CN108924859A

CN108924859A - base station and data transmission method

Info

Publication number: CN108924859A
Application number: CN201710794902.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王弘; 许丽香; 柯小婉
Original assignee: Beijing Samsung Telecommunications Technology Research Co Ltd; Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Samsung Telecommunications Technology Research Co Ltd; Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-03-24
Filing date: 2017-09-05
Publication date: 2018-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 2037-09-05
Also published as: CN108924859B

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides base station and data transmission methods.The data transmission method includes：The base station of first network sends measuring configuration message to user equipment (UE)；The measurement that UE is sent is received to report；Adjacent cell information request message is sent to UE；And the adjacent cell info response message that UE is sent is received, the base station that the adjacent cell info response message carries the second network is the instruction information of certain base station.

Description

Base station and data transmission method

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to a wireless communication technology, in particular to a base station and a data transmission method.

Background

5G refers to a fifth generation mobile communication technology. Unlike the previous four generations, 5G is not a single wireless technology, but is a fusion of existing wireless communication technologies. At present, the peak rate of LTE (Long Term evolution) can reach 100Mbps, and the peak rate of 5G can reach 10Gbps, which is 100 times higher than that of 4G. The existing 4G network has limited processing spontaneous capability and cannot support partial services such as high-definition video, high-quality voice, augmented reality, virtual reality and the like. The 5G will introduce more advanced technology, and meet the demand of mobile service flow increase through higher spectrum efficiency, more spectrum resources and denser cells, etc. together, solve the problems faced by the 4G network, and construct a network society with high transmission rate, high capacity, low time delay, high reliability and excellent user experience. As shown in fig. 1, a 5G architecture may include a 5G access network 120 and a 5G core network 130, and a ue (user equipment)110 communicates with a data network 140 through the access network 120 and the core network 130. In the network evolution process from 4G to 5G, the first stage will continue to use the base station of LTE while being able to support 5G terminals and use the features of 5G. Therefore, some 5G base stations are deployed, and these base stations can be used as auxiliary base stations to provide data transmission for the UE together with the LTE base station.

Therefore, a technical solution is needed to support network evolution from 4G to 5G.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a data transmission method, including:

a base station of a first network sends a measurement configuration message to User Equipment (UE);

receiving a measurement report sent by UE;

sending a neighbor cell information request message to the UE; and

and receiving a neighboring cell information response message sent by the UE, wherein the neighboring cell information response message carries indication information that the base station of the second network is the specific base station.

For example, the base station of the first network obtains the IP address of the base station of the second network by pre-configuring or querying a server according to the indication information.

For example, the method further comprises: and the base station of the first network stores the information of the specific base station indicated in the indication information into a neighboring area relation list according to the indication information, and marks the indicated specific base station as not allowing switching so as not to initiate a switching process to the indicated base station of the second network.

For example, the indication information includes at least one of the following information to indicate the specific base station: cell identification, operator identification, frequency and routing area code.

For example, the specific base station is a base station of the second network having no signaling connection with the core network mobility management entity MME.

For example, the method further comprises: a base station of a first network sends an Xx interface establishment request message; and the base station of the first network receives an Xx interface establishment response message from the base station of the second network.

For example, the Xx interface setup response message contains information of an MME pool. The method further comprises the following steps: when receiving the Xx interface establishment response message, the base station of the first network determines whether the base station of the second network can be used as an auxiliary base station according to the information of the MME pool from the base station of the second network.

For example, the method further comprises: pre-configuring an identification list of base stations of a first network which can be used as a main base station on a base station of a second network; when receiving the Xx interface establishment request, aiming at the Xx interface establishment request initiated by the base station of the first network in the list, the base station of the second network sends a successful Xx interface establishment response message.

For example, the method further comprises: the method comprises the steps of pre-configuring an identification list of base stations of a second network which can be used as auxiliary base stations on the base station of the first network, and configuring the base stations of the second network in the list as the auxiliary base stations of the UE.

For example, the base station of the first network is a long term evolution, LTE, base station, the base station of the second network is a fifth generation mobile communication 5G base station, and the specific base station is a specific 5G base station.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a data transmission method, including:

the main base station sends an auxiliary base station increase request message to the auxiliary base station;

the main base station receives an auxiliary base station increase response message from the auxiliary base station, wherein the auxiliary base station increase response message carries information configured by the auxiliary base station for User Equipment (UE);

the main base station determines the information configured for the UE by the main base station according to the information configured for the UE by the auxiliary base station;

the main base station sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration request message to the UE, wherein the RRC reconfiguration request message comprises information configured for the UE by the main base station; and

the main base station receives an RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE.

For example, the method further comprises: when the UE accesses the auxiliary base station, the main base station sends a path switching request message to a Mobile Management Entity (MME); and the main base station receives a path switching response message from the MME.

For example, the path switch response message includes an uplink IP address and a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID allocated by the core network gateway SGW.

For example, the information configured for the UE by the assisting base station is carried by an information element of an RRC container or an Xx interface message.

For example, the information for determining that the master base station is configured for the UE includes: and the main base station analyzes the information configured for the UE by the auxiliary base station, and the configuration of the auxiliary base station and the main base station to the UE does not exceed the capability of the UE.

For example, the assisting base station adds the request message to carry the uplink data receiving address allocated by the core network.

For example, the assisting base station increases the aggregate rate at which the request message may carry quality requirement information and/or non-guaranteed rate traffic for the UE. In this case, the quality requirement information may include any one of: the quality requirement parameters of the load and the quality requirement parameters to be shared by the auxiliary base station; the quality requirement parameters of the load and the quality requirement parameters which can be shared by the main base station; and quality requirement parameters of the bearer. In this case, the aggregate rate of the non-guaranteed rate traffic of the UE may include an aggregate rate of the non-guaranteed traffic to be established on the secondary base station and/or an aggregate rate of the non-guaranteed traffic that can be shared by the primary base station. For example, the assisting base station may increase the aggregate rate at which the response message may carry the quality requirement parameter and/or the non-guaranteed rate traffic for the UE. In this case, the quality requirement parameters may include: the quality requirement corresponding to the data to be shared by the main base station or the quality requirement corresponding to the data to be shared determined by the auxiliary base station. The aggregate rate of the non-guaranteed rate traffic of the UE may include: the aggregation rate corresponding to the non-guaranteed service data to be shared by the main base station or the aggregation rate corresponding to the non-guaranteed service data to be shared by the auxiliary base station.

For example, the assisting base station adding request message carries at least one of: the quality requirement parameter of the quality flow of the auxiliary base station, the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed rate service in the packet data unit session corresponding to the quality flow, and the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed rate service signed by the UE. For example, the assisting base station adds one or more of a quality requirement parameter of a quality flow carried by a response message, an aggregation rate of a non-guaranteed rate service in a packet data unit session corresponding to the quality flow, and an aggregation rate of a non-guaranteed rate service subscribed by the UE, where the quality requirement parameter includes a quality requirement corresponding to data to be shared by the main base station or a quality requirement corresponding to data to be shared determined by the assisting base station, the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed rate service in the packet data unit session corresponding to the quality flow includes an aggregation rate corresponding to non-guaranteed service data in the packet data unit session that the main base station needs to share or an aggregation rate corresponding to non-guaranteed service data in the packet data unit session that the assisting base station needs to share, and the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed rate service subscribed by the UE includes an aggregation rate corresponding to the non-guaranteed service data subscribed by the UE that the main base station needs to share or an aggregation rate corresponding to the non-guaranteed service data by And the aggregation rate corresponding to the signed non-guaranteed service data.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a method for configuring an assisted split bearer is provided. The method comprises the following steps: a first base station sends an auxiliary base station adding request message to a second base station, wherein the auxiliary base station adding request message carries an identifier of the auxiliary segmentation bearer and a first bearer quality requirement corresponding to the auxiliary segmentation bearer; and the first base station receives an auxiliary base station increase response message sent by the second base station, wherein the auxiliary base station increase response message carries the identifier of the auxiliary segmentation bearer and a second bearer quality requirement corresponding to the auxiliary segmentation bearer.

For example, the first bearer quality requirement may comprise a total quality requirement parameter of the secondary split bearer, the total quality requirement parameter being a quality requirement parameter received by the first base station from a core network.

For example, the first bearer quality requirement may comprise a quality requirement parameter that the first base station is capable of partaking.

For example, the second bearer quality requirement may be a quality requirement parameter corresponding to data that the second base station determines the first base station needs to share.

For example, the quality requirement parameters may include a quality class indicator QCI, a priority ARP, an uplink/downlink maximum rate of GBR traffic, and an uplink/downlink guaranteed rate of GBR traffic.

For example, the first base station may be a primary base station and the second base station may be a secondary base station.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a method for configuring an assisted split bearer is provided. The method comprises the following steps: the main base station sends an auxiliary base station increase request message to an auxiliary base station, wherein the auxiliary base station increase request message carries the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed service; and the main base station receives the auxiliary base station increase response message sent by the auxiliary base station.

For example, the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed traffic may be an auxiliary base station AMBR to be established on the auxiliary base station and a main base station AMBR that can be shared by the main base station, where the main base station AMBR includes at least an uplink AMBR.

For example, the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed service may be a total AMBR and a secondary base station AMBR of the UE, or may be the total AMBR and a primary base station AMBR of the UE, or may be the primary base station AMBR and the secondary base station AMBR; wherein the master base station AMBR at least comprises an uplink AMBR.

For example, the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed traffic may be that the secondary base station AMBR and the SCG partition the uplink AMBR carried on the primary base station leg.

For example, the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed service may be an uplink threshold maximum value of the secondary base station AMBR and SCG split bearer on the primary base station.

For example, the method may further comprise: the main base station and the auxiliary base station negotiate different main base station uplink AMBR; and the master base station receiving the different master base station uplink AMBR from the secondary base station through the secondary base station addition response message.

For example, the assisting base station addition request message may instruct the assisting base station to configure uplink data division according to the configuration of the main base station, and when the assisting base station configures the priority cell group as the MCG, the uplink division threshold does not exceed the uplink AMBR of the main base station, or does not exceed the uplink AMBR of the SCG division bearer on the main base station branch, or does not exceed the maximum uplink threshold of the SCG division bearer on the main base station.

