CN104519555A

CN104519555A - Method and device for information transmission

Info

Publication number: CN104519555A
Application number: CN201310453058.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 沈祖康; 潘学明; 贾民丽
Original assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT
Current assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT
Priority date: 2013-09-27
Filing date: 2013-09-27
Publication date: 2015-04-15
Also published as: WO2015043498A1; TW201513705A

Abstract

The invention discloses a method and a device for information transmission. The method comprises: sending cell state indication information in a cell, the cell state indication information being used to indicate on-off state of the cell in a preset time period after the sending moment of the cell state indication information. In the technical scheme provided by embodiments, an access network device sends the cell state indication information in the cell, and UE in a cell coverage range can receive the cell state indication information, so as to determine the state of the cell, and further achieve an objective of actually reducing UE power consumption.

Description

Information transmission method and equipment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to an information transmission method and apparatus.

Background

In order to further increase the wireless network capacity, small base stations will be more widely applied in practical systems. In a cell formed by one small base station (called a small cell), only a few users usually access the cell. Therefore, the traffic flow of one small cell fluctuates greatly in different time periods.

When the small cell load is low, the small cell does not transmit traffic over most of the subframes. However, even in a subframe where no traffic data is transmitted, a small base station adopting a Long Term Evolution (LTE)/long term evolution-enhanced (LTE-Advanced) technology needs to transmit a Downlink signal other than the traffic data, for example, a Downlink common pilot signal (DL CRS). Transmitting these downlink signals on a large number of subframes without traffic data may result in unnecessary power consumption overhead of the small base stations and unnecessary increase of interference between small cells, thereby reducing system performance.

In order to reduce the power consumption of the small base station and reduce the interference between the small cells, some small cells without traffic data transmission may be considered to be turned off. Currently LTE/LTE-Advanced technology has had mechanisms to be able to turn off small cells. One small base station may autonomously decide to switch on or off the own small cell. Meanwhile, the small cell needs to notify its shutdown behavior to the neighboring cell. When the network side determines that a closed small cell needs to be turned on again, for example, the small cell needs to provide a larger wireless network capacity, another network node (for example, a macro base station) notifies the closed small cell to be turned on through a cell activation mechanism. User Equipment (UE) can access to the just-turned on small cell through a handover procedure or an initial procedure.

Other types of access cells (e.g., cells of an access point AP, macro cells, etc.) may also implement turning on/off of cells for the purpose of reducing power consumption of the base station and avoiding inter-cell interference.

The off state of a cell means that a base station cannot transmit traffic data in the cell. The on state of a cell means that a base station can transmit service data in the cell.

In the cell-on state, a UE accessing the cell needs to monitor a downlink control channel on each subframe. However, in the cell-off state, the UE accessing the cell does not need to monitor the downlink control channel on each subframe, so as to reduce the power consumption of the UE.

However, the cell is turned on or off independently at the network side, and the UE cannot know when the cell is in an on state and when the cell is in an off state, so that the purpose of reducing the power consumption of the UE cannot be really achieved.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide an information transmission method and equipment to solve the problem that no corresponding solution exists in the prior art.

The purpose of the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

an information transmission method, comprising:

and sending cell state indicating information in the cell, wherein the cell state indicating information is used for indicating the on or off state of the cell in a preset time period after the sending time of the cell state indicating information.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the access network equipment sends the cell state indication information in the cell, so that the UE in the cell coverage area can receive the cell state indication information, the state of the cell is determined according to the cell state indication information, and the aim of reducing the power consumption of the UE can be really achieved.

Wherein the cell state indication information is transmitted periodically.

Preferably, the predetermined time period is a transmission cycle of the cell status indication information.

In order to enable the UE to accurately receive the cell status indication information, in any of the above embodiments of the side method of the access network equipment, it is preferable to further send a higher layer signaling, and notify the downlink subframe where the cell status indication information is located through the higher layer signaling.

Based on any of the foregoing embodiments of the method on the access network device side, preferably, the method may further include: and transmitting a downlink signal for cell discovery and a downlink signal for mobility measurement in the cell.

Wherein, the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement may be periodically transmitted. The transmission period is determined according to actual network requirements.

