE capability information that the UE transmits to the base station according to a request (e.g., a UE capability enquiry) of the base station for the UE capability information. For example, as the information indicating that EN-DC of the UE is not supported, an indicator of 1 bit or more can be used.

[0121] The base station can receive information indicating that EN-DC of the UE is not supported from the UE, and can identify (determine) that the UE does not need to be connected to the 5G base station. The base station can not transmit measurement configuration information for a measurement report of the UE to the UE. Accordingly, the UE can not need to measure a 5G cell or report a measurement result. In addition, the base station can not transmit 5G SCG configuration information to the UE. However, the base station can transmit information on a 5G standalone (SA) cell measurement frequency to the UE, and the UE can be connected to a 5G SA base station.

[0122] The operations of the UE and the base station described above are merely examples, and some of the above operations can be omitted, or more than the above operations can be combined. In addition, at least one new operation other than the above operations can be added and can be organically coupled with the existing operations.

[0123] Figure 11 FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example procedure for controlling EN-DC of a UE according to various embodiments.

[0124] Reference Figure 11 A method for releasing a connection with a 5G base station to reduce power consumption of a UE when the UE has connected to the 5G base station will be described. For example, when the UE is connected to a 5G NSA base station but a SIM for a current communication service of the UE is non-DDS and the UE does not use mobile data, the UE can release the connection with the 5G NSA base station.

[0125] At step 1110, the UE can receive configuration information for connecting the UE to a 5G base station (e.g., 5G SCG) from the base station. The configuration information for connecting the UE to the 5G base station can be based on a measurement report of the UE. Prior to step 1110, the measurement report procedure (e.g., steps 630 to 650) of the above-described Figure 6 may be performed between the UE and the base station.

[0126] At step 1120, the UE can perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G base station based on the configuration information of the 5G base station received at step 1110. Accordingly, the UE connected to the 5G base station can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and from the 5G base station. However, unlike the above-described embodiments (e.g., the procedure of FIG. 6), when the UE has connected to the 5G base station but does not use mobile data, the UE can include an operation of releasing the connection with the 5G base station. Figure 7 to Figure 10

[0127] ​At step 1130, the UE can identify whether the SIM for the current communication service is a non-DDS. When the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is a DDS, the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the 5G base station, and thus, the UE can not release the connection with the 5G base station. On the other hand, when the SIM for the current communication system of the UE is a non-DDS, the UE does not need to transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the base station, and can not need to maintain the connection with the 5G base station. Thus, when the SIM for the current communication service is a non-DDS, the UE can perform a subsequent operation for releasing the connection with the 5G base station, so that power consumption caused by the operation of EN-DC can be reduced. This is because, when the UE is connected to the 5G base station, the transmission and reception speed of data can be enhanced compared to when the UE is connected to only the 4G base station, but power consumption can increase due to more signaling. Also, this is because, as the UE moves, the UE continues to measure and report measurements on neighboring 5G cells in order to maintain the connection with the 5G base station, and thus, power consumption increases.

[0128] At step 1140, when the SIM for the current communication service is a non-DDS, the UE can transmit a message including information indicating that the 5G NSA connection is not needed to the base station. In this case, the information indicating that the 5G NSA connection is not needed can include an indicator of 1 bit or more. After notifying the base station that the 5G NSA connection is not needed, the UE can not perform the operation of measuring and reporting measurements on neighboring 5G cells. Thus, power consumption of the UE can be reduced.

[0129] At step 1150, the UE can receive a message for releasing the 5G NSA connection from the base station. For example, when the base station receives information indicating that the 5G NSA connection is not needed from the UE, the base station can transmit a message (e.g., RRCConnectionRelease) for releasing the 5G NSA connection with the UE to the UE. Even after the connection with the 5G base station is released, the UE can maintain the connection state with the 4G base station. Of course, even if the connection with the 5G base station is released, the UE can resume the connection procedure with the 5G base station. In addition, the UE can perform an operation for controlling EN-DC of the UE according to the above-described embodiments (e.g., Figure 7 to Figure 10 ) without limitation.

