CN110740453B

CN110740453B - Carrier sharing method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN110740453B
Application number: CN201810806041.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘芙蕾; 芮华; 施风; 黄河
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2018-07-20
Filing date: 2018-07-20
Publication date: 2023-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 2038-07-20
Also published as: WO2020015469A1; CN110740453A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a carrier sharing method, a device and a system, wherein the carrier sharing method comprises the following steps: when a first communication node judges that own carrier resources are insufficient and receives a first message of a second communication node, the first communication node transmits data on an idle carrier; wherein the first message comprises: a first correspondence between a cell identifier of a second communication node and carrier information of an idle carrier, where the first communication node sends a second message to the second communication node, where the second message includes: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier; wherein the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems. The embodiment of the invention realizes that the communication system to which the first communication node belongs shares the carrier resource of the communication system to which the second communication node belongs, and improves the frequency spectrum efficiency.

Description

Carrier sharing method, device and system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to, but not limited to, the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a carrier sharing method, apparatus and system.

Background

With the gradual increase of the number of users, a situation that spectrum resources are not enough occurs in a Narrow-Band Internet of things (NB-IoT) based on a cellular, while a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) is deployed in an early stage, and as the number of users decreases, the GSM has a situation that spectrum resources are idle, so that spectrum efficiency is low, and an effective solution is not provided in related technologies.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a carrier sharing method, a carrier sharing device and a carrier sharing system, which can improve the frequency spectrum efficiency.

The embodiment of the invention provides a carrier sharing method, which comprises the following steps:

when a first communication node judges that own carrier resources are insufficient and receives a first message of a second communication node, the first communication node transmits data on an idle carrier; wherein the first message comprises: a first correspondence between a cell identity of the second communication node and carrier information of the idle carrier;

the first communication node sending a second message to the second communication node, the second message comprising: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier;

wherein the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when the first communication node determines that its own carrier resource is insufficient, before receiving the first message of the second communication node, the method further includes:

the first communication node sends a third message to a second communication node, where the third message includes a cell identifier corresponding to a carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node, or a third correspondence between the cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

when the first communication node receives a fifth message, the fifth message includes: a fourth correspondence between the cell identifier of the second communication node and the carrier information of the carrier that needs to be recovered;

the first communication node releases the carrier needing to be recovered, and sends a sixth message to the second communication node, where the sixth message includes: a fifth correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the released carrier.

In this embodiment of the present invention, an absolute value of a difference between a spectrum bandwidth of a carrier of the first communication node and a spectrum bandwidth of a carrier of the second communication node is less than or equal to a preset threshold.

the second communication node evaluates the load condition of the carrier wave of the second communication node, and sends a first message to the first communication node according to the load condition of the carrier wave of the second communication node, wherein the first message comprises: a first correspondence between the cell identity of the second communication node and the carrier information of the idle carrier;

the second communication node receives a second message of the first communication node, the second message comprising: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier;

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the second communications node evaluates the load condition of its own carrier, the method further includes:

the second communication node receives a third message of the first communication node, the third message comprising: a cell identifier of the first communication node, or a third correspondence between the cell identifier of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node;

the second communication node evaluating the load condition of the self carrier wave comprises the following steps:

and the second communication node evaluates the load condition of the carrier wave corresponding to the cell identifier of the second communication node in the third corresponding relation.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the second communication node evaluates the load condition of its own carrier in the shared time period.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

when the second communication node needs to recover the carrier occupied by the first communication node, sending a fifth message to the first communication node, where the fifth message includes: a fourth correspondence between the cell identifier of the second communication node and the carrier information of the carrier that needs to be recovered;

the second communication node receives a sixth message of the first communication node, the sixth message comprising: a fifth correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the released carrier.

