Patent Description:
Wireless communication using multi-SIM may enable a wireless terminal to connect two different network services. For example, the terminal may include a plurality of SIMs, e.g., by means of a plurality of SIM cards inserted therein, where the plurality of SIMs may respectively correspond to different subscribers and/or telephone numbers. The terminal may implement a plurality of protocol stacks to drive a plurality of wireless communications corresponding to the plurality of SIMs. When the plurality of protocol stacks in the terminal mutually exclusively use a radio frequency (RF) resource, wireless communication derived by some of the protocol stacks may be inevitably suspended. For instance, during a voice or data call associated with a first SIM, it may be desirable to periodically listen for an incoming page associated with a second SIM. However, this often results in the ongoing call becoming periodically suspended to handle the page, resulting in possible degradation of communication quality or loss of information.

From <CIT> it is known a method for managing how a multi-SIM-multi-standby (MSMS) communication device that is accessing an arbitrary combination of multiple telephony networks processes paging collisions. The method promotes the control of the paging block rates for two or more subscriptions, in which a subscription's paging block rate is the subscription's number of blocked pages during a certain time multiplied by the subscription's discontinuous reception cycle. In the various embodiments, an MSMS communication device implements a fair paging conflict resolution algorithm to keep each subscription's paging block rate approximately equal over time.

Embodiments of the inventive concept provide a device and a method of simultaneous reception in multi-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) wireless communication.

Embodiments of the inventive concept will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters denote like elements, features or operations, wherein:.

Herein, the term "paging", when used as a noun, refers to paging signals such as a paging message or paging beacon.

Herein, the terms "transmit" and "receive" may be used as adjectives to mean transmission and reception, respectively. For example, a "receive signal" refers to a reception signal; the phrase "receive path" means a path for handling receive signals; and so on.

Herein, the terms "cell" and "base station" may be used synonymously.

Herein, the term "carrier" refers to a "carrier wave" unless the context indicates otherwise.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system <NUM> according to an example embodiment of the inventive concept. As shown in <FIG>, the wireless communication system <NUM> may include a first network <NUM>, a second network <NUM>, and user equipment <NUM>. The first and second networks <NUM>, <NUM> may include first and second base stations (BSs) <NUM>, <NUM>, respectively.

The user equipment (UE) <NUM>, which is a wireless communication device, may be a fixed or mobile device that transmits / receives data and/or control information by performing wireless communication with a base station (e.g., BS <NUM>/<NUM>). For example, the UE <NUM> may be referred to as a terminal, a terminal equipment, a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), a user terminal (UT), a subscriber station (SS), a wireless device, a handheld device, and the like. As shown in <FIG>, the UE <NUM> may include an antenna array <NUM>, a transceiver <NUM>, a multi-SIM device <NUM>, a first SIM <NUM>, and a second SIM <NUM>.

The base station <NUM>/<NUM> may be a fixed or mobile station communicating with the UE <NUM> and/or other base stations and may exchange data and control information by communication with the UE <NUM> and/or the other base stations. For example, the base station <NUM> or <NUM> may be referred to or configured as a Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation Node B (gNB), a sector, a site, a base transceiver system (BTS), access point (AP), relay node, a remote radio head (RRH), a radio unit (RU), a "cell", a small cell, and the like. Herein, the terms "base station" or "cell" may be used generally to indicate a portion of region or function covered by Base Station Controller (BSC) in CDMA, Node-B in WCDMA, eNB in LTE, gNB or a sector (a site) in <NUM> NR, and may include various coverage areas such as megacell, macrocell, microcell, picocell, femtocell, relay node, RRH, RU, and a small cell communication range.

The UE <NUM>, which may connect to the first network <NUM> through the first base station <NUM> to form a first wireless communication <NUM>, where the term "wireless communication" may be interchangeably referred to herein as a wireless connection, a communication link, a subscription, or the like. UE <NUM> may also connect to the second network <NUM> through the second base station <NUM> to form a second wireless communication <NUM>. The UE <NUM> may communicate with the first network <NUM> and the second network <NUM> according to a suitable radio access technology (RAT). For example, the UE <NUM> may, as non-limited examples, communicate with the first network <NUM> and the second network <NUM> according to a 5th Generation (<NUM>) system, a <NUM> New Radio (<NUM> NR) system, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system or other suitable RAT. The UE <NUM> may, in some embodiments, communicate with the first network <NUM> and the second network <NUM> according to the same RAT; alternatively, the UE <NUM> may, in other embodiments, communicate with the first network <NUM> and the second network <NUM> according to different RATs.

The UE <NUM> may support multi-SIM wireless communications. For example, as shown in <FIG>, the UE <NUM> may transmit/receive the first wireless communication <NUM>, which is associated with the first SIM <NUM>, with the first BS <NUM> and transmit/receive the second wireless communication <NUM>, which is associated with the second SIM <NUM>, with the second BS <NUM>. More particularly, when handling two wireless communications associated with the above-mentioned two SIMS <NUM> and <NUM>, the UE <NUM> may be referred to as a dual SIM device. The first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> may respectively be referred to as a first connection and a second connection, or alternatively, as a first subscription and a second subscription. In addition, example embodiments of the inventive concept will be described mainly with reference to the dual SIM wireless communication (that is, the above-mentioned two SIMS <NUM> and <NUM>). However, it will be understood that example embodiments of the inventive concept may also be applied to a multi-SIM wireless communication including at least three SIMs. It is also noted here that the first and second wireless communications <NUM>, <NUM> may alternatively be established between the UE <NUM> and the same base station. This is denoted in <FIG> by a wireless communication <NUM>', which is a link to the same BS <NUM> as the wireless communication <NUM>, and which may be substituted for the second wireless communication <NUM>.

The UE <NUM> may support Multi-SIM Multi-Standby (MSMS). With MSMS, a radio frequency (RF) resource in the UE <NUM>, e.g. the transceiver <NUM> or a portion thereof, may be shared by the first SIM <NUM> and the second SIM <NUM>. Accordingly, as will be described later with reference to <FIG>, in a UE that utilizes a conventional MSMS system, when the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> mutually exclusively use the transceiver, one of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> may be suspended. For example, when the first wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state, the first base station <NUM> may periodically transmit paging ("first paging") associated with the wireless communication <NUM>. (Such paging, which is related to Mobile Terminated (MT) call, may have a high priority. As will be exemplified later, if a collision is predicted to occur between a first communication of signals with a high priority and a second communication of signals with a lower priority, and if no mechanism for simultaneous reception of the first and second communications is provided, the first communication may be permitted to occur whereas the second communication may be permitted to be suspended during the time of the collision.