[0130] The above-described operations of the UE and the base station are merely examples, and some of the above-described operations can be omitted, or more than the above-described operations can be combined. Also, at least one new operation other than the above-described operations can be added and can be organically coupled with the existing operations.

[0131] Figure 12 is a signal flow view illustrating an example operation between a UE and a base station according to various embodiments.

[0132] Reference Figure 12 An operation in which a UE releases a connection with a 5G base station as described in Figure 11 may not repeat the explanation of the same content described in Figure 11

[0133] At step 1210, the DDS of the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the base station. For example, the DDS can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the base station through one transceiver. Accordingly, the non-DDS of the UE can have difficulty in transmitting and / or receiving mobile data to and / or from the base station through the transceiver.

[0134] At step 1220, the UE can identify a current stack. For example, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the DDS, the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data as in step 1210. On the other hand, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the non-DDS, the UE can not transmit and / or receive mobile data. Accordingly, when it is identified that the SIM for the current communication service is the non-DDS, it can instruct the UE to connect to the 4G base station. Accordingly, the UE can be in a state in which the UE cannot use mobile data. Accordingly, the UE can perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G base station in order to use mobile data. The base station can transmit measurement configuration information for a measurement report of the UE on a 5G cell to the UE. For example, the base station can transmit the measurement configuration information to the UE when the UE does not currently use mobile data. The UE can perform measurement on a neighboring cell (e.g., a 5G cell) based on the measurement configuration information received from the base station. In addition, the UE can perform measurement on the neighboring cell (e.g., a 5G cell). For example, the UE can measure a signal quality (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ) of the neighboring cell. The UE can transmit a measurement report including a result of measurement on the neighboring cell to the base station. In this case, the measurement report can be triggered by an event trigger condition included in the measurement configuration information. For example, the UE can report a measurement result when a specific event occurs. In this case, it can be defined for which cell each event is directed. For example, the measurement report can include a signal quality (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ) of the neighboring cell measured by the UE, an identifier of the neighboring cell.

[0135] At step 1230, the base station can transmit configuration information for connecting the UE to the base station (e.g., a 5G SCG) to the UE based on the measurement report received from the UE. For example, the configuration information for connecting the UE to the base station can be included in an RRC connection reconfiguration (e.g., RRCConnectionReconfiguration) message.

[0136] ​At step 1240, the UE can perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G base station (camping) based on the configuration information of the 5G base station received at step 1230. Figure 12 The procedure for connecting to the 5G base station (e.g., steps 1230 to 1230) can include the same or similar operations as those described above Figure 5 for the same purpose as the operations (e.g., steps 510 to 550) described above. In this case, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is non-DDS, the UE does not need to transmit and / or receive mobile data to and from the base station, and thus does not need to maintain a connection with the 5G base station. Accordingly, when the SIM for the current communication service is non-DDS, the UE can perform a subsequent operation for releasing the connection with the 5G base station, so that power consumption caused by the operation of EN-DC can be reduced.

[0137] At step 1250, in response to the RRC connection reconfiguration message of step 1230, the UE can transmit a message including information indicating that the 5G NSA connection is not needed to the base station. For example, when the SIM for the current communication service is non-DDS, the UE can transmit a message including information indicating that the 5G NSA connection is not needed to the base station. In this case, the information indicating that the 5G NSA connection is not needed can include an indicator of 1 bit or more. The information indicating that the 5G NSA connection is not needed can be included in a UE assistance information (e.g., UEAssistanceInformation) message. In addition, the UE assistance information can be a response to the RRC connection reconfiguration information received by the UE from the base station. After notifying the base station that the 5G NSA connection is not needed, the UE can not perform the operations of measuring a neighboring 5G cell and reporting the measurement. Accordingly, power consumption of the UE can be reduced.

[0138] At step 1260, when the base station receives the information indicating that the 5G NSA connection is not needed from the UE, the base station can transmit a message (e.g., RRCConnectionRelease) for releasing the 5G NSA connection with the UE to the UE. The UE can maintain a connection state with the 4G base station after releasing the connection with the 5G base station. Of course, even if the connection with the 5G base station is released, the UE can resume the procedure for connecting to the 5G base station. In addition, the UE can perform operations for controlling EN-DC of the UE according to the above-described embodiments (e.g., steps 510 to 550). Figure 7 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 9 and Figure 10 .

