CN106470444B

CN106470444B - Measurement processing method of access point signal, user equipment and base station

Info

Publication number: CN106470444B
Application number: CN201510502508.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙建成
Original assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT
Current assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT; Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-08-14
Filing date: 2015-08-14
Publication date: 2019-12-20
Anticipated expiration: 2035-08-14
Also published as: CN106470444A

Abstract

The invention provides a method for measuring and processing access point signals, user equipment and a base station, wherein the method comprises the following steps: when an aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network of User Equipment (UE) is activated, the UE measures the signal quality of member APs in an AP group, wherein the AP group is configured for the UE by the mobile communication network in advance; and the UE executes the selection or switching processing of the service AP according to the signal quality of the member AP. The invention can effectively support the mobility scene of the UE, reduce the measurement reporting process when the UE moves in the AP group, reduce the signaling interaction of the UU interface between the WLAN and the mobile communication network and simplify the processing of the eNB.

Description

Measurement processing method of access point signal, user equipment and base station

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a method for measuring and processing an Access Point (AP) signal, User Equipment (UE), and a base station (eNB).

Background

With the growing demand of users and the development of communication technologies, more and more wireless communication technologies and related communication networks are emerging. For example, the operator may provide a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) network with hot spot coverage, as well as a mobile communication technology and network such as 2G/3G/4G with wide coverage. Therefore, a large number of scenarios in which different communication networks coexist, such as a scenario in which a mobile communication network such as 2G/3G/LTE and a WLAN coexist, have appeared. The WLANs described herein all refer to Wi-Fi networks deployed by operators, not by individuals or some stores, companies, etc.

Under the scene that the mobile communication network and the WLAN coexist, the LTE-WLAN aggregation technology enables user data or bearer of the UE to be flexibly converted or concurrent between a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and the WLAN. The basic idea of the LTE-WLAN aggregation technology is to fully utilize resources of the eNB and the WLAN to provide better Quality of Experience (QoE) for the UE, such as faster download rate for the UE, in a common coverage area of the LTE and the WLAN. In the technology, an eNB is used as a control node, and whether to aggregate WLAN AP resources for a certain UE is determined according to the signal strength and the load condition of the WLAN AP, so that all or part of data on a certain bearer of the eNB is shunted to the WLAN AP side for transmission.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved in the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a method for measuring and processing an access point signal, a user equipment, and a base station, so as to effectively support a mobility scenario of a UE when a mobile communication network is aggregated with a wireless local area network.

In order to solve the above technical problem, a method for measuring and processing an access point signal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

when an aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network of User Equipment (UE) is activated, the UE measures the signal quality of member APs in an AP group, wherein the AP group is configured for the UE by the mobile communication network in advance;

and the UE executes the selection or switching processing of the service AP according to the signal quality of the member AP.

In the foregoing solution, before the aggregation function between the mobile communication network of the UE and the wireless local area network is activated, the method further includes:

receiving AP measurement configuration information of a wireless local area network sent by a mobile communication network, measuring a first measurement report of AP signal quality according to the AP measurement configuration information, and sending the first measurement report to the mobile communication network;

receiving an activation message which is sent by a mobile communication network and used for activating the aggregation function, and activating the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network;

receiving AP group configuration information sent by a mobile communication network, and configuring member APs of the AP group, wherein the AP group configuration information carries the AP selected by the mobile communication network according to the measurement report of the AP signal quality.

In the foregoing solution, the step of the UE performing the selection or switching process of the serving AP according to the signal quality of the member AP includes:

when the UE is not associated with the AP, if a member AP with signal quality superior to a first threshold exists in the AP group, selecting the member AP with the optimal signal quality from the AP group as a service AP for association;

and when the UE is associated with the service AP, the UE switches the service AP in the AP group according to a preset switching strategy.

In the foregoing scheme, after the UE measures the signal quality of the member APs in the AP group, the method further includes:

when the signal quality of the member APs of the AP group is inferior to a second threshold, the UE sends a second measurement report for requesting to deactivate the aggregation function to a mobile communication network;

and receiving a deactivation message returned by the mobile communication network for the second measurement report, and deactivating the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and a wireless local area network.

In the above scheme, the UE further measures signal quality of non-member APs other than the member APs of the AP group;

when the UE obtains a non-member AP with signal quality superior to a third threshold through measurement, a third measurement report for requesting the updating of an AP group is sent to a mobile communication network, wherein the third measurement report carries information of the non-member AP with the signal quality superior to the third threshold;

and after receiving an AP group update message sent by the mobile communication network, the UE updates the member APs of the AP group according to the AP group update message, where the AP group update message carries information of APs added to the AP group by the mobile communication network according to the third measurement report.

