CN107770824B

CN107770824B - Method for cell switching, user equipment and network equipment

Info

Publication number: CN107770824B
Application number: CN201610692263.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 耿婷婷; 曾清海
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-08-19
Filing date: 2016-08-19
Publication date: 2020-03-10
Anticipated expiration: 2036-08-19
Also published as: CN107770824A; WO2018033136A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for cell switching, which comprises the following steps: and the first network equipment sends the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the second network equipment, so that the second network equipment sends the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the UE. The UE may send the uplink reference signal according to the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal. Further, the first network device sends a handover indication message to the second network device, where the handover indication message includes an identifier of a second node in the first network in which the first network device is located. And sending a switching command to the UE by the second network equipment to instruct the UE to perform data transmission with the second node. The method in the embodiment of the invention can ensure that the UE realizes the switching between the two network systems, ensures the continuity of the service, improves the switching efficiency and further can ensure the transmission quality.

Description

Method for cell switching, user equipment and network equipment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method, a user equipment, and a network device for cell handover.

Background

In the prior art, in order to ensure continuity of a User Equipment (UE) service, mobility management needs to be performed on the UE. For example, when the UE moves from the coverage of the source cell to the coverage of the target cell, handover between cells needs to be completed in time.

In the existing communication system, the design concept of mobility management is a network-centric design concept (UEfollows network). Taking the UE in the active state as an example, in order to implement mobility management of the UE, each cell in the network may send a downlink reference signal for the UE to measure. The UE reports the measurement result to the network side in the form of a measurement report, and the network performs switching judgment based on the measurement report of the UE and switches the UE to a cell with good signal conditions for data transmission.

However, in the subsequent evolution process of the mobile communication system, in order to meet a huge amount of data communication demands, a large number of small cells (small cells) may be centrally deployed in a hot spot area, and if a network-centric design concept is continuously adopted, a problem of difficulty in mobility management of the UE may be caused. Therefore, in the subsequent evolution process, a mobility mechanism of user Centric radio access (UE central No Cell, UCNC) is proposed.

When a UE moves between a network-centric system and a user-centric system, how to implement handover becomes a technical bottleneck.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, user equipment, and network device for cell handover, which can solve the problem of handover of UE between a network-centric system and a user-centric system.

In a first aspect, a method for cell handover is provided, including:

a first network device sends a Dedicated Connection Identification (DCID) to a second network device of a current serving cell of User Equipment (UE), so that the second network device forwards the DCID to the UE, wherein the DCID is used for identifying the UE by the first network device;

the first network device sends the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the second network device, so that the second network device forwards the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the UE;

the first network device sends a switching indication message to the second network device, where the switching indication message includes an identifier of a second node in a first network where the first network device is located, so that the UE performs data transmission with the second node.

As can be seen, the first network device in the embodiment of the present invention may send the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the second network device, so that the second network device may instruct the UE to send the uplink reference signal. Further, the first network device may instruct the UE to use the first network device as a serving cell through the handover indication message, and perform data communication with the node on the first network side, so that handover from the second network device to the first network device may be completed, and service continuity of the UE may be ensured.

With reference to the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, before the sending, by the first network device, a handover indication message to the second network device, the method further includes:

the first network equipment sends a measurement indication message to a first node, and indicates the first node to measure an uplink reference signal sent by the UE, wherein the measurement indication message carries the DCID and/or the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal;

the first network equipment receives a first measurement report sent by the first node, wherein the first measurement report carries a measurement result of the uplink reference signal sent by the UE;

and the first network equipment allocates the second node for the UE according to the first measurement report of the first node.

With reference to the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the allocating, by the first network device, the second node to the UE according to the first measurement report of the first node includes:

the first network equipment judges whether the measurement result carried by a first measurement report of the first node meets a switching threshold or not;

and if the measurement result carried by the first measurement report of the first node meets the switching threshold, the first network equipment allocates the second node for the UE.

With reference to the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the determining, by the first network device, whether the measurement result carried in the first measurement report of the first node meets a handover threshold includes:

and the first network equipment judges whether the measurement result carried by a first measurement report of the first node in a preset time length meets the switching threshold.

With reference to the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, before the determining, by the first network device, whether the measurement result carried in the first measurement report of the first node meets a handover threshold, the method further includes:

and the first network equipment receives the preset duration and/or the switching threshold from the second network equipment.

With reference to the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, before the sending, by the first network device, the DCID to the second network device of the current serving cell of the UE, the method further includes:

the first network equipment receives a measurement request sent by the second network equipment;

wherein the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal are included in a measurement response corresponding to the measurement request.

That is, the first network device may send a measurement response to the second network device, where the measurement response includes the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

With reference to the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the handover indication message further includes:

the first network device allocates transmission resource information for the UE, and/or allocates a new ID to the UE.

the first network equipment sends a TA test instruction to the second network equipment so that the second network equipment instructs the UE to send a TA test message;

the first network equipment receives the TA test message sent by the UE;

the first network equipment determines a TA value according to the TA test message;

and the first network equipment sends the TA value to the UE.

With reference to the first aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the sending, by the first network device, the TA value to the UE includes:

the first network device sends the TA value to the second network device, so that the second network device forwards the TA value to the UE.

In a second aspect, a method for cell handover is provided, including:

user Equipment (UE) receives a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration message sent by second network equipment of a current serving cell, wherein the first RRC configuration message comprises a Dedicated Connection Identifier (DCID), and the DCID is used for identifying the UE by the first network equipment;

the UE receives a second RRC configuration message sent by the second network equipment, wherein the second RRC configuration message comprises time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal;

the UE sends an uplink reference signal according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message;

the UE receives a switching command sent by the second network equipment, wherein the switching command comprises an identifier of a second node distributed to the UE by the first network equipment;

and the UE performs data transmission with the second node according to the switching command.

In this way, the UE in the embodiment of the present invention may send the uplink reference information based on the time-frequency resource configuration of the second network device sending the DCID and the uplink reference signal, and further may complete the switching from the second network device to the first network device based on the switching command, thereby ensuring the continuity of the service.

With reference to the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, before the UE receives the first RRC configuration message sent by the second network device of the current serving cell, the method further includes:

the UE in the service range of the second network equipment performs inter-system detection;

the UE generates a second measurement report according to the result of the inter-system detection, wherein the second measurement report comprises the cell ID of the first network in which the first network equipment is located;

the UE sends the second measurement report to the second network device.

With reference to the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the performing, by the UE, inter-system detection includes:

the UE executes the inter-system detection when meeting a trigger condition; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the UE periodically performs the inter-system detection.

Wherein the trigger condition may be: and the signal quality of the second network equipment detected by the UE is lower than a preset threshold.

the UE receives a measurement control message sent by the second network equipment;

and the UE executes the inter-system measurement according to the measurement control message.

the UE executes inter-system detection and detects at least one of a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) sent by a first node in the first network, a downlink reference signal of the first network and System Information (SI).

With reference to the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, before the UE sends the uplink reference signal according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message, the method further includes:

the UE sends a TA test message to the first network equipment;

and the UE receives the TA value sent by the first network equipment.

Optionally, the TA value is included in the second RRC configuration message.

and the UE receives the TA value sent by the second network equipment.

With reference to the second aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the second aspect, the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message are the same message.

In a third aspect, a method for cell handover is provided, including:

a second network device receives a dedicated connection identifier DCID and time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, wherein the DCID is used for identifying User Equipment (UE) by a first network device;

the second network device sending a first radio resource control, RRC, configuration message to the UE, the first RRC configuration message including the DCID;

and the second network equipment sends a second RRC configuration message to the UE, wherein the second RRC configuration message comprises time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal, so that the UE sends the uplink reference signal according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message.

It can be seen that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the UE in the service range of the second network device may be assisted by the second network device to complete the handover from the second network device to the first network device, and may include the continuity of the service of the UE.

With reference to the third aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the third aspect, the method further includes:

the second network equipment determines a third TA value between the UE and the first network equipment according to a first TA value between the second network equipment and the UE and a second TA value between the second network equipment and the first network equipment;

the second network equipment sends the determined third TA value to the UE.

the second network equipment receives the TA value sent by the first network equipment;

and the second network equipment sends the TA value to the UE.

Optionally, the TA value is included in the second RRC configuration message.

With reference to the third aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the third aspect, the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message are the same message.

With reference to the third aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the third aspect, before the second network device receives the TA value sent by the first network device, the method further includes:

and the second network equipment sends a Timing Advance (TA) test instruction to the UE to indicate the UE to send a TA test message to the first network equipment.

With reference to the third aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the third aspect, the receiving, by the second network device, a time-frequency resource configuration of a DCID and an uplink reference signal sent by the first network device includes:

the second network equipment receives a second measurement report sent by the UE, wherein the second measurement report comprises a cell ID of a first network in which the first network equipment is located;

the second network device sends a measurement request to the first network device;

and the second network equipment receives a measurement response sent by the first network equipment, wherein the measurement response comprises the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

With reference to the third aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the third aspect, the measurement request includes a handover threshold, or the measurement request includes a handover threshold and a preset time duration.

With reference to the third aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the third aspect, before the second network device receives the second measurement report sent by the UE, the method further includes:

and the second network equipment sends a measurement control message to the UE to indicate the UE to carry out inter-system measurement.

the second network equipment receives switching indication information sent by the first network equipment, wherein the switching indication information comprises an identifier of a second node in a first network where the first network equipment is located;

and the second network equipment sends a switching command to the UE according to the switching indication information, wherein the switching command comprises the identifier of the second node, and the switching command is used for indicating the UE to perform data transmission with the second node.

With reference to the third aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the third aspect, the handover indication message further includes:

In a fourth aspect, a network device is provided, where the network device is a first network device, and the network device includes:

a sending unit, configured to send a dedicated connection identity DCID to a second network device of a current serving cell of a user equipment UE, so that the second network device forwards the DCID to the UE, where the DCID is used by the first network device to identify the UE;

the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal is further used for sending the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the second network equipment, so that the second network equipment forwards the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the UE;

the UE is further configured to send a handover indication message to the second network device, where the handover indication message includes an identifier of a second node in a first network in which the first network device is located, so that the UE performs data transmission with the second node.