[0139] The operations of the UE and the base station described above are merely examples, and some of the above-described operations can be omitted, or more than the above-described operations can be combined. Furthermore, at least one new operation other than the above-described operations can be added and can be organically coupled with the existing operations.

[0140] Figure 13 FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example procedure for controlling EN-DC of a UE according to various embodiments.

[0141] Reference Figure 13 A method for suppressing execution of a connection procedure with a 5G base station to reduce power consumption of a UE when the UE has received configuration information for connection to the 5G base station will be described. For example, when the UE receives configuration information (e.g., RRCConnectionReconfiguration) for connection to a 5G NSA base station from a base station, but a SIM for a current communication service of the UE is non-DDS and the UE does not use mobile data, the UE can not perform a procedure for connection to the 5G NSA base station.

[0142] At step 1310, the UE can receive configuration information for connecting the UE to a 5G base station (e.g., 5G SCG) from the base station. The configuration information for connecting the UE to the 5G base station can be based on the measurement report of the UE. Prior to step 1310, the above-described measurement report procedure (e.g., steps 630 to 650) of the UE and the base station can be performed. Figure 6

[0143] At step 1320, the UE can identify whether the SIM for the current communication service is non-DDS. When the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is DDS, the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the 5G base station, and thus, the UE can not release the connection with the 5G base station. On the other hand, when the SIM for the current communication system of the UE is non-DDS, the UE does not need to transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the base station, and can not need to maintain the connection with the 5G base station. Thus, when the SIM for the current communication service is non-DDS, the UE can perform a subsequent operation for releasing the connection with the 5G base station, so that power consumption caused by the operation of EN-DC can be reduced. This is because, when the UE is connected to the 5G base station, the transmission and reception speed of data can be enhanced compared to when the UE is connected to only the 4G base station, but power consumption can increase due to more signaling. Furthermore, this is because the UE continues to measure a neighboring 5G cell and report the measurement in order to maintain the connection with the 5G base station due to movement of the UE, and thus, power consumption increases.

[0144] ​At step 1330, the UE can ignore (or discard) the configuration information received from the base station at step 1310 when the SIM for the current communication service is non-DDS. For example, when the SIM for the current communication service is non-DDS, a 5G NSA connection is not needed, and thus the UE can ignore the configuration information received from the base station at step 1320 for connecting to the 5G base station. The UE can not perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G base station based on the configuration information. Accordingly, the UE can reduce power consumption that can be caused by the procedure for connecting to the 5G base station.

[0145] At step 1340, the UE can transmit, to the base station, a message including information indicating that the configuration for connecting to the 5G base station is ignored. In this case, the information indicating that the configuration for connecting to the 5G base station is ignored can include an indicator of 1 bit or more. The UE can not perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G base station. Accordingly, the UE can prevent and / or reduce power consumption necessary to perform the procedure for connecting to the 5G base station. Of course, the UE can maintain a connection state with the 4G base station even when the connection with the 5G base station is not performed. Of course, the UE can resume the connection procedure with the 5G base station even when the connection with the 5G base station is not performed. In addition, the UE can perform an operation for controlling EN-DC of the UE according to the above-described embodiments (for example, Figure 7 to Figure 10 ).

[0146] The above-described operations of the UE and the base station are merely examples, and some of the above-described operations can be omitted, or more than the above-described operations can be combined. Furthermore, at least one new operation other than the above-described operations can be added and can be organically coupled with the existing operations.

[0147] Figure 14 is a signal flow view illustrating example operations between a UE and a base station according to various embodiments.

[0148] Referring to Figure 14 , example operation sequences between a UE and a base station according to various embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated.

[0149] Referring to Figure 14 , a method for suppressing performance of a connection procedure with a 5G base station to reduce power consumption of a UE when the UE has received configuration information for connecting to the 5G base station will be described. For example, when the UE receives configuration information (e.g., RRCConnectionReconfiguration) for connecting to a 5G NSA base station from the base station, but a SIM for a current communication service of the UE is non-DDS and the UE does not use mobile data, the UE can not perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G NSA base station.