The embodiment of the invention provides a solution for how to transmit signals under a cell dynamic opening/closing scene. The method provided by the embodiment of the invention is suitable for the cell closing state and the cell opening state. In a cell-off state, in order to enable the UE to discover and access the cell, a downlink signal for cell discovery and a downlink signal for mobility measurement are sent in a solution provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The downlink signal used for cell discovery and the downlink signal used for mobility measurement are sent periodically, but not sent on each downlink subframe, so that the aims of reducing the power consumption of access network equipment (such as a base station) and reducing the inter-cell interference are really achieved.

The transmission cycle of the downlink signal for cell discovery and the transmission cycle of the downlink signal for mobility measurement may be the same or different. The downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement may be transmitted on the same downlink subframe or different downlink subframes.

Further, the downlink signal used for cell discovery and the downlink signal used for mobility measurement may be the same downlink signal or different downlink signals.

In order to enable the UE to receive the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement on the corresponding downlink subframes at the same receiving period as the transmitting period, on the basis of the above embodiments, a higher layer signaling may be further transmitted, and the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for cell discovery is located and the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for mobility measurement is located are notified through the higher layer signaling.

When the UE is already accessed in the cell in the off state, based on the above-mentioned method embodiment on the access device side, in order to enable the UE to still perform radio link monitoring on the cell, a downlink signal for radio link monitoring may also be sent in the cell (preferably, the downlink signal for radio link monitoring is sent periodically). Specifically, the downlink signal for monitoring the radio link may be periodically transmitted only when there is an accessed UE but the cell is in an off state; or, the downlink signal for radio link monitoring may be periodically transmitted regardless of the cell state and regardless of whether the cell has an access UE.

Correspondingly, the transmission periods of the three downlink signals may all be the same, the transmission periods of two of the downlink signals may be the same, or the transmission periods of the three downlink signals may be different from each other. The three downlink signals may be transmitted on the same downlink subframe, or two of the three downlink signals may be transmitted on the same downlink subframe, or the three downlink signals may be transmitted on different downlink subframes, respectively.

Further, the downlink signal used for cell discovery, the downlink signal used for mobility measurement, and the downlink signal used for radio link monitoring may be the same downlink signal, or may be three different downlink signals, and so on.

Further, the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for monitoring the radio link is located may also be notified through a higher layer signaling.

Specifically, the cell status indication information, the downlink signal used for cell discovery, the downlink signal used for mobility measurement, and the downlink subframe in which the downlink signal used for radio link monitoring is located may be notified through a higher layer signaling.

In this embodiment of the present invention, a specific implementation manner of periodically sending the cell state indication information in the cell may be:

transmitting the cell state indication information on the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for cell discovery is located, wherein the period for transmitting the cell state indication information is a positive integer multiple of the period for transmitting the downlink signal for cell discovery; or,

sending the cell state indication information on the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for mobility measurement is located, wherein the period for sending the cell state indication information is a positive integer multiple of the period for sending the downlink signal for mobility measurement; or,

and sending the cell state indication information on the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for monitoring the wireless link is located, wherein the period for sending the cell state indication information is a positive integer multiple of the period for sending the downlink signal for monitoring the wireless link.

In order to further reduce the power consumption of the access network device, based on any of the above embodiments of the method on the access network device side, preferably, when the cell is in the closed state, the uplink data transmission request is periodically detected on the uplink subframe instead of detecting the uplink data transmission request on each uplink subframe, and a cycle of detecting the uplink data transmission request is greater than 1 in units of 1 uplink subframe.

Further, a high-level signaling may be sent, and the uplink subframe for detecting the uplink data transmission request is notified through the high-level signaling.

The uplink subframe may be agreed by a protocol, may be predetermined by a network side, and may also be determined in the implementation process.

An information transmission method of a UE side comprises the following steps:

receiving cell state indication information from a cell, wherein the cell state indication information is used for indicating the on or off state of the cell in a preset time period after the sending time of the cell state indication information;

and determining the state of the cell in the preset time period according to the cell state indication information.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the UE can receive the cell state indication information so as to determine the state of the cell, and the purpose of reducing power consumption can be really realized.

The cell state indication information may be received periodically, and a receiving period is the same as a transmitting period of the cell state indication information.

Preferably, the predetermined time period is a period for receiving the cell status indication information.

Correspondingly, the UE monitors the downlink control channel on each downlink subframe within the cell on state time period indicated by the cell state indication information to determine whether there is downlink service data transmission. In the cell off state time period indicated by the cell state indication information, the UE may not monitor the downlink control channel on any downlink subframe, or may monitor the downlink control channel at a larger subframe interval.