According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a method for measuring and processing an AP signal of an access point, including:

sending AP measurement configuration information of a wireless local area network to User Equipment (UE), and receiving a first measurement report of AP signal quality measured by the UE according to the measurement configuration information;

selecting an AP with signal quality meeting a first preset condition as a member AP of an AP group according to the first measurement report;

and sending an activation message and AP group configuration information for activating the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network to the UE, activating the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the UE, and configuring member APs of the AP group for the UE.

Wherein, above-mentioned scheme still includes:

receiving a second measurement report which is sent by the UE when the signal quality of the member APs of the AP group is worse than a first threshold value and is used for requesting to deactivate the aggregation function;

and sending a deactivation message to the UE according to the second measurement report, and deactivating the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the UE.

Wherein, above-mentioned scheme still includes:

receiving a third measurement report sent by the UE when the UE obtains a non-member AP with signal quality better than a second threshold value through measurement, wherein the third measurement report carries information of the non-member AP with the signal quality better than the second threshold value;

and determining the AP newly added to the AP group according to the third measurement report, and sending an AP group update message to the UE to update member APs of the AP group, wherein the AP group update message carries the determined information of the AP newly added to the AP group.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a user equipment, including:

a first measurement unit, configured to measure signal quality of a member AP in an AP group when an aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network of a user equipment UE is activated, where the AP group is configured for the UE in advance by the mobile communication network;

and the switching unit is used for executing the selection or switching processing of the service AP according to the signal quality of the member AP.

Wherein, above-mentioned scheme still includes:

a first receiving unit, configured to receive AP measurement configuration information of a wireless local area network sent by a mobile communication network;

a first report unit, configured to measure a first measurement report of the AP signal quality according to the AP measurement configuration information, and send the first measurement report to a mobile communication network;

a second receiving unit, configured to receive an activation message sent by a mobile communication network and used for activating the aggregation function, and activate the aggregation function between the mobile communication network and a wireless local area network;

a third receiving unit, configured to receive AP group configuration information sent by a mobile communication network, and configure a member AP of an AP group, where the AP group configuration information carries an AP selected by the mobile communication network according to a measurement report of AP signal quality.

In the foregoing scheme, the switching unit includes:

a first association unit, configured to select a member AP with an optimal signal quality from the AP group as a serving AP for association if the member AP with a signal quality better than a first threshold exists in the AP group when the UE is not associated with the AP;

a second associating unit, configured to perform, when the UE has associated a serving AP, switching of the serving AP in the AP group according to a preset switching policy.

Wherein, in the above scheme, still include:

a second reporting unit, configured to send a second measurement report requesting to deactivate the aggregation function to the mobile communication network when the signal quality of the member APs of the AP group is worse than a second threshold;

a fourth receiving unit, configured to receive a deactivation message returned by the mobile communication network for the second measurement report, and deactivate an aggregation function between the mobile communication network and a wireless local area network.

In the foregoing scheme, the third reporting unit is configured to measure signal quality of a non-member AP other than a member AP of the AP group, and send a third measurement report requesting update of the AP group to a mobile communication network when the measured signal quality of the non-member AP is better than a third threshold, where the third measurement report carries information of the non-member AP whose signal quality is better than the third threshold;

a fifth receiving unit, configured to receive an AP group update message sent by the mobile communication network, and update a member AP of the AP group according to the AP group update message, where the AP group update message carries information of an AP added to the AP group by the mobile communication network according to the third measurement report.

According to still another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a base station, including:

a first sending unit, configured to send AP measurement configuration information of a wireless local area network to a UE;

a first receiving unit, configured to receive a first measurement report that the UE obtains AP signal quality according to the measurement configuration information;

a first selecting unit, configured to select, according to the measurement report, an AP whose signal quality meets a first predetermined condition as a member AP of an AP group;

a first configuration unit, configured to send, to the UE, an activation message and AP group configuration information for activating an aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network, activate the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the UE, and configure a member AP of an AP group for the UE.

Wherein, in the above scheme, still include:

a second receiving unit, configured to receive a second measurement report, which is sent by the UE when the signal quality of the member APs in the AP group is worse than a first threshold, and is used for requesting to deactivate the aggregation function;

and a second configuration unit, configured to send a deactivation message to the UE according to the second measurement report, and deactivate an aggregation function between a mobile communication network of the UE and a wireless local area network.