Hereafter, the terms "first paging" and "second paging" will be used to denote paging of the first and second wireless communications <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. In a conventional UE communicating with the first or second network <NUM> / <NUM>, to efficiently receive and process the first paging, the second wireless communication in a UE is suspended, causing the communication efficiency between a UE and the second network <NUM> to decrease. Furthermore, the second network <NUM> (or the second base station) may consider that the suspension of the second wireless communication occurs due to an unsatisfactory channel state of the second wireless communication. As a result, the communication efficiency between the UE and the second network <NUM> may be significantly decreased. In addition, when the second wireless communication is also in the idle state, only one of the paging between the first paging and the second paging received from the second base station <NUM> may be efficiently received. These drawbacks may be obviated by the UE <NUM> according to an embodiment of the inventive concept, which, as described hereafter, may enable simultaneous reception of the first and second wireless communication <NUM>, <NUM> without additional hardware, that is, without modifying the transceiver <NUM> with additional hardware to avoid such suspension of communication. As a result, signaling from the first network <NUM> and the second network <NUM> will not be lost and, at the same time, the communication efficiency with both the first network <NUM> and the second network <NUM> may be enhanced.

The antenna array <NUM> may be an antenna for receiving RF signals from the first base station <NUM> and the second base station <NUM>. Antenna array <NUM> may also serve as a transmitting antenna to transmit RF signals to the first base station <NUM> and the second base station <NUM>. In some embodiments, the antenna array <NUM> may include a plurality of antennas for Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO).

The transceiver <NUM>, which is hardware coupled to the antenna array <NUM> and the multi-SIM device <NUM>, may provide an RF source for wireless communication. For example, the transceiver <NUM> may provide a receive signal RX to the multi-SIM device <NUM> as a baseband signal by processing an RF signal received from the antenna array <NUM> or provide the RF signal to the antenna array <NUM> by processing a transmit signal TX as a baseband signal. The transceiver <NUM> may be controlled by the multi-SIM device <NUM> and may, as non-limited examples, include switches, matching circuits, filters, amplifiers, mixers, and the like.

In some embodiments, the transceiver <NUM> may support Carrier Aggregation (CA) in which a plurality of carriers are used. For example, the UE <NUM> may transmit data to the first base station <NUM> and/or the second base station <NUM>, by simultaneously using at least two carriers each referred to as component carrier (CC). The transceiver <NUM> may form RF paths <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-n corresponding to the CCs used in CA and process signals transmitted and received via the RF paths. For instance, the transceiver <NUM> may include "n" receive paths, <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-n, respectively corresponding to <NUM>st through nth CCs, where n is an integer of two or more. Each of the receive paths <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-n may include a low noise amplifier and other components. Each of the receive paths <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-n may be dedicated to receiving signals associated in a frequency band centered around its corresponding CC on receive. Similarly, the transceiver may include n transmit paths <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-n, each corresponding to a respective CC on transmit. It should be noted that some or all of the receive paths may share circuitry and partial-paths in some embodiments. For instance, a first receive path <NUM>-<NUM> and a second receive path <NUM>-n may utilize the same low noise amplifier but may have a respective sub-path for a band pass filter to filter out frequencies outside the band associated with the corresponding CC of that path.

In some embodiments, the transceiver <NUM> may support Multi-Connectivity (MC), thereby forming a plurality of RF paths being mutually independent from one another. Herein, MC refers to a technique by which data of a communication with a UE may be aggregated among different base stations and/or networks. For instance, using MC, a first portion of the data of a communication, such as a voice or data call, may be exchanged with a first base station, and a second portion of the data of that communication may be exchanged with a second base station, where the first and second portions of the data may or may not include overlapping data. The UE may then combine data received from the two base stations. With MC, a first frequency band used to communicate data with a first base station may differ significantly from a second frequency band used to communicate data with a second base station. In an example, a first base station may use a frequency band below <NUM> to communicate data of the first portion of the communication session, while a second base station may use a frequency band in the mm-wave range, e.g., above <NUM>, to communicate the second portion of the data. In general, the frequency band used by the second base station may be at least three times as high as the frequency band used by the first base station to communicate the data of a common communication. In the context of MC, when the transceiver <NUM> forms only two RF paths independent from each other, the transceiver <NUM> may be considered as supporting Dual Connectivity (DC). As described above, the transceiver <NUM> may provide the RF paths, e.g., the paths <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-n on receive, as the RF resource.

The multi-SIM device <NUM> may communicate with the transceiver <NUM> by using the baseband signals RX and TX and may be coupled to the first SIM <NUM> and the second SIM <NUM>. The first SIM <NUM> may include information for connecting the first network <NUM> through the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second SIM <NUM> may include information for connecting the second network <NUM> through the second wireless communication <NUM>. As will be described with reference to <FIG>, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may have a structure for processing a connection associated with the first SIM <NUM> and a connection associated with the second SIM <NUM>. In addition, as will be described with reference to <FIG>, etc., the multi-SIM device <NUM> may determine whether the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> can be simultaneously received, based on hardware configuration, that is, the RF resources provided by the transceiver <NUM>. When determining that simultaneous reception is possible, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may allocate at least one RF path to each of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> by controlling the transceiver <NUM>. For instance, a first RF path <NUM>-<NUM>, may be allocated to the first wireless communication <NUM> and a second RF path, <NUM>-n, may be allocated to the second wireless communication <NUM> (where n may equal <NUM>). In some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may include a hardware block designed by logic synthesis, a processing unit that includes a software block including a series of instructions and at least one processor executing the instructions, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may also be referred to as a modem, a communication processor or a baseband processor.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating a protocol stack system <NUM> according to an example embodiment of the inventive concept. More particularly, <FIG> illustrates a control plane of a first protocol stack <NUM> and a second protocol stack <NUM> included in the protocol stack system <NUM>. In some embodiments, the protocol stack system <NUM> shown in <FIG> may be implemented in the multi-SIM device <NUM> shown in <FIG> and the multi-SIM device <NUM> may perform operations for the wireless communication by using the protocol stack system <NUM> of <FIG>. At least some of the blocks shown in <FIG> may be implemented as hardware logic in some embodiments and, in other embodiments, some of the blocks may be implemented by at least one processor executing a software module. Hereinafter, <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG>.

