SINGLE-RADIO DEVICE SUPPORTING COEXISTENCE BETWEEN MULTIPLE RADIO ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES

• US 20140242984A1
• Filed: 03/31/2014
• Published: 08/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Mujtaba, Syed A., Zhao, Wen, Wang, Xiaowen, Majjigi, Vinay
• Granted Patent: US 9,750,075 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/434
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/27 Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Electronic devices may be provided that contain wireless communication circuitry. The wireless communication circuitry may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry coupled to antennas. An electronic device may include a baseband processor and other storage and processing circuitry that implements protocol stacks for handling multiple radio access technologies. The storage and processing circuitry may use the transceiver circuitry to convey data using a first radio access technology while periodically interrupting the conveying of the data to monitor a paging channel using a second radio access technology. In performing the paging channel monitoring operations, the storage and processing circuitry may enforce a time limit that ensures that operations using the first radio access technology are not disrupted more than desired.

Claims

1. A method for using an electronic device to communicate with a wireless network using a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, comprising:

with wireless circuitry in the electronic device, conveying wireless data traffic using the first radio access technology;

temporarily interrupting the conveying of the wireless data traffic to monitor a paging channel associated with a second radio access technology; and

enforcing a time limit on the temporary interruption of the conveying of the wireless data traffic,

wherein enforcing the time limit comprises ensuring that the time limit is less than an inactivity time period after which the electronic device would transition from a connected state to an idle state.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein enforcing the time limit further comprises ensuring that the time limit is less than a radio resource control (RRC) timeout time period after which the electronic device would transition from an RRC connected state to an RRC with re-establishment procedure state.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the inactivity time period corresponds to a maximum time associated with out-of-sync events plus a first out-of-sync time limit and a second out-of-sync time limit in accordance with the first radio access technology.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the maximum time associated with out-of-sync events is equal to a product of a maximum out-of-sync counter value and a lower-layer-to-upper-layer reporting interval.

5. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the first radio access technology comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access technology, and wherein the first out-of-sync time limit comprises an LTE T310 time limit.

6. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the first radio access technology comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access technology, and wherein the maximum out-of-sync counter value comprises an LTE N310 counter value.

7. The method as recited in claim 4 wherein the lower-layer-to-upper-layer reporting interval comprises a layer 1 to layer 3 reporting interval.

8. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the RRC timeout time period is less than the inactivity time period.

9. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the RRC timeout time period corresponds to a maximum time associated with out-of-sync events plus a first out-of-sync time limit in accordance with the first radio access technology.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the first radio access technology comprises a Long Term evolution (LTE) radio access technology, and wherein the first out-of-sync time limit comprises an LTE T310 time limit.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second radio access technology comprises a code division multiple access (CDMA) radio access technology, and wherein temporarily interrupting the conveying of the wireless data traffic to monitor the paging channel comprises temporarily interrupting the conveying of the wireless data traffic to monitor a CDMA paging channel.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first radio access technology comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access technology, and wherein temporarily interrupting the conveying of the wireless data traffic to monitor the paging channel comprises temporarily interrupting the conveying of an active LTE data session to monitor the paging channel.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the second radio access technology comprises a code division multiple access (CDMA) radio access technology, and wherein temporarily interrupting the conveying of the wireless data traffic to monitor the paging channel comprises temporarily interrupting the conveying of the active LTE data session to monitor a CDMA paging channel.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the wireless circuitry includes a baseband processor having at least first and second protocol stacks associated respectively with the first and second radio access technologies, wherein the second protocol stack is configured to monitor the paging channel associated with the second radio access technology while temporarily interrupting the conveying of the wireless data traffic, and wherein the first protocol stack maintains an out-of-sync timer that is initiated when the conveying of the wireless data traffic is interrupted.

15. An electronic device, comprising:

radio-frequency transceiver circuitry;

at least one antenna coupled to the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry; and

storage and processing circuitry coupled to the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry, wherein the storage and processing circuitry is configured to cause the electronic device to;

convey wireless data traffic to a wireless network using a first radio access technology (RAT);

temporarily interrupt the conveying of the wireless data traffic to monitor a paging channel associated with a second RAT; and

enforce a time limit on the temporary interruption of the conveying of the wireless data traffic,

wherein the electronic device enforces the time limit by ensuring that the time limit is less than an inactivity time period after which the electronic device would transition from a connected state to an idle state.

16. The electronic device as recited in claim 15, wherein

the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry supports wireless communication with the wireless network using the first RAT comprising a Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAT and the second RAT comprising a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) RAT, wherein the time limit corresponds to a maximum time associated with out-of-sync events plus a first out-of-sync time limit and a second out-of-sync time limit.

17. The electronic device as recited in claim 16, wherein the electronic device further enforces the time limit by ensuring that the time limit is less than a radio resource control (RRC) timeout time period after which the electronic device would transition from an RRC connected state to an RRC with re-establishment procedure state.

18. The electronic device as recited in claim 17, wherein the RRC timeout time period is less than the inactivity time period.

19. The electronic device as recited in claim 18, wherein the RRC timeout time period comprises the maximum time associated with out-of-sync events plus the first out-of-sync time limit.

20. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer program code stored thereon, the computer program code configured to, when executed by processing circuitry implemented on an electronic device, cause the electronic device to:

convey wireless data traffic to a wireless network using a first radio access technology (RAT);

temporarily interrupt the conveying of the wireless data traffic to monitor a paging channel associated with a second RAT; and

enforce a time limit on the temporary interruption of the conveying of the wireless data traffic,

wherein the electronic device enforces the time limit by ensuring that the time limit is less than an inactivity time period after which the electronic device would transition from a connected state to an idle state.