Based on any of the above UE side method embodiments, preferably, the method further includes: a downlink signal for cell discovery and a downlink signal for mobility measurement are received from the cell.

Wherein the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement may be periodically received.

Preferably, the receiving period of the downlink signal for cell discovery is the same as the transmitting period of the downlink signal for cell discovery; the reception cycle of the downlink signal for mobility measurement is the same as the transmission cycle of the downlink signal for mobility measurement. The corresponding period may be specified in the protocol, or may be predetermined by the access network device and the UE, or may be notified to the UE by the access network device through a high-level signaling.

Of course, the receiving period of the downlink signal for cell discovery may be greater than the transmitting period of the downlink signal for cell discovery, and may be an integer multiple of the transmitting period of the downlink signal for cell discovery. The reception cycle of the downlink signal for mobility measurement may be greater than the transmission cycle of the downlink signal for mobility measurement, and is an integer multiple of the transmission cycle of the downlink signal for mobility measurement.

The embodiment of the invention provides a solution for how to transmit signals under a cell dynamic opening/closing scene. The method provided by the embodiment of the invention is suitable for the cell closing state and the cell opening state. In the cell-off state, the UE can still receive downlink signals for cell discovery and downlink signals for mobility measurement, thereby discovering and accessing the cell. Since the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement are periodically received, not received on every downlink subframe, power consumption of the UE is reduced.

In the embodiment of the present invention, if the access network device sends the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement on the same downlink subframe, the UE receives the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement on the same downlink subframe. If the access network device sends the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement on different downlink subframes, the UE receives the downlink signal for cell discovery on the downlink subframe that sends the downlink signal for cell discovery, and receives the downlink signal for mobility measurement on the downlink subframe that sends the downlink signal for mobility measurement, respectively.

Further, if the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement are the same downlink signal, the UE receives the downlink signal to perform cell discovery and mobility measurement.

On the basis of the above embodiments of the UE side method, the UE may also obtain, according to the received high-level signaling, a downlink subframe in which a downlink signal for cell discovery is located and a downlink subframe in which a downlink signal for mobility measurement is located.

Of course, the UE may also obtain the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for cell discovery is located and the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for mobility measurement is located through a predetermined agreement, a protocol specification, and the like.

If the UE has accessed the cell, it may preferably receive a downlink signal for radio link monitoring from the cell according to any of the above embodiments of the UE side method.

Specifically, the downlink signal for monitoring the wireless link may be received periodically.

The receiving period of the downlink signal for monitoring the wireless link is the same as the sending period of the downlink signal for monitoring the wireless link.

Of course, the receiving period of the downlink signal for radio link monitoring may be greater than the transmitting period of the downlink signal for radio link monitoring, and is an integer multiple of the transmitting period of the downlink signal for radio link monitoring.

Accordingly, if the access network device transmits a downlink signal for radio link monitoring on a downlink subframe in which a downlink signal for cell discovery and/or a downlink signal for mobility measurement is transmitted, the UE receives the downlink signal for mobility measurement on the downlink subframe.

Further, if the downlink signal used for cell discovery and the downlink signal used for mobility measurement are the same downlink signal and the downlink signal is also a downlink signal used for radio link monitoring, the UE also uses the downlink signal for radio link monitoring.

And if the high-level signaling is received, further acquiring a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for monitoring the wireless link is located through the high-level signaling.

Based on any of the above-mentioned UE side method embodiments, preferably, the UE may further obtain an uplink subframe for detecting the uplink data transmission request according to the received high-level signaling, and the period for detecting the uplink data transmission request is greater than 1 in units of 1 uplink subframe; and sending an uplink data transmission request on at least one uplink subframe of the uplink subframes.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an access network device, including:

a cell state indication information sending module, configured to send cell state indication information in a cell, where the cell state indication information is used to indicate an on or off state of the cell within a predetermined time period after a sending time of the cell state indication information.

Wherein the cell status indication information may be transmitted periodically.

Preferably, the predetermined time period is a period for transmitting the cell status indication information.

Preferably, the mobile terminal further includes a downlink signal sending module, configured to send a downlink signal for cell discovery and send a downlink signal for mobility measurement in the cell.

Wherein, the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement may be periodically transmitted.

The specific implementation of the access network device provided in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to the description of the above method-side embodiment, and repeated details are not described again.