The network device according to the fourth aspect is capable of implementing the method for cell handover according to the first aspect and its various implementation manners.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some possible implementations of the fourth aspect, further including a receiving unit and a processing unit,

the sending unit is further configured to send a measurement indication message to a first node, and indicate the first node to measure an uplink reference signal sent by the UE, where the measurement indication message carries the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal;

the receiving unit is configured to receive a first measurement report sent by the first node, where the first measurement report carries a measurement result of the uplink reference signal sent by the UE;

the processing unit is configured to allocate the second node to the UE according to the first measurement report of the first node.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is specifically configured to: judging whether the measurement result carried by a first measurement report of the first node meets a switching threshold; and if the measurement result carried by the first measurement report of the first node meets the switching threshold, allocating the second node for the UE.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is specifically configured to: and judging whether the measurement result carried by the first measurement report of the first node in a preset time length meets the switching threshold.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: receiving the preset duration from the second network device.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to: receiving the handover threshold from the second network device.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the method further includes a receiving unit, configured to: receiving a measurement request sent by the second network equipment; wherein the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal are included in a measurement response corresponding to the measurement request.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some possible implementations of the fourth aspect, the handover indication message further includes: the first network device allocates transmission resource information for the UE, and/or allocates a new ID to the UE.

the sending unit is further configured to send a TA test instruction to the second network device, so that the second network device instructs the UE to send a TA test message;

the receiving unit is configured to receive the TA test message sent by the UE;

the processing unit is used for determining a TA value according to the TA test message;

the sending unit is further configured to send the TA value to the UE.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, the sending unit is specifically configured to: sending the TA value to the second network device to cause the second network device to forward the TA value to the UE.

In a fifth aspect, a network device is provided, where the apparatus includes: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The memory is configured to store code, and the processor is configured to execute the code in the memory, and when the code is executed, the processor may implement the method for cell handover according to the first aspect and the various implementations.

A sixth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a network device to perform the method for cell handover of the first aspect and any of its various implementations.

In a seventh aspect, a system chip is provided, where the system chip includes an input interface, an output interface, at least one processor, and a memory, where the input interface, the output interface, the processor, and the memory are connected via a bus, and the processor is configured to execute codes in the memory, and when the codes are executed, the processor implements the method performed by the first network device according to the first aspect and any of its various implementations.

In an eighth aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a first radio resource control RRC configuration message sent by a second network device of a current serving cell, where the first RRC configuration message includes a dedicated connection identifier DCID, and the DCID is used by the first network device to identify the UE;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second RRC configuration message sent by the second network device, where the second RRC configuration message includes time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal;

a sending unit, configured to send an uplink reference signal according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a handover command sent by the second network device, where the handover command includes an identifier of a second node allocated by the first network device to the UE;

and the processing unit is used for carrying out data transmission with the second node according to the switching command.

The UE of the eighth aspect is capable of implementing the method for cell handover described in the foregoing second aspect and various implementations thereof.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some possible implementations of the eighth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to: performing inter-system detection; generating a second measurement report according to the result of the inter-system detection, wherein the second measurement report comprises the cell ID of the first network in which the first network equipment is located; the sending unit is further configured to send the second measurement report to the second network device.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the eighth aspect, the processing unit is configured to perform inter-system detection, and specifically configured to: executing the inter-system detection when a trigger condition is met; alternatively, the inter-system detection is performed periodically.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some possible implementations of the eighth aspect, the trigger condition is: and the signal quality of the second network equipment detected by the UE is lower than a preset threshold.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the eighth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to receive a measurement control message sent by the second network device; the processing unit is specifically configured to execute the inter-system measurement according to the measurement control message.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the eighth aspect, the processing unit is specifically configured to: and executing inter-system detection, and detecting at least one of a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) sent by a first node in the first network, a downlink reference signal of the first network and System Information (SI).

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the eighth aspect, the sending unit is further configured to send a timing advance TA test message to the first network device; the receiving unit is further configured to receive the TA value sent by the first network device.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some possible implementations of the eighth aspect, the TA value is included in the second RRC configuration message.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the eighth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to receive the TA value sent by the second network device.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the eighth aspect, the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message are the same message.

In a ninth aspect, a UE is provided, the apparatus comprising: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The memory is configured to store code, and the processor is configured to execute the code in the memory, and when the code is executed, the processor may implement the method for cell handover according to the second aspect and the various implementations.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a UE to perform the method for cell handover of the second aspect described above, and any of its various implementations.

In an eleventh aspect, a system chip is provided, where the system chip includes an input interface, an output interface, at least one processor, and a memory, where the input interface, the output interface, the processor, and the memory are connected via a bus, and the processor is configured to execute codes in the memory, and when the codes are executed, the processor implements the method performed by the UE according to the second aspect and any of its various implementations.

In a twelfth aspect, a network device is provided, where the network device is a second network device, and the network device includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a dedicated connection identifier DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, where the DCID is used by a first network device to identify a user equipment UE;

a sending unit, configured to send a first radio resource control RRC configuration message to the UE, where the first RRC configuration message includes the DCID;

the sending unit is further configured to send a second RRC configuration message to the UE, where the second RRC configuration message includes time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, so that the UE sends the uplink reference signal according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message.

The network device of the twelfth aspect is capable of implementing the method for cell handover described in the foregoing third aspect and various implementations thereof.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the twelfth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to: the processing unit is configured to determine a third TA value between the UE and the first network device according to a first TA value between the second network device and the UE and a second TA value between the second network device and the first network device; the sending unit is further configured to send the determined third TA value to the UE.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the twelfth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to receive a TA value sent by the first network device; the sending unit is further configured to send the TA value to the UE.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementations of the twelfth aspect, the TA value is included in the second RRC configuration message.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the twelfth aspect, the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message are the same message.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the twelfth aspect, the sending unit is further configured to send a timing advance TA test instruction to the UE to instruct the UE to send a TA test message to the first network device.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the twelfth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second measurement report sent by the UE, where the second measurement report includes a cell ID of a first network in which the first network device is located; the sending unit is further configured to send a measurement request to the first network device; the receiving unit is further configured to receive a measurement response sent by the first network device, where the measurement response includes the DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the twelfth aspect, the measurement request includes a handover threshold, or the measurement request includes a handover threshold and a preset time duration.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the twelfth aspect, the sending unit is further configured to send a measurement control message to the UE to instruct the UE to perform inter-system measurement.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementation manners of the twelfth aspect, the receiving unit is further configured to receive handover indication information sent by the first network device, where the handover indication information includes an identifier of a second node in a first network where the first network device is located; the sending unit is further configured to send a handover command to the UE according to the handover indication information, where the handover command includes an identifier of the second node, and the handover command is used to indicate the UE to perform data transmission with the second node.

With reference to the twelfth aspect, in some possible implementations of the twelfth aspect, the handover indication message further includes: the first network device allocates transmission resource information for the UE, and/or allocates a new ID to the UE.

In a thirteenth aspect, a network device is provided, the apparatus including: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The memory is configured to store code, and the processor is configured to execute the code in the memory, and when the code is executed, the processor may implement the method for cell handover according to the third aspect and the respective implementations.

In a fourteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program that causes a network device to execute the method for cell handover of the third aspect and any of its various implementations.

In a fifteenth aspect, a system chip is provided, where the system chip includes an input interface, an output interface, at least one processor, and a memory, where the input interface, the output interface, the processor, and the memory are connected via a bus, and the processor is configured to execute codes in the memory, and when the codes are executed, the processor implements the third aspect, and a method performed by a second network device in any of various implementations of the third aspect.

A sixteenth aspect provides a communication system comprising a network device, the network device comprising the first network device of any implementation manner of the fourth aspect to the seventh aspect, and/or the second network device of any implementation manner of the twelfth aspect to the fifteenth aspect.

With reference to the sixteenth aspect, in a possible implementation manner of the sixteenth aspect, the communication system further includes a user equipment, where the user equipment is the UE in any implementation manner of the eighth aspect to the eleventh aspect.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first network device may be an NR controller, the second network device may be a base station (e.g., eNB) in LTE, and accordingly, the first network where the first network device is located may be an NR. The first node may be a TP in a first TPG and the second node may be a TP in a second TPG.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive labor.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a super cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2(a) - (c) are schematic diagrams of application scenarios of embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of handover of a UE moving from LTE to NR according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is another schematic flow chart of handover of a UE moving from LTE to NR according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is another schematic flow chart of handover of a UE moving from LTE to NR according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is another schematic flow chart of handover of a UE moving from LTE to NR according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is another schematic flow chart of handover of a UE moving from LTE to NR according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of handover of UE moving from NR to LTE according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is another schematic flow chart of handover of a UE moving from NR to LTE according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a method of cell reselection of an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of cell handover according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is another schematic flow chart of cell handover according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is another schematic flow chart of cell handover according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is another block diagram of the network device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a block diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 17 is another block diagram of the UE according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 18 is a block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 19 is another configuration block diagram of a network device of the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 20 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system chip of the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 21 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system chip of the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 22 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system chip of the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be understood that the solution of the present invention can be applied to various communication systems, such as: a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) System, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) System, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) System, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (LTE) System, an Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-a) System, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), 5G, and the like.

It should also be understood that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the User Equipment (UE) includes, but is not limited to, a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MS), a Mobile phone (Mobile Telephone), a handset (handset), a portable device (portable Equipment), and the like, and the User Equipment may communicate with one or more core networks through a Radio Access Network (RAN), for example, the User Equipment may be a Mobile phone (or referred to as a "cellular" phone), a computer with a wireless communication function, and the User Equipment may also be a portable, pocket, handheld, built-in computer, or vehicle-mounted Mobile device.

A New Radio (NR) system, which may also be referred to as a Next Radio (Next Radio) system or a Next network, etc., where a cell in the NR may be a super cell (super cell), as shown in fig. 1, the super cell may be configured with a super cell ID, and the super cell may include multiple nodes with same frequency and/or different frequency, for example, the node may be a Transmission Point (TP), and optionally, as an embodiment, the super cell may also include only 1 TP; alternatively, the hyper cell may include a plurality of cells, and optionally, as an embodiment, the hyper cell may also include only 1 cell. It is understood that the IDs of the TPs (or cells) in the super cell and the ID of the super cell may be consistent or may be configured separately.

In the embodiment of the present invention, generally, the common information of the TPs in the super cell may be configured to be consistent, for example, the content sent by the channels such as the synchronization channel, the downlink reference channel, the broadcast channel, and the like is the same, and when the UE moves in the super cell, the UE does not sense the change of the serving cell because the common information of the TPs in the super cell is the same. For example, specifically, the UE does not need to measure downlink reference signals sent by each cell in a hyper cell, and instead, the UE sends uplink reference signals, the network side measures the uplink reference signals of the UE, and selects one or more TPs for the UE to perform data transmission based on the measurement result. That is to say, in the process of moving a super cell, the UE may measure the uplink reference signal and switch the TP, and the UE does not sense the TP change as much as possible, which is equivalent to introducing a "no cell" working mode, so that not only the continuity of the service can be ensured, but also the overhead of the air interface signaling can be reduced, the UE does not need to undertake a heavy measurement task, and the design complexity is correspondingly reduced.

