CN110100476B

CN110100476B - Method and device for signal transmission and network device

Info

Publication number: CN110100476B
Application number: CN201880003807.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 雷艺学
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2017-11-29
Filing date: 2018-08-10
Publication date: 2020-05-12
Anticipated expiration: 2038-08-10
Also published as: WO2019105064A1; CN110100476A

Abstract

A method and apparatus for signal transmission and a network apparatus are provided. In a method for signaling, a serving eNB transmits a first signal indicating EN-DC capability of at least one neighbor cell to a user equipment.

Description

Method and device for signal transmission and network device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular, to a method for signal transmission, a device for signal transmission, and a network device.

Background

In Long Term Evolution (LTE), when there is Radio Link Failure (RLF), Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection re-establishment is performed, and a User Equipment (UE) may send an RRC connection re-establishment message to a serving cell or a neighbor cell. In an evolved node b (enb) environment, RRC connections may be re-established and the UE need not enter an idle state and perform a number of signaling steps to establish RRC connections from Random Access Channel (RACH) procedures.

The fifth generation (5G) mobile communication technology is an extension of the fourth generation (4G) mobile communication technology. Therefore, the 5G communication system is also referred to as a "super 4G network", "post-LTE system", or "New Radio (NR)". The base station in the 5G NR will be referred to as a gNB, an En-gNB, or an NR gNB.

In the 3rd generation partnership project (3 GPP) release 15, the main focus was on the first application of 5G to the realm of 4G LTE. Unlike current methods where devices can only connect to one technology at the same time, in 5G, devices can be made to connect to both LTE and 5G NR. This is called E-UTRAN NR dual connectivity (EN-DC, also called LTE-NR dual connectivity). EN-DC means that the LET eNB is enhanced and therefore it can be configured with NR gbb to operate in dual connectivity mode.

However, in EN-DC mode, if the LTE primary cell RRC connection needs to be reestablished, for example, due to radio link failure, the user equipment may be confused as to whether to use the LTE Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) or the NR PDCP. This is because the neighbor LTE cell may or may not support EN-DC, in other words, the neighbor eNB may or may not be able to use NR PDCP to resolve an RRC connection re-establishment message.

Disclosure of Invention

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for signal transmission, in which a serving eNB transmits a first signal indicating EN-DC capability of at least one neighbor cell to a user equipment.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a network device is provided. The network device is a serving eNB for the user equipment. The network device comprises a transmitting unit for transmitting a first signal of EN-DC capability of at least one neighbor cell to the user equipment.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a user equipment is provided. The user equipment includes a receiving unit and a control unit. The receiving unit is configured to receive, from a serving eNB, system information or RRC signaling indicating EN-DC capability of at least one neighbor cell. The control unit is used for preferentially taking the at least one adjacent cell as a target for reestablishing radio resource control connection or a target for cell reselection according to the EN-DC capability indicated by the system information or the RRC signaling.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for signal transmission is provided. The apparatus includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The memory is for storing at least one program which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform the above method of the first aspect.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium is provided. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium is for storing at least one computer program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the above-described method of the first aspect.

Drawings

The disclosure will be better understood by reading the specification in conjunction with the following drawings. It should be noted that, in practice, the various features of the drawings are not to scale. On the contrary, the dimensions of the various features are arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. The same reference numbers are used throughout to refer to similar components or features.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture of EN-DC.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an interface between base stations and an interface between a base station and a core network.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an architecture based on 5G system services.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating PDCP and bearers in EN-DC mode.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a network device.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for signal transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for signal transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description is provided with reference to the accompanying drawings to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Although various specific details are included below to aid understanding, such specific details are merely exemplary. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

For illustrative purposes only and not to limit the technical solutions provided herein, some terms and words used in the specification and claims are listed below.

Table 1: term(s) for

A serving cell: for a user equipment in RRC _ CONNECTED that is not configured with Carrier Aggregation (CA), there is only one serving cell that includes the primary cell. For a user equipment in RRC CONNECTED configured with CA, the term "serving cell" is used to denote a set of one or more cells including a primary cell and all secondary cells.

