CN102905399B - Method for arranging radio activities and communication device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of scheduling radio activity and a communication device thereof, wherein the communication device scheduling radio activity comprises: a processor coupling a first rat module and a second rat module, comprising: a first processor logic module that schedules one or more radio activities of a second radio access technology module according to a first scheduling method when the first radio access technology module is operating in an idle mode, wherein the second radio access technology module is operating in the idle mode and continues to transceive one or more messages; and a second processor logic module that schedules one or more radio activities of a second radio access technology module according to a second scheduling method when the first radio access technology module leaves idle mode and enters data mode to perform data transmission in the first wireless network through the radio transceiver, wherein the second radio access technology module operates in idle mode and continues to transceive one or more messages.

Description

Method for arranging radio activities and communication device therefor

technical field

The present invention relates to a method for arranging the radio activity of a plurality of Radio Access Technology (RAT) modules in a communication device, and in particular to arranging the radio activity of the above-mentioned RAT modules in a communication device when they share one antenna. method of the activity.

Background technique

The term "wireless", generally referring to electrical or electronic operation, can be achieved without the use of "hard-wired" connections. "Wireless communication" is the transmission of information over a distance without the use of electrical conductors or wires. The distances involved can be short distances (a few meters for a TV remote control) or long distances (thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers for radio communications). The mobile phone is the most well-known example of wireless communication. Mobile phones allow users in many locations around the world to talk to each other using radio waves. A mobile phone can be used anywhere as long as there is a cellular telephone site to house equipment capable of sending and receiving signals that are processed for the mobile phone to send and receive voice and data.

Various mobile communication technologies are quite mature and well defined. For example, the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) is a well-defined and widely adopted communication system that uses Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology, which is used to transmit data between mobile phones and cell sites. A digital radio multiple access scheme for voice, data, and signaling data (such as dialed telephone numbers). CDMA2000 is a technical standard for hybrid mobile communication 2.5G/3G, which adopts Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology. Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, UMTS) is a 3G mobile communication system, UMTS provides enhanced range of multimedia services on the GSM system. Wireless Fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, Wi-Fi) technology is a technology defined by the 802.11 engineering technology standard. This technology can be used in home networks, mobile phones and video games to provide high-frequency wireless local area networks.

With the rapid development of wireless communication technologies, it is possible to use different or the same communication technologies in a mobile station (Mobile Station, MS) to provide multiple wireless communication services today. In order to provide optimal communication services, a method of scheduling radio activity of multiple RAT modules is needed. However, with conventional methods, when one of the RAT modules occupies the radio resources of the other RAT module for too long to perform its radio activities, the data throughput associated with the other RAT module will be severely degraded and excessive continuous occupation may occur. -and-consecutive-occupancy).

Contents of the invention

In view of this, the present invention provides a method for arranging radio activities and a communication device thereof.

A communication device for scheduling radio activities, comprising: a processor coupled to a first radio access technology module and a second radio access technology module, wherein the first radio access technology module and the second radio access technology module share a radio Transceiver; wherein the first radio access technology module is connected to the first service cell of the first wireless network; the second radio access technology module is to be connected to the second service cell of the second wireless network; and wherein the processor includes at least : a first processor logic module that schedules one or more radio activities of a second radio access technology module according to a first scheduling method when the first radio access technology module is operating in idle mode, wherein the second radio access technology module the technology module operates in the idle mode and continues to send and receive one or more messages via the radio transceiver in the second wireless network; and the second processor logic module, when the first radio access technology module leaves the idle mode and enters the data mode by scheduling one or more radio activities of the second RAT module according to a second scheduling method, wherein the second RAT module operates in idle mode and continues to perform data transmission in the first wireless network by the radio transceiver One or more messages are sent and received by radio transceivers in the second wireless network; wherein, based on the second scheduling method, the second processor logic module divides a radio activity of the second radio access technology module into several part, and arrange the second radio access technology module to perform the divided radio active part at different gap intervals among the plurality of gap intervals, wherein, after performing the divided radio active part of the second radio access technology module During the gap interval, the first radio access technology module is suspended from sending and receiving messages through the radio transceiver.

A method of arranging radio activities, wherein there are at least a first radio access technology module and a second radio access technology module configured in a communication device and sharing a radio transceiver, wherein the first radio access technology module stands by on the first The first service cell of the wireless network and the second radio access technology module are waiting to be connected to the second service cell of the second wireless network. The method for arranging radio activities includes: adopting the first scheduling method, when the first radio access technology module When executing in idle mode, schedule one or more radio activities of the second radio access technology module, wherein the second radio access technology module operates in idle mode and continues to transmit and receive a radio transceiver in the second wireless network or a plurality of messages; and using a second scheduling method, when the first radio access technology module leaves the idle mode and enters the data mode to perform data transmission in the first wireless network through the radio transceiver, schedule the second radio access technology module one or more radio activities, wherein the second radio access technology module operates in idle mode and continues to send and receive one or more messages in the second wireless network through the radio transceiver; wherein, the second scheduling method is used to schedule the The step of one or more radio activities further comprises: dividing a radio activity of the second radio access technology module into several parts, and arranging the second radio access technology module at different slot intervals of the plurality of slot intervals performing the divided radio active part, wherein during the gap interval of the divided radio active part of the second radio access technology module, the first radio access technology module is suspended from sending and receiving messages through the radio transceiver .