It can be seen that in NR, the UE no longer performs downlink measurements, but the network measures and evaluates the link quality of the UE and the network based on the UE uplink reference signal. Therefore, generally speaking, in the NR system, it is not necessary to frequently transmit downlink reference signals, which not only reduces inter-cell interference, but also further improves network resource utilization.

In the super cell, the NR Controller (NR Controller) may allocate a Dedicated Connection Identity (DCID) to the UE, and the super cell may identify the UE according to the DCID. That is, the NR controller may uniquely identify the UE based on the DCID. For example, a TP in a super cell may provide data communication services to a UE based on a DCID; the TP in the super cell may also identify and measure uplink reference signals transmitted by the UE based on the DCID. Specifically, the DCID may be referred to as a Dedicated Identity (DID) for short, or may be referred to as a Dedicated User Identity (DUI), and may be any one of or a combination of any several of C-RNTI, a hyper cell ID, a TP ID, a cell ID, a newly defined ID, and the like.

In NR, mobility management may be provided for the UE by a New Radio controller (NR controller), which may be a stand-alone network element on the access network side, or a logical network element, or a Centralized network element (Centralized Unit), or a New Radio base station, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the NR controller may be integrated with the TPs in the same entity, such as referred to as an access network device, and the TPs may be transmit and receive units of the access network device; alternatively, the NR controller may be a TP, which may or may not be a TP of a set of TPs that provide a data transmission service for the UE, and when so, the NR controller may directly transmit signaling to the UE.

It should be understood that the specific type of the node is not limited in the embodiments of the present invention, and for example, the node may be a common base station (e.g., NodeB or eNB), a radio remote module (rru), a micro base station (pico), a relay (relay), a Distributed network element (Distributed Unit), a TP, a DU and a TP, or any other wireless access device. In the embodiment of the present invention, a node may have all or part of the function of a layer two protocol stack, or a node may have all or part of the functions of a layer two protocol and a physical layer protocol stack. Wherein, the layer two protocol may include: at least one of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Medium Access Control (MAC). That is, the layer two protocol may be PDCP, or RLC, or MAC, or PDCP and RLC, or PDCP and MAC, or RLC and MAC, or PDCP and RLC and MAC. For example, a node may be a Reception Point (TRP) or a Transmission Point (TP) having all or part of a layer two protocol, or a node may be a Reception Point or a Transmission Point having all or part of a layer two protocol and a physical layer protocol.

In the following embodiments of the present invention, the node is TP as an example for explanation, it can be understood that if the node is DU and TP, the NR controller interacts with DU, and then each DU interacts with TP further, that is, the interaction between the NR controller and TP needs to be performed through DU.

However, since NR is a user-centric system, how to implement handover becomes a technical bottleneck when a UE moves between a network-centric system and a user-centric system.

The embodiment of the present invention is explained by taking LTE as an example of a network-centric system, and as shown in fig. 2(a) to (c), the embodiments are schematic diagrams of a positional relationship between LTE and NR. It is understood that LTE is only exemplary, and may be other network-centric systems, which are not limited herein.

In the network architecture shown in fig. 2, as the UE moves, the UE switches between LTE and NR and the UE expects to be able to provide continuous service.

When the UE moves from LTE to NR, whether the UE resides in the NR system is determined by the measurement quality of the NR system on the UE uplink SRS, the UE may configure a periodic SRS in LTE, and in order to reduce unnecessary waste, it is preferable that the UE starts sending the SRS when the NR system covers; in addition, the transmission configuration of SRS requires LTE and NR system interaction. When UE moves from NR to LTE, UE also needs to be configured in time to start downlink measurement and reporting functions; the NR system also needs to interact with LTE if it does not support measurement reporting on the UE side.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of handover of a UE moving from LTE to NR according to an embodiment of the present invention. It should be understood that fig. 3 shows detailed communication steps or operations applied to handover from LTE to NR, but these steps or operations are merely examples, and other operations or variations of the various operations in fig. 3 may also be performed by embodiments of the present invention. Moreover, the various steps in FIG. 3 may be performed in a different order presented in FIG. 3, and it is possible that not all of the operations in FIG. 3 may be performed. The UE10, eNB20, NR controller 30 and TP 40 are shown in fig. 3, where there may be a plurality of TPs 40. The method shown in fig. 3 may include:

s102, the UE10 performs inter-system detection.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE10 is initially located in a serving cell of LTE, and an initial serving base station is an eNB 20.

Alternatively, the UE10 may periodically perform the inter-system detection, or the UE10 may perform the inter-system detection when the trigger condition is satisfied.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE10 may perform S102 according to the configuration of the eNB 20. Specifically, prior to S102, the UE10 receives a measurement control message (or base station configuration message) sent by the eNB 20. And in S102, the UE10 performs inter-system measurement according to the measurement control message (or the base station configuration message).

As an example, the UE 20 may periodically perform inter-system measurements. Optionally, before S102, the UE10 may receive a measurement control message sent by the eNB20, the measurement control message instructing the UE 20 to periodically perform inter-system measurement; further, the UE10 may perform inter-system measurement according to the measurement control message. It is understood that the measurement control message may include a period size, etc. For example, the embodiment may be applied to the scenarios shown for fig. 2(a) and 2 (b).

As another example, the UE 20 may perform the inter-system measurement when a trigger condition is satisfied. Optionally, before S102, the UE10 may receive a measurement control message sent by the eNB20, where the measurement control message indicates a trigger condition for the UE 20 to perform inter-system measurement; further, the UE10 may perform inter-system measurement according to the measurement control message. Wherein, the triggering condition may be: the signal quality of the eNB20 detected by the UE10 is lower than a preset threshold. It is understood that the measurement control message may include the size of the threshold, etc. For example, the embodiment may be applied to the scenarios shown for fig. 2(b) and 2 (c).

Wherein the eNB20 may transmit the measurement control message in a broadcast or unicast form. For example, the eNB20 may send measurement control messages to one or more UEs located at the edge of the eNB20 service area, depending on the location of the UE.

Here, the UE10 performing the inter-system measurement means: the UE10 detects NR information and the like. For example, the UE10 detects NR according to the configuration, finds at least one of Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), NR downlink reference Signal, System Information (SI), and the like transmitted by the TP of NR, and reads NR information according to these found signals.

The NR information includes an NR cell ID, and optionally, the NR cell ID may be the above-mentioned hyper cell ID and TPID, or may also be other identifiers or physical cell identifiers (physical cell IDs) for uniquely identifying the NR cell, which is not limited in the present invention. Here, the NR cell ID may also be referred to as a global NR cell ID. In addition, the NR information may further include a bandwidth and/or a frequency band of the NR system.

S104, the UE10 transmits a second measurement report to the eNB 20.

It is understood that, prior to S102, the UE10 may generate a second measurement report according to the result of the inter-system measurement. And then transmits the second measurement report to the eNB20 in S104.

The second measurement report may include NR information, and further, the second measurement report may also further include the signal quality of the current eNB20 detected by the UE 10. The signal quality of the current eNB20 is the signal quality of the current serving cell, or may be referred to as the signal quality of the current LTE cell.

That is, the second measurement report includes the NR cell ID. Optionally, the second measurement report may also include the bandwidth and/or frequency band of the NR system; optionally, the second measurement report may also include the signal quality of the current serving cell (i.e. the cell of LTE); optionally, the second measurement report may also include the signal quality of the NR cell.

It can be seen that, in the embodiment of the present invention, a new inter-system measurement report triggering mechanism or inter-system discovery mechanism is introduced, that is, only the presence of an inter-system is detected, the inter-system measurement report is triggered. It is not necessary to trigger the inter-system measurement report when the quality of the inter-system satisfies a threshold, as in the legacy mechanism.

In the embodiment of the invention, the trigger mechanism of the inter-system detection can be similar to legacy, and when the UE detects that the current LTE quality is lower than a certain threshold, the inter-system measurement is started; or the LTE configures the UE to periodically detect NR, or the LTE configures the UE to start detecting NR according to the position information of the UE, and the like.

S106, the eNB20 transmits a measurement request to the NR controller 30.

When the eNB20 receives the second measurement report of the UE10, it can know that the UE10 has detected the neighboring NR cell, and then sends a measurement request to the NR controller 30. So that the NR controller 30 configures the UE10 to transmit the uplink reference signal, etc.

The measurement request may also be referred to as a measurement configuration request or a measurement configuration request message.

Optionally, the measurement request may also include location information of the UE 10.

Optionally, the measurement request may further include a handover threshold, or the measurement request may further include a handover threshold and a preset time duration. For a detailed description of the switching threshold and the preset time period, see step S118 later.

S108, the NR controller 30 transmits a measurement response to the eNB 20.

Optionally, the measurement response may include a DCID. The DCID is assigned to the UE10 by the NR controller 30 for the NR controller 30 to uniquely identify the UE 10.

Optionally, the measurement response may further include a time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal. In this way, the UE10 may then transmit the uplink reference signal according to the time-frequency resource configuration.

The measurement response may also be referred to as a measurement configuration response or a measurement configuration response message.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the NR controller 30 may perform NR configuration according to the measurement request, and then send the DCID (or the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal) to the eNB20 in the form of NR RRC through a measurement response. In the embodiment of the present invention, the node is TP. If the nodes are DU and TP, the interaction between the NR controller and TP in the embodiment of the present invention may be that the NR controller 30 interacts with DU and TP, that is, the NR controller directly interacts with DU, and then interacts with DU and TP. It is understood that when a TPG includes multiple TPs, the TPs in the TPG may belong to the same or different DUs.

S110, the NR controller 30 sends measurement indication information to a first Transmission Point Group (TPG) to indicate a TP in the first TPG to measure an uplink reference signal sent by the UE.

Wherein the first TPG includes one or more TPs. The measurement indication information may include a DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal. Optionally, the measurement indication information may further include a measurement threshold.

Alternatively, the first TPG may be a set of all outermost TPs of a hyper cell.

Alternatively, if the measurement request in S106 includes location information of the UE, in S110, the first TPG may be a set of outermost TPs of a hyper cell where the UE is located. That is, the NR controller 30 may determine a first TPG according to the location information of the UE and then transmit the measurement indication information to the first TPG S110.