Wherein, in the above scheme, still include:

a third receiving unit, configured to receive a third measurement report sent by the UE when the UE obtains a non-member AP whose signal quality is better than a second threshold through measurement, where the third measurement report carries information of the non-member AP whose signal quality is better than the second threshold;

a third configuration unit, configured to determine, according to the third measurement report, an AP newly added to the AP group, and send an AP group update message to the UE, so as to update a member AP of the AP group, where the AP group update message carries information of the AP newly added to the AP group.

Compared with the prior art, the method for measuring and processing the access point signal, the user equipment and the base station provided by the embodiment of the invention can effectively support the mobility scene of the UE, reduce the measurement reporting process when the UE moves in the AP group, reduce the signaling interaction of a UU interface between the WLAN and the mobile communication network, and simplify the processing of the eNB.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic application diagram of an LTE-WLAN aggregation technique after introducing an AP group according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a first flowchart illustrating a method for measuring and processing an AP signal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a second flowchart illustrating a method for measuring and processing an AP signal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is an exemplary diagram of a mobility scenario of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a first schematic structural diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a second schematic structural diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a first schematic structural diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the following detailed description is given with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

In the LTE-WLAN aggregation technology, a possible signal measurement method and application scenario are shown in table 1 below:

TABLE 1

Firstly, the eNB configures a W1/W3 event for the UE in a connected state, and requests the UE to measure an AP list configured by a network, or measure a "frequency point + Service Set Identifier (SSID)". The UE executes relevant measurement according to the measurement configuration, if the AP meeting the preset condition is found, the UE reports a W1/W3 event to the eNB, and the eNB determines whether to activate LTE-WLAN aggregation for the UE. The procedure to activate LTE-WLAN aggregation, which can typically be signaled to the UE using dedicated signaling, typically requires the eNB to be informed of the selected AP ID and Data radio bearer (DRB, Data RB) information split onto that AP.

After the eNB activates the LTE-WLAN aggregation function for a certain UE, the eNB configures a W2/W4/W5 event for the UE, and requires the UE to monitor signals of all APs (or frequency points + SSIDs) in an AP list:

1) and if the signal quality of all the APs measured by the UE is worse than the configured threshold, reporting a W2/W4 event to the eNB, and enabling the eNB to deactivate the LTE-WLAN aggregation function for the UE.

2) If the UE finds an AP with better signal quality than the current serving AP, it reports a W5 event to the eNB, and the eNB determines whether to perform serving AP handover (serving AP change) according to the content of the measurement report and the information such as the load of the target AP. If the handover of the serving AP is performed, the eNB will release the connection of the original serving AP and connect to the target AP, and the eNB will also reconfigure the UE, including configuring information of the target AP ID, DRB, etc.

In order to reduce the overhead of signaling control, the concept of AP Group (AP Group) is introduced, and one AP Group may include a plurality of APs. The UE can select a service AP by itself in the AP group configured by the mobile communication network without reporting to the mobile communication network, so that the signaling overhead is reduced. Specifically, the AP group may be determined by the eNB according to the signal strength of the AP reported by the UE, for example, an AP whose signal strength meets a predetermined condition is selected to generate an AP group. When the eNB generates the AP group, parameters such as current load information and residual bandwidth size of each AP may be further considered. For example, the eNB acquires the parameters of each AP, such as the load of the AP, through an interface between the mobile communication network and the WLAN, and then selects the APs whose signal quality meets a predetermined condition, current load is smaller than a first predetermined value, and remaining available bandwidth is larger than a second predetermined value, according to the signal quality of each AP, current load information, service processing capability, available bandwidth size, and other parameters, to form an AP group.

Taking the application scenario shown in fig. 1 as an example, it is assumed that signal qualities of APs 1 to AP4 measured and reported by the UE in fig. 1 all satisfy predetermined conditions, but the eNB may find that the current load of AP4 is large, and may not select AP4 as a member of the AP group. However, since the AP5 is far away from the UE, the UE may detect poor AP5 signal and may not satisfy the predetermined condition, and the eNB may not add the AP5 to the AP group. In the above description, a possible generation manner of the AP group is described, and specifically, how the eNB generates the AP group may be determined by the implementation of the eNB.

As shown in fig. 1, assuming that the current eNB configures an AP group for the UE (the AP group includes AP 1-AP 3), when the UE moves in the AP group, the UE does not need to report a measurement report to the eNB when switching serving APs, and does not need to cooperate with the eNB, and can completely multiplex the UE mobility procedure of the WLAN without special processing of the UE.