The embodiment of the invention provides a solution for how to transmit signals under a cell dynamic opening/closing scene. The method provided by the embodiment of the invention is suitable for the cell closing state and the cell opening state. In order to enable the UE to discover and access the cell in the cell-off state, the access network device provided in the embodiment of the present invention may send a downlink signal for cell discovery and a downlink signal for mobility measurement. The downlink signal used for cell discovery and the downlink signal used for mobility measurement are sent periodically, but not sent on each downlink subframe, so that the aims of reducing the power consumption of access network equipment (such as a base station) and reducing the inter-cell interference are really achieved.

Preferably, the downlink signal sending module is further configured to send a downlink signal for radio link monitoring in the cell. Specifically, the downlink signal for monitoring the wireless link may be periodically transmitted.

On this basis, the downlink signal sending module may be specifically configured to:

and in the cell, transmitting a downlink signal for cell discovery, a downlink signal for mobility measurement and a downlink signal for radio link monitoring on the same downlink subframe at the same transmission period.

Based on any access network device embodiment that also sends a downlink signal for wireless link monitoring, preferably, the downlink signal for cell discovery, the downlink signal for mobility measurement, and the downlink signal for wireless link monitoring are the same downlink signal.

Based on any access network device embodiment that further sends a downlink signal for monitoring a radio link, preferably, the downlink signal sending module is further configured to send a higher layer signaling, and notify, through the higher layer signaling, a downlink signal for cell discovery, a downlink signal for mobility measurement, a downlink signal for monitoring a radio link, and a downlink subframe in which cell status indication information is located.

Based on any access network device embodiment that further sends a downlink signal for monitoring a radio link, preferably, the cell status indication information sending module may be specifically configured to:

sending the cell state indication information on a downlink subframe where the downlink signal for cell discovery is located, wherein the period for sending the cell state indication information is a positive integer multiple of the period for sending the downlink signal for cell discovery; or,

sending the cell state indication information on a downlink subframe where the downlink signal for mobility measurement is located, wherein the period for sending the cell state indication information is a positive integral multiple of the period for sending the downlink signal for mobility measurement; or,

and sending the cell state indication information on a downlink subframe where the downlink signal for monitoring the wireless link is located, wherein the period for sending the cell state indication information is a positive integral multiple of the period for sending the downlink signal for monitoring the wireless link.

Based on any access network device embodiment that sends cell status indication information, preferably, the predetermined time period is a period for sending the cell status indication information.

Based on any access network device embodiment that further sends a downlink signal for wireless link monitoring, preferably, the access network device further includes an uplink signal detection module, and when the cell is in the closed state, the uplink signal detection module is configured to periodically detect an uplink data transmission request on an uplink subframe, and a cycle of detecting the uplink data transmission request is greater than 1 in units of 1 uplink subframe.

Further, the downlink signal sending module may be further configured to: and sending a high-level signaling, and informing the uplink subframe for detecting the uplink data transmission request through the high-level signaling.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method, the embodiment of the invention also provides another access network device, which comprises a processor and a radio frequency module;

the processor is configured to transmit cell state indication information within the cell by a radio frequency module, the cell state indication information indicating an on or off state of the cell for a predetermined time period after a time instant of transmission of the cell state indication information.

The specific working manner of the access network device may refer to the description of the above method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a user equipment, including:

a cell state indication information receiving module, configured to receive cell state indication information from a cell, where the cell state indication information is used to indicate an on or off state of the cell within a predetermined time period after a time when the cell state indication information is sent;

and the cell state determining module is used for determining the state of the cell in the preset time period according to the cell state indicating information.

Based on any of the above UE embodiments, preferably, the UE further includes a downlink signal receiving module, configured to receive, from the cell, a downlink signal for cell discovery and a downlink signal for mobility measurement.

Preferably, the downlink signal receiving module is further configured to receive a downlink signal for radio link monitoring from the cell.

Wherein, the downlink signal for cell discovery, the downlink signal for mobility measurement and the downlink signal for radio link monitoring may be transmitted periodically.

On this basis, the downlink signal receiving module may be further configured to:

and receiving a high-level signaling, and acquiring a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for cell discovery is located, a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for mobility measurement is located, a downlink signal for wireless link monitoring and a downlink subframe where cell state indication information is located according to the received high-level signaling.

Preferably, the downlink signal receiving module is specifically configured to:

and receiving downlink signals for cell discovery, mobility measurement and radio link monitoring on the same downlink subframe at the same period.