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

at least one processor; and the number of the first and second groups,

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein,

the memory stores instructions executable by the one processor to be executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform a method according to an embodiment of the invention.

at least one processor; and the number of the first and second groups,

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein,

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, in the process of evolution towards 5G, the UE can be prevented from being accessed or switched to the 5G base station, a horizontal interface between the LTE base station and the 5G base station is established, the 5G base station can be ensured to be used as an auxiliary base station of the UE, and the split bearing on the auxiliary base station is established. By the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, the 5G terminal can use the 5G characteristics, the data volume of the user is improved, the utilization rate of the network frequency is improved, and the current core network is reused as much as possible.

Drawings

FIG. 1 shows an architecture diagram of a 5G system;

FIG. 2 illustrates an architectural deployment structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a data transmission method performed by a UE according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a data transmission method performed by an LTE base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 shows a flowchart of a data transmission method performed by an LTE base station according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 shows a flowchart of a data transmission method performed by a master base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic block diagram of a base station according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic block diagram of another base station according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating another data transmission method performed by a master base station according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another data transmission method performed by a master base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the present application is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following description is intended for illustration only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that: these specific details need not be employed to practice the present disclosure. In other instances, well-known circuits, materials, or methods have not been described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure.

Throughout the specification, reference to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," "one example," or "an example" means: the particular features, structures, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in an embodiment," "one example" or "an example" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable combination and/or sub-combination in one or more embodiments or examples. Further, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the drawings provided herein are for illustrative purposes and are not necessarily drawn to scale. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

FIG. 2 illustrates an architectural deployment structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, there is no signaling connection between the 5G base station gnb (gnnodeb) 205 and the core network control node mme (mobility Management entity)201, and there is only a user plane connection with the core network gateway sgw (service gateway) 203. Under the architecture, the LTE base station 207 and the LTE core network can be reused, and the method is attractive to operators. Specifically, the 5G base station 205 is configured by the LTE base station 207, and the dual connectivity technology defined in the LTE system is adopted to transmit data to the UE. Wherein the LTE base station 207 serves as a primary base station and the 5G base station 205 serves as a secondary base station. The bearers established on the Secondary base station may include a Secondary bearer (SCG bearer), a split bearer (split bearer), and a Secondary split bearer (SCG split bearer). The secondary split bearer is a new bearer type, and the bearer is a bearer in which a secondary base station receives data from a core network and then splits the data, wherein a part of the data is transmitted to a UE by the secondary base station, a part of the data is transmitted to a primary base station, and the data is transmitted to the UE by the primary base station. To support such an architecture and such a way of data transmission, at least one of the following problems needs to be solved or alleviated:

1) how to avoid the UE accessing or handing over to the 5G base station.

2) How to establish a horizontal interface between an LTE base station and a 5G base station.

3) How to guarantee that the 5G base station can act as a secondary base station for the UE.

4) How to establish split bearers on secondary base stations.

In the first stage, the 5G base station and the LTE core network MME do not have connection of a signaling plane, and the 5G base station only has connection of a data plane with a data gateway in the LTE core network. In the first phase, a 5G core network is not deployed yet, so the 5G base station can only serve as an auxiliary base station to provide data for the UE, but cannot separately serve the UE. Therefore, the 5G base station needs to prohibit the UE from accessing the 5G base station, and the surrounding LTE base stations cannot handover the UE to the 5G base station.

Fig. 3 illustrates a method 300 performed by a UE in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 3, in step S301, the UE receives an indication message broadcast by the 5G base station and knows information of a cell which cannot be accessed. The UE may know that the 5G base station is a specific 5G base station according to the indication information.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the specific 5G base station means that the 5G base station can only be used as an auxiliary base station to provide data for the UE, and the 5G base station has no signaling connection with the MME of the core network and only has a user plane connection with the data gateway of the core network. The 5G base station notifies the UE that the base station cannot establish a radio connection with the UE. For example, the 5G base station may send an indication in the broadcast message indicating that the base station is a specific 5G base station, cannot normally serve the user and cannot establish a radio connection with the UE. In addition, the 5G base station may be assigned a specific frequency or a specific cell identity. When the UE receives a specific frequency or a specific cell identifier, it can be known that the base station is a specific 5G base station, cannot normally serve a user, and cannot establish a radio connection with the UE. In addition, a specific operator identifier or a specific routing area identifier may be allocated to the cell of the 5G base station, and the specific operator identifier or the specific routing area identifier may be transmitted to the UE through broadcast information. Differentiation can also be made by: the independent 5G base station broadcast information contains one indication information, and the specific 5G base station broadcast information does not contain the indication information. The independent 5G base station refers to a 5G base station having a connection with a 5G core network but not with an LTE core network.

Next, in step S302, the UE determines a cell that cannot be accessed. For example, the UE may perform cell search after being powered on. If a physical layer signal sent by a cell on a 5G base station is received, the broadcast information of the cell is read, and the base station where the cell is located is found to be a specific 5G base station which cannot normally serve the UE, the UE may store the cell in a cell list which cannot be accessed.

With the method shown in fig. 3, access of the UE to a specific 5G base station can be avoided.

Fig. 4 illustrates a data transmission method 400 according to an embodiment of the invention. The data transmission method 400 is performed by a base station of a first network. In the following, the base station of the first network is an LTE base station eNB, and the base station of the second network is a 5G base station gNB. As shown in fig. 4, in step S401, a base station of a first network, e.g. an LTE base station eNB, transmits a measurement configuration message to a UE. The measurement configuration message may carry mode information and a frequency list to be measured, and may also carry configuration information for reporting cell measurement by the UE. In response to the measurement configuration message, the UE may measure other access modes of neighboring cells, cells on other frequencies. In order for the UE to perform measurement, the LTE base station eNB needs to schedule some idle time instants to the UE, and in these time instants, the UE does not receive data in the serving cell, but performs cell signal measurement on a corresponding frequency by using a corresponding access technology.

Next, in step S402, the LTE base station receives a measurement report transmitted by the UE.

And the UE measures the received physical layer signal of the cell according to the received information such as the access mode, the frequency and the like of the adjacent cell. And if the cell with strong signal is detected and the report condition of cell measurement is met, the UE sends the physical layer identification of the detected cell to the LTE base station. The format of the physical layer identifier may be different according to the detected Cell access mode, and if the Cell is an LTE Cell, the physical layer identifier may be a pci (physical Cell identifier). According to the embodiment of the present invention, the neighboring cell may be a cell of a 5G base station, and the physical layer identifier of the 5G cell may be a PCI or other name.

In step S403, the LTE base station transmits a neighbor cell information request message to the UE.

If the LTE base station eNB needs to obtain more information of the adjacent cell, the LTE base station eNB sends an adjacent cell information request message to the UE to instruct the UE to read the broadcast information of the cell corresponding to the newly found physical layer identification. The UE may read at least one of a cell-wide unique identity ECGI, a location routing area identity and an operator identity PLMN ID(s) broadcasted on a broadcast channel.

At step S404, the LTE base station receives a neighbor cell information response message from the UE.

In the above step S302, the UE listens to the broadcast information of the neighboring cells at the configured time. In the example, the neighboring cell is a 5G cell, and the 5G base station where the 5G cell is located is a specific 5G base station. As described above, the specific 5G base station has no signaling connection with the MME of the core network, and has only a user plane connection with the data gateway of the core network. As described above, the 5G base station in which the 5G cell is located notifies the UE that the 5G base station cannot establish a radio connection with the UE. For example, the 5G base station may send an indication message in the broadcast message to indicate that the base station is a specific 5G base station, cannot normally serve the user, and cannot establish a radio connection with the UE. Alternatively, the 5G base station may be assigned at least one of a specific frequency, a specific cell identity, a specific operator identity, and a specific routing area identity. When the UE receives the indication information, the UE knows that the 5G base station is a specific 5G base station, cannot normally serve the user and cannot establish wireless connection with the UE.

The UE reads the broadcast information in response to the neighbor cell information request message from the LTE base station, includes at least one of the read, e.g., cell global unique identity ECGI, location routing area identity, operator identity PLMN ID(s), in the neighbor cell information response message, and transmits the neighbor cell information response message to the LTE base station eNB. In this embodiment, the UE further reads the indication information broadcast by the 5G base station, indicating that the base station is a specific 5G base station, cannot normally serve the user, and cannot accept the handover. Accordingly, when the UE sends the neighboring cell information response message to the LTE base station, the neighboring cell information response message may also carry indication information to indicate that the base station where the cell is located is a specific 5G base station, which cannot serve a normal user and cannot accept handover.

In step S405, the LTE base station eNB updates the neighbor cell relation list according to the received neighbor cell information response message. In the neighbor relation list, the unique identifier of the cell is saved, and the attribute is set to "not allow handover" to indicate that the LTE base station eNB does not initiate a handover procedure in which the destination base station is the 5G base station, for example, including S1 handover and X2 handover.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the LTE base station eNB is prohibited from switching the UE to the 5G base station through an Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) function. The ANR function on the LTE base station eNB manages the relation with the neighbor cells through the neighbor relation list. The newly found cell may be added to the neighbor relation list, or the cell may be deleted from the neighbor relation list. The neighbor relation list maintains the relation between the serving cell and the neighbor cells. The information stored in the neighboring cell relation list may include a global unique identifier ECGI and a physical layer identifier PCI of the neighboring cell, and may also have three attributes: "cannot delete", if the attribute is set, it indicates that the LTE base station cannot delete the neighbor relation from the list; "not allow handover", if the attribute is set, it means that the LTE base station cannot initiate a handover procedure to the destination cell; and "no X2 interface", if the attribute is set, it indicates that the LTE base station cannot use the procedure on the X2 interface to the cell. And the LTE base station eNB realizes the function of ANR. The LTE base station eNB may configure the UE in a radio resource control rrc (radio resource control) connection state to perform measurement, and measure signals of cells in other surrounding access modes and different frequencies. The LTE base station eNB may configure the UE for measurement and reporting of measurement results with different policies.

