Patent Description:
Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. In recent years, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices now provide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these functionalities.

Transmitters and/or receivers may be included in various electronic devices to enable communication between user equipment (e.g., user electronic devices, transmitting or receiving electronic devices) and core networks on said wireless networks, deployed through a variety of technologies including but not limited to access network base stations (e.g., network access nodes), such as an eNodeB (eNB) for long-term evolution (LTE) access networks and/or a next generation NodeB (gNB) for <NUM>th generation (<NUM>) access networks. In some electronic devices, a transmitter and a receiver are combined to form a transceiver. Transceivers may transmit and/or receive wireless signals by way of an antenna coupled to the transceiver, such as radio frequency (RF) signals indicative of data. Indeed, a transceiver may include a subscriber identification module (SIM) card to communicate with a core network of a provider. The transceiver, however, may not have the capability to use multiple SIM cards to simultaneously communicate with multiple core networks.

By way of example, an electronic device may include a transceiver to transmit and/or receive the RF signals over one or more frequencies of a wireless network. The information to be transmitted is typically modulated onto the RF signal before transmission. In other words, the information to be transmitted is typically embedded in an envelope of a carrier signal that has a frequency in a frequency range of a network being used for communication. To embed or extract the information in or from the envelope of the carrier signal, processing may be performed on a received RF signal according to transmission parameters. For example, an electronic device (e.g., user equipment) may demodulate the RF signal (e.g., to remove the carrier signal) to recover the embedded information in the envelope based on a frequency of the received RF signal.

The transmission parameters and other settings, such as information used to authenticate an electronic device to a network, may be provided to the electronic device by way of a subscriber identification module (SIM) card and/or by way of an embedded SIM (eSIM) that includes a digital information sometimes included in a SIM card that permits activation to a cellular plan from a carrier without having use a physical SIM card. The SIM card (or eSIM) enables the electronic device to communicate with a core network of a provider. The core network may be a wireless network, such as Wi-Fi or Ethernet, that facilitates the wireless transmission of information between the electronic device and the provider. In some cases, it may be desired to communicate with two or more core networks using the same electronic device. To do so, multiple SIM cards may be installed in the same electronic device.

However, when an electronic device tries to use multiple SIM cards, issues sometimes arise, including missed communications (e.g., missed paging notification) and/or device unavailability. For example, when a first SIM card of the electronic device is active, a second SIM card of the electronic device may deactivate and be unavailable. As such, if a core network transmits a paging notification to the second SIM card while the first SIM card is active (where the paging notification may initiate a communication window that enables the second SIM card to communicate with the core network), the second SIM card may miss the paging request and/or may not respond to an incoming data packet from the core network because the second SIM card may be unavailable.

<CIT> discusses a method for using a dual SIM dual standby user equipment with a first public land mobile network and with a second public land mobile network, allowing operation of a single device in two independent cellular public land mobile networks. The first paging occasion time interval and the second paging occasion time interval are spaced in time in a predetermined manner by a separation time interval.

"<NPL>, is directed to a method where a paging conflict is determined and a paging offset calculated and proposed to a network.

<CIT> is directed to a method of managing a multi-SIM-multi-standby communication device and describes monitoring each subscription's paging activities to determine a paging pattern and implementing a conflict resolution algorithm.

<CIT> discusses a method for coordinating communication and avoiding collisions for multi-subscriber identity module devices in a wireless communication system.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a transceiver of an electronic device (e.g., user equipment) that receives and/or transmits wireless data signals, such as radio frequency (RF) signals. In certain embodiments, the transceiver may include RF circuitry (e.g., Wi-Fi and/or LTE RF circuitry, front end circuitry) that is used, for example, to support transmission and/or reception of RF signals that follow various wireless communication standards or additional communication standards. The RF circuitry may include two or more subscriber identification module (SIM) cards, such as physical SIM cards and/or embedded SIM (eSIM) cards. A SIM card enables the electronic device to communicate with a core network of a network provider via base stations (e.g., network access nodes), and an eSIM card includes similar or same information as the SIM card but is embedded in the phone as to not specifically be a physical SIM card removable from the hardware. The core network may be a cellular network (e.g., long term evolution (LTE), <NUM>rd Generation (<NUM>), <NUM>th Generation (<NUM>), <NUM>th Generation (<NUM>)) that facilitates the wireless transmission of information between the electronic device and the provider.

The electronic device may operate according to various processes to enable communication with respective core networks via corresponding SIM cards. In each case, the electronic device is assigned paging cycles (e.g., provided a paging cycle assignment) that define when each SIM card is to operate in a transmission mode, when each SIM card is to operate in a reduced power mode, and/or the amount of time the SIM card is to spend operating in each mode. In this way, the paging cycle assignments define communication patterns for each of the SIM cards used by the electronic device when communicating with multiple core networks. Following or conforming to the paging cycle assignments may reduce or eliminate missed communications between the core network and the corresponding SIM card due to conflicting transmission patterns (such as when the core network attempts to communicate with the electronic device via the corresponding SIM card when the corresponding SIM card is unavailable).

These described embodiments are examples of the presently disclosed techniques. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

Various processes may be used to determine the paging cycle assignments. The processes may apply to a variety of electronic devices, including electronic devices that have one RF chain and/or electronic devices that have two or more RF chains. Some processes may use communication and cooperation between core networks (and thus between providers of the core networks), while additional or alternative processes use the electronic device as a way to facilitate the transmission of information between the core networks.

Various processes are disclosed that may adjust operation of user equipment (e.g., electronic devices). The processes may apply to a variety of electronic devices. These processes may be combined to bring certain advantages to operation, as is described herein. With the foregoing in mind, a general description of suitable electronic devices that may include such a transceiver is provided below.

Turning first to <FIG>, an electronic device <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include, among other things, one or more of processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, nonvolatile storage <NUM>, a display <NUM>, input structures <NUM>, an input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, a network interface <NUM>, a transceiver <NUM>, and a power source <NUM>. The various functional blocks shown in <FIG> may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium) or a combination of both hardware and software elements. Furthermore, a combination of elements may be included in tangible, non-transitory, and machine-readable medium that include machine-readable instructions. The instructions may be executed by one or more processors and may cause the one or more processors to perform operations as described herein. It should be noted that <FIG> is merely one example of a particular embodiment and is intended to illustrate the types of elements that may be present in the electronic device <NUM>.

By way of example, the electronic device <NUM> may represent a block diagram of the notebook computer depicted in <FIG>, the handheld device depicted in <FIG>, the handheld device depicted in <FIG>, the desktop computer depicted in <FIG>, the wearable electronic device depicted in <FIG>, or similar devices. It should be noted that the processor(s) <NUM> and other related items in <FIG> may be generally referred to herein as "data processing circuitry. " Such data processing circuitry may be embodied wholly or in part as software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the data processing circuitry may be a single contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly or partially within any of the other elements within the electronic device <NUM>.

In the electronic device <NUM> of <FIG>, the processor(s) <NUM> may operably couple with the memory <NUM> and the nonvolatile storage <NUM> to perform various algorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor(s) <NUM> may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible, computer-readable media at least collectively storing the instructions or processes, such as the memory <NUM> and the nonvolatile storage <NUM>. The memory <NUM> and the nonvolatile storage <NUM> may include any suitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executable instructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritable flash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. Also, programs (e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program product may also include instructions executable by the processor(s) <NUM> to enable the electronic device <NUM> to provide various functionalities.

In certain embodiments, the display <NUM> may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), which may facilitate users to view images generated on the electronic device <NUM>. In some embodiments, the display <NUM> may include a touch screen, which may facilitate user interaction with a user interface of the electronic device <NUM>. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display <NUM> may include one or more organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, or some combination of LCD panels and OLED panels.

The input structures <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may enable a user to interact with the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., pressing a button to increase or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface <NUM> may enable the electronic device <NUM> to interface with various other electronic devices, as may the network interface <NUM>. The network interface <NUM> may include, for example, one or more interfaces for a personal area network (PAN), such as a Bluetooth network, for a local area network (LAN) or wireless local area network (WLAN), such as an <NUM>. 11x Wi-Fi network, and/or for a wide area network (WAN), such as a <NUM>rd generation (<NUM>) cellular network, <NUM>th generation (<NUM>) cellular network, long term evolution (LTE) cellular network, long term evolution license assisted access (LTE-LAA) cellular network, or <NUM>th generation (<NUM>) cellular network. The network interface <NUM> may also include one or more interfaces for, for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (WiMAX), mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile WiMAX), asynchronous digital subscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital video broadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T) and its extension DVB Handheld (DVB-H), ultra-wideband (UWB), alternating current (AC) power lines, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> communicates over the aforementioned wireless networks (e.g., Wi-Fi, WiMAX, mobile WiMAX, <NUM>, LTE, <NUM>, and so forth) using the transceiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> may include circuitry useful in both wirelessly receiving and wirelessly transmitting signals (e.g., data signals, wireless data signals, wireless carrier signals, RF signals), such as a transmitter and/or a receiver. Indeed, in some embodiments, the transceiver <NUM> may include a transmitter and a receiver combined into a single unit, or, in other embodiments, the transceiver <NUM> may include a transmitter separate from a receiver. The transceiver <NUM> may transmit and receive RF signals to support voice and/or data communication in wireless applications such as, for example, PAN networks (e.g., Bluetooth), WLAN networks (e.g., <NUM>. 11x Wi-Fi), WAN networks (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and LTE and LTE-LAA cellular networks), WiMAX networks, mobile WiMAX networks, ADSL and VDSL networks, DVB-T and DVB-H networks, UWB networks, and so forth. As further illustrated, the electronic device <NUM> may include the power source <NUM>. The power source <NUM> may include any suitable source of power, such as a rechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternating current (AC) power converter.