Preferably, the cell status indication information receiving module is specifically configured to:

receiving the cell state indication information on a downlink subframe where the downlink signal for cell discovery is located, wherein the period of the cell state indication information is a positive integer multiple of the period of the downlink signal for cell discovery; or,

receiving the cell state indication information on a downlink subframe where the downlink signal for mobility measurement is located, wherein the period of the cell state indication information is a positive integer multiple of the period of the downlink signal for mobility measurement; or,

and receiving the cell state indication information on a downlink subframe where the downlink signal for monitoring the radio link is located, wherein the period of the cell state indication information is a positive integral multiple of the period of the downlink signal for monitoring the radio link.

Preferably, the downlink signal receiving module is further configured to:

acquiring an uplink subframe for detecting an uplink data transmission request according to a received high-level signaling, and detecting that the period of the uplink data transmission request is greater than 1 by taking 1 uplink subframe as a unit;

and sending an uplink data transmission request on at least one uplink subframe of the uplink subframes.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method, the embodiment of the invention also provides user equipment, which comprises a processor and a radio frequency module;

the processor is configured to receive, by a radio frequency module, cell state indication information from the cell, the cell state indication information indicating an on or off state of the cell for a predetermined time period after a time when the cell state indication information is transmitted; and determining the state of the cell in the preset time period according to the cell state indication information.

The specific working manner of the UE may refer to the description of the above method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a subframe for transmitting a downlink signal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a UE side method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Before describing the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention in detail, some technical features involved therein will be explained first.

Cell on/off: if the access network device only corresponds to one cell, then the cell is opened, that is, the access network device is opened, and the cell is closed, that is, the access network device is closed.

Access network equipment: indicate base stations in the network, and other network entities with base station functionality. E.g. a small base station, the corresponding cell, i.e. a small cell.

When a cell is in an ON duration (ON duration), a UE accessing the cell needs to monitor a downlink control channel ON each subframe to determine whether there is service data transmission. When a cell is in an OFF duration, the UE accessing the cell does not need to monitor a downlink control channel on each subframe, so that power consumption of the UE can be saved. In order to really achieve the purpose of saving the power consumption of the UE, the information transmission method on the access network device side provided in the embodiment of the present invention includes: and sending cell state indicating information in the cell, wherein the cell state indicating information is used for indicating the on or off state of the cell in a preset time period after the sending time of the cell state indicating information.

Wherein the cell state indication information is transmitted periodically.

For example, the cell status indication information transmitted on the downlink subframe with subframe number n may indicate the on/off status of the cell on the subframe set { n + k1, n + k1+1, …, n + k2 }. Wherein k2> k1> 0. The value of k1 mainly takes into account the delay required by the UE to receive and process the cell status indication information, and the delay for the access network equipment and the UE to prepare service data transmission, which is generally within several to tens of ms. If the transmission period of the cell status indication information is T subframes, preferably, k 2-k 1= T, that is, each cell status indication information is used to indicate the on/off status of the cell over T subframes.

Specifically, the high layer signaling may carry a transmission period of the cell status indication information and subframe location information of the information in each transmission period.

Suppose that the cell status indication information is transmitted on the downlink subframe with subframe number 1, and the transmission period is one radio frame. Then, the sending period carried in the higher layer signaling may be 10 subframes, and the subframe position information may be a subframe offset of the downlink subframe with subframe number 1 in a radio frame.

Based on any of the foregoing embodiments of the method on the access network device side, preferably, the method may further include: transmitting a downlink Signal (Discovery Signal) for cell Discovery in the cell; and transmitting a downlink Signal (RRM Measurement Signal) for mobility Measurement in the cell.

In the embodiment of the present invention, in one transmission period of the downlink signal for cell discovery, the downlink signal for cell discovery may be transmitted through one downlink subframe, or may be transmitted on multiple downlink subframes. If the downlink signal for cell discovery is transmitted on multiple downlink subframes, the downlink subframes may be continuous downlink subframes or discontinuous downlink subframes.

In one transmission cycle of the downlink signal for mobility measurement, the downlink signal for mobility measurement may be transmitted through one downlink subframe, or may be transmitted on a plurality of downlink subframes. If the downlink signal for mobility measurement is transmitted on multiple downlink subframes, the downlink subframes may be continuous downlink subframes or discontinuous downlink subframes.

