CN110351882B

CN110351882B - Indication method for requesting system information, related equipment and system

Info

Publication number: CN110351882B
Application number: CN201810309176.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐海博; 姚楚婷; 邝奕如; 王键; 刘海涛
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-04-04
Filing date: 2018-04-04
Publication date: 2022-05-24
Anticipated expiration: 2038-04-04
Also published as: WO2019192492A1; CN110351882A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides an indication method for requesting system information, related equipment and a system. The method is applied to a CU-DU separation system or a relay system, and comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a terminal device selects PRACH resources from a first PRACH resource set and sends random access preambles to a network device, the terminal device sends media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU to the network device, the MAC sub-PDU comprises first indication information and a media access control service data unit MAC SDU, and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises a message requesting system information; and the terminal equipment acquires the system information sent by the network equipment. The MAC SDU is identified to comprise the message of requesting the system information through the first indication information, so that the system information request of the terminal can be effectively prevented from being rejected by network equipment by mistake, and the waste of transmission resources can be effectively avoided.

Description

Indication method for requesting system information, related equipment and system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to an indication method, a related device, and a system for requesting system information.

Background

In order to enhance network coverage and increase network capacity, an effective method is to deploy relay nodes. In a system architecture in which a relay node is deployed, a UE is connected to a base station through the relay node, in which case, the base station to which the relay node is connected may become a Donor base station (Donor base station), and the Donor base station may be connected to a core network.

According to the protocol specification of the third Generation Partnership Project (3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP for short), most of the existing system information needs to be transmitted from a network (network) to a User Equipment (UE) in a broadcast manner. For example, in Long Term Evolution (LTE), System Information (SI) includes Master Information Block (MIB) basic configuration Information and System Information Block (SIB) Information, where a broadcast period of the Master Information Block System basic configuration Information and a part of the System Information Block Information are fixed, and a broadcast period of the rest of the System Information Block Information is adjustable within a fixed range. Even if the user equipment does not currently need to acquire system information, it must constantly listen to the broadcast content in the broadcast channel to acquire both pieces of information.

In a New Radio (NR) technology, Minimum System Information (MSI) must be broadcast, and some System Information is not required by all ues, and for this part of System Information, the network does not need to broadcast periodically, but can broadcast on demand according to the needs of the ues.

In the 5G NR system, a CU-DU separation technique is introduced, namely, a base station of NR is logically divided into two nodes, gNB-DU (distributed Unit) and gNB-CU (Central Unit). A system in which the UE is connected to the gNB-CU through the gNB-DU and connected to the core network through the gNB-CU is referred to as a CU-DU separation system, and a system in which the UE is connected to the base station through the relay node and connected to the core network through the base station is referred to as a relay system.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments provide an indication method, related device and system for requesting system information, which can accurately identify a system information request message, and avoid mistakenly rejecting a system information request of a user equipment and waste of transmission resources.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for acquiring system information, where the method is applied in a CU-DU separation system or a relay system, and the method includes:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device selects a PRACH resource from a first physical random access channel PRACH resource set to send a random access preamble to a network device, wherein the first PRACH resource set is the PRACH resource set used for sending the random access preamble when the terminal device initiates a random access process to request system information; the terminal equipment sends a media access control sub protocol data unit (MAC sub PDU) to the network equipment, wherein the MAC sub PDU comprises first indication information and a media access control service data unit (MAC SDU), and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises a message for requesting system information;

and the terminal equipment acquires the system information sent by the network equipment.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the PRACH resource is selected from the first PRACH resource set to send the random access preamble to the network equipment, and the MAC sub PDU is sent to the network equipment and comprises the first indication information and the media access control service data unit MAC SDU, so that the network equipment can identify the message which is transmitted by the MAC SDU and is used for requesting the system information according to the first indication information, the system information request which is mistakenly rejected by the network equipment and is sent by the terminal equipment can be effectively avoided, and the waste of transmission resources can be avoided.

In an optional implementation manner, before sending a random access preamble to a network device, the terminal device receives second system information sent by the network device, where the second system information includes the first PRACH resource set.

In an optional implementation manner, the first indication information includes a value of a logical channel identity LCID in a MAC subheader included in the MAC sub-pdu, where the value of the LCID is used to include a message indicating that the transmission of the MAC SDU is requesting system information.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the first indication information is formed by setting the LCID value, so that the method is simple to realize, convenient for network identification, high-efficiency and reliable.

In an optional implementation manner, the message requesting system information includes: radio resource control protocol RRC messages transmitted over a common control logical channel CCCH or radio resource control protocol RRC messages transmitted over a dedicated control logical channel DCCH.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the message requesting the system information can be transmitted through the RRC message transmitted by the CCCH or the RRC message transmitted by the DCCH, thereby facilitating the identification of network equipment.

In an optional implementation manner, when the value of the LCID is the first value, the value of the LCID indicates that the MAC SDU transmits an RRC message requesting system information transmitted by the CCCH or DCCH.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the value of the LCID can be preset to indicate that the transmitted MAC SDU is the RRC message requesting the system information transmitted by the CCCH or the DCCH, only the value of the LCID needs to be identified, and the method is simple and efficient.

In an optional implementation manner, before the terminal device sends the MAC sub pdu to the network device, the method further includes:

and the terminal equipment receives second indication information sent by the network equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the network equipment supports the terminal equipment to use the first value of the LCID.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the terminal equipment can be informed in advance through the second indication information that the LCID value can be used as the first indication information, and the network equipment can identify the LCID value, thereby identifying the message requesting the system information.

In an alternative implementation manner, the second indication information is contained in a main system information MIB broadcast by the network device, or contained in a system information block 1SIB1 broadcast by the network device.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the second indication information can be sent through the MIB or SIB1, the MIB or SIB1 is in the existing message form, and the second indication information is not sent through other messages, so that the method and the device are simple and convenient, and save resources.

In an optional implementation manner, the first indication information includes a value of a reserved bit in a MAC subheader included in the MAC sub-pdu, where the value of the reserved bit indicates that the MAC SDU transmits a message requesting system information.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the message requesting the system information is transmitted by the MAC SDU through presetting the value of the reserved bit, only the value of the reserved bit needs to be identified, and the method is simple and efficient.

In an optional implementation manner, when the value of the reserved bit is a first value, the MAC SDU corresponding to the MAC subheader is indicated to transmit an RRC message requesting system information transmitted by a CCCH or DCCH; and when the value of the reserved bit is a second value, the MAC SDU corresponding to the MAC subheader is indicated to be transmitted by an RRC connection establishment request message transmitted by a CCCH or a DCCH, or an RRC connection reestablishment request message, or an RRC connection recovery message.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the value of the reserved bit can be preset to indicate that the MAC SDU corresponding to the MAC subheader transmits the RRC message requesting system information transmitted by CCCH or DCCH, and only the value of the reserved bit needs to be identified, so that the method and the device are simple and efficient.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an indication method for requesting system information, where the method is applied in a CU-DU separation system or a relay system, and the method includes:

a first network device receives a random access preamble sent by a PRACH resource selected by a terminal device from a first Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) resource set, wherein the first PRACH resource set is a set of PRACH resources used for sending the random access preamble when the terminal device initiates a random access process to request system information; the first network equipment receives a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub PDU) sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the MAC sub PDU comprises first indication information and a media access control service data unit (MAC SDU), and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises a message for requesting system information;

the first network equipment sends a request message to second network equipment, wherein the request message comprises the message of requesting system information;

and the first network equipment sends system information to the terminal equipment.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, according to the PRACH resource used by the terminal equipment and the received MAC SDU which is sent by the terminal equipment and comprises the first indication information and the media access control service data unit, the message for requesting the system information is identified by the first indication information, the first network equipment can be effectively prevented from rejecting the system information request of the terminal equipment by mistake, and the waste of transmission resources can be avoided.

In an optional implementation manner, before receiving a random access preamble sent by a terminal device, the first network device sends second system information to the terminal device, where the second system information includes the first PRACH resource set.

In an optional implementation manner, before the first network device receives the MAC sub pdu sent by the terminal device, the method further includes:

and the first network equipment sends second indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first network equipment supports the terminal equipment to use the first value of the LCID.

In an optional implementation manner, when the value of the reserved bit is a first value, the MAC SDU corresponding to the MAC subheader is indicated to transmit an RRC message requesting system information transmitted by a CCCH or DCCH;

and when the value of the reserved bit is a second value, the MAC SDU corresponding to the MAC subheader is indicated to be transmitted by RRC connection establishment request message transmitted by CCCH or DCCH, or RRC connection reestablishment request message, or RRC connection recovery message.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an indication method for requesting system information, where the method is applied in a CU-DU separation system or a relay system, and the method includes:

the method comprises the steps that a second network device receives a request message sent by a first network device, wherein the request message is sent after the first network device identifies that MAC sub PDU is used for requesting system information according to first indication information, the MAC sub PDU is sent to the first network device by a terminal device, the MAC sub PDU comprises first indication information and a media access control service data unit (MAC SDU), and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises a message for requesting the system information;

and the second network equipment sends a response message to the first network equipment according to the request message so that the first network equipment sends system information to the terminal equipment.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the request message sent after the first network equipment identifies that the MAC SDU comprises the message requesting the system information according to the first indication information is received, so that the system information request of the terminal equipment can be effectively avoided being rejected by mistake, and the waste of transmission resources can be avoided.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for transmitting a system information request message and a response message, where the method includes:

the first network equipment sends a first message to the second network equipment; the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier; the cell identification is the identification of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the cell corresponding to the cell identifier belongs to a third network device;

the first network equipment receives a second message sent by the second network equipment; the second message instructs the third network device to send the system information of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the second message comprises the cell identification;

the first network device and the third network device are the same network device, or the first network device and the third network device are different network devices.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the first message can be ensured to be correctly transmitted to the second network equipment, and the second message sent by the second network equipment can also be ensured to be correctly received.