The above WLAN signal measurement method is similar to the commonly used measurement method in the 3G/4G communication technology, and the UE measures the whole AP list, and reports a measurement report to the network when the AP signal quality is higher than a certain threshold1 or lower than a certain threshold2, and the network determines whether to initiate a serving AP handover or an AP deactivation process. The above measurement method uses more signaling (such as measurement report and LTE-WLAN interface signaling), and also requires the eNB to control the procedure of each serving AP handover of the UE at any time, which is not consistent with the target of the AP group.

After introducing the concept of AP group, if the above signal measurement method is continued, when the UE moves in the AP group, assuming that the current serving AP is AP1, and the measured signal quality of AP2 is better than the sum of AP1 and an offset, a W5 event is triggered, and the UE reports the event to the eNB, thereby causing a certain signaling overhead. In order to reduce the signaling overhead when the UE moves in the AP group, embodiments of the present invention provide a method for measuring and processing signals based on the AP group, so that when the UE moves in the AP group, even if a better AP is found, the UE does not need to report to the eNB to perform a procedure of switching serving APs.

Referring to fig. 2, a method for measuring and processing an AP signal according to an embodiment of the present invention, when being applied to a UE side, includes the following steps:

step S21, when the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the user equipment UE is activated, the UE measures the signal quality of the member AP in the AP group, where the AP group is configured for the UE in advance by the mobile communication network.

Here, the mobile communication network includes a mobile communication network such as 2G/3G/LTE, and the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network may be a 2G/3G/LTE-WLAN aggregation function.

Step S22, the UE performs a selection or switching process of a serving AP according to the signal quality of the member AP.

In the above steps of the embodiment of the present invention, when the UE moves between different APs, in order to reduce the control overhead of signaling, the UE may select a serving AP within the range of an AP group allowed by the network, without reporting to the network. The network (eNB) may determine the member APs of the AP group based on the measurement report of the UE to the APs and information such as AP load, and may send the information of the AP group to the UE in the measurement configuration. Since the UE does not need to inform the network (eNB) about the movement of the UE within the AP group, and the UE completes the handover of the serving AP by itself, the scenario of the movement within the AP group also does not need to send a measurement report to the network (eNB). The AP signal measuring method under the LTE-WLAN aggregation scene provided by the embodiment of the invention can reduce the signaling control overhead and simplify the processing of the eNB side in the mobility scene after the introduction of the AP group.

In the above step S22:

if the UE does not associate with the AP currently, the UE judges whether a member AP with the signal quality superior to a first Threshold (Threshold1) exists in the AP group or not, if so, the member AP with the optimal signal quality is selected from the AP group to be used as a service AP for association, and a communication link with the service AP is established; if the UE has associated a serving AP, the UE may perform handover of the serving AP in the AP group according to a preset handover policy.

In the embodiment of the invention, the UE can autonomously switch the serving AP in the AP group without the participation of the eNB. For example, the UE may determine whether there is a candidate member AP whose signal quality is better than the first threshold and better than a sum of the signal quality of the current serving AP and a preset offset, in other member APs except the current serving AP, and if there is the candidate member AP, switch the current serving AP to the candidate member AP. Here, if there are a plurality of candidate member APs, one candidate member AP may be randomly selected or a subsequent member AP with the best signal quality may be selected, and the serving AP may be switched to the selected candidate member AP.

Here, the first threshold may be set according to a basic signal quality required when the UE and the AP can normally communicate, for example, the first threshold is set to be the basic signal quality or slightly higher than the basic signal quality.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the AP group may be established based on the W1 event. Here, the establishment of the AP group is to be based on the measurement result of the WLAN, and the W1 event functions to provide measurement information to help the eNB establish the AP group, activating LTE-WLAN aggregation. After the AP group is established, the eNB configures the AP group for the UE to use. Therefore, the signal measurement processing method according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include, before the aggregation function between the mobile communication network of the UE and the wireless local area network is activated, the following steps:

step S31, receiving AP measurement configuration information of the wireless lan sent by the mobile communication network, measuring a first measurement report of the obtained AP signal quality according to the AP measurement configuration information, and sending the first measurement report to the mobile communication network.