Optionally, the measurement indication information may further include at least one of the following measurement configuration parameters: carrying measurement identification, measurement event name, measurement interval, measurement report reporting mode, measurement reporting condition and measurement parameter. In addition, a set of measurement configuration parameters may be configured for each DCID (or each UE), or may be configured for all DCIDs (or all UEs) in the super cell together. Further, measuring configuration parameters may include: at least one of a reception quality of the uplink reference signal, a reception power of the uplink reference signal, a signal-to-noise ratio, a signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio, a path loss, and the like. The measurement configuration parameters may also include at least one of the thresholds for each of the above parameters. When the measurement parameters detected by the TP satisfy the measurement reporting condition, the TP sends a measurement report (a first measurement report in subsequent embodiments), and the measurement report includes a corresponding measurement result. The measurement report reporting mode may include: the report mode of event trigger, the periodic report mode, and the mode of combining the event trigger report and the periodic report. The event-triggered reporting mode may refer to: and when the uplink reference signal measured by the TP meets the threshold in the measurement configuration parameters, the TP sends a measurement report to the NR controller. The periodic reporting mode may refer to that the TP periodically sends measurement reports to the NR controller.

After the NR controller configures the measurement configuration parameters of the uplink reference signal for the TP, the TP may measure the uplink reference signal sent by the UE according to the measurement configuration parameters, and report the measurement result to the NR controller according to the measurement reporting mode.

It should be noted that the measurement indication information may indicate the TP to perform intra-frequency measurement, and may also indicate the TP to perform inter-frequency measurement. Alternatively, the NR controller may transmit measurement indication information of intra-frequency measurement to the TP, or may transmit measurement indication information of inter-frequency measurement to the TP. Specifically, assuming that the operating frequency point of the TP is F1, and the frequency point at which the UE transmits the uplink reference signal is F2, the NR controller may instruct the TP to perform inter-frequency measurement, that is, instruct the TP to measure the uplink reference signal transmitted by the UE on F2. Or, as another implementation, the NR controller may also instruct the UE to transmit the uplink reference signal at a working frequency of the TP, that is, an F1 frequency band, and then instruct the TP to perform the co-frequency measurement. Thus, the TP only needs to measure the uplink reference signal in its own operating frequency band. It should be understood that the above two measurement methods may be used alone or in combination, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto.

S112, the eNB20 sends a first RRC configuration message to the UE 10.

Wherein the first RRC configuration message includes the DCID if the measurement response includes the DCID. If the measurement response includes the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal, the first RRC configuration message includes the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

Alternatively, the eNB20 may send the first RRC configuration message to the UE10 in a tunneling manner.

Alternatively, if the measurement response does not include the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal, after S108, the eNB20 may configure the time-frequency resource for the UE to transmit the uplink reference signal and transmit the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the NR controller 30 and the UE 10.

As an example, after S108, the eNB20 determines the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal, and sends the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the NR controller 30 through the measurement configuration indication information. After that, the NR controller 30 performs S110 again. And in S112, the first RRC configuration message includes a DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal.

As another example, the first RRC configuration message in S112 includes a DCID. After S108 (or after S112), the eNB20 determines the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal, and sends the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the NR controller 30 through the measurement configuration indication information. After that, the NR controller 30 performs S110 again. And after S112, the eNB20 may send a second RRC configuration message to the UE10, the second RRC configuration message including the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

As can be seen, the eNB20 may send the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the UE10 in one RRC configuration message; alternatively, the eNB20 may transmit the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the UE10 in two different RRC configuration messages, respectively.

S114, the UE10 transmits an uplink reference signal.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, names, types, and forms of signals for network measurement sent by the UE are not specifically limited, and here, the UE sends an uplink reference signal is taken as an example, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the signals may be a tracking signal that is newly introduced to track the location of the UE, or a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) may be used.

Specifically, the UE sends the uplink reference signal according to the DCID and the time-frequency resource allocation of the uplink reference signal.

Optionally, the UE10 may send the uplink reference signal through the time-frequency resource according to the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

In an embodiment, the uplink reference signal may be an SRS. In one embodiment, the uplink reference signal may be transmitted periodically.

In this way, the TP in the first TPG may measure the uplink reference signal transmitted by the UE10 according to the measurement instruction in S110.

S116, the NR controller 30 receives the first measurement report transmitted by the TP 40 in the first TPG.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first measurement report may include a measurement result of the uplink reference signal, and the specific measurement result type corresponds to the measurement configuration parameter in S110. In the embodiment of the present invention, the measurement result is signal strength information as an example. Specifically, the first measurement report carries the signal strength information of the uplink reference signal sent by the UE10 detected by the TP 40.

The TP in the first TPG may determine the signal strength information of the uplink reference signal by detecting the uplink reference signal sent by the UE.

It is to be appreciated that the signal strength information in the different first measurement reports may be unequal. For example, the first measurement report transmitted by TP1 includes signal strength information of an uplink reference signal detected by TP1, and the first measurement report transmitted by TP2 includes signal strength information of an uplink reference signal detected by TP 2.

Optionally, each TP in the first TPG transmits a first measurement report.

Optionally, each TP of the first TPG that can detect the uplink reference signal transmits the first measurement report.

Optionally, a portion of the TPs in the first TPG send first measurement reports. For example, if the signal strength information of the uplink reference signal detected by the first TP in the first TPG is greater than or equal to the measurement threshold, the first TP sends a first measurement report. For example, if the signal strength information of the uplink reference signal detected by the first TP in the first TPG is less than the measurement threshold, the first TP does not send the first measurement report.

Wherein, the measurement threshold may be predefined in each TP; alternatively, the measurement threshold may be configured by the NR controller 30, for example, the measurement indication message in S110 may carry the measurement threshold.

The NR controller 30 allocates a second TPG for the UE 10S 118.

As an embodiment, specifically, the NR controller 30 may determine whether signal strength information carried by a first measurement report of a TP in a first TPG satisfies a handover threshold; the NR controller 30 allocates a second TPG to the UE10 if the signal strength information carried by the first measurement report of the TP in the first TPG satisfies the handover threshold, the second TPG containing 1 or more TPs.

It should be appreciated that the handover threshold is greater than the measurement threshold described above. In the embodiment of the present invention, the condition that the handover threshold is met may be greater than or equal to the handover threshold.

For example, a TP (e.g., a first TP) in a first TPG is added to a second TPG if the signal strength information carried by the first measurement report for the TP is greater than or equal to a handover threshold. A TP (e.g., a second TP) in the first TPG is not added to the second TPG if the signal strength information carried by the first measurement report for the TP is less than the handover threshold.

Accordingly, the NR controller 30 may select at least one TP from the first TPGs as the second TPG according to the switching threshold.

Alternatively, as an implementation, the NR controller 30 may select from TPs other than the first TPG. That is, all of the TPs in the second TPG may belong to the first TPG, or some of the TPs in the second TPG may belong to the first TPG and some may not belong to the first TPG, or all of the TPs in the second TPG may not belong to the first TPG.

Wherein the switching threshold may be preconfigured on the NR controller 30. Alternatively, the handover threshold may be received by the NR controller 30 from the base station eNB20 of LTE, e.g. the measurement request in S106 includes the handover threshold.

As another embodiment, specifically, the NR controller 30 may determine whether signal strength information carried by a first measurement report of a TP in a first TPG within a preset time period satisfies a handover threshold; if the signal strength information carried by all the first measurement reports of the TPs in the first TPG satisfies the handover threshold within the preset time period, the NR controller 30 allocates the second TPG to the UE 10.

It should be appreciated that the handover threshold is greater than the measurement threshold described above.

Accordingly, the NR controller 30 may select at least one TP from the first TPGs as the second TPG according to a preset time period and a switching threshold.

The preset time length may be implemented by a timer, and the NR controller 30 may determine whether the signal strength information satisfies the handover threshold within the running time of the timer.

Alternatively, as an implementation, the NR controller 30 may select from TPs other than the first TPG as part of TPs in the second TPG. That is, all or a portion of the TPs in the second TPG belong to the first TPG, or all of the TPs in the second TPG do not belong to the first TPG.

The preset time period may be preset on the NR controller 30. Alternatively, the preset duration may be received by the NR controller 30 from the base station eNB20 of LTE, for example, the measurement request in S106 includes the preset duration.

It is to be understood that if the preset time period is implemented by means of a timer, the eNB20 may configure the timer for the NR controller 30 before S118. For example, in S106, the measurement request includes indication information of a timer, and the indication information includes a duration (i.e., a preset duration) of the timer.

S120, the NR controller 30 transmits a handover indication message to the eNB 20.

Optionally, the handover indication message may include indication information of the second TPG, so that the UE10 performs data transmission with the TP in the second TPG.

Optionally, the handover indication message may further include: the NR controller 30 transmits resource information configured for the UE10 and/or a new ID assigned by the NR controller 30 to the UE 10.

Optionally, the handover indication message may further include a configuration of a layer one (L1), a layer two (L2), a layer three (L3), and/or the like, which is not limited in the present invention.

In this way, after S120, the eNB20 may determine whether to permit the UE10 to perform handover according to the handover indication message. That is, the eNB20 decides whether to use NR as the serving cell of the UE 10.

Alternatively, the eNB20 may agree directly to the NR as the serving cell for the UE10 after receiving the handover indication message. Alternatively, after receiving the handover instruction message, the eNB20 may make a certain determination and then determine whether to agree to the NR as the serving cell of the UE 10. For example, if the signal quality between the eNB20 and the UE10 is greater than or equal to a quality threshold and the current load of the eNB20 is less than a load threshold, the eNB20 may decide to reject the NR as the serving cell of the UE 10. For example, if the signal quality between the eNB20 and the UE10 is less than a quality threshold, or the current load of the eNB20 is greater than or equal to a load threshold, the eNB20 may decide to use the NR as the serving cell for the UE 10.

S122, the eNB20 sends a handover command to the UE 10.

Alternatively, the eNB20 may perform S122 if deciding to use NR as the serving cell of the UE10 after receiving the handover indication message of the NR controller 30.

The handover command may include indication information of the second TPG allocated by the NR controller 30 to the UE 10.

S124, the UE10 performs data transmission with the TP in the second TPG.

Specifically, the UE10 may use a hyper cell as a serving cell or a hyper cell as one of the serving cells according to the handover command, and communicate with the TP in the second TPG.

If the handover indication message in S120 includes: the NR controller 30 configures the UE10 with transmission resource information, and accordingly, the handover command in S122 also includes the transmission resource information, and in S124, the UE10 performs data transmission with the TP in the second TPG according to the transmission resource information.

If the handover indication message in S120 includes: the NR controller 30 assigns a new ID (e.g., newDCID) to the UE10, and accordingly, the handover command in S122 also includes the new ID, and then the UE10 performs data transmission with the TP in the second TPG using the new ID in S124.

If the handover indication message in S120 does not include the above-mentioned transmission resource information and new ID, the UE10 reuses the previous NR configuration for data transmission with the TP in the second TPG in S124.

For example, in S124, the UE10 may transmit the SRS to the TP in the second TPG according to the NR configuration and establish data transmission with the TP in the second TPG.