[0150] At step 1410, the DDS of the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the base station. For example, the DDS can transmit and / or receive mobile data to and / or from the base station through one transceiver. Accordingly, the non-DDS of the UE can have difficulty in transmitting and / or receiving mobile data to and / or from the base station through the transceiver.

[0151] At step 1420, the UE can identify the current stack. For example, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the DDS, the UE can transmit and / or receive mobile data as in step 1210. On the other hand, when the SIM for the current communication service of the UE is the non-DDS, the UE can not transmit and / or receive mobile data. Accordingly, when it is identified that the SIM for the current communication service is the non-DDS, it can indicate that the UE is connected to the 4G base station. Accordingly, the UE can be in a state in which the UE cannot use mobile data. Accordingly, the UE can perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G base station in order to use mobile data. The base station can transmit measurement configuration information for a measurement report of the UE on the 5G cell to the UE. For example, the base station can transmit the measurement configuration information to the UE when the UE does not currently use mobile data. The UE can perform measurement on the neighboring cell (e.g., 5G cell) based on the measurement configuration information received from the base station. Further, the UE can perform measurement on the neighboring cell (e.g., 5G cell). For example, the UE can measure the signal quality (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ) of the neighboring cell. The UE can transmit a measurement report including the result of the measurement on the neighboring cell to the base station. In this case, the measurement report can be triggered by an event trigger condition included in the measurement configuration information. For example, the UE can report the measurement result when a specific event occurs. In this case, it can be defined for which cell each event is directed. For example, the measurement report can include the signal quality (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ) of the neighboring cell measured by the UE, an identifier of the neighboring cell.

[0152] At step 1430, the base station can transmit configuration information (e.g., 5G SCG) for connecting the UE to the base station to the UE based on the measurement report received from the UE. For example, the configuration information for connecting the UE to the base station can be included in the RRC connection reconfiguration (e.g., RRCConnectionReconfiguration) message.

[0153] At step 1440, the UE can ignore (or discard) the configuration information received from the base station at step 1430 when the SIM for the current communication service is non-DDS. For example, when the SIM for the current communication service is non-DDS, a 5G NSA connection is not required, and thus the UE can ignore the configuration information for connecting to the 5G base station received from the base station at step 1430. The UE can not perform a procedure for connecting to the 5G base station based on the configuration information. Accordingly, the UE can reduce power consumption that can be caused by the procedure for connecting to the 5G base station.

[0154] At step 1450, the UE can transmit SCG failure information (e.g., SCGFailureInformation) to the base station in response to the RRC connection reconfiguration message of step 1430. In this case, the SCG failure information can include information indicating that the configuration for connecting to the 5G base station is ignored. The information indicating that the configuration for connecting to the 5G base station is ignored can include a 1-bit or more bit indicator. The 5G base station can not perform a procedure for connecting to the UE. Accordingly, the UE can prevent / reduce power consumption necessary to perform the procedure for connecting to the 5G base station. The UE can maintain a connection state with the 4G base station even when the connection with the 5G base station is not performed. Of course, the UE can resume the connection procedure with the 5G base station even when the connection with the 5G base station is not performed. In addition, the UE can perform an operation for controlling EN-DC of the UE according to the above-described embodiments (e.g., Figure 7 to Figure 10

[0155] The above-described operations of the UE and the base station are merely examples, and some of the above-described operations can be omitted, or more than the above-described operations can be combined. Furthermore, at least one new operation other than the above-described operations can be added and can be organically coupled with the existing operations.

[0156] Figure 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example operation of a UE according to various embodiments.

[0157] Referring to Figure 15 A method for controlling EN-DC of a UE will be described.