Here, the AP measurement configuration information may be an AP list, or "frequency point + SSID". The UE executes related measurement according to the measurement configuration information, if finding the AP meeting the preset signal quality condition, the UE reports a W1 event to the eNB, namely the UE sends the information of the AP meeting the preset signal quality condition to a mobile communication network (such as the eNB) according to the measurement result, and the mobile communication network configures an AP group for the UE according to the information and activates an LTE-WLAN aggregation function.

Step S32, receiving the activation message for activating the aggregation function sent by the mobile communication network, and activating the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network; and receiving AP group configuration information sent by a mobile communication network, and configuring member APs of the AP group, wherein the AP group configuration information carries the AP selected by the mobile communication network according to the measurement report of the AP signal quality.

Here, there is no strict precedence relationship between the activation message and the AP group configuration message. The mobile communication network (e.g. eNB) configures an AP group for the UE according to the AP signal quality reported by the UE (parameters such as load, available bandwidth, and service processing capability of the AP may also be considered), and notifies the UE of the AP group configuration information. In addition, the mobile communication network (such as eNB) will also send the first activation message to the UE, activating the LTE-WLAN aggregation function.

Here, the process of activating the LTE-WLAN aggregation function may be generally notified to the UE by the eNB using dedicated signaling, and generally needs to notify the eNB of the selected AP ID and Data radio bearer (DRB, Data RB) information detached to the AP, so that the UE may transmit and receive Data on the DRB detached to the serving AP by the eNB according to the dedicated signaling transmitted by the eNB.

After the AP group is established, the AP group-based signal measurement may be implemented according to the measurement method of steps 21-22 described above. Two new event types are defined in the embodiment of the invention: e1 and E2, as specifically defined in table 2 below:

TABLE 2

The triggering condition of the E1 event is that the signal values of all APs in the AP group are lower than a second Threshold (Threshold2), the UE reports the E1 event, and the eNB may consider whether to deactivate LTE-WLAN aggregation according to the E1 event.

The trigger condition of the E2 event is reporting a measurement report of the E2 event when the signal value of some target AP(s) in the non-member APs is better than a preset third threshold. Here, the third threshold may be set with reference to a sum of the serving AP and a preset offset, or may be set with reference to a sum of an AP with the best signal quality in the AP group and a preset offset. When the NB receives the measurement report of the E2 event, it determines whether to update the AP group according to the E2 event reported by the UE and the availability of the target AP (refer to parameters such as load and available bandwidth of the target AP). Such as: the UE reports a good signal value to a non-member AP, but the non-member AP is already heavily loaded, and the eNB may not consider adding it to the AP group.

Here, the non-member AP refers to an AP that is not within the eNB-configured AP group. The non-member APs that may be carried by the E2 event are members of a non-AP group measured based on an AP list configured by the eNB or the frequency point + SSID, and the eNB may update the AP group established for the UE with reference to the information of the non-member APs. Therefore, the E1 event can replace the W2/W4 event.

In addition, in the LTE-WLAN aggregation technology, all the used APs are deployed by an operator, and an eNB may allocate different AP groups to different UEs served by the eNB, where for a certain UE, both the AP group and a non-member AP are configured by the eNB. Therefore, the non-member APs carried by E1, E2 events are typically APs measured based on eNB measurement configuration to avoid that the UE may report detected private APs of some individuals or enterprises to the eNB, resulting in unnecessary signaling overhead and processing by the eNB.

Therefore, in response to the event E1, the method for processing signal measurement according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include, after measuring the signal quality of the member AP in the AP group in the step S21, the following steps:

step S41, when the signal quality of the member APs of the AP group is inferior to a second threshold, the UE sends a second measurement report for requesting to deactivate the aggregation function to the mobile communication network.

Here, the sending of the second measurement report for requesting the deactivation of the aggregation function to the mobile communication network is to report an E1 event to the mobile communication network (eNB).

Step S42, receiving a deactivation message returned by the mobile communication network for the second measurement report, and deactivating the aggregation function between the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network.

Here, the mobile communication network sends a deactivation message to the UE according to the second measurement report, deactivates the aggregation function between the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network, and re-switches the bearer separated to the WLAN side back to the mobile communication network side for transmission.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the UE may further measure the signal quality of non-member APs except for the member APs of the AP group, where the non-member APs are preconfigured by the mobile communication network, that is, the member APs in the AP group are removed from the AP list of the measurement configuration sent by the eNB, and all the remaining non-member APs are non-member APs.

Corresponding to the event E2, the method for processing signal measurement according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include:

step S51, when the UE obtains a non-member AP whose signal quality is better than a third threshold through measurement, the UE sends a third measurement report for requesting an AP group update to the mobile communication network, where the third measurement report carries information of the non-member AP whose signal quality is better than the third threshold.

