Granted Patent B2

US 12,615,607 · App. 17/279,075 · Granted Apr 28, 2026

Inventors: Genadi Velev (Darmstadt, DE); Apostolis Salkintzis (Athens, GR); Dimitrios Karampatsis (Ruislip, GB)

Assignee: Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

H04W60/005H04W8/183H04W76/38H04W88/06

Abstract

Claims (66)

1 . An apparatus comprising:

a first subscriber identity module (“SIM”) registered with a first mobile communication network;

a second SIM registered with a second mobile communication network;

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the processor configured to:

communicate in a connected state with the second mobile communication network;

detects activity associated with the first SIM; and

transmit a connection release request message from the connected state for the second SIM, in response to the detected activity associated with the first SIM, by transmitting one of a radio resource control (“RRC”) layer request message indicating a connection release and a non-access-stratum (“NAS”) layer request message indicating the connection release;

initiate a state transition timer based on a transmission of the connection release request message; and

transition to an idle state in response to expiry of the state transition timer without a reception of a response message from the second mobile communication network.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an application or service type associated with the first SIM is configured with a higher priority than an application or service currently in use with the second SIM.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to apply a RRC connection release for a connection associated with the second SIM or to apply a NAS connection release for the connection associated with the second SIM, the determination based on an application or service type associated with the connection associated with the second SIM.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein, to apply the NAS connection release, the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to transition to an NAS idle state in response to reception of a release response message from the second mobile communication network, wherein the release response message comprises: a RRC layer message or NAS layer message, or a combination thereof, the release response message sent as response to the NAS layer request message.

5 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein, to apply the RRC connection release, the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to disable transmissions for the second SIM while remaining in connected state in response to receiving an RRC layer release response.

6 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein, to apply the RRC connection release, the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to maintain an Access Stratum (“AS”) context for the second SIM.

7 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to:

receive a state transition timer value associated with the RRC connection release for the second SIM;

initiate the state transition timer in response to a transmission of the connection release request message.

8 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to:

receive a transmission suspension timer value associated with the RRC connection release for the second SIM; and

disable a data transmission while the transmission suspension timer value is running.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to:

indicate support for one or more of the following parameters: multi-SIM enhancements, RRC connection release, or NAS connection release; and

receive a network preference indicating whether to apply multi-SIM enhancements, or RRC connection release, or NAS connection release,

wherein the connection release from the connected state for the second SIM is performed based on the received network preference.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to:

activate a connection associated with the first SIM;

perform communication corresponding to a communication trigger; and

send release assistance information in response to ending the communication corresponding to the communication trigger, the release assistance information comprising one or more of: Access Stratum (“AS”) release assistance information and NAS release assistance information.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to resume a released connection in the second mobile communication network associated with the second SIM in response to ending the communication corresponding to the communication trigger.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein, to resume the released connection, the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to send a RRC layer connection resume request in response to transmitting the RRC layer request message; or send a NAS layer resume request in response to transmitting the NAS layer request message.

13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine to release the connected state of the second SIM in response to the second SIM not being involved in emergency communication session.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to apply a RRC connection release for the second SIM or a NAS connection release for the second SIM based on a bearer type associated with the second SIM, wherein the processor determines to apply the NAS connection release in response to the second SIM being associated with a guaranteed bit rate bearer.

15 . A method comprising:

registering a first subscriber identity module (“SIM”) with a first mobile communication network;

registering a second SIM with a second mobile communication network;

communicating in a connected state with the second mobile communication network;

detecting activity associated with the first SIM; and

transmitting a connection release request message from the connected state for the second SIM, in response to the detected activity associated with the first SIM, by transmitting one of a radio resource control (“RRC”) layer request message indicating a connection release and a non-access-stratum (“NAS”) layer request message indicating the connection release;

initiating a state transition timer based on a transmission of the connection release request message; and

transitioning to an idle state in response to expiry of the state transition timer without a reception of a response message from the second mobile communication network.

16 . An apparatus comprising:

a processor that:

a memory coupled to the processor, the processor configured to:

receive, from a user equipment (“UE”), a radio resource control (“RRC”) layer request message for connection release associated with a transmission suspension time;

transmit a connection release response message comprising a timer value for a state transition timer;

maintain a user equipment access stratum (“UE AS”) context for the UE in a connected state;

disable downlink transmissions to the UE during the transmission suspension time in response to the RRC layer request message; and

release the UE AS context in response to expiry of the state transition timer.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to:

transmit a second timer value for a suspension timer associated with the connection release for the transmission suspension time, and

release the UE AS context in response to expiry of the suspension timer.

18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to indicate, to the UE, a type of suspend state, wherein expiry of the suspension timer triggers transition of the UE state to the indicated suspend state.

19 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to:

buffer downlink packets for the UE in response to the RRC layer request message;

enable downlink transmissions to the UE in response to receiving an RRC layer connection resume request from the UE; and

attempt delivery of the buffered downlink packets in response to receiving the RRC layer connection resume request from the UE.

20 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to:

suppress a radio access network (“RAN”) paging procedure for the UE in response to receiving the RRC layer request message; and

stop suppressing the RAN paging procedure for the UE in response to receiving an RRC layer connection resume request.

21 . A method comprising:

receiving, from a user equipment (“UE”), a radio resource control (“RRC”) layer request message for connection release for associated with a transmission suspension time;

transmitting a connection release response message comprising a timer value for a state transition timer;

maintaining a UE access stratum (“UE AS”) context for the UE in a connected state; and

disabling downlink transmission to the UE during the transmission suspension time in response to the RRC layer request message; and

releasing the UE AS context in response to expiry of the state transition timer.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (11)