IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,549,937
Granted Patent B2
US 12,549,937 · App. 18/734,908 · Granted Feb 10, 2026

Multiple sim card operation of an electronic device

Inventors: Anatoliy Sergey Ioffe (Sunnyvale, CA); Alexander Sayenko (Munich, DE); Elmar Wagner (Taufkirchen, DE)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
H04W8/183H04W60/00H04W68/005H04W76/28
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,549,937
App. No.
18/734,908
Granted
Feb 10, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An electronic device discussed herein may communicatively couple to a base station. The base station may receive a first paging cycle assignment corresponding to a first subscriber identification module (SIM) card and determine a second paging cycle assignment for use with a second SIM card. The second paging cycle assignment may be generated based on the first paging cycle assignment. The base station may communicate with the electronic device using the second paging cycle assignment. The second paging cycle assignment may guide the base station to transmit data to the electronic device without interrupting a transmission made according to the first paging cycle assignment.

Claims (50)

1 . A method of operating an electronic device comprising a transmitter and a receiver, the method comprising:

registering to a first network using a first subscriber identification module (SIM);

after registering to the first network and before registering to a second network, transmitting, via the transmitter configured based on a default parameter, information to the second network, the information associated with multi-SIM operation of the first SIM and a second SIM;

registering to the second network using the second SIM after transmitting the information;

receiving, via the receiver, an indication of a communication pattern from first network or the second network based on registering to the first network and registering to the second network; and

communicating, via the transmitter of the electronic device or the receiver, with the first network or the second network based on the communication pattern.

2 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:

transmitting, via the transmitter configured based on the default parameter, a first SIM identification data to the first network;

receiving, via the receiver, the indication of the communication pattern from the first network based on registering to the first network, the communication pattern comprising a paging cycle assignment, the registering to the first network being based on the first SIM identification data; and

receiving, via the receiver, an indication of an additional communication pattern from the second network, the additional communication pattern comprising an offset assigned by the second network.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating, via the transmitter or the receiver, with the first network or the second network based on the communication pattern comprises

selecting a first radio access technology network from a plurality of radio access technology networks based on avoiding paging collisions, and

communicating, via the transmitter or the receiver, based on the first radio access technology network.

4 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:

communicating, via the transmitter or the receiver, with the first network at a first time according to the communication pattern; and

communicating, via the transmitter or the receiver, with the second network at a second time according to the communication pattern.

5 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:

registering the second SIM to the second network at a first time; and

modifying a connection between the second SIM and the second network at a third time after the first time.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the communication pattern indicates gaps corresponding to communications with the first network.

7 . The method of claim 1 , comprising:

receiving, via the receiver, an indication of a second transmission period being allocated relative to the communication pattern; and

communicating, via the transmitter or the receiver, with the other of the first network or the second network based on the second transmission period.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the indication is associated with prioritizing communication to occur during the second transmission period.

9 . An electronic device, comprising:

a transceiver; and

processing circuitry communicatively coupled to the transceiver, the processing circuitry configured to

register to a first network using a first subscriber identification module (SIM);

register to a second network using a second SIM at least in part by causing the transceiver to transmit, based on a default parameter, information associated with multi-SIM operation of the first SIM and the second SIM to the second network after registering to the first network and before registering to the second network;

cause the transceiver to receive an indication of a paging cycle assignment from first network or the second network based on registering to the first network and registering to the second network; and

cause the transceiver to communicate with the first network or the second network based on the paging cycle assignment.

10 . The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the transceiver to transmit an indication of a communication preference to the first network or the second network.

11 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the indication of the communication preference comprises a gap preference of the electronic device.

12 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the indication of the communication preference is associated with causing non-conflicting communications with the first network based on communications between the second network and the electronic device.

13 . The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the transceiver to transmit a multi-SIM indication indicating the first SIM and the second SIM.

14 . The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the multi-SIM indication is transmitted via an access stratum (AS) signaling.

15 . The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the first network is configured as a New Radio (NR) network, and the second network is configured as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network.

16 . Tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that cause processing circuitry to:

register to a first network using a first subscriber identification module (SIM);

register to a second network using a second SIM at least in part by transmitting, via a transmitter communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry and configured based on a default parameter, information associated with multi-SIM operation of the first SIM and the second SIM to the second network after registering to the first network and before registering to the second network;

receive, via a receiver communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry, an indication of a communication pattern from first network or the second network based on registering to the first network and registering to the second network; and

communicate, via the transmitter, with the first network or the second network based on the communication pattern.

17 . The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the communication pattern comprises:

a first gap pattern corresponding to a plurality of time periods associated with receiving data from the first network; and

a second gap pattern corresponding to a plurality of time periods associated with receiving data from the second network.

18 . The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein the first network or the second network is configured to generate the first gap pattern based on timing of the second gap pattern.

19 . The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the instructions cause the processing circuitry to:

transmit, via the transmitter, an indication of a communication gap pattern to the first network or the second network; and

communicate, via the transmitter, with the first network or the second network based on the communication gap pattern.

20 . The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 , wherein the communication gap pattern comprises an indication of a connected mode discontinuous receive mode (C-DRX) gap.

Continuity (4)
Continuation 17872849 · Jul 25, 2022
Continuation 16920489 · Jul 3, 2020
Provisional Application 62910843 · Oct 4, 2019
Related Publication 20240323671A1 · Sep 26, 2024
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