The embodiment of the invention provides a carrier sharing device, which comprises:

the first judgment module is used for judging that the carrier resources of the self-body are insufficient;

a first receiving module, configured to receive a first message of a second communication node, where the first message includes: a first correspondence between a cell identity of the second communication node and carrier information of the idle carrier;

a first sending module, configured to transmit data on the idle carrier; sending a second message to the second communication node, the second message comprising: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier; wherein the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems.

a second sending module, configured to evaluate a load condition of a self-carrier, and send a first message to a first communication node according to the load condition of the self-carrier, where the first message includes: a first correspondence between the cell identity of the second communication node and carrier information of an idle carrier;

a second receiving module, configured to receive a second message of the first communication node, where the second message includes: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier;

The embodiment of the invention provides a carrier sharing device, which comprises a processor and a computer-readable storage medium, wherein instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instructions are executed by the processor, any one of the carrier sharing methods is realized.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of any one of the carrier sharing methods described above.

The embodiment of the invention provides a carrier sharing system, which comprises:

the first communication node is used for transmitting data on the idle carrier when judging that the carrier resources of the first communication node are insufficient and receiving a first message of a second communication node; sending a second message to the second communication node; wherein the first message comprises: a first correspondence between a cell identity of a second communication node and carrier information of an idle carrier, the second message comprising: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier; the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems;

the second communication node is used for evaluating the load condition of the carrier wave per se and sending a first message to the first communication node according to the load condition of the carrier wave per se; a second message is received for the first communication node.

The embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps: when a first communication node judges that own carrier resources are insufficient and receives a first message of a second communication node, the first communication node transmits data on an idle carrier; wherein the first message comprises: a first correspondence between a cell identity of the second communication node and carrier information of the idle carrier; the first communication node sending a second message to the second communication node, the second message comprising: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier; wherein the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems. The embodiment of the invention realizes that the communication system to which the first communication node belongs shares the carrier resource of the communication system to which the second communication node belongs, and improves the frequency spectrum efficiency.

Additional features and advantages of embodiments of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of embodiments of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the embodiments of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the examples of the invention serve to explain the principles of the embodiments of the invention and not to limit the embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a downlink channel configuration of each carrier in a multi-carrier cell of an NB-IoT system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a GSM channel configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a carrier sharing method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a carrier sharing method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a carrier sharing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a carrier sharing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a carrier sharing system according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a diagram of NB-IoT system and GSM sharing architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is an interaction diagram illustrating a carrier sharing method according to an embodiment of the present invention 1;

fig. 10 is an interaction diagram illustrating a carrier sharing method according to an embodiment 2 of the present invention;

fig. 11 is an interaction diagram illustrating a carrier sharing method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is an interaction diagram illustrating a carrier sharing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments of the present invention may be arbitrarily combined with each other without conflict.

The steps illustrated in the flow charts of the figures may be performed in a computer system such as a set of computer-executable instructions. Also, while a logical order is shown in the flow diagrams, in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different than here.

The NB-IoT uses the same frequency band as GSM, and the operating principles of the two systems are partially similar, so there is a possibility of carrier sharing, and the operating principles of the two systems are as follows.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a downlink channel configuration of each carrier in a multi-carrier cell of an NB-IoT system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, a cell includes an Anchor (Anchor) carrier (i.e., a control carrier) and a plurality of Non-Anchor (Non-Anchor) carriers (i.e., data carriers), each carrier having a frequency spectrum bandwidth of 180 kilohertz (KHz), and a maximum frequency spectrum span of all carriers in the cell does not exceed 20 megahertz (MHz).

Among them, there is one and only one Downlink carrier in the multi-carrier cell, which supports to simultaneously carry a Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal (NPSS), a Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal (NSSS), a Narrowband Physical Broadcast Channel (NPBCH), a Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel (NPDCCH), a Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel (NPDSCH, narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel), and the carrier is called an Anchor carrier. The UE needs to monitor the information of NPSS, NSSS, NPBCH, NPDCCH and NPDSCH on the Anchor carrier.