And (3) adjacent cells: a cell that is a neighbor of a base UTRAN cell in UTRAN, LTE, or GSM/GERAN.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. It should be noted that the words "embodiment" or "implementation" as used herein mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarily mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize, either explicitly or implicitly, that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall radio access network architecture of EN-DC. The exemplary environment of fig. 1 is suitable for implementing the method for signal transmission of the present invention. The exemplary EN-DC environment of fig. 1 is used to illustrate an example of some ways in which a user device, such as a mobile device, may connect to more than one network. As described above, EN-DC allows devices (user equipments) to exchange data between themselves and an NR base station (i.e., NR gbb) and simultaneously connect with an LTE base station (LTE eNB). In the EN-DC mode, the LTE eNB provides a primary cell (PCell) and a serving cell as a primary node (MN, in fig. 1, MeNB), and the NR gbb provides a primary cell and a secondary cell (PSCells) and a serving cell as a secondary node (SN, in fig. 1, SgNB). The MeNB and SgNB may communicate with each other via an X2-C interface and an X2-U interface, wherein the X2-C interface is a control plane interface for transporting signaling and/or messages and the X2-U interface is a user plane interface for data transport. The interface will be further described below with reference to fig. 2.

As described above, the user equipment may communicate with the LTE eNB and NR gNB on the New Radio (NR) side, but all these communications (signaling and data) are over the LTE core network. The LTE eNB is referred to as MeNB to indicate that it is the "master" (M) base station that controls the "secondary" (S)5GNR base station (SgNB). Both MeNB and SgNB are network devices.

The user equipment referred to in the present invention may be stationary or mobile. In addition, although the exemplary embodiments in the specification are illustrated based on a mobile device that may be equipped with at least one Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card for convenience, it is apparent that the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the user device or terminal device may be any form of information communication device, multimedia device and/or application thereof, mobile device, mobile station, mobile unit, machine-to-machine (M2M) device, wireless unit, remote unit, user agent, mobile client, or the like. Examples of the user equipment include, but are not limited to, a mobile communication terminal, a wired/wireless phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a car communication device, and the like.

Fig. 2 further shows the interface between base stations and the interface between a base station and the core network. The interface will be described below with reference to fig. 1 and 2.

For the control plane (C-plane), as shown in the right half of fig. 2, there is an interface between the primary node (MN, MeNB in the architectures of fig. 1 and 2) and the secondary node (SN, SgNB in the architectures of fig. 1 and 2). The interface between the primary and secondary nodes is referred to as X2-C. There is an interface between the MN and the Core Network (CN). The core network includes a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a serving gateway (S-GW), and other network elements. The core network, which is referred to herein as a mobility management entity, may be referred to by different names depending on the wireless architecture employed. The interface between MN and CN is called S1-MME or S1-C. There is no direct interface (connection) between the secondary node and the core network.

For the user plane (U-plane), as shown in the left half of fig. 2, there is an interface between the primary node (MN, in this case MeNB) and the secondary node (SN, in this case SgNB). The interface between the primary and secondary nodes is referred to as X2-U. In the prior art, the X2 interface is an interface between an eNB and an eNB/gNB. There is also an interface between the master node and the core network called S1-U. Unlike the control plane, there is an interface (connection) between the secondary node and the core network, which is referred to as S1-U. As can be seen from the figure, both MeNB and SgNB have an S1-U (user) interface.

It should be noted that the S1 interface and the X2 interface are merely examples, and other existing or future backhaul interfaces, such as the Xn interface, may also be used as technology advances or as actual needs become apparent.

Based on this structure, user data, i.e., IP packets, can be propagated between the base station and the core network. In particular, an S1 interface such as an S1-U interface, an S1-C interface, or the like may be configured for this purpose. In the EN-DC mode, the S-GW and the 5G SgNB exchange user data, and the user equipment simultaneously exchanges user data with the SgNB and the MeNB.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an architecture based on 5G system services. In fig. 3, N2 refers to a reference point (reference point) between a mobility management entity (MAF) and a general Radio Access Network (RAN). In contrast to the communication interface S1 described above, the N2 interface may be considered a logical interface or a functional interface. Similar to the S1 interface, the N2 interface may be used for packet transmission. From another perspective, the reference point is the interaction interface or protocol mapping relationship between two network function modules.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall layer 2 architecture, where LTE eNB is the primary node and NR gbb is the secondary node. First, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) will be briefly introduced. PDCP is a protocol defined by 3GPP in TS 25.323 for UMTS, TS36.323 for LTE, and TS 38.323 for 5G. As shown in FIG. 4, the PDCP is located in the radio protocol stack of the UMTS/LTE/5G air interface at the top of the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer.