Here, the AP group update request message is used to notify the non-member AP with better signal quality to the mobile communication network side, and the mobile communication network determines whether to join the non-member AP to the AP group of the UE according to the information such as the signal quality, load, and bandwidth of the non-member AP. When the non-member AP is added into the AP group, the mobile communication network sends an AP group update message to the UE.

Step 52, after receiving the AP group update message sent by the mobile communication network, the UE updates the member APs in the AP group according to the AP group update message, where the AP group update message carries information of the APs added to the AP group by the mobile communication network according to the third measurement report.

Here, the UE adds the AP indicated in the message to the AP group according to the AP group update message, thereby updating the member APs of the AP group, and adds an AP with better signal quality in the AP group, so as to participate in LTE-WLAN aggregation by using the newly added AP.

It can be seen from the above steps that the embodiments of the present invention propose different event reporting processes for the mobility scenario of the UE, which can effectively support the mobility scenario of the UE, reduce the measurement reporting process when the UE moves in the AP group, reduce the signaling interaction of the UU interface between the WLAN and the mobile communication network, and simplify the processing of the eNB.

The AP signal measurement method according to the embodiment of the present invention is described above from the UE side, and the processing flow of the mobile communication network side is described below with reference to fig. 3. As shown in fig. 3, the method for measuring and processing an AP signal provided in the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a mobile communication network, and specifically, may be applied to a base station (eNB), and includes the following steps:

step S61, sending AP measurement configuration information of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) to a UE, and receiving a first measurement report that the UE obtains AP signal quality according to the measurement configuration information.

Step S62, according to the first measurement report, selecting an AP whose signal quality meets a first predetermined condition as a member AP of the AP group.

Here, an AP whose signal quality satisfies a predetermined condition may be selected as a member AP of the AP group based on the measurement report. Of course, when the base station selects the member AP, the base station may further consider parameters such as load and available bandwidth of the AP, and select the AP whose signal quality meets the first predetermined condition and whose load and available bandwidth meet the second predetermined condition as the member AP of the AP group.

Step S63, sending an activation message and AP group configuration information to the UE, the activation message being used to activate the aggregation function between the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network, and activating the aggregation function between the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the UE and configuring a member AP of the AP group for the UE.

Here, the AP group configuration information carries information of a member AP selected by the mobile communication network, and the AP group configuration information is transmitted to the UE to configure a corresponding AP group by transmitting the activation message to the UE to activate the aggregation function, so that the bearer of the mobile communication network is separated to the WLAN side for transmission.

Through the steps, the AP group is introduced into the LTE-WLAN aggregation, and the LTE-WLAN aggregation processing based on the AP group is realized.

In the embodiment of the invention, the mobile communication network can also execute corresponding processing based on various event messages reported by the UE.

For example, corresponding to the above-mentioned E1 event, after the above-mentioned step S63, the following steps may be further included:

step S71, receiving a second measurement report for requesting to deactivate the aggregation function, which is sent by the UE when the signal quality of the member APs of the AP group is worse than a first threshold.

Step S72, sending a deactivation message to the UE according to the second measurement report, and deactivating an aggregation function between the mobile communication network of the UE and the wireless local area network.

Through the steps, the embodiment of the invention can deactivate the aggregation function and relocate the bearer separated from the WLAN side transmission back to the mobile communication network side for transmission when the member AP of the AP group does not meet the communication requirement.

Corresponding to the event E2, the AP signal measurement processing method according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes:

step 91, receiving a third measurement report sent by the UE when the signal quality obtained by measurement is better than a second threshold value of the non-member AP, where the third measurement report carries information of the non-member AP whose signal quality is better than the second threshold value.

Here, the second threshold may be set with reference to a sum of the serving AP and a preset offset, or may be set with reference to a sum of an AP with the best signal quality in the AP group and a preset offset.

And step 92, determining the AP newly added to the AP group according to the third measurement report, and sending an AP group update message to the UE to update the member APs of the AP group, where the AP group update message carries the information of the determined AP newly added to the AP group.

Here, the non-member AP carried in the third measurement report may be directly added to the AP group, or whether to add the non-member AP to the AP group may be determined by further considering parameters such as a load and an available bandwidth of the non-member AP.

Through the steps, the non-member APs with better quality can be added into the AP group in real time, and the APs with better quality are used for participating in the aggregation process, so that the data transmission efficiency is improved.