[0158] ​At step 1510, when the UE's mobility state changes, the UE can determine whether to enable dual connectivity based on the type of SIM used for the current communication service. More specifically, the UE can identify (or determine) whether the UE's mobility state has changed. For example, the UE can identify whether the UE's mobile data usage status has changed or whether the DDS has changed. In this case, when the UE's mobile data usage is initiated or the DDS changes, it can identify whether the SIM used for the UE's current communication service is a DDS. For example, the UE can identify whether the running SIM is a DDS or a non-DDS. When the SIM used for the UE's current communication service is a DDS, the UE can identify whether the UE's EN-DC is disabled due to "not using mobile data". In this case, "not using mobile data" means that the UE cannot use mobile data and may result in the running SIM being disabled. For example, even though the SIM used for the UE's current communication service is a DDS, the UE does not use mobile data and it can identify whether the UE's EN-DC is disabled. Furthermore, when the UE's EN-DC is disabled, the UE can enable the UE's EN-DC. Therefore, the UE can perform EN-DC to connect to a 5G base station. Alternatively, when the UE's mobility state has not changed or the SIM used for the UE's current communication service is non-DDS, the UE can identify whether a specific network operator supports EN-DC based on a stored database. For example, the UE can identify whether it can connect to any network (e.g., a 5G base station) included in the database based on information about at least one network operator that supports EN-DC. When the database identifies that a specific network operator supports EN-DC, the UE can disable EN-DC in the "not using mobile data" state. For example, when the SIM used for the current communication service is non-DDS and the UE is not using mobile data, the UE can disable its EN-DC. Therefore, the UE may not receive measurement configuration information from the base station for performing measurement reporting on the 5G cell. Alternatively, even when receiving measurement configuration information from the base station for performing measurement reporting on the 5G cell, the UE may not perform subsequent procedures (e.g., measurement reporting) for connecting to the 5G base station.

[0159] At step 1520, the UE can update a state of the EN-DC feature (or capability) of the UE changed by step 1510 to the base station. For example, when the EN-DC of the UE is disabled or enabled, the UE can transmit information about the changed state of the EN-DC to the base station. In an embodiment, the information about the state of the EN-DC feature of the UE can be included in the UE capability information which the UE transmits to the base station according to a request (e.g., a UE capability enquiry) of the base station for the UE capability information. Accordingly, the base station can determine whether to perform a procedure for connecting the UE to the 5G base station based on the changed EN-DC state of the UE. For example, when the EN-DC of the UE is disabled, the base station can identify (determine) that the UE does not need to be connected to the 5G base station, and can not transmit measurement configuration information for a measurement report of the UE to the UE. Or, when the EN-DC of the UE is enabled, the base station can identify (determine) that the UE needs to be connected to the 5G base station, and can transmit measurement configuration information for a measurement report of the UE to the UE.

[0160] The above-described operations of the UE and the base station can include the same or similar operations as those described in the above-described operations of the UE and the base station for the same purpose, and redundant explanations can not be repeated here. Figure 7 or Figure 8 for the same purpose, and redundant explanations can not be repeated here.

[0161] According to various example embodiments of the disclosure, there is provided a method of a terminal including a plurality of subscriber identification modules (SIMs) in a wireless communication system, the method including determining whether to enable a dual connectivity feature of the terminal based on a type of a SIM for a current communication service of the terminal, and transmitting information about whether to enable the dual connectivity feature to a base station, wherein the terminal and the base station support the dual connectivity feature, wherein the plurality of SIMs include a first SIM and a second SIM, and the first SIM and the second SIM include different subscription information.

[0162] According to an example embodiment, the method can further include enabling the dual connectivity feature for transmitting mobile data to the base station and receiving the mobile data from the base station using the first SIM based on usage of the mobile data of the terminal being initiated and the SIM for the current communication service being the first SIM.

[0163] According to an example embodiment, the method can further include receiving first information about at least one first network from the base station, identifying a network supporting the dual connectivity feature among the at least one first network based on the first information based on usage of the mobile data of the terminal being terminated or the SIM for the current communication service being the second SIM, and disabling the dual connectivity feature based on identifying the network.

[0164] According to an example embodiment, the method can further include receiving second information about at least one second network from the base station, and updating the first information based on the second information.