Thus, the embodiment of the invention can realize the switching from the LTE system taking the network as the center to the NR system taking the user as the center, thereby ensuring the continuity of the service, improving the switching efficiency and ensuring the transmission quality.

In connection with the embodiment shown in fig. 3, before the UE10 transmits the uplink reference signal in S114, uplink synchronization of the UE10 and the NR controller 30 may be completed.

As an implementation manner of uplink synchronization, as shown in fig. 4, the method may include:

s111, the eNB20 determines TA between the UE10 and the NR controller 30.

Alternatively, the eNB20 may determine a third TA value between the UE10 and the NR controller 30 according to a first TA value between the eNB20 and the UE10 and a second TA value between the eNB20 and the NR controller 30.

Subsequently, the eNB20 may send the determined third TA value to the UE 10.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 4, as an example, the first RRC configuration message in S112 includes a DCID, a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, and a third TA.

Optionally, as another example, the method further includes: the eNB20 sends a second RRC configuration message to the UE 10. The first RRC configuration message includes a DCID, and the second RRC configuration message includes a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal and a third TA. Or, the first RRC configuration message includes a DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal, and the second RRC configuration message includes a third TA. At this time, S112 may be performed before or after S111, which is not limited in the present invention.

Optionally, as another example, the method further includes: the eNB20 sends a second RRC configuration message to the UE 10. The first RRC configuration message includes a DCID and a third TA, and the second RRC configuration message includes a time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal. At this time, the sending of the second RRC configuration message may be performed before or after S111, which is not limited in the present invention.

It is understood that, in the embodiment of fig. 4, the related description of S112 in fig. 3 may be combined, and is not repeated here to avoid repetition.

In this way, in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the TA value between the UE10 and the NR controller 30 is quickly determined by the eNB20, enabling the efficiency of handover to be ensured.

As another implementation manner of uplink synchronization, as shown in fig. 5, the method may include:

the measurement response in S108 may further include a TA test instruction so that the eNB20 instructs the UE10 to transmit a TA test message. That is, the measurement response in S108 includes the DCID and the TA test instruction. Or, the measurement response in S108 includes the DCID, the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal, and the TA test instruction.

Accordingly, the first RRC configuration message in S112 may further include the TA test instruction. That is, the first RRC configuration message in S112 may include a DCID and a TA test instruction. Alternatively, the first RRC configuration message in S112 may include a DCID, a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, and a TA test instruction. The TA test instruction may include a random access preamble sequence preamble Index configured for the UE, time-frequency resource information (e.g., PRACHMask Index) for sending the preamble Index, and the like.

S1131, the UE10 sends a TA test message.

Specifically, the UE10 may transmit the TA test message to the NR controller 30 according to the TA test instruction. Here, the TA test message may also be referred to as an uplink TA estimation signal, an uplink TA test signal, or the like, which is not limited in the present invention.

S1131 may further include: the UE10 may randomly select a random access preamble sequence preamble index and a random access time-frequency resource according to the random access resource configuration broadcasted by the NR controller, and send the TA test message to the NR controller 30.

S1132, the NR controller 30 transmits the TA value to the eNB 20.

NR controller 30 may calculate the TA value based on the received TA test message.

Optionally, in S1132, the NR controller 30 may send a measurement configuration response message to the eNB20, where the measurement configuration response message carries the TA value.

S1133, the eNB20 transmits the TA value to the UE 10.

Optionally, in S1133, the eNB20 may send a second RRC configuration message to the UE10, where the second RRC configuration message carries the TA value.

Alternatively, as one embodiment, after S1131, the NR controller 30 may directly transmit the TA value to the UE 10. That is, S1132 and S1133 may be replaced with the following steps: the NR controller 30 transmits the TA value to the UE 10.

As another implementation of uplink synchronization, the NR controller 30 may first configure a dedicated preamble (preamble) for the UE10 to obtain TA, as shown in fig. 6, including:

s1071, the NR controller 30 transmits the dedicated preamble configuration to the UE 10.

Specifically, the NR controller 30 may configure the random access preamble sequence preamble index for the UE10, and transmit time-frequency resource information of the preamble index.

S1072, the UE10 transmits a TA test message to the NR controller 30.

Here, the TA test message may also be referred to as an uplink TA estimation signal, an uplink TA test signal, or the like, which is not limited in the present invention.

Specifically, the UE 20 may directly access the NR controller 30 according to the dedicated preamble configuration without initiating the NAS and S1-like interface establishment procedures and without data transmission, which may improve the handover efficiency.

Further, the measurement response in S108 includes the DCID, the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal, and the TA value.

It is understood that the NR controller 30 may configure the UE10 with the dedicated preamble to obtain the TA value, and then configure the time-frequency resources of the DCID and the uplink reference signal.

Accordingly, the first RRC configuration message in S112 also includes the DCID, the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal, and the TA value.

In this way, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5 or fig. 6, the TA value between the UE10 and the NR controller 30 is determined by the NR controller 30 based on the TA test message sent by the UE10, and the accuracy of the TA value can be ensured, thereby ensuring the quality of handover.

Optionally, as another embodiment, the handover decision of the UE10 to perform handover may also be performed by the eNB20, as shown in fig. 7. Before S1171 shown in fig. 7, some or all of steps S102 to S116 may be performed, and steps S102 to S116 may refer to any one of the embodiments shown in fig. 3 to fig. 6, and are not repeated here to avoid repetition.

S1171, the NR controller 30 transmits measurement instruction information to the eNB 20.

Alternatively, the NR controller 30 may determine whether signal strength information carried by a first measurement report of a TP in a first TPG satisfies a handover threshold; if the signal strength information carried by the first measurement report of the TP in the first TPG satisfies the handover threshold, the NR controller 30 performs S1171. Wherein the switching threshold may be preconfigured on the NR controller 30. Alternatively, the handover threshold may be received by the NR controller 30 from the base station eNB20 of LTE, e.g. the measurement request in S106 includes the handover threshold.

Optionally, the NR controller 30 may determine whether signal strength information carried by a first measurement report of a TP in a first TPG within a preset time period satisfies a handover threshold; if the signal strength information carried by the first measurement report of the TP in the first TPG satisfies the handover threshold within the preset time period, the NR controller 30 performs S1171. The switching threshold and the preset duration may be pre-configured in the NR controller 30. Alternatively, the handover threshold and the preset duration may be received by the NR controller 30 from the base station eNB20 of LTE, for example, the measurement request in S106 includes the handover threshold and the preset duration.

The measurement indication information may include a first measurement report of a TP in the first TPG. Alternatively, the measurement indication information may include indication information that the handover quality requirement is met, such as tune or 1.

S1172, the eNB20 performs a handover decision.

Specifically, the eNB20 decides whether to treat the NR as one serving cell of the UE 10. Alternatively, the eNB20 may directly agree to the NR as the serving cell of the UE10 after receiving the measurement indication information. Alternatively, the eNB20 may determine whether to agree to the NR as the serving cell of the UE10 after receiving the measurement instruction information and making a certain determination. For example, if the signal quality between the eNB20 and the UE10 is greater than or equal to a quality threshold and the current load of the eNB20 is less than a load threshold, the eNB20 may decide to reject the NR as the serving cell for the UE 10. For example, if the signal quality between the eNB20 and the UE10 is less than a certain quality threshold, or the current load of the eNB20 is greater than or equal to a certain load threshold, the eNB20 may decide to use the NR as the serving cell of the UE 10.

If the eNB20 determines to use the NR as the serving cell of the UE10, S1173 may be performed.

S1173, the eNB20 transmits a handover request to the NR controller 30.

The NR controller 30 allocates a second TPG for the UE 10S 118.

Specifically, the NR controller 30 may treat all or part of TPs in the first TPG that satisfy the handover threshold as the second TPG after receiving the handover request.

Optionally, the NR controller 30 may also configure the UE10 with a new ID (e.g., new DCID) and/or transmission resources, etc.

S1174, the NR controller 30 transmits a handover response to the eNB 20.

The handover response may include indication information of the second TPG. Optionally, the handover response may further include transmission resource information configured for the UE10 by the NR controller 30, and/or a new ID allocated for the UE10 by the NR controller 30.

Optionally, the switching response may further include a configuration of a layer one (L1), a layer two (L2), a layer three (L3), and/or the like, which is not limited in the present invention.

Further, S122 and S124 may refer to the related description in the embodiment of fig. 3, and are not repeated here to avoid repetition.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the invention, the UE executes the inter-system detection, the switching from the LTE system to the NR system can be completed based on the detection, the continuous mobility of the UE between the LTE system and the NR system can be ensured, and the switching efficiency is ensured.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of handover of UE moving from NR to LTE according to an embodiment of the present invention. It should be understood that fig. 8 shows detailed communication steps or operations applied to handover from NR to LTE, but these steps or operations are merely examples, and other operations or variations of the various operations in fig. 8 may also be performed by embodiments of the present invention. Moreover, the various steps in FIG. 8 may be performed in a different order presented in FIG. 8, and it is possible that not all of the operations in FIG. 8 may be performed. In fig. 8, the UE10, NR controller 30 and eNB20 are shown. The method shown in fig. 8 may include:

s202, the NR controller 30 transmits the measurement configuration to the UE 10.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE10 is initially in the service range of a hyper cell. The UE10 may periodically or continuously transmit the uplink reference signal when the UE10 is in the hypercell, so that the NR controller 30 may determine the location of the UE10 according to the first measurement report of the uplink reference signal detected by the TP.

For example, the NR controller 30 receives the first measurement report transmitted by each of the at least one TP, and the at least one TP is located at the edge of the hyper cell, the NR controller 30 may determine that the UE10 is also located at the edge of the hyper cell. And the NR controller 30 may execute S202.

Specifically, the measurement configuration in S202 is used to instruct the UE10 to perform downlink measurement. Alternatively, the measurement configuration in S202 is used to instruct the UE10 to perform downlink measurement periodically, where the measurement configuration may carry the periodicity.

S204, the eNB20 transmits a downlink reference signal.

In general, a base station (i.e., eNB 20) in LTE periodically transmits a downlink reference signal. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the name, the type, and the format of the signal for user measurement transmitted by the eNB20 are not specifically limited, and the eNB20 transmits the downlink reference signal is taken as an example here, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be, for example, a downlink synchronization signal.

S206, the UE10 performs downlink measurement.

The UE10 may perform downlink measurement according to the measurement configuration in S202, thereby detecting the downlink reference signal transmitted by the eNB 20.

In S206, the UE10 may determine its signal quality according to the detected downlink reference signal, and may acquire the ID of the eNB 20.

S208, the UE10 transmits a third measurement report to the NR controller 30.