In an optional implementation manner, the second network device maintains a first information set, where the first information set includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the second network device and a first association table, and the first association table includes a device identifier of a fourth network device and an identifier of a cell managed by the fourth network device; wherein the fourth network device is a child node device of the second network device; the identifier of the cell managed by the fourth network device includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the fourth network device and an identifier of a cell indirectly managed by the fourth network device;

the first network device maintains a second information set, where the second information set includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the first network device and a second association table, and the first association table includes a device identifier of a fifth network device and an identifier of a cell managed by the fifth network device; the fifth network device is a child node device of the first network device; the identifier of the cell managed by the fifth network device includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the fifth network device and an identifier of a cell indirectly managed by the fifth network device.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the accuracy of message transmission is ensured by utilizing the cell identifier and the first association table as well as the cell identifier and the second association table.

In an optional implementation manner, the first message includes a device identifier of the third network device, and the second message includes a device identifier of the third network device;

the second network device maintains a third information set, where the third information set includes a device identifier of a sixth network device and a third association table, and the third association table includes the device identifier of the sixth network device and a device identifier of a seventh network device having a connection relationship with the sixth network device; the sixth network device is a child node device of the second network device, and the connection relationship includes that the seventh network device is directly connected to the sixth network device, or the seventh network device is indirectly connected to the sixth network device;

the first network device maintains a fourth information set, where the fourth information set includes a device identifier of an eighth network device and a fourth association table, and the fourth association table includes a device identifier of the eighth network device and a device identifier of a ninth network device having a connection relationship with the eighth network device; the eighth network device is a child node device of the first network device, and the connection relationship includes that the ninth network device is directly connected to the eighth network device, or the ninth network device is indirectly connected to the eighth network device.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the accuracy of message transmission is ensured by utilizing the equipment identifier of the network equipment and the third association table as well as the equipment identifier of the network equipment and the fourth association table.

In an optional implementation manner, the second message includes a device identifier of the third network device;

the second network device maintains a fifth information set and a sixth information set;

the fifth information set comprises an identifier of a cell directly managed by the second network device and a fifth association table, and the fifth association table comprises a device identifier of a tenth network device and an identifier of a cell directly managed by the tenth network device; the tenth network device and the second network device have a connection relationship, where the connection relationship includes that the tenth network device is directly connected with the second network device or the tenth network device is indirectly connected with the second network device;

the sixth information set comprises a device identifier of an eleventh network device and a sixth association table, wherein the sixth association table comprises the device identifier of the eleventh network device and a device identifier of a twelfth network device having a connection relationship with the eleventh network device; the eleventh network device is a child node device of the second network device, and the connection relationship includes that the twelfth network device is directly connected to the eleventh network device, or the twelfth network device is indirectly connected to the eleventh network device;

the first network device maintains a seventh information set, where the seventh information set includes a seventh association table of device identifiers of a thirteenth network device, and the seventh association table includes a device identifier of the thirteenth network device and a device identifier of a fourteenth network device having a connection relationship with the thirteenth network device; the thirteenth network device is a child node device of the first network device, and the connection relationship includes that the fourteenth network device is directly connected to the thirteenth network device, or the fourteenth network device is indirectly connected to the thirteenth network device.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the accuracy of message transmission is ensured by utilizing the cell identifier and the fifth association table, the device identifier and the sixth association table of the network device, and the device identifier and the seventh association table of the network device.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for transmitting a system information request message and a response message, where the method includes:

the method comprises the steps that a second network device receives a first message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier; the cell identification is the identification of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the cell corresponding to the cell identifier belongs to a third network device;

the second network device sends a second message to the first network device, wherein the second message indicates the third network device to send the system information of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the second message comprises the cell identification;

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the first message sent by the first network equipment can be correctly received, and the second message can be correctly transmitted to the first network equipment.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal device, where the terminal device includes:

a first sending unit, configured to select a PRACH resource from a first physical random access channel PRACH resource set to send a random access preamble to a network device, where the first PRACH resource set is a set of PRACH resources used for sending the random access preamble when the terminal device initiates a random access procedure to request system information;

the first sending unit is further configured to send a media access control subprotocol data unit MAC sub pdu to the network device;

the MAC sub PDU comprises first indication information and a media access control service data unit (MAC SDU), wherein the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises a message for requesting system information;

a first receiving unit, configured to receive system information sent by the network device.

In an optional implementation manner, the first receiving unit is further configured to receive second system information sent by the network device, where the second system information includes the first PRACH resource set.

In an alternative implementation manner, before the terminal device sends the MAC sub pdu to the network device,

the first receiving unit is further configured to receive second indication information sent by the network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the network device supports the terminal device to use the first value of the LCID.

and when the value of the reserved bit is a second value, the MAC SDU corresponding to the MAC subheader is indicated to be transmitted by an RRC connection establishment request message transmitted by a CCCH or a DCCH, or an RRC connection reestablishment request message, or an RRC connection recovery message.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a first network device, where the first network device includes:

a first receiving unit, configured to receive a random access preamble sent by a PRACH resource selected by a terminal device from a first physical random access channel PRACH resource set, where the first PRACH resource set is a set of PRACH resources used for sending the random access preamble when the terminal device initiates a random access procedure to request system information;

the first receiving unit is further configured to receive a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-pdu sent by the terminal device;

a first sending unit, configured to send a request message to a second network device, where the request message includes a message requesting system information;

the first receiving unit is further configured to receive a response message sent by the second network device;

the first sending unit is further configured to send system information to the terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner, the first sending unit is further configured to send second system information to the terminal device, where the second system information includes the first PRACH resource set.

In an alternative implementation manner, before the receiving terminal device sends the MAC sub-pdu,

the first sending unit is further configured to send second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first network device supports the terminal device to use the first value of the LCID.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a second network device, where the second network device includes:

a second receiving unit, configured to receive a request message sent by a first network device;

the request message is sent by the first network device after identifying that a MAC sub pdu is used for requesting system information according to first indication information, where the MAC sub pdu is sent to the first network device by a terminal device, the MAC sub pdu includes first indication information and a media access control service data unit MAC SDU, and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU includes a message for requesting system information;

a second sending unit, configured to send a response message to the first network device, so that the first network device sends system information to the terminal device.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a first network device, where the first network device includes:

a first sending unit, configured to send a first message to a second network device;

the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier, wherein the cell identifier is an identifier of a cell corresponding to the system information request message, and the cell corresponding to the cell identifier belongs to third network equipment;

a first receiving unit, configured to receive a second message sent by the second network device;

wherein the second message instructs the third network device to send the system information of the cell corresponding to the system information request message, and the second message includes the cell identifier.

In an optional implementation manner, the first network device further includes a first maintenance unit, where the first maintenance unit is configured to maintain a second information set, where the second information set includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the first network device and a second association table, and the first association table includes a device identifier of a fifth network device and an identifier of a cell managed by the fifth network device; the fifth network device is a child node device of the first network device; the identifier of the cell managed by the fifth network device includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the fifth network device and an identifier of a cell indirectly managed by the fifth network device.

In an optional implementation manner, the first maintenance unit is further configured to maintain a fourth information set, where the fourth information set includes a device identifier of an eighth network device and a fourth association table, and the fourth association table includes the device identifier of the eighth network device and a device identifier of a ninth network device having a connection relationship with the eighth network device; the eighth network device is a child node device of the first network device, and the connection relationship includes that the ninth network device is directly connected to the eighth network device, or the ninth network device is indirectly connected to the eighth network device.

In an optional implementation manner, the first maintenance unit is further configured to maintain a seventh information set, where the seventh information set includes a seventh association table of device identifications of a thirteenth network device, and the seventh association table includes a device identification of the thirteenth network device and a device identification of a fourteenth network device having a connection relationship with the thirteenth network device; the thirteenth network device is a child node device of the first network device, and the connection relationship includes that the fourteenth network device is directly connected to the thirteenth network device, or the fourteenth network device is indirectly connected to the thirteenth network device.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a second network device, where the second network device includes:

a second receiving unit, configured to receive a first message sent by a first network device;

a second sending unit, configured to send a second message to the first network device;

In an optional implementation manner, the second network further includes a second maintenance unit, where the second maintenance unit is configured to maintain a first information set, where the first information set includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the second network device and a first association table, and the first association table includes a device identifier of a fourth network device and an identifier of a cell managed by the fourth network device; wherein the fourth network device is a child node device of the second network device; the identifier of the cell managed by the fourth network device includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the fourth network device and an identifier of a cell indirectly managed by the fourth network device.