[0165] According to an example embodiment, the first information can include at least one of an operator of each of the at least one first network, a public land mobile network (PLMN), or information on whether a dual connectivity feature is supported, the second information can include at least one of an operator of each of the at least one second network, a PLMN, or information on whether a dual connectivity feature is supported, and information on a network not included in the at least one second network can be removed from the first information.

[0166] According to an example embodiment, the method can further include receiving, from the base station, radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration information for dual connectivity, and transmitting, to the base station, first information indicating that the RRC reconfiguration information is ignored, based on the SIM used for the current communication service being the second SIM.

[0167] According to an example embodiment, the method can further include connecting to the base station based on the RRC reconfiguration information, and transmitting, to the base station, second information indicating that connection with the base station is not needed, based on the SIM used for the communication service being the second SIM.

[0168] According to an example embodiment, the first information can be included in secondary cell group (SCG) failure information in response to the RRC reconfiguration information, the second information can be included in terminal assistance information in response to the RRC reconfiguration information, and the first information and the second information can be respectively transmitted in the form of a 1-bit indicator.

[0169] According to an example embodiment, the first SIM can include a default data SIM (DDS) for at least one service of transmitting and receiving mobile data to and from the base station, a voice call, or a short message service (SMS), and the second SIM can include a non-DDS for at least one service of the base station of a voice call or an SMS.

[0170] According to an example embodiment, the dual connectivity feature can include an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) new radio (NR) dual connectivity (ENDC) feature.

[0171] According to various example embodiments, a terminal including a plurality of subscriber identity modules (SIMs) in a wireless communication system is provided, the terminal including: a transceiver; a first SIM; a second SIM; and at least one processor including a processing circuit coupled with the transceiver, the first SIM, and the second SIM, wherein the at least one processor is individually and / or collectively configured to: determine whether to enable a dual connectivity feature of the terminal based on a type of a SIM for a current communication service of the terminal; and control the terminal to transmit information about whether to enable the dual connectivity feature to a base station, wherein the terminal and the base station support the dual connectivity feature, wherein the plurality of SIMs include the first SIM and the second SIM, and the first SIM and the second SIM include different subscription information.

[0172] According to example embodiments, the at least one processor can be individually and / or collectively configured to: based on usage of mobile data of the terminal being initiated and the SIM for the current communication service being the first SIM, enable the dual connectivity feature for transmitting the mobile data to the base station and receiving the mobile data from the base station using the first SIM.

[0173] According to example embodiments, the at least one processor can be individually and / or collectively configured to: receive first information about at least one first network from the base station; based on the usage of the mobile data of the terminal being terminated or the SIM for the current communication service being the second SIM, identify a network supporting the dual connectivity feature among the at least one first network based on the first information; and based on the network being identified, disable the dual connectivity feature.

[0174] According to example embodiments, the at least one processor can be individually and / or collectively configured to receive second information about at least one second network from the base station, and can update the first information based on the second information.

[0175] According to example embodiments, the first information can include at least one of an operator, a public land mobile network (PLMN), or information about whether to support the dual connectivity feature of each of the at least one first network, the second information can include at least one of an operator, a PLMN, or information about whether to support the dual connectivity feature of each of the at least one second network, and information about a network not included in the at least one second network can be removed from the first information.

[0176] According to example embodiments, the at least one processor can be individually and / or collectively configured to: receive radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration information for dual connectivity from the base station, and based on the SIM for the current communication service being the second SIM, control the terminal to transmit first information indicating that the RRC reconfiguration information is ignored to the base station.

[0177] According to an example embodiment, the at least one processor can each and / or collectively be configured to, based on the RRC reconfiguration information, connect to the base station, and based on the SIM for the communication service being the second SIM, control the terminal to transmit, to the base station, second information indicating that the connection with the base station is not needed.

[0178] According to an example embodiment, the first information can be included in secondary cell group (SCG) failure information in response to the RRC reconfiguration information; the second information can be included in terminal assistance information in response to the RRC reconfiguration information, and the first information and the second information can be respectively transmitted in the form of a 1-bit indicator.

[0179] According to an example embodiment, the first SIM can include a default data SIM (DDS) for at least one service of transmitting and receiving mobile data to and from the base station, a voice call, or a short message service (SMS), and the second SIM can include a non-DDS for at least one service of the base station of a voice call or an SMS.