ANR procedures may also be used for horizontal interface establishment between base stations. According to the embodiment of the invention, the interface between the LTE base station and the 5G base station is called as an Xx interface. The LTE base station has a connection with the MME and the data gateway of the core network, but not with all the MMEs and the data gateways of the core network. The 5G base station is connected with the LTE data gateway only, and is not connected with all LTE data gateways. If Dual Connectivity is to be established, it is required that the 5G base station and the LTE base station can be connected to the same core network data gateway. However, there is no connection between the 5G base station and the MME, and according to the current base station, the LTE base station cannot confirm whether the 5G base station is connected to the same core network data gateway. For example, in the method shown in fig. 4, the LTE base station does not make a determination, and when receiving the measurement report of the UE, the LTE base station may initiate the establishment of the Xx interface with the 5G base station. In this case, it is possible that the LTE base station decides to establish the dual connectivity and transmits a dual connectivity establishment request message, in which the IP address of the data gateway is included, to the 5G base station. Based on the IP address, the 5G base station finds that there is no data connection with the data gateway, so the 5G base station sends a reject message. When the reject message is received, the LTE base station knows that the 5G base station and the LTE base station cannot be connected to the same data gateway.

Fig. 5 shows a flow diagram of a data transmission method 500 according to another embodiment of the invention. Similar to the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the data transmission method 500 is performed by a base station of a first network. In the following, the base station of the first network is an LTE base station eNB, and the base station of the second network is a 5G base station gNB. According to the present embodiment, the LTE base station may determine whether the 5G base station can be configured as the assisting base station before establishing the Xx interface. If the Xx interface can be established; otherwise, the Xx interface is not established. When the dual connection is established later, the LTE base station selects only the 5G base station with which the Xx interface has been established with the LTE base station as the secondary base station, so that the above-mentioned rejection process does not occur.

In step S501, the LTE base station eNB transmits a measurement configuration message to the UE.

The measurement configuration message may carry mode information and a frequency list to be measured, and may also carry configuration information for reporting cell measurement by the UE. In response to the measurement configuration message, the UE may measure other access modes of neighboring cells, cells on other frequencies. In order for the UE to perform measurement, the LTE base station eNB needs to schedule some idle time instants to the UE, and in these time instants, the UE does not receive data in the serving cell, but performs cell signal measurement on a corresponding frequency by using a corresponding access technology.

Next, in step S502, the LTE base station receives a measurement report transmitted by the UE.

And the UE measures the received physical layer signal of the cell according to the received information of the access mode, the frequency and the like of the adjacent cell, and if the cell with strong signal is detected and the report condition of cell measurement is met, the UE sends the physical layer identifier of the detected cell to the LTE base station. The format of the physical layer identity may be different according to the detected cell access mode, and in case of a cell of LTE, the physical layer identity may be a PCI. According to this embodiment, the neighboring cell may be a 5G cell, and the physical layer identity of the 5G cell is PCI or other name.

In step S503, the LTE base station transmits a neighbor cell information request message to the UE.

If the LTE base station eNB needs to obtain more information of the adjacent cell, the LTE base station eNB sends an adjacent cell information request message to the UE to instruct the UE to read the broadcast information of the cell corresponding to the newly found physical layer identification. The UE may read at least one of a cell-wide unique identity ECGI, a location routing area identity, an operator identity PLMN ID(s) broadcasted on a broadcast channel.

In step S504, the LTE base station receives a neighbor cell information response message from the UE.

In the above step S302, the UE listens to the broadcast information of the neighboring cells at the configured time. In this example, the neighboring cell is a 5G cell, and the 5G base station where the 5G cell is located is a specific 5G base station. As described above, the 5G base station has no signaling connection with the MME of the core network, and has only a user plane connection with the data gateway of the core network. As described above, the 5G base station in which the 5G cell is located notifies the UE that the 5G base station cannot establish a radio connection with the UE. For example, the 5G base station may send an indication message in the broadcast message to indicate that the base station is a specific 5G base station, cannot normally serve the user, and cannot establish a radio connection with the UE. Alternatively, the 5G base station may be assigned at least one of a specific frequency, a specific cell identity, a specific operator identity, and a specific routing area identity. When the UE receives the indication information, the UE knows that the 5G base station is a specific 5G base station, cannot normally serve the user and cannot establish wireless connection with the UE.

The UE reads the broadcast information in response to a neighbor cell information request message from the LTE base station, includes at least one of the read cell global unique identifier (ECGI), the location routing area identifier (LCID), and the operator identifier (PLMN ID)(s) in a neighbor cell information response message, and transmits the neighbor cell information response message to the LTE base station eNB. In this embodiment, the UE further reads the indication information broadcast by the 5G base station, indicating that the base station is a specific 5G base station, cannot normally serve the user, and cannot accept the handover. Accordingly, when the UE sends the neighboring cell information response message to the LTE base station, the neighboring cell information response message may also carry indication information to indicate that the base station where the cell is located is a specific 5G base station, which cannot serve a normal user and cannot accept handover.

In step 505, the LTE base station sends an Xx interface establishment request to the 5G base station.

And the LTE base station receives the adjacent cell information response message sent by the UE to obtain at least one of the cell unique identifier, the operator identifier and the routing area identifier of the surrounding 5G cell. If the LTE base station receives the indication information which indicates that the adjacent 5G base station is a specific 5G base station in the report of the UE, the LTE base station further determines whether to establish an Xx interface with the 5G base station. The determined criterion may be based on an operator's configuration. The operator configures a group of cell unique identification lists which can establish the Xx interface, and the LTE base station determines whether to establish the Xx interface with the base station where the 5G cell is located by comparison. Or the LTE base station sets the routing area identifier of the base station where the 5G cell is located to be the same as the routing area identifier of the LTE cell, and the LTE base station determines whether to establish an Xx interface with the base station where the 5G cell is located or not through the routing area identifier. The LTE base station may not initiate the process of S1 to obtain the IP address of the 5G base station, but obtain the IP address of the 5G base station by querying oam (operation Administration and maintenance) configuration information, or obtain the IP address of the 5G base station by querying dns (domain Name system). If the LTE base station determines that an Xx interface with the 5G base station is to be established, the LTE base station sends an Xx establishment request message to the 5G base station. The Xx setup request message may carry information of the LTE cell.

In step S506, the LTE base station receives an Xx interface setup response message from the 5G base station. The Xx interface setup response message may carry information of the 5G cell, including but not limited to cell unique identifier, frequency, and routing area.

Specifically, one of the following methods may be used:

(1) information of an MME pool, namely an operator identifier and an MME group identifier, is pre-configured on a 5G base station; and when the 5G base station receives the Xx interface establishment request message, the 5G base station sends an Xx interface establishment response message, wherein the Xx interface establishment response message comprises the information of the MME pool. And after receiving the Xx interface establishment response message, the LTE base station determines whether the 5G base station can be used as an auxiliary base station according to the information of the MME pool reported by the 5G base station. The basis of the judgment can be as follows: if the MME pool reported by the 5G base station is the same as the MME pool connected by the LTE base station, the 5G base station can be configured as a secondary base station of the UE.

(2) And configuring an identification list of the LTE base station which can be used as a main base station on the 5G base station in advance. When the Xx interface establishment request is received, the 5G base station sends a successful Xx interface establishment response message only if the Xx interface establishment request is initiated by the base station in the list. Otherwise, sending failure message.

(3) An identification list which can be used as a secondary base station is configured on an LTE base station in advance, and only 5G base stations in the list can be configured as the secondary base station of the UE.

After the Xx interface is established, the LTE base station may determine to configure a neighboring 5G base station as an auxiliary base station to transmit service data for the UE. Traffic data may be sent to the UE through the LTE base station and the 5G base station, that is, data may be sent to the UE through two data connections, and this transmission mode is called dual connection. Conventional dual connectivity may include several approaches, which are not described in detail herein. SCG split bearers were introduced in 5G. Under the load, the 5G base station receives data from the core network gateway, then the 5G base station divides the data into two paths, one path is sent to the LTE base station through the Xx interface, the LTE base station sends the data to the UE, and the other path is sent to the UE through the 5G base station.

Fig. 6 shows a flow diagram of a data transmission method 600 according to an embodiment of the invention.

In step S601, a master base station (e.g., an LTE base station) transmits a secondary base station addition request message to a secondary base station (e.g., a 5G base station).

The primary base station determines to establish a data connection with the new secondary base station. The bearer may be previously established on the source assisting base station, or on the main base station, or a new bearer configured by the MME. The assisting base station adding request message may contain an identification of the bearer, a receiving IP address of the bearer at the core network gateway, and a tunnel number TEID. The assisting base station addition request message may also carry capability information of the UE. The capabilities of the UE may include two types: (1) the capability of the UE in the 5G access network, wherein the capability information is the capability of the UE in the 5G access network, and the capability is not suitable for the LTE access network; and (2) UE capabilities common to LTE and 5G, which are applicable under both LTE and 5G. The auxiliary base station addition request message also carries the type of dual connectivity determined by the LTE base station. In the present exemplary embodiment, the type of dual connection is SCG split. In order to share part of data transmission later, the main base station allocates the address of downlink data reception including an IP address and a tunnel number in advance, and receives data from the 5G base station at the address. If data is not sent to the UE on the primary base station, the data needs to be forwarded to the secondary base station, and the primary base station may send indication information of data forwarding to the secondary base station.

And the auxiliary base station determines the configuration information loaded on the UE according to the Qos requirement and the UE capability. Conventionally, a primary base station first determines configuration information of a UE under a primary bearer, i.e., uses a part of UE capabilities, and then sends the configuration information of the primary bearer to a secondary base station; the secondary base station decides the configuration information of the secondary bearer according to the total UE capability and the UE capability already used. According to the embodiment of the invention, according to the type of the capability of the UE, the auxiliary base station firstly configures the bearer configuration between the auxiliary base station and the UE, and then the main base station determines the bearer configuration between the main base station and the UE according to the configuration information of the auxiliary base station. Specifically, for the above UE capability of class (1), i.e. the capability of the UE in the 5G access network, the 5G base station can independently determine the configuration of the UE, and these configuration information can be contained in the RRC transparent container. By sending the secondary base station addition response message to the primary base station, the primary base station does not have to parse the RRC transparent container, but forwards it to the UE. For UE capabilities of class (2), i.e., capabilities of the UE common to LTE and 5G, the 5G base station determines that the configuration for the UE uses a part of the UE capabilities, and the part of the configuration information for the UE may be contained in a separate RRC container and transmitted to the primary base station through the secondary base station addition response message. The main base station reads this part of the information from which the main base station determines the configuration of the UE radio bearers on the main base station, the configuration information of the assisting base station to the UE in the message of Xx, the capability of the UE that the assisting base station has used or the remaining UE capability that the main base station can use.