Another method of scheduling radio activity, wherein the communication device comprises at least two slots, each coupled to a corresponding radio access technology module and the radio access technology modules share a radio transceiver, the method of scheduling radio activity includes: Detecting the number of subscriber identity cards inserted into the slot; and when only one subscriber identity card is detected to be inserted into one of the slots, a first scheduling method is used to arrange one of the corresponding wireless access technology modules coupled to the subscriber identity card or a plurality of radio activities, wherein the corresponding radio access technology module operates in an idle mode and continues to send and receive one or more messages through the radio transceiver in the wireless network, and when more than one SIM card is inserted into the slot is detected, Using a second scheduling method, scheduling one or more radio activities of at least one corresponding radio access technology module coupled to the subscriber identity card, wherein the corresponding radio access technology module operates in idle mode and continues to transmit and receive by radio in the wireless network The machine sends and receives one or more messages; Wherein, the step of arranging the one or more radio activities of the corresponding radio access technology module of at least one coupled to the subscriber identity card by the second scheduling method further includes: the corresponding radio A radio activity of the access technology module is divided into at least two parts, and the corresponding radio access technology module is arranged to execute the divided radio activity part in different gap intervals among the plurality of gap intervals, wherein, when executing the corresponding radio access Within the gap interval of the divided radio active part of the input technology module, another radio access technology module other than the corresponding radio access technology module is suspended to send and receive messages through the radio transceiver.

The method of scheduling radio activity and its communication device of the present invention can solve the problem of severe data throughput degradation and excessive continuous occupation associated with radio access technology modules.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication device equipped with two RAT modules according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication device equipped with two RAT modules according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a network topology diagram described according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system structure of a communication device with two protocol stack processing programs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a timing diagram describing scheduling radio activities performed by different RAT modules according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is two combined time series describing data/signaling transceiving activities of RAT modules RAT1 and RAT2.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for triggering an intelligent scheduling method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a method for triggering an intelligent scheduling method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a timing diagram illustrating radio activities without intelligent scheduling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram describing radio activities scheduled based on an intelligent scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a timing diagram illustrating "3G Frequency Scan" radio activity without intelligent scheduling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a timing diagram describing radio activities of “3G frequency scanning” arranged based on an intelligent scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

Certain terms are used in the description and claims to refer to particular elements. Those skilled in the art should understand that hardware manufacturers may use different terms to refer to the same component. The specification and claims do not use the difference in name as a way to distinguish components, but use the difference in function of components as a criterion for distinguishing. "Includes" mentioned throughout the specification and claims is an open term, so it should be interpreted as "including but not limited to". In addition, the term "coupled" herein includes any direct and indirect means of electrical connection. Therefore, if it is described that the first device is coupled to the second device, it means that the first device may be directly electrically connected to the second device, or indirectly electrically connected to the second device through other devices or connection means.

The following descriptions are about the embodiments of the present invention, which are intended to describe the basic principles of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention is defined by the claims.

With the continuous development of communication technology, mobile stations currently have the ability to manage multiple RATs, such as GSMRAT, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) RAT, Enhanced Datarates for GSMEvolution (EDGE) in one communication device RAT, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) RAT, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) RAT, Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) RAT, Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAT, At least two of Time Division Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) RATs or similar RATs. The MS can be replaced by a user equipment (User Equipment, UE).

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication device equipped with two RAT modules according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 100 may include two RAT modules 11 and 12 (both may be the same RAT module or different RAT modules, the present invention is not limited thereto), a processor 105 coupled to the RAT modules 11 and 12, a memory 106, a radio transceiver The antenna 109 shared by the machine 108 and the RAT modules 11 and 12. The RAT module 11 may at least include a baseband processor 103 coupled to the subscriber identity card 101 , and the RAT module 12 may at least include a baseband processor 104 coupled to the subscriber identity card 102 .

The radio transceiver 108 can receive a radio frequency (Radio Frequency, RF) signal, convert the received signal into a baseband signal for the baseband processor 103 and/or 104 to process, or receive the baseband signal from the baseband processor 103 and/or 104 and Received signals are converted to wireless RF signals for transmission to peer devices. The radio transceiver 108 may include a number of hardware devices to perform RF conversion. For example, the radio transceiver 108 may include a mixer (mixer), which multiplies the carrier wave oscillating in the RF signal of the wireless communication system with the baseband signal, wherein, for example, for GSM, the RF signal frequency may be 900MHz or 1800MHz, 1900MHz for UMTS, or other frequencies. The baseband processors 103 and 104 can further convert the baseband signal into a plurality of digital signals and process the digital signals, and vice versa. The baseband processors 103 and 104 may also include multiple hardware devices to perform baseband signal processing. Baseband signal processing may include analog-to-digital conversion (AnalogtoDigitalConversion, ADC)/digital-to-analog conversion (DigitaltoAnalogConversion, DAC), gain adjustment, modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, and the like. The processor 105 can control the operation of the radio transceiver 108 and the RAT modules 11 , 12 respectively. The processor 105 can read data from and write data into the inserted SIM cards 101 and 102 inserted into the two slots.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 105 may be arranged to execute program codes of corresponding software modules of the RAT modules 11 and 12 . The program code with specific data in the data structure can also be referred to as a processor logic module, and when it is executed, the processor 105 can maintain and execute individual tasks, threads and/or protocol stacks of the RAT modules 11 and 12 , to independently control the operations of the baseband processors 103 and 104, the radio transceiver 108, and the SIM cards 101 and 102 inserted into the two slots. In a preferred embodiment, two protocol stacks can be configured to separately manage the radio activity of a single RAT module. However, it is also possible to configure only one protocol stack and manage radio activities of the RAT module at the same time, and the present invention is not limited thereto. It should be noted that in other embodiments of the present invention, a communication device with dual-core processors can also be designed. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a communication device equipped with two RAT modules according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the wireless communication device 100' in FIG. 2, the processor and memory can be integrated in the baseband processors 103' and 104' of the RAT modules 11' and 12', respectively, and each processor can maintain and execute the corresponding RAT Tasks, threads and/or protocol stacks of modules 11' and 12'. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to one example.