In the multi-carrier cell, a plurality of downlink carriers which only carry NPDCCH and NPDSCH but do not carry NPSS, NSSS and NPBCH channels are called Non-Anchor carriers. The UE needs to monitor the NPDCCH and NPDSCH information on Non-Anchor carriers.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of GSM channel configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, in GSM, it is assumed that a cell has n carrier frequencies, denoted by C0, C1 … Cn, and 8 slots per carrier frequency, denoted by Ts0, ts1 … Ts7, and the slot width is 15/26 milliseconds (ms).

The Control Channel fixes the Ts0 time slot mapped to carrier C0, such as Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH), synchronization Channel (SCH), broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), and Common Control Channel (CCCH). C1 to Cn are all used for data transmission, and Ts0 to Ts7 are all data channels.

In summary, GSM and NB-IoT systems commonly use 200KHz bandwidth, and the control channel is transmitted on a fixed carrier, and the data channel is transmitted on other carriers, so when the anchor carrier of the NB-IoT system and the control carrier of GSM are independent, it is possible to share the carrier frequency of the transmission data channel between the NB-IoT system and GSM.

Referring to fig. 3, an embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier sharing method, including:

step 300, when a first communication node judges that own carrier resources are insufficient and receives a first message of a second communication node, the first communication node transmits data on the idle carrier; wherein the first message comprises: and when the first corresponding relation between the cell identification of the second communication node and the carrier information of the idle carrier is formed, the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems.

In this embodiment of the present invention, an absolute value of a difference between a frequency spectrum bandwidth of a carrier of a first communication node and a frequency spectrum bandwidth of a carrier of a second communication node is less than or equal to a preset threshold.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first communication node may determine whether its own carrier resource is sufficient by at least one of: the current used power of the carrier, and the number of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) currently used by the carrier.

For example, when the current used power of the carrier is greater than or equal to a first predetermined threshold, the carrier resource is considered to be insufficient; when the current use power of the carrier is less than a first preset threshold, the carrier resource is considered to be sufficient.

For another example, when the number of PRBs currently used by a carrier is greater than or equal to a first predetermined threshold, it is considered that the carrier resources are insufficient; carrier resources are considered sufficient when the number of PRBs currently used by the carrier is less than a first predetermined threshold.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first correspondence further includes: a cell identity of the first communication node.

In an embodiment of the invention, the carrier information comprises a frequency point value.

In the embodiment of the invention, the first communication node can firstly judge whether the carrier resources of the first communication node are sufficient, and then receives the first message of the second communication node; or, the first communication node receives the first message of the second communication node first, and then judges whether the carrier resources of the first communication node are sufficient. These two cases will be described separately below.

First, the first communication node judges whether its own carrier resources are sufficient, and then receives the first message of the second communication node.

In this case, the first communication node needs to determine whether resources of all its carriers are sufficient, and when the first communication node has insufficient resources of its own carrier, before receiving the first message from the second communication node, the method further includes:

In the embodiment of the present invention, the information carried in the third message is determined according to the configuration mode of the carrier shared cell. Specifically, when the third correspondence between the cell identifier of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node is configured only in the first communication node, the third message includes the third correspondence between the cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node;

when the third correspondence is configured only in the second communication node, the third message includes a cell identifier corresponding to a carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node;

when the third mapping relationship is configured in the first communication node and the second communication node at the same time, the third message may include a cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node, or include a third mapping relationship between a cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node and a cell identifier of the second communication node.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the third message may be a carrier sharing request (Frequency SharingRequest).

In the embodiment of the present invention, the cell identifier may include a base station identifier and a cell identifier; or the cell identity may comprise only the cell identity and not the base station identity. When the cell identification comprises the base station identification and the cell identification, and the carrier resources of the first communication node are insufficient, the first communication node sends a third message to a second communication node corresponding to the base station identification in the cell identification of the second communication node corresponding to the cell identification corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node; when the cell identifier does not include the base station identifier, a correspondence between the first communication node identifier and the second communication node identifier needs to be configured between the first communication node and the second communication node, and based on the correspondence between the first communication node identifier and the second communication node identifier, which second communication node the third message is sent to can be known.

In another embodiment of the present invention, when the first communication node does not receive a response message (e.g., the first message or the fourth message) from the second communication node within a preset time after sending the third message to the second communication node, the first communication node sends the third message to the second communication node again.