In a Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, the continuous downlink subframes refer to two downlink subframes with adjacent subframe numbers; in a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, a consecutive downlink subframe means that there is no other downlink subframe (but there may be an uplink subframe) between the two downlink subframes.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the transmission cycle of the downlink signal for cell discovery and the transmission cycle of the downlink signal for mobility measurement may be the same or different. The downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement may be transmitted on the same downlink subframe or different downlink subframes.

In order to enable the UE to receive the downlink signal for cell discovery and the downlink signal for mobility measurement on the corresponding downlink subframes at the same receiving period as the transmitting period, on the basis of the above embodiments, a higher layer signaling may be further transmitted, and the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for cell discovery is located and the downlink subframe where the downlink signal for mobility measurement is located are notified through the higher layer signaling. Specifically, the high-level signaling may carry a sending period of a downlink signal used for cell discovery and subframe location information of the downlink signal in each sending period; and a transmission period of the downlink signal for mobility measurement and subframe position information of the downlink signal in each transmission period.

It is assumed that a downlink signal used for cell discovery and a downlink signal used for mobility measurement are the same downlink signal, the downlink signal is transmitted on a downlink subframe with a subframe number of 1, and a transmission period is one radio frame. Then, the sending period carried in the higher layer signaling may be 10 subframes, and the subframe position information may be a subframe offset of the downlink subframe with subframe number 1 in a radio frame.

When a UE accesses a cell, Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) needs to be performed on the cell frequently. If the Radio Link quality of the current serving cell measured by the UE is not good, the UE reports Radio Link Failure (RLF). When the RLF continues to occur for a while, the UE enters a cell reselection procedure, i.e., the UE attempts to access another cell. When a UE accesses a cell in an off state, a downlink Signal (RLM Measurement Signal) for radio link monitoring may be periodically transmitted in the cell based on any of the above embodiments of the access device method, so that the UE can perform radio link monitoring. Specifically, the downlink signal for monitoring the radio link may be periodically transmitted only when there is an accessed UE but the cell is in an off state; or, the downlink signal for radio link monitoring may be periodically transmitted regardless of the cell state and regardless of whether the cell has an access UE.

If the high-level signaling is sent, further, a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for monitoring a radio link is located is notified through the high-level signaling.

From the viewpoint of saving power consumption of the access network device, a specific implementation manner of periodically sending the cell state indication information in the cell may be:

Taking the same downlink signal for the purpose of cell discovery, mobility measurement and radio link monitoring, and the downlink signal and the cell state indication information are transmitted in the same downlink subframe as an example, if the downlink signal is transmitted in the cell off state, the downlink signal is transmitted in the cell on state. Then, in the cell-off and cell-on states, the downlink signal may be transmitted in the same transmission period and on the same subframe, as shown in fig. 1; the downlink signal may also be transmitted with different periodicity and/or on different subframes.

In the embodiment of the present invention, each downlink Signal may be a Synchronization Signal (Synchronization Signal) defined by LTE, including a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS); or a Downlink Common Reference signal (DL CRS); or a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI RS); or a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS).

The state transition from off to on of the cell may be triggered by the arrival of downlink traffic data or by the arrival of uplink traffic data. However, in the prior art, there is no signal transmission solution in a cell dynamic on/off scenario, so that it cannot be guaranteed that the access network device timely learns the uplink data request, and rapid switching from the off state to the on state cannot be achieved. According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the cell in the closed time period sends the Discovery signal and the RRM measurement signal, so that the UE can quickly find the cell, perform RRM measurement on the cell and determine whether the cell needs to be accessed. Once the UE needs to access the cell, the cell may be quickly switched from the off state to the on state (of course, the cell may also be still in the off state when and after the UE accesses, and then switched to the on state until the UE has uplink service data to send). The cell in the closed time period sends the RLM measurement signal, so that the UE which has accessed to the cell can still determine the radio link quality of the cell in the closed time period of the cell, and then whether to keep connection on the cell or enter a cell reselection process is determined. If the UE determines to maintain a connection in the cell through radio link monitoring, the cell may be quickly switched from an off state to an on state when the UE has traffic data to transmit.

For a cell in the off time period, if downlink service data arrives in a subframe, information indicating that the cell is on may be sent in a subframe that is closest to the subframe and that sends cell status indication information, so that the cell and the UE can perform data transmission in a corresponding subframe set. For a cell in the closed time period, if uplink service data arrives in one subframe, the UE needs to notify the cell that the uplink service data needs to be transmitted (i.e., an uplink data transmission request), so that the cell can be switched from the closed state to the open state for data transmission. In LTE, the UE may notify a cell that there is uplink service data to be transmitted in a random access procedure or a manner of sending an uplink Scheduling Request Indicator (SRI).