It should be noted that the parameters such as the first threshold, the second threshold, the third threshold, the first threshold, the second threshold, and the like mentioned in the embodiment of the present invention may be set according to a specific application scenario. For example, by measuring signal strength in a particular scenario, it is set according to a criterion that meets basic communication requirements.

The measurement event is described in detail below with reference to fig. 4 in a simple application scenario.

Fig. 4 shows a base station (eNB), in which the largest oval area represents the coverage area of the eNB, and coverage areas of a plurality of WLAN APs (AP 1-AP 5) are covered, where the APs 1-AP 3 are AP groups configured by the eNB for UEs, and the APs 4-5 are not in the AP Group, i.e., non-member APs (non-Group APs).

The UE initiates data service in the coverage area of the eNB, and the eNB configures WLAN measurement for the UE according to the capability of the UE, and uses the W1 event to enable the UE to measure and report the AP with the signal quality meeting a first threshold so as to start the LTE-WLAN aggregation process.

2. Arrow 101 indicates that the UE enters the coverage area of AP1 from outside the coverage area of the AP, when the WLAN measurement of the UE finds that the signal of AP1 meets the predetermined condition and reports the W1 event, and the measurement values of AP2, AP4, AP3, etc. may also be included in the measurement report. The eNB selects the AP group for the UE based on the measurement results of the UE and the overall knowledge of the WLAN by the eNB (various information obtained from the LTE-WLAN interface, such as load information of the AP, available bandwidth, etc.). Assuming that APs 1-3 in this example are selected as members of the AP group, AP4 and AP5 are not selected. The eNB establishes an AP connection with the WLAN (the AP connection is not directly to a certain AP, but is established in an adaptation layer on the WLAN side, which may be set on a separate entity or on the access controller AC or a certain AP), and then the eNB configures information of an AP group to the UE through dedicated signaling (e.g., RRC connection reconfiguration), and the UE freely selects APs within the AP group to perform LTE-WLAN aggregation.

3. Arrow 102 represents the UE leaving the coverage of the AP group and the absence of a better non-member AP. In this case, an E1 event may be triggered, and the eNB may stop the aggregation process and switch the bearers split to the WLAN side back to the LTE side transmission.

4. Arrow 103 indicates that when the UE moves within the AP group, the selection process of the AP is completely decided by the UE autonomously without reporting the signal change relationship of the AP in the AP group to the eNB, and the process can completely reuse the mobility of the UE in the existing WLAN technology.

5. Arrow 104 indicates that the UE is about to leave the coverage of the AP group and there is a non-member AP with better signal quality, in which case the E2 event is triggered, the eNB may stop the aggregation process, and may also perform AP group reconfiguration, configure AP5 into the AP group and notify the UE through dedicated signaling. The process of AP group reconfiguration is in fact a handover process from a member AP to a non-member AP.

6. Arrow 105 indicates that when the UE moves to a certain area within the AP group, the signal of the current serving AP may also not satisfy the E1 event, but at this time, the UE finds a non-member AP with better signal quality (signal value of non-member AP > signal value + Offset of serving AP), and this time, the E2 event will also be triggered. The eNB determines whether to update the AP group by comprehensively determining various information (e.g., information such as a measurement value and a load of the UE) of the serving AP and the target AP. Of course, the eNB may not process the E2 event, which means that the AP group is not updated when the current AP group signal is not very poor (E1 event is not triggered).

An apparatus for carrying out the above method is further provided next.

Referring to fig. 5, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a UE, and as shown in fig. 5, the UE includes:

a first measurement unit 501, configured to measure a signal quality of a member AP in an AP group when an aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network of a user equipment UE is activated, where the AP group is configured for the UE in advance by the mobile communication network;

a switching unit 502, configured to perform a selection or switching process of a serving AP according to the signal quality of the member AP.

The UE may also perform related measurement and report a measurement report according to measurement configuration of the mobile communication network, where the UE further includes:

In this embodiment of the present invention, the switching unit 502 specifically includes:

The UE may also report an E1 event to the mobile communication network side, where the UE further includes:

The UE may also report an E2 event to the mobile communication network side, where the UE further includes:

a third reporting unit, configured to measure signal quality of a non-member AP other than the member AP of the AP group, and send a third measurement report requesting an AP group update to a mobile communication network when the non-member AP whose signal quality is better than a third threshold is obtained through measurement, where the third measurement report carries information of the non-member AP whose signal quality is better than the third threshold;

Referring to fig. 6, another UE structure provided in the embodiment of the present invention includes:

a measurement circuit 601, configured to measure signal quality of a member AP in an AP group when an aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network of a user equipment UE is activated, where the AP group is configured for the UE in advance by the mobile communication network;

a processor 602, configured to perform a process of selecting or switching a serving AP according to the signal quality of the member AP.