The protocol stack system <NUM> may include a first protocol stack <NUM> and a second protocol stack <NUM> respectively relevant to the first SIM <NUM> and the second SIM <NUM>. As described above with reference to <FIG>, the first protocol stack <NUM> and the second protocol stack <NUM> may each support an appropriate radio access technology (RAT). In some embodiments, the first protocol stack <NUM> and the second protocol stack <NUM> may interact with a shared upper layer, for example, an application layer, and the upper layer may obtain information relevant to the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> or provide an interface for programs providing commands. The upper layer may be implemented in the multi-SIM device <NUM> or in another device separated from the multi-SIM device <NUM>. In addition, the protocol stack system <NUM> may include a hardware interface <NUM> shared by the first protocol stack <NUM> and the second protocol stack <NUM>. The hardware interface <NUM> may provide an interface for hardware, that is, the transceiver <NUM> of <FIG>, and the first protocol stack <NUM> and the second protocol stack <NUM> may provide signals to the transceiver <NUM> and/or obtain signals from the transceiver <NUM> via the hardware interface <NUM>. It is noted that the hardware interface <NUM> may be referred to as a driver of the transceiver <NUM>.

Each of the first protocol stack <NUM> and the second protocol stack <NUM> may, for forming the control plane, comprise a plurality of layers. As shown in <FIG>, the first protocol stack <NUM> may include the first layer L1, the second layer L2, and the third layer L3. The first layer L1, the second layer L2, and the third layer L3 may correspond to three lower layers of an Open System Interconnection (OSI) model. For example, in LTE or <NUM> NR, a physical (PHY) layer may be include in the first layer L1, a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer may be included in the second layer L2, and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer may be included in the third layer L3. Similarly to the first protocol stack <NUM>, the second protocol stack <NUM> may also include a first layer L1, a second layer L2, and a third layer L3.

In the discussion to follow, operations described as being performed by the UE <NUM> involving the RRC layer and the RRC idle state may be performed by the MSMD <NUM> (which may include a processor executing instructions read from memory to carry out the same). The RRC layer of the UE <NUM> may be understood as being the RRC layer of the MSMD <NUM>. The RRC layer in the third layer L3 may control the radio resources and exchange RRC messages with the RRC layer in the base station <NUM>/<NUM>. When RRC connection is established between an RRC layer of the UE <NUM> and an RRC layer of the base station <NUM>/<NUM>, the UE <NUM> may be switched to an RRC connected state (or an "RRC connected mode"). On the other hand, when the RRC connection is released, the UE <NUM> may be switched to an RRC idle state (or an "RRC idle mode"). Herein, the RRC connected state may be referred to as a connected state of a wireless communication, and the RRC idle state may be referred to as an idle state of the wireless communication. For example, when the RRC connected state is maintained by the RRC layer included in the first protocol stack <NUM>, the first wireless communication <NUM> may be referred to as being in the connected state; on the other hand, when the RRC idle state is maintained by the RRC layer included in the first protocol stack <NUM>, the first wireless communication <NUM> may be referred to as being in the idle state. Similarly, the second wireless communication <NUM> may also be referred to as being in the connected state or idle state by the RRC layer included in the second protocol stack <NUM>.

In the RRC idle state, the base station <NUM>/<NUM>(that is, the first base station <NUM> and/or the second base station <NUM>) may periodically transmit the paging. The base station may, for the UE <NUM>, provide information regarding a time point at which the paging is transmitted, that is, the paging occasion, to the UE <NUM>. The UE <NUM> may check whether paging including an identifier of the UE <NUM> is received, by monitoring the paging. The UE <NUM> may, to reduce consumed power in the RRC idle state, receive and process a packet only in a period corresponding to the paging occasion. As described above with reference to <FIG>, the paging received in the RRC idle state may have a high priority. Hereinafter, referring to <FIG>, examples in which collisions occur between paging associated with one SIM and a wireless communication associated with another SIM in the multi-SIM wireless communication will be described.

A conflict handler <NUM> may predict a collision between the first wireless communication <NUM> by the first protocol stack <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> by the second protocol stack <NUM> and, when the collision is predicted, determine whether the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> may be simultaneously received. For example, the conflict handler <NUM> may predict the collision between the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM>, based on information provided from the first layer L1 of the first protocol stack <NUM> and the second layer L2 of the second protocol stack <NUM>. When the collision is predicted, the conflict handler <NUM> may, based on information provided from the hardware interface <NUM>, determine whether the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> may be simultaneously received. In addition, when it is determined that the simultaneously reception is possible, the conflict handler <NUM> may set hardware, that is, the transceiver <NUM>, through the hardware interface <NUM>, for the simultaneous reception of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM>. As will be described for some embodiments with reference to <FIG>, instructions of the conflict handler <NUM> may be stored in a memory as a software module, and executed by at least one processor. The conflict handler <NUM> may also be a hardware module designed by logic synthesis in some embodiments.

<FIG> are timing diagrams illustrating respective examples of collisions that may occur in multi-SIM wireless communication handled by conventional multi-SIM UEs. <FIG> also illustrate time periods before, during, and after designated slots for paging or other communications (e.g., an On-period of CDRX), that may be computed /obtained in embodiments of the present inventive concept. These time periods may be used to set windows for predicting collisions, for the purpose of avoiding the suspension of communication, as occurs in the related art. For instance, <FIG> illustrates an example of a collision between the first wireless communication and the second wireless communication that are in the idle state. <FIG> illustrates an example of a collision between the first wireless communication in the idle state and the second wireless communication in the connected state. <FIG> illustrates an example of a collision between the first wireless communication in the idle state and the second wireless communication in a Connected Discontinuous RX (CDRX) state. In <FIG>, it is assumed that the first wireless communication and the second wireless communication respectively are the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> shown in <FIG>, and <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG>. Among descriptions of <FIG>, descriptions overlapping those of <FIG> will omitted.