In step S602, the main base station receives the secondary base station addition response message from the secondary base station. The assisting base station adds the response message, which may carry the assisting bearer configuration information for the UE and the tunnel number of the downlink data receiving IP address of the S1 interface allocated by the assisting base station. In the present exemplary embodiment, the type of dual connection is SCG split. If data are not sent to the UE at the main base station, the auxiliary base station allocates a receiving address for forwarding downlink data, including an IP address and a tunnel number, so as to receive the data from the LTE base station at the address and send the data to the UE through an SCG split bearer.

And the auxiliary base station configures the auxiliary bearer of the UE, carries the auxiliary bearer in an RRC container and sends the auxiliary bearer to the main base station. The RRC container may include: a transparent RRC container that the main base station is required to resolve, without modification by the main base station; requiring the primary base station to resolve and set up the configuration of the primary bearer according to the RRC container; and the main base station does not need to analyze the clear RRC container which is not modified by the main base station, wherein the Xx message carries the configuration information of the auxiliary base station to the UE, or the capability of the UE which is already used by the auxiliary base station or the residual UE capability which can be used by the main base station. From this information, the primary base station may configure the primary bearer.

For transparent RRC containers, the primary base station may not parse the RRC container, but forward the RRC container to the UE. For the RRC container to be parsed or the information contained in the Xx message, the main base station sets the bearer configuration of the UE on the main base station according to the UE capability that can be used.

In step S603, the primary base station transmits an RRC reconfiguration request message to the UE.

In step S604, the primary base station receives an RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE.

Additionally, a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include the following steps.

In step S605, when the UE accesses the secondary base station, the primary base station transmits a path switching request message to the MME.

And the UE performs a random access process with the new auxiliary base station and synchronizes with the new auxiliary base station. After the random access procedure is completed, the new secondary base station may notify the main base station of the success of the random result, if necessary. The master base station may send a path switch request message to the MME. The path switch request message may include a downlink received IP address and a teid (tunnel endpoint identifier) corresponding to the bearer. In this embodiment, in step 602, the secondary base station may transmit the downlink reception IP address and the TEID corresponding to the bearer to the primary base station. The message may be sent by the MME to the SGW.

In step S606, the master base station receives a path switch response message from the MME. The path switch response message may contain the uplink IP address and TEID assigned by the SGW.

In step S607, if the SGW allocates a new uplink IP address and TEID, the primary base station sends a configuration update message to the secondary base station to update the uplink IP address and TEID of the bearer. If the SGW uses the old IP address and TEID, i.e., the same received IP address and TEID as in step S601, this step S607 need not be performed.

In the first stage, the 5G base station and the LTE core network MME do not have connection of a signaling plane, and the 5G base station only has connection of a data plane with a data gateway in the LTE core network. In the first phase, a 5G core network is not deployed yet, so the 5G base station can only serve as an auxiliary base station to provide data for the UE, but cannot separately serve the UE. The 5G base station in the first stage and the LTE core network MME have no connection of a signaling plane, and only have connection of a data plane with a data gateway in the LTE core network, and the 5G core network is not deployed in the first stage, so the 5G base station can only serve as an auxiliary base station to provide data for the UE, and cannot serve the UE alone. Under the architecture, service data can be sent to the UE through the LTE base station and the 5G base station, that is, data is sent to the UE through two data connections, and this transmission mode is called dual connection. If dual connectivity is established for the UE, the main base station can only be the LTE base station, and the auxiliary base station is the 5G base station that can provide a new access technology (i.e., new RAT) over the air interface. There are several ways of double coupling, as described in the background above. At 5G, a new approach is introduced, called secondary split (i.e., SCG split) bearer. Under the load, the 5G base station receives data from the core network gateway, then the 5G base station divides the data into two paths, one path of the two paths of. Fig. 8 describes how to establish an auxiliary split (i.e. SCG split) bearer under this architecture.

Through the method in the embodiment, the auxiliary base station can obtain the correct bearer configuration parameters, and the UE is configured and scheduled according to the parameters. Meanwhile, the main base station can share the flow of the bearer established on the auxiliary base station according to the determination of the auxiliary base station, so that the total flow between the auxiliary base station and the main base station is ensured not to exceed the capability of the UE, and the quality requirement of the bearer cannot be met. The examples include the following steps:

in step 901, the master base station (LTE base station) transmits a secondary base station addition request message to the secondary base station (5G base station).

The primary base station determines to establish a certain bearer at the secondary base station. The bearer may be previously established on the source assisting base station, or on the main base station, or a new bearer configured by the MME. The assisting base station adds the request message to contain the carried identification, the receiving IP address carried at the core network gateway and the tunnel number TEID. The assisting base station adds the request message and also carries the capability information of the UE, and the capability of the UE may include two types: (1) the capability of the UE in the 5G access network, wherein the capability information is the capability of the UE in the 5G access network, and the capability is not suitable for the LTE access network; and (2) UE capabilities common to LTE and 5G, which are applicable under both LTE and 5G. The assisting base station addition request message also carries the connection type determined by the LTE base station, and the type of the dual connection established on the assisting base station may include a split bearer, an SCG bearer, or an assisting split bearer. In an embodiment of the invention, the dual connectivity type is assisted split bearer (SCG split). For the secondary split bearer, the primary base station may also share part of the data transmission, and the LTE base station may pre-allocate an address for downlink data reception, including an IP address and a tunnel number, to receive data from the 5G base station.

The supplementary base station addition request message also carries quality requirement (QoS) information to be established at the 5G base station and an aggregate rate (AMBR) of non-guaranteed rate (non-GBR) traffic of the UE. The quality requirement (QoS) information may include a quality class indication QCI, a priority ARP, an uplink/downlink maximum rate of GBR traffic, and an uplink/downlink guaranteed rate of GBR traffic. For guaranteed rate GBR traffic, the rate of data is set mainly by the maximum rate and guaranteed rate in the QoS information. For non-guaranteed rate (non-GBR) traffic, the rate of data is set mainly by the AMBR. Both quality of service (QoS) requirement information and UE AMBR are sent by the core network to the primary base station, which needs to set the QoS parameter to an appropriate value, which may be different from the value sent by the core network, when establishing a dual connection. For the secondary split bearer, the quality requirement QoS information carried in the message, i.e. the quality requirement QoS information carried by the message determined by the primary base station, may be one of the following setting methods:

1) the QoS information contains two QoS parameters: (1) the quality requirement parameter of the bearer may be a quality requirement parameter received from a core network in a bearer establishment procedure; (2) the quality requirement parameters that need to be shared by the secondary base station or the quality requirement parameters that can be shared by the primary base station. The main base station determines, for example, that the main base station can share part of the data according to its own state, where the part of the data has its corresponding quality requirement, that is, a set of parameters corresponding to the quality requirement. According to the total quality requirement and the quality requirement which can be shared by the main base station, the main base station can determine the quality requirement which needs to be carried by the auxiliary base station. In particular, it may be primarily reflected in the maximum and guaranteed rates of the GBR. As for one bearer, QCI is the same on the main base station and the secondary base station, ARP cannot be changed at will, but the main base station can determine the maximum rate and guaranteed rate of GBR bearers shared by itself, so that the maximum rate and guaranteed rate of GBR bearers that can be shared by the secondary base station can be determined. The sum of the maximum rates of the bearers shared by the main base station and the auxiliary base station does not exceed the total maximum rate, and the sum of the guaranteed rates of the bearers shared by the main base station and the auxiliary base station does not exceed the total guaranteed rate. For example, in the total quality requirement parameters, the uplink/downlink maximum rates are set to be 100, the uplink/downlink guaranteed rates are set to be 50, the main base station can share the uplink/downlink maximum rate to be 80, and the uplink/downlink guaranteed rate to be 20, then the auxiliary base station is required to share the quality requirement parameters, where the uplink/downlink maximum rate is 20 and the uplink/downlink guaranteed rate to be 30.

2) The QoS information is a quality requirement parameter for the bearer. The quality requirement parameter of the bearer may be a quality requirement parameter received from the core network during the bearer establishment procedure.

And the auxiliary base station determines the configuration information loaded on the UE according to the QoS requirement and the UE capacity. According to the difference of the bearer quality requirement parameters sent by the main base station, the auxiliary base station has the corresponding operations:

1) if two QoS parameters are received, one is the quality requirement parameter of the bearer, and the other is the quality requirement parameter which needs to be shared by the auxiliary base station or the quality requirement parameter which can be shared by the main base station. And the auxiliary base station determines the quality requirement shared by the auxiliary base station according to the own state, such as the condition of a memory, the quality of an air interface and other information. If the auxiliary base station determines to share a part of data for the main base station, the auxiliary base station refers to the information sent by the main base station to obtain the quality requirement parameters which can be shared by the main base station, so that the auxiliary base station determines the quality requirement shared by the main base station.

2) If a QoS parameter (i.e., the quality requirement parameter of the bearer) is received, the assisting base station determines the quality requirement shared by the assisting base station according to the state of the assisting base station, for example, the condition of the memory, the quality of the air interface, and other information. If the auxiliary base station determines to share a part of data for the main base station, the auxiliary base station determines the quality requirement shared by the main base station, especially the guaranteed rate and the maximum data value of the GBR service required to be shared by the main base station, and ensures that the sum of the quality requirements shared by the auxiliary base station and the main base station does not exceed the quality requirement parameter of the bearer.

The auxiliary base station addition request message in step 901 may also carry the AMBR of the UE. The AMBR in the secondary base station addition request message may be one or more of the following:

1) the AMBR in the message is the aggregate rate of non-guaranteed traffic established on the secondary base station as determined by the primary base station. Considering that some non-guaranteed traffic is established on the main base station, the AMBR may be set to a different value from the UE AMBR transmitted to the main base station by the core network. If all the non-guaranteed services are established on the secondary base station, the AMBR can be set to the same value as the AMBR of the UE sent to the main base station by the core network. If the non-guaranteed service is established on the main base station and the auxiliary base station at the same time, the sum of the AMBR on the main base station and the AMBR on the auxiliary base station does not exceed the total UE AMBR.