A Radio Bearer (RB) is a collective term for a series of protocol entities and configurations allocated by the eNodeB for the user equipment. The radio bearer is a channel through which the Uu interface connects the eNB and the user equipment. Any data transmitted via the Uu interface may traverse the radio bearer. The radio bearers include a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) and a Data Radio Bearer (DRB), where the SRB is a channel for transmitting signaling messages of the system and the DRB is a channel for transmitting user data. Signaling radio bearer 1(SRB1) is configured for radio resource control messages and signaling radio bearer 2(SRB2) is configured for transport Network Attached Storage (NAS) signaling. At initial access, the user equipment may use LTE PDCP to send MSG1/3 to the eNB, but after SRB2 and DRB are configured, NR-PDCP may be used for SRB and DRB in the primary node.

In the EN-DC mode, although LTE RRC is used for a PCell in the primary node, LTE Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) is not always used. In addition, in the related art, since the neighbor LTE cell may or may not support EN-DC, in other words, the eNB of the neighbor cell may or may not be able to use NR PDCP to resolve an RRC connection reestablishment message, the user equipment may not know whether to use LTE PDCP or NR PDCP. Thus, there are still some problems to be solved. For example, how to let the user equipment know whether or not the enbs in the neighbor cells support EN-DC. If the user equipment knows that the eNB of the neighbor cell supports or does not support EN-DC, how the subsequent user equipment and eNB will handle the re-establishment procedure.

In view of the above problems, embodiments of the present invention provide a method for transmitting a signal, by which the above-mentioned ambiguity problem of a user equipment can be solved when the user equipment is in an EN-DC environment and needs to perform RRC connection re-establishment. To facilitate an understanding of the present invention, some specific exemplary architectures have been given above with reference to fig. 1 to 4. It should be understood that the system architectures shown in fig. 1-4 are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the present disclosure in any way. Although the architecture of LTE and 5G is used as an example, the present invention is not limited thereto and may be applied to, for example, other M2M systems.

The embodiments described below help achieve the advantages of the present invention, and will be described separately below.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network device according to an embodiment. Network device 50 may serve as a serving eNB for the user equipment. The serving eNB may be the eNB or the gNB shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 5, network device 50 includes one or more network device processors 51, memory 52, communication interface 53, transmitter 55, and receiver 56. These components may be connected via a bus 54 or otherwise. As shown in fig. 5, the network device 50 may further include a coupler 57 and an antenna 58 connected to the coupler 57.

The communication interface 203 may be an LTE (4G) communication interface, a 5G communication interface, or a future new air interface. The communication interface 203 may be used for the network device 50 to communicate with other communication devices such as terminal devices or other network devices. For example, the communication interface 53 may include an interface shown in fig. 2, such as an S1 interface (or NG interface), a Uu interface, or the like. Additionally, the connection between network device 50 and other network devices may be a wireless communication connection. The network device 50 may also be equipped with a wireless interface for wireless communication.

The transmitter 55 may be used to transmit signals output from the network device processor 51, such as to perform signal modulation. In signaling embodiments of the present invention, transmitter 55 may be used to transmit the EN-DC capability information in different ways. Receiver 56 may be used to receive and/or process signals received via antenna 58, e.g., for signal demodulation. In some embodiments, transmitter 55 and receiver 56 may be considered wireless modems. In the network device 50, more than one transmitter may be provided. Similarly, more than one receiver 56 may be provided.

The network device processor 51 may be responsible for radio channel management, communication link establishment, and cell handover control for users in the control area. The network device processor 51 may also read and execute computer readable instructions, such as those stored in a memory 52 connected to the processor 51. The memory 52 is used to store various software programs and/or instructions, an operating system, and network communication programs or protocols. The memory 202 may include high speed Random Access Memory (RAM) and may include non-volatile memory, such as one or more disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices.

It should be noted that the structure shown in fig. 5 may be equally applicable to a terminal communicating with a network device. For example, for user equipment having the structure shown in fig. 5, receiver 56, communication interface 53, and/or antenna 58 may be used to receive EN-DC capability information from a network device, receiver 56 may further demodulate the information and forward the demodulated information to processor 51 for subsequent processing, or store the demodulated information in memory 52.