Fig. 3 is a network topology diagram described according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 200 in FIG. 3 may be the communication devices 100 and 100' described in FIGS. 1 and 2 . Thus, in the following, for the sake of simplicity, the communication device 200 will represent all the aforementioned similar devices. After the communication device 200 equipped with more than one subscriber identity card is camped or associated with the cells managed by the access stations 201 and 202, the communication device 200 can simultaneously access multiple The network 203 and 204 of RAT, wherein network 203 or 204 can be GSM network, WCDMA network, Wi-Fi network, CDMA2000 network, TD-SCDMA network, Internet or similar network, and access station 201 or 202 can be base station (BaseStation , BS), Node-B (node-B), or an access point compatible with 802.1a, 802.1b, 802.1g. The communication device 200 can issue (issue) a device originating communication request (apparatus originated communication request) to the called party (such as another corresponding wired or wireless communication device) by using any assembled subscriber identity card, such as a voice call, a data call, a video call or a call based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoiceoverInternetProtocol, VoIP) call, wherein the above-mentioned distribution is through at least one of the networks 203 and 204 with corresponding media devices 205 and 206 (such as a GSM network with a mobile switching center, a WCDMA network with a radio network controller) /TD-SCDMA network or the Internet with a session initiation protocol server), or through the public switched telephone network (Public Switched Telephone Network, PSTN) 207 or any combination of the above networks. In addition, the communication device 200 can receive an apparatus-terminated communication request (apparatusterminated communication request), also called a mobile terminal (Mobile Terminated, MT) incoming call request, such as an incoming call from any subscriber identity card of the calling party. It will be appreciated that one or more gateways may exist between different types of networks.

In order to describe the content of the present invention, it is assumed that a RAT module (hereinafter referred to as RAT1) configured in the communication device 200 is waiting for the first service cell (or service cell) of the first wireless network (such as a service network), and it enters "Data mode" establishes a circuit switched (CircuitSwitch, CS) or PS connection with the first wireless network through the radio transceiver 108 and the antenna 109 and performs CS or PS data transmission (for example, voice/video data or packet data transmission). Meanwhile, another RAT module (hereinafter referred to as RAT2 ) of the configuration and communication device 200 waits for the second service cell of the second wireless network and enters an idle mode of normal standby (normal standby). It is worth noting that for conventional designs, in the case of a communication device equipped with two RAT modules, when one RAT module occupies radio resources (such as antenna 109 and radio transceiver 108) for performing CS or PS data transmission, the other RAT module The module can enter "airplane mode" to suspend its transmit and receive functions.

However, based on the content of the present invention, in order to provide more efficient radio services, during the data transmission of the RAT module RAT1, the RAT module RAT1 can provide one or more gap intervals (gap interval) for the RAT module RAT2 to perform corresponding radio activities. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present invention, even if the RAT module RAT1 enters the "data mode" for CS or PS data transmission, the RAT module RAT2 can still stay in the idle mode (or called "virtual idle mode") for normal standby ” to distinguish from the RAT idle mode commonly used in communication device design) and may continue to transmit and receive one or more messages in the second wireless network through radio resources (eg, antenna 109 and radio transceiver 108).

In order to implement the teachings of the present invention, an arbiter can be designed to schedule and coordinate radio activities of different RAT modules. For example but not limited thereto, the radio activity may be a channel activity for transmitting or receiving information in a corresponding cell, or a measurement activity of performing a power scan or a frequency scan on a service cell or a neighboring cell, or other activities. In some embodiments of the present invention, a real-time base (RealTimeBase, RTB) software module can be designed to play the role of scheduling and coordinating radio activities. When the processor 105 shown in FIG. 1 or the processor shown in FIG. 2 executes the RTB software module, the processor of the communication device can act as an arbiter to schedule and coordinate radio activities of different RAT modules. It should be noted that, in other embodiments, the arbitrator can also be designed and configured as a dedicated hardware device, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, in other embodiments, instead of configuring dedicated software or hardware arbitrators, protocol stack handlers for processing individual tasks and/or protocol stacks can also communicate with each other to arrange and coordinate communication between different RAT modules. Radio activity, wherein the above-mentioned protocol stack processing procedure is for the RAT modules 11 and 12 (or RAT modules 11' and 12') representing the subscriber identity cards 101 and 102. The protocol stack processing program may be composed of program codes and executed by the above-mentioned processors. It should be noted that only one protocol stack processing program can be configured to handle the radio activities of the RAT module at the same time, and the present invention is not limited thereto. When the processor 105 shown in FIG. 1 or the processor shown in FIG. 2 executes the protocol stack processing program, it can be referred to as a device for implementing corresponding functions. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system structure of a communication device with two protocol stack processing programs according to an embodiment of the present invention. When the two protocol stack processing programs PS1 and PS2 are executed, PS1 and PS2 are respectively capable of arranging (or driving) the radio transceiver 108 to perform data and signaling transceiving activities. Protocol stack handlers PS1 and PS2 may communicate with each other to negotiate control of radio resources in any future time period (also alternatively referred to as time slot or time frame) and schedule radio resources accordingly.

FIG. 5 is a timing diagram describing scheduling radio activities performed by different RAT modules according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 5, the RAT module RAT1 waiting to be connected to the first service cell enters the "data mode" to establish a PS connection with the first wireless network through the radio transceiver 108 and the antenna 109 and perform data transmission in the first wireless network . Thus, the radio activity performed by the RAT module RAT1 is the transmission or reception of data and/or control signals in the first wireless network over a dedicated data channel (eg, a plurality of dedicated channels along the time axis shown), wherein on the time axis The dedicated channel can be represented by DCH. Meanwhile, the RAT module RAT2 camping on the second cell remains in idle mode. The gap intervals GAP_1 and GAP_2 were originally arranged to perform data transmission of the RAT module RAT1, but now the above-mentioned gap intervals are assigned to the RAT module RAT2 to listen to the paging channel (as shown in the figure PCH) or the adjacent cell broadcast control channel (as shown in the figure) NBCCH), or perform power measurements (as PM in the figure). During the above-mentioned gap intervals, the data transmission of the RAT module RAT1 is suspended and the RAT module RAT1 cannot utilize radio resources to perform radio activities (thus, the DCH is shaded during the gap intervals as shown).