2) The auxiliary base station addition request message may further include an AMBR that the main base station can share, and particularly, a value of the AMBR that an uplink can share. Because the type of the dual connectivity in the embodiment of the present invention is an auxiliary split bearer, the auxiliary base station may determine to transmit data through the auxiliary base station and the main base station, the auxiliary base station determines the uplink AMBR split to the main base station, and the main base station schedules uplink data of the UE according to the split uplink AMBR, that is, determines how many uplink resources are allocated. The AMBR that the main base station can share may be included in the message, which is to provide a reference to the secondary base station that the AMBR split to the main base station set by the secondary base station should not exceed.

3) The auxiliary base station adding request message comprises a total AMBR (UE-AMBR) of the UE and an auxiliary base station AMBR, the UE-AMBR is the UE-AMBR sent to the main base station by the core network, the auxiliary base station AMBR is the maximum aggregation rate of non-guaranteed services distributed to the auxiliary base station by the main base station, and the auxiliary base station carries out data forming and scheduling according to the auxiliary base station AMBR. Generally, the AMBR includes two values, i.e. uplink and downlink, and in the assisting base station add request message of step 901, the UE-AMBR may include uplink and downlink, or the UE-AMBR only includes uplink. The auxiliary base station learns the auxiliary base station AMBR from the auxiliary base station addition request message, and the auxiliary base station can obtain the main base station AMBR or at least obtain the main base station uplink AMBR according to the relation of UE-AMBR (main base station AMBR + auxiliary base station AMBR).

For downlink data, the auxiliary base station controls the received downlink data according to DL-AMBR contained in the AMBR of the auxiliary base station, so that the total rate of non-GBR services on the auxiliary base station does not exceed the value indicated by the DL-AMBR. For uplink data, data partitioning is performed at the UE side. The assisting base station may configure an uplink partition threshold and a priority cell group for the UE, where the priority cell group may be an MCG or an SCG. When the uplink data sent by the UE is smaller than a certain specific threshold, the uplink data can be sent through the priority cell group, and when the data is larger than the uplink division threshold, the UE can divide the uplink data and respectively send the divided uplink data to the main base station and the auxiliary base station through two paths. For uplink data related configuration, the behavior of the assisting base station is:

■ the assisting base station may negotiate with the main base station a main base station uplink AMBR (e.g., a new) different from the main base station uplink AMBR indicated by the main base station, the assisting base station determines whether the main base station uplink AMBR needs to be modified, and notifies the modified value to the main base station via an assisting base station addition response message (described in detail below) of step 902. since the main base station uplink AMBR plus assisting base station uplink AMBR equals the uplink UE-AMBR, the assisting base station receives the UE-AMBR and assisting base station AMBR, it can deduce the main base station uplink AMBR, the assisting base station knows the main base station uplink AMBR, and can determine whether the main base station uplink AMBR needs to be modified according to the configuration of the assisting base station for uplink data division.

■ the auxiliary base station does not negotiate with the main base station, but configures the division of the up data according to the configuration of the main base station, when configuring the division of the up data, the auxiliary base station can configure the division configuration parameter of the up data of the UE end by referring to the up AMBR of the main base station and the up AMBR of the auxiliary base station.

4) The auxiliary base station addition request message includes a total AMBR (UE-AMBR) of the UE and an AMBR of the main base station. This example is a variation of example 3) above. According to the UE-AMBR and the main base station AMBR, the auxiliary base station can calculate the auxiliary base station AMBR. As described in example 3), the secondary base station may suggest a new primary base station uplink AMBR, or the secondary base station may determine configuration parameters for uplink data division with reference to the uplink AMBR of the primary base station and the uplink AMBR of the secondary base station. The behavior of each base station is as shown in example 3) above. And is omitted here.

5) The auxiliary base station addition request message includes the AMBR of the auxiliary base station and the AMBR of the main base station (at least including the uplink AMBR). This example is a variation of example 3) above. The secondary base station may calculate the UE-AMBR based on the AMBR of the secondary base station and the AMBR of the primary base station. Example 3), the secondary base station may suggest a new primary base station uplink AMBR, or the secondary base station may determine configuration parameters for uplink data splitting with reference to the primary base station uplink AMBR and the secondary base station uplink AMBR. The behavior of each base station is as shown in example 3) above. And is omitted here.

6) The auxiliary base station adding request message contains the AMBR and SCG of the auxiliary base station, and the uplink AMBR carried on the main base station branch is divided. In this example, the main base station further determines that the SCG partitions the uplink AMBR carried on the main base station leg, and the secondary base station addition request message of step 901 further includes the uplink AMBR carried on the main base station leg by the SCG partition. Or in other forms, for example, the main base station informs the secondary base station SCG to divide the maximum uplink threshold value carried on the main base station. According to the information carried in the assisting base station addition request message of step 901, the behavior of the assisting base station may be:

■ if the request message for adding the secondary base station in step 901 contains the AMBR of the secondary base station and the uplink AMBR carried on the branch of the main base station by SCG partition, when the secondary base station configures the uplink data partition of the UE, if the priority cell group is the main base station, the uplink partition threshold value cannot exceed the uplink AMBR carried on the branch of the main base station by SCG partition.

■ if the request message for adding the secondary base station in step 901 contains the maximum value of the uplink threshold carried by the AMBR and SCG partition of the secondary base station on the primary base station, when the secondary base station configures the uplink data partition of the UE, if the priority cell group is the primary base station, the uplink partition threshold value cannot exceed the maximum value of the uplink threshold carried by the SCG partition on the primary base station.

In step 902, the primary base station receives a secondary base station addition response message from the secondary base station. And the auxiliary base station adds the response message to carry the auxiliary bearer configuration information for the UE. The auxiliary bearing configuration information carries a tunnel number of a downlink data receiving IP address of an S1 interface allocated by the auxiliary base station.

The assisting base station adding response message may also carry a quality requirement parameter of the assisting split bearer, and the quality requirement parameter of the assisting split bearer may be one or more of the following information:

1) the quality requirement parameter is a quality requirement corresponding to data to be shared by the main base station, and the main base station configures a user plane, namely an RLC layer and an MAC layer, on the main base station according to the quality requirement parameter, and configures resources of corresponding wireless connection on the UE so as to meet the quality requirement. The assisting base station refers to the quality requirement information included in step 901 according to its own condition, and determines the quality requirement corresponding to the data to be shared by the main base station. Specifically, the quality requirement corresponding to the data to be shared by the main base station may be an uplink and downlink maximum rate and an uplink and downlink guaranteed rate to be shared by the main base station.

2) The quality requirement parameter is a quality requirement corresponding to data to be shared determined by the assisting base station, and is a QoS quality requirement corresponding to a split bearer accepted by the assisting base station. The main base station determines the quality requirement corresponding to the data that the main base station needs to share according to the quality requirement parameter of the bearer sent in the step 901 and the quality requirement corresponding to the data that the auxiliary base station needs to share included in the response message added by the auxiliary base station in the step, and configures the user plane according to the quality requirement. Specifically, the quality requirement determined by the master base station includes the maximum uplink and downlink rates to be shared and the guaranteed uplink and downlink rates. For example, in the assisting base station increase request message of step 901, the uplink/downlink maximum rates of the bearers are set to be 100, the uplink/downlink guaranteed rates are set to be 50, the assisting base station determines that the uplink/downlink maximum rates to be shared are 80, and the uplink/downlink guaranteed rates are 30. The main base station knows that it is to share the uplink/downlink maximum rates of 20 each and the uplink/downlink guaranteed rates of 20 each. The main base station configures the user plane, i.e. RLC layer, MAC layer, on the main base station according to the quality requirements and configures the resources of the corresponding radio connection on the UE.

The assisting base station adds the response message and may also carry an aggregation rate AMBR of the non-guaranteed traffic, which may be one or more of the following information:

1) the AMBR is an aggregation rate corresponding to non-guaranteed service data which needs to be shared by a main base station, and the main base station configures uplink scheduling resources according to the AMBR. For example, when the uplink AMBR is included, the main base station may schedule the uplink data of the UE according to the divided uplink AMBR, i.e., determine how many uplink resources are allocated. For secondary split bearers, the secondary base station may determine to send some data by the primary base station. When establishing the dual connection, the main base station configures the AMBR on the auxiliary base station. If the service type is a non-guaranteed service, the secondary base station may determine that the primary base station needs to share the AMBR, and therefore, the response message (secondary base station increase response message) may include the AMBR that needs to be shared by the primary base station, for example, an uplink AMBR shared by the primary base station. The main base station receives part of uplink data from the UE, and after the main base station needs to know the AMBR, the UE can be scheduled according to the AMBR. The main base station mainly controls the scheduling of uplink data, and the downlink data is mainly controlled by the auxiliary base station, so if the AMBR to be shared by the main base station carried by the message includes the uplink AMBR and the downlink AMBR, the main base station can ignore the downlink AMBR and schedule the UE according to the uplink AMBR.

2) The AMBR is an aggregation rate corresponding to data that the secondary base station needs to share. When establishing dual connectivity, the primary base station configures the AMBR on the secondary base station at step 901. The secondary base station may determine the AMBR at the secondary base station according to its own condition, i.e. determine the received AMBR, and this value may be the same as the value configured by the primary base station or different. The auxiliary base station informs the value to a main base station, the main base station determines the aggregation rate to be shared by the main base station according to the AMBR to be shared determined by the auxiliary base station and in combination with the AMBR to be shared by the auxiliary base station pre-configured by the main base station, and configures uplink scheduling resources according to the AMBR to be shared by the main base station.

The above embodiments relate to a quality of service (QoS) requirement parameter of an auxiliary split bearer of an auxiliary base station and an aggregate rate (AMBR) of non-guaranteed rate traffic of a UE. It is noted that in some embodiments only either of the two parameters described above may be involved.