Wherein, the UE may further include: and a memory 603, wherein the memory 603 is used for storing data such as measurement results of signal quality of member APs in the AP group.

The processor 602 and the memory 603 are respectively connected with the measurement circuit 601 through a bus interface; the bus architecture may be any architecture that may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges; various circuits of one or more processors, represented in particular by processor 602, and one or more memories, represented in particular by memory 603, are coupled together. The bus architecture may also connect various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art. Therefore, it will not be described in detail herein.

The bus architecture may provide a variety of bus interfaces. The measurement circuit 601 may be a number of elements providing a means for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium. The processor 602 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 603 may store data used by the processor in performing operations.

Referring to fig. 7, a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

a first sending unit 701, configured to send AP measurement configuration information of a wireless local area network to a UE;

a first receiving unit 702, configured to receive a first measurement report that the UE obtains AP signal quality according to the measurement configuration information;

a first selecting unit 703, configured to select, according to the first measurement report, an AP whose signal quality meets a first predetermined condition as a member AP of an AP group;

a first configuration unit 704, configured to send an activation message and AP group configuration information to the UE, where the activation message is used to activate an aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network, activate the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the UE, and configure a member AP of an AP group for the UE.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the base station may further receive an E1 event reported by the UE, where the base station further includes:

In this embodiment of the present invention, the base station may further receive an E2 event reported by the UE, where the base station further includes:

Finally, referring to fig. 8, another base station structure provided in the embodiment of the present invention includes:

a transceiver 801, configured to send AP measurement configuration information of a wireless local area network to a UE, and receive a first measurement report that the UE obtains AP signal quality according to the measurement configuration information;

a processor 802, configured to select an AP whose signal quality meets a first predetermined condition according to the first measurement report, as a member AP of an AP group; and sending an activation message and AP group configuration information for activating the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network to the UE, activating the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the UE, and configuring member APs of the AP group for the UE.

Wherein, the base station may further include: a memory 803, the memory 803 being used for storing downlink data or other data related to paging, etc.

The processor 802 and the memory 803 are respectively connected with the transceiver 801 through a bus interface; the bus architecture may be any architecture that may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges; various circuits of one or more processors, represented in particular by the processor 802, and one or more memories, represented in particular by the memory 803, are connected together. The bus architecture may also connect various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art. Therefore, it will not be described in detail herein.

The bus architecture may provide a variety of bus interfaces. The transceiver 801 may be a plurality of elements providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 802 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 803 may store data used by the processor in performing operations.

While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for processing measurement of AP signals, comprising:

the UE executes the selection or switching processing of the service AP according to the signal quality of the member AP;

wherein after the UE measures signal quality of member APs in the AP group, the method further comprises:

receiving a deactivation message returned by the mobile communication network for the second measurement report, and deactivating an aggregation function of the mobile communication network and a wireless local area network;

the method further comprises the following steps:

the UE also measures signal quality of non-member APs other than the member APs of the group of APs;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein before an aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network of the UE is activated, the method further comprises:

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of the UE performing a serving AP selection or handover process based on the signal quality of the member AP comprises:

4. A method for processing measurement of AP signals, comprising:

sending an activation message and AP group configuration information for activating the aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network to the UE, activating the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the UE and configuring member APs of the AP group for the UE;

the method further comprises the following steps:

according to the second measurement report, sending a deactivation message to the UE to deactivate the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the UE;

the method further comprises the following steps:

5. A user device, comprising:

a switching unit for performing selection or switching processing of a serving AP according to the signal quality of the member AP;

a fourth receiving unit, configured to receive a deactivation message returned by the mobile communication network for the second measurement report, and deactivate an aggregation function between the mobile communication network and a wireless local area network;

6. The user equipment of claim 5, further comprising:

7. The user equipment according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the switching unit comprises:

8. A base station, comprising:

a first configuration unit, configured to send, to the UE, an activation message and AP group configuration information for activating an aggregation function of a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network, activate the aggregation function of the mobile communication network and the wireless local area network of the UE, and configure a member AP of an AP group for the UE;

a second configuration unit, configured to send a deactivation message to the UE according to the second measurement report, and deactivate an aggregation function between a mobile communication network of the UE and a wireless local area network;