[0180] According to an example embodiment, the dual connectivity feature can include an evolved universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) new radio (NR) dual connectivity (ENDC) feature.

[0181] It should be noted that the above-described configuration diagrams, diagrams of control / data signal transmission methods, operation process diagrams, configuration diagrams are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For example, all units, entities, or operation steps described in embodiments of the present disclosure should not be interpreted as essential components for implementing the present disclosure, and they can be implemented within the scope of the essence of the present disclosure even if only some components are included. Furthermore, if necessary, various embodiments can be combined with each other to operate. For example, some methods of the present disclosure can be combined to operate a network entity and a UE.

[0182] The operations of the above-described base station and UE can be implemented by including a memory device storing a corresponding program code in a specific unit in the base station or the UE. That is, a control unit of the base station or the UE device can read out the program code stored in the memory device using a processor or a central processing unit (CPU) and execute the program code, thereby performing the above-described operations.

[0183] The various units, modules of the entities, base stations, or UE devices described in the present disclosure can operate using hardware circuitry (e.g., a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-based logic circuit), hardware circuitry such as firmware, software, and / or a combination of hardware and firmware and / or software inserted into a machine-readable medium. For example, various electrical structures and methods can be implemented using transistors, logic gates, circuits such as application-specific integrated circuits.

[0184] When implemented in software, a computer readable storage medium for storing one or more programs (software modules) can be provided. The one or more programs stored in the computer readable storage medium are configured for execution by one or more processors in an electronic device. The one or more programs include instructions for allowing the electronic device to execute methods according to the claims or various embodiments disclosed in the disclosure.

[0185] The programs (software modules or software) can be stored in random access memory, non-volatile memory including a flash memory, read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disc storage device, an optical compact disc-ROM (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disc (DVD), or other form of optical storage device, and a magnetic cassette. Alternatively, the programs can be stored in a memory configured in conjunction with all or some of these storage media. In addition, the number of configured memories can be plural.

[0186] In addition, the programs can be stored in an attachable storage device capable of accessing the electronic device over a communication network such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WLAN), or a storage area network (SAN), or a communication network configured by combining these networks. The storage device can access the device performing the embodiments of the disclosure via an external port. In addition, the additional storage device on the communication network can access the device performing the embodiments of the disclosure.

[0187] In the above-described specific embodiments of the disclosure, elements included in the disclosure are expressed in singular or plural form according to the specific embodiments. However, for convenience of explanation, the singular or plural form is appropriately selected according to the recommended case, and the disclosure is not limited to a single element or multiple elements. An element expressed in plural form can be configured in singular form, or an element expressed in singular form can be configured in plural form.

[0188] Although the disclosure has been shown and described with reference to certain example embodiments of the disclosure, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure including the appended claims and their equivalents. In addition, the above-described various embodiments can be combined with each other and operated as necessary. For example, some methods of the disclosure can be combined with each other to operate a base station and a UE. The above-described embodiments are disclosed with reference to a 5G, NR system, but other variations of the technical concepts based on the above-described embodiments are possible in other systems such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A-Pro systems.