3) In this example, the AMBR may not be directly included, but other parameters related to the AMBR may be included, and the parameter of the primary base station uplink scheduling may be set in another form. The secondary base station add response message, e.g., step 902, may carry an uplink data segmentation threshold and/or a priority cell group indication. The uplink data division threshold is allocated by the auxiliary base station for the UE, and the main base station may schedule the uplink data with reference to the uplink data division threshold, for example, when the priority group indication information indicates that the priority cell group is an MCG, the MCG schedules the UE with reference to the threshold.

If the secondary base station addition response message of step 902 contains a primary base station AMBR (e.g., at least an uplink AMBR) or a secondary base station AMBR (e.g., at least an uplink AMBR), the primary base station may calculate a new primary base station uplink AMBR. This means that the main base station can modify the uplink AMBR of the main base station according to the indication of the secondary base station, i.e. the main base station can schedule the UE with the uplink AMBR negotiated with the secondary base station. In the downlink, the auxiliary base station controls the downlink data received by the auxiliary base station according to the configuration of the main base station without negotiation with the main base station. The reason why the uplink AMBR needs to be negotiated is that the auxiliary base station determines the uplink data partition threshold and the priority cell group, when the main base station performs UE-AMBR partition, the configuration parameters of the auxiliary base station for uplink data partition are not known, and the main base station AMBR and the auxiliary base station AMBR determined by the main base station may not be suitable. For example, in step 901, the UE-AMBR carried in the request message for the auxiliary base station to add is 200, the uplink AMBR of the auxiliary base station is 150, the auxiliary base station wants to configure the master cell group as the priority cell group, and the division threshold is 100, then the auxiliary base station needs to decrease the uplink AMBR of the auxiliary base station and increase the uplink AMBR of the master base station. For example, in the case where the secondary base station uplink AMBR is configured to be 90, the secondary base station addition response message of step 902 may indicate that the uplink AMBR of the primary base station is 110, or may indicate that the uplink AMBR of the secondary base station is 90, and the primary base station itself calculates that the new primary base station uplink AMBR is 110.

If the secondary base station addition response message of step 902 does not contain the AMBR, it means that the secondary base station is to accept the configuration of the primary base station. And in the downlink, the auxiliary base station controls the downlink data received by the auxiliary base station according to the auxiliary base station AMBR configured by the main base station. In uplink, the secondary base station configures the secondary base station AMBR according to the primary base station and other information contained in step 901 to perform scheduling and uplink data splitting configuration. Specifically, according to the secondary base station addition request message in step 901, the secondary base station may know the secondary base station AMBR, and the secondary base station may also know or calculate the uplink AMBR of the primary base station, or know that the SCG divides the uplink AMBR carried on the branch of the primary base station, or know that the SCG divides the uplink threshold maximum carried on the primary base station. When the auxiliary base station configures the uplink data partition, the auxiliary base station may refer to any one or more of the above information to determine the uplink data partition threshold and the priority cell group. For example, the secondary base station addition request message in step 901 indicates that the UE-AMBR is 200 and the uplink AMBR of the secondary base station is 150, the secondary base station may calculate that the uplink AMBR of the primary base station is 50, and when the secondary base station configures the priority cell group as the primary base station, the threshold may not exceed 50.

In step 903, the primary base station transmits an RRC reconfiguration request message to the UE. The RRC reconfiguration request message may include configuration parameters of the primary base station and the secondary base station for radio resources of the UE.

Step 904: the primary base station receives an RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE. After the UE performs radio resource configuration, it sends a response message (RRC reconfiguration complete message) to the base station.

The RRC reconfiguration request message in step 903 may be sent to the UE by the main base station, or may be sent to the UE by the main base station and the auxiliary base station, respectively. The UE may send response messages (RRC reconfiguration complete messages) to the main base station and the secondary base station, respectively.

Step 905: the master base station sends a path switching request message to the MME.

And if necessary, the UE and the auxiliary base station perform a random access process and synchronize with the auxiliary base station. After the random access procedure is completed, the new secondary base station may inform the main base station of the success of the random result, if necessary.

The main base station may send a path switch request message to the MME, which may include the bearer and its corresponding downlink receive IP address and TEID. In this embodiment, the downlink receiving IP address and TEID corresponding to the bearer may be allocated by the secondary base station and may be sent to the primary base station in step 902. The path switch request message may be sent by the MME to the SGW.

Step 906: the main base station receives a path switching response message from the MME. The path switching response message contains the uplink IP address and the TEID allocated by the SGW.

Step 907: if the SGW allocates a new uplink IP address and a new TEID, the main base station sends a configuration updating message to the auxiliary base station so as to update the loaded uplink IP address and the loaded TEID. This step S907 need not be performed if the SGW adopts the old IP address and TEID, i.e., the same received IP address and TEID as in step 901.

If the core network has been upgraded to a 5G core network, the LTE base station may be connected to the 5G core network, and the base station may be referred to as an LTE base station in the present invention, the LTE base station may send data to the UE together with the 5G base station in a dual connection manner, and the main base station/auxiliary base station may be the LTE base station or the 5G base station, and the dual connection manner is described in the foregoing background technology. A new approach is introduced at 5G, called secondary split (i.e., SCG split) bearers. Under the load, the assisting base station receives data from the core network, then the assisting base station divides the data into two paths, one path of the data is sent to the eLTE base station through an Xn interface, the eLTE base station sends the data to the UE, and the other path of the data is sent to the UE through a 5G base station. The PDCP layer of the data radio bearer is at the secondary base station, which performs PDCP processing on the data and divides the data into two parts, one part being sent from the primary base station to U E and the other part being sent from the secondary base station to U E.

Referring to fig. 10, how to establish the secondary split (i.e., SCGsplit) bearer under this architecture is explained according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step 1001, the master base station (lte base station) transmits a secondary base station addition request message to the secondary base station (5G base station).

The primary base station determines to establish certain quality flows (QoS flows) at the secondary base station. The assisting base station addition request message may include an identifier of QoS flow, a receiving IP address of a PDU Session (PDU Session) corresponding to QoS flow at a core network gateway, and a tunnel number TEID. The assisting base station adding request message may also carry capability information of the UE, and the capability of the UE may include two types: (1) the capability of the UE in the 5G access network, wherein the capability information is the capability of the UE in the 5G access network, and the capability is not suitable for the LTE access network; and (2) UE capabilities common to LTE and 5G, which are applicable under both LTE and 5G. The assisting base station addition request message may also carry the type of connection determined by the LTE base station, and the type of dual connection established on the assisting base station may include a split bearer, an SCG bearer, or an assisting split bearer. In an embodiment of the invention, the dual connectivity type is a secondary split bearer (SCGsplit). For the secondary split bearer, the primary base station may also share part of the data transmission, and the lte base station may pre-allocate an address for downlink data reception, including an IP address and a tunnel number, to receive data from the 5G base station.

The assisting base station addition request message may also carry a quality requirement (QoS) parameter of a QoS flow to be established in the 5G base station, an AMBR of a non-guaranteed rate (non-GBR) service in a PDU session corresponding to the QoS flow, and an aggregate rate (AMBR) of a non-guaranteed rate (non-GBR) service subscribed by the UE. The quality requirement (QoS) parameters of QoS flow may comprise quality level indication 5QI, priority ARP.

For non-guaranteed rate (non-GBR) service, the aggregation rate of non-GBR data is mainly determined by PDU session AMBR and UE-subscribed AMBR. And if the sum of all PDU session AMBRs is greater than the AMBR signed by the UE, the actual AMBR is the AMBR signed by the UE, and if the sum of all PDU session AMBRs is less than the AMBR signed by the UE, the actual AMBR is the sum of all PDU session AMBRs.

The secondary base station addition request message indicates that the type of dual connectivity to be established is a secondary split bearer. For secondary split bearers, the quality of service (QoS) parameters for QoS flow carried in the secondary base station addition request message may be received from the core network. The secondary base station determines the mapping of QoS flows to one data radio bearer based on the quality requirements of these QoS flows and the UE capabilities.

The auxiliary base station may also carry the AMBR of the PDU session in the addition request message. The AMBR of the PDU session carried by the auxiliary base station addition request message may be the AMBR of the PDU session sent by the core network, or may be smaller than the AMBR of the PDU session sent by the core network. When the whole PDU session is established in the auxiliary base station, the AMBR of the PDU session carried by the request message added by the auxiliary base station does not exceed the AMBR of the PDU session sent by the core network. If some QoS flows in one PDUSESS are established in the main base station and other QoS flows are established in the auxiliary base station, the AMBR of the PDU session on the main base station and the AMBR of the PDU session on the auxiliary base station can be determined by the main base station. The total AMBR does not exceed the AMBR of the PDU session sent by the core network.

The auxiliary base station addition request message may also carry an authentication AMBR of the UE. The UE authentication AMBR carried by the assisting base station addition request message may be equal to or smaller than the UE authentication AMBR sent by the core network. If some QoS flows are established in the main base station and other QoS flows are established in the auxiliary base station, the UE authentication AMBR corresponding to the QoS flows on the main base station and the auxiliary base station can be determined by the main base station. And the sum of the UE authentication AMBR of the main base station and the UE authentication AMBR of the auxiliary base station does not exceed the UE authentication AMBR sent by the core network.

Specifically, the method comprises the following steps:

1) the auxiliary base station adding request message comprises a total authentication AMBR (authentication UE-AMBR) of the UE and an auxiliary base station AMBR, the authentication UE-AMBR is the UE-AMBR sent to the main base station by the core network, the auxiliary base station AMBR is the maximum aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed service distributed by the main base station for the auxiliary base station, and the auxiliary base station carries out data forming and scheduling according to the auxiliary base station AMBR. Generally, the AMBR includes two values, i.e., uplink and downlink, and in the assisting base station add request message of step 1001, the authenticated UE-AMBR may include uplink and downlink, or the authenticated UE-AMBR may include only uplink. The auxiliary base station learns the auxiliary base station AMBR from the auxiliary base station addition request message, and the auxiliary base station can obtain the main base station AMBR or at least obtain the main base station uplink AMBR according to the relation of the authentication UE-AMBR (master base station AMBR + auxiliary base station AMBR).