And (II) the first communication node receives the first message of the second communication node and then judges whether the carrier resources of the first communication node are sufficient.

In this case, the first communication node only needs to determine whether the resource of the carrier corresponding to the cell identifier of the first communication node corresponding to the cell identifier of the second communication node in the first correspondence is sufficient, and when the resource of the carrier is insufficient, directly transmit data on the idle carrier corresponding to the cell identifier of the second communication node.

Specifically, when the first corresponding relationship includes the cell identifier of the first communication node, the first communication node directly determines whether the resource of the carrier corresponding to the cell identifier of the first communication node in the first corresponding relationship is sufficient; when the first corresponding relationship does not include the cell identifier of the first communication node, the first communication node searches the cell identifier of the first communication node corresponding to the cell identifier of the second communication node in the first corresponding relationship in a pre-configured third corresponding relationship, and then judges whether the resources of the carrier wave corresponding to the cell identifier of the first communication node are sufficient or not.

In the embodiment of the present invention, whether the second communication node has an idle carrier may be determined by whether the carrier information of the idle carrier in the first message is empty. Specifically, when the carrier information of the idle carrier is empty, it indicates that the idle carrier does not exist in the second communication node; and when the carrier information of the idle carrier is not empty, indicating that the idle carrier information exists in the second communication node.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the second communication node does not have an idle carrier, the first communication node may wait for the next period or receive the first message again, and before not receiving the first message again, consider that the second communication node has no idle carrier to share.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the first communication node transmits data on the carrier corresponding to the cell identifier of the second communication node corresponding to the cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node, that is, the cell identifier of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node which satisfy the third correspondence relationship can only perform carrier sharing, and the cell identifier of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node which do not satisfy the third correspondence relationship cannot perform carrier sharing.

Step 301, the first communication node sends a second message to the second communication node, where the second message includes: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the first communication node does not occupy any idle carrier, the carrier information of the occupied carrier is null.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first communication node may periodically send the second message to the second communication node.

In another embodiment of the present invention, after the first communication node sends the third message to the second communication node, before the first communication node receives the first message of the second communication node, the method further includes:

the first communication node receives a fourth message of the second communication node.

The fourth message may be a Response message or a carrier Sharing Response (Frequency Sharing Response), and is used to notify the first communication node that the third message has been received, so that the first communication node does not repeatedly send the third message because the first message is not received for a long time. It should be noted that the fourth message is only a response to the third message, and does not need to carry any information, and any form of notification message is possible.

The method avoids message redundancy caused by that the first communication node does not receive the first message for a long time and repeatedly sends the third message after sending the third message.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises:

when the first communication node receives a fifth message, the fifth message includes: a fourth correspondence between the cell identifier of the second communication node and the carrier information of the carrier that needs to be recovered; the first communication node releases the carrier needing to be recovered, and sends a sixth message to the second communication node, where the sixth message includes: a fifth correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the released carrier.

In another embodiment of the present invention, after the first communication node receives the fifth message and before the first communication node releases the carrier that needs to be recovered, the method further includes:

the first communication node sends a seventh message to the second communication node.

The seventh message may be a response message for informing the second communication node that the fifth message has been received, so that the second communication node does not repeatedly send the fifth message because the sixth message is not received for a long time. It should be noted that the seventh message is only a response to the fifth message, and does not need to carry any information, and any form of notification message is possible.

The method avoids message redundancy caused by repeatedly sending the fifth message without receiving the sixth message for a long time after the second communication node sends the fifth message.

Referring to fig. 4, another embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier sharing method, including:

step 400, the second communication node evaluates the load condition of its own carrier, and sends a first message to the first communication node according to the load condition of its own carrier, where the first message includes: a first correspondence between the cell identity of the second communication node and carrier information of an idle carrier; wherein the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first correspondence further includes a cell identity of the first communication node. Specifically, when the third mapping relationship is configured only at the first communication node, the first mapping relationship does not include the cell identifier of the first communication node;

when the third corresponding relation is only configured in the second communication node, the first corresponding relation comprises a cell identifier of the first communication node;

when the third corresponding relationship is configured in both the first communication node and the second communication node, the first corresponding relationship may include the cell identifier of the first communication node, or may not include the cell identifier of the first communication node.