In certain embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may take the form of a computer, a portable electronic device, a wearable electronic device, or other type of electronic device. Such computers may be generally portable (such as laptop, notebook, and tablet computers) and/or those that are generally used in one place (such as conventional desktop computers, workstations and/or servers). In certain embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> in the form of a computer may be a model of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or Mac Pro® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California. By way of example, the electronic device <NUM>, taking the form of a notebook computer 10A, is illustrated in <FIG> in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The notebook computer 10A may include a housing or the enclosure <NUM>, the display <NUM>, the input structures <NUM>, and ports associated with the I/O interface <NUM>. In one embodiment, the input structures <NUM> (such as a keyboard and/or touchpad) may enable interaction with the notebook computer 10A, such as starting, controlling, or operating a graphical user interface (GUI) and/or applications running on the notebook computer 10A. For example, a keyboard and/or touchpad may facilitate user interaction with a user interface, GUI, and/or application interface displayed on display <NUM>.

<FIG> depicts a front view of a handheld device 10B, which represents one embodiment of the electronic device <NUM>. The handheld device 10B may represent, for example, a portable phone, a media player, a personal data organizer, a handheld game platform, or any combination of such devices. By way of example, the handheld device 10B may be a model of an iPod® or iPhone® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California. The handheld device 10B may include the enclosure <NUM> to protect interior elements from physical damage and to shield them from electromagnetic interference. The enclosure <NUM> may surround the display <NUM>. The I/O interface <NUM> may open through the enclosure <NUM> and may include, for example, an I/O port for a hard wired connection for charging and/or content manipulation using a standard connector and protocol, such as the Lightning connector provided by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California, a universal serial bus (USB), or other similar connector and protocol.

The input structures <NUM>, in combination with the display <NUM>, may enable user control of the handheld device 10B. For example, the input structures <NUM> may activate or deactivate the handheld device 10B, navigate a user interface to a home screen, present a user-editable application screen, and/or activate a voice-recognition feature of the handheld device 10B. Other of the input structures <NUM> may provide volume control, or may toggle between vibrate and ring modes. The input structures <NUM> may also include a microphone to obtain a user's voice for various voice-related features, and a speaker to enable audio playback. The input structures <NUM> may also include a headphone input to enable input from external speakers and/or headphones.

<FIG> depicts a front view of another handheld device 10C, which represents another embodiment of the electronic device <NUM>. The handheld device 10C may represent, for example, a tablet computer, or one of various portable computing devices. By way of example, the handheld device 10C may be a tablet-sized embodiment of the electronic device <NUM>, which may be, for example, a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California.

Turning to <FIG>, a computer 10D may represent another embodiment of the electronic device <NUM> of <FIG>. The computer 10D may be any computer, such as a desktop computer, a server, or a notebook computer, but may also be a standalone media player or video gaming machine. By way of example, the computer 10D may be an iMac®, a MacBook®, or other similar device by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California. It should be noted that the computer 10D may also represent a personal computer (PC) by another manufacturer. The enclosure <NUM> may protect and enclose internal elements of the computer 10D, such as the display <NUM>. In certain embodiments, a user of the computer 10D may interact with the computer 10D using various peripheral input devices, such as keyboard 22A or mouse 22B (e.g., input structures <NUM>), which may operatively couple to the computer 10D.

Similarly, <FIG> depicts a wearable electronic device 10E representing another embodiment of the electronic device <NUM> of <FIG>. By way of example, the wearable electronic device 10E, which may include a wristband <NUM>, may be an Apple Watch® by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California. However, in other embodiments, the wearable electronic device 10E may include any wearable electronic device such as, a wearable exercise monitoring device (e.g., pedometer, accelerometer, heart rate monitor), or other device by another manufacturer. The display <NUM> of the wearable electronic device 10E may include a touch screen version of the display <NUM> (e.g., LCD, OLED display, active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display, and so forth), as well as the input structures <NUM>, which may facilitate user interaction with a user interface of the wearable electronic device 10E. In certain embodiments, as previously noted above, each embodiment (e.g., notebook computer 10A, handheld device 10B, handheld device 10C, computer 10D, and wearable electronic device 10E) of the electronic device <NUM> may include the transceiver <NUM>.

With the foregoing in mind, <FIG> is a block diagram of a first example communication system 50A that includes access network nodes, such as base stations <NUM> (52A, 52B) communicating via core networks <NUM> (54A, 54B) and radio access networks <NUM> (56A, 56B) with user equipment, such as an electronic device <NUM> that includes one radio frequency (RF) component chain (RF chain) <NUM>, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that user equipment able to communicate with the access nodes may include any of various types of computer systems device which are mobile or portable and which performs wireless communications. Examples of user equipment any suitable portable electronic devices, mobile telephones, smart phones, portable gaming devices, laptops, wearable devices, or the like. In general, the term "UE" or "UE device" can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is easily transported by a user and capable of wireless communication.

The term "base station" has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of a wireless telephone system or radio system. The base stations <NUM> and the electronic device <NUM> may be configured to communicate over the transmission medium using any of various radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) (e.g., associated with wide-band Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) or time division (TD) short-band Code-Division Multiple Access (SCDMA) air interfaces), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), <NUM> New Radio (<NUM> NR), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., real-time text (lxRTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (lxEV-DO), High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), evolved HRPD (eHRPD)), or the like. Note that if a respective base station of the base stations <NUM> is implemented in the context of LTE, it may alternately be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". Note that if a respective base station of the base stations is implemented in the context of <NUM> NR, it may alternately be referred to as "gNodeB" or "gNB".

Thus, while base stations <NUM> may act as a "serving cell" for electronic devices as illustrated in <FIG>, an electronic device <NUM> may also be capable of receiving signals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or more other cells (which might be provided by base stations <NUM> and/or any other base stations), which may be referred to as "neighboring cells. " Such cells may also be capable of facilitating communication between user devices and/or between user devices and the network.

In the illustrated embodiment, the RF chain <NUM> includes a receiver circuitry <NUM> separate from a transmitter circuitry <NUM>. The RF chain <NUM> may be included in the transceiver <NUM> and may be coupled to an antenna. In some embodiments, the receiver circuitry <NUM> and the transmitter circuitry <NUM> may be combined into a single unit within the transceiver <NUM>. Further, the various functional blocks shown in <FIG> may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium) or a combination of both hardware and software elements. It should also be noted that <FIG> is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present. As such, functional blocks may be added or omitted, and their arrangement within the first example communication system 50A may be modified.

The electronic device <NUM> may include SIM cards <NUM> (64A, 64B) and may be cell phone or other user equipment that communicates via provided networks (e.g., the core networks <NUM>). In particular, each SIM card <NUM> may correspond to a respective core network <NUM> that the electronic device <NUM> uses to send and/or receive data. Each base station <NUM> may generate and/or maintain a respective core network <NUM> that interfaces with the electronic device <NUM> via a respective radio access network <NUM>. A control system <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may generate control signals to control incoming and outgoing communications, and may use information stored on each SIM card <NUM> for encryption and/or decryption operations. Each base station <NUM> may be an electronic device (e.g., similar to electronic device <NUM>), and thus may include memory <NUM>, processors <NUM>, network interfaces <NUM>, displays <NUM>, I/O interfaces <NUM>, or the like (e.g., as shown in <FIG>), for performing processing operations associated with maintaining the communication network and for communicating with the electronic device <NUM>.