Optionally, the third measurement report may include the signal quality of the downlink reference signal and/or the ID of the LTE cell.

Optionally, the third measurement report may also include the ID of the UE 10.

S210, the NR controller 30 transmits a handover request to the eNB 20.

Optionally, the third measurement report includes the signal quality of the downlink reference signal, and if the signal quality is greater than or equal to the handover threshold, the NR controller 30 transmits a handover request to the eNB 20.

Optionally, the handover request may include the ID of the UE 10.

S212, the eNB20 transmits a handover response to the NR controller 30.

S214, the NR controller 30 transmits a handover command to the UE 10.

In this way, the UE10 may perform a random access procedure with the eNB20 after receiving the handover command, and thereafter perform S216.

S216, the UE10 performs data transmission with the eNB 20.

It can be seen that if the NR supports the inter-system measurement report on the UE side, the handover from the NR system to the LTE system can be completed in the manner shown in fig. 8, and the method can ensure continuous mobility of the UE between the NR system and the LTE system, and ensure handover efficiency.

As another embodiment, if the NR does not support the inter-system measurement procedure on the UE side, as shown in fig. 9, after S208, the method may include:

s209, the NR controller 30 transmits measurement instruction information to the eNB 20.

Optionally, the measurement indication information may include a signal quality of the downlink reference signal and/or an ID of the eNB.

Optionally, the measurement indication information may further include an ID of the UE 10.

In this way, the eNB may determine whether the signal quality of the downlink reference signal satisfies the handover threshold, and if so, perform S211.

S211, the eNB20 transmits handover instruction information to the NR controller 30.

Specifically, if the signal quality of the downlink reference signal is greater than or equal to the handover threshold, the eNB20 transmits handover indication information to the NR controller 30.

It is understood that if the signal quality of the downlink reference signal is greater than or equal to the handover threshold, the eNB20 may determine that the UE10 is already within the service range of the eNB20, and then allow the UE10 to perform handover, that is, allow the UE10 to use the eNB20 as a serving cell.

It is understood that the steps with the same numbers in fig. 9 can refer to the related description in the embodiment of fig. 8, and are not repeated here to avoid repetition.

It can be seen that, if the NR does not support the inter-system measurement report on the UE side, the handover from the NR system to the LTE system can be completed in the manner shown in fig. 9, and the method can ensure continuous mobility of the UE between the NR system and the LTE system, and ensure handover efficiency.

As another embodiment, fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a method for cell reselection according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method comprises the following steps:

s201, the UE10 receives the indication information of the TP 40.

The UE10 may be in a mobile state in a hyper cell, and when the UE10 moves to an edge of the hyper cell, an outermost TP of the hyper cell (e.g., TP3) may send an indication to the UE 10. That is, TP 40 in fig. 10 is the outermost TP of a hyper cell, such as TP 3.

Optionally, the indication information may be carried in a system message, or may also be carried in a PSS or SSS or other downlink common channels, which is not limited in the present invention. The indication information may be transmitted by the TP 40 in a broadcast manner.

Alternatively, the indication information may also be sent by the NR controller to the UE10 by proprietary signaling.

It is understood that, before S201, the NR controller 30 may configure the outermost TP of the super cell so that the outermost TP transmits the indication information to the UE10 after detecting the uplink reference signal of the UE 10.

Alternatively, if the TP 40 (i.e., the TP on the outermost layer of the super cell, for example, TP3) detects the uplink reference signal of the UE10, and the signal strength of the uplink reference signal is lower than a certain threshold, the TP 40 may determine that the UE10 has reached the edge of the super cell, and then the TP 40 may send an indication message to the UE 10.

S205, the UE10 performs downlink measurement according to the indication information.

Specifically, the UE in the hyper cell may be in a power-saving state or an active state. That is, the UE has two states and can transition between the two states, for example, when there is no traffic data transmission for a while after the UE data transmission is completed, the UE can transition from the active state to the power-saving state; in the power saving state, the UE may not monitor the dynamic control channel, and only needs to support a small amount of connection management, which consumes less power than in the active state. For example, the UE in power saving state may continue to retain the dedicated UE identity, continue to transmit uplink reference signals, and listen for paging messages.

The UE in the power saving state may also be referred to as an idle UE or as an ECO UE, where ECO represents Ecology, Conservation, and Optimization. The active UE may also be referred to as a connected UE, and when the active UE has no data transmission for a period of time, the active UE may enter DRX.

Specifically, the UE10 may perform downlink measurement when the trigger condition is satisfied. Wherein the trigger condition may be: (1) receiving indication information of the TP, (2) the UE has reached an edge of a super cell, (3) the UE is in at least one of a power saving state, an active state without traffic transmission, or an active state for DRX.

For example, if the UE10 has reached the edge of a hyper cell and the UE10 is in a power-saving state or in an active state with no traffic transmission, the UE10 may perform downlink measurements.

Specifically, the UE10 performing downlink measurement refers to the UE10 measuring downlink reference signals of each neighboring cell 50 according to the configuration of the NR controller or the configuration broadcasted by the NR controller, and the neighboring cell 50 may be a cell of an eNB or a neighboring NR supercell. For example, the UE10 detects the downlink reference signal transmitted by the neighboring cell 50 in S203.

S207, the UE10 reselects to a neighboring cell.

Specifically, if the UE10 detects that the signal quality of the current super cell is lower than a first threshold, and/or if the UE10 detects that the signal quality of the downlink reference signal of the neighboring cell is higher than a second threshold, the UE10 performs cell reselection. Wherein the second threshold is greater than the first threshold.

For example, the UE10 performs downlink measurement in S205 and performs cell reselection based on the measurement result, and optionally, the UE10 may try to select a cell with good signal condition.

Therefore, the UE in the power saving state, the non-service activated state, or the activated state of DRX in the super cell may perform downlink measurement, and thus may complete cell reselection.

Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of cell handover according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method shown in fig. 11 includes:

s301, a first network device sends a dedicated connection identifier DCID to a second network device of a current serving cell of a user equipment UE, so that the second network device forwards the DCID to the UE, where the DCID is used by the first network device to identify the UE.

S302, the first network device sends a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal to the second network device, so that the second network device forwards the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the UE.

S303, the first network device sends a handover indication message to the second network device, where the handover indication message includes an identifier of a second node in the first network where the first network device is located, so that the UE performs data transmission with the node.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first network device is a network device in a system taking a user as a center, and the second network device is a network device in a system taking a network as a center. For example, the first network device is the NR controller in the foregoing embodiment, and the second network device is the eNB in the foregoing embodiment, and accordingly, the first network in which the first network device is located may be the NR. The invention is not limited in this regard.

Optionally, before S303, the method may further include:

the first network equipment sends a measurement indication message to a first node, and indicates the first node to measure an uplink reference signal sent by the UE, wherein the measurement indication message carries the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal;

and the first network equipment allocates a second node for the UE according to the first measurement report of the first node.

Thus, the node in S303 includes the second node, that is, the handover indication message includes an identity of the second node, so that the UE performs data transmission with the second node.

Optionally, the measurement indication message may further include a measurement threshold, so that the first node reports based on the measurement threshold. Specifically, the first node sends a first measurement report to the first network device on the condition that the first node detects that the signal strength of the uplink reference signal is greater than or equal to the measurement threshold.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the node may be a TP, for example, the first node is a TP in a first Transmission Point Group (TPG), and the second node is a TP in a second TPG. Accordingly, the first network device receives the first measurement report of the TP in the first TPG, and allocates the second TPG for the UE according to the first measurement report of the TP in the first TPG. The first measurement report here may be transmitted by the TPs in the first TPG, respectively.

Optionally, as another embodiment, the node may be a DU and a TP, and accordingly, the first network device receives a first measurement report of a TP in the first TPG sent by the DU, and allocates the second TPG to the UE according to the first measurement report of the TP in the first TPG. That is, the TPs in the first TPG respectively transmit first measurement reports to the DU, and the first network device receives the first measurement reports of the TPs in the first TPG from the DU. It is understood that TPs of the first TPG may belong to the same or different DUs and TPs of the second TPG may belong to the same or different DUs.

Wherein the first TPG may include one or more TPs; the second TPG may include the first or more TPs.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the allocating, by the first network device, the second node to the UE according to the first measurement report of the first node may include: the first network equipment judges whether the measurement result carried by a first measurement report of the first node meets a switching threshold or not; and if the measurement result carried by the first measurement report of the first node meets the switching threshold, the first network equipment allocates the second node for the UE.

The handover threshold may be pre-stored or pre-configured in the first network device, or may be obtained by the first network device from the second network device. For example, heretofore, there may be included: the first network device receives the handover threshold from the second network device.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the allocating, by the first network device, the second node to the UE according to the first measurement report of the first node may include: the first network equipment judges whether the measurement result carried by a first measurement report of the first node in a preset time length meets a switching threshold or not; and if the measurement result carried by the first measurement report of the first node meets the switching threshold, the first network equipment allocates the second node for the UE.

The preset duration and the handover threshold may be pre-stored or pre-configured in the first network device, or may be obtained by the first network device from the second network device. For example, heretofore, there may be included: the first network device receives the preset duration and the switching threshold from the second network device.

In the embodiment of the present invention, S301 and S302 may be executed simultaneously. For example, before S301, the first network device receives a measurement request sent by the second network device. Accordingly, S301 and S302 may include: the first network equipment sends a measurement response to the second network equipment, and the measurement response comprises the DCID and the time-frequency resource allocation of the uplink reference signal. That is, the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal are included in the measurement response corresponding to the measurement request. The related description may refer to specific descriptions of S106 and S108 in the foregoing embodiments, and in order to avoid repetition, the description is omitted here.

Optionally, as an example, before S303, determining, by the second network device, a TA value between the first network device and the UE may include: the first network equipment receives the TA value sent by the second network equipment.

Optionally, as an example, before S303, the first network device may determine a TA value between itself and the UE, and accordingly, may include: the first network equipment sends a TA test instruction to the second network equipment so that the second network equipment instructs the UE to send a TA test message; the first network equipment receives a TA test message sent by the UE; the first network equipment determines a TA value according to the TA test message; the first network device sends the TA value to the UE.

Wherein the first network device may send the TA value to the UE. Alternatively, the first network device may send the TA value to the second network device and forward the TA value to the UE by the second network device.

In this embodiment of the present invention, reference may be made to related descriptions of S120 in the foregoing embodiment for S303, for example, the handover indication message may further include: the first network device allocates transmission resource information for the UE, and/or allocates a new ID to the UE. To avoid repetition, further description is omitted here.