With the above system architecture in mind, and with the understanding that the principles of the present invention may be applied generally to any wireless EN-DC communication environment, specific aspects of the present invention will be described below.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for signal transmission is provided. As shown in fig. 6, in the method for signal transmission, a serving eNB transmits a first signal indicating EN-DC capability of at least one neighbor cell to a user equipment. The serving eNB may be the MeNB or SgNB shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2. Similarly, the neighbor cell may be a cell corresponding to the MeNB or SgNB shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2. "at least one neighbor cell" means that there may be more than one neighbor cell, and the serving eNB may transmit EN-DC capabilities of a plurality of neighbor cells it already knows at once, or the serving eNB may transmit EN-DC capabilities of only one neighbor cell at a time, which the present invention is not particularly limited to. The EN-DC capability of a neighbor cell means that the cell allows devices such as user equipment to connect to LTE and 5G NR simultaneously, i.e., allows dual connectivity.

The term "signal" as referred to herein may be broadly interpreted as a wireless signal, data, packet, information, signaling, or other type of information carrier. In addition, the use of the term "first" or the like before the term "signal" is merely used to distinguish one signal from another signal that may be mentioned herein, and does not define a particular order or sequence. Based on the different forms of the first signal, different solutions are described below. Each of the following aspects, which will be described separately, contributes to the realization of the advantages of the present invention.

Embodiment mode 1

In this embodiment, the first signal may be configured such that system information indicating EN-DC capability of the neighbor cell may be carried on the first signal. For example, the first signal may be a System Information Block (SIB) carrying an Information Element (IE) for the EN-DC capability indication. Briefly, in this embodiment, the first signal takes the form of system information.

In particular, the serving eNB informs the user equipment of the EN-DC capability of the neighbor cell via system information. The system information may be transmitted over RBs via, for example, a Uu interface between the serving eNB and the user equipment. This scheme requires the serving eNB to collect the EN-DC capabilities of the neighbor cells, e.g., via an X2 interface (e.g., the X2 interface shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2) between the serving eNB and the neighbor cells. In order to inform the collected EN-DC capabilities, it is desirable to introduce new information elements in the system information block. For example, different fields or flags may be set in the information element to indicate different neighbor cells.

After the serving eNB transmits the system information, all user equipments in the serving cell can obtain the system information. For user equipment in an idle state, which may use this information in cell reselection procedures, for example, user equipment that may have high data rate traffic may prefer to select a cell with EN-DC capability. For a connected user equipment, it may obtain such information before a Radio Link Failure (RLF) occurs, so that when a radio link failure occurs, the user equipment may attempt to send a radio resource control connection re-establishment message to an EN-DC capable eNB. The reason is that the user equipment can resume the radio resource control connection with the neighbor cell and maintain the MCG and SCG bearers only when the neighbor cell supports EN-DC. If the neighbor cell does not support EN-DC, the user equipment needs to release the radio resource control connection if the user equipment resumes the radio resource control connection with the neighbor cell.

Embodiment mode 2

In this embodiment, the first signal is radio resource control signaling. The radio resource control signaling carries an IE for the EN-DC capability indication.

In particular, the serving eNB informs the user equipment of the EN-DC capability of the neighbor cell via radio resource control signaling, such as dedicated radio resource control signaling. RRC signaling may be transmitted over a Radio Bearer (RB) via the Uu interface between the serving eNB and the user equipment. In particular, the radio bearer may be the SRB1 described above. This scheme also requires the serving eNB to collect the EN-DC capabilities of the neighbor cells, e.g., via the X2 interface between the serving eNB and the neighbor cells. In order to inform the collected EN-DC capabilities, a new information element needs to be introduced in the dedicated radio resource control signaling or radio resource control message. However, this need not be a completely new radio resource control message, but rather, for the EN-DC capability of the neighbouring cell, any form of indication to indicate this may be inserted into the existing downlink radio resource control message (e.g. radio resource control connection reconfiguration message) sent to the user equipment.

The radio resource control signaling may be acquired by all connected user equipments in the serving cell so that when a radio link failure occurs, the user equipments may attempt to send a radio resource control connection re-establishment message to an eNB supporting EN-DC. The reason is that the user equipment can restore the radio resource control connection with the neighbor cell and maintain the MCG bearer and the SCG bearer only when the neighbor cell supports EN-DC. If the neighboring cell does not support EN-DC, the user equipment needs to release the radio resource control connection even if the user equipment resumes the radio resource control connection with the cell. Generally, the advantages of this scheme cannot be embodied on user equipment in an idle state.

Embodiment 3

As described above, in order to inform the user equipment of the EN-DC capability of the neighbor cells, the serving cell first needs to collect such information.

