Mobile communication device having plurality of subscriber identification module (SIM) cards and method for selecting public land mobile network (PLMN) in the device

A method for searching for a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) in a mobile communication device having a first Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card, a second SIM card, a first communication mode control unit for controlling the first SIM card, and a second communication mode control unit for controlling the second SIM card, the method comprising:

• at the first communication mode control unit, starting a first Home PLMN (HPLMN) timer according to a first HPLMN timer value stored in the first SIM card, and at the second communication mode control unit, starting a second HPLMN timer according to a second HPLMN timer value stored in the second SIM card;
• at the first communication mode control unit, performing a first PLMN search at an expiry of the first HPLMN timer;
• at the first communication mode control unit, updating a first PLMN list with one or more PLMNs found during the first PLMN search;
• at the first communication mode control unit, notifying the second communication mode control unit of the update of the first PLMN list;
• at the first communication mode control unit, determining whether the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with a higher priority than a currently registered PLMN, and at the second communication mode control unit, determining whether the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with the higher priority than the currently registered PLMN;
• and
• if the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with the higher priority than the currently registered PLMN, at each of the first and second communication mode control units, performing a location registration in the PLMN with the higher priority.

A method for searching for a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) in a mobile communication device having a first Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card and a second SIM card, the method comprising:

• starting a first Home PLMN (HPLMN) timer according to a first HPLMN timer value stored in the first SIM card, and starting a second HPLMN timer according to a second HPLMN timer value stored in the second SIM card;
• performing a first PLMN search at an expiry of the first HPLMN timer;
• creating a first PLMN list with one or more PLMNs found during the first PLMN search and storing the first PLMN list;
• determining whether the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with a higher priority than a currently registered PLMN with regard to the first SIM card, and determining whether the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with the higher priority than the currently registered PLMN with regard to the second SIM card;
• and
• if the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with the higher priority than the currently registered PLMN with regard to the first SIM card, performing a location registration in the PLMN with the higher priority with regard to the first SIM card, and if the first PLMN list contains a PLMN with the higher priority than the currently registered PLMN with regard to the second SIM card, performing the location registration in the PLMN with the higher priority with regard to the second SIM card.

A mobile communication device comprising:

• a first Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card for storing a first timer value of a first Home PLMN (HPLMN) timer;
• a second SIM card for storing a second timer value of a second HPLMN timer;
• a memory unit for storing a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list updated by a first communication mode control unit and a second PLMN list updated by a second communication mode control unit;
• the first communication mode control unit for starting the first HPLMN timer, for controlling to perform a PLMN search at an expiry of the first HPLMN timer, to create the first PLMN list with one or more PLMNs found during the first PLMN search, for storing the first PLMN list in the memory unit, for controlling to notify the second communication mode control unit of an update of the first PLMN list, for determining whether the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with a higher priority than a currently registered PLMN, and if the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with the higher priority than the currently registered PLMN, for controlling to perform a location registration in the PLMN with the higher priority;
• and
• the second communication mode control unit for starting the second HPLMN timer, for determining whether the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with the higher priority than the currently registered PLMN when the notification of the update of the first PLMN list is received from the first communication mode control unit, and if the first PLMN list contains any PLMN with the higher priority than the currently registered PLMN, for controlling to perform the location registration in the PLMN with the higher priority.