When there is no idle carrier, the carrier information is null.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the second communication node may evaluate the load condition of the self-carrier by at least one of: the current used power of the carrier and the number of users currently carried by the carrier.

For example, when the current used power of the carrier is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold, the load of the carrier is considered to be less than or equal to the second predetermined threshold, that is, the carrier is in an idle state; and when the current used power of the carrier is greater than a second preset threshold, the load of the carrier is considered to be greater than the second preset threshold, namely the carrier is in a non-idle state.

For another example, when the number of users currently carried by the carrier is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold, the load of the carrier is considered to be less than or equal to the second predetermined threshold, that is, the carrier is in an idle state; and when the number of users currently carried by the carrier is greater than a second preset threshold, considering that the load of the carrier is greater than the second preset threshold, namely the carrier is in a non-idle state.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the second communication node may evaluate the load condition of its own carrier after receiving the third message of the first communication node; or the second communication node evaluates the load condition of the self carrier in the sharing time period. These two cases are described separately below.

And (I) the second communication node evaluates the load condition of the self carrier after receiving the third message of the first communication node.

In this case, the third message includes: the cell identifier of the first communication node, or a third correspondence between the cell identifier of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node.

The second communication node evaluates only the load condition of the carrier corresponding to the cell identity of the second communication node in the third correspondence.

And when the third message only comprises the cell identifier of the first communication node, the second communication node searches the cell identifier of the second communication node corresponding to the cell identifier of the first communication node in the third message in a preset third corresponding relation, and then evaluates the carrier load condition corresponding to the searched cell identifier of the second communication node.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the third message may be a carrier Sharing Request (Frequency Sharing Request).

And (II) the second communication node evaluates the load condition of the self carrier in the sharing time period.

In this case, the second communication node evaluates the load conditions of all the carriers of itself within the shared period.

The second communication node may periodically send a first message to the first communication node; alternatively, the first message is sent to the first communication node when the self carrier state changes (such as from idle to non-idle, or from non-idle to idle).

Step 401, a second communication node receives a second message of the first communication node, where the second message includes: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier.

In another embodiment of the present invention, after the second communication node receives the third message from the first communication node, before the second communication node evaluates the load condition of its own carrier, the method further includes:

the second communication node sends a fourth message to the first communication node indicating receipt of the first message.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises:

the second communication node receiving a sixth message from the first communication node, the sixth message: and indicating the user to transmit data on the released carrier by the fifth corresponding relation between the cell identifier of the first communication node and the carrier information of the released carrier.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the need to reclaim the carriers already occupied by the first communication node includes the following two cases: when the sharing time period is over, or the carrier load of the second communication node is suddenly increased, that is, the carrier resource of the second communication node is insufficient.

Specifically, when the sharing time period is over, the second communication node recovers all the shared carriers;

when the carrier resource of the second communication node is insufficient, the second communication node recovers all the shared carriers, or recovers the carriers one by one, that is, whether the carrier resource is sufficient is judged again every time one carrier is recovered, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

In another embodiment of the present invention, after the fifth message is sent to the first communication node and before the sixth message of the first communication node is received by the second communication node, the method further includes:

the second communication node receives a seventh message of the first communication node.

In the above embodiment, the first communication node and the second communication node may be base stations belonging to different communication systems, for example, the first communication node is an eNodeB of an NB-IoT system, and the second communication node is a BSC of GSM.