In the multi-SIM wireless communication, collisions between the wireless communications respectively corresponding to different SIMs may refer to occasions in which at least two wireless communications attempt to occupy an RF resource at a same time point when the RF resource is occupied with mutual exclusiveness by the wireless communications. For example, in MSMS or Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS), a wireless communication associated with one SIM may occupy the RF resource, and the RF resource may be first allocated to a corresponding protocol stack according to priorities of processes to be performed by the protocol stacks corresponding to the SIMs. Accordingly, when an operation having a high priority, e.g., the first paging of the first wireless communication <NUM>, collides with another wireless communication, e.g., the second wireless communication <NUM>, receive operations of the second wireless communication <NUM> may be suspended while the first paging is received and processed.

Referring to <FIG>, when both the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> are in the idle state, the first paging of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second paging of the second wireless communication <NUM> may conflict each other. As shown in the upper portion of <FIG>, before receiving the first paging, hardware like the transceiver <NUM> and/or the multi-SIM device <NUM> may be set for a period (TPRE1) to receive the first paging. For example, the transceiver <NUM> may form at least one RF path to receive the first paging for the period TPREI and/or the multi-SIM device <NUM> may perform an operation of setting, for example, a parameter for processing the reception signal RX received from the transceiver <NUM>. Next, the first paging may be received during the period TPG1, and processing of the received first paging, for example, modulating, decoding, processing a paging message in the RRC layer, and the like, may be performed during the period TPOST1. Accordingly, a period consumed for receiving the first paging from the UE <NUM> and process the first paging may correspond to TPRE1 + TPG1 + TPOST1. Similarly, a period in which the second page of the second wireless communication <NUM> are received and processed may correspond to TPRE2+TPG2+TPOST2.

Herein, a period for receiving and processing the paging may be referred to as a paging window, a period for receiving and processing the first paging may be referred to as a first paging window, and a period for receiving and processing the second paging may be referred to as a second paging window. Furthermore, a period allocated before receiving the paging from the paging window, like the period TPRE1, may be referred to as a pre-processing period, a period for receiving the paging, like the period TPG1, may be referred to as a paging reception period or reception period, and a period required after receiving the paging, like the period TPOST1, may be referred to as a post-processing period. Accordingly, the paging window may include the pre-processing period, the receiving period, and the post-processing period.

A collision between the first paging and the second paging may occur when the first paging window and the second paging window overlap each other in time. When the first paging window and the second paging window overlap each other, only one of the first paging and the second paging may be efficiently received and processed. Accordingly, as shown in <FIG>, the first paging may first be received and processed, and next, the second paging may be received and processed. As a result, some data of the first paging or the second paging may be lost.

Referring to <FIG>, when the first wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state and the second wireless communication <NUM> is in the connected state, the first paging of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the data reception of the second wireless communication <NUM> may conflict each other. In other words, when the first paging occurs while receiving the data through the second wireless communication <NUM>, a collision may occur between the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM>. Due to high priority of the first paging, as shown in <FIG>, receiving data through the second wireless communication <NUM> in the period for receiving and processing the first paging, that is, the first paging window, may be deferred or even lost. The data reception through the second wireless communication <NUM> may resume after the first paging window is closed. As a result, data throughput of the second wireless communication <NUM> may decrease. Further if the base station (e.g., the second base station <NUM>) determines that the channel condition is sub-par, due to, e.g., the base station <NUM> not receiving expected response messages, the base station may make adjustments to its data transmission to slow down the data rate, etc., and data throughput may additionally decrease.

Referring to <FIG>, when the first wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state and the second wireless communication <NUM> is in the CDRX state, the first paging of the first wireless communication <NUM> and on-duration of the second wireless communication <NUM> may conflict each other. The UE <NUM> may, in CDRX state, reduce power consumption according to CDRX information provided from the base station (for example, the first base station <NUM> and/or the second base station <NUM>) while maintaining the connected state. For example, for CDRX, the base station may provide timing and duration of the on-duration corresponding to the period in which the UE <NUM> receives data, as CDRX information. As shown at the lower portion of <FIG>, to receive data before the on-duration, hardware, for example, the transceiver <NUM> and/or the multi-SIM device <NUM>, may be set during the period TPRE2. Next, the on-duration may be maintained during the period TON2, and the data received during the on-duration may be processed during the period TPOST2. Accordingly, a period allocated for the UE <NUM> to receive and process the data during the on-duration of the second wireless communication <NUM> may correspond to TPRE2+TON2+TPOST2. The period TPRE2 and the period TPOST2 shown in <FIG> may, in some embodiments, be respectively identical to the period TPRE2 and the period TPOST2 shown in <FIG>, and may, in other embodiments, differ from the respective periods TPRE2, TPOST2 shown in <FIG>.

Herein, a total period for receiving and processing data in the on-duration in the CDRX state may be referred to as a CDRX window. In addition, windows associated with the first wireless communication <NUM>, that is, the first paging window and the first CDRX window may be collectively referred to as a first window; and windows associated with the second wireless communication <NUM>, that is, the second paging window and the second CDRX window, may be collectively referred to as a second window.

A collision may occur between the first paging and the second on-duration when the first paging window and the second CDRX window overlap each other in time. When the first paging window and the second CDRX window overlap each other, only one of the first paging and the on-duration of the second wireless communication <NUM> may be efficiently processed. Accordingly, as shown in <FIG>, the first paging may be first received and processed, and next, the data may be received and processed during the on-duration of the second wireless communication <NUM>. As a result, some data of the first paging or the on-duration signals of the second wireless communication <NUM> may be lost.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a method of the multi-SIM wireless communication according to an example embodiment of the inventive concept. For example, the method shown in <FIG> may be performed by using the multi-SIM device <NUM> shown in <FIG> (or the conflict handler <NUM> shown in <FIG>), and hereinafter, <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG>.

In operation S100, an operation of setting a window may be performed. As described above with reference to <FIG>, the window may refer to the paging window for receiving and processing paging or the CDRX window for receiving and processing data in on-duration in the idle state. A window may include, in addition to a period for receiving paging or data, a pre-processing period and a post-processing period. For example, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may set the first paging window and the first CDRX window as the first window of the first wireless communication <NUM> relevant to the first SIM <NUM> and set the second paging window and the second CDRX window as the second window of the second wireless communication <NUM> relevant to the second SIM <NUM>.

It is noted here that in some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may have parallel processing capability, such that it may be able to post-process data from two or more communications simultaneously. In this case, when considering overlap of windows, the post-processing times may be effectively reduced to very short time durations, or even omitted from consideration. In other words, with effective parallel processing by multi-SIM device <NUM>, the time duration of windows that are set may be based on a sum of a pre-processing period (e.g. TPRE1) and a reception period (e.g. TPG1).