However, it has been found in practice that as the provided gap interval time becomes longer, the data throughput associated with the RAT module RAT1 drops severely and excessive-and-consecutive-occupancy problems may occur. The first wireless network connected to the RAT module RAT1 may continue to monitor uplink data and/or acknowledgments received from the RAT module RAT1, and dynamically adjust the transmission bandwidth allocated to the RAT module RAT1. The more frequently uplink data or acknowledgments are received, the larger the transmission bandwidth should be allocated for the RAT module RAT1. However, due to the existence of the aforementioned gap interval, the data throughput associated with the RAT module RAT1 decreases, which slows down the speed of uplink data or acknowledgment transmission, so that the downlink bandwidth obtained from the first wireless network is reduced. Small. For example, assume that the RAT module RAT2 is provided with several consecutive gap intervals to perform corresponding radio activities, wherein during this period, the first wireless network performs corresponding data transceiving of the RAT module RAT1 . If the RAT module RAT1 does not perform data transceiving or does not respond to the first wireless network within a certain period of time, the downlink bandwidth arranged by the first wireless network may drop significantly to a lower level, or worse, it may cause the network It is considered that the RAT module RAT1 is in a radio link failure (RadioLink Failure, RLF) state and thus disconnects the PS connection. Once the connection disappears, the RAT module RAT1 has to spend more time to establish a new PS connection to continue the remaining data transmission and reception, which leads to more decline in data throughput. In addition to the situation in the PS connection described above, excessive loss of continuous speech frames in the CS connection of the RAT module RAT1 may cause the user to hear discontinuous or unclear conversations and feel uncomfortable. This situation described above is known as the excessive continuous occupancy problem.

In order to avoid the problem of excessive continuous occupation and also provide more reliable radio service, the present invention provides several embodiments of a novel intelligent scheduling method and system thereof. Typically, smart scheduling methods divide the continuous radio activity associated with the RAT module using the gap interval into several parts to avoid the above-mentioned excessive continuous occupation problem. It is worth noting that, according to different embodiments of the present invention, the arbitrator (which is configured by a software module or a dedicated hardware device), a common protocol stack processing program, or a protocol stack processing program associated with different RAT modules can all perform the above-mentioned intelligent scheduling method, the present invention is not limited thereto. Therefore, for the sake of simplicity, the term "processor" may be used to represent an arbiter or a protocol stack handler of the following paragraphs to more clearly describe its operation.

FIG. 6 is two combined time sequences describing the data/signaling transceiving activities of the RAT modules RAT1 and RAT2, which are used to illustrate the concept of intelligent scheduling. In Figure 6, the upper part describes the data/signaling transceiving activities of the RAT modules RAT1 and RAT2 without using the intelligent scheduling mechanism, while the lower part describes the data/signaling transceiving activities of the RAT modules RAT1 and RAT2 under the intelligent scheduling mechanism Activity. As shown in Fig. 6, the radio activity of the RAT module RAT2 can be split into two parts to avoid a significant reduction of the scheduled downlink bandwidth or a network initiated disconnection.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, when a RAT module leaves the idle mode and enters the data mode to perform data transmission in the wireless network through the radio transceiver 108, an intelligent scheduling method can be employed. Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for triggering an intelligent scheduling method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In step S702, the processor may periodically monitor the communication status of the RAT module. Next, in step S704, the processor may determine whether there is a RAT module that has entered the data mode to perform data transmission according to the corresponding communication status. Generally, when the RAT module is not actively communicating with a service cell for voice calls or data sessions but still has the ability to send and receive one or more messages or control signaling in the wireless network, it is said to be in idle mode. When a dedicated connection (specific CS or PS connection) is established for voice call or data session communication with a service cell, the RAT module leaves idle mode and enters data mode. If the processor determines that no RAT module has entered the data mode to perform data transmission, in step S706, a common scheduling method is adopted. Otherwise, in step S708, an intelligent scheduling method is adopted.

It should be noted that, in some embodiments of the present invention, when the physical layer dedicated channel has been established, the processor may determine that the RAT module has entered the data mode. For example, the above-mentioned physical layer dedicated channel may be a GSM traffic channel (TrafficChannel, TCH) for establishing voice transmission, a GSM packet data traffic channel (PacketDataTrafficChannel, PDTCH) for establishing data transmission, or a UMTS channel for establishing voice or data transmission. Dedicated Channel (DedicatedChannel, DCH) or other channels. It should be further noted that in other embodiments of the present invention, for example, when certain specific upper layer messages have been received, the processor may also determine from an upper layer perspective that the RAT module has entered the data mode. For example, the specific message may be a CC_CONNECTED message indicating that a CS connection has been established and connected, or a Packet Data Protocol CONTEXTACCEPT (PDP_CONTEXT_ACCEPT) message indicating that the context of a packet switched connection has been accepted, or other similar messages.