For example, the serving eNB may collect EN-DC capabilities of at least one neighbor cell via operations, administration, and service (OAM) configuration. Alternatively, the serving eNB may collect EN-DC capabilities of at least one neighbor cell through signaling of S1/N2 interface or X2/Xn interface. The X2/Xn interface and the S1 interface may be the interfaces shown in fig. 1 and 2, and the N2 interface may be the reference point shown in fig. 3. For example, in case of using the X2 interface, the serving cell collects EN-DC capabilities of neighbor cells through the X2 interface; using the S1 interface, the core network forwards the EN-DC capabilities from the neighbor cells to the serving cell over the S1 interface.

In addition to the above, the serving eNB may also obtain EN-DC capabilities of neighbor cells from other user equipments. We use "another user equipment" to distinguish the user equipment receiving the first signal from the serving eNB. For example, another user equipment may report the EN-DC capabilities (if any) of the neighbor cell to the serving eNB. This communication may be achieved via a Uu interface (not shown in the figures) between the user equipment and the serving eNB. This scheme illustrates the feasibility of the serving eNB to collect the EN-DC capabilities of the neighbor cells.

Thus, when the user equipment knows the EN-DC capability of a neighbor cell, it preferentially targets the cell for re-establishing a connection and restoring a connection to the cell, or targets the cell for cell reselection. In this way, the user equipment and the RAN handle radio resource control connection re-establishment in the hybrid NG-RAN.

By performing the methods disclosed herein, a connected user equipment may be aware of the EN-DC capability of a neighbor cell (or target cell) and may decide whether to reestablish a connection to the neighbor cell to maintain EN-DC as much as possible for service continuity. In addition, by performing the methods disclosed herein, user equipment in an idle state may use EN-DC capability information during cell reselection.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a device for signal transmission, which can be used for implementing the method for signal transmission. Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing a system including the apparatus.

In fig. 7, one of the devices for signal transmission is shown as a network device 12, which may be applied to a serving eNB for a user equipment. And another device for signal transmission as the user equipment 10, which can be applied to the user equipment. It should be noted that the network device 12 is not necessarily bound to the user device 10, and may be deployed or used separately from the user device. Similarly, the user device 10 shown in fig. 7 may also be used in conjunction with other network devices.

As shown in fig. 7, user device 10 is in wireless communication with network device 12. The user equipment 10 may be the terminal equipment shown in fig. 1, and the network equipment 12 is the serving eNB and may be the MeNB or SgNB shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2.

The network device 12 has a transmitting unit 72 and a first receiving unit 74.

The transmitting unit 72 may be a transmitter, transceiver, antenna, etc. For example, the transmitting unit 72 may be implemented as the transmitter 55 of fig. 5. The transmitting unit 72 is configured to be able to send a first signal indicating EN-DC capability of at least one neighbor cell to the user equipment 10. The first signal may be a system message or radio resource control signaling and may be transmitted via the Uu interface between the network device 12 and the user equipment 10. For convenience of description, please refer to the details of the above method.

The first receiving unit 74 is configured to collect EN-DC capabilities of the neighbor cells from the outside, such as receiving EN-DC capabilities of neighbor cells reported by a previous day user equipment other than the user equipment 10 via an OAM configuration or by signaling via an X2/Xn interface or an S1/N2 interface, or via, for example, a Uu interface. Once the EN-DC capability of the neighbouring cell is acquired, the first receiving unit 74 may forward it to the transmitting unit 72 to inform the user equipment 10. To this end, there may be a wired or wireless connection between the transmitting unit 72 and the receiving unit 74. The receiving unit 74 may be equipped with an antenna, receiver, or other functional logic. For example, the first receiving unit 74 may be the receiver 56 of fig. 5. It is apparent that the transmitting unit 72 and the first receiving unit 74 may be integrated together or may be deployed as separate components.

The user equipment 10 has a second receiving unit 76 and a control unit 78 connected to the second receiving unit 76.

The second receiving unit 76 is configured to receive RRC signaling or system information indicating at least one neighboring cell EN-DC capability from a serving eNB (in fig. 7, the network device 12). The second receiving unit 76 of the user equipment 10 may communicate wirelessly with the transmitting unit 72 of the network equipment 12, for example, via a Uu interface.

The control unit 78 is adapted to use the EN-DC capability of the at least one neighbor cell received by the second receiving unit 76 of the user equipment 10. For example, when the user equipment 10 is in the connected state, the control unit 78 is configured to target at least one neighbor cell to reestablish a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection according to the received EN-DC capability indicated by the system information or RRC signaling. When the user equipment 10 is in the idle state, the control unit 78 is configured to prioritize at least one neighboring cell as a target for cell reselection according to the received EN-DC capability indicated by the system information or the radio resource control signaling. For example, if the user equipment 10 is likely to have a high data rate service, it may prioritize cells with EN-DC capability.