In an optional implementation manner, the second maintenance unit is further configured to maintain a third information set, where the third information set includes a device identifier of a sixth network device and a third association table, and the third association table includes the device identifier of the sixth network device and a device identifier of a seventh network device having a connection relationship with the sixth network device; the sixth network device is a child node device of the second network device, and the connection relationship includes that the seventh network device is directly connected to the sixth network device, or the seventh network device is indirectly connected to the sixth network device.

In an optional implementation manner, the second maintenance unit is further configured to maintain a fifth information set and a sixth information set;

the sixth information set comprises a device identifier of an eleventh network device and a sixth association table, wherein the sixth association table comprises the device identifier of the eleventh network device and a device identifier of a twelfth network device having a connection relationship with the eleventh network device; the eleventh network device is a child node device of the second network device, and the connection relationship includes that the twelfth network device is directly connected to the eleventh network device, or the twelfth network device is indirectly connected to the eleventh network device.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal device, where the terminal device includes: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein:

the processor, the memory, and the transceiver are interconnected, the memory for storing a computer program comprising program instructions, the processor configured to invoke the program instructions to perform the steps of:

selecting PRACH resources from a first physical random access channel PRACH resource set to send random access preambles to network equipment, and sending a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub PDU) to the network equipment, wherein the MAC sub PDU comprises first indication information and a media access control service data unit (MAC SDU), and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises a message for requesting system information;

and receiving system information sent by the network equipment.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a first network device, where the first network device includes: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein:

receiving a random access preamble sent by a PRACH resource selected from a first Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) resource set by a terminal device, and receiving a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub PDU) sent by the terminal device, wherein the MAC sub PDU comprises first indication information and a media access control service data unit (MAC SDU), and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises a message for requesting system information;

sending a request message to a second network device, wherein the request message comprises the message requesting the system information;

and sending system information to the terminal equipment.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a second network device, where the second network device includes: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein:

receiving a request message sent by a first network device, where the request message is sent by the first network device after the first network device identifies, according to first indication information, that a MAC sub pdu is used for requesting system information, where the MAC sub pdu is sent to the first network device by a terminal device, the MAC sub pdu includes first indication information and a media access control service data unit MAC SDU, and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU includes a message requesting system information;

and sending a response message to the first network equipment so that the first network equipment sends system information to the terminal equipment.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a first network device, where the first network device includes: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein:

sending a first message to a second network device; the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier; the cell identification is the identification of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the cell corresponding to the cell identifier belongs to a third network device;

receiving a second message sent by the second network equipment; the second message instructs the third network device to send the system information of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the second message includes the cell identifier.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a second network device, where the second network device includes: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein:

the processor, the memory and the transceiver are interconnected, the memory for storing a computer program comprising program instructions, the processor configured to invoke the program instructions to perform the steps of:

receiving a first message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier; the cell identifier is the identifier of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the cell corresponding to the cell identifier belongs to a third network device;

sending a second message to the first network device, wherein the second message indicates the third network device to send the system information of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the second message includes the cell identifier.

In a sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication system, including a terminal device, a first network device, and a second network device; the terminal device is the terminal device described in the sixth aspect or any optional implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first network device is the first network device described in the seventh aspect or any optional implementation manner of the seventh aspect, and the second network device is the first network device described in the eighth aspect or any optional implementation manner of the eighth aspect.

In a seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication system, including a first network device and a second network device; the first network device is the terminal device described in the ninth aspect or any optional implementation manner of the ninth aspect, and the second network device is the second network device described in the tenth aspect or any optional implementation manner of the tenth aspect.

In an eighteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored, where the computer program includes program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed by a processor of a terminal device, the processor of the terminal device is caused to execute the method described in the first aspect or any one of the optional implementation manners of the first aspect; or the program instructions, when executed by a processor of a first network device, cause the processor of the first network device to perform the method described in any of the second aspects or any of the alternative implementations of the second aspects, or the program instructions, when executed by a processor of a second network device, cause the processor of the second network device to perform the method described in any of the third aspects or any of the alternative implementations of the third aspects.

In a nineteenth aspect, the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored, where the computer program includes program instructions that, when executed by a processor of a first network device, cause the processor of the first network device to execute the method described in any one of the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect, or cause a processor of a second network device to execute the method described in any one of the fifth aspect or the fifth aspect, when executed by a processor of the second network device.

By implementing the embodiment of the present invention, a value of an LCID or a value of a reserved bit may be set as first indication information in a transmitted MAC sub pdu, so that a first network device may identify a message, which is transmitted by a MAC SDU and is a request for system information, according to the first indication information, which may effectively avoid that the network device erroneously rejects a system information request of a terminal device, and may also avoid waste of transmission resources.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below.

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a terminal device requesting system information from a network;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture of a 5G access network under CU-DU detachment condition;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a user equipment requesting system information based on a CU-DU separation system;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a control plane protocol stack of the CU-DU separation system;

fig. 5A is a schematic diagram of a single-hop relay architecture;

fig. 5B is a diagram illustrating a multi-hop relay architecture;

fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an indication method for requesting system information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a MAC PDU structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of LCID values and indication information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an indication method for requesting system information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an indication method for requesting system information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for transmitting a system information request message and a response message according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a routing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of another routing system provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of another routing system provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for transmitting a system information request message and a response message according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a second network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of another first network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 21 is a schematic structural diagram of another second network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 22 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of another first network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 25 is a schematic structural diagram of another second network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 26 is a schematic structural diagram of another first network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 27 is a schematic structural diagram of another second network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

When a certain terminal device needs certain system information, the terminal device sends a request message to the network to request the network to broadcast the system information. Referring to fig. 1, a schematic flowchart of a process in which a terminal device requests a network for system information is shown, as shown in fig. 1, the terminal device transmits a Random Access preamble based on a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) to notify the network that it will send a request for acquiring system information as needed, after receiving a Random Access response transmitted by the network, the terminal device transmits a system information request, and after receiving the system information request, in response to the system information request, the network transmits a system information response in a broadcast form in a resource reserved for broadcasting system information on a downlink channel (when no terminal device requests system information, the resource can also be used for other signal transmission).

In the 5G NR system, a CU-DU separation technique is introduced. The base station (gNB) of the NR is logically divided into two nodes, gNB-CU (Central Unit) and gNB-DU (distributed Unit), and a gNB may consist of one CU and one or more DUs. Referring to fig. 2, the system architecture diagram of a 5G access Network under CU-DU separation is shown, where an interface between a CU and a DU is an F1 interface, and a gNB is connected to a User Equipment (UE) through a Universal User Network interface (Uu) and connected to a 5G core Network through a Next Generation interface (NG).

When the terminal equipment is UE, the network comprises a base station with separated CU-DU, the system information which is needed to be acquired by the UE according to needs is generated by the CU and then is sent to the DU, and when the UE requests the system information, the UE needs to send a system information request message to the CU through the DU, and then the system information is acquired through DU broadcasting. Referring to fig. 3, it is a schematic flow chart of the user equipment requesting system information based on the CU-DU separation system. A CU of a base station sends system information of a cell to a DU, the DU receives and stores the system information, user equipment triggers a system information request, a random access preamble is sent to the DU of the base station, the DU sends a random access response after receiving the preamble, UE sends a system information request message after receiving the response, the DU sends the system information request message to the CU through an F1 Application Protocol (F1-Application Protocol, F1-AP) message after receiving the system information request message, the CU sends a system information transmission command message to the DU through an F1AP message after reading, and the DU broadcasts the system information to the UE after receiving the system information transmission command message.

As shown in fig. 4, it can be seen that the DU does not have a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), a Radio resource Control Protocol (RRC), and a Non-Access stratum Protocol (NAS), and only has a Physical layer Protocol (PHY), a Medium Access Control Protocol (MAC), a Radio Link Control Protocol (RLC), an Internet Protocol (IP), a Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), and an Application Protocol F1 (F1-Application Protocol, F1-AP). The message requesting system information sent by the UE is an RRC message, since the DU has no Radio Resource Control protocol (RRC), and cannot decode the RRC message, the DU can only forward the RRC message to the CU through an F1AP message according to an F1 application protocol, the CU has a Radio Resource Control protocol (RRC), and can decode the RRC message, and after decoding the RRC message requesting system information, the DU is notified to broadcast the system information by sending a system information transmission command message to the DU through an F1AP message according to the F1 application protocol.

Specifically, for the UEs in the RRC Idle state (RRC _ Idle) and the RRC deactivated state (RRC _ Inactive), when sending the system information request message, the UE may transmit the RRC message through a Common Control Channel (CCCH) in the logical Channel, and the CCCH is also used for transmitting RRC messages such as an RRC connection establishment request, an RRC connection recovery request, and an RRC connection reestablishment request. In addition, when the DU performs admission control, the UE requesting system information may be rejected by mistake because the RRC message cannot be correctly distinguished, and the DU forwards the RRC message through the same message, which may contain unnecessary information, resulting in waste of resources. Therefore, it is necessary to add indication information to the RRC message requesting system information transmitted by the UE so that the DU can correctly recognize that the RRC message transmitted by the UE is for requesting system information.