As shown in fig. 2, the method for transmitting information at a UE side according to the embodiment of the present invention specifically includes the following operations:

step 200, receiving cell state indication information from a cell, wherein the cell state indication information is used for indicating the on or off state of the cell in a preset time period after the sending time of the cell state indication information;

and step 210, determining the state of the cell in the predetermined time period according to the cell state indication information.

Specifically, if the cell is a cell to which the UE currently accesses, the UE acquires the high layer signaling from the access network device to which the cell belongs. And if the cell is not the cell currently accessed by the UE, the UE acquires the high-level signaling from the access network equipment to which the cell currently accessed belongs.

Based on any of the above embodiments of the UE side method, preferably the method further comprises:

acquiring an uplink subframe for detecting an uplink data transmission request according to a received high-level signaling, wherein the uplink subframe is formed by partial uplink subframes in a period for detecting the uplink data transmission request;

Based on the same inventive concept as the method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an access network device, where the access network device includes:

a cell state indication information sending module, configured to send cell state indication information in the cell, where the cell state indication information is used to indicate an on or off state of the cell within a predetermined time period after a sending time of the cell state indication information.

Wherein the cell status indication information may be transmitted periodically.

Preferably, the mobile terminal further includes a downlink signal sending module, configured to send, in the cell, a downlink signal for cell discovery and a downlink signal for mobility measurement.

Based on any access network device embodiment that further sends a downlink signal for monitoring a radio link, preferably, the cell status indication information sending module is specifically configured to send cell status indication information periodically in the cell, where the cell status indication information is used to indicate an on or off status of the cell within a predetermined time period after a time when the cell status indication information is sent; the timing control module 202 is further configured to trigger the downlink signal sending module to send the cell state indication information when each sending period of the cell state indication information arrives.

On this basis, when the cell status indication information is periodically sent in the cell, the downlink signal sending module may specifically be configured to:

Based on any embodiment of the access network device that further sends a downlink signal for monitoring a radio link, the access network device preferably further includes an uplink signal detection module, and when the cell is in an off state, the uplink signal detection module is configured to periodically detect an uplink data transmission request on a predetermined uplink subframe.

the processor is configured to send cell state indication information in the cell through a radio frequency module, where the cell state indication information is used to indicate an on or off state of the cell within a predetermined time period after a time when the cell state indication information is sent.

Based on the same inventive concept as the method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a user equipment, as shown in fig. 3, where the user equipment includes:

a cell state indication information receiving module 301, configured to receive cell state indication information from a cell, where the cell state indication information is used to indicate an on or off state of the cell within a predetermined time period after a time when the cell state indication information is sent;

a cell status determining module 302, configured to determine, according to the cell status indication information, a status of the cell within the predetermined time period.

Preferably, the downlink signal receiving module is specifically configured to:

Preferably, the downlink signal receiving module is further configured to:

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. An information transmission method, comprising:

and sending cell state indication information in a cell, wherein the cell state indication information is used for indicating the on or off state of the cell in a preset time period after the sending time of the cell state indication information.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a downlink signal for cell discovery, transmitting a downlink signal for mobility measurement, and transmitting a downlink signal for radio link monitoring within the cell.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein sending cell status indication information in the cell comprises:

periodically sending cell state indication information in the cell;

transmitting a downlink signal for cell discovery, a downlink signal for mobility measurement, and a downlink signal for radio link monitoring within the cell, comprising:

and periodically sending downlink signals for cell discovery, periodically sending downlink signals for mobility measurement and periodically sending downlink signals for wireless link monitoring in the cell.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the predetermined time period is a period for transmitting the cell status indication information.

5. The method of claim 3 or 4, wherein periodically transmitting downlink signals for cell discovery, periodically transmitting downlink signals for mobility measurement, and periodically transmitting downlink signals for radio link monitoring in the cell comprises:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the downlink signal for cell discovery, the downlink signal for mobility measurement, and the downlink signal for radio link monitoring are the same downlink signal.

7. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein periodically transmitting cell status indication information in the cell comprises:

8. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, further comprising:

and sending a high-level signaling, and informing a downlink signal for cell discovery, a downlink signal for mobility measurement, a downlink signal for wireless link monitoring and a downlink subframe in which cell state indication information is located through the high-level signaling.