For downlink data, the auxiliary base station controls the received downlink data according to DL-AMBR contained in the AMBR of the auxiliary base station, so that the total rate of non-GBR services on the auxiliary base station does not exceed the value indicated by the DL-AMBR. For uplink data, data partitioning is performed at the UE side. The assisting base station may configure an uplink partition threshold and a priority cell group for the UE, where the priority cell group may be an MCG or an SCG. When the uplink data sent by the UE is less than a certain threshold, the uplink data can be sent by the priority cell group. When the data is larger than the uplink division threshold, the UE can divide the uplink data and respectively send the divided uplink data to the main base station and the auxiliary base station through two paths. For uplink data related configuration, the behavior of the assisting base station is:

■ the assisting base station may negotiate with the main base station a main base station uplink AMBR (e.g., a new) different from the main base station uplink AMBR indicated by the main base station, the assisting base station determines whether the main base station uplink AMBR needs to be modified, and notifies the modified value to the main base station via an assisting base station addition response message of step 1002 (described in detail below). since the main base station uplink AMBR plus assisting base station uplink AMBR equals the uplink authentication UE-AMBR, the assisting base station receives the UE-AMBR and assisting base station AMBR, it can deduce the main base station uplink AMBR, the assisting base station knows the main base station uplink AMBR, and can determine whether the main base station uplink AMBR needs to be modified according to the configuration of the assisting base station for uplink data division.

2) The secondary base station adds the total authenticated AMBR (authenticated UE-AMBR) of the UE and the AMBR of the primary base station included in the request message. This example is a variation of example 1) above. According to the authentication UE-AMBR and the main base station AMBR, the secondary base station may calculate the secondary base station AMBR. As described in example 1), the secondary base station may suggest a new primary base station uplink AMBR, or the secondary base station may determine configuration parameters for uplink data division with reference to the uplink AMBR of the primary base station and the uplink AMBR of the secondary base station. The behavior of the base station is as shown in example 1) above. And is omitted here.

3) The addition request message of the secondary base station includes the AMBR of the secondary base station and the AMBR of the primary base station (at least including the uplink AMBR). This example is a variation of example 1) above. The secondary base station may calculate an authentication UE-AMBR based on the AMBR of the secondary base station and the AMBR of the primary base station. As described in example 1), the secondary base station may suggest a new primary base station uplink AMBR, or the secondary base station may determine configuration parameters for uplink data division with reference to the uplink AMBR of the primary base station and the uplink AMBR of the secondary base station. The behavior of the base stations is as shown in example 1) above. And is omitted here.

4) The auxiliary base station adding request message contains the AMBR and SCG of the auxiliary base station, and the uplink AMBR carried on the main base station branch is divided. In this example, the main base station further determines that the SCG partitions the uplink AMBR carried on the main base station leg, then the secondary base station addition request message of step 1001 further includes the uplink AMBR carried on the main base station leg partitioned by the SCG. Or in other forms, for example, the main base station informs the secondary base station SCG to divide the maximum uplink threshold value carried on the main base station. According to the information carried in the assisting base station addition request message in step 1001, the assisting base station may act as:

■ if the secondary base station addition request message of step 1001 contains the AMBR of the secondary base station and the uplink AMBR carried on the branch of the main base station by SCG partition, when the secondary base station configures the uplink data partition of the UE, if the priority cell group is the main base station, the uplink partition threshold value cannot exceed the uplink AMBR carried on the branch of the main base station by SCG partition.

■ if the request message of adding auxiliary base station in step 1001 contains the maximum value of the uplink threshold of AMBR and SCG partition bearer of auxiliary base station on the main base station, when the auxiliary base station configures UE end uplink data partition, if the priority cell group is the main base station, the uplink partition threshold value can not exceed the maximum value of the uplink threshold of SCG partition bearer on the main base station.

In step 1002, the primary base station receives a secondary base station addition response message from the secondary base station. And the auxiliary base station adds the response message to carry the auxiliary bearer configuration information for the UE. The auxiliary bearing configuration information carries a tunnel number of a downlink data receiving IP address of an NG interface allocated by the auxiliary base station, an identifier of a QoS flow corresponding to the tunnel number, and a PDU Session identifier to which the QoS flow belongs.

The assisting base station adds the response message and can also carry the quality requirement parameter of the assisting segmentation bearing. The quality requirement parameter of the secondary split bearer may be one or more of the following information:

1) the quality requirement parameter is a quality requirement corresponding to data to be shared by the main base station, and the main base station configures a user plane, namely an RLC layer and an MAC layer, on the main base station according to the quality requirement parameter, and configures resources of corresponding wireless connection on the UE so as to meet the quality requirement.

2) The quality requirement parameter is the quality requirement corresponding to the data to be shared determined by the auxiliary base station. The main base station determines the quality requirement corresponding to the data to be shared according to the quality requirement parameter of the QoS Flow sent in the step 1001 and the auxiliary base station included in the auxiliary base station increase response message in the step, determines the quality requirement corresponding to the data to be shared by the main base station, and configures the user plane according to the quality requirement.

The assisting base station adds the response message and may also carry an aggregation rate AMBR of a certain PDU Session, where the aggregation rate AMBR may be one or more of the following information:

1) the AMBR is an aggregation rate corresponding to non-guaranteed service data transmitted on an auxiliary partition bearer which needs to be shared by a main base station, and the main base station configures uplink scheduling resources according to the AMBR. For example, when the uplink AMBR is included, the main base station may schedule the uplink data of the UE according to the divided uplink AMBR, i.e., determine how many uplink resources are allocated. Specifically, some of the QoS flows included in a Session are established on the primary base station and some are established on the secondary base station, and when the secondary split bearer is established, the primary base station may determine the PDU Session AMBR that the primary base station and the secondary base station need to share, and the sum of the PDU Session AMBR (referred to as AMBR-1) on the primary base station and the PDU Session AMBR (referred to as AMBR-2) on the secondary base station does not exceed the PDU Session AMBR (referred to as AMBR-0) sent by the core network. The main base station and the auxiliary base station schedule the UE according to the PDU Session AMBR, and shape (mapping) the data of the whole Session so that the data volume of the PDU Session transmitted to the core network does not exceed the value indicated by the PDU Session AMBR. For secondary split bearers, the secondary base station determines to send some data by the primary base station. The secondary base station may determine that the PDU Session AMBR (referred to as AMBR-3) needs to be shared by the primary base station, where the PDU Session AMBR needs to be shared by the primary base station is less than or equal to the PDU Session AMBR that the secondary base station determines to be shared by the primary base station (i.e., AMBR-3 is less than or equal to AMBR-2). Therefore, in the response message (secondary base station addition response message), the PDU Session AMBR (i.e. AMBR-3) to be shared by the primary base station may be included, and actually the PDU Session AMBR to be shared by the primary base station needs to be determined by AMBR-3 and AMBR-1.

2) The AMBR is an aggregation rate corresponding to data that the secondary base station needs to share. When establishing dual connectivity, the primary base station may configure a PDU Session AMBR (referred to as AMBR-2) on the secondary base station at step 1001. The secondary base station determines the AMBR at the secondary base station according to its own condition, i.e. determines the accepted AMBR (called AMBR-3), which may be the same as the value configured by the primary base station or different. The value can be told to the main base station, the main base station determines the aggregation rate that the main base station really needs to share according to the AMBR (namely AMBR-3) to be shared determined by the auxiliary base station and the AMBR (namely AMBR-2) to be shared by the auxiliary base station pre-configured by the main base station, and configures the uplink scheduling resource according to the AMBR that the main base station needs to share.

The assisting base station add response message may also carry an aggregation rate AMBR (UE-AMBR) of the UE, which may be one or more of the following information:

1) the UE-AMBR is the UE-AMBR corresponding to the non-guaranteed service data transmitted on the auxiliary partition bearer which needs to be shared by the main base station, and the main base station configures uplink scheduling resources according to the UE-AMBR. For example, when the uplink AMBR is included, the main base station may schedule the uplink data of the UE according to the divided uplink AMBR, i.e., determine how many uplink resources are allocated. Specifically, some of the QoS flows included in a Session are established on the primary base station and some are established on the secondary base station, and when the secondary split bearer is established, the primary base station determines the UE-AMBR that the primary base station and the secondary base station need to share, and the sum of the UE-AMBR (called AMBR-1) on the primary base station and the UE-AMBR (called AMBR-2) on the secondary base station does not exceed the UE-AMBR (called AMBR-0) sent by the core network. The main base station and the auxiliary base station can schedule the UE according to the UE-AMBR and shape (shape) the data of the non-guaranteed service of the whole UE, so that the data volume of the UE sent to the core network does not exceed the numerical value indicated by the authentication UE-AMBR (namely AMBR-0). While for secondary split bearers, the secondary base station determines to send some data from the primary base station. The auxiliary base station may determine that the UE-AMBR (referred to as AMBR-3) that the main base station needs to share, where the UE-AMBR that the main base station needs to share is less than or equal to the UE-AMBR that the auxiliary base station determines to need to share (i.e., AMBR-3 is less than or equal to AMBR-2). The UE-AMBR (i.e., AMBR-3) that needs to be shared by the main base station may be included in the response message (secondary base station addition response), and the UE-AMBR that needs to be shared by the main base station may actually be determined by AMBR-3 and AMBR-1.

2) The UE-AMBR is an aggregation rate corresponding to data that the secondary base station needs to share. At the time of establishing dual connectivity, the primary base station may configure a UE-AMBR (referred to as AMBR-2) on the secondary base station at step 1001. The secondary base station may determine the UE-AMBR at the secondary base station, i.e. the accepted UE-AMBR (called AMBR-3), according to its own condition, which may be the same as or different from the value configured by the primary base station. The value can be told to the main base station, the main base station determines the aggregation rate that the main base station really needs to share according to the UE-AMBR (namely AMBR-3) to be shared determined by the auxiliary base station and combined with the UE-AMBR (namely AMBR-2) to be shared by the auxiliary base station pre-configured by the main base station, and the uplink scheduling resource is configured according to the UE-AMBR to be shared by the main base station.

The above embodiments relate to a quality requirement (QoS) parameter of a quality flow of a secondary base station, an aggregate rate (AMBR) of a non-guaranteed rate service in a packet data unit session corresponding to the quality flow, and an aggregate rate of the non-guaranteed rate service subscribed by a UE. It should be noted, however, that in some embodiments any combination of only any of the three parameters described above may be involved.