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, when it is detected that more than one SIM card is inserted into the corresponding slot of the communication device 200, the intelligent scheduling method can be directly adopted. Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a method for triggering an intelligent scheduling method according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In step S802, the processor may periodically detect the number of SIM cards inserted into the slot. The processor can detect whether there is a subscriber identification card inserted into the corresponding slot by sending a probe voltage to the corresponding slot. When there is a SIM card inserted into the corresponding slot, if it is a suitable voltage, the SIM card responds to the processor, and the processor can then know the presence of the SIM card. Or the processor may continuously send polling messages (such as STATUS commands or similar specific messages) to the slot through a Subscriber Identity Module (Subscriber Identity Module, SIM) or Universal Subscriber Identity Module (Universal Subscriber Identity Module, USIM) interface connection. If the processor does not receive the response data within the preset time, it is considered that the subscriber identification card is not inserted into the slot (or the subscriber identification card has been removed). Next, in step S804, the processor may determine whether there is more than one SIM card in the slot. If not, then in step S806 a common scheduling method is adopted. Otherwise, in step S808, an intelligent scheduling method is adopted. The next paragraphs will introduce the details of the ordinary scheduling method and the smart scheduling method.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a processor (such as the processor 105 shown in FIG. 1 or the processor shown in FIG. 2 ) may include a plurality of processor logic modules, each of which is configured to handle one or more functions. For example, the processor may comprise at least a first processor logic module, which can execute the first processor logic module to schedule one or more radio activities of the RAT module RAT2 according to a common scheduling method when the RAT module RAT1 is in idle mode, wherein the RAT The module RAT2 also operates in the idle mode and continues to send and receive one or more messages through the radio transceiver 108 in the second wireless network. In addition, the processor may also include a second processor logic module, and when the RAT module RAT1 leaves the idle mode and enters the data mode to perform data transmission through the wireless transceiver 108 in the first wireless network, the second processor logic module may be executed to One or more radio activities of the RAT module RAT2 are scheduled according to an intelligent scheduling method, wherein the RAT module RAT2 operates in an idle mode and continues to send and receive messages through the radio transceiver 108 on the second wireless network. In addition, the processor may further comprise a third processor logic module, which may be executed using a plurality of time intervals as slot intervals and assigning the slot intervals to the RAT module RAT2 to perform one or more radio activities using the radio transceiver 108, The above-mentioned gap intervals are originally scheduled to the RAT module RAT1 to perform data transmission.

Based on the common scheduling method, in order to save battery power, the processor can combine multiple radio activities when the RAT module does not enter the data mode to perform data transmission, or when a new radio activity is about to be performed after the previous radio activity ends , the above-mentioned combination is by arranging the above-mentioned radio activities one by one so that the RAT module RAT2 seamlessly and continuously executes the arranged radio activities. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the radio activities that are often combined and arranged seamlessly may include at least a first radio activity and a second radio activity, wherein the first radio activity is listening to a paging channel (PagingChannel, PCH) of a service cell, The second radio activity is receiving Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH) bursts and Synchronization Channel (SCH) bursts from neighboring cells in the wireless network. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the frequently combined and arranged seamlessly performed radio activities may include at least a first radio activity and a second radio activity, wherein the first radio activity is receiving FCCH bursts from a first neighboring cell and SCH bursts, the second radio activity is receiving FCCH bursts and SCH bursts from a second neighboring cell in the wireless network. It is worth noting that many other radio activities can still be arranged for seamless execution, and the present invention is not limited to the above examples.

As mentioned earlier, in order to avoid the above-mentioned excessive continuous occupation problem, when the RAT module RAT1 enters the data mode to perform data (CS or PS) transmission, it is best to limit the interruption duration caused by the RAT module RAT2 as much as possible (i.e. gap interval). For example, if there is an activity that can cause the above-mentioned excessive continuous occupation problem, for example, by spending 50ms listening to the Broadcasted Control Channel (BCCH) to measure the power of the serving cell and/or neighboring cells, or listening to the PCH, the processor can decide The whole activity is divided into two parts, each of which consumes 20ms and 30ms respectively, and is scheduled into two separated gap intervals to avoid scheduling a significant reduction in downlink bandwidth or a network-initiated disconnection. Activity partitioning can be referred to as an intelligent scheduling mechanism.

Based on the smart scheduling method, the processor may divide one radio activity into several parts and schedule each part to be performed by the second RAT module in different interstitial intervals. According to an embodiment of the invention, the radio activity that may be divided into several parts may be that of performing a frequency scan in a wireless network to locate a suitable cell to be a traffic cell, or receiving FCCH bursts from neighboring cells in a wireless network Radio activity with SCH bursts, or other radio activity. It is worth noting that many other radio activities can still be arranged to be divided into several parts, and the present invention is not limited to the above examples.

In addition, the processor can also divide the radio activities, in order to save battery power or other reasons, the above radio activities can be combined based on the common scheduling method, and based on the smart scheduling method, the processor schedules each radio activity to different slot intervals for the RAT Execution of module RAT2 wherein there is at least a first preset time interval between any two scheduled radio activities. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned first preset time interval may be determined based on an estimated tolerance time in which the RAT module RAT1 must respond to the first wireless network with a message (for example, 80 ms) to avoid a significant reduction in the scheduled downlink bandwidth or a network-initiated disconnect. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, preferably, the span of any two provided gap intervals should not be shorter than the first predetermined time interval. In addition, the length of each gap interval is preferably not longer than the second preset time interval, so that the throughput of the CS or PS data transmission of the RAT module RAT1 will not drop to an unacceptable level, or the communication quality will not become too bad So that the user has an unpleasant experience using the communication device 200 .

In the following paragraphs, several schemes will be introduced as embodiments of the present invention to describe the concept of the intelligent scheduling method. In the first scheme, when no RAT module has entered data mode to perform data transmission, combined radio activities based on common scheduling methods include listening to the PCH of the serving cell and receiving FCCH and SCH bursts from neighboring cells. When one RAT module has entered the data module to perform data transmission, the radio activity is divided based on the above-mentioned intelligent scheduling method. In the GSM public land mobile network (PublicLandMobileNetwork, PLMN) search process, if there is no neighbor cell list (list) available for reference, all GSM frequencies or GSM frequency band frequencies must be measured to locate potential BCCHs. After RXLREV discovers potential BCCHs based on received signal levels (ie power scan is complete), it investigates the presence or absence of FCCHs in each carrier, starting with the strongest signal. The FCCH burst (FB for short) is an all-zero sequence, which can establish a hybrid frequency modulation so that the RAT module (such as RAT2) locks the local oscillator (local oscillator) to the base station clock. It exists so that the above carrier can be used as a synchronized BCCH carrier. Then, the RAT module (eg, RAT2) fine-tunes the frequency correction and time synchronization by using the SCH synchronization burst (SB for short) followed by the FB, wherein the SB has a long training sequence. In the absence of preliminary knowledge of neighboring cells (eg, no neighboring cell list or corresponding neighboring cell carrier frequencies), the synchronization of reference FB and SB may be referred to as "FB and SB discovery" for short in the following.