An operation of predicting a collision or non-collision (i.e., determining that a collision or non-collision will occur due to the respective timings of the paging signals / data frames of the two communications if simultaneous reception is not implemented) between the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> may be performed in operation S300. For example, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may predict the collision or non-collision, based on the window established in operation S100 for the first wireless communication <NUM>, and timing information of data to be received for the second wireless communication <NUM>. The multi-SIM device <NUM> may predict the collision when the first window of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second window of the second wireless communication <NUM> overlap each other, and otherwise, may predict a non-collision. In addition, when the first window overlaps the data reception period of the second wireless communication <NUM> or the second window overlaps the data reception period of the first wireless communication <NUM>, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may predict a collision. As shown in <FIG>, when it is predicted that a collision will occur, operation S500 may be performed thereafter; on the other hand, when it is predicted that a collision will not occur, the method shown in <FIG> may end. An example of operation S300 will be described hereinafter with reference to <FIG>.

An operation of determining whether a simultaneous reception of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> is possible may be performed in operation S500. Unlike when the non-collision is determined in operation S300, when the collision is predicted in operation S300, it may be determined whether a simultaneous reception of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> is possible. For example, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may determine whether the simultaneous reception is possible, based on a hardware configuration, for example, a radio frequency (RF) resource provided by the transceiver <NUM>. In some embodiments, a determination as to whether the simultaneous reception is possible may be based on whether the transceiver <NUM> provides CA and/or MC, configurations of CA and/or MC currently provided by the transceiver <NUM>, and the like. As shown in <FIG>, operation S700 may be performed thereafter when it is determined that the simultaneous reception is possible, and when it is determined that the simultaneous reception is impossible, operation S900 may be subsequently performed. An example of operation S500 will be described later with reference to <FIG>.

An operation of allocating the RF paths may be performed in operation S700. When it is determined that the simultaneous reception is possible in operation S500, an operation of allocating the RF paths to the wireless communications for simultaneous reception may be performed. For example, when the transceiver <NUM> provides CA, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may allocate at least one CC respectively to the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM>. Accordingly, each of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> may be processed by the transceiver <NUM> via the RF paths formed by the at least one CC, and processed signals may be efficiently provided to the multi-SIM device <NUM>. In addition, when the transceiver <NUM> provides MC, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may allocate two different connections respectively to the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM>.

An operation of suspending some wireless communications may be performed in operation S900. When the simultaneous reception is determined as impossible in operation S500, an operation of suspending a wireless communication having a relatively lower priority (for example, the second wireless communication described with reference to <FIG>) may be performed. The suspended wireless communication may resume after operations of receiving and processing are completed in a wireless communication having a relatively higher priority.

<FIG> are timing diagrams illustrating examples of simultaneous reception according to example embodiments of the inventive concept. More particularly, <FIG> illustrates simultaneous reception of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> in the idle state, and <FIG> illustrates simultaneous reception of the first wireless communication <NUM> in the idle state and the second wireless communication <NUM> in the CDRX state or the connected state. In contrast to the situations described above with reference to <FIG>, the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> may be simultaneously received according to the method described in <FIG>, and accordingly, communication efficiency in multi-SIM communication may be improved. In <FIG>, it is assumed that the first communication and the second communication are the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> shown in <FIG>, and <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG>. Among descriptions of <FIG>, descriptions overlapping those of <FIG> will be omitted.

Referring to <FIG>, when both the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> are in the idle state, the first paging of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second paging of the second wireless communication <NUM> may be simultaneously received. For example, when the period TPG1 receiving the first paging and the period TPG2 receiving the second paging overlap each other, as shown in <FIG>, the first paging and the second paging may be efficiently received and processed. In addition, unlike shown in <FIG>, when the pre-processing period and/or the post-processing period of the first paging overlaps the pre-processing period and/or the post-processing period of the second paging, the first paging and the second paging may be efficiently received and processed.

Referring to <FIG>, when the first wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state and the second wireless communication <NUM> is in the CDRX state or the connected state, the first paging and the data transmitted through the second wireless communication <NUM> may be simultaneously received. For example, as shown in <FIG>, when the period TPG1 receiving the first paging overlaps the period receiving the data transmitted through the second wireless communication <NUM>, the first paging and the data transmitted through the second wireless communication <NUM> may be simultaneously received. In addition, unlike that shown in <FIG>, the first paging and the data transmitted through the second wireless communication <NUM> may be simultaneously received when the pre-processing period and/or the post-processing period of the first paging overlaps the pre-processing period, the reception period, and/or post-processing period for receiving and processing the data transmitted through the second wireless communication <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating an example of operation S100 shown in <FIG>, and <FIG> are diagrams respectively illustrating examples of windows according to the inventive concept. As described above with reference to <FIG>, an operation of establishing a window may be performed in operation S100' shown in <FIG>. Hereinafter, <FIG>, <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, operation S100' may include operations S120, S140, and S160. An operation of obtaining duration information may be performed in operation S120. The duration information may include information regarding the pre-processing period, the reception period, and the post-process period. For example, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may obtain information regarding the pre-processing period that depends on characteristics of the transceiver <NUM>. In some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may receive the information regarding the pre-processing period from the transceiver <NUM>; and in some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may read the information regarding the pre-processing period from the memory storing the information. In some embodiment, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may access a memory (e.g., memory <NUM> of <FIG>) storing information regarding pre-processing periods respectively corresponding to a plurality of transceivers, and in some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may, according to an identifier of the transceiver <NUM> provided from the transceiver <NUM>, read information regarding one of the pre-processing periods from the memory. In some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may use the pre-processing period, as a fixed value including some margins, independently to the transceiver <NUM>.

The multi-SIM device <NUM> may obtain information regarding a reception period of paging defined by RAT. For example, in LTE, <NUM> NR, and the like, the paging may be transmitted in a sub-frame, and accordingly, the reception period of the paging may approximately correspond to <NUM>.