Referring to fig. 5, another embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier sharing apparatus (e.g., a first communication node), including:

a first determining module 501, configured to determine that own carrier resources are insufficient;

a first receiving module 502, configured to receive a first message of a second communication node, where the first message includes: a first correspondence between a cell identity of the second communication node and carrier information of the idle carrier;

a first sending module 503, configured to transmit data on the idle carrier; sending a second message to the second communication node, the second message comprising: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier; wherein the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first sending module 503 is further configured to:

and sending a third message to a second communication node, where the third message includes a cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node, or a third correspondence between the cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first receiving module 502 is further configured to:

receiving a fourth message of the second communication node.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the carrier sharing apparatus further includes:

a processing module 504, configured to, when the first receiving module 502 receives the fifth message or does not need to use the carrier of the second communication node, the fifth message includes: a fourth correspondence between the cell identifier of the second communication node and the carrier information of the carrier that needs to be recovered; releasing the carrier needing to be recovered or the carrier not needing to be used;

the first sending module 503 is further configured to:

sending a sixth message to the second communication node, the sixth message comprising: a fifth correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the released carrier.

sending a seventh message to the second communication node.

Referring to fig. 6, another embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier sharing apparatus (e.g., a second communication node), including:

a second sending module 601, configured to evaluate a load condition of a self-carrier, and send a first message to a first communication node according to the load condition of the self-carrier, where the first message includes: a first correspondence between the cell identity of the second communication node and carrier information of an idle carrier;

a second receiving module 602, configured to receive a second message of the first communication node, where the second message includes: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier;

In this embodiment of the present invention, the second receiving module 602 is further configured to: receiving a third message of the first communication node, the third message comprising: a cell identifier of the first communication node, or a third correspondence between the cell identifier of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node;

the second sending module 601 is specifically configured to:

and evaluating the load condition of the carrier corresponding to the cell identifier of the second communication node in the third corresponding relation, and sending a first message to the first communication node according to the load condition of the carrier.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the second sending module 601 is further configured to:

sending a fourth message to the first communication node.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the second sending module 601 is specifically configured to:

and evaluating the load condition of the self carrier in the sharing time period, and sending a first message to the first communication node according to the load condition of the self carrier.

when the carrier occupied by the first communication node needs to be recovered, sending a fifth message to the first communication node, wherein the fifth message comprises: a fourth correspondence between the cell identifier of the second communication node and the carrier information of the carrier that needs to be recovered;

the second receiving module 602 is further configured to: receiving a sixth message of the first communication node, the sixth message comprising: a fifth correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the released carrier.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the second receiving module 602 is further configured to: receiving a seventh message of the first communication node.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier sharing apparatus, including a processor and a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instructions are executed by the processor, the carrier sharing apparatus implements any one of the carrier sharing methods described above.

Another embodiment of the present invention proposes a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when being executed by a processor, implements the steps of any of the carrier sharing methods described above.

Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital Versatile Disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by a computer.

Referring to fig. 7, another embodiment of the present invention provides a carrier sharing system, including:

the first communication node 701 is configured to transmit data on the idle carrier when it is determined that own carrier resources are insufficient and a first message of a second communication node is received; sending a second message to the second communication node; wherein the first message comprises: a first correspondence between a cell identity of a second communication node and carrier information of an idle carrier, the second message comprising: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier; the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems;

the second communication node 702 is configured to evaluate a load condition of a carrier of the second communication node, and send a first message to the first communication node according to the load condition of the carrier of the second communication node; a second message is received for the first communication node.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first communication node 701 is further configured to:

sending a third message to a second communication node, where the third message includes a cell identifier corresponding to a carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node, or a third correspondence between the cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the first communication node and the cell identifier of the second communication node;

the second communication node 702 is specifically configured to:

receiving a third message of the first communication node; and evaluating the load condition of the carrier corresponding to the cell identifier of the second communication node in the third corresponding relation, and sending a first message to the first communication node according to the load condition of the carrier.

receiving a fourth message of the second communication node;

the second communication node 702 is further configured to: sending a fourth message to the first communication node.