In the first scenario, it is assumed that there is an activity consisting of two basic radio activities, one of which is listening to the PCH to decide whether to direct a telephone call or a paging message to the corresponding Subscriber Identity Card of the RAT module RAT2 (hereinafter briefly called "PCH Listening"), and another radio activity called "FB and SB Discovery". By implementing an intelligent scheduling method, a processor (on behalf of the arbiter described above, the normal protocol stack handler, or the separate protocol stack handler PS2) can set the radio transceiver 108 to schedule the basic radio activity "PCH Listening" at two separated slot intervals. " and "FB and SB Discovery". For example, the processor may issue "PCH Listen" and "FB and SB Discovery" commands respectively to control the radio transceiver 108 to perform basic radio activities in two separated air gap intervals. As another example, the processor can also issue the "PCH Listen" and "FB and SB Discovery" commands at the same time, but schedule different execution times for different radio activities, thereby controlling the radio transceiver 108 to operate between two separate air gaps. Perform basic radio activities.

In the second scenario, it is assumed that the activities contain two basic radio activities of "FB and SB discovery of neighbor cell A" and "FB and SB discovery of neighbor cell B". FIG. 9 is a timing diagram illustrating radio activities without intelligent scheduling according to an embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 9, the first row and the second row are the 51-frame multiframe (multiframe) structure of the adjacent cell A and the adjacent cell B, in which the RAT module RAT2 is identified by a special signal in the air, and the third row is the arrangement of the RAT module Radio activity performed by RAT1. In the 51-frame multiframe structure, the signaling channels F, S, C, B are arranged in a preset order. F represents FCCH, S represents SCH, B represents BCCH and C represents common control channel (Common Control Channel, CCCH).

As shown in Figure 9, without intelligent scheduling, the radio activities "FB and SB discovery of adjacent cell A" and "FB and SB discovery of adjacent cell B" are arranged one by one for the RAT module RAT2 at continuous gap intervals. Continuously scheduled radio activities are performed seamlessly like normal scheduled activities. During the gap interval, the RAT module RAT1 cannot utilize the radio resource to perform the corresponding radio activity, so the block representing the sacrificed radio activity is shaded in the figure.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram describing radio activities scheduled based on an intelligent scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 10, the radio activities "FB and SB discovery of neighbor cell A" and "FB and SB discovery of neighbor cell B" are scheduled to different gap intervals by applying an intelligent scheduling mechanism so that the RAT module RAT2 is separated A plurality of radio activities are performed, wherein there is at least a first preset time interval TI1 between consecutively performed radio activities. As mentioned above, the RAT module RAT1 needs time to respond to the first wireless network with a message to avoid arranging a significant reduction of the downlink bandwidth or a disconnection initiated by the network, the first preset time interval TI1 can be determined based on the above time Sure. Therefore, a more reliable radio service can be achieved after applying the intelligent scheduling method.

In the third scenario, assuming the radio activity is "FB and SB discovery of neighbor cell A", it may take a maximum duration of 15 GSM frames to complete the discovery process. By applying the intelligent scheduling method, the processor can divide the above discovery process into two parts, in one part, the RAT module RAT2 uses 7 GSM frame lengths to search for the FB and SB of the neighboring cell A, and in the other part, the After multiplying the length of 10 GSM frames completed by the previous search, the RAT module RAT2 uses 8 GSM frame lengths to search for the FB and SB of the adjacent cell A. Wherein, the second part of "FB and SB discovery of neighboring cell A" can start after 10, 20 or 30 GSM frames long, even immediately after the end of the first part of "FB and SB discovery of neighboring cell A" . According to the embodiment of the present invention, the processor can issue the "FB and SB discovery of adjacent cell A" command with a length of 7 GSM frames and then issue another "FB and SB discovery of adjacent cell A" command with a length of 8 GSM frames. SB Discovery" command to divide the discovery process into two parts to control the radio transceiver 108 to perform basic radio activities in two separated gap intervals.

In a fourth scenario, the radio activity is assumed to be a "3G frequency scan" of a RAT module (eg, RAT2) camping on a suitable cell. When starting a 3G frequency scan, a power scan operation is performed to locate one or more potential cells with better signal quality to camp on. Based on the results of the power scan, a cell search process can be performed to find the cell with the best signal quality, which includes a slot synchronization step, a frame synchronization step, a code-group identification step, and a scrambling-code identification step step. For time slot synchronization, the RAT module RAT2 uses the original synchronization code of the SCH to obtain time slot synchronization with the cell. Slot synchronization can be achieved using a single matched filter (or any similar means) where the filter is matched to an original synchronization code common to all cells. The slot timing of a cell can be obtained by monitoring the peak value of the matched filter output.

In the process of frame synchronization and code group identification, the RAT module RAT2 uses the secondary synchronization code of the SCH to locate frame synchronization between the MS and the cell and identify the code group of the cell found in the previous step. Frame synchronization can be achieved by correlating the received signal with all possible SSC sequences and determining the maximum correlation value. Since the cyclic shift (cyclic shift) of the sequence is unique, it can be determined that the code group is synchronized with the frame. During the scrambling code identification process, the RAT module RAT2 determines the exact original scrambling code used by the cell. Typically, the original scrambling code is determined by associating each symbol with all codes in the code group determined in the previous step in a common pilot channel (CommonPilotChannel, CPICH). After the original scrambling code is determined, the original Common Control Physical Channel (CCPCH) can be detected and broadcast channel information of a specific cell can be read.