The architecture shown in the figures only shows a simplified design of the corresponding device. In practical applications, the device may comprise any number of transmitters, receivers, processors, memories, etc. to implement the functions or operations performed by the device, and all devices capable of performing the solutions provided herein are within the scope of the present invention.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, a network device is also provided. The network device includes at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor. For example, the network device may be configured to have the structure of the network device 50 shown in fig. 5, and accordingly, at least one processor may be implemented as the processor 51 and a memory may be implemented as the memory 52. Further, the memory is configured to store at least one program that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform all or part of the operations of the method for signal processing of the present invention.

Relevant parts of the method embodiments of the invention may be referred to each other; the devices provided in the various device embodiments may be used to perform the methods provided by the corresponding method embodiments, and thus each device embodiment may refer to the methods described in the related method embodiments.

It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that all or part of the processes for implementing the above embodiments may be directed to the relevant hardware processes by a computer program, and that the program may be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. Thus, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is also provided a nonvolatile computer-readable storage medium. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium stores at least one computer readable program, which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform all or part of the operations of the method for signal transmission of the present invention. Examples of non-volatile computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic or optical disks, and the like.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the above embodiments are merely examples and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Various alterations, modifications, additions, and improvements may be made to the embodiments of the invention. The above-described functions may be separated or combined in different programs, or described using different terminology in different embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for signal transmission, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a serving eNB sends a first signal used for indicating EN-DC capability of at least one adjacent cell to user equipment, and the user equipment preferentially takes the at least one adjacent cell as a target for reestablishing radio resource control connection or a target for cell reselection; wherein EN-DC capability of a neighbor cell means that the neighbor cell allows a user equipment to connect to LTE and 5G NR simultaneously.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signal is configured to carry system information indicating the EN-DC capability of the at least one neighbor cell.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first signal is a system information block carrying an information element for an EN-DC capability indication.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signal is radio resource control signaling.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the radio resource control signaling is configured to carry an information element for an EN-DC capability indication.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

the serving eNB collects the EN-DC capabilities of the at least one neighbor cell.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the serving eNB collecting the EN-DC capability of the at least one neighbor cell comprises:

the serving eNB collects the EN-DC capabilities of the at least one neighbor cell via operation, administration, and maintenance configuration.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the serving eNB collecting the EN-DC capability of the at least one neighbor cell comprises:

the serving eNB collects the EN-DC capabilities of the at least one neighbor cell via an X2/Xn interface or an S1/N2 interface.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the serving eNB collecting the EN-DC capability of the at least one neighbor cell comprises:

the serving eNB collects the EN-DC capability of the at least one neighbor cell from another user equipment.

10. An apparatus for signal transmission, for a serving eNB of a user equipment and comprising:

a transmitting unit, configured to send a first signal indicating EN-DC capability of at least one neighboring cell to a user equipment, so that the user equipment selects a cell with EN-DC capability for reconnection; wherein EN-DC capability of a neighbor cell means that the neighbor cell allows a user equipment to connect to LTE and 5G NR simultaneously.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first signal is configured to carry system information indicating the EN-DC capability of the at least one neighbor cell.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the first signal is a system information block carrying an information element for an EN-DC capability indication.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first signal is radio resource control signaling.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the radio resource control signaling carries an information element for EN-DC capability indication.

15. The apparatus of any of claims 10 to 14, further comprising:

a receiving unit configured to collect the EN-DC capability of the at least one neighbor cell.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the receiving unit is configured to collect the EN-DC capability of the at least one neighbor cell via at least one of: operation, administration, and maintenance configuration, X2/Xn interface, and S1/N2 interface.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the receiving unit is configured to collect EN-DC capabilities of the at least one neighbor cell from another user equipment.

18. An apparatus for signal transmission, applied to a user equipment and comprising:

a receiving unit for receiving radio resource control signaling or a system message indicating EN-DC capability of at least one neighbor cell from a serving eNB; and

a control unit, configured to preferentially use the at least one neighboring cell as a target for reestablishing radio resource control connection or a target for cell reselection according to the EN-DC capability indicated by the system information or the radio resource control signaling; wherein EN-DC capability of a neighbor cell means that the neighbor cell allows a user equipment to connect to LTE and 5G NR simultaneously.

19. A network device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing at least one program that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform the method of any of claims 1-9.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing at least one program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.