In order to enhance network coverage and improve network capacity, an effective method is to deploy a relay node between the UE and the base station, and in a system architecture in which the relay node is deployed, the UE is connected to the base station through the relay node. Referring to fig. 5A and 5B, fig. 5A is a schematic diagram of a single-hop relay architecture, and fig. 5B is a schematic diagram of a multi-hop relay architecture. When UE needs to acquire system information, a system information request message is sent to a relay node, the relay node forwards the system information request message to a host base station, and the relay node broadcasts the system information to the UE after receiving a system information transmission command message sent by the host base station.

The relay node is similar to the DU, has no Radio Resource Control protocol (RRC), and cannot decode an RRC message sent by the UE, and the relay node can only forward the RRC message to the host base station through an F1AP message according to an F1 application protocol, and the host base station has a Radio Resource Control protocol (RRC), and can decode the RRC message, and after decoding the RRC message requesting system information, sends a system information transmission command message to the relay node through an F1AP message according to an F1 application protocol, and notifies the relay node to broadcast the system information.

Therefore, for a system (CU-DU separation system) in which the UE is connected to the gNB-CU through the gNB-DU and connected to the core network through the gNB-CU, or a system (relay system) in which the UE is connected to the base station through the relay node and connected to the core network through the base station, it is necessary to add indication information in an RRC message sent by the UE to request system information, so that the DU or the relay node can correctly recognize that the RRC message sent by the UE is used for requesting system information, thereby avoiding the DU or the relay node from erroneously rejecting the UE requesting system information and causing waste of transmission resources.

An indication method for requesting system information according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 5.

Please refer to fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an indication method for requesting system information according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s101: the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment sends media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-PDU to network equipment, the MAC sub-PDU comprises first indication information and media access control service data unit MAC SDU, and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises information of requesting system information.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device is applied to a CU-DU separation system or a relay system, and the network device includes a base station distribution unit DU or the network device includes a relay node.

Specifically, the terminal device may be a user equipment UE, where the UE sends a MAC sub pdu to a DU of the base station or the relay node, and the DU or the relay node identifies, according to first indication information included in the MAC sub pdu, that the MAC SDU is transmitted by a message requesting system information.

Specifically, before the UE sends the MAC sub pdu to the DU or the relay node, the UE first sends a preamble to the DU or the relay node, and after receiving the preamble sent by the UE, the DU or the relay node sends a random access response to the UE, so as to provide an uplink grant. And based on the uplink authorization, the UE sends the MAC PDU containing the MAC sub PDU to the DU or the relay node.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information includes a value of a logical channel identifier LCID in a MAC subheader included in the MAC sub-pdu, and the value of the LCID is used to include a message indicating that the MAC SDU transmission is requesting system information.

Specifically, the UE may transmit a radio resource control protocol RRC message carrying the request system information over a common control logical channel CCCH. For uplink data transmission, the format of a MAC PDU of a MAC control protocol data unit is shown in fig. 7, where one MAC PDU includes one or more MAC sub-PDUs, and the MAC sub-PDUs have three types: MAC sub-pdu for transmitting MAC SDU, MAC sub-pdu for transmitting medium access control layer protocol control signaling (MAC CE), and MAC sub-pdu for transmitting additional bit (padding). Each MAC sub pdu for transmitting the MAC SDU and the MAC CE includes a sub-header (sub-header), where an LCID field in the sub-header is used to indicate a logical channel where the MAC SDU corresponding to the sub-header is located, or the sub-header is also used to indicate a type of the corresponding MAC CE.

Since the DU or the relay node can interpret subheader information corresponding to the MAC subPDU, a value of a logical channel identity LCID in the MAC subheader may be set as the indication information, and the DU or the relay node may determine that the MAC SDU corresponding to the MAC subheader transmits a message requesting system information according to the value of the LCID in the MAC subheader.

It can be seen that, even though the DU or the relay node has no RRC layer protocol and cannot decode the RRC message transmitted by the MAC SDU, by interpreting the value of the logical channel identifier LCID in the MAC subheader included in the MAC sub-pdu, it can still be determined that the MAC SDU is transmitted by the message requesting the system information, thereby effectively avoiding the erroneous rejection of the terminal device by the DU or the relay node.

In one possible implementation, the message requesting system information includes: radio resource control protocol RRC messages transmitted over a common control logical channel CCCH or radio resource control protocol RRC messages transmitted over a dedicated control logical channel DCCH.

In one possible implementation, when the value of LCID is the first value, the value of LCID indicates that the MAC SDU transmits an RRC message requesting system information transmitted by the CCCH or DCCH.

Specifically, referring to fig. 8, the correspondence between the currently defined value of the LCID for uplink transmission and the type of the logical channel or the MAC control signaling where the MAC SDU is located is shown. As can be seen from fig. 8, the LCID includes 6 bits, and when the value of the LCID is a value between 100001 and 110110, which is not defined currently, the LCID belongs to the reserved value, and may be set to a value between 100001 and 110110, for example, 110011 as a first value, indicating that the MAC SDU corresponding to the set value of the LCID transmits the RRC message requesting system information transmitted through the CCCH or DCCH. It will be appreciated that other values may be set for indication. The RRC connection reestablishment request message transmitted by the CCCH may be transmitted to the MAC SDU contained in the MAC sub pdu corresponding to the MAC sub-header when the value of the LCID is set to a second value, the RRC connection reestablishment request message transmitted by the CCCH is transmitted to the MAC SDU contained in the MAC sub pdu corresponding to the MAC sub-header when the value of the LCID is a third value, and the RRC connection recovery message transmitted by the CCCH is transmitted to the MAC SDU contained in the MAC sub pdu corresponding to the MAC sub-header when the value of the LCID is a fourth value, where the second value, the third value, and the fourth value of the LCID may be the same value or different values.

It can be understood that, when a DU or a relay node receives a MAC sub-pdu sent by a terminal device, it can be determined whether MAC SDU transmission is a message requesting system information only by determining whether the value of LCID in a MAC subheader included in the MAC sub-pdu is a first value, and if the value of LCID is the first value, it can be determined that MAC SDU transmission is a message requesting system information, so that the whole process is simple to implement.

In one possible implementation, before the terminal device sends the MAC sub pdu to the network device, the method further includes:

It can be understood that if the network device does not recognize the value of LCID, i.e. the terminal device cannot be supported to use the first value of LCID to indicate that the MAC SDU transmission is a message requesting system information, the terminal device has no meaning even if it sends a MAC sub pdu containing the first value of LCID, and the network device cannot determine that the MAC SDU transmission is a message requesting system information. The network device needs to send an indication message in advance to notify the terminal device that the first value of LCID can be used.

In a possible implementation, the second indication information is included in a main system information MIB broadcast by the network device or in a system information block 1SIB1 broadcast by the network device.

Specifically, the MIB and SIB1 are information that the network device must broadcast, and the terminal device must also listen to, and by including the second indication information in MIB and SIB1, the terminal device can be guaranteed to reliably receive the second indication information.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information includes a value of a reserved bit in a MAC subheader included in the MAC sub-pdu, where the value of the reserved bit indicates that the MAC SDU transmits a message requesting system information.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 7, there is a reserved bit R in the MAC subheader included in the MAC subPDU, and since the DU or the relay node can interpret subheader information corresponding to the MAC subPDU, the DU or the relay node can determine that the MAC SDU is a message requesting system information to be transmitted according to the value of R by setting the value of R as the indication information.

It can be seen that, even though the DU or the relay node has no RRC layer protocol and cannot decode the RRC message transmitted by the MAC SDU, by interpreting the value of the reserved bit R in the MAC subheader included in the MAC subPDU, it can still be determined that the MAC SDU is transmitted by the message requesting the system information, thereby effectively avoiding the erroneous rejection of the terminal device by the DU or the relay node.

In a possible implementation, when the value of the reserved bit is a first value, the MAC SDU corresponding to the MAC subheader is indicated to transmit an RRC message requesting system information transmitted by a CCCH or DCCH;

Specifically, the MAC SDU sent by the terminal device is an RRC message requesting system information, the terminal device sets a value of a reserved bit R in an MAC sub-header corresponding to the MAC SDU to a first value, and when the MAC SDU sent by the terminal device is an RRC connection establishment request message, an RRC connection reestablishment request message, or an RRC connection recovery message, the terminal device sets the value of the reserved bit R in the MAC sub-header corresponding to the MAC SDU to a second value, where the first value and the second value may be 0 or 1, that is, when the first value is 1, the second value is 0, or when the first value is 0, the second value is 1, and certainly, other values may also be used, which is not limited herein.

It can be understood that, when a DU or a relay node receives a MAC sub-pdu sent by a terminal device, it can be determined whether MAC SDU transmission is a message requesting system information only by determining whether a value of R in a MAC subheader included in the MAC sub-pdu is a first value, and if the value of R is the first value, it can be determined that MAC SDU transmission is a message requesting system information, and the whole process is simple and reliable.

S102: and the terminal equipment receives the system information sent by the network equipment.

In a possible implementation, before receiving the system information sent by the network device, the terminal device receives scheduling information of the system information sent by the network device, the terminal device may obtain the scheduling information of the system information from a MIB or an SIB1 by receiving a master system information MIB or a system information block 1SIB1 broadcast by the network device, and then receive the system information at a preset time according to the scheduling, thereby obtaining the system information broadcast by the network device.