Claims

1. A method performed by a terminal including multiple Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: Based on the type of SIM used for the current communication service of the terminal, determine whether to enable the dual connectivity feature of the terminal; as well as Send information to the base station regarding whether to enable the dual connectivity feature. The terminal and the base station are configured to support the dual connectivity feature. The plurality of SIMs includes a first SIM and a second SIM, and the first SIM and the second SIM include different subscription information.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The use of mobile data based on the terminal is initiated and the SIM used for the current communication service is the first SIM, enabling the dual connectivity feature for sending the mobile data to the base station and receiving the mobile data from the base station using the first SIM.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Receive first information relating to at least one first network from the base station; Based on the termination of mobile data use of the terminal or the SIM used for the current communication service being the second SIM, the network supporting the dual connectivity feature in the at least one first network is identified based on the first information; as well as Based on the identification of the network, the dual-connection feature is disabled.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: Receive second information relating to at least one second network from the base station; as well as The first information is updated based on the second information.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The first information includes at least one of the following: the operator of each of the at least one first network, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), or information regarding whether the dual connectivity feature is supported. The second information includes at least one of the following: the operator, PLMN, or information regarding whether the dual connectivity feature is supported for each of the at least one second network; and Information relating to networks not included in the at least one second network is removed from the first information.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Receive Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration information for dual connectivity from the base station; as well as Based on the fact that the SIM used for the current communication service is the second SIM, a first message indicating that the RRC reconfiguration information is ignored is sent to the base station.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: Connect to the base station based on the RRC reconfiguration information; as well as Based on the fact that the SIM used for the communication service is the second SIM, a second message indicating that a connection with the base station is not required is sent to the base station.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The first information is included in the secondary cell group (SCG) fault information in response to the RRC reconfiguration information. The second information is included in: terminal assistance information in response to the RRC reconfiguration information. The first information and the second information are respectively sent in the form of a 1-bit indicator, and The first SIM includes a default data SIM DDS for at least one service: sending mobile data to and receiving mobile data, voice calls, or short message service (SMS) from the base station, and the second SIM includes at least one service for the base station: a non-DDS for voice calls or SMS.

9. A terminal in a wireless communication system comprising multiple Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), the terminal comprising: transceiver; First SIM; Second SIM; as well as At least one processor, the at least one processor including processing circuitry coupled to the transceiver, the first SIM and the second SIM, Wherein, the at least one processor is individually and / or collectively configured as follows: Based on the type of SIM used for the current communication service of the terminal, determine whether to enable the dual connectivity feature of the terminal; and The terminal is controlled to send information to the base station regarding whether to enable the dual-connectivity feature. The terminal and the base station are configured to support the dual connectivity feature. The plurality of SIMs includes the first SIM and the second SIM, and the first SIM and the second SIM include different subscription information.

10. The terminal according to claim 9, wherein, The at least one processor is individually and / or collectively configured to: initiate the use of mobile data based on the terminal and the SIM used for the current communication service is the first SIM, enable the dual connectivity feature for sending the mobile data to the base station and receiving the mobile data from the base station using the first SIM.

11. The terminal according to claim 9, wherein, The at least one processor is configured individually and / or collectively to: Receive first information relating to at least one first network from the base station; Based on the termination of mobile data use of the terminal or the SIM used for the current communication service being the second SIM, the network supporting the dual connectivity feature in the at least one first network is identified based on the first information; as well as Based on the identification of the network, the dual-connection feature is disabled.

12. The terminal according to claim 11, wherein, The at least one processor is configured individually and / or collectively to: Receive second information relating to at least one second network from the base station; and The first information is updated based on the second information.

13. The terminal according to claim 12, wherein, The first information includes at least one of the following: the operator of each of the at least one first network, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), or information regarding whether the dual connectivity feature is supported. The second information includes at least one of the following: the operator, PLMN, or information regarding whether the dual connectivity feature is supported for each of the at least one second network; and Information relating to networks not included in the at least one second network is removed from the first information.

14. The terminal according to claim 9, wherein, The at least one processor is configured individually and / or collectively to: Receive Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration information for dual connectivity from the base station; as well as Based on the fact that the SIM used for the current communication service is the second SIM, the terminal is controlled to send a first message to the base station indicating that the RRC reconfiguration information is ignored.

15. The terminal according to claim 14, wherein, The at least one processor is configured individually and / or collectively to: Connect to the base station based on the RRC reconfiguration information; and Based on the fact that the SIM used for the communication service is the second SIM, a second message indicating that a connection with the base station is not required is sent to the base station. The first information is included in the secondary cell group (SCG) fault information in response to the RRC reconfiguration information. The second information is included in: terminal assistance information in response to the RRC reconfiguration information, and The first information and the second information are respectively sent in the form of a 1-bit indicator, and The first SIM includes a default data SIM DDS for at least one service: sending mobile data to and receiving mobile data, voice calls, or short message service (SMS) from the base station, and the second SIM includes at least one service for the base station: a non-DDS for voice calls or SMS.

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