The core networks <NUM> may be considered backbone networks. In this way, each core network <NUM> may interconnect various pieces of its network, providing a data transmission path for the exchange of information between transmitting circuitry and receiving circuitry. Examples of core networks <NUM> may include wireless networks, Ethernet networks, or the like. The radio access networks <NUM> may manage terminals (e.g., including the electronic device <NUM>) to facilitate communicating with the electronic device <NUM>. The radio access networks <NUM> may use different transmission frequencies or transmission bands (e.g., frequency bands) when exchanging data with the SIM cards <NUM> and/or the electronic device <NUM>. Examples of radio access networks <NUM> include GSM radio access network (GRAN, GERAN), UMTS radio access network (UTRAN), and Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network (E-UTRAN). In alternative or additional embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may directly communicate with the core network <NUM> without the use of a radio access network <NUM>. In some cases, the radio access network <NUM> (e.g., radio access network 56A, radio access network 56B) may receive preferred transmission bands from the electronic device <NUM> and may select a transmission frequency or a transmission band from the preferred transmission bands, which may include one or more frequencies as part of a frequency range. The electronic device <NUM> may, in turn, receive the transmission band or transmission frequency form the radio access network <NUM> and use the transmission band or transmission frequency in communicating with the radio access network <NUM>. In some cases, the electronic device <NUM> may receive a transmission band from the radio access network <NUM> and select a transmission frequency from the transmission band.

During operation of the first example communication system 50A, the electronic device <NUM> communicates with the base stations <NUM> via the radio access network <NUM> and/or the core network <NUM> to receive or transmit data, such as data associated with receiving or transmitting a phone call, a text message, browsing the internet, or the like. To do so, the receiver circuitry <NUM> may receive an input signal from the base station <NUM> that may be processed and/or modified. The input signal may be wirelessly received via an antenna operably connected to the receiver circuitry <NUM>. The input signal may include data transmitted via a carrier waveform. The carrier waveform may be modulated to store the data, and thus data may be retrieved from the input signal for use by the electronic device. In some cases, the electronic device <NUM> may generate data for transmission to the base station <NUM>. The transmitter circuitry <NUM> may use similar but reverse modulation and amplification operations as the receiver circuitry <NUM> to transmit the generated data as a RF signal to the base station <NUM> via the radio access network <NUM> and/or the core network <NUM>.

The receiver circuitry <NUM> may include circuitry to use for processing of the input signal. For example, the receiver circuitry <NUM> may include a low noise power amplifier (LNA), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a baseband filter, or the like, to use to process the input signal. For example, the LNA may receive a relatively low-power signal from the antenna and increase its magnitude without significantly increasing noise of the input signal, generating a modified input signal. The receiver circuitry <NUM> may sometimes regulate power supplied to the LNA according to average power tracking of the modified input signal or envelope tracking of the input signal. Signals output from the LNA or other circuitry of the receiver circuitry <NUM> may be transmitted to an ADC for additional processing. For example, the ADC may use any suitable conversion method to convert the output into digital data usable by the electronic device <NUM>. In some embodiments, a baseband filter may receive an output from the ADC and perform additional processing on the initial data recovered from the carrier waveform. The transmitter circuitry <NUM> may work in a similar but reverse fashion. For example, data to be transmitted to one of the base stations <NUM> may be modulated onto a carrier signal, amplified for transmission to one of the radio access networks <NUM>, and ultimately received by one of the base stations <NUM> for use.

The SIM cards <NUM> may each include circuitry that stores an identity number (e.g., international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)) used to identify the respective SIM card from other SIM cards. A base station <NUM> may use the identity number to verify that the SIM card <NUM> has permission or an authority to receive information via a corresponding core network <NUM> and/or radio access network <NUM>. For example, the first SIM card 64A may store an identity number that the first base station 52A uses to verify that the first SIM card 64A is authorized to communicate with the first base station 52A via the core network 54A. Since each SIM card <NUM> corresponds to a different network, each SIM card <NUM> may include respective identity numbers to identify that particular SIM card <NUM> to the corresponding base station <NUM>.

The SIM cards <NUM> may operate according to a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-based communication standard. As part of the communication standard and/or other communication standards, SIM cards <NUM> may sometimes operate in an RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE state and may sometimes operate in an RRC_CONNECTED state, wherein RRC refers to radio resource control (RRC) parameters defined in some standards. While one of the SIM cards (e.g., 64A) is in the RRC_CONNECTED state, data may be transmitted between the electronic device <NUM> and one of the base stations <NUM>. However, while this happens, the other SIM card (e.g., 64B) may not detect paging notifications. A paging notification may be a request for the electronic device <NUM> to communicatively couple to and communicate with the base station <NUM> that originated the paging notification. When the SIM cards <NUM> are both operating in the RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE state, either of the SIM cards <NUM> may detect a paging notification from one of the base stations <NUM>.

<FIG> depicts one RF chain <NUM>. However, sometimes multiple RF chains <NUM> are included in the electronic device <NUM>. It is noted that, in some embodiments, RF chains <NUM> may include multiple different receiver circuitries <NUM> (e.g., each corresponding to a respective SIM card <NUM>) but share a transmitter circuitry <NUM>. <FIG> is a block diagram of a second example communication system 50B that includes multiple base stations <NUM> communicating with an electronic device <NUM> that includes two RF chains <NUM>, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The various functional blocks shown in <FIG> may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements (including computer code stored on a computer-readable medium), or a combination of both hardware and software elements. It should also be noted that <FIG> is merely one example of a particular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types of components that may be present. As such, functional blocks may be added or omitted, and their arrangement within the second example communication system 50B may be modified.

Each RF chain <NUM> may correspond to a particular network provided by a particular base station <NUM>, a particular core network <NUM>, and/or a particular radio access network <NUM>. The first core network 54A, the first base station 52A, and the first radio access network 56A may correspond to the first SIM card 64A and the first RF chain 58A. The second base station 52B, the second core network 54B, and the second radio access network 56B may correspond to the second SIM card 64B and the second RF chain 58B.

While some electronic devices may provide some functionality to operate multiple SIM cards <NUM> as described above, this does not guarantee suitable operation of the multiple SIM cards <NUM>. In particular, sometimes these electronic devices may miss a paging notification transmitted for one of the SIM cards <NUM>. As described above, another common problem is "device unavailability," which may affect an electronic device <NUM> when one of the SIM cards <NUM> has an active session since any other SIM cards <NUM> are unusable.

The presently described systems, devices, and methods may address these shortcomings and enable increased and more flexible usage of multiple SIM cards <NUM>. In particular, as described herein, the manner in which paging notifications are issued may be adjusted to reduce or eliminate collisions. That is, a base station <NUM> (e.g., second base station 52B) may adjust a paging cycle assignment based on a paging cycle assignment of another base station <NUM> (e.g., first base station 52A) such that the issued paging notifications are non-conflicting transmissions (e.g., do not collide in the time domain). In particular, the paging cycle assignments may control when the first SIM card 64A and the second SIM card 64B are each operated on or off. In this way, the respective SIM cards <NUM> may be operated in a non-conflicting manner, such that more than base stations <NUM> are not attempting to communicate to the respective SIM card <NUM> at a time.

To help explain, <FIG> is an example paging cycle diagram <NUM> depicting a non-conflicting transmission pattern (e.g., row 76A, row 76B) assigned to each of the first SIM card 64A and a second SIM card 64B, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Each SIM card <NUM> may be assigned a paging cycle via a paging cycle assignment. Each paging cycle may include alternating transmission periods <NUM> (e.g., "on" periods) and idle periods <NUM> (e.g., "off" periods). The RF chains <NUM> may receive data from the core networks <NUM> during the transmission period <NUM> (and operate one of the SIM cards <NUM> in the RRC_CONNECTED state), but may be idle and not able to receive data during the idle period <NUM> (and operate one of the SIM cards <NUM> in the RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE state). In some embodiments, when an RF chain <NUM> is idle and not in use (e.g., during the idle period <NUM>, when the corresponding of the SIM cards <NUM> is in the RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE state), power may not be supplied to the RF chain <NUM> or power supplied to the RF chain <NUM> may be reduced, realizing power savings for the electronic device <NUM>. It is noted that, in some cases, the idle periods <NUM> are generated in response to, coincide with, are contained within, or include connected discontinuous receive mode (C-DRX) gaps. The C-DRX gaps may signal to the electronic device <NUM> when to switch operating frequencies of the RF chain <NUM> to communicate with a different core network <NUM> during a transmission period <NUM>. The C-DRX gaps may corresponding to idle periods <NUM> of a paging cycle assignment, and thus map be considered transmission gaps. When entering a respective idle period <NUM> of a first paging cycle assignment, if a second paging cycle assignment enters a transmission period <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may switch between use of the first SIM card 64A and use of the second SIM card 64B. In some embodiments, when a paging cycle assignment is in an idle period <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may reduce power supplied (e.g., relatively less power, zero power) to at least a portion of the RF chain <NUM> circuitry and/or the SIM card <NUM> assigned the paging cycle assignment.

When paging cycle assignments (e.g., corresponding to different SIM cards <NUM>) conflict, communications between the electronic device <NUM> and the base stations <NUM> may be missed when an incoming transmission overlaps with a current ongoing transmission or reception operation of the electronic device <NUM>. However, according to the present embodiments, a base station <NUM> may select a paging cycle assignment to organize conflicting transmission patterns into non-conflicting transmission patterns (e.g., by assigning the paging cycle to not overlap with another paging cycle assignment). When the electronic device <NUM> operates the SIM cards <NUM> in accordance with non-conflicting paging cycle assignments, the electronic device <NUM> reduces or eliminates a likelihood of missing data to be transmitted between a core network <NUM> and a corresponding SIM card <NUM> since a likelihood of conflicting transmission patterns is reduced or eliminated.

Thus, at least some of the presently disclosed embodiments are directed processes for determining the paging cycle assignments. The processes may apply to a variety of electronic devices, including electronic devices that have one RF chain <NUM> and electronic devices that have two or more RF chains <NUM> (as indicated by "No. RF Component Chain" of Table <NUM> below ). Some processes may use communication and cooperation between core networks <NUM> (as indicated by "Direct Core Network Intercommunication" of Table <NUM>), and thus between providers of the core networks <NUM>, while some processes use the electronic device <NUM> to facilitate the transmission of information between the core networks <NUM>. Furthermore, some processes use the radio access networks <NUM> to select a transmission band or transmission frequency (as indicated by "Radio Access Network Selecting Transmission Frequency" of Table <NUM>). These processes may be combined to bring certain advantages to operation, as is described herein. Table <NUM> summarizes example combinations and may be useful to reference as discussion continues into <FIG>.

To summarize, in the first embodiment (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>), a single RF chain <NUM> is used to switch between two transmission frequencies corresponding to two SIM cards <NUM>. The core networks <NUM> exchange information related to the electronic device <NUM> to generate non-conflicting paging cycle assignments for the different SIM cards <NUM>. In the first embodiment, the radio access networks <NUM> may not necessarily select a transmission frequency (unless the first embodiment is combined with the fifth embodiment), wherein the selected transmission frequency may enable communication using the second core network 54B without conflict with communications using the first core network 54A. Also, the first embodiment may be used when the SIM cards <NUM> are in an RRC_IDLE/RRC_ INACTIVE state but not necessarily when the SIM cards <NUM> are in an RRC_CONNECTED state.

In the second embodiment (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>), a single RF chain <NUM> is used to switch between two transmission frequencies corresponding to two SIM cards <NUM>, and upon registration to the second core network 54B, the electronic device may indicate that it has an active first SIM card 64A and may provide the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A to the second base station 52B. The second core network 54B may generate a paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B using the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A as to generate a non-conflicting paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B. In this way, the second embodiment may not include core networks <NUM> that exchange information to generate non-conflicting paging cycle assignments for the different SIM cards <NUM> and the radio access networks <NUM> may not necessarily select a transmission frequency (unless the first embodiment is combined with the fifth embodiment). It is noted that the second embodiment may be used when the SIM cards <NUM> are in an RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE state but not necessarily when the SIM cards <NUM> are in an RRC_CONNECTED state.

In the third embodiment (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>), two RF chains <NUM> are used to substantially simultaneously monitor two frequencies, and thus transmissions from two radio access networks <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may indicate to both base stations <NUM> that it has multiple SIM cards <NUM> via the core networks <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may use non-access stratum (NAS) signaling to indicate to the base stations <NUM> the multi-SIM capability of the electronic device <NUM>, where the NAS is a functional layer between telecommunication protocol stacks of the core networks <NUM> and the electronic device <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may also indicate to the base stations <NUM> preferred transmission bands or transmission frequencies. The radio access networks <NUM> may coordinate to redirect the electronic device <NUM> to either a first frequency or a second frequency that the electronic device <NUM> is able to monitor simultaneous based on the preferred transmission bands or transmission frequencies. The first frequency and the second frequency may be defined by hardware parameters of the RF chains <NUM> and/or SIM cards <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., a combination of circuitry of a RF chain <NUM> may set the first or second frequency). It is noted that in the third embodiment, the core networks <NUM> directly communicate (e.g., directly intercommunicate) with each other to determine non-conflicting paging cycle assignments, and the third embodiment supports both an RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE state and an RRC_CONNECTED state.

In the fourth embodiment (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>), two RF chains <NUM> are used to substantially simultaneously monitor two frequencies, and thus transmissions from two radio access networks <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may indicate to both base stations <NUM> that it has multiple SIM cards <NUM> via the radio access networks <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may use access stratum (AS) signaling to indicate to the base stations <NUM> the multi-SIM capability of the electronic device <NUM>, where the AS is a functional layer between telecommunication protocol stacks of the radio access networks <NUM> and the electronic device <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may also indicate to the base stations <NUM> preferred transmission bands or transmission frequencies. The radio access networks <NUM> may coordinate to redirect the electronic device <NUM> to either a first frequency or a second frequency that the electronic device <NUM> is able to monitor simultaneous based on the preferred transmission bands or transmission frequencies. The first frequency and the second frequency, as well as the preferred transmission bands or transmission frequencies, may be defined by hardware parameters of the RF chains <NUM> and/or SIM cards <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., a combination of circuitry of a RF chain <NUM> may set the first or second frequency). It is noted that in the fourth embodiment, the core networks <NUM> do not communicate (e.g., directly intercommunicate) with each other to determine non-conflicting paging cycle assignments and instead use signals from the electronic device <NUM> to determine non-conflicting paging cycle assignments. The fourth embodiment supports both an RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE state and an RRC_CONNECTED state.

In the fifth embodiment (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>), a single RF chain <NUM> is used to switch between two transmission frequencies corresponding to two SIM cards <NUM>. The second radio access network 56B may generate transmission/reception gaps, such as connected mode DRX, for the second SIM card 64B using the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A as to generate non-conflicting reception opportunities. In this way, the second embodiment may not include core networks <NUM> that exchange information to generate non-conflicting paging cycle assignments for the different SIM cards <NUM>. In the fifth embodiment, the radio access networks <NUM> may select a transmission frequency and may be used when the SIM cards <NUM> are in an RRC_CONNECTED state but not necessarily when the SIM cards <NUM> are in an RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE state.

Certain combinations of the above examples may be useful too. For example, the second example and the fourth example may co-exist and co-manage the electronic device <NUM>. In this way, the core networks <NUM> may operate to generate non-conflicting paging cycle assignments while the radio access networks <NUM> may operate to select transmission bands or transmission frequencies in accordance with preferences of the electronic device <NUM>. The fifth example and the fourth example may also be combined if for any reason an electronic device <NUM> is unable to listen simultaneously to a particular transmission frequency combination. When determining combinations of the examples, care may be taken to combine operations that supports both an "IDLE" state (e.g., RRC_IDLE state and/or RRC_INACTIVE state of SIM card <NUM>) and a "CONNECTED" state (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED state of SIM card <NUM>). This may be shown in the last column of the Table <NUM> (e.g., "Supported States"). For example, the second example may have a relatively low architectural impact but may be combined with the fifth example to support each of the SIM cards <NUM> operational states. It is noted that if the electronic device <NUM> has two RF chains <NUM>, the fourth example may have the least architectural impact of the five examples and may support each operational state of the SIM cards <NUM>. Other combinations include the first example and the fifth example, and/or the second example and the fifth example. With the forgoing in mind, the discussion now turns to more detailed description of the five examples described in Table <NUM>.

<FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> describe processes that use intercommunication between the core networks <NUM> to enable paging cycle assignment and registration to the SIM cards <NUM>. Turning now to <FIG>, a flow chart illustrates a method <NUM> for operating the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with the first base station 52A and the second core network 54B as part of a first example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In the case when the electronic device <NUM> is not able to listen substantially simultaneously to two or more frequencies (or frequency bands) at the same time, the method <NUM> may be used to tune between a first transmission frequency corresponding to the first core network 54A and a second transmission frequency corresponding to the second core network 54B. In this first example, the core networks <NUM> exchange information related to the electronic device <NUM> and generate paging cycle assignments that do not overlap (e.g., conflict) in the time domain. In this way, conflicting transmission or reception durations are reduced and/or eliminated. Thus, it may be said that the burden of generating non-conflicting paging cycle assignments is on the core networks <NUM> for the first example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>).

In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the electronic device <NUM>. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

Keeping this in mind, at block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may register to the first core network 54A using the first SIM card 64A to register to the first base station 52A. To do so, the electronic device <NUM> may obtain an identity number, such as an IMSI, from the first SIM card 64A, and may transmit the identity number to the first core network 54A. Transmitting the identity number from the first SIM card 64A enables the electronic device <NUM> to request access and authentication to the first base station 52A. In some embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may pass an additional identity number, such as a personal identification number (PIN), to the first SIM card 64A before the first SIM card 64A reveals the identity number to the electronic device <NUM>. The first base station 52A may search the memory <NUM> to determine an encryption key corresponding to the identity number of the first SIM card 64A. The electronic device <NUM> may use the encryption key to encrypt and/or decrypt future communications with the first base station 52A. Registering to the first base station 52A may permit the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the first core network 54A and/or the first radio access network 56A. This process may be repeated for registration to the second core network 54B.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may activate the second SIM card 64B and, at block <NUM>, may register to the second core network 54B using the second SIM card 64B to register to the second base station 52B. Activating the second SIM card 64B may permit the electronic device <NUM> to retrieve the identity number from the second SIM card 64B for use in registration with the second base station 52B. Similar to the first base station 52A at block <NUM>, the second core network 54B may determine an authentication key to use in encryption and/or decryption operations with the electronic device <NUM>. In some embodiments, some credentials of the first base station 52A are shared with the second base station 52B to permit the second SIM card 64B and the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the second core network 54B and/or the second radio access network 56B.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may receive the respective paging cycle assignments for the first SIM card 64A corresponding to the first core network 54A and for the second SIM card 64B corresponding to the second core network 54B. The electronic device <NUM> may receive the paging cycle assignments after the electronic device <NUM> registers with the second base station 52B. As described further with respect to <FIG> and/or <FIG>, the paging cycle assignment for the first core network 54A is determined based on the paging cycle assignment for the second core network 54B, and vice versa, for the first example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). For each example of Table <NUM>, the paging cycle assignments may be communicated between components of the communication networks <NUM> by indication of a period or by implementation of a single frequency network (SFN). If using a single frequency network, scanning operations may be performed by the electronic device <NUM> to determine a frequency and/or gain direction to use when communicating with the core network <NUM>. The scanning operations may determine the frequency and/or gain direction based on relative signal strengths detected during the scanning. In some embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may initially communicate with the core networks <NUM> according to an initial and/or a default paging cycle assignment until the electronic device <NUM> receives the paging cycle assignments from the first base station 52A and/or the second base station 52B.

In response to receiving the page cycle assignments, the electronic device <NUM>, at block <NUM>, may communicate with the first base station 52A or with the second base station 52B based at least in part on the paging cycle assignment. Communication with the first base station 52A may include sending authentication or encryption data stored on the first SIM card 64A (e.g., one or more keys to use in decrypting or encrypting of data exchanged between the electronic device <NUM> and the first base station 52A), similar to how communication with the second base station 52B may include sending data stored on the second SIM card 64B. In this way, the electronic device <NUM> may communicate with the first base station 52A using the paging cycle assignment attributed to the first SIM card 64A and communicate with the second base station 52B using the paging cycle assignment attributed to the second SIM card 64B as a way to reduce or eliminate a likelihood of conflicting data transmissions (e.g., reducing occurrences of paging cycle overlap) between the electronic device <NUM> and the second core network 54B.

To elaborate on how the first base station 52A may interact with the electronic device <NUM> and/or the second base station 52B, <FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating the first base station 52A to communicate with the electronic device <NUM> and the second base station 52B as part of the first example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the first base station 52A. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may register to the first SIM card 64A of the electronic device <NUM>. Similar to operations described at block <NUM> of method <NUM> (e.g., <FIG>), the registration process includes verifying identity and permission of the first SIM card 64A to confirm that the electronic device <NUM> is authorized to access data of the first core network 54A and/or the first base station 52A. The first base station 52A may authenticate the first SIM card 64A using one or more keys transmitted from the first SIM card 64A. The first base station 52A may use the keys to verify that the electronic device <NUM> has an authority to access data of the first core network 54A. Registering to the first base station 52A may permit the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the first core network 54A.

When the first base station 52A is registered to the first SIM card 64A, at block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may transmit information associated with the first SIM card 64A, first core network 54A and/or the electronic device <NUM> to the second base station 52B. For example, the first base station 52A may transmit paging cycle preferences to the second base station 52B. The second base station 52B may use the paging cycle assignment of the first core network 54A when assigning a paging cycle to the second core network 54B, such as to determine a non-conflicting paging cycle assignment relative to the paging cycle preferences of the first core network 54A.

At block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may receive information associated with the second SIM card 64B, the second core network 54B, and/or the electronic device <NUM> from the second base station 52B. The information from the second base station 52B may include paging cycle preferences for data sent via the second core network 54B. The first base station 52A may consider the preferences from the second base station 52B when determining a paging cycle to use to communicate with the electronic device <NUM> via the first core network 54A.

Thus, at block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may assign a paging cycle for the first SIM card 64A corresponding to the first core network 54A based on the information from the second base station 52B, and may transmit the paging cycle assignment to the electronic device <NUM>. After the electronic device <NUM> implements the paging cycle assignment for the first core network 54A, the first base station 52A may, at block <NUM>, communicate with the electronic device <NUM> using the first core network 54A according to the paging cycle assignment.

To elaborate on how the second base station 52B may interact with the electronic device <NUM> and/or the first base station 52A, <FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating the second base station 52B to communicate with the electronic device <NUM> and the first base station 52A as part of the first example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the second base station 52B. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may receive information from the first base station 52A associated with the first SIM card 64A, the first core network 54A, and/or the electronic device <NUM>. The information from the first base station 52A may include credentials of the first SIM card 64A to verify permission of the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with the second core network 54B.

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may register the second SIM card 64B of the electronic device <NUM>. Similar to operations described at block <NUM> of method <NUM> (e.g., <FIG>), the registration process includes verifying identity and permission of the second SIM card 64B to confirm that the electronic device <NUM> is authorized to access data of the second core network 54B and/or the second base station 52B. To register to the second SIM card 64B, the second core network 54B may authenticate the second SIM card 64B using one or more keys from the second SIM card 64B and transmitted by the electronic device <NUM>. The second core network 54B may use the keys to verify that the electronic device <NUM> has an authority to access data of the second core network 54B. Registering to the second base station 52B may permit the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the second core network 54B. The second base station 52B may reference information from the first base station 52A (e.g., credential of the first SIM card 64A) when registering the second SIM card 64B. It is noted that each example described herein may authenticate the second SIM card 64B based on one or more credentials or information associated with the first SIM card 64A.

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may transmit information associated with the second SIM card 64B, the second core network 54B, and/or the electronic device <NUM> to the first base station 52A. The information from the second base station 52B may include paging cycle preferences for the second core network 54B. As described above with respect to block <NUM> of method <NUM> (e.g., <FIG>), the first base station 52A may use the paging cycle preferences for the second core network 54B to determine a non-conflicting paging cycle assignment for the first core network 54A to use when communicating with the electronic device <NUM>. After assignment, the second base station 52B may transmit the paging cycle assignment to the electronic device <NUM>. After the electronic device <NUM> implements the paging cycle assignment for the second core network 54B, the second base station 52B may, at block <NUM>, communicate with the electronic device <NUM> using the second core network 54B according to the paging cycle assignment.

<FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> describe processes that use the electronic device <NUM> as a communicative mediator between the core networks <NUM> to enable assignment of non-conflicting paging cycles without using direct intercommunication between the core networks <NUM>. Turning now to <FIG>, a flow chart illustrates a method <NUM> for operating the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with the first base station 52A and the second core network 54B as part of a second example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In the case when the electronic device <NUM> is not able to listen substantially simultaneously to two or more frequencies, the method <NUM> may be used to tune between a first transmission frequency corresponding to the first SIM card 64A and a second transmission frequency corresponding to the second SIM card 64B. In this second example, the electronic device <NUM> facilities exchange of information related to the first base station 52A to the second core network which generates the paging cycle assignment for the second core network 54B based on the page cycle assignment for the first base station 52A. In this way, conflicting transmission or reception durations are reduced and/or eliminated. Thus, it may be said that the burden of generating non-conflicting paging cycle assignments is on the second core network 54B for the second example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the electronic device <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may register to the first core network 54A using the first SIM card 64A to register to the first base station 52A. Operations performed at block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein. Registering to the first base station 52A may permit the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the first core network 54A and/or the first radio access network 56A.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may receive the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A corresponding to the first core network 54A from the first base station 52A. In response to the first base station 52A registering the first SIM card 64A, the first base station 52A may determine the paging cycle assignment corresponding to the first core network 54A without consideration for the paging cycle assignment of the second core network 54B.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may activate the second SIM card 64B and, at block <NUM>, may register to the second core network 54B using the second SIM card 64B to register to the second base station 52B. Operations performed at block <NUM> and at block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> and block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein. Registering to the second base station 52B may permit the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the second core network 54B and/or the second radio access network 56B. Furthermore, at block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may transmit the paging cycle assignment associated with the first SIM card 64A and corresponding to the first core network 54A to the second base station 52B. In this way, the electronic device <NUM> may facilitate information exchange between the base stations <NUM> without the base stations <NUM> directly communicating. The second base station 52B may determine a paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B based on the paging cycle assignment associated with the first SIM card 64A.

After the second base station 52B determines the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B, at block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may receive the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B from the second base station 52B. Using the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A and the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B, the electronic device <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, communicate with the first base station 52A or the second base station 52B. Because the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B is generated based on the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A, the paging cycles used by the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with each core network <NUM> may be non-conflicting and reduce or eliminate a likelihood of conflicting transmission patterns happening.

To elaborate on how the first base station 52A may interact with the electronic device <NUM>, <FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating the first base station 52A to communicate with the electronic device <NUM> and the second base station 52B as part of the second example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the first base station 52A. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may register to the first SIM card 64A of the electronic device <NUM>. Operations performed at block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein. Registering to the first base station 52A may permit the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the first core network 54A and/or the first radio access network 56A.

At block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may assign a paging cycle for the first SIM card 64A corresponding the first core network 54A without consideration for the paging cycle of the second SIM card 64B corresponding to the second core network 54B and may transmit the paging cycle assignment to the electronic device <NUM>. In this way, the first base station 52A may use a default or otherwise defined paging cycle for the first SIM card 64A. Thus, the burden of establishing a non-conflicting paging cycle is on the second base station 52B. Once the paging cycle is established for the first core network 54A for use by the electronic device <NUM>, at block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may communicate with the electronic device <NUM> using the first core network 54A according to the paging cycle assignment.

To elaborate on how the second base station 52B may interact with the electronic device <NUM>, <FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating the second base station 52B to communicate with the electronic device <NUM> and the first base station 52A as part of the second example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the second core network 54B. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may receive information associated with the first SIM card 64A, the first core network 54A, and/or the electronic device <NUM> from the electronic device. The second base station 52B may also receive an alert that the first SIM card 64A is active. The information associated with the first core network 54A includes the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A. In some embodiments, the information includes credentials of the first SIM card 64A to be used in authenticating the second SIM card 64B.

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may register to the second SIM card 64B based on information from the electronic device <NUM>. To register the second SIM card 64B, the second base station 52B may authenticate the second SIM card 64B using one or more keys from the second SIM card 64B and transmitted by the electronic device <NUM>. The second core network 54B may use the keys to verify that the electronic device <NUM> has an authority to access data of the second core network 54B. In some embodiments, the second base station 52B may also use credentials from the first SIM card 64A when authenticating the second SIM card 64B. Registering to the second base station 52B may permit the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the second core network 54B.

Using the paging cycle assignment received at block <NUM>, the second base station 52B, at block <NUM>, may assign a paging cycle for the second SIM card 64B corresponding to the second core network 54B. The second base station 52B may assign a paging cycle to the second core network 54B that does not conflict with the paging cycle assignment of the first SIM card 64A corresponding to the first core network 54A. The second base station 52B may determine a non-conflicting paging cycle assignment without direct communication with the first base station 52A. In some embodiments, the second base station 52B may assign a non-conflicting paging cycle assignment to the second SIM card 64B by applying an offset to the paging cycle assignment of the first SIM card 64A (e.g., an offset in time). The second base station 52B may also transmit the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B to the electronic device <NUM>. Using the non-conflicting paging cycle assignment, at block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may communicate with the electronic device <NUM> without interrupting communications between the first base station 52A and the electronic device <NUM>.

<FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> describe processes that use direct communication between the core networks <NUM> to enable paging cycle assignment and registration to the SIM cards <NUM>, but further include operations that enable the electronic device <NUM> to indicate communication preferences (e.g., transmission band, transmission frequency) to the second base station 52B to cause the second base station to redirect its communications to the electronic device <NUM>, such as to not conflict with other operations of the electronic device <NUM> and/or the first base station 52A.

Turning now to <FIG>, a flow chart illustrates a method <NUM> for operating the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with the first base station 52A and the second base station 52B as part of a third example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In the case when the electronic device <NUM> is able to listen substantially simultaneously to two or more frequencies, the method <NUM> may be used to tune between a first transmission frequency corresponding to the first core network 54A and a second transmission frequency corresponding to the second core network 54B. In this third example, the base stations <NUM> exchange information related to the electronic device <NUM>, including frequency preferences, and generate paging cycle assignments that do not overlap (e.g., conflict) in the time domain. In this way, conflicting transmission or reception durations are reduced and/or eliminated. Thus, it may be said that the burden of generating non-conflicting paging cycle assignments is on both of the base stations <NUM> for the third example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>).

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may register to the first core network 54A using the first SIM card 64A to register to the first base station 52A and, at block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may activate the second SIM card 64B. Operations performed at block <NUM> and block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> and block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein. The first base station 52A may authenticate the first SIM card 64A using one or more keys from the first SIM card 64A and transmitted by the electronic device <NUM>. The first base station 52A may use the keys to verify that the electronic device <NUM> has an authority to access data of the first core network 54A. Registering to the first base station 52A may permit the first SIM card 64A and the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the first core network 54A.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may register to the second core network 54B using the second SIM card 64B, and may indicate one or more transmission bands or transmission frequencies preferences of the electronic device <NUM> to the second base station 52B. The electronic device <NUM> may also indicate to the second core network 54B that it includes multiple SIM cards <NUM>. The second base station 52B may authenticate the second SIM card 64B using one or more keys from the second SIM card 64B and transmitted by the electronic device <NUM>. The second base station 52B may use the keys to verify that the electronic device <NUM> has an authority to access data of the second core network 54B. Registering to the second base station 52B may permit the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the second core network 54B and/or the second radio access network 56B. When the electronic device <NUM> transmits the transmission bands or transmission frequencies preferences, the electronic device <NUM> generates and send a set of preferred transmission bands and/or preferred transmission frequencies that the second base station 52B may use when determining the transmission band or transmission frequency to use to communicate with the electronic device <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may exclude transmission bands or transmission frequencies that conflict with an operation of the electronic device <NUM>, are unsupported by the electronic device <NUM> and/or an operation of the first core network 54A, or otherwise may conflict with a transmission from the electronic device <NUM>. Furthermore, the electronic device <NUM> may know the transmission band or transmission frequency of the first core network 54A after registering to the first core network 54A. In this way, the electronic device <NUM> may additionally or alternatively indicate the transmission band or the transmission frequency of the first core network 54A to the second base station 52B such that the second base station 52B may not assign a conflicting transmission band or transmission frequency.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may receive the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A corresponding to the first core network 54A and may receive the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B corresponding to the second core network 54B. The electronic device <NUM> may receive the paging cycle assignment corresponding to the first core network 54A from the first base station 52A before or after (or substantially simultaneous to) receiving the paging cycle assignment corresponding to the second core network 54B from the second base station 52B. At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may use the paging cycle assignments to communicate with the first base station 52A and/or the second base station 52B. Operations performed at block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein.

To elaborate on how the first base station 52A may interact with the electronic device <NUM> and/or the second base station 52B, <FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating the first base station 52A to communicate with the electronic device <NUM> and the second core network 54B as part of the third example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the first base station 52A. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may register to the first SIM card 64A of the electronic device <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may transmit information associated with the first SIM card 64A, first core network 54A, and/or the electronic device <NUM> to the second base station 52B. At block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may receive information associated with the second SIM card 64B, the second core network 54B, and/or the electronic device <NUM> from the second base station 52B. Finally, at block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may assign a paging cycle for the first core network 54A based on the information from the second base station 52B, and may transmit the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A to the electronic device <NUM>. After the electronic device <NUM> implements the paging cycle assignment for the first core network 54A, the first base station 52A may, at block <NUM>, communicate with the electronic device <NUM> using the first core network 54A and/or the first radio access network 56A.

To elaborate on how the second core network 54B may interact with the electronic device <NUM> and/or the first base station 52A, <FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating the second core network 54B to communicate with the electronic device <NUM> and the first base station 52A as part of the third example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the second core network 54B. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may receive information from the first base station 52A associated with the first SIM card 64A, the first core network 54A, and/or the electronic device <NUM>, and may receive transmission bands or transmission frequencies preferences from the electronic device <NUM>. The information from the first base station 52A may include credentials of the first SIM card 64A to verify permission of the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with the second core network 54B. The indicated band or frequency preferences may be used by the second base station to determine a transmission band or a transmission frequency compatible with the preferences of the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., non-conflicting with other operations or the first core network 54A).

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may register the second SIM card 64B of the electronic device <NUM>. The second base station 52B may reference information from the first base station 52A (e.g., credential of the first SIM card 64A) when registering the second SIM card 64B. Operations performed of block <NUM> (of <FIG>) are the same as operations of block <NUM> of method <NUM> (e.g., <FIG>), and are thus incorporated herein.