9. The method according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein when the cell is in an off state, the method further comprises:

and periodically detecting the uplink data transmission request on the uplink subframe, wherein the period for detecting the uplink data transmission request is more than 1 by taking 1 uplink subframe as a unit.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

and sending a high-level signaling, and informing the uplink subframe for detecting the uplink data transmission request through the high-level signaling.

11. An information transmission method, comprising:

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a downlink signal for cell discovery, a downlink signal for mobility measurement, and a downlink signal for radio link monitoring from the cell.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving cell status indication information from the cell comprises:

periodically receiving cell state indication information from the cell;

receiving a downlink signal for cell discovery, a downlink signal for mobility measurement, and a downlink signal for radio link monitoring from the cell, including:

periodically receiving a downlink signal for cell discovery, a downlink signal for mobility measurement, and a downlink signal for radio link monitoring from the cell.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the predetermined time period is a period of receiving the cell status indication information.

15. The method of any one of claims 12 to 14, further comprising:

and acquiring a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for cell discovery is located, a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for mobility measurement is located, a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for wireless link monitoring is located and a downlink subframe where the cell state indication information is located according to the received high-level signaling.

16. The method of claim 13 or 14, wherein periodically receiving downlink signals for cell discovery, mobility measurement and radio link monitoring from the cell comprises:

17. The method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein periodically receiving cell status indication information from the cell comprises:

18. The method of any one of claims 11 to 14, further comprising:

19. An access network device, comprising:

20. The access network device of claim 19, further comprising:

and the downlink signal sending module is used for sending a downlink signal used for cell discovery, sending a downlink signal used for mobility measurement and sending a downlink signal used for wireless link monitoring in the cell.

21. The access network device of claim 20, wherein the cell status indication information sending module is specifically configured to send cell status indication information periodically in the cell;

the downlink signal sending module is specifically configured to periodically send, in the cell, a downlink signal used for cell discovery, a downlink signal used for mobility measurement, and a downlink signal used for radio link monitoring.

22. The access network device of claim 21, wherein the predetermined time period is a period for transmitting the cell status indication information.

23. The access network device according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the downlink signal sending module is specifically configured to:

24. The access network device of claim 23, wherein the downlink signal for cell discovery, the downlink signal for mobility measurement, and the downlink signal for radio link monitoring are the same downlink signal.

25. The access network device according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the cell state indication information sending module is specifically configured to:

26. The access network device according to any one of claims 20 to 22, wherein the downlink signal sending module is further configured to send a higher layer signaling, and notify, through the higher layer signaling, a downlink signal used for cell discovery, a downlink signal used for mobility measurement, a downlink signal used for radio link monitoring, and a downlink subframe where the cell status indication information is located.

27. The access network device according to any one of claims 21 to 22, further comprising an uplink signal detection module, wherein when the cell is in an off state, the uplink signal detection module is configured to periodically detect an uplink data transmission request on an uplink subframe, and a period for detecting the uplink data transmission request is greater than 1 in a unit of 1 uplink subframe.

28. The access network device of claim 27, wherein the downlink signal sending module is further configured to: and sending a high-level signaling, and informing the uplink subframe for detecting the uplink data transmission request through the high-level signaling.

29. A user device, comprising:

30. The UE of claim 29, further comprising a downlink signal receiving module configured to receive a downlink signal for cell discovery, a downlink signal for mobility measurement, and a downlink signal for radio link monitoring from the cell.

31. The ue of claim 30, wherein the cell status indication information receiving module is specifically configured to: periodically receiving cell state indication information from the cell;

the downlink signal receiving module is specifically configured to: periodically receiving a downlink signal for cell discovery, a downlink signal for mobility measurement, and a downlink signal for radio link monitoring from the cell.

32. The UE of claim 31, wherein the predetermined period of time is a period of receiving the cell status indication information.

33. The UE of any one of claims 30 to 32, wherein the downlink signal receiving module is further configured to:

and receiving a high-level signaling, and acquiring a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for cell discovery is located, a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for mobility measurement is located, a downlink subframe where a downlink signal for wireless link monitoring is located and a downlink subframe where the cell state indication information is located according to the received high-level signaling.

34. The ue of claim 30 or 31, wherein the downlink signal receiving module is specifically configured to:

35. The ue of claim 30 or 31, wherein the cell status indication information receiving module is specifically configured to:

36. The UE of any one of claims 30 to 32, wherein the downlink signal receiving module is further configured to: