CN105228263B

CN105228263B - DRB conversion method and device

Info

Publication number: CN105228263B
Application number: CN201410307074.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈中明; 杜忠达
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2014-06-30
Filing date: 2014-06-30
Publication date: 2020-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 2034-06-30
Also published as: WO2016000322A1; CN105228263A

Abstract

The invention discloses a DRB conversion method and a device, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, wherein the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB (first data radio bearer) on a second base station, which is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station; the UE temporarily deletes the first DRB on the first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the evolved EPS bearing; and the UE establishes the first DRB on the second base station according to the configuration information. The invention solves the problem of how to switch between different types of data radio bearers in the related technology, and improves the use flexibility of the DRB.

Description

DRB conversion method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) conversion method and apparatus.

Background

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an overall architecture of an LTE system according to the related art, and as shown in fig. 1, the architecture of the LTE system includes: a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving Gateway (SGW), User Equipment (User Equipment, UE, or terminal) and a base station (eNodeB, eNB); the interface between the UE and the eNB is a UU interface, the interface between the eNB and the MME is an S1-MME (S1 is used for the control plane) interface, the interface between the eNB and the SGW is an S1-U interface, and the interface between the two enbs is an X2 interface. Here, the UE may also be referred to as a terminal.

In the LTE system, the process of establishing a call by the UE includes: a procedure of establishing a control plane link and a user plane link between the UE and the eNB, and a procedure of establishing a control plane link and a user plane link between the eNB and the core network. After the call process of the UE is established, control plane data between the eNB and the core network is carried through connection established between the eNB and an MME in the core network, and user plane data between the eNB and the core network is carried through an evolved Radio Access Bearer (E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer, abbreviated as ERAB) established between the eNB and an SGW in the core network; user plane Data between the eNB and the UE is carried by Data Radio Bearer (DRB), each DRB is configured with an identifier, control plane Data is carried by Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB), and each SRB is configured with an identifier. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a DRB establishment and modification process in an LTE system according to the related art, where, as shown in fig. 2, the DRB establishment is that a core network initiates an establishment request to a base station, and the base station notifies a terminal to establish a DRB through an RRC reconfiguration process and receives a response of the terminal, and then responds to the core network. The modification procedure is similar to the setup procedure, but the modification procedure may be terminal initiated, and the terminal initiates a DRB modification request to the core network, and the procedure is the same as the setup procedure. After the data radio bearer is established, the data radio bearer is in a one-to-one correspondence with an Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer (also configured with an identifier), and the terminal and the core network maintain the correspondence at the same time.

Due to the shortage of frequency spectrum resources and the rapid increase of large-flow services of mobile users, the requirement of adopting high frequency points such as 3.5GHz for hot spot coverage is increasingly obvious, and nodes with low power become a new application scene so as to increase the throughput of users and enhance the mobile performance. However, due to the fact that signal attenuation of high frequency points is relatively severe, coverage of a cell is relatively small, a base station to which the cell belongs is called a small cell (Secondary eNB, abbreviated as SeNB), and the base station to which the cell belongs is called a Master base station (Master eNB, abbreviated as MeNB) and is not co-located with an existing base station to which the cell belongs, many companies and operators tend to seek a new enhancement scheme, and Dual Connectivity (Dual Connectivity) is one of the enhancement schemes. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an overall architecture of dual connectivity according to the related art, as shown in fig. 3, in the dual connectivity technology, a terminal may simultaneously maintain connection with more than two network nodes, but a control plane connection only has connection with one of the cells, such as a macro cell, for example, a UE is simultaneously in the coverage of cell 1 and cell 2, cell 1 belongs to eNB1, and cell 2 belongs to eNB2, when the dual connectivity technology is adopted, the UE maintains connection with cell 1, such as control plane connection, and may also include user plane connection, and meanwhile, the UE maintains connection with cell 2, such as user plane connection, that is, the UE simultaneously establishes radio bearers with both cell 1 and cell 2. In dual connectivity, in order to better perform load balancing between base stations and optimize cell resources to the greatest extent, split data radio bearers are introduced, so that split data radio bearers and non-split data radio bearers exist in dual connectivity, a non-data split radio bearer may exist only in an MeNB or an SeNB, there are three types of data radio bearers in total, a data radio bearer existing only in the MeNB is referred to as an MeNB bearer for short, a data radio bearer existing only in the SeNB is referred to as an SeNB bearer for short, and a data radio bearer existing in both the MeNB and the SeNB is referred to as a split (split) bearer for short. There is no disclosure of how to switch between the three types of data radio bearers.

An effective solution to the problem of how to switch between different types of data radio bearers in the related art has not been proposed.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for DRB handover, which at least solve the above problem, in order to solve the problem of how to handover between different types of data radio bearers in the related art.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a DRB conversion method, including: the method comprises the steps that UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, wherein the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB (first data radio bearer) on a second base station, which is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station; the UE temporarily deletes the first DRB on a first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and an EPS bearing of an evolved packet system; and the UE establishes the first DRB on the second base station according to the configuration information.

Preferably, before the UE temporarily deletes the first DRB on the first base station and retains the mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer, the method further includes: the UE receives an indication from the first base station, wherein the indication is used for informing the UE to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station and reserving the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer; or, the UE acquires that the first DRB is switched from the first base station to the second base station according to the data bearer modification request; and the UE determines to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer.

Preferably, before the UE receives the data bearer modification request sent by the first base station, the method further includes: the first base station sends an auxiliary base station SeNB bearer increasing/releasing request to the second base station; and the first base station sends the data bearer modification request to the UE, wherein the data bearer modification request carries the configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station.

Preferably, the sending, by the first base station, the SeNB bearer addition/release request to the second base station includes: and the first base station sends an SeNB bearer addition/release request to the second base station and receives configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station, which is sent by the second base station.

Preferably, the receiving, by the first base station, the configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station from the second base station includes: the first base station receives the configuration information contained in a separate cell container from the second base station.

Preferably, the UE receiving the data bearer modification request sent by the first base station includes: and the UE receives the data bearer modification request carried in the RRC reconfiguration command and sent by the first base station.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is also provided another DRB conversion method, including: the method comprises the steps that UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, wherein the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB (first data radio bearer) on a second base station, which is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station; and the UE deletes the first DRB on the first base station, establishes a second DRB on the second base station, and modifies the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearing of the evolved packet system to be the mapping relation between the second DRB and the EPS bearing.

Preferably, before the deleting the first DRB on the first base station, establishing the second DRB on the second base station, and modifying the mapping relationship between the first DRB and the EPS bearer on the first base station to be the mapping relationship between the second DRB and the EPS bearer, the method further includes: the UE receives an indication from the first base station, wherein the indication is used for informing the UE to delete a first DRB on the first base station, establish a second DRB on the second base station, and modify a mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and an EPS bearer to be the mapping relation between the second DRB and the EPS bearer; or, the UE acquires that the first DRB is switched from the first base station to the second base station according to the data bearer modification request; and the UE determines to delete the first DRB on the first base station, establishes a second DRB on the second base station, and modifies the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer into the mapping relation between the second DRB and the EPS bearer.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a DRB conversion method, including: the method comprises the steps that UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, wherein the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB (first data radio bearer) on a second base station, which is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station; and the UE simultaneously establishes the first DRB on the second base station.

Preferably, before the UE simultaneously establishes the first DRB on the second base station, the method further includes: the UE receives an indication from the first base station, wherein the indication is used for informing the UE of simultaneously establishing the first DRB on the second base station; or the UE acquires the first DRB converted into split bearer according to the data bearer modification request; the UE determines to establish the first DRB simultaneously on the second base station.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a DRB conversion apparatus, located in a UE, including: a first receiving module, configured to receive a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the configuration information is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station; a first conversion module, configured to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station, and keep a mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and an evolved packet system EPS bearer; and the establishing module is used for establishing the first DRB on the second base station according to the configuration information.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises: a second receiving module, configured to receive an indication from the first base station, where the indication is used to notify the UE to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station, and keep a mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and an EPS bearer; or, a first determining module, configured to acquire that the first DRB is switched from the first base station to the second base station according to the data bearer modification request; and the UE determines to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided another DRB conversion apparatus, located in a UE, including: a third receiving module, configured to receive a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the configuration information is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station; a second conversion module, configured to delete the first DRB on the first base station, establish a second DRB on the second base station, and modify a mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and an evolved packet system EPS bearer to be a mapping relationship between the second DRB and the EPS bearer.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises: a fourth receiving module, configured to receive an indication from the first base station, where the indication is used to notify the UE to delete the first DRB on the first base station, establish a second DRB on the second base station, and modify a mapping relationship between the first DRB and the EPS bearer on the first base station to be a mapping relationship between the second DRB and the EPS bearer; or, a second determining module, configured to obtain that the first DRB is switched from the first base station to the second base station according to the data bearer modification request; and the UE determines to delete the first DRB on the first base station, establishes a second DRB on the second base station, and modifies the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer into the mapping relation between the second DRB and the EPS bearer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a DRB conversion apparatus, located in a UE, including: a fifth receiving module, configured to receive a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the configuration information is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station; a third conversion module, configured to establish the first DRB simultaneously on the second base station.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises: a sixth receiving module, configured to receive an indication from the first base station, where the indication is used to notify the UE to establish the first DRB on the second base station at the same time; or, a third determining module, configured to obtain, according to the data bearer modification request, that the first DRB is converted into a split bearer; the UE determines to establish the first DRB simultaneously on the second base station.

According to the invention, UE is adopted to receive a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, wherein the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB (first data radio bearer) on a second base station, which is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station; the UE temporarily deletes the first DRB on the first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer; the UE establishes the first DRB on the second base station according to the configuration information, so that the problem of how to convert different types of data radio bearers in the related technology is solved, and the use flexibility of the DRB is improved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the invention without limiting the invention. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an overall architecture of an LTE system according to the related art;

fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a DRB establishment and modification procedure in an LTE system according to the related art;

fig. 3 is a general architecture diagram of dual connectivity according to the related art;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a DRB conversion method according to an embodiment of the present invention

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a structure of a DRB conversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of another DRB conversion method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a block diagram of another DRB conversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a flowchart of still another DRB conversion method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a block diagram of a structure of still another DRB conversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a flow chart of a transition between data radio bearers according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a flow chart of a transition between data radio bearers according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a flow chart of a transition between data radio bearers according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a flow chart of a transition between data radio bearers according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with embodiments. It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be combined with each other without conflict.

In this embodiment, a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) switching method is provided, and fig. 4 is a flowchart of a DRB switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4, the method includes the following steps:

step S402, UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, wherein the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, which is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station;

step S404, the UE temporarily deletes the first DRB on a first base station and keeps the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and an Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer;

step S406, the UE establishes the first DRB on the second base station according to the configuration information.

In this embodiment, through the above steps, a UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the first DRB is already established on the first base station, and the configuration information is acquired from the second base station; the UE temporarily deletes the first DRB on the first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer; the UE establishes the first DRB on the second base station according to the configuration information, so that the first base station sends a data bearer modification request to the UE only once, the conversion of the DRB type is completed, the problem of how to convert different types of data radio bearers in the related technology is solved, and the use flexibility of the DRB is improved.

As a preferred embodiment, the UE may complete the step S404 according to an instruction of the first base station, for example, the UE may receive an instruction from the first base station, where the instruction is used to notify the UE to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station, and keep a mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the UE may also determine when to perform the step S404, for example, the UE may acquire that the first DRB is transferred from the first base station to the second base station according to the data bearer modification request; and the UE determines to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer.

Preferably, before the UE receives the data bearer modification request sent by the first base station, the first base station may further send an SeNB bearer addition/release request to the second base station, and receive configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station sent by the second base station; and the first base station sends the data bearer modification request to the UE, wherein the data bearer modification request carries the configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station. In this scheme, when a first base station sends an SeNB bearer release request to a second base station, and at some time, the first base station has already acquired all information required for data bearer modification, at this time, the first base station may directly send a data bearer modification request to a UE without waiting for a response message of the second base station, that is, the first base station may directly send the data bearer modification request to the UE after sending the SeNB bearer release request to the second base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station.

Preferably, the second base station may include the configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station in a separate cell container for transmission.

Preferably, the data bearer modification request sent by the first base station may be sent by being carried in an RRC reconfiguration command.

It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, the MeNB is taken as an example of the DRB handover initiating base station, but the scheme in the present embodiment can also be implemented by taking the SeNB as the DRB handover initiating base station.

Corresponding to the DRB handover method, in this embodiment, a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) handover apparatus is provided, which is located in a UE and is used to implement the foregoing embodiments and preferred embodiments, and the description of the apparatus is omitted. As used below, the term "module" may be a combination of software and/or hardware that implements a predetermined function. Although the means described in the embodiments below are preferably implemented in software, an implementation in hardware, or a combination of software and hardware is also possible and contemplated.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a DRB conversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 5, the apparatus includes a first receiving module 52, a first conversion module 54, and a building module 56, and each module is described in detail below:

a first receiving module 52, configured to receive a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the first DRB is already established on the first base station, and the configuration information is acquired from the second base station; a first conversion module 54, connected to the first receiving module 52, configured to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station, and keep a mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and an EPS bearer; and an establishing module 56, connected to the first converting module 54, configured to establish the first DRB on the second base station according to the configuration information.

Preferably, the apparatus may further comprise: a second receiving module, connected to the first converting module 54, configured to receive an indication from the first base station, where the indication is used to notify the UE to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station, and keep a mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer; or, the first determining module is connected to the first converting module 54, and configured to obtain that the first DRB is converted from the first base station to the second base station according to the data bearer modification request; and the UE determines to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer.

In this embodiment, another Data Radio Bearer (DRB) conversion method is further provided, and fig. 6 is a flowchart of another DRB conversion method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6, the method includes the following steps:

step S602, a UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the configuration information is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station;

step S604, the UE deletes the first DRB on the first base station, establishes a second DRB on the second base station, and modifies the mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer to the mapping relationship between the second DRB and the EPS bearer.

In this embodiment, through the above steps, a UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the first DRB is already established on the first base station, and the configuration information is acquired from the second base station; the UE deletes the first DRB on the first base station, establishes a second DRB on the second base station, and modifies the mapping relation between the first DRB and the EPS bearer into the mapping relation between the second DRB and the EPS bearer, so that the first base station sends a data bearer modification request to the UE only once, the DRB type conversion is completed, the problem of how to convert different types of data radio bearers in the related technology is solved, and the use flexibility of the DRB is improved. In this embodiment, the bearer identities of the first DRB and the second DRB are different.

As a preferred embodiment, the UE may complete the step S604 according to an instruction of the first base station, for example, the UE may receive an instruction from the first base station, where the instruction is used to notify the UE to delete a first DRB on the first base station, establish a second DRB on the second base station, and modify a mapping relationship between the first DRB and an EPS bearer on the first base station to be a mapping relationship between the second DRB and the EPS bearer; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the UE may also determine when to perform the step S604, for example, the UE may acquire that the first DRB is switched from the first base station to the second base station according to the data bearer modification request; and the UE determines to delete the first DRB on the first base station, establishes a second DRB on the second base station, and modifies the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer into the mapping relation between the second DRB and the EPS bearer.

Corresponding to the above another DRB conversion method, in this embodiment, another Data Radio Bearer (DRB) conversion apparatus is further provided, which is located in the UE, fig. 7 is a block diagram of a structure of another DRB conversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 7, the apparatus includes a third receiving module 72 and a second conversion module 74, and the following describes each module in detail:

a third receiving module 72, configured to receive a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the first DRB is already established on the first base station, and the configuration information is acquired from the second base station; a second conversion module 74, connected to the third receiving module 72, configured to delete the first DRB on the first base station, establish a second DRB on the second base station, and modify the mapping relationship between the first DRB and the EPS bearer on the first base station to be the mapping relationship between the second DRB and the EPS bearer.

Preferably, the apparatus may further comprise: a fourth receiving module, connected to the second converting module 74, configured to receive an indication from the first base station, where the indication is used to notify the UE to delete the first DRB on the first base station, establish a second DRB on the second base station, and modify a mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer to be a mapping relationship between the second DRB and the EPS bearer; or, a second determining module, connected to the second converting module 74, configured to obtain, according to the data bearer modification request, that the first DRB is converted from the first base station to the second base station; and the UE determines to delete the first DRB on the first base station, establishes a second DRB on the second base station, and modifies the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer into the mapping relation between the second DRB and the EPS bearer.

In this embodiment, a further Data Radio Bearer (DRB) switching method is further provided, and fig. 8 is a flowchart of a further DRB switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 8, the method includes the following steps:

step S802, a UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, wherein the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, which is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station;

step S804, the UE simultaneously establishes the first DRB on the second base station.

In this embodiment, through the above steps, a UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the first DRB is already established on the first base station, and the configuration information is acquired from the second base station; the UE establishes the first DRB on the second base station simultaneously, so that the first base station sends a data bearer modification request to the UE only once to complete the DRB type conversion, the problem of how to convert different types of data radio bearers in the related technology is solved, and the use flexibility of the DRB is improved.

As a preferred embodiment, the UE may complete the step S804 according to an instruction of the first base station, for example, the UE may receive an instruction from the first base station, where the instruction is used to notify the UE to establish the first DRB on the second base station at the same time; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the UE may also determine when to perform the step S804, for example, the UE may acquire, according to the data bearer modification request, that the first DRB is converted into a split (split) bearer; the UE determines to establish the first DRB simultaneously on the second base station.

Corresponding to the above-mentioned another DRB handover method, in this embodiment, there is provided another Data Radio Bearer (DRB) handover apparatus, which is located in the UE, and fig. 9 is a block diagram of a structure of the another DRB handover apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 9, the apparatus includes a fifth receiving module 92 and a third handover module 94, and the following describes each module in detail:

a fifth receiving module 92, configured to receive a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the first DRB is already established on the first base station, and the configuration information is acquired from the second base station; a third conversion module 94, connected to the fifth receiving module 92, configured to establish the first DRB simultaneously at the second base station.

Preferably, the apparatus may further comprise: a sixth receiving module, connected to the third converting module 94, configured to receive an indication from the first base station, where the indication is used to notify the UE to establish the first DRB on the second base station at the same time; or, a third determining module, connected to the third converting module 94, configured to obtain, according to the data bearer modification request, that the first DRB is converted into a split (split) bearer; the UE determines to establish the first DRB simultaneously on the second base station.

The following description is given in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, which combine the above embodiments and their preferred embodiments.

In the following preferred embodiment, a method of bearer modification in dual connectivity is provided. In the related art, in the modification process of the current data radio bearer, the same data radio bearer identifier cannot be deleted or added in the same RRC signaling, and the several data radio bearers are switched, at least two RRC messages are required, between the two messages, the data radio bearer is deleted, and the core network also needs to be modified cooperatively, at this time, the terminal cannot normally receive and transmit data on the data radio bearer.

In order to solve the above problem, the following method for modifying bearers in dual connectivity is proposed in the preferred embodiment, and the following method can implement bearer modification through one data bearer modification request, specifically as follows:

the method comprises the following steps: the MeNB notifies the terminal through the indication, and temporarily releases the DRB bearer, that is, the corresponding relationship between the DRB bearer and the EPS bearer is preserved, the core network is not affected, and at the same time, notifies the terminal that the data radio bearer is established on the SeNB. If the two steps do not occur simultaneously, the terminal can reject the error if the error is considered as the error of the base station.

The second method comprises the following steps: the DRB changes the ID. That is, the original DRB is deleted, a new DRB is added, a new ID is used, and the terminal is notified, and the two DRBs are the same data radio bearer, so the terminal needs to update the correspondence between the DRB and the EPS bearer, but the core network needs to be modified.

By adopting the method provided by the preferred embodiment, the change among the data radio bearers can be simplified, and the data interruption time is shortened, wherein the change is limited in the access layer by the first method, and the influence surface is reduced.

In the following preferred embodiment, the base station 1 is a macro base station (MeNB) with 1 cell, cell 1, and the base station 2 is a small cell base station (SeNB), with two cells, cell 3 and cell 4.

Example one

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a transition between data radio bearers according to a first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 10, based on that a terminal establishes a connection with a cell 1, a data radio bearer identifier is set to 1, a corresponding EPS bearer identifier is set to 1, and the data radio bearer 1 only exists on a base station 1, where the transition flow is as follows:

steps S1002-S1004: because the load of the base station 1 is increased, the base station 1 adds the cell 3 to the terminal according to the measurement report, and simultaneously moves the data radio bearer 1 to the base station 2, and sends an SeNB addition request to the base station 2, and the configuration information of the current data radio bearer 1 such as a data bearer identifier and the like can be carried.

Step S1006: the base station 2 reserves resources for the data radio bearer 1 according to the current actual situation, and responds to the SeNB increase request response to the base station 1, where the response may include the following: the relevant configuration of the data radio bearer 1, such as the data bearer identity, etc., is contained in a separate cell container (container).

Step S1008: the base station 1 receives the response of the base station 2, sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, wherein the data bearer modification request is contained in an RRC reconfiguration command and carries configuration information of the data radio bearer 1 in an individual cell container in a response message of the base station 2, and simultaneously informs the terminal through indication to temporarily release the data radio bearer 1, namely, the mapping relation between the data radio bearer 1 bearer and the EPS bearer 1 is reserved.

Steps S1010-S1012: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, temporarily deletes the data radio bearer 1 according to the indication of the MeNB, reserves the mapping relation between the data radio bearer 1 and the EPS bearer 1, acquires that the data radio bearer 1 is established on the SeNB according to the single cell container, and establishes the data radio bearer 1 on the SeNB, so that the configuration of the data radio bearer 1 is completely recovered, and responds to the base station 1 that the bearer modification is completed.

Steps S1014-S1016: the base station 1 receives the response of the terminal to complete the bearer modification, and responds to the base station 2 that the SeNB reconfiguration is completed.

Step S1018: the terminal executes the random access process on the cell 3, and can normally receive and transmit data after the random access process is completed.

Steps S1020-S1022: the signal quality of the cell 3 on the base station 2 is not good, the base station 1 decides to move the data radio bearer 1 to the base station 1 according to the measurement report, and sends an SeNB release request to the base station 2, which may carry configuration information of the current data radio bearer 1, such as a data bearer identifier.

Step S1024: the base station 1 sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, where the data bearer modification request is contained in an RRC reconfiguration command and carries configuration information of the data radio bearer 1, such as a data bearer identifier, and the terminal is notified through an indication, and the data radio bearer 1 is temporarily released, that is, a mapping relationship between the data radio bearer 1 bearer and the EPS bearer 1 is reserved.

Steps S1026 to S1030: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, temporarily deletes the data radio bearer 1 according to the indication of the MeNB, reserves the mapping relation between the data radio bearer 1 and the EPS bearer 1, acquires that the data radio bearer 1 is established on the MeNB according to the RRC reconfiguration command, establishes the data radio bearer 1 on the MeNB, and responds to the completion of bearer modification for the base station 1, so that the configuration of the data radio bearer 1 is completely recovered, and data receiving and sending can be normally carried out.

Example two

In this embodiment, based on the connection established between the terminal and the cell 1, the data radio bearer identifier is 1, the corresponding EPS bearer identifier is 1, the data radio bearer 1 only exists on the base station 1, and the type is the MeNB bearer. This embodiment is also shown in fig. 10, where S1008 base station 1 in the first embodiment does not send an indication to the UE, but the UE determines the switching operation by itself in S1010, and likewise S1024 base station 1 does not send an indication to the UE, but the UE determines the switching operation by itself in S1026. The method comprises the following specific steps:

Step S1006: the base station 2 reserves resources for the data radio bearer 1 according to the current actual situation, and responds to the SeNB to add the request response to the base station 1, where the response message may include: the relevant configuration of the data radio bearer 1, such as the data bearer identity, type SeNB bearer, etc., is contained in a separate cell container.

Step S1008': the base station 1 receives the response of the base station 2, and sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, wherein the data bearer modification request is contained in an RRC reconfiguration command and carries configuration information of the data radio bearer 1 in an individual cell container in the response message of the base station 2.

Step S1010' -S1012: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, finds out that the type of the wireless data bearer 1 is changed from the MeNB bearer to the SeNB bearer, then temporarily deletes the data wireless bearer 1, reserves the mapping relation between the data wireless bearer 1 and the EPS bearer 1, acquires the data wireless bearer 1 established on the SeNB according to the configured bearer type, and establishes the data wireless bearer 1 on the SeNB base station 2, so far, the configuration of the data wireless bearer 1 is completely recovered, and responds to the base station 1 that the bearer modification is completed.

Step S1024': the base station 1 sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, wherein the data bearer modification request is contained in the RRC reconfiguration command and carries configuration information of the data radio bearer 1, such as a data bearer identifier, and the type is MeNB bearer.

Steps S1026' -S1030: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, finds out that the type of the wireless data bearer 1 is changed from the SeNB bearer to the MeNB bearer, then temporarily deletes the data wireless bearer 1, reserves the mapping relation between the data wireless bearer 1 and the EPS bearer 1, acquires the data wireless bearer 1 established on the MeNB according to the configured bearer type, establishes the data wireless bearer 1 on the base station 1, responds to the completion of the bearer modification for the base station 1, and at this time, the configuration of the data wireless bearer 1 is completely recovered, and can normally receive and transmit data.

EXAMPLE III

Fig. 11 is a flowchart of switching between data radio bearers according to a third embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 11, based on that a terminal establishes a connection with a cell 1, a data radio bearer identifier is set to 1, a corresponding EPS bearer identifier is set to 2, and the data radio bearer 1 only exists on a base station 1, where the switching process is as follows:

steps S1102 to S1104: as the load of the base station 1 increases, the base station 1 adds the cell 3 to the terminal according to the measurement report, and simultaneously moves the data radio bearer 1 to the base station 2, that is, the data radio bearer 1 becomes a split bearer, and sends an SeNB addition request to the base station 2, where the SeNB addition request may carry configuration information of the current data radio bearer 1, including a data bearer identifier and the like.

Step S1106: the base station 2 reserves resources for the data radio bearer 1 according to the current actual situation, and responds to the SeNB to add the request response to the base station 1, where the response message may include: the relevant configuration of the data radio bearer 1 on the SeNB, such as the data bearer identity, etc., is contained in a separate cell container.

Step S1108: the base station 1 receives the response of the base station 2, and sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, wherein the data bearer modification request is contained in an RRC reconfiguration command and carries configuration information of the data radio bearer 1 in an individual cell container in the response message of the base station 2.

Steps S1110-S1112: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, and knows that the data radio bearer 1 is established on the SeNB according to the separate cell container, but finds that the data radio bearer 1 is already established on the MeNB, so that it knows that the data radio bearer is to become a split bearer, and then establishes the data radio bearer 1 on the base station 2, and responds to the base station 1 to complete a bearer modification response, and accordingly, the configuration of the data radio bearer 1 becomes a split bearer.

Step S1114: the base station 1 receives the response of the terminal to complete the bearer modification, and responds to the base station 2 that the SeNB reconfiguration is completed.

Step S1116: the terminal executes the random access process on the cell 3, and can normally receive and transmit data after the random access process is completed.

Steps S1118-S1120: the signal quality of the cell 3 on the base station 2 is not good, the base station 1 decides to move the data radio bearer 1 to the base station 1 according to the measurement report, sends an SeNB release request to the base station 2, and can carry the configuration information of the current data radio bearer 1 such as a data bearer identifier.

Step S1122: the base station 2 responds to the SeNB release request response to the base station 1, and the response may include the following: the relevant configuration of the data radio bearer 1 to be deleted, such as the data bearer identification, etc., is contained in a separate cell container.

Step S1124: the base station 1 receives the response of the base station 2, and sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, wherein the data bearer modification request is contained in the RRC reconfiguration command and carries the configuration information of the data radio bearer 1 to be deleted in the single cell container in the response message of the base station 2.

Steps S1126-S1128: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, and acquires that the data radio bearer 1 needs to be deleted on the base station 2 according to the single cell container, so that the situation that the data radio bearer 1 only remains on the MeNB and is an MeNB bearer is acquired, the data radio bearer 1 on the SeNB is deleted, so far, the configuration of the data radio bearer 1 is changed into the MeNB bearer, a bearer modification completion response is replied to the base station 1, and in the process, the data radio bearer 1 can normally receive and transmit data on the MeNB.

Example four

Fig. 12 is a flowchart of switching between data radio bearers according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 12, based on that a terminal establishes a connection with a cell 1, a data radio bearer identifier is set to 1, a corresponding EPS bearer identifier is set to 1, the data radio bearer 1 exists only on a base station 1 and is an MeNB bearer, and is further configured with a cell 3, a data radio bearer 2 is set up, the corresponding EPS bearer identifier is set to 2, the data radio bearer 2 exists only on the base station 2 and is an SeNB bearer, where the switching flow is as follows:

steps S1202 to S1204: as the load of the base station 2 increases, the base station 1 determines to move the data radio bearer 2 to the base station 1, that is, the data radio bearer 2 becomes a split bearer, and sends an SeNB modification request to the base station 2, where the request may carry configuration information of the current data radio bearer 2, such as a data bearer identifier, and the modified bearer type is a split bearer.

Step S1206: the base station 2 responds to the SeNB modification request response to the base station 1 according to the current actual situation, where the response may include a modification agreement, and may also include related configuration of the data radio bearer 2 on the SeNB, such as a data bearer identifier, a bearer type is a split bearer, and the like, and is included in a single cell container.

Step S1208: the base station 1 receives the response of the base station 2, and sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, wherein the data bearer modification request is contained in an RRC reconfiguration command and carries configuration information of the data radio bearer 2 in an individual cell container in the response message of the base station 2.

Steps S1210 to S1212: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, the bearer type is changed into a split bearer according to the configuration information of the data radio bearer 2, the data radio bearer 2 is already established on the SeNB, and therefore the terminal knows that the data radio bearer 2 needs to be established on the base station 1, and then the terminal establishes the data radio bearer 2 on the base station 1 and responds a response of completion of bearer modification to the base station 1, so far, the configuration of the data radio bearer 2 is changed into the split bearer, and data receiving and sending can be performed normally.

Step S1214: and the base station 1 receives the response of the terminal for completing the bearing modification, responds to the base station 2 that the SeNB reconfiguration is completed, and can normally receive and transmit data after the UE is subjected to the random access process.

Steps S1216 to S1218: because the load of the base station 1 is increased and the load of the base station 2 is recovered to normal, the base station 1 decides to move the data wireless bearer 2 to the base station 2, sends a bearer modification request to the base station 2, and can carry the configuration information of the current data wireless bearer 2, such as a data bearer identifier, and the modified bearer type is a split bearer.

Step S1220: the base station 2 responds to the bearer modification request response to the base station 1 according to the current actual situation, where the response may include a modification agreement, and may also include related configuration of the data radio bearer 2 on the SeNB, such as a data bearer identifier, and the modified bearer type is an SeNB bearer, and is included in a separate cell container.

Step S1222: the base station 1 sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, which is contained in the RRC reconfiguration command and carries configuration information of the data radio bearer 2 in an individual cell container in the response message carrying the base station 2.

Steps S1224-S1226: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, the bearer type of the configuration information of the data radio bearer 2 is changed into an SeNB bearer, it is known that the data radio bearer on the MeNB needs to be deleted, and then the data radio bearer 2 on the MeNB is deleted, so far, the configuration of the data radio bearer 2 is changed into an SeNB bearer, a response of completing bearer modification is given to the base station 1, and the data radio bearer 2 can normally receive and transmit data on the SeNB in the process.

Step S1228: the base station 1 receives the response of the terminal to complete the bearer modification, and responds to the base station 2 that the SeNB reconfiguration is completed.

EXAMPLE five

Fig. 13 is a flowchart of a fifth embodiment of the present invention for switching between data radio bearers, and as shown in fig. 13, based on a connection established between a terminal and a cell 1, a data radio bearer identifier is established to be 1, a corresponding EPS bearer identifier is 1, and the data radio bearer 1 only exists on a base station 1, and a second switching method is used, where the switching flow is as follows:

steps S1302-S1304: because the load of the base station 1 is increased, the base station 1 adds the cell 3 to the terminal according to the measurement report, simultaneously moves the data radio bearer 1 to the base station 2, modifies the data radio bearer identifier to 2, sends an SeNB addition request to the base station 2, and can carry the configuration information of the current data radio bearer 2, such as the data bearer identifier.

Step 1306: the base station 2 reserves resources for the data radio bearer 2 according to the current actual situation, and responds to the SeNB increase request response to the base station 1, where the response may include the following: the relevant configuration of the data radio bearer 2, such as the data bearer identification, etc., is contained in a separate cell container.

Step S1308: the base station 1 receives the response of the base station 2, and sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, wherein the data bearer modification request is contained in the RRC reconfiguration command and comprises the following information: the data radio bearer 1 is deleted, the configuration information of the data radio bearer 2 in the individual cell container in the response message of the base station 2 is carried, and simultaneously the terminal is informed through the indication that the data radio bearer 1 and the data radio bearer 2 are the same.

Steps S1310-S1314: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, temporarily deletes the data radio bearer 1 according to the indication of the MeNB, modifies the mapping relation between the data radio bearer 1 and the EPS bearer 1 into the mapping relation between the data radio bearer 2 and the EPS bearer 1, acquires the data radio bearer 1 established on the SeNB according to the single cell container, and establishes the data radio bearer 2 on the SeNB, so far, the configuration of the data radio bearer 2 is completely recovered, and responds to the base station 1 that the bearer modification is completed.

Step S1316: the base station 1 receives the response of the terminal to complete the bearer modification, and responds to the base station 2 that the SeNB reconfiguration is completed.

Step S1318: the base station 1 informs the core network that the corresponding relation between the EPS bearing 1 and the data wireless bearing 1 is changed into the corresponding relation between the EPS bearing 1 and the data wireless bearing 2.

