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EP-4736482-A1 - MANAGING PAGING COLLISIONS BETWEEN COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

EP4736482A1EP 4736482 A1EP4736482 A1EP 4736482A1EP-4736482-A1

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed. In an example, a method of a wireless communication device equipped with a plurality of Universal Subscriber Identity Modules (USIM) for managing paging collisions between a first and one or more second communication networks is disclosed. Each of the first and one or more second communication networks associated with a respective first and one or more second Universal Subscriber Identity Module, USIM of the plurality of USIMs. The method comprises receiving a first paging configuration message indicative of first upcoming paging occasions from the first communication network, and receiving one or more second paging configuration messages indicative of second upcoming paging occasions from the one or more second communication networks. The method also comprises triggering a procedure with at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks for reducing paging occasion collisions when a first number of paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions and/or a second number of paging occasion non-collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions fulfill a paging occasion condition. Each of one or more of the paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions comprises an occasion where a first duration of a paging occasion associated with the first communication network and a second duration of a paging occasion associated with the one or more second communication network do not collision in time and a time period between the first duration and the second duration is shorter than a switching time for the wireless communication device to switch from the first USIM to one of the one or more second USIMs. Additionally or alternatively, each of one or more of the paging occasion non-collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions comprises an occasion where a first duration of a paging occasion associated with the first communication network and a second duration of a paging occasion associated with the one or more second communication network do not overlap in time and a time period between the first duration and the second duration is greater than or equal to a switching time for the wireless communication device to switch from the first USIM to the one of the one or more second USIMs.

Inventors

  • CHEN LARSSON, Maomao
  • DA SILVA, Icaro Leonardo
  • TERZANI, ALESSIO
  • FRANKKILA, TOMAS

Assignees

  • Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240603

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A method of a wireless communication device equipped with a plurality of Universal Subscriber Identity Modules (USIMs) for managing paging collisions between a first and one or more second communication networks, each of the first and one or more second communication networks associated with a respective first and one or more second Universal Subscriber Identity Module, USIM of the plurality of USIMs, the method comprising: receiving a first paging configuration message indicative of first upcoming paging occasions from the first communication network; receiving one or more second paging configuration messages indicative of second upcoming paging occasions from the one or more second communication networks; and triggering a procedure with at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks for reducing paging occasion collisions when a first number of paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions and/or a second number of paging occasion non-collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions fulfill a paging occasion condition, wherein: each of one or more of the paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions comprises an occasion where a first duration of a paging occasion associated with the first communication network and a second duration of a paging occasion associated with the one or more second communication network do not collision in time and a time period between the first duration and the second duration is shorter than a switching time for the wireless communication device to switch from the first USIM to one of the one or more second USIMs; and/or each of one or more of the paging occasion non-collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions comprises an occasion where a first duration of a paging occasion associated with the first communication network and a second duration of a paging occasion associated with the one or more second communication network do not overlap in time and a time period between the first duration and the second duration is greater than or equal to a switching time for the wireless communication device to switch from the first USIM to the one of the one or more second USIMs.
  2. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein each paging occasion collision other than the one or more of the paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions comprises one of: a full paging occasion collision, wherein a first duration of a paging occasion associated with the first communication network completely overlaps in time with a second duration of a paging occasion associated with the one or more second communication network; a partial paging occasion collision, wherein the first duration of the paging occasion associated with the first communication network partially overlaps in time with the second duration of a paging occasion associated with the one or more second communication network.
  3. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the one or more of the paging occasion collisions comprise all of the paging occasion collisions; and/or the one or more of the paging occasion non-collisions comprise all of the paging occasion noncollisions.
  4. 4. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first number of paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions and/or the second number of paging occasion non-collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions fulfills a paging occasion condition when at least one of the following applies during a time period: upcoming paging occasions for each of more than half of the first and one or more second communication networks have one or more paging occasion collisions with at least one other of the communication networks; more than half of upcoming paging occasions for each of more than half of the first and one or more second communication networks collision with one or more paging occasions for at least one other of the communication networks; the number of paging occasion collisions for at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks exceeds an collision threshold; the number of paging occasion non-collisions for at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks is less than a non-collision threshold; and/or the number of paging occasion non-collisions is zero.
  5. 5. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first number of paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions and/or the second number of paging occasion non-collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions fulfills a paging occasion condition when at least one of the following applies during a time period: the number of paging occasion non-collisions for each of the first and one or more second communication networks is less than a first threshold; a ratio defined as the number of paging occasion non-collisions in relation to the number of paging occasion collisions for at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks is less than a second threshold; a ratio defined as the number of paging occasion non-collisions in relation the number of paging occasion collisions for each of the first and the one or more second communication networks is less than a third threshold; and/or the number of paging occasion collisions reaches a threshold fraction of a total number of paging occasions for at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks during the time period.
  6. 6. The method according to any of claims 4 or 5, wherein the time period is at least one paging cycle or a Discontinuous Reception, DRX, cycle of the wireless communication device, when the wireless communication is in an idle or inactive mode.
  7. 7. The method according to any of claims 4 or 5, wherein the time period is a first paging cycle of the first communication network and wherein the first paging cycle is longer than a second paging cycle associated with the one or more second communication network.
  8. 8. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein triggering the procedure comprises performing a Non Access Stratum (NAS) mobility registration to 5G Core Network (5G CN) associated with the first or one or more second communication network.
  9. 9. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein triggering the procedure comprises transmitting a requested International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) offset to Evolved Packet System Core Network (EPS CN) associated with the at least one communication network.
  10. 10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising transmitting the requested IMSI offset in an Attach Request or in a Tracking Area Update (TAU) request to the EPS CN.
  11. 11. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the first number of paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions and/or the second number of paging occasion non-collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions are within a first time period.
  12. 12. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein triggering the procedure comprises: triggering a procedure with the first communication network based on a parameter value for reconfiguring paging occasions for the first communication network to reduce the first number of paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions.
  13. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the parameter value is based on the alternative paging occasions for the at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks to reduce a number of paging occasion collisions between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions.
  14. 14. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein the parameter value is different to one or more of: a parameter value currently used by the wireless communication device; a parameter value previously received from the first wireless communication network; and/or an excluded parameter value.
  15. 15. The method according to any of claims 12 to 15, comprising, after triggering the procedure: receiving, from the at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks, the parameter value or an alternative parameter value; and using reconfigured paging occasions for the at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks based on the parameter value or the alternative parameter value.
  16. 16. A method of a wireless communication device equipped with a plurality of Universal Subscriber Identity Modules (USIMs) for managing paging collisions between a first and one or more second communication networks, each of the first and one or more second communication networks associated with a respective first and one or more second Universal Subscriber Identity Module, USIM of the plurality of USIMs, the method comprising: receiving a first paging configuration message indicative of first upcoming paging occasions from the first communication network; receiving one or more second paging configuration messages indicative of second upcoming paging occasions from the one or more second communication networks; and triggering a procedure with at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks for reducing paging occasion collisions when a first number of paging occasion overlaps between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions and/or a second number of paging occasion non-overlaps between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions fulfill a paging occasion condition.
  17. 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein each paging occasion overlap between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions comprises one of: a full paging occasion overlap, wherein a first duration of a paging occasion associated with the first communication network completely overlaps in time with a second duration of a paging occasion associated with the one or more second communication network; a partial paging occasion overlap, wherein the first duration of the paging occasion associated with the first communication network partially overlaps in time with the second duration of a paging occasion associated with the one or more second communication network; or a close paging occasion overlap, wherein the first duration of the paging occasion associated with the first communication network and the second duration of the paging occasion associated with the one or more second communication network does not overlap in time and a time period between the first duration and the second duration is shorter than a switching time for the wireless communication device to switch from the first USIM to the second USIM to receive a paging.
  18. 18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein a paging occasion non-overlap comprises the first duration of the paging occasion associated with the first communication network and the second duration of the paging occasion associated with one or more of the second communication networks does not overlap in time and a time period between the first duration and the second duration is at least as long as a switching time for the wireless communication device to switch from the first USIM to the second USIM.
  19. 19. The method according to any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the first number of paging occasion overlaps between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions and/or the second number of paging occasion non-overlaps between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions fulfills a paging occasion condition when at least one of the following applies during a time period: upcoming paging occasions for each of more than half of the first and one or more second communication networks have one or more paging occasion overlaps with at least one other of the communication networks; more than half of upcoming paging occasions for each of more than half of the first and one or more second communication networks overlap with one or more paging occasions for at least one other of the communication networks; the number of paging occasion overlaps for at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks exceeds an overlap threshold; the number of paging occasion non-overlaps for at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks is less than a non-overlap threshold; and/or the number of paging occasion non-overlaps is zero.
  20. 20. The method according to any of claims 16 to 19, wherein the first number of paging occasion overlaps between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions and/or the second number of paging occasion non-overlaps between the first upcoming paging occasions and the second upcoming paging occasions fulfills a paging occasion condition when at least one of the following applies during a time period: the number of paging occasion non-overlaps for each of the first and one or more second communication networks is less than a first threshold; a ratio defined as the number of paging occasion non-overlaps in relation to the number of paging occasion overlaps for at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks is less than a second threshold; a ratio defined as the number of paging occasion non-overlaps in relation the number of paging occasion overlaps for each of the first and the one or more second communication networks is less than a third threshold; and/or the number of paging occasion overlaps reaches a threshold fraction of a total number of paging occasions for at least one of the first and one or more second communication networks during the time period.

Description

MANAGING PAGING COLLISIONS BETWEEN COMMUNICATION NETWORKS Technical Field Examples of this disclosure relate generally to the field of wireless communication. More particularly, examples of this disclosure relate to managing paging collisions between communication networks in wireless communication devices equipped with multiple USIMs. Background Multi -USIM (Multiple Universal Subscriber Identity Module), or MUSIM, is a term used to describe a feature wherein Multiple USIMs (Universal Subscriber Identity Modules) can be used at a single User Equipment (UE), such as a single Smartphone. The multi-USIM feature has been commercialized for more than 10 years with a large range in worldwide markets covering all major smart phone brands. When introduced, it became a great success in some markets, e.g. in China. Since then, it has become a common feature supported by a lot of major smartphone brands worldwide. For example, the Apple iPhone 12 supports multi-USIM with 2 physical SIM cards in China, while supporting one physical SIM card and one embedded-SIM (eSIM) in all the other regions. In this disclosure, the terms MUSIM, multi-USIM and multi-SIM are used interchangeably. Similarly, the terms USIM and SIM are used interchangeably. Also, the terms terminal, communication device and UE may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The MUSIM function allows the UE to be connected to several different network operators, where each network/operator is associated with a respective USIM of the UE. A UE with multiple valid USIMs is hence capable of initiating and maintaining simultaneous separate registration states over 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access with PLMN(s) using identities and credentials associated with those USIMs and supporting one or more of: NAS signaling connection release, paging indication for voice services, reject paging request, paging restriction, and paging timing collision control. Typically, when a UE registers to a network, the network configures the UE with Paging Occasions (POs) that indicate to the UE when the network may page the UE, i.e., when the UE needs to monitor paging messages sent by the network. Thereby, a UE configured in RRC IDLE and/or RRC INACTIVE state may go into sleep mode in between the POs and save battery power. The paging configuration typically describes (at least) the following features: when (in time) the POs occur; the periodicity of the PO reoccurrence; and the duration time of the POs (e.g. 1 subframe of 1ms). When the terminal/UE uses multiple USIMs it should be contactable by each network associated with a respective USIM, even though the networks typically are not aware that the UE is equipped with another PLMN’s USIM. Typically, if the UE is equipped with two USIMs, the UE in IDLE state in a first PLMN receives a paging configuration enabling the UE to calculate PO(s) for the PLMN associated with the first USIM, and also receives in a second PLMN a Paging configuration enabling the UE to calculate PO(s) for the PLMN associated with the second USIM. As 3GPP standards had not defined any coordination to support MUSIM operation, PO overlaps between both networks may happen. The terms “PO collision” and “PO overlap” may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. Paging Occasion (PO) overlapping may cause several problems, such as the UE failing to monitor a PO in the first PLMN when the first PLMN is trying to reach the UE. This leads to that the UE fails to be reached by the network (in this case the first PLMN). When the UE fails to receive a paging message, paging escalation occurs, i.e., the paging message may be repeated and after several repetitions, the paging will stop. This causes a so-called paging failure. Paging failures may also occur for other reasons, for example poor network planning, and the operator typically cannot know what caused the failures. The amount of paging failures is therefore one of the metrics that the network operator wants to minimize. Furthermore, it is also desirable to minimize the amount of paging failures caused by conditions that the operator cannot control. What is more serious here is that the operator may not even be able to easily perform a root cause analysis to understand why the paging failure occurred, as the first PLMN does not have control over the UE actions regarding the second PLMN or is not aware of the UE’s configuration associated to the second PLMN. Another problem is that sending paging messages several times also consumes radio resources, which reduces the amount radio resources available for other UEs. Furthermore, repeated paging also increases the energy consumption on the network side. Yet another problem, which occurs even if the UE eventually responds to a later paging, is the delay, e.g., session setup delay, caused by being forced to repeat the paging several times. If the paging escalation is not successful, then this can also cause session setup failures. Both session setup