Methods and systems for continuing operation of MUSIM UE in specific mode

1 . A method performed by a multi-subscriber identity module (MUSIM) user equipment (UE) for continuing operation of the MUSIM UE in a first mode, the MUSIM UE including a first SIM and one or more second SIMs, and the method comprising:

transmitting, by the MUSIM UE, an uplink signalling message in response to determining a trigger condition has been satisfied, the uplink signalling message including one of,

compatible band information for the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, or

one or more other stacks serving band information associated with the one or more second SIMs;

receiving, by the MUSIM UE from a network, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration signalling message for performing at least one activity at the first SIM in response to the transmitting the uplink signalling message, the at least one activity including connecting with or measuring a first cell based on a first determination that a first frequency band of the first cell is compatible with serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the first determination being based on the uplink signalling message; and

performing, by the MUSIM UE, the at least one activity based on the RRC reconfiguration signalling message.

2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein

the first SIM is communicating via a first protocol stack when the determining the trigger condition has been satisfied is performed; and

the one or more second SIMs is communicating via a one or more second protocol stacks when the determining the trigger condition has been satisfied is performed.

3 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the performing the at least one activity comprises one of:

configuring the first SIM to connect with the first cell, the first cell being a first primary cell compatible with serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, and the compatibility of the first primary cell being determined based on the compatible band information or the one or more other stacks serving band information;

configuring the first SIM to connect with one or more first secondary cells compatible with the serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the first cell being among the one or more first secondary cells, and the compatibility of the one or more first secondary cells being determined based on the compatible band information or the one or more other stacks serving band information;

configuring the first SIM to connect with the first cell, the first cell being a second primary cell on a secondary cell group (SCG) compatible with the serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, and the compatibility of the second primary cell being determined based on the compatible band information or the one or more other stacks serving band information;

configuring the first SIM to connect with one or more second secondary cells on an SCG compatible with the serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the first cell being among the one or more second secondary cells, and the compatibility of the one or more second secondary cells being determined based on the compatible band information and the one or more other stacks serving band information;

configuring the first SIM to measure one or more first measurement objects compatible with the serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the first cell being among the one or more first measurement objects; or

configuring the first SIM to measure one or more second measurement objects with an associated priority, the one or more second measurement objects including a first measurement object and a second measurement object, the first cell being the first measurement object, the MUSIM UE being configured to prioritize measurement on the first measurement object having a higher priority over measurement on the second measurement object having a lower priority, the first measurement object being configured with a band compatible with the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, and the second measurement object being configured with a band not compatible with the first SIM or the one or more second SIMs.

4 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition comprises:

a switch by one of the first SIM or the one or more second SIMs to a connected mode; or

detection of a change in serving band information of the first SIM or any of the one or more second SIMs.

5 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition comprises a request received from the network to obtain, from the MUSIM UE, one or more bands compatible with at least one of a carrier aggregation (CA) or a dual connectivity (DC).

6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , comprising:

triggering, by the MUSIM UE, a measurement report associated with the RRC reconfiguration signalling message, the measurement report including an optional information element (IE) corresponding to the first mode.

7 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein

the performing the at least one activity comprises configuring the first SIM to measure one of a higher-priority measurement object or a lower-priority measurement object, the first cell being the higher-priority measurement object; and

the method further comprises,

determining, by the MUSIM UE, whether a cell associated with the higher-priority measurement object is available and satisfies a measurement threshold, and

triggering, by the MUSIM UE,

a first measurement report associated with the higher-priority measurement object in response to determining the cell associated with the higher-priority measurement object is available and satisfies the measurement threshold, or

a second measurement report associated with the lower-priority measurement object in response to determining the cell associated with the higher-priority measurement object is not available or does not satisfy the measurement threshold.

8 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein

the RRC reconfiguration signalling message includes a plurality of measurement objects with no associated indication of priority; and

the method further comprises:

prioritizing measurement associated with one or more compatible measurement objects among the plurality of measurement objects that are compatible with serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the compatibility of the one or more compatible measurement objects being determined based on the compatible band information or the one or more other stacks serving band information,

determining whether one or more cells associated with the one or more compatible measurement objects are available and whether one or more respective signal strengths corresponding to the one or more cells satisfy a measurement threshold, and

performing measurement for,

the one or more compatible measurement objects in response to determining that the one or more cells are available and the one or more respective signal strengths are above the measurement threshold, or

one or more non-compatible measurements objects among the plurality of measurement objects in response to determining that the one or more cells are not available, the one or more respective signal strengths are not above the measurement threshold, or that no band corresponding to the plurality of measurement objects is compatible with the serving bands of the first SIM or the one or more second SIMs.