upon receiving a fifth message or without using a carrier of a second communication node, the fifth message comprising: a fourth correspondence between the cell identifier of the second communication node and the carrier information of the carrier that needs to be recovered; releasing the carrier needing to be recovered or the carrier not needing to be used, and sending a sixth message to the second communication node, where the sixth message includes: a fifth correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the released carrier;

the second communication node 702 is further configured to:

when the carrier occupied by the first communication node needs to be recovered, sending a fifth message to the first communication node, wherein the fifth message comprises: a fourth correspondence between the cell identifier of the second communication node and the carrier information of the carrier that needs to be recovered; receiving a sixth message of the first communication node, the sixth message comprising: a fifth correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the released carrier.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first communication node 701 is further configured to: sending a seventh message to the second communication node;

the second communication node 702 is further configured to: receiving a seventh message of the first communication node.

The connection mode of NB-IoT and GSM network elements is as shown in fig. 3, an interface is established between the BSC and the MME, message interaction between the BSC and the eNodeB is conducted through the MME, and NB-IoT and GSM are assisted to complete a carrier sharing function.

The specific implementation of the embodiment of the present invention is described in detail below by taking an NB-IoT system sharing a GSM carrier as an example.

The NB-IoT system and the GSM use a group of carriers with the same frequency band, wherein the NB-IoT system and the GSM respectively have own control carriers; the NB-IoT system and the GSM only share the data carrier, namely, when the NB-IoT system has insufficient Non-Anchor carrier resources, the NB-IoT system uses the data carrier of the GSM to send the information which needs to be sent by the Non-Anchor carrier. The NB-IoT system and the GSM send control signaling and scheduling commands on respective control carriers, and the NB-IoT system and the GSM mutually negotiate how to share the data carriers and alternately use the data carriers to send related services. Interference avoidance between NB-IoT systems and GSM is achieved by configuring non-interfering carriers or carrier isolation.

The control node shared by the NB-IoT system and the GSM carrier is: an Evolved Node B (eNodeB) and a Base Station Controller (BSC) respectively control whether to use a carrier sharing function between the NB-IoT system and the GSM. As shown in fig. 8, the GSM BSC establishes an interface with a Mobility Management Entity (MME), and the MME transparently passes through the content that needs to be interacted between the BSC and the eNodeB.

Example 1

In this example, when the user in GSM decreases, the GSM spectrum resource appears to be insufficiently utilized, the BSC evaluates the load condition of its own carrier (e.g., the current power used by the carrier), then gradually migrates the user to some or some carriers, so that the user data is sent on some carriers in a centralized manner, and the rest carriers are left empty for energy-saving dormancy. With the use of NB-IoT base stations deployed in the same frequency band, as the number of users increases, when spectrum resources are not enough, spectrum resources of GSM can be shared.

Referring to fig. 9, the method includes:

and 900, configuring a third corresponding relation between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the cell identifier of the BSC in advance at the eNodeB.

In this step, the cell id of the eNodeB meeting the third correspondence may share the carrier corresponding to the cell id of the BSC. For example, if the cell 11 of the eNodeB and the cell 21 of the BSC satisfy the third correspondence relationship, the cell 11 of the eNodeB may share the carrier corresponding to the cell 21 of the BSC; if the cell 12 of the eNodeB and the cell 22 of the BSC do not satisfy the third correspondence, the cell 21 of the eNodeB may not share the carrier corresponding to the cell 22 of the BSC.

Step 901, the eNodeB judges whether the carrier resources of the eNodeB are sufficient, and when the carrier resources of the eNodeB are insufficient, the eNodeB sends a carrier sharing request to the BSC through the MME, where the carrier sharing request includes a third correspondence between a cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the eNodeB and a cell identifier of the BSC; when the carrier resources are sufficient, the process is ended.

In this step, the eNodeB determines whether its own carrier resources are sufficient by at least one of the following: the current used power of the carrier and the number of PRBs currently used by the carrier.

When the current use power of the carrier or the number of PRBs currently used by the carrier is greater than or equal to a first predetermined threshold, which indicates that the NB-IoT system has a shortage of carrier resources and needs to share idle carrier resources of GSM, the eNodeB sends a carrier sharing request to the BSC capable of performing carrier sharing (i.e., the BSC corresponding to the cell identifier of the BSC in the third correspondence in the carrier sharing request) through the MME.