Fig. 12 is another schematic flow chart of cell handover according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method shown in fig. 13 includes:

s401, a UE receives a first RRC configuration message sent by a second network device of a current serving cell, wherein the first RRC configuration message comprises a DCID, and the DCID is used for identifying the UE by the first network device.

S402, the UE receives a second RRC configuration message sent by the second network equipment, wherein the second RRC configuration message comprises time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal.

S403, the UE sends an uplink reference signal according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message.

S404, the UE receives a handover command sent by the second network device, where the handover command includes an identifier of a second node allocated by the first network device for the UE.

S405, the UE transmits data with the second node according to the switching command.

Optionally, S401 and S402 may be executed simultaneously, where the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message may be the same message, for example, the first RRC configuration message, and at this time, the first RRC configuration message includes a DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal.

As an embodiment, before S401, may include: the UE in the service range of the second network equipment performs inter-system detection; the UE generates a second measurement report according to the result of the inter-system detection, wherein the second measurement report comprises the cell ID of the first network side where the first network equipment is located; the UE sends the second measurement report to the second network device.

Specifically, the UE may perform the inter-system detection when a trigger condition is satisfied; alternatively, the UE may perform the inter-system detection periodically.

Wherein, the triggering condition may be: and the signal quality of the second network equipment detected by the UE is lower than a preset threshold.

The UE may receive a measurement control message sent by the second network device; and performing the inter-system measurement according to the measurement control message. Optionally, the measurement control message may include the preset threshold, so that the UE may perform inter-system detection based on the trigger condition. Alternatively, the measurement control message may include a size of a period, so that the UE may perform inter-system detection based on the period.

Specifically, the UE performs inter-system detection, which may include: and the UE executes the inter-system detection and detects at least one of a primary synchronization signal PSS, a secondary synchronization signal SSS, a downlink reference signal of the first network and system information SI which are sent by the first node in the first network.

Optionally, the first node in the embodiment of the present invention may include a TP in a first TPG, and the second node may include a TP in a second TPG.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, before S403, the method may further include: and the UE completes uplink synchronization with the first network equipment.

Optionally, as an example, before S403, the UE receives the TA value sent by the second network device. The TA value is determined by the second network device based on a first TA value between the second network device and the UE and a second TA value between the second network device and the first network device.

Optionally, as another example, before S403, the UE receives a TA test instruction sent by the second network device; according to the TA test instruction, the UE sends a TATA test message to the first network equipment; and, the UE receives the TA value sent by the first network device.

Wherein the UE may receive the TA value directly from the first network device. Alternatively, the UE may receive the TA value determined by the first network device from the second network device. That is, the first network device may send the TA value to the second network device, and then the second network device forwards the TA value to the UE.

Optionally, the TA value may be carried in the second RRC configuration message. That is, the second RRC configuration message may include the TA value and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal. It is understood that, if the second RRC configuration message is the same as the first RRC configuration message, the first RRC configuration message may include a DCID, a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, and a TA value.

Optionally, in S403, the UE may send the uplink reference signal to a node in the first network device by using the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal based on the DCID. For example, a TP in a first TPG in a first network side where the first network device is located can detect the uplink reference signal, and send a first measurement report to the first network device.

Optionally, the handover command in S404 may include an identification of the second node. Further, in S405, the UE performs data transmission with the second node according to the handover command. For example, the second node is a TP in the second TPG, the handover command in S404 may include indication information of the second TPG. Accordingly, in S405, the UE may perform data transmission with the TP in the second TPG according to the handover command.

It can be understood that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the UE may use the first network where the first network device is located as a serving cell of the UE according to the handover command; alternatively, the UE may switch the serving cell to the first network where the first network device is located according to the switching instruction.

Fig. 13 is another schematic flow chart of cell handover according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method shown in fig. 13 includes:

s501, a second network device receives a DCID and time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal sent by a first network device, wherein the DCID is used for identifying UE by the first network device.

S502, the second network device sends a first RRC configuration message to the UE, where the first RRC configuration message includes the DCID.

S503, a second network device sends a second RRC configuration message to the UE, where the second RRC configuration message includes time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, so that the UE sends the uplink reference signal according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message.

Optionally, the second network device may receive a second measurement report sent by the UE, where the second measurement report includes a cell ID of the first network in which the first network device is located. Here, the cell ID may be determined by the UE performing inter-system measurements. Further, the second network device may send a measurement request to the first network device, and receive a measurement response of the first network device, where the measurement response may include a DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal. Optionally, before this, the second network device may send a measurement control message to the UE to cause the UE to perform the inter-system measurement based on the measurement control message.

The measurement request may include a handover threshold and/or a preset duration.

As can be seen, in S501, the second network device may receive the time-frequency resource configuration of the DCID and the uplink reference signal through the measurement response.

Optionally, S502 and S503 may be executed simultaneously, where the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message may be the same message, for example, the first RRC configuration message, and at this time, the first RRC configuration message includes a DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal. That is, the second network device may send a first RRC configuration message to the UE, where the first RRC configuration message includes a DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, so that the UE sends the uplink reference signal according to the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

Optionally, as an example, the method may further include: the second network equipment determines a TA value between the UE and the first network equipment according to a first TA value between the second network equipment and the UE and a second TA value between the second network equipment and the first network equipment; and the second network device sends the determined TA value to the UE.

Optionally, as another example, the method may further include: the second network equipment receives the TA value sent by the first network equipment; and the second network device sends the TA value to the UE.

Optionally, as another example, the method may further include: the second network device receives the TA test instruction sent by the first network device, and forwards the TA test instruction to the UE, so that the UE sends a TA test message to the first network device. Further, the second network device may receive a TA value determined by the first network device based on the TA test message and send the TA value to the UE.

Optionally, the TA value may be carried in a second RRC configuration message, that is, the second RRC configuration message may include the TA value and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal. It is understood that, if the second RRC configuration message is the same as the first RRC configuration message, the first RRC configuration message may include a DCID, a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, and a TA value.

In addition, further, the second network device may receive handover indication information sent by the first network device, where the handover indication information includes an identifier of a second node in the first network where the first network device is located; and the second network equipment sends a switching command to the UE according to the switching indication information, wherein the switching command comprises the identifier of the second node, and the switching command is used for indicating the UE to perform data transmission with the second node.

Wherein the second node may be a TP in the second TPG.

Optionally, the handover indication message may further include: the first network device allocates transmission resource information for the UE, and/or allocates a new ID to the UE. Accordingly, it is understood that the handover command may further include: the first network device allocates transmission resource information for the UE, and/or allocates a new ID to the UE.

Fig. 14 is a block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network device 100 shown in fig. 14 may be the first network device 100, and includes a transmitting unit 120, a receiving unit 140, and a processing unit 160.

The sending unit 120 is configured to: sending a Dedicated Connection Identification (DCID) to a second network device of a current serving cell of User Equipment (UE) so that the second network device forwards the DCID to the UE, wherein the DCID is used for identifying the UE by the first network device; the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal is further used for sending the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the second network equipment, so that the second network equipment forwards the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal to the UE; the UE is further configured to send a handover indication message to the second network device, where the handover indication message includes an identifier of a second node in a first network in which the first network device is located, so that the UE performs data transmission with the second node.

As an example, the handover indication message may further include: the first network device allocates transmission resource information for the UE, and/or allocates a new ID to the UE. In this way, the UE may communicate with the second node according to the transmission resource information.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the sending unit 120 is further configured to send a measurement indication message to a first node, where the measurement indication message indicates that the first node measures an uplink reference signal sent by the UE, and the measurement indication message carries the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal. A receiving unit 140, configured to receive a first measurement report sent by the first node, where the first measurement report carries a measurement result of the uplink reference signal sent by the UE. A processing unit 160, configured to allocate the second node to the UE according to the first measurement report of the first node.

For example, the measurement result of the uplink reference signal may be signal strength information of the uplink reference signal. Accordingly, the first measurement report may carry signal strength information of the uplink reference signal sent by the UE.

Wherein, the processing unit 160 may specifically be configured to: judging whether the measurement result carried by a first measurement report of the first node meets a switching threshold; and if the measurement result carried by the first measurement report of the first node meets the switching threshold, allocating the second node for the UE.

Optionally, the processing unit 160 may be specifically configured to: and judging whether the measurement result carried by the first measurement report of the first node in a preset time length meets the switching threshold.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the preset duration and/or the handover threshold may be preset in the first network device, or may be obtained from the second network device. For example, the sending unit 120 may be further configured to receive the preset duration and/or the handover threshold from the second network device.

Optionally, as another embodiment, the receiving unit 140 may be configured to: and receiving a measurement request sent by the second network equipment. Wherein the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal are included in a measurement response corresponding to the measurement request. That is to say, the sending unit 120 may be specifically configured to send a measurement response to the second network device, where the measurement response includes the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

In the embodiment of the present invention, before the UE sends the uplink reference signal, uplink synchronization between the UE and the first network device may also be completed.

Optionally, as an example, the receiving unit 140 may be configured to receive the TA value sent by the second network device. The TA value here may be determined by the second network device itself, for example, the TA value may be determined by the second network device according to a first TA value between the second network device and the UE and a second TA value between the second network device and the first network device.

Optionally, as another example, the sending unit 120 may be configured to send a TA test instruction to the second network device, so that the second network device instructs the UE to send a TA test message. The receiving unit 140 may be configured to receive the TA test message sent by the UE. The processing unit 160 may be configured to determine a TA value according to the TA test message. The transmitting unit 120 may be further configured to transmit the TA value to the UE. That is, the TA value here may be determined by the first network device based on the TA test message.

The sending unit 120 sends the TA value to the UE, which may be: sending the TA value to the second network device to cause the second network device to forward the TA value to the UE.

It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present invention, the sending unit 120 may be implemented by a sender, the receiving unit 140 may be implemented by a receiver, and the processing unit 160 may be implemented by a processor, as shown in fig. 15, the first network device 100 may include a processor 110, a sender 130, a receiver 150, and a memory 170. The memory 170 may be used to store code executed by the processor 110, among other things.

The various components in the first network device 100 are coupled together by a bus system 190, wherein the bus system 190 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus.

The network device 100 shown in fig. 14 or the network device 100 shown in fig. 15 can implement each process executed by the NR controller or the first network device in the foregoing method embodiments of fig. 1 to fig. 13, and details are not repeated here to avoid repetition.

Fig. 16 is a block diagram of a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention. The UE 200 shown in fig. 16 may include a receiving unit 220, a transmitting unit 240, and a processing unit 260.