9 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein

the RRC reconfiguration signalling message includes a conditional handover (CHO) configuration; and

the method further comprises:

prioritizing to connect to a target primary cell with a band compatible with the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the target primary cell being included in a list of target cells received from the network, and the compatibility of the target primary cell being determined based on the compatible band information or the one or more other stacks serving band information,

determining whether a signal strength of the target primary cell is above a measurement threshold, and

triggering a RRC reconfiguration complete signalling message to,

the target primary cell on the band compatible with the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs in response to determining the signal strength is above the measurement threshold, or

a target cell among the list of target cells other than the target primary cell in response to determining the signal strength of the target primary cell is not above the measurement threshold.

10 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first mode comprises a multi-transmission multi-reception mode of operation of the MUSIM UE.

11 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a communication signal; and

transmitting the communication signal to the first cell via the first SIM.

12 . The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the performing the at least one activity includes connecting the first SIM to the first cell based on the first determination.

13 . The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein

the performing the at least one activity includes measuring a signal strength of the first cell via the first SIM based on the first determination; and

the method further comprises connecting the first SIM to the first cell after the measuring the signal strength.

14 . A method for continuing operation of a multi-subscriber identity module (MUSIM) user equipment (MUSIM UE) in a first mode, the MUSIM UE including a first SIM and one or more second SIMs, and the method comprising:

receiving, at a network from the MUSIM UE, an uplink signalling message in response to satisfaction of a trigger condition at the MUSIM UE, the uplink signalling message including one of,

compatible band information for the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, or

one or more other stacks serving band information associated with the one or more second SIMs; and

transmitting, from the network to the MUSIM UE, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration signalling message for performing at least one activity at the first SIM in response to the uplink signalling message, the at least one activity including connecting with or measuring a first cell based on a first determination that a first frequency band of the first cell is compatible with serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the first determination being based on the uplink signalling message.

15 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein

the first SIM is communicating via a first protocol stack when the receiving the uplink signalling message is performed; and

the one or more second SIMs is communicating via a one or more second protocol stack when the receiving the uplink signalling message is performed.

16 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the RRC reconfiguration signalling message comprises one of:

a configuration for configuring the first SIM to connect with the first cell, the first cell being a first primary cell compatible with serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs;

a configuration for configuring the first SIM to connect with one or more first secondary cells compatible with the serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the first cell being among the one or more first secondary cells;

a configuration for configuring the first SIM to connect with the first cell, the first cell being a second primary cell on a secondary cell group (SCG) compatible with the serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs;

a configuration for configuring the first SIM to connect with one or more second secondary cells on a SCG compatible with the serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the first cell being among the one or more second secondary cells;

a configuration for configuring the first SIM to measure one or more first measurement objects compatible with the serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the first cell being among the one or more first measurement objects;

a configuration for configuring the first SIM to measure one or more second measurement objects with an associated priority;

a configuration for configuring the first SIM with one of a higher-priority measurement object or a lower-priority measurement object, the first cell being the higher-priority measurement object;

a configuration for configuring the first SIM with one or more third measurement objects with no associated priority; or

a configuration for configuring the first SIM with a conditional handover (CHO).

17 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the receiving the uplink signalling message comprises:

receiving the uplink signalling message in response to a request transmitted to the MUSIM UE to obtain one or more bands compatible with at least one of a carrier aggregation (CA) or a dual connectivity (DC).

18 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the first mode comprises a multi-transmission multi-reception mode of operation of the MUSIM UE.

19 . A system for continuing operation of a multi-subscriber identity module (MUSIM) user equipment (UE) in a first mode, the MUSIM UE including a first SIM and one or more second SIMs, and the system comprising:

processing circuitry configured to,

transmit an uplink signalling message in response to determining a trigger condition has been satisfied, the uplink signalling message including one of,

compatible band information for the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, or

one or more other stacks serving band information associated with the one or more second SIMs,

receive, from a network, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration signalling message for performing at least one activity at the first SIM in response to the transmission of the uplink signalling message, and

perform the at least one activity based on the RRC reconfiguration signalling message, the at least one activity including connecting with or measuring a first cell based on a first determination that a first frequency band of the first cell is compatible with serving bands of the first SIM and the one or more second SIMs, the first determination being based on the uplink signalling message.

20 . The system as claimed in claim 19 , wherein

the first SIM is communicating via a first protocol stack when the determining the trigger condition has been satisfied is performed; and

the one or more second SIMs is communicating via a one or more second protocol stacks when the determining the trigger condition has been satisfied is performed.