It can be understood that by receiving the scheduling information, monitoring the broadcast channel in the preset time period, and acquiring the system information broadcasted by the network device, the discontinuous reception of the terminal device can be ensured, and the receiving efficiency of the terminal device is improved.

Please refer to fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an indicating method for requesting system information according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s201: the method comprises the steps that first network equipment receives a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub PDU) sent by terminal equipment, the MAC sub PDU comprises first indication information and a media access control service data unit (MAC SDU), and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises a message for requesting system information.

Specifically, the first network device may be a DU of the base station or a relay node, the user equipment may be a UE, and the UE sends a MAC sub pdu to the DU of the base station or the relay node, where the DU or the relay node identifies, according to first indication information included in the MAC sub pdu, that the MAC SDU is a message requesting system information for transmission.

Specifically, before the UE sends the MAC sub pdu to the DU or the relay node, the UE sends a preamble to the DU or the relay node, and after receiving the preamble sent by the UE, the DU or the relay node sends a random access response to the UE, so as to provide an uplink grant. And based on the uplink authorization, the UE sends the MAC PDU containing the MAC sub PDU to the DU or the relay node.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information includes a value of a logical channel identity LCID in a MAC subheader included in the MAC sub-pdu, and the value of the LCID is used for including a message indicating that the MAC SDU transmission is requesting system information.

In one possible implementation, when the value of LCID is the first value, the value of LCID indicates that the MAC SDU is transmitted by an RRC message requesting system information transmitted by the CCCH or DCCH.

In a possible implementation, before the first network device receives the MAC sub pdu sent by the terminal device, the method further includes:

It can be understood that if the first network device does not recognize the value of LCID, i.e. cannot support the terminal device to use the first value of LCID to indicate that the MAC SDU transmission is a message requesting system information, it does not make sense for the terminal device to transmit a MAC sub pdu containing the first value of LCID, and the first network device cannot determine that the MAC SDU transmission is a message requesting system information. The first network device needs to send an indication message in advance to notify the terminal device that the first value of LCID can be used.

In a possible implementation, the second indication information is included in a main system information MIB broadcast by the first network device, or in a system information block 1SIB1 broadcast by the first network device.

S202: the first network device sends a message to a second network device, wherein the message comprises the message requesting system information.

Specifically, when the DU transmits an RRC message requesting system information to the CU, or one relay node transmits an RRC message requesting system information to another relay node, or one relay node transmits an RRC message requesting system information to the host base station, the transmission is performed through an F1AP message.

In one possible implementation, an F1AP message is defined, the F1AP message being dedicated to transmitting RRC messages requesting system information. The F1AP message includes: the message type of the F1AP message; a Cell identification code (Cell ID) of a Cell for which the UE requests system information, the Cell ID being a unique identification of the Cell in a global scope; a container containing an RRC message requesting system information.

In one possible implementation, the existing F1AP message is multiplexed, and when the F1AP message transmits an RRC message requesting system information, the F1AP message includes only: the message type of the F1AP message; a Cell identification code (Cell ID) of a Cell for which the UE requests system information, the Cell ID being a unique identification of the Cell in a global scope; a container containing an RRC message requesting system information; optionally, the method may further include: indication information indicating that an RRC message requesting system information is transmitted in the message.

S203: and the first network equipment sends system information to the terminal equipment.

Specifically, after receiving a response message sent by the second network device, the first network device sends system information to the terminal device, where the response message includes a system information transmission command, and the second network device also sends the response message to the first network device through an F1AP message.

In a possible implementation, before the first network device sends the system information to the terminal device, the first network device sends scheduling information to the terminal device, the terminal device may obtain the scheduling information from a main system information MIB or a system information block 1SIB1 broadcasted by the first network device by receiving the MIB or SIB1, and the terminal device monitors a broadcast channel according to the scheduling information in a preset time period to obtain the system information broadcasted by the first network device.

It can be understood that the first network device sends the scheduling information, so that the terminal device monitors the broadcast channel at the preset time interval to obtain the system information broadcasted by the network device, which can ensure that the terminal device receives discontinuously, and improve the receiving efficiency of the terminal device.

Please refer to fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an indicating method for requesting system information according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s301: the terminal equipment selects PRACH resources from a first physical random access channel PRACH resource set and sends random access preambles to the network equipment; the first set of PRACH resources is a set of PRACH resources used for transmitting a random access preamble when the user equipment initiates a random access procedure to request system information.

Specifically, the first set of physical random access channel PRACH resources is configured by a DU or a relay node specifically for a UE within a managed cell, and is different from a general PRACH resource.

In a possible implementation, before sending the random access preamble, the UE receives first system information sent by the DU or the relay node, where the first system information includes the first PRACH resource set.

It can be seen that the UE selects the random access preamble sent by the PRACH resource from the first PRACH resource set to facilitate identification by the DU or the relay node, and may not add new indication information, which is simple to implement.

In a possible implementation, the second system information is a DU or a primary system information MIB broadcasted by a relay node, or a system information block 1SIB1 broadcasted by the network device.

It can be seen that the DU or the relay node transmits the second system information through the primary system information MIB or the system information block 1SIB1, and does not need to transmit the second system information through other forms of information, which saves transmission resources.

S302: the terminal equipment sends a media access control protocol data unit (MAC PDU) to network equipment, wherein the MAC PDU contains a message requesting first system information.

Specifically, the DU or the relay node may identify that the random access preamble is a PRACH resource selected by the UE from the first PRACH resource set, allocate a corresponding uplink resource location UL grant to the DU or the relay node, and send the UL grant to the UE through an RAR message, where the DU or the relay node may confirm that the random access preamble is a message requesting system information through an RRC message sent by the UE and received from the UL grant.

S303: and the terminal equipment receives first system information sent by the network equipment.

In a possible implementation, before receiving the system information sent by the network device, the terminal device receives scheduling information of the system information sent by the network device, and the terminal device may obtain the scheduling information from a main system information MIB or a system information block 1SIB1 broadcasted by the network device by receiving the scheduling information from the MIB or SIB1, and then receive the system information at a preset time according to the scheduling, thereby obtaining the system information broadcasted by the network device.

It can be understood that the system information is received at the preset time according to the scheduling information by receiving the scheduling information, so that the system information broadcasted by the network equipment is obtained, the discontinuous reception of the terminal equipment can be ensured, and the receiving efficiency of the terminal equipment is improved.

Please refer to fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for transmitting a system information request message and a response message according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s401: the first network equipment sends a first message to the second network equipment; the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier; the cell identification is the identification of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; and the cell corresponding to the cell identification belongs to the third network equipment.

S402: the first network equipment receives a second message sent by the second network equipment; the second message instructs the third network device to send the system information of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the second message comprises the cell identification; the first network device and the third network device are the same network device, or the first network device and the third network device are different network devices.

In particular, the first network device may be a relay node and the second network device may be another relay node or a donor base station. If the first network device and the third network device are the same network device, it indicates that the first network device has no child node device, and if the first network device and the third network device are different network devices, it indicates that the first network device has a child node device.

Specifically, the first message and the second message may be F1AP messages, and the system information request message is an RRC message.

Specifically, the third network device may manage one or more cells, and the cell identifier in the first message may be a cell identifier of a cell in which one UE requesting system information in the third network device is located.

In a possible implementation, the second network device maintains a first information set, where the first information set includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the second network device and a first association table, and the first association table includes a device identifier of a fourth network device and an identifier of a cell managed by the fourth network device; wherein the fourth network device is a child node device of the second network device; the identifier of the cell managed by the fourth network device includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the fourth network device and an identifier of a cell indirectly managed by the fourth network device;

Specifically, referring to fig. 12, as shown in fig. 12, the base station includes a donor base station (DgNB), relay node 1 to relay node 7(RN1-RN 7). The cells directly managed by the DgNB are cell 18(CGI18), cell 19(CGI19), cell 20(CGI20), the child node devices of the DgNB include RN1 and RN2, the cells directly managed by RN1 are cell 16(CGI16) and cell 17(CGI17), and the cells directly managed by RN2 are cell 13(CGI13), cell 14(CGI14) and cell 15(CGI 15); the sub-node devices of the RN1 include RN3 and RN4, the sub-node devices of the RN2 include RN5, the cells directly managed by RN3 are cell 6(CGI6), cell 7(CGI7) and cell 8(CGI8), the cells directly managed by RN4 are cell 9(CGI9) and cell 10(CGI10), and the cells directly managed by RN5 are cell 11(CGI11) and cell 12(CGI 12); RN3 and RN5 have no child node devices, the child node devices of RN4 include RN6 and RN7, the cells directly managed by RN6 are cell 1(CGI1) and cell 2(CGI2), the cells directly managed by RN7 are cell 3(CGI3), cell 4(CGI4) and cell 5(CGI5), and RN6 and RN7 have no child node devices.