Step S1320: the terminal executes the random access process on the cell 3, and can normally receive and transmit data after the random access process is completed.

Step S1322-S1324: the signal quality of the cell 3 on the base station 2 is not good, the base station 1 decides to move the data radio bearer 2 to the base station 1 according to the measurement report, and at the same time, modifies the data radio bearer identifier, sends an SeNB release request to the base station 2, and can carry the configuration information of the current data radio bearer 2, such as the data bearer identifier.

Step S1326: the base station 2 responds to the SeNB release request response to the base station 1, and the response may include the following: the relevant configuration of the data radio bearer 2 to be deleted, such as the data bearer identification, etc., is contained in a separate cell container.

Step S1328: the base station 1 receives the response of the base station 2, and sends a data bearer modification request to the terminal, wherein the data bearer modification request is contained in the RRC reconfiguration command, contains the configuration information of the data radio bearer 1, and simultaneously carries the configuration information of the data radio bearer 2 to be deleted in an independent cell container in the response message of the base station 2, and informs the terminal that the data radio bearer 2 and the data radio bearer 1 are the same.

Steps S1330 to S1334: the terminal receives the reconfiguration, knows that the data radio bearer 2 needs to be deleted according to the single cell container, deletes the data radio bearer 2, and according to the indication of the base station 1, the data radio bearer 2 and the data radio bearer 1 are the same, so that the mapping relation between the data radio bearer 2 and the EPS bearer 1 is modified to be the mapping relation between the data radio bearer 1 and the EPS bearer 1, and establishes the data radio bearer 1 on the MeNB, so far, the configuration of the data radio bearer 1 is completely recovered, and the base station 1 responds to the bearer modification to complete the response.

Step S1336: the base station 1 informs the core network that the corresponding relation between the EPS bearing 1 and the data wireless bearing 2 is changed into the corresponding relation between the EPS bearing 1 and the data wireless bearing 1.

In the above preferred embodiments, the messages between the base station 1 and the base station 2, the SeNB addition request and response, and the SeNB modification request and response are not limited to the messages in the embodiments, and any one of the above messages may be selected as needed.

In another embodiment, a software is provided, which is used to execute the technical solutions described in the above embodiments and the preferred embodiments.

In another embodiment, a storage medium is provided, wherein the software is stored in the storage medium, and the storage medium includes, but is not limited to, an optical disc, a floppy disc, a hard disc, a rewritable memory, and the like.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the modules or steps of the present invention described above may be implemented by a general purpose computing device, they may be centralized on a single computing device or distributed across a network of multiple computing devices, and alternatively, they may be implemented by program code executable by a computing device, such that they may be stored in a storage device and executed by a computing device, and in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different than that described herein, or they may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or multiple ones of them may be fabricated into a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A DRB conversion method for a data radio bearer, comprising:

a terminal UE receives a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, wherein the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB (first data radio bearer) on a second base station, which is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station;

the UE temporarily deletes the first DRB on a first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and an EPS bearing of an evolved packet system;

the UE establishes the first DRB on the second base station according to the configuration information;

before the UE temporarily deletes the first DRB on the first base station and retains the mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer, the method further includes:

the UE receives an indication from the first base station, wherein the indication is used for informing the UE to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station and reserving the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the UE obtains that the first DRB is switched from the first base station to the second base station according to the data bearing modification request; and the UE determines to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein before the UE receives the data bearer modification request sent by the first base station, the method further comprises:

the first base station sends an auxiliary base station SeNB bearer increasing/releasing request to the second base station;

and the first base station sends the data bearer modification request to the UE, wherein the data bearer modification request carries the configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein sending, by the first base station, the SeNB bearer add/release request to the second base station comprises:

and the first base station sends an SeNB bearer addition/release request to the second base station and receives configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station, which is sent by the second base station.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving, by the first base station, the configuration information of the first DRB on the second base station from the second base station comprises:

the first base station receives the configuration information contained in a separate cell container from the second base station.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, by the UE, the data bearer modification request sent by the first base station comprises:

and the UE receives the data bearer modification request carried in the RRC reconfiguration command and sent by the first base station.

6. A DRB conversion apparatus for a data radio bearer, located in a terminal UE, comprising:

a first receiving module, configured to receive a data bearer modification request sent by a first base station, where the data bearer modification request carries configuration information of a first DRB on a second base station, where the configuration information is acquired from the second base station, and the first DRB is already established on the first base station;

a first conversion module, configured to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station, and keep a mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and an evolved packet system EPS bearer;

an establishing module, configured to establish the first DRB on the second base station according to the configuration information;

a second receiving module, configured to receive an indication from the first base station, where the indication is used to notify the UE to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station, and keep a mapping relationship between the first DRB on the first base station and an EPS bearer; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

a first determining module, configured to acquire that the first DRB is switched from the first base station to the second base station according to the data bearer modification request; and the UE determines to temporarily delete the first DRB on the first base station and reserves the mapping relation between the first DRB on the first base station and the EPS bearer.