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may transmit the transmission bands or transmission frequencies preferences of the electronic device <NUM> to the radio access network 56B for use in selecting a transmission band or transmission frequency. The radio access network 56B may redirect the transmission frequency or the transmission band of the second base station 52B to accommodate one of the indicated band or frequency preferences of the electronic device <NUM>. In this way, the second base station 52B may transmit the transmission bands or transmission frequencies preferences as one or more control signals to the radio access network 56B. When the electronic device <NUM> indicates the transmission band or transmission frequency preferences, the electronic device <NUM> may generate a set of transmission bands and/or transmission frequencies that the second base station 52B and/or radio access network 56B may use when determining the transmission band or transmission frequency to use to communicate with the electronic device <NUM>. The second base station 52B and/or the radio access network 56B then may select non-conflicting transmission bands or transmission frequencies based on the indicated transmission bands or transmission frequencies preferences.

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may assign a paging cycle for the second SIM card 64B corresponding to the second core network 54B, and may transmit the paging cycle assignment to the electronic device <NUM>. Operations performed of block <NUM> (of <FIG>) are the same as operations of block <NUM> of method <NUM> (e.g., <FIG>), and are thus incorporated herein. After the electronic device <NUM> implements the paging cycle assignment, at block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may communicate with the electronic device <NUM> using the second core network 54B and/or the radio access network 56B based on the paging cycle assignment and using the selected transmission band or transmission frequency. In this way, the second base station 52B may transmit data to or receive data from the electronic device <NUM> during a transmission period <NUM> assigned via the paging cycle assignment for the second core network 54B. In some embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may receive an indication of the selected transmission band or transmission frequency from the second base station 52B and/or may calibrate to the selected transmission band or transmission frequency before communicating with the second base station 52B. In some cases, the electronic device <NUM> may not reference an indication of the selected transmission band or transmission frequency when calibrating to the selected transmission band or transmission frequency.

Similar to <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>, which describe processes that use the electronic device <NUM> as a communicative mediator between the core networks <NUM> to enable assignment of non-conflicting paging cycles without using direct intercommunication between the core networks <NUM>, <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> describe processes that enable the electronic device <NUM> to indicate communication preferences (e.g., transmission band, transmission frequency) to the second base station 52B to cause the second base station to redirect its communications to the electronic device <NUM>, such as not to conflict with other operations of the electronic device <NUM> and/or the first base station 52A.

Turning now to <FIG>, a flow chart illustrates a method <NUM> for operating the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with the first base station 52A and the second core network 54B as part of a fourth example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In the case when the electronic device <NUM> is able to listen substantially simultaneously to two or more frequencies, the method <NUM> may be used to tune between a first transmission frequency corresponding to the first core network 54A and a second transmission frequency corresponding to the second core network 54B. In this fourth example, the electronic device <NUM> facilities exchange of information related to the first base station 52A and/or the first core network 54A to the second base station 52B. The information may include frequency preferences and may enable the second core network 54B to generate paging cycle assignments that do not overlap (e.g., conflict) in the time domain with the page cycle assignment for the first core network 54A. In this way, conflicting transmission or reception durations are reduced and/or eliminated. Thus, it may be said that the burden of generating non-conflicting paging cycle assignments is on the second core network 54B for the fourth example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>).

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may register to the first core network 54A using the first SIM card 64A to register to the first base station 52A. The electronic device <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, receive the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A corresponding to the first core network 54A from the first base station 52A. At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may activate the second SIM card 64B. Operations performed at block <NUM>, block <NUM>, and block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM>, block <NUM>, and block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may register to the second core network 54B using with the second SIM card 64B, and may indicate one or more transmission bands or transmission frequencies preferences to the second base station 52B. Operations performed at block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein. Also, at block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may transmit information associated with the first SIM card 64A, the first core network 54A, and/or the electronic device <NUM> to the second base station 52B, such as a paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A (e.g., received at block <NUM>). The information may include credentials of the first SIM card 64A which the second base station 52B may reference when registering the second SIM card 64B. It is noted that although not explicitly described as a part of each example process, each example process described herein may authenticate the second SIM card 64B based on one or more credentials or information associated with the first SIM card 64A.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may receive the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B corresponding to the second core network 54B from the second base station 52B. Operations performed at block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein. At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may also receive the selected transmission band or transmission frequency. Additionally or alternatively, the electronic device <NUM> may automatically tune or calibrate to a detected transmission band or transmission frequency of the second base station 52B corresponding to the selected transmission band or transmission frequency, such as part of a sweeping operation.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may communicate with the first base station 52A or the second base station 52B based on the paging cycle assignment. Operations performed at block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein. The second base station 52B may communicate with electronic device <NUM> over the second core network 54B and/or the radio access network 56B using the selected transmission band or transmission frequency. The first base station 52A may communicate with the electronic device <NUM> over the first core network 54A and/or the radio access network 56A using a default or otherwise determined transmission band or transmission frequency. In this way, the burden of accommodating transmission preferences of the first base station 52A and/or the electronic device <NUM> is on the second base station 52B.

To elaborate on how the first base station 52A may interact with the electronic device <NUM>, <FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating the first base station 52A to communicate with the electronic device <NUM> and the second core network 54B as part of the fourth example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the first base station 52A. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may register to the first SIM card 64A of the electronic device <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may assign a paging cycle for the first SIM card 64A corresponding to the first core network 54A without consideration for the paging cycle for the second SIM card 64B corresponding to the second core network 54B. Also, at block <NUM>, the first base station 52A may transmit the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A to the electronic device <NUM>. Finally, at block <NUM>, in response to the electronic device <NUM> implementing the paging cycle of the first SIM card 64A, the first core network 54A may communicate with the electronic device <NUM> based on the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A. Operations performed at block <NUM>, block <NUM>, and block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM>, block <NUM>, and block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein.

To elaborate on how the second core network 54B may interact with the electronic device <NUM>, <FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating the second core network 54B to communicate with the electronic device <NUM> and the first base station 52A as part of the fourth example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the second core network 54B. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may receive information associated with the first SIM card 64A, the first core network 54A, and/or the electronic device <NUM> from the electronic device <NUM>, such as a paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A. The information from the electronic device <NUM> may also include credentials of the first SIM card 64A to verify permission of the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with the second core network 54B. Also, at block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may receive indicated transmission bands or transmission frequencies preferences from the electronic device <NUM>. The indicated band or frequency preferences may be used by the second base station 52B to determine a transmission band or a transmission frequency compatible with the preferences of the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., non-conflicting with other operations or the first core network 54A).

At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may register the second SIM card 64B based on the information associated with the first SIM card 64A and received from the electronic device (e.g., credentials of the first SIM card 64A). At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may transmit the transmission bands or transmission frequencies preferences of the electronic device <NUM> to the radio access network 56B for selecting a transmission band or transmission frequency. At block <NUM>, the second base station 52B may assign a paging cycle for the second SIM card 64B based on information associated with the first SIM card 64A (e.g., paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A) and may transmit the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B to the electronic device <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the second base station may communicate with the electronic device <NUM> based on the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B and the selected transmission band or transmission frequency. Operations performed at block <NUM>, block <NUM>, block <NUM>, and block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM>, block <NUM>, block <NUM>, and block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein.

Turning now to <FIG>, a flow chart illustrates a method <NUM> for operating the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with the first base station 52A and the second core network 54B as part of a fifth example multi-SIM operation (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>) that may be used in combination with the first example and the second examples (e.g., Embodiment No. <NUM> and Embodiment No. <NUM> from Table <NUM>). In the case when the electronic device <NUM> is not able to listen substantially simultaneously to two or more frequencies, the method <NUM> may be used to tune between a first transmission frequency corresponding to the first SIM card 64A and a second transmission frequency corresponding to the second SIM card 64B. In this first example, the radio access networks <NUM> may generate transmission/reception gaps to the electronic device <NUM> that do not overlap (e.g., conflict) in the time domain, providing suitable time for the electronic device <NUM> to change the RF component chain between the first transmission frequency and the second transmission frequency. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the electronic device <NUM>. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may register to the first core network 54A using the first SIM card 64A. Operations performed at block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein. At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may activate the second SIM card 64B and, at block <NUM>, may register to the second core network 54B using the second SIM card 64B. Operations performed at block <NUM> and block <NUM> of <FIG> may be performed at block <NUM> and block <NUM> of <FIG>, and thus are incorporated herein.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may receive the respective paging cycle assignments for the first SIM card 64A and the second SIM card 64B. In some cases, the electronic device <NUM> may receive both of the paging cycle assignments after the electronic device <NUM> registers with the second base station 52B. However, in some embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> receives the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A before the electronic device <NUM> registers with the second base station 52B. The electronic device <NUM> may initially communicate with the core networks <NUM> according to an initial and/or a default paging cycle assignment until the electronic device <NUM> receives the paging cycle assignments from the first base station 52A and/or the second base station 52B. In some embodiments, the second base station 52B may generate the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B corresponding to the second core network 54B based on information transmitted directly to the second base station 52B by the first base station 52A (e.g., following operations of Embodiment No. <NUM>). However, in some embodiments, the second base station 52B may generate the paging cycle assignment for the second core network 54B based on information transmitted to the second base station 52B by the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., following operations of Embodiment No. <NUM>). The electronic device <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, communicate with the first core network 54A or the second core network 54B based on the paging cycle assignments. Since the paging cycle assignments may not overlap in the time domain (e.g., are non-conflicting in the time domain), communications between the electronic device <NUM> and the core networks <NUM> sent according to the paging cycle assignments are not interrupted, thereby permitting use of multiple SIM cards <NUM> operated to have a negligible or zero likelihood of missing or dropped communications.