3) In this example, the AMBR may not be directly included, but other parameters related to the AMBR may be included, and the parameter of the primary base station uplink scheduling may be set in another form. The secondary base station add response message, e.g., of step 1002, may carry an uplink data segmentation threshold and/or a priority cell group indication. The uplink data division threshold is allocated by the auxiliary base station for the UE, and the main base station may schedule the uplink data with reference to the uplink data division threshold, for example, when the priority cell group indication information indicates that the priority cell group is the MCG, the MCG schedules the UE with reference to the threshold.

If the secondary base station addition response message of step 1002 includes a primary base station AMBR (e.g., at least an uplink AMBR) or a secondary base station AMBR (e.g., at least an uplink AMBR), the primary base station may calculate a new primary base station uplink AMBR. This means that the main base station can modify the uplink AMBR of the main base station according to the indication of the secondary base station, i.e. the main base station can schedule the UE with the uplink AMBR negotiated with the secondary base station. In the downlink, the auxiliary base station controls the downlink data received by the auxiliary base station according to the configuration of the main base station without negotiation with the main base station. The reason why the uplink AMBR needs to be negotiated is that the secondary base station determines the uplink data partition threshold and the priority cell group, when the primary base station performs UE-AMBR partition authentication, the primary base station does not know the configuration parameters of the secondary base station for uplink data partition, and the primary base station AMBR and the secondary base station AMBR determined by the primary base station may not be suitable. For example, in step 1001, the authentication UE-AMBR carried in the secondary base station addition request message is 200, the uplink AMBR of the secondary base station is 150, the secondary base station wants to configure the master cell group as the priority cell group, and the division threshold is 100, then the secondary base station needs to decrease the uplink AMBR of the secondary base station and increase the uplink AMBR of the master base station. For example, in the case where the secondary base station uplink AMBR is configured to be 90, the secondary base station addition response message in step 1002 may indicate that the uplink AMBR of the primary base station is 110, or may indicate that the uplink AMBR of the secondary base station is 90, and the primary base station itself calculates that the new primary base station uplink AMBR is 110.

If the secondary base station addition response message of step 1002 does not contain the AMBR, it means that the secondary base station is to accept the configuration of the primary base station. And in the downlink, the auxiliary base station controls the downlink data received by the auxiliary base station according to the auxiliary base station AMBR configured by the main base station. In uplink, the secondary base station performs scheduling and uplink data division configuration according to the primary base station configuration secondary base station AMBR and other information contained in step 1001. Specifically, according to the secondary base station addition request message in step 1001, the secondary base station may know the secondary base station AMBR, and the secondary base station may also know or calculate the uplink AMBR of the primary base station, or know that the SCG divides the uplink AMBR carried on the primary base station branch, or know that the SCG divides the uplink threshold maximum carried on the primary base station. When the auxiliary base station configures the uplink data partition, the auxiliary base station may refer to any one or more of the above information to determine the uplink data partition threshold and the priority cell group. For example, the secondary base station addition request message in step 1001 indicates that the authenticated UE-AMBR is 200, the secondary base station uplink AMBR is 150, the secondary base station may calculate that the primary base station uplink AMBR is 50, and when the secondary base station configuration priority cell group is the primary base station, the threshold may not exceed 50.

In step 1003, the primary base station transmits an RRC reconfiguration request message to the UE. The RRC reconfiguration request message may include configuration parameters of the primary base station and the secondary base station for radio resources of the UE.

Step 1004: the main base station receives an RRC reconfiguration complete message from the UE. After the UE performs radio resource configuration, it sends a response message (RRC reconfiguration complete message) to the base station.

The RRC reconfiguration request message in step 1003 may be sent to the UE by the main base station, or may be sent to the UE by the main base station and the auxiliary base station, respectively. The UE may send response messages (RRC reconfiguration complete messages) to the main base station and the secondary base station, respectively.

Step 1005: the main base station sends a path switching request message to the core network control node.

If necessary, the UE performs a random access procedure with the secondary base station and synchronizes with the secondary base station. After the random access procedure is completed, the new secondary base station may inform the main base station of the success of the random result, if necessary.

The primary base station may send a path switch request message to the core network control node. The path switch request message may contain the bearer and its corresponding downstream receive IP address and TEID. In this embodiment, the downlink receiving IP address and TEID corresponding to the bearer may be allocated by the secondary base station and may be sent to the primary base station in step 1002. The path switch request message may be sent by the core network control node to the core network user plane node.

Step 1006: the main base station receives a path switching response message from the core network control node. The path switching response message contains the uplink IP address and the TEID distributed by the user plane node of the core network.

Step 1007: if the core network user plane node distributes new uplink IP address and TEID, the main base station sends configuration updating information to the auxiliary base station to update the loaded uplink IP address and TEID. This step S1007 need not be performed if the core network user plane node adopts the old IP address and TEID, i.e. the same received IP address and TEID as in step 1001.

Fig. 7 schematically shows a block diagram of a base station 700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The base station 700 includes a processor 710, e.g., a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). Processor 710 may be a single device or multiple devices for performing different acts in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Base station 700 may also include input/output (I/O) devices 730 for receiving signals from, and transmitting signals to, other entities.

Further, the base station 700 comprises a memory 720, which memory 720 may have the form: non-volatile or volatile memory, such as electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, and the like. The memory 720 stores computer readable instructions which, when executed by the processor 710, cause the processor to perform a method according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 schematically shows a block diagram of a base station 800 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The base station 800 includes a processor 810, such as a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). Processor 810 may be a single device or multiple devices configured to perform various acts according to embodiments of the present invention. The base station 800 may also include input/output (I/O) devices 830 for receiving signals from, and transmitting signals to, other entities.

Further, the base station 800 comprises a memory 820, which memory 820 may have the form: non-volatile or volatile memory, such as electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, and the like. The memory 820 stores computer readable instructions which, when executed by the processor 810, cause the processor to perform a method according to an embodiment of the invention.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present invention include apparatuses for performing one or more of the operations described in the present application. These devices may be specially designed and manufactured for the required purposes, or they may comprise known devices in general-purpose computers. These devices have stored therein computer programs that are selectively activated or reconfigured. Such a computer program may be stored in a device (e.g., computer) readable medium, including, but not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, hard disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, ROMs (Read-Only memories), RAMs (Random Access memories), EPROMs (erasable Programmable Read-Only memories), EEPROMs (electrically erasable Programmable Read-Only memories), flash memories, magnetic cards, or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a bus. That is, a readable medium includes any medium that stores or transmits information in a form readable by a device (e.g., a computer).

It will be understood by those within the art that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the computer program instructions may be implemented by a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, implement the features specified in the block or blocks of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of the present disclosure.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that various operations, methods, steps in the processes, acts, or solutions discussed in the present application may be alternated, modified, combined, or deleted. Further, various operations, methods, steps in the flows, which have been discussed in the present application, may be interchanged, modified, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or eliminated. Further, steps, measures, schemes in the various operations, methods, procedures disclosed in the prior art and the present invention can also be alternated, changed, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or deleted.

The foregoing is only a partial embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, various modifications and decorations can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these modifications and decorations should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of configuring a secondary split bearer, comprising:

a first base station sends an auxiliary base station adding request message to a second base station, wherein the auxiliary base station adding request message carries an identifier of the auxiliary segmentation bearer and a first bearer quality requirement corresponding to the auxiliary segmentation bearer;

and the first base station receives an auxiliary base station increase response message sent by the second base station, wherein the auxiliary base station increase response message carries the identifier of the auxiliary segmentation bearer and a second bearer quality requirement corresponding to the auxiliary segmentation bearer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bearer quality requirement comprises a total quality requirement parameter for the secondary split bearer, the total quality requirement parameter being a quality requirement parameter received by the first base station from a core network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bearer quality requirement comprises a quality requirement parameter that the first base station is capable of sharing.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second bearer quality requirement is a quality requirement parameter corresponding to data that the second base station determines the first base station needs to share.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the quality requirement parameters comprise quality class indication, QCI, priority ARP, maximum uplink/downlink rate for GBR traffic, guaranteed uplink/downlink rate for GBR traffic.

6. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the first base station is a master base station and the second base station is a secondary base station.

7. A method of configuring a secondary split bearer, comprising:

the main base station sends an auxiliary base station increase request message to an auxiliary base station, wherein the auxiliary base station increase request message carries the aggregation rate of the non-guaranteed service;

and the main base station receives the auxiliary base station increase response message sent by the auxiliary base station.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the aggregate rate of the non-guaranteed traffic is an auxiliary base station AMBR to be established on an auxiliary base station and a main base station AMBR that can be shared by the main base station, which are determined by the main base station, and the main base station AMBR at least comprises an uplink AMBR.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the aggregate rate of the non-guaranteed traffic is or is both a total AMBR and a secondary base station AMBR of the UE; wherein the master base station AMBR at least comprises an uplink AMBR.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the aggregate rate of the non-guaranteed traffic is an uplink AMBR carried on a primary base station leg by a secondary base station AMBR and SCG split.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the aggregate rate of the non-guaranteed traffic is an uplink threshold maximum value of secondary base stations AMBR and SCG split bearers on a primary base station.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

the main base station and the auxiliary base station negotiate different main base station uplink AMBR; and

and the main base station receives the different main base station uplink AMBR from the auxiliary base station through the auxiliary base station increase response message.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the secondary base station addition request message instructs the secondary base station to configure uplink data partitioning according to the configuration of the primary base station, and when the secondary base station configures the priority cell group as an MCG, the uplink partitioning threshold does not exceed an uplink AMBR of the primary base station, or does not exceed an uplink AMBR of an SCG partition carried on a primary base station leg, or does not exceed a maximum value of an uplink threshold of an SCG partition carried on the primary base station.

14. A base station, comprising:

at least one processor; and the number of the first and second groups,

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein,

the memory stores instructions executable by the one processor to cause the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9.

15. A base station, comprising:

at least one processor; and the number of the first and second groups,

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein,

the memory stores instructions executable by the one processor to cause the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 10-13.