FIG. 11 is a timing diagram illustrating "3G Frequency Scan" radio activity without intelligent scheduling according to an embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 11, the first row shows the "3G frequency scanning" radio activity arranged for the RAT module RAT2 to perform, and the second row shows the 3GDCH frame structure used by the RAT module RAT1 for CS or PS data transmission, where B0~B11 represent data blocks . As shown in FIG. 11 , since the number of cells to be searched and measured during the frequency scan cannot be predicted in advance, performing "3G frequency scan" may take an excessive amount of time. Therefore, the length of the gap interval provided to perform "3G frequency scan" is unpredictable without intelligent scheduling. In unpredictable interstitial intervals, the RAT module RAT1 cannot utilize radio resources to perform corresponding radio activities, therefore, the above-mentioned radio activities as shown in FIG. 11 are shaded.

FIG. 12 is a timing diagram describing radio activities of “3G frequency scanning” arranged based on an intelligent scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, the processor can divide the entire frequency sweep into several parts, the time interval at which each part is executed is limited by the length of the gap interval. For example, firstly, the processor may issue a "3G frequency scan" command to control the radio transceiver 108 to perform a "3G frequency scan" radio activity. If the frequency scan cannot be completed by the end of the gap interval, the processor may issue a suspend command to control the radio transceiver 108 to suspend the current process. The processor may further issue a resume command (resume command) to control the radio transceiver 108 to resume the suspended frequency scanning process and introduce it into another gap interval. By applying a smart scheduling approach, the RAT module RAT1 has sufficient time to respond to the first wireless network with a message within the time period of the two gap intervals, thereby avoiding a significant reduction of the scheduled downlink bandwidth or network-initiated disconnection connect. Therefore, more reliable radio service can be obtained after applying the intelligent scheduling method.

The content of the present invention can also be applied in more advanced radio access technologies, for example, Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) or Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-Advanced, LTE-A). In a fifth scenario, the radio activity is assumed to be "cell search" of an LTETERAT module (eg RAT2). During the LTE "cell search" procedure, the RAT module RAT2 is responsible for measuring multiple carriers, where the measurements are based on information about carrier frequencies and measurement bandwidths received from the network. Since performing the entire LTE "cell search" also takes excessive time, the above-mentioned excessive continuous occupation problem also occurs because the RAT module RAT1 cannot utilize radio resources to perform corresponding radio activities during the LTE "cell search" procedure.

However, by applying an intelligent scheduling method, the processor can divide the entire cell search process into several parts, and the time interval at which each part is executed is limited by the length of the gap interval. For example, the processor can divide the whole cell search process into several parts by scheduling the measurements of different carriers into different gap intervals. In this way, the RAT module RAT1 has sufficient time to respond to the first wireless network with a message within the time period of the two slot intervals, thereby avoiding a significant reduction of the scheduled downlink bandwidth or a network-initiated disconnection. Therefore, more reliable radio service can be obtained after applying the intelligent scheduling method.

The above-described embodiments of the invention can be implemented in numerous ways. For example, embodiments may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Any component or combination of components that perform the functions described above may generally be considered as one or more processors controlling the functions discussed above. One or more processors can be implemented in various ways, such as with dedicated hardware, or with general-purpose hardware, which is designed with microcode or software to perform the functions mentioned above.

Prefaces such as "first," "second," "third," etc. modifying elements in the claims do not imply any priority, priority, or ranking of one element over another element or method in itself. chronological order of execution, and are used only as a label to distinguish one element with the exact name from another element with the same name (except for modifiers).

Although the present invention is disclosed above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent changes and modifications made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention belong to this invention. Scope of Invention.

Claims (17)

1. a communicator that arranges radio activity, comprises:

Processor, couples the first wireless access technology module and the second wireless access technology module, wherein thisOne wireless access technology module and this second wireless access technology module are shared wireless set; Wherein thisOne wireless access technology module waits to be connected to the first service district of the first wireless network; Wherein this second wireless interfaceEnter the second service district of technology modules second wireless network to be connected to; And

Wherein this processor at least comprises: first processor logic module, and when this first wireless access technology mouldWhen piece operates in idle pulley, arrange one of this second wireless access technology module according to the first dispatching methodIndividual or multiple radio activity, wherein this second wireless access technology module operates in this idle pulley and continuesContinue in this second wireless network and receive and dispatch one or more message by this wireless set; And second placeReason device logic module, when this first wireless access technology module is left this idle pulley and enters data patternBy this wireless set in this first wireless network when performing data transmission, according to the second dispatching methodArrange these one or more radio activity of this second wireless access technology module, wherein this second wireless interfaceEntering technology modules operates in this idle pulley and continues in this second wireless network by this transceivingMachine is received and dispatched this one or more message;

Wherein, based on this second dispatching method, this second processor logic module is by this second wireless access skillA radio activity of art module is divided into several parts, and different gapping intervals in multiple gapping intervalsArrange this second wireless access technology module to carry out the radio activity part after dividing, wherein, should in executionIn this gapping interval of this radio activity part after the division of the second wireless access technology module, suspending shouldThe first wireless access technology module is by this wireless set messaging.

2. the communicator of arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 1, is characterized in that, this processingDevice can further comprise the 3rd processor logic module, for providing the plurality of gapping interval second wireless to thisAccess technology module is to utilize this wireless set to carry out this one or more radio activity.

3. the communicator of arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 2, is characterized in that, based on thisThe first dispatching method, this first processor logic module arranges the many of this second wireless access technology module one by oneIndividual radio activity is with the plurality of nothing of this second wireless access technology module that seamlessly execution has arranged continuouslyLine electrical activity.