In some cases, the electronic device <NUM> includes the first SIM card 64A and the second SIM card 64B, where the second SIM card 64B has a higher priority associated with its communications. For example, the second SIM card 64B may correspond to a cellular network that broadcasts relatively high priority information (e.g., police communications). When the electronic device <NUM> is communicating with the first core network 54A, some communications may be missed by the electronic device <NUM> since the electronic device <NUM> may not be operated in a transmission period <NUM> when the communication is sent to the electronic device <NUM>. To fix this, the second base station 52B may use the first radio access network 56A to allocate a transmission period <NUM> in the paging cycle assignment for the first SIM card 64A, such as by generating connected discontinuous receive mode (C-DRX) gaps, in response to receiving a notification that the second base station 52B has relatively high priority data to transmit to the electronic device <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may, in response to identifying the transmission period <NUM>, may switch frequencies and/or other configurations of the RF chains <NUM> to permit communication with the second base station 52B. After conclusion of the relatively high priority communication, the second base station 52B may prolong the transmission period <NUM> for the second SIM card 64B until a subsequent transition into an idle period <NUM> for the paging cycle assignment of the second SIM card 64B, such that normal operation may continue according to the paging cycle assignments.

<FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating the electronic device <NUM> to communicate with the first base station 52A and the second core network 54B that summarizes operations described above with reference to Embodiments Nos. <NUM>-<NUM> from Table <NUM>. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by the electronic device <NUM>. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may receive respective paging cycle assignments for the first SIM card 64A and the second SIM card 64B. In some cases, the electronic device <NUM> may receive both of the paging cycle assignments after the electronic device <NUM> registers with the second base station 52B, however, in some embodiments, the paging cycle assignment associated with the first core network 54A before the electronic device <NUM> registers with the second base station 52B. The electronic device <NUM> may initially communicate with the core networks <NUM> according to an initial and/or a default paging cycle assignment until the electronic device <NUM> receives the paging cycle assignments from the first base station 52A and/or the second base station 52B. In some embodiments, the second base station 52B may generate the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B based on information transmitted directly to the second base station 52B by the first base station 52A (e.g., following operations of Embodiment No. <NUM>, following operations of Embodiment No. <NUM>). However, in some embodiments, the second base station 52B may generate the paging cycle assignment for the second SIM card 64B based on information transmitted to the second base station 52B by the electronic device <NUM> (e.g., following operations of Embodiment No. <NUM>, following operations of Embodiment No. <NUM>).

Furthermore, in some embodiments, at block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may receive a transmission band assignment or a transmission frequency assignment from the second core network 54B. The second core network 54B may select the transmission band assignment or the transmission frequency assignment from a set of preferred transmission bands or a set of preferred transmission frequencies transmitted to the second core network 54B by the electronic device <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may identify compatible transmission bands or transmission frequencies to a transmission band or transmission frequency already assigned or allocated to the first SIM card 64A and/or the first core network 54A.

At block <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may communicate with the first core network 54A or the second core network 54B based on the paging cycle assignments. Since the paging cycle assignments may not overlap (e.g., are non-conflicting), communication between the electronic device <NUM> and the core networks <NUM> are not interrupted, thereby permitting use of multiple SIM cards <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flow chart illustrating a method <NUM> for operating a base station <NUM> to communicate with another base station <NUM> and the electronic device <NUM> as part of a that summarizes operations described above with reference to Embodiments Nos. <NUM>-<NUM> from Table <NUM>. In some embodiments, the method <NUM> may be implemented at least in part by executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory <NUM>, using processing circuitry, such as processors <NUM>, or the like. However, as described herein, the method <NUM> is described as being performed by a base station <NUM>. It is noted that although depicted and/or described in a particular order, many operations described herein may be performed in any suitable order, and some operations may be skipped altogether.

At block <NUM>, the base station <NUM> may register to a SIM card <NUM>. As described above, registration may include verifying or authenticating a SIM card <NUM> of an electronic device <NUM> for communication with a core network <NUM> of the base station <NUM>. To do so, the base station <NUM> may receive an identity number, such as an IMSI, from the SIM card <NUM> and/or electronic device <NUM>. In some embodiments, the electronic device <NUM> may transmit a second identity number, such as a personal identification number (PIN), to the first SIM card 64A before the first SIM card 64A reveals the identity number to the electronic device <NUM>. The base station <NUM> may include a memory <NUM>, and thus may search the memory <NUM> to determine an encryption key corresponding to the identity number of the SIM card <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> and the base station may use the encryption key to encrypt and/or decrypt future communications with the first base station 52A. Registering to the first base station 52A may permit the electronic device <NUM> access to information transmitted via the first core network 54A.

At block <NUM>, the base station <NUM> may receive a first paging cycle assignment for another core network <NUM>. The base station <NUM> may use the first paging cycle assignment of the other core network <NUM> when determining a second paging cycle to assign for the core network <NUM>, such as to determine a non-conflicting paging cycle assignment relative to preferences of the core network <NUM>. The paging cycle assignment may define one or more transmission or communication periods for the electronic device <NUM> to transmit the data to a core network (e.g., the core network <NUM>) and/or to receive data from a core network. In this way, the base station <NUM>, at block <NUM>, may determine a second paging cycle assignment based on the first paging cycle assignment, such that the second paging cycle assignment does not conflict with the first paging cycle assignment. The base station <NUM> thus reduces or eliminates a likelihood of dropped, interrupted, or missed communications between the core network <NUM> and the electronic device <NUM> by modifying transmission patterns of the core network <NUM> in response to the transmission patterns of the other core network <NUM>. This may be considered a type of preemptive consideration to counteract transmission conflicts before a transmission conflict happens between the core networks <NUM>.

At block <NUM>, when the radio access network <NUM> is not considered, the base station <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, communicate with the electronic device <NUM> based on the first paging cycle assignment and the second paging cycle assignment. In this way, the base station <NUM> does not transmit data to the electronic device <NUM> during a transmission period of the first paging cycle assignment and waits until a transmission period of the second paging cycle assignment.

However, when, at block <NUM>, the radio access network <NUM> is considered, the base station <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, receive a set of preferred transmission bands or transmission frequencies from the electronic device <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may identify compatible transmission bands or transmission frequencies to a transmission band or transmission frequency already assigned or allocated to the first SIM card 64A and/or the first core network 54A. The base station <NUM> may, at block <NUM>, determine the transmission band assignment or the transmission frequency assignment from a set of preferred transmission bands or a set of preferred transmission frequencies transmitted to the base station <NUM> by the electronic device <NUM>. Then, at block <NUM>, when the base station <NUM> communicates with the electronic device <NUM> using the second paging assignment, the base station <NUM> may also use the selected transmission band or transmission frequency when transmitting with the electronic device <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A method, comprising:
registering, by an electronic device (<NUM>), a first subscriber identification module, SIM, (64A) to a first core network (54A), wherein the electronic device (<NUM>) comprises the first SIM (64A) and a second SIM (64B);
registering, by the electronic device (<NUM>), the second SIM (64B) to a second core network (54B) after registering the first SIM (64A) to the first core network (54A);
transmitting, by the electronic device (<NUM>), a first indication of a preferred transmission band to the second core network (54B) after registering to the second core network (54B);
receiving, by the electronic device (<NUM>), a second indication of a transmission band from the second core network (54B) in response to the second core network (54B) determining the transmission band based on the preferred transmission band;
receiving, by the electronic device (<NUM>), a third indication of a first paging cycle for the first SIM (64A) from the first core network (54A) and a fourth indication of a second paging cycle for the second SIM (64B) from the second core network (54B), the first paging cycle defining a first set of reception periods for the electronic device (<NUM>) to receive paging data from the first core network (54A), the second paging cycle defining a second set of reception periods for the electronic device (<NUM>) to receive paging data from the second core network (54B), the second paging cycle being determined by a base station (52B) connected to the second core network (54B), and wherein timing of the second paging cycle is generated based on the first paging cycle; and
communicating, by the electronic device (<NUM>), with the first core network (54A) using the first SIM (64A), based on the first paging cycle and communicating with the second core network (54B) using the second SIM (64B) based on the second paging cycle, wherein communicating with the second core network (54B) is performed by using the transmission band.