The multi-SIM device <NUM> may obtain information regarding the post-process period that depends on the characteristics of the transceiver <NUM> and/or capacity of the protocol stack <NUM>. The paging or signal received during the reception period may be processed by the transceiver <NUM>, and the multi-SIM device <NUM> may process the reception signal RX provided from the transceiver <NUM>. For example, when a paging is received, a paging message may be finally processed in the RRC layer included in the third layer L3 and, accordingly, a time period consumed for processing the paging message from the lower layer to the RRC layer may be included in the post-processing period. In some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may obtain information about the post-processing period that depends upon reception targets. In some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may also read information regarding one post-processing period from the memory which stores a plurality of post-processing periods. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may also use the reception period as a fixed value including some margin.

An operation of obtaining timing information may be performed in operation S140. The timing information may include information regarding a time point at which a window is generated. For example, the base station (for example, the first base station <NUM> and the second base station <NUM>) may, as information regarding the paging occasion, provide a paging frame (PF) and a paging offset (PO) to the UE <NUM>. For example, in LTE, <NUM> NR, and the like, a frame may have a length of about <NUM> and include <NUM> sub frames each having a length of about <NUM>, and the paging opportunity may be limited to one sub-frame, that is, a <NUM> period. The PF may indicate a frame corresponding to the paging occasion, and the PO may indicate through which sub-frame from among the ten sub-frames included in the frame the paging is transmitted. The multi-SIM device <NUM> may obtain the PF and the PO as the timing information of the window, and thus, may determine the time point at which the window is generated.

An operation of defining the window may be performed in operation S <NUM>. The window may be defined based on the duration information obtained in operation <NUM> and the timing information obtained in operation S <NUM>. For example, as shown in <FIG>, the paging window receiving the paging may be defined as having a length including the pre-processing period TPRE, the reception period of the paging TPG, and the post-processing period TPOST, based on the duration information, and may be defined as starting at the time point tPG based on the timing information. In addition, as shown in <FIG>, the CDRX window, which receives and processes the data in the on-duration in the CDRX state, may be defined as having a length including the pre-processing period TPRE, the reception period TON corresponding to the on-duration, and the post-processing period TPOST, and may be defined as starting at a time point tON based on the timing information. In some embodiments, lengths of the pre-processing period TPRE in <FIG> and the pre-processing period TPRE in <FIG> may be identical to each other, and length of the post-processing period TPOST and the post-processing period TPOST may be identical to each other.

<FIG> is a flowchart showing an example of operation S300 shown in <FIG> according to an example embodiment of the inventive concept; <FIG> are diagrams illustrating examples of predicted collisions, according to example embodiments of the inventive concept. As described above with reference to <FIG>, an operation of determining the collision or non-collision between the wireless communications in the multi-SIM wireless communication may be performed in operation S300' shown in <FIG>. More particularly, operation S300' in <FIG> indicates the operation of determining the collision or non-collision between the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> respectively corresponding to the first SIM <NUM> and the second SIM <NUM> shown in <FIG>, and in <FIG>, it is assumed that the first wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state. Hereinafter, <FIG>, <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, operation S300' may include a plurality of operations S310, S330, S350, S370, and S390. An operation of determining a state of the second wireless communication <NUM> corresponding to the second SIM <NUM> may be performed in operation S310. As shown in <FIG>, when the second wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state or the CDRX state, operation S330 may be performed thereafter; on the other hand, when the second wireless communication <NUM> is in the connected state, operation S350 may be subsequently performed.

An operation of determining whether the first window and the second window overlap each other may be performed in operation S330. As the first wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state, the first window may correspond to the first paging window; meanwhile, the second window may be the second paging window when the second wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state, and may be the second CDRX window when the second wireless communication <NUM> is in the CDRX state. For example, referring to <FIG>, the first window WIN1 and the second window WIN2 may or may not overlap on the time scale. When the first window and the second window overlap each other, the collision may be determined in operation S370; when the first window and the second window do not overlap each other, non-collision may be determined in operation S390. As described above, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may determine collision or non-collision between the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> by determining whether the first window WIN1 and the second window WIN2 established in operation <NUM> shown in <FIG> overlap each other on the time scale.

An operation of determining whether the first window and the reception period of the second SIM <NUM> overlap each other may be performed in operation S350. The reception period of the second SIM <NUM> may refer to a period in which the second wireless communication <NUM> associated with the second SIM <NUM> receives data in the connected state. For example, referring to <FIG>, the reception period which receives data in the second wireless communication <NUM> in the connected state and the first window may overlap each other on the time scale. As shown in <FIG>, when the first window and the reception period of the second SIM <NUM> overlap each other, collision may be determined in operation S370; when the first window and the reception period of the second SIM <NUM> do not overlap each other, non-collision may be determined in operation S390.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating an example of operation S500 shown in <FIG>, according to an example embodiment of the inventive concept. As described above with reference to <FIG>, when collision is predicted in operation S300 in <FIG>, an operation of determining whether the simultaneous reception is possible may be performed in operation S500' shown in <FIG>. As shown in <FIG>, operation S500' may include operations S520, S540, S560, and S580, and hereinafter, <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>.

An operation of calculating a time gap between frame boundaries may be performed in operation S520. The frame boundaries may correspond to timings of frames transmitted during the wireless communications respectively associated with the plurality of SIMs, and the time gap between the frame boundaries may be used as a basis for determining whether the simultaneous reception is possible. For example, when the time gap between the frame boundaries of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> is relatively high, the simultaneous reception of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> by using CA may not be easily performed. In other words, frames received approximately at a same timing point may be simultaneously processed; and frames that are not received at a same timing point may be limited from being simultaneously processed. Accordingly, in operation S520, the time gap between the frame boundaries corresponding to different wireless communications may be calculated, and the time gap may be used for determining whether the simultaneous reception is possible.

An operation of comparing the time gap to the threshold value THR1 may be performed in operation S540. As shown in <FIG>, when the time gap calculated in operation S520 is greater than the first threshold value THR1, operation S560 may be performed thereafter; and when the time gap is less than the first threshold value THR1, operation S580 may be subsequently performed. In some embodiments, unlike in <FIG>, when the time gap is less than the first threshold value THR1, operation S560 may also be performed thereafter; and when the time gap is greater than the first threshold value THR1, operation S580 may also be performed thereafter.

In some embodiments, the first threshold value THR1 may be defined based on a cyclic prefix (CP). For example, a frame may include a plurality of sub frames, a sub frame may include a plurality of slots, and a slot may include a plurality of symbols, for example, a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. The OFDM symbols included in the slot may vary according to a configuration of CP, and CP may include an "extended CP" and a "normal CP". For example, in a normal CP, a slot may include seven OFDM symbols; in an extended CP, a slot may include six OFDM symbols. When a channel state for wireless communication is unstable, like when the UE <NUM> is in transportation, the extended CP may be used to reduce Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI). In some embodiments, the normal CP may have a length of about <NUM>, the extended CP may have a length of about <NUM>. Herein, the length of CP may simply be referred to as CP. When the time gap between the frame boundaries is greater than CP, the simultaneous reception by using CA may not be easily performed, and thus, the first threshold value THR1 may be determined based on CP.

An operation of determining whether the simultaneous reception is possible based on a configuration of MC may be performed in operation S560. In operation S540, when the time gap is determined as being greater than the first threshold value THR1, the simultaneous reception by using CA may not be easily performed. Accordingly, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may, as the RF resource, determine whether the simultaneous reception is possible, according to whether the transceiver <NUM> provides MC and whether an RF path formed due to MC may be added in the current state of the transceiver <NUM>. In other words, when the transceiver <NUM> provides MC, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may determine whether the simultaneous reception is possible based on the current state of the transceiver <NUM>, regardless of the time gap calculated in operation S520.

An operation of determining whether the simultaneous reception is possible based on the configurations of CA and MC may be performed in operation S580. When the time gap is determined as being less than or equal to the first threshold value THR1, the simultaneous reception by using CA may be performed. Accordingly, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may, as the RF resource, determine whether the simultaneous reception is possible based on configurations of MC and CA. For example, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may determine whether the simultaneous reception is possible, based on whether the transceiver <NUM> provides CA and existence or non-existence of a CC that may be used in the current state of the transceiver. In some embodiments, when the transceiver <NUM> does not provide MC, but provides CA, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may determine whether the simultaneous reception is available based on configuration of CA. In some embodiments, when the transceiver <NUM> provides both CA and MC, the multi-SIM <NUM> may determine whether the simultaneous reception is available based on configurations of CA and MC.

<FIG> is a flowchart describing a method of determining whether the simultaneous reception is possible, according to an example embodiment of the inventive concept. In some embodiments, operation S510 of <FIG> may be included in operation S500 shown in <FIG> and be performed before operation S520 of <FIG>. As shown in <FIG>, operation S510 may include a plurality of operations S512, S514, and S516, and hereinafter, <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>.

In some embodiments, whether the simultaneous reception of the wireless communications respectively associated with the plurality of SIMs is possible may be determined based on channel states of the wireless communications. For example, a gap between (i.e., difference in) amplification gains used for receiving signals in the wireless communications may be used for determining whether the simultaneous reception by using CA is possible. When there is a wide gap between a first amplification gain used for receiving a signal from the wireless communication and a second amplification gain used for receiving a signal from the second wireless communication <NUM>, the simultaneous reception of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> by using CA may not be easily performed. In other words, when the first amplification gain is considerably greater than the second amplification gain and the signal received from the second wireless communication <NUM> is amplification based on the first amplification gain, noise received from the second wireless communication <NUM> may be amplified, or a range of an efficient signal may exceed a dynamic range of an amplifier. Accordingly, the gain gap between the amplification gains of the wireless communications may be used for determining whether the wireless communications may be simultaneously received. It is noted that in some cases, the gain gap may be one of several factors in the simultaneous reception determination. For instance, to determine whether the simultaneous reception is possible based on channel states, the amplification gains and factors similar to the amplification gains (for example, a modulation order and the like) may be used, and when a gap between a satisfactory channel and an unsatisfactory channel is wide, the impossibility of the simultaneous reception may be determined in advance.

An operation of calculating a gain gap between the amplification gains of the wireless communications may be performed in operation S512. For example, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may establish an amplification gain for amplifying an RF signal received from the transceiver <NUM> via the antenna array <NUM>. Accordingly, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may obtain the first amplification gain corresponding to the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second amplification gain corresponding to the second wireless communication <NUM>, and may calculate a gain gap between the first amplification gain and the second amplification gain.

An operation of comparing the gain gap between the amplification gains to a second threshold value THR2 may be performed in operation S514. As shown in <FIG>, when the gain gap of the amplification gain calculated in operation S512 is greater than the second threshold value THR2, operation S516 may be performed thereafter; when the gain gap of the amplification gain is less than the second threshold value THR2, operation S520 in <FIG> may be subsequently performed.

An operation of determining that the simultaneous reception is impossible may be performed in operation S516. In operation S514, when the gain gap between the amplification gains is determined as being greater than the second threshold value THR2, the impossibility of the simultaneous reception may be determined in advance, and performance of operations (S520, S540, and S560) shown in <FIG>, in which whether the simultaneous reception is possible is determined based on the time gap between the frame boundaries, may be omitted.

<FIG> are timing diagrams illustrating examples of simultaneous reception, according to example embodiments of the inventive concept. More particularly, <FIG> illustrate examples of simultaneously receiving the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> shown in <FIG> by using CA. For example, in operation S700 of <FIG>, RF paths may be allocated to the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. Hereinafter, <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG>.

Referring to the left portion of <FIG>, the second wireless communication <NUM> may use CA including a first CC CC1, a second CC CC2, and a third CC CC3. Note that a "CC" herein may be refer to, and be illustrated as, a modulated carrier wave with a bandwidth centered about the carrier wave (the peaks of the envelopes shown in <FIG>), where the bandwidth is due to the modulation. In <FIG>, the first CC CC1, the second CC CC2, and the third CC CC3 are illustrated as adjacent to one another (or consecutive). Since no carrier wave is shown to be allocated to the first wireless communication <NUM>, this may correspond to a scenario where the SIM corresponding to the first wireless communication <NUM> is either disabled (e.g., by means of a user disabling it through a user interface, or a default setting). Alternatively, <FIG> may correspond to a scenario where the SIM corresponding to the first wireless communication <NUM> is disconnected from UE <NUM>.

However, in some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the second wireless communication <NUM> may also use CA including CCs apart from (or discontinuous with) one another. In addition, in some embodiments, the second wireless communication <NUM> may use intra-band CA including CCs within one frequency band or inter-band CA including CCs within at least two frequency bands. The second wireless communication <NUM> may also use CA that includes less or more than three CCs.

In some embodiments, when it is determined that the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> conflict each other in operation <NUM> of <FIG> and it is determined that the wireless communications may be simultaneously received in operation S500, in operation S700, an operation of releasing at least one RF path from the plurality of RF paths (e.g., at least one of paths <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-n of <FIG>) allocated to the second wireless communication <NUM> and allocating the at least one released RF path to the first wireless communication <NUM> may be performed. For example, as shown in the right portion of <FIG>, the third CC CC3 may be released from the second wireless communication <NUM> and when the first wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state, the third CC CC3 may be allocated to the first paging. Accordingly, data received from the first wireless communication <NUM> (or the first paging) and the second wireless communication <NUM> may be simultaneously received by using CA.

Referring to the left portion of <FIG>, the second wireless communication <NUM> may use CA including a first component carrier CC1 and a third component carrier CC3. In some embodiments, when it is determined that the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> conflict each other in operation S300 of <FIG> and it is determined that the wireless communications may be simultaneously received in operation S500, an operation of adding at least one RF path different from at least one RF path allocated to the second wireless communication <NUM> and allocating the added at least one RF path to the wireless communication <NUM> may be performed in operation S700. For example, as shown in the right portion of <FIG>, the first CC CC1 and the third CC CC3 are allocated to the second wireless communication <NUM>, and the second CC CC2 may be allocated to the first wireless communication <NUM>, for example, to the first paging when the first wireless communication <NUM> is in the idle state. Accordingly, similarly to <FIG>, data received from the first wireless communication <NUM> (or the first paging) and the second wireless communication <NUM> may be simultaneously received by using CA.

<FIG> is a flowchart describing a method of performing the multi-SIM wireless communication according to an example embodiment of the inventive concept. More particularly, compared to the method described with reference to <FIG>, an operation of determining collision or non-collision between the plurality of wireless communications respectively associated with the plurality of SIMs may be omitted from the method described with reference to <FIG>. For example, the method described in <FIG> may be performed by using the multi-SIM device <NUM> shown in <FIG>, and hereinafter, <FIG> will be described with reference to <FIG>. Among descriptions of <FIG>, descriptions overlapping with those of <FIG> will be omitted.

An operation of obtaining RF resource information may be performed in operation S20. The RF resource information may include information regarding the RF resources, that is, the RF paths provided by the transceiver <NUM>, and may, for example, include information regarding the configurations of CA and/or MC. In some embodiments, at least some of information regarding the RF paths may be provided from the transceiver <NUM> to the multi-SIM device <NUM>, stored in an interior storage of the multi-SIM device <NUM>, or stored in an exterior storage of the multi-SIM device <NUM>.

In operation S40, an operation of determining whether the wireless communications may be simultaneously received may be performed. For example, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may determine whether the wireless communications may be simultaneously received based on the RF path information obtained in operation S20. Unlike the embodiment described in <FIG>, the multi-SIM device <NUM> may determine whether the wireless communications may be simultaneously performed, regardless of collisions between the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM>. When at least one RF path may be allocated to the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM>, it may be determined that the wireless communications may be simultaneously received and, in operation S60, an operation of allocating RF paths to the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM> may be subsequently performed. On the other hand, when the at least one RF path may not be allocated to one of the first wireless communication <NUM> and the second wireless communication <NUM>, it may be determined that the wireless communications may not be simultaneously received, and an operation of retaining some of the wireless communications may be performed thereafter in operation S80.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an example of a multi-SIM device shown in <FIG>, according to an example embodiment of the inventive concept. As shown in <FIG>, the multi-SIM device <NUM>' may include at least one processor <NUM> and a memory <NUM>, and the at least one processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM> may be communicatively connected to each other.

The at least one processor <NUM> may be at least one processing circuit (e.g. an integrated circuit) that may perform target operations by executing program code including instructions. The at least one processor <NUM> may refer to a hardware-implemented data processor including operations expressed as codes and/or instructions included in a program or including a physically structured circuit to execute target operations. In some embodiments, the hardware-implemented data processor may, as non-limited examples, include microprocessor, Central Processing Unit (CPU), processor core, multi-core processor, multi-processor, Application Processor (AP), Communication Processor (CP), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The memory <NUM> may be accessed by at least one processor <NUM> and may, as shown in <FIG>, store a conflict handler 134_2 and a hardware configuration 134_1.

The memory <NUM> may, as non-limited examples, include any suitable type of memory to which the at least one processor <NUM> may access, for example, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), a tape, a magnetic disc, an optical disc, volatile memory, nonvolatile memory and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the conflict handler 134_2 and the hardware configuration 134_1 may respectively be stored in separate memory devices.

The at least one processor <NUM> may perform at least some of the operations of the multi-SIM device <NUM>' described above with reference to the drawings, by executing the conflict handler 134_2 stored in the memory <NUM>. For example, the at least one processor <NUM> may, by executing the conflict handler 134_2, establish windows corresponding to the wireless communications and predict collisions between the wireless communications, based on the established windows.

Claim 1:
A method, performed by a multi-SIM device (<NUM>) within a user equipment (<NUM>) including multiple Subscriber Identify Modules, SIMs, (<NUM>, <NUM>) for supporting Multi-SIM Multi-Standby, MSMS, the method comprising:
establishing (S100, S100') a window for at least receiving paging in an idle state of a first wireless communication (<NUM>) associated with a first SIM (<NUM>);
predicting (S300, S300'), based on the window, a collision or non-collision between the paging and a second wireless communication (<NUM>, <NUM>') associated with a second SIM (<NUM>); and
characterized by
determining (S500, S500'), in response to a collision prediction, whether a simultaneous reception of the paging and the second wireless communication (<NUM>, <NUM>') is possible through use of different respective carriers, if so, allocating (S700) respective radio frequency, RF, paths to the paging and the second wireless communication (<NUM>, <NUM>'), the allocated RF paths corresponding to the different respective carriers,
wherein the window comprises a pre-processing period (TPRE) for configuring_hardware to receive the paging, a reception period (TPG) for receiving the paging, and a post-processing period (TPOST) for processing the received paging,
the establishing (S100') of the window comprises obtaining (S120) duration information regarding the pre-processing period (TPRE), the reception period (TPG), and the post-processing period (TPOST), obtaining (S140) timing information of the window and defining (S160) the window, based on the duration information and the timing information of the window,
the pre-processing period (TPRE) depending on characteristics of a transceiver.