For DgNB, the contents of its association table should be: CGI1, CGI2, CGI3, CGI4, CGI5, CGI6, CGI7, CGI8, CGI9, CGI10, CGI16, CGI17 belong to RN 1; CGI11, CGI12, CGI13, CGI14, CGI15 belong to RN 2. The information contained in the information set maintained by the DgNB is therefore: CGI1, CGI2, CGI3, CGI4, CGI5, CGI6, CGI7, CGI8, CGI9, CGI10, CGI16, CGI17 belong to RN 1; CGI11, CGI12, CGI13, CGI14, CGI15 belong to RN 2; CGI18, CGI19, CGI 20.

Similarly, the information contained in the information set maintained by RN1 may be obtained as follows: CGI1, CGI2, CGI3, CGI4, CGI5 belong to RN 4; CGI6, CGI7, CGI8 belongs to RN 5; CGI16, CGI 17. The information contained in the information set maintained by RN2 is: CGI11, CGI12 belongs to RN 5; CGI13, CGI14, CGI 15. The information contained in the information set maintained by RN3 is: CGI6, CGI7, CGI 8. The information contained in the information set maintained by RN4 is: CGI1, CGI2 belongs to RN 6; CGI3, CGI4, CGI5 belong to RN 7. The information contained in the information set maintained by RN5 is: CGI11, CGI 12. The information contained in the information set maintained by RN6 is: CGI1, CGI 2. The information contained in the information set maintained by RN7 is: CGI3, CGI4, CGI 5.

Specifically, the information in the first information set and the information in the second set may be recorded or updated by the relay node notifying the parent relay node or the host base station when the child relay node establishes a connection or the child relay node updates the managed cell. For example, when RN7 establishes a connection with RN4, RN7 notifies RN4 that the cell managed by RN4 includes CGI3, CGI4, CGI5, and RN4 adds CGI3, CGI4, CGI5 belongs to the information of RN7 and notifies RN1 that the cell managed by RN1 has CGI3, CGI4, CGI5, and RN1 received the notification message, and then adds CGI3, CGI4, and CGI5 belongs to the information of RN4 and notifies DgNB, and when the cell managed by RN7 has CGI3, CGI4, CGI5, and DgNB received the notification message, adds CGI3, CGI4, and CGI5 belong to the information of RN1, and by this time, the whole update process is completed.

It can be seen that, based on the first information set and the second information set, the first message containing the system information request message sent by the relay node and the second message sent by the host base station can be correctly routed through the CGI of the cell containing the UE requesting the system information, thereby avoiding adding additional information in the system information request message and the system information response message.

In a possible implementation, the first message includes a device identifier of the third network device, the second network device maintains a third information set, the third information set includes a device identifier of a sixth network device and a third association table, and the third association table includes the device identifier of the sixth network device and a device identifier of a seventh network device having a connection relationship with the sixth network device; the sixth network device is a child node device of the second network device, and the connection relationship includes that the seventh network device is directly connected to the sixth network device, or the seventh network device is indirectly connected to the sixth network device;

Specifically, referring to fig. 13, as shown in fig. 13, the base station includes a donor base station (DgNB), relay node 1 to relay node 7(RN1-RN 7). The sub-node devices of the DgNB are RN1 and RN2, the sub-node devices of RN1 are RN3 and RN4, the sub-node device of RN2 is RN5, the sub-node devices of RN3 and RN5 have no sub-node devices, the sub-node devices of RN4 are RN6 and RN7, and the sub-node devices of RN6 and RN7 have no sub-node devices.

For DgNB, the contents of its association table should be: RN3, RN4, RN6, RN7 belong to RN 1; RN5 belongs to RN 2. The information contained in the information set maintained by the DgNB is therefore: RN3, RN4, RN6, RN7 belong to RN 1; RN5 belongs to RN2, RN1 and RN 2.

Similarly, the information contained in the information set maintained by RN1 may be obtained as follows: RN6, RN7 belongs to RN 4; RN3 and RN 4. The information contained in the information set maintained by RN2 is: RN 5. The information contained in the information set maintained by RN4 is: RN6 and RN 7.

Specifically, the information in the third information set and the information in the fourth set may be recorded or updated by the child relay node notifying the parent relay node or the host base station when the child relay node establishes a connection or the child relay node updates the connection. For example, when RN7 establishes a connection with RN4, RN4 adds a directly connected relay node (child node) in the information set maintained by RN4, which is information of RN7 and notifies RN1 that RN7 is added to the relay node connected to RN1, after RN1 receives the notification message, adds a relay node connected to RN4 in the information set maintained by RN1, which includes information of RN7 and notifies DgNB that the relay node connected to DgNB is added to RN7, and after receiving the notification message, adds a relay node connected to RN1 in the information set maintained by DgNB, which includes RN7, so far, the whole updating process is completed.

It can be seen that, in the first message sent by the relay node and including the system information request message and the second message sent by the donor base station, through the CGI of the cell including the UE requesting the system information and the identity of the relay node to which the cell belongs, for example, a UE under RN7 requests the system information of CGI1, then the first message sent by RN7 includes CGI1 and RN7, and likewise, the second message sent by DgNB also includes CGI1 and RN7, so that correct routing can be performed by using the identity of the relay node, which has the advantage of reducing the amount of information stored by the relay node and the donor base station.

In a possible implementation, the second message includes a device identifier of the third network device, the second network device is a donor base station, and the first network device is a relay node;

the fifth information set comprises an identifier of a cell directly managed by the second network device and a fifth association table, and the fifth association table comprises a device identifier of a tenth network device and an identifier of a cell directly managed by the tenth network device; wherein the tenth network device has a connection relationship with the second network device, and the connection relationship includes that the tenth network device is directly connected with the second network device or the tenth network device is indirectly connected with the second network device;

the sixth information set comprises a device identifier of an eleventh network device and a sixth association table, where the sixth association table comprises the device identifier of the eleventh network device and a device identifier of a twelfth network device having a connection relationship with the eleventh network device; the eleventh network device is a child node device of the second network device, and the connection relationship includes that the twelfth network device is directly connected to the eleventh network device, or the twelfth network device is indirectly connected to the eleventh network device;

the first network device maintains a seventh information set, where the seventh information set includes a seventh association table of device identifiers of a thirteenth network device, and the seventh association table includes a device identifier of the thirteenth network device and a device identifier of a fourteenth network device having a connection relationship with the thirteenth network device; the thirteenth network device is a child node device of the first network device, and the connection relationship includes that the fourteenth network device is directly connected to the thirteenth network device or the fourteenth network device is indirectly connected to the thirteenth network device.

Specifically, referring to fig. 14, as shown in fig. 14, the relay node includes a donor base station (DgNB), relay nodes 1 to 7(RN1-RN 7). Since all relay nodes are directly or indirectly connected to the DgNB, the information contained in the fifth set maintained by the DgNB is: CGI1, CGI2 belongs to RN 6; CGI3, CGI4, CGI5 belongs to RN 7; CGI6, CGI7, CGI8 belongs to RN 3; CGI9, CGI10 belongs to RN 4; CGI11, CGI12 belongs to RN 5; CGI13, CGI14, CGI15 belongs to RN 2; CGI16, CGI17 belongs to RN 1; CGI18, CGI19, CGI 20.

The sub-node devices of DgNB are RN1 and RN2, the sub-node devices of RN1 are RN3 and RN4, the sub-node device of RN2 is RN5, RN3 and RN5 have no sub-node device, the sub-node devices of RN4 are RN6 and RN7, RN6 and RN7 have no sub-node device.

For DgNB, the contents of its sixth association table should be: RN3, RN4, RN6, RN7 belong to RN 1; RN5 belongs to RN 2. The information contained in the sixth set of information maintained by the DgNB is therefore: RN3, RN4, RN6, RN7 belong to RN 1; RN5 belongs to RN2, RN1 and RN 2.

Similarly, it can be obtained that the information included in the seventh information set maintained by RN1 is: RN6, RN7 belongs to RN 4; RN3 and RN 4. The information contained in the seventh set of information maintained by RN2 is: RN 5. The information contained in the seventh set of information maintained by RN4 is: RN6 and RN 7.

Specifically, the information in the third information set and the information in the fourth set may be recorded or updated by the child relay node notifying the parent relay node or the host base station when the child relay node establishes a connection or the child relay node updates the connection. For example, when RN7 establishes connection with RN4, RN4 adds a directly connected relay node (child node) in its maintained information set as information of RN7 and notifies RN1 that RN7 is added to the connected relay node, after RN1 receives the notification message, it adds a relay node connected to RN4 in its maintained information set including information of RN7 and notifies DgNB that its connected relay node is added to RN7, and after DgNB receives the notification message, it adds a relay node connected to RN1 in its maintained information set including RN7, so far, the whole update process is completed

It can be seen that the DgNB maintains an information set including CGI more than the relay node, and the maintained information set includes a correspondence between CGI and relay node identifier, so that in the first message sent by the relay node, only the CGI of the cell requesting system information by the UE needs to be included, and since the information set of each relay node includes only the identifier of the relay node directly or indirectly connected thereto, in the second message sent by the DgNB, besides the CGI of the cell requesting system information by the UE, the identifier of the relay node to which the cell belongs needs to be included to perform correct routing, thereby ensuring reliability of message transmission. For example, a UE under RN7 requests system information of CGI1, the first message sent by RN7 only needs to include CGI1, while the second message sent by DgNB needs to include RN7 in addition to CGI 1.