A receiving unit 220, configured to receive a first RRC configuration message sent by a second network device of a current serving cell, where the first RRC configuration message includes a DCID, and the DCID is used for identifying the UE by the first network device; a receiving unit 220, further configured to receive a second RRC configuration message sent by the second network device, where the second RRC configuration message includes time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal;

a sending unit 240, configured to send an uplink reference signal according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message;

a receiving unit 220, further configured to receive a handover command sent by the second network device, where the handover command includes an identifier of a second node allocated by the first network device for the UE;

and the processing unit 260 is configured to perform data transmission with the second node according to the handover command.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 260 may further be configured to: performing inter-system detection; and generating a second measurement report according to the result of the inter-system detection, wherein the second measurement report comprises the cell ID of the first network in which the first network equipment is located. The sending unit 240 may be further configured to send the second measurement report to the second network device.

As an example, the processing unit 260 may specifically be configured to: executing the inter-system detection when a trigger condition is met; alternatively, the inter-system detection is performed periodically. The trigger condition may be: the signal quality of the second network device detected by the processing unit 260 is lower than a preset threshold.

Optionally, as another embodiment, the receiving unit 220 may be further configured to receive a measurement control message sent by the second network device. The processing unit 260 may specifically be configured to perform the inter-system measurement according to the measurement control message. Subsequently, the processing unit 260 may generate a second measurement report according to the result of the inter-system detection. And the second measurement report is sent to the second network device by the sending unit 240.

The processing unit 260 may perform inter-system detection by: and executing inter-system detection, and detecting at least one of a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), a downlink reference signal of the first network and System Information (SI) sent by the first node in the first network.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, before the UE sends the uplink reference signal, uplink synchronization with the first network device may also be completed.

Optionally, as an example, the receiving unit 220 may be further configured to receive the TA value sent by the second network device. The TA value may be determined by the second network device itself, or may be received by the second network device from the first network device.

Optionally, as another example, the receiving unit 220 may receive a TA test instruction sent by the second network device. According to the TA test instruction, the sending unit 240 sends a TA test message to the first network device. The receiving unit 220 further receives the TA value sent by the first network device.

For example, the TA value may be sent from the first network device to the second network device, and then sent from the second network device to the UE.

As an example, the TA value may be included in a second RRC configuration message sent by the second network device. That is to say, the receiving unit 220 receives a second RRC configuration message sent by the second network device, and the second RRC configuration message may include the time-frequency resource configuration and the TA value of the uplink reference signal.

In addition, as another implementation manner, the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message are the same message. As can be seen, the first RRC configuration message may include a DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal; alternatively, the first RRC configuration message may include a DCID, a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, and a TA value.

It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving unit 220 may be implemented by a receiver, the transmitting unit 240 may be implemented by a transmitter, and the processing unit 260 may be implemented by a processor, as shown in fig. 17, the UE 200 may include a processor 210, a transmitter 230, a receiver 250, and a memory 270. Memory 270 may be used, among other things, to store code executed by processor 210.

The various components in the UE 200 are coupled together by a bus system 290, wherein the bus system 290 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus.

The UE 200 shown in fig. 16 or the UE 200 shown in fig. 17 can implement the foregoing processes performed by the UE in the method embodiments of fig. 1 to fig. 13, and for avoiding repetition, details are not repeated here.

Fig. 18 is a block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network device 300 shown in fig. 18 may be a second network device 300 and may include a receiving unit 320, a transmitting unit 340, and a processing unit 360.

A receiving unit 320, configured to receive a DCID and a time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal sent by a first network device, where the DCID is used for identifying a UE by the first network device.

A sending unit 340, configured to send a first RRC configuration message to the UE, where the first RRC configuration message includes the DCID. The sending unit 340 is further configured to send a second RRC configuration message to the UE, where the second RRC configuration message includes time-frequency resource configuration of an uplink reference signal, so that the UE sends the uplink reference signal according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message.

Optionally, as an example, the receiving unit 320 may be further configured to receive a second measurement report sent by the UE, where the second measurement report includes a cell ID of a first network where the first network device is located. The sending unit 340 is further configured to send a measurement request to the first network device. The receiving unit 320 is further configured to receive a measurement response sent by the first network device, where the measurement response includes the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

Optionally, as another example, the sending unit 340 may be further configured to send a measurement control message to the UE to instruct the UE to perform inter-system measurement. The receiving unit 320 may be further configured to receive a second measurement report sent by the UE, where the second measurement report includes a cell ID of a first network in which the first network device is located. The sending unit 340 is further configured to send a measurement request to the first network device. The receiving unit 320 is further configured to receive a measurement response sent by the first network device, where the measurement response includes the DCID and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

The measurement request may include a handover threshold, or the measurement request may include a handover threshold and a preset duration.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the processing unit 360 may be configured to determine a third TA value between the UE and the first network device according to a first TA value between the second network device and the UE and a second TA value between the second network device and the first network device. The sending unit 340 is further configured to send the determined third TA value to the UE. It is understood that the third TA value here is a TA value between the UE and the first network device.

Optionally, as another embodiment, the receiving unit 320 may be configured to receive the TA value sent by the first network device. The transmitting unit 340 may be configured to transmit the TA value to the UE.

Optionally, as another embodiment, the receiving unit 320 may be configured to receive a TA test instruction sent by the first network device. The sending unit 340 may be configured to send a TA test instruction to the UE to instruct the UE to send a TA test message to the first network device. Further, the receiving unit 320 may be configured to receive the TA value sent by the first network device. The transmitting unit 340 may be configured to transmit the TA value to the UE. Wherein the TA value may be determined by the first network device based on the TA test message.

The TA value sent by the sending unit 340 may be included in the second RRC configuration message. That is, the sending unit 340 may send a second RRC configuration message to the UE, where the second RRC configuration message includes the TA value and the time-frequency resource configuration of the uplink reference signal.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the receiving unit 320 may be further configured to receive handover indication information sent by the first network device, where the handover indication information includes an identifier of a second node in the first network where the first network device is located. The sending unit 340 may be further configured to send a handover command to the UE according to the handover indication information, where the handover command includes an identifier of the second node, and the handover command is used to indicate that the UE performs data transmission with the second node.

Wherein, the handover indication message may further include: the first network device allocates transmission resource information for the UE, and/or allocates a new ID to the UE.

It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving unit 320 may be implemented by a receiver, the sending unit 340 may be implemented by a transmitter, and the processing unit 360 may be implemented by a processor, as shown in fig. 19, and the network device 300 may include a processor 310, a transmitter 330, a receiver 350, and a memory 370. Memory 370 may be used, among other things, to store code executed by processor 310.

The various components in the network device 300 are coupled together by a bus system 390, where the bus system 390 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus.

The network device 300 shown in fig. 18 or the network device 300 shown in fig. 19 can implement each process executed by the eNB or the second network device in the foregoing method embodiments of fig. 1 to fig. 13, and for avoiding repetition, details are not repeated here.

Fig. 20 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system chip of the embodiment of the present invention. The system chip 400 of fig. 20 includes an input interface 410, an output interface 420, at least one processor 430, and a memory 440, the input interface 410, the output interface 420, the processor 430, and the memory 440 are connected via a bus, the processor 430 is configured to execute codes in the memory 440, and when the codes are executed, the processor 430 implements the method executed by the NR controller or the first network device in fig. 1 to 10.

Fig. 21 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system chip of the embodiment of the present invention. The system chip 500 of fig. 21 comprises an input interface 510, an output interface 520, at least one processor 530, and a memory 540, wherein the input interface 510, the output interface 520, the processor 530, and the memory 540 are connected via a bus, the processor 530 is configured to execute codes in the memory 540, and when the codes are executed, the processor 530 implements the method performed by the UE in fig. 1-10.

Fig. 22 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system chip of the embodiment of the present invention. The system chip 600 of fig. 22 includes an input interface 610, an output interface 620, at least one processor 630, and a memory 640, where the input interface 610, the output interface 620, the processor 630, and the memory 640 are connected by a bus, the processor 630 is configured to execute codes in the memory 640, and when the codes are executed, the processor 630 implements the method performed by the eNB or the second network device in fig. 1 to 10.

The term "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B, may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for cell handover, comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before the first network device sends a handover indication message to the second network device:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first network device allocates the second node to the UE according to the first measurement report of the first node, comprising:

if the measurement result carried by the first measurement report of the first node meets the switching threshold, the first network equipment allocates the second node for the UE,

wherein the handover threshold is received by the first network device from the second network device.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

before the first network device sends the DCID to the second network device of the current serving cell of the UE, the method further includes:

5. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the handover indication message further comprises:

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein before the first network device sends the handover indication message to the second network device, further comprising:

the first network equipment receives the TA test message sent by the UE;

and the first network equipment sends the TA value to the UE.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first network device sending the TA value to the UE comprises:

8. A method for cell handover, comprising:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein before the UE receives the first RRC configuration message sent by the second network device of the current serving cell, the method further comprises:

the UE sends the second measurement report to the second network device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the UE performs inter-system detection, comprising:

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the UE performs inter-system detection, comprising:

12. The method according to any of claims 8 to 10, wherein before the UE transmits uplink reference signals according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message, the method further comprises:

the UE sends a TA test message to the first network equipment;

and the UE receives the TA value sent by the first network equipment.

13. The method of claim 12,

the TA value is included in the second RRC configuration message.

14. The method according to any of claims 8 to 10, wherein before the UE transmits uplink reference signals according to the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message, the method further comprises:

and the UE receives the TA value sent by the second network equipment.

15. The method according to any of claims 8 to 10, wherein the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message are the same message.

16. A method for cell handover, comprising:

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

the second network equipment sends the determined third TA value to the UE.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

and the second network equipment sends the TA value to the UE.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the TA value is included in the second RRC configuration message.

20. The method according to any of claims 16 to 19, wherein the first RRC configuration message and the second RRC configuration message are the same message.

21. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein before the second network device receives the TA value sent by the first network device, further comprising:

22. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19,

the receiving, by the second network device, the time-frequency resource configuration of the DCID and the uplink reference signal sent by the first network device includes:

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the measurement request comprises a handover threshold, or wherein the measurement request comprises a handover threshold and a preset duration.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein before the second network device receives the second measurement report sent by the UE, the method further comprises:

25. The method of any one of claims 16 to 19, further comprising:

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the handover indication message further comprises:

27. A network device, comprising: a memory and a processor, wherein the processor is capable of,

the memory is used for storing instructions executed by the processor;

the processor is configured to execute the instructions to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.

28. A user device, comprising: a memory and a processor, wherein the processor is capable of,

the memory is used for storing instructions executed by the processor;

the processor is configured to execute the instructions to implement the method of any one of claims 8 to 15.

29. A network device, comprising: a memory and a processor, wherein the processor is capable of,

the memory is used for storing instructions executed by the processor;

the processor is configured to execute the instructions to implement the method of any one of claims 16 to 26.