4. the communicator of arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 2, is characterized in that, carries continuouslySpan between the plurality of gapping interval of confession is short unlike the first Preset Time interval, wherein this first wireless interfaceEntering technology modules utilizes this first Preset Time interval to come with this first wireless network of message response.

5. the communicator of arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 4, is characterized in that, the plurality ofEach length of gapping interval is long unlike the second Preset Time interval.

6. arrange a method for radio activity, wherein at least have the first wireless access technology module andTwo wireless access technology block configuration are in communicator, and this first wireless access technology module and thisTwo wireless access technology modules are shared wireless set, and wherein this first wireless access technology module is waited to be connected toThe first service district of the first wireless network and this second wireless access technology module wait to be connected to the second wireless networkThe second service district of network, the method for this arrangement radio activity comprises:

Adopt the first dispatching method, in the time that this first wireless access technology module is carried out in idle pulley, peaceArrange one or more radio activity of this second wireless access technology module, wherein this second wireless access skillArt module operates in this idle pulley and continues and receives by this wireless set in this second wireless networkSend out message one or more; And

Adopt the second dispatching method, when this first wireless access technology module is left this idle pulley and entersData pattern by this wireless set in this first wireless network when performing data transmission, arrange thisThese one or more radio activity of two wireless access technology modules, wherein this second wireless access technology mouldPiece operates in this idle pulley and continues to receive and dispatch in this second wireless network by this wireless set shouldOne or more message;

Wherein, adopt this second dispatching method to arrange the step of these one or more radio activity further to wrapContain: a radio activity of this second wireless access technology module is divided into several parts, and at multiple skiesThe radio that different gapping intervals in gap interval arrange this second wireless access technology module to carry out after dividing is livedMoving part, wherein, this radio activity part after the division of carrying out this second wireless access technology moduleThis gapping interval in, suspend this first wireless access technology module by this wireless set messaging.

7. the method for arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 6, further comprises:

Provide the plurality of gapping interval to this second wireless access technology module to utilize this wireless set to holdThese one or more radio activity of row.

8. the method for arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 7, is characterized in that, adopt this firstDispatching method arranges the step of these one or more radio activity further to comprise:

Arrange one by one multiple radio activity of this second wireless access technology module seamlessly to have carried out continuouslyThe plurality of radio activity of this second wireless access technology module arranging.

9. the method for arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 7, is characterized in that, provides continuouslySpan between the plurality of gapping interval is short unlike the first Preset Time interval, wherein this first wireless access skillArt module utilizes this first Preset Time interval to come with this first wireless network of message response.

10. the method for arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 7, is characterized in that, the plurality of skyEach length at gap interval is long unlike the second Preset Time interval.

The method of 11. arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 6, is characterized in that, this orMultiple radio activity are that execution in the scanning of this second wireless network medium frequency is to orientate suitable cell as industryBusiness community.

The method of 12. arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 6, is characterized in that, this orMultiple radio activity be the frequency correction channel burst that comes from neighbor cell in this second wireless network withThe reception of synchronizing channel burst.

The method of 13. arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 8, is characterized in that, the plurality of nothingLine electrical activity at least comprises to be listened to the first radio activity of PCH and receives in this second wireless networkCome from the second radio activity of frequency correction channel burst with the synchronizing channel burst of neighbor cell.

The method of 14. arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 8, is characterized in that, the plurality of nothingLine electrical activity at least comprise receive the first frequency correction channel burst that comes from first-phase adjacent cell with first withThe first radio activity of step channel burst comes from second-phase adjacent cell with reception in this second wireless networkThe second radio activity of second frequency correction channel burst and SSC Secondary Synchronisation Code burst.

15. 1 kinds arrange the method for radio activity, and wherein communicator comprises at least two slots, eachCouple corresponding wireless access technology module and this wireless access technology module and share wireless set, shouldArrange the method for radio activity to comprise:

Detect the quantity of the Subscriber Identity Module that inserts this slot; And

In the time only detecting that a Subscriber Identity Module inserts in this slot, adopt the first dispatching method,Arrangement couples one or more radio activity of this correspondence wireless access technology module of this Subscriber Identity Module,Wherein this correspondence wireless access technology module running is wireless by this in wireless network at idle pulley and continuationElectricity transceiver is received and dispatched one or more message, and

In the time detecting that more than one Subscriber Identity Module inserts in this slot, adopt the second dispatching method, arrangeAt least one couples these one or more radio of this correspondence wireless access technology module of this Subscriber Identity ModuleActivity, wherein this correspondence wireless access technology module operates in idle pulley and continues in this wireless networkReceive and dispatch this one or more message by this wireless set;

Wherein, this correspondence that adopts this second dispatching method to arrange at least one to couple this Subscriber Identity Module is wirelessThe step of these one or more radio activity of access technology module further comprises: by this correspondence wireless interfaceA radio activity that enters technology modules is divided at least two parts, and difference in multiple gapping intervalsGapping interval arranges this correspondence wireless access technology module to carry out the radio activity part after dividing, wherein,This gapping interval of this radio activity part after the division of carrying out this correspondence wireless access technology moduleIn, suspend this correspondence wireless access technology module another wireless access technology module in addition by this radioTransceiver messaging.

The method of 16. arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 15, is characterized in that, adopt thisOne dispatching method arranges the step of these one or more radio activity further to comprise:

Arrange one by one multiple radio activity of this correspondence wireless access technology module seamlessly to have carried out continuouslyThe plurality of radio activity of this correspondence wireless access technology module arranging.

The method of 17. arrangement radio activity as claimed in claim 15, is characterized in that, any twoBetween the part of the radio activity of individual arrangement, at least there is the first Preset Time interval.