Please refer to fig. 15. Fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for transmitting a system information request message and a response message according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps:

s501: the method comprises the steps that a second network device receives a first message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier; the cell identifier is the identifier of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; and the cell corresponding to the cell identification belongs to the third network equipment.

S502: the second network device sends a second message to the first network device, wherein the second message indicates the third network device to send the system information of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the second message comprises the cell identification; the first network device and the third network device are the same network device, or the first network device and the third network device are different network devices.

Specifically, similar to S401 and S402 described above, detailed description thereof is omitted.

While the method of the embodiments of the present invention has been described in detail, in order to better implement the above-described aspects of the embodiments of the present invention, the following also provides related apparatus for implementing the aspects.

Please refer to fig. 16. Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 16, the terminal device 10 may include at least: a first transmitting unit 110, a first receiving unit 120; wherein:

a first sending unit 110, configured to send a media access control subprotocol data unit MAC sub pdu to a network device;

the MAC sub pdu includes first indication information and a media access control service data unit MAC SDU, where the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU includes a message requesting system information.

A first receiving unit 120, configured to receive the system information sent by the network device.

In an alternative embodiment, before the terminal device sends the MAC sub pdu to the network device,

the first receiving unit 120 is further configured to receive second indication information sent by the network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the network device supports the terminal device to use the first value of the LCID.

It is understood that the functions of the functional modules of the terminal device 10 of the present embodiment can be specifically implemented according to the method in the foregoing method embodiment, and are not described herein again.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the MAC sub PDU is sent to the network equipment and comprises the first indication information and the media access control service data unit MAC SDU, so that the network equipment can identify the message which is transmitted by the MAC SDU and is used for requesting the system information according to the first indication information, the system information request of the terminal equipment can be effectively prevented from being refused by the network equipment by mistake, and the waste of transmission resources can be avoided.

Please refer to fig. 17. Fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 17, the terminal device 20 may include at least: a first selection unit 210, a second transmission unit 220, a second reception unit 230; wherein:

a first selecting unit 210, configured to select a PRACH resource from a first set of physical random access channel PRACH resources;

wherein the first set of PRACH resources is a set of PRACH resources used for transmitting a random access preamble when the user equipment initiates a random access procedure to request system information.

A second sending unit 220, configured to send a random access preamble to the network device; the second sending unit 220 is further configured to send a MAC sub-pdu to a network device, where the MAC sub-pdu is a message that requests the first system information.

A second receiving unit 230, configured to receive the first system information sent by the network device.

In an optional embodiment, in the terminal device, before sending the random access preamble, the second receiving unit 230 is further configured to receive second system information sent by the network device, where the second system information includes the first PRACH resource set.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the message which is transmitted by the MAC sub PDU and is used for requesting the first system information and sent by the terminal equipment can be identified according to the received random access preamble sent by the PRACH resource selected from the first PRACH resource set by the terminal equipment, the system information request of the terminal equipment can be effectively prevented from being refused by the network equipment by mistake, and the waste of transmission resources can be avoided.

Please refer to fig. 18. Fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 18, the first network device 30 may include at least: a first receiving unit 310, a first transmitting unit 320; wherein:

a first receiving unit 310, configured to receive a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-pdu sent by a terminal device;

A first sending unit 320, configured to send a request message to a second network device, where the request message includes the message requesting the system information.

The first receiving unit 310 is further configured to receive a response message sent by a second network device, and the first sending unit 320 is further configured to send system information to the terminal device.

In an optional embodiment, before receiving the MAC sub pdu sent by the terminal device, the first sending unit 320 is further configured to send second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first network device supports the terminal device to use the first value of the LCID.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the message for requesting the system information transmitted by the MAC SDU can be identified through the first indication information according to the received MAC SDU which is sent by the terminal equipment and comprises the first indication information and the media access control service data unit, so that the system information request of the terminal equipment can be effectively prevented from being rejected by the first network equipment by mistake, and the waste of transmission resources can be avoided.

Please refer to fig. 19. Fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a second network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 19, the second network device 40 may include at least: a second receiving unit 410, a second transmitting unit 420; wherein:

a second receiving unit 410, configured to receive the request message sent by the first network device,

the request message is sent by the first network device after identifying that a MAC sub pdu is used for requesting system information according to first indication information, where the MAC sub pdu is sent to the first network device by a terminal device, the MAC sub pdu includes first indication information and a media access control service data unit MAC SDU, and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU includes a message for requesting system information.

A second sending unit 420, configured to send a response message to the first network device, so that the first network device sends system information to the terminal device.

Please refer to fig. 20. Fig. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 20, the first network device 50 may include at least: a first transmitting unit 510, a first receiving unit 520; wherein:

a first sending unit 510, configured to send a first message to a second network device;

the first message includes a system information request message and a cell identifier, where the cell identifier is an identifier of a cell corresponding to the system information request message, and the cell corresponding to the cell identifier belongs to a third network device.

A first receiving unit 520, configured to receive a second message sent by the second network device;

In an optional embodiment, the first network device further includes a first maintenance unit 530, where the first maintenance unit 530 is configured to maintain a second information set, where the second information set includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the first network device and a second association table, and the first association table includes a device identifier of a fifth network device and an identifier of a cell managed by the fifth network device; the fifth network device is a child node device of the first network device; the identifier of the cell managed by the fifth network device includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the fifth network device and an identifier of a cell indirectly managed by the fifth network device.

Please refer to fig. 21. Fig. 21 is a schematic structural diagram of a second network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 21, the second network device 60 may include at least: a second receiving unit 610 and a second transmitting unit 620; wherein:

a second receiving unit 610, configured to receive a first message sent by a first network device;

A second sending unit 620, configured to send a second message to the first network device;

In an optional embodiment, the second network further includes a second maintenance unit 630, where the second maintenance unit 630 is configured to maintain a first information set, where the first information set includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the second network device and a first association table, and the first association table includes a device identifier of a fourth network device and an identifier of a cell managed by the fourth network device; wherein the fourth network device is a child node device of the second network device; the identifier of the cell managed by the fourth network device includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the fourth network device and an identifier of a cell indirectly managed by the fourth network device.

Referring to fig. 22, fig. 22 is a terminal device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the terminal device 100 includes a processor 101, a memory 102, and a transceiver 103, and the processor 101, the memory 102, and the transceiver 103 are connected to each other through a bus 104.

The Memory 102 includes, but is not limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM or flash Memory), and the Memory 102 is used for related instructions and data.

The transceiver 103 may include a receiver and a transmitter, such as a radio frequency module, and the processor 101 described below receives or transmits a message, which may be specifically understood as the processor 101 receiving or transmitting through the transceiver.

The processor 101 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), and in the case that the processor 101 is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The processor 101 in the terminal device 100 is configured to read the program code stored in the memory 102, and perform the following operations:

the processor 101 sends a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-pdu to the network device through the transceiver 103, where the MAC sub-pdu includes first indication information and a media access control service data unit MAC SDU, and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU includes a message requesting system information.

The processor 101 receives the system information transmitted by the network device through the transceiver 103.

It should be noted that the specific implementation of each operation can also be implemented according to the method in the foregoing method embodiment, and details are not described here.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the MAC sub PDU is sent to the network equipment and comprises the first indication information and the media access control service data unit MAC SDU, so that the network equipment can identify the message which is transmitted by the MAC SDU and is used for requesting the system information according to the first indication information, the system information request of the terminal equipment can be effectively prevented from being refused by the network equipment in error, and the waste of transmission resources can be avoided.

Referring to fig. 23, fig. 23 is a terminal device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the terminal device 200 includes a processor 201, a memory 202, and a transceiver 203, and the processor 201, the memory 202, and the transceiver 203 are connected to each other through a bus 204.

The Memory 202 includes, but is not limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM or flash Memory), and the Memory 202 is used for related instructions and data.

The transceiver 203 may include a receiver and a transmitter, such as a radio frequency module, and the processor 201 described below receives or transmits a message, which may be understood as the processor 201 receiving or transmitting via the transceiver.

The processor 201 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), and in the case that the processor 201 is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The processor 201 in the terminal device 200 is configured to read the program code stored in the memory 202, and perform the following operations:

the processor 201 selects a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) resource from a first PRACH resource set through the transceiver 203 to send a random access preamble to the network device; the first set of PRACH resources is a set of PRACH resources used for transmitting a random access preamble when the user equipment initiates a random access procedure to request system information.

The processor 201 sends a media access control subprotocol data unit MAC sub-pdu, which is a message requesting first system information, to the network device through the transceiver 203.

The processor 201 receives and receives the first system information transmitted by the network device through the transceiver 203.

By implementing the embodiment of the invention, the message which is transmitted by the MAC subpPDU and is used for requesting the first system information and sent by the terminal equipment can be identified according to the received random access preamble sent by the PRACH resource selected from the first PRACH resource set by the terminal equipment, the system information request of the terminal equipment can be effectively prevented from being refused by the network equipment by mistake, and the waste of transmission resources can be avoided.

Referring to fig. 24, fig. 24 is a first network device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the first network device 300 includes a processor 301, a memory 302, and a transceiver 303, and the processor 301, the memory 302, and the transceiver 303 are connected to each other through a bus 304.

The Memory 302 includes, but is not limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM or flash Memory), and the Memory 302 is used for related instructions and data.

The transceiver 303 may include a receiver and a transmitter, such as a radio frequency module, and the processor 301 described below receives or transmits a message, which may be understood as the processor 301 receiving or transmitting via the transceiver.

The processor 301 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), and in the case that the processor 301 is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The processor 301 in the terminal device 300 is configured to read the program code stored in the memory 302, and perform the following operations:

the processor 301 receives a media access control sub-protocol data unit MAC sub-pdu sent by a terminal device through a transceiver 303, where the MAC sub-pdu includes first indication information and a media access control service data unit MAC SDU, and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU includes a message requesting system information.

The processor 301 sends a request message to the second network device via the transceiver 303, the request message comprising the message requesting the system information.

The processor 301 sends system information to the terminal device via the transceiver 303.

Referring to fig. 25, fig. 25 is a diagram of a second network device 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the second network device 400 includes a processor 401, a memory 402, and a transceiver 403, and the processor 401, the memory 402, and the transceiver 403 are connected to each other through a bus 404.

The Memory 402 includes, but is not limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM or flash Memory), and the Memory 402 is used for related instructions and data.

The transceiver 403 may include a receiver and a transmitter, such as a radio frequency module, and the processor 401 described below receives or transmits a message, which may be specifically understood as the processor 401 receiving or transmitting through the transceiver.

The processor 401 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), and in the case that the processor 401 is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The processor 401 in the terminal device 400 is configured to read the program code stored in the memory 402 and perform the following operations:

processor 401 receives a request message sent by a first network device through transceiver 403, where the request message is sent by the first network device after the first network device identifies, according to first indication information, that a MAC sub pdu is used for requesting system information, where the MAC sub pdu is sent to the first network device for a terminal device, the MAC sub pdu includes first indication information and a media access control service data unit MAC SDU, and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU includes a message requesting system information.

The processor 401 sends a response message to the first network device through the transceiver 403, so that the first network device sends system information to the terminal device.

Referring to fig. 26, fig. 26 is a first network device 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the first network device 500 includes a processor 501, a memory 502, and a transceiver 503, and the processor 501, the memory 502, and the transceiver 503 are connected to each other through a bus 504.

The Memory 502 includes, but is not limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM or flash Memory), and the Memory 502 is used for related instructions and data.

The transceiver 503 may include a receiver and a transmitter, such as a radio frequency module, and the processor 501 described below receives or transmits a message, which is specifically understood to be the processor 501 receiving or transmitting through the transceiver.

The processor 501 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), and in the case that the processor 501 is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The processor 501 in the terminal device 500 is configured to read the program code stored in the memory 502, and perform the following operations:

the processor 501 sends a first message to the second network device through the transceiver 503; the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier; the cell identification is the identification of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; and the cell corresponding to the cell identification belongs to the third network equipment.

The processor 501 receives a second message sent by the second network device through the transceiver 503; the second message instructs the third network device to send the system information of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the second message includes the cell identifier.

Referring to fig. 27, fig. 27 is a second network device 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the second network device 600 includes a processor 601, a memory 602, and a transceiver 603, and the processor 601, the memory 602, and the transceiver 603 are connected to each other through a bus 604.

The Memory 602 includes, but is not limited to, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM or flash Memory), and the Memory 602 is used for related instructions and data.

The transceiver 603 may include a receiver and a transmitter, such as a radio frequency module, and the processor 601 described below receives or transmits a message, which is specifically understood to be the processor 401 receiving or transmitting through the transceiver.

The processor 601 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), and in the case that the processor 601 is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

The processor 601 in the terminal device 600 is configured to read the program code stored in the memory 602, and perform the following operations:

the processor 601 receives a first message sent by a first network device through the transceiver 603, where the first message includes a system information request message and a cell identifier; the cell identification is the identification of the cell corresponding to the system information request message; the cell corresponding to the cell identification belongs to a third network device

Processor 401 sends, through transceiver 403, a second message to the first network device, where the second message instructs the third network device to send system information of a cell corresponding to the system information request message; the second message includes the cell identifier.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program comprising program instructions that when executed by a processor implement: a first network device receives a media access control sub-protocol data unit (MAC sub-PDU) sent by a terminal device, wherein the MAC sub-PDU comprises first indication information and a media access control service data unit (MAC SDU), and the first indication information indicates that the MAC SDU comprises a message requesting system information; the first network equipment sends a request message to second network equipment, wherein the request message comprises a message for requesting system information; and the first network equipment sends system information to the terminal equipment.

The computer-readable storage medium may be an internal storage unit of the terminal device, the first network device, or the second network device in any of the foregoing embodiments, for example, a hard disk or a memory of the first network device or the second network device. The computer readable storage medium may also be an external storage device of the first network device or the second network device, such as a plug-in hard disk, a Smart Media Card (SMC), a Secure Digital (SD) Card, a Flash memory Card (Flash Card), and the like, provided on the first network device or the second network device. Further, the computer-readable storage medium may include both an internal storage unit and an external storage device of the first network device or the second network device. The computer-readable storage medium is used for storing the computer program and other programs and data required by the first network device or the second network device. The above-described computer-readable storage medium may also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the processes of the methods of the embodiments described above can be implemented by a computer program, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and can include the processes of the embodiments of the methods described above when the computer program is executed. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks.

The steps in the method of the embodiment of the invention can be sequentially adjusted, combined and deleted according to actual needs.

The modules in the device of the embodiment of the invention can be combined, divided and deleted according to actual needs.

The above-mentioned embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the present invention, and not for limiting the same; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting system information request messages and response messages, the method comprising:

a first network device sends a first message to a second network device, wherein the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier, the cell identifier is an identifier of a cell corresponding to the system information request message, and the cell corresponding to the cell identifier belongs to a third network device;

the first network device receives a second message sent by the second network device, where the second message indicates that the third network device sends system information of a cell corresponding to the system information request message, and the second message includes the cell identifier;

2. The method of claim 1,

the second network device maintains a first information set, where the first information set includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the second network device and a first association table, and the first association table includes a device identifier of a fourth network device and an identifier of a cell managed by the fourth network device, where the fourth network device is a child node device of the second network device, and the identifier of the cell managed by the fourth network device includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the fourth network device and an identifier of a cell indirectly managed by the fourth network device;

the first network device maintains a second information set, where the second information set includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the first network device and a second association table, and the second association table includes a device identifier of a fifth network device and an identifier of a cell managed by the fifth network device, where the fifth network device is a child node device of the first network device, and the identifier of the cell managed by the fifth network device includes an identifier of a cell directly managed by the fifth network device and an identifier of a cell indirectly managed by the fifth network device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first message includes a device identifier of the third network device, and the second message includes a device identifier of the third network device;

the first network device maintains a fourth information set, where the fourth information set includes a device identifier of an eighth network device and a fourth association table, and the fourth association table includes the device identifier of the eighth network device and a device identifier of a ninth network device having a connection relationship with the eighth network device; the eighth network device is a child node device of the first network device, and the connection relationship includes that the ninth network device is directly connected to the eighth network device, or the ninth network device is indirectly connected to the eighth network device.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second message comprises a device identity of the third network device, and the second network device maintains a fifth set of information and a sixth set of information;

the first network device maintains a seventh information set, where the seventh information set includes a seventh association table of device identifications of a thirteenth network device, and the seventh association table includes device identifications of the thirteenth network device and device identifications of a fourteenth network device having a connection relationship with the thirteenth network device; the thirteenth network device is a child node device of the first network device, and the connection relationship includes that the fourteenth network device is directly connected to the thirteenth network device, or the fourteenth network device is indirectly connected to the thirteenth network device.

5. A method for transmitting system information request messages and response messages, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a second network device receives a first message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a system information request message and a cell identifier, the cell identifier is the identifier of a cell corresponding to the system information request message, and the cell identifier belongs to a third network device for the corresponding cell;

the second network device sends a second message to the first network device, where the second message indicates that the third network device sends the system information of the cell corresponding to the system information request message, and the second message includes the cell identifier;

6. The method of claim 5,

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the first message includes a device identifier of the third network device, and the second message includes a device identifier of the third network device;

8. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the second message comprises a device identity of the third network device, and the second network device maintains a fifth set of information and a sixth set of information;

the first network device maintains a seventh information set, where the seventh information set includes a seventh association table of device identifications of a thirteenth network device, and the seventh association table includes a device identification of the thirteenth network device and a device identification of a fourteenth network device having a connection relationship with the thirteenth network device; the thirteenth network device is a child node device of the first network device, and the connection relationship includes that the fourteenth network device is directly connected to the thirteenth network device, or the fourteenth network device is indirectly connected to the thirteenth network device.

9. A first network device, wherein the first network device comprises: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein:

the processor, the memory and the transceiver are interconnected, the memory for storing a computer program comprising program instructions, the processor being configured to invoke the program instructions to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 4.

10. A second network device, the second network device comprising: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, wherein:

the processor, the memory and the transceiver are interconnected, the memory for storing a computer program comprising program instructions, the processor being configured to invoke the program instructions to perform the method of any of claims 5 to 8.

11. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program comprising program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.