If the eNodeB does not receive the response message of the BSC within the time length of a timer, the eNodeB reinitiates the carrier sharing request.

In this step, the MME transparently transmits the carrier sharing request.

Step 902, the BSC sends a response message to the eNodeB indicating that the carrier sharing request is received.

Step 903, the BSC evaluates the load condition of the carrier corresponding to the cell identifier of the BSC in the third correspondence in the carrier sharing request, and periodically sends a first message to the eNodeB through the MME according to the load condition of the carrier, where the first message includes a first correspondence between the cell identifier of the BSC and the frequency point value of the idle carrier.

In this step, when the BSC has no idle carrier, the frequency point value of the idle carrier is null.

Step 904, when the frequency point value of the idle carrier in the first message is not empty, the eNodeB transmits data on the idle carrier and sends a second message to the BSC through the MME, the second message including a second correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the frequency point value of the occupied carrier; and when the frequency point value of the idle carrier in the first message is empty, the eNodeB waits for the next period to receive the first message.

Step 905, when the BSC needs to recover the carrier occupied by the eNodeB, sending a fifth message to the eNodeB through the MME, where the fifth message includes a fourth corresponding relationship between the cell identifier of the BSC and the frequency point value of the carrier that needs to be recovered.

Step 906, the eNodeB sends a response message to the BSC through the MME, indicating that the fifth message is received.

Step 907, the eNodeB releases the carrier that needs to be recovered in the fifth message, and after the release is completed, the eNodeB sends a sixth message to the BSC through the MME, where the sixth message includes a fifth correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the frequency point value of the released carrier.

Step 908, the BSC transmits data on the released carriers in the sixth message.

Example 2

Referring to fig. 10, the method includes:

and step 1000, configuring a third corresponding relation between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the cell identifier of the BSC in advance in the BSC.

1001, the eNodeB judges whether the carrier resources of the eNodeB are sufficient, and when the carrier resources of the eNodeB are insufficient, the eNodeB sends a carrier sharing request to the BSC through the MME, wherein the carrier sharing request comprises a cell identifier corresponding to the carrier with insufficient resources of the eNodeB; when the carrier resources are sufficient, the process is ended.

In this step, the eNodeB determines whether its own carrier resource is sufficient by at least one of the following: the current used power of the carrier and the number of PRBs currently used by the carrier.

In this step, the MME transparently transmits the carrier sharing request.

Step 1002, the BSC sends a response message to the eNodeB indicating that the carrier sharing request is received.

Step 1003, the BSC searches a cell identifier of the BSC corresponding to a cell identifier corresponding to a carrier with insufficient resources of the eNodeB in the carrier sharing request in a preset third corresponding relationship, evaluates a load condition of the searched carrier corresponding to the cell identifier of the BSC, and periodically sends a first message to the eNodeB through the MME according to the load condition of the carrier, wherein the first message includes a first corresponding relationship among the cell identifier of the eNodeB, the cell identifier of the BSC, and a frequency point value of an idle carrier.

Step 1004, when the frequency point value of the idle carrier in the first message is not empty, the eNodeB transmits data on the idle carrier and sends a second message to the BSC through the MME, the second message including a second correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the frequency point value of the occupied carrier; and when the frequency point value of the idle carrier in the first message is empty, the eNodeB waits for the next period to receive the first message.

Step 1005, when the BSC needs to recover the carrier occupied by the eNodeB, sending a fifth message to the eNodeB through the MME, where the fifth message includes a fourth corresponding relationship between the cell identifier of the BSC and the frequency point value of the carrier that needs to be recovered.

Step 1006, the eNodeB sends a response message to the BSC through the MME, indicating that the fifth message is received.

Step 1007, the eNodeB releases the carrier that needs to be recovered in the fifth message, and after the release is completed, the eNodeB sends a sixth message to the BSC through the MME, where the sixth message includes a fifth correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the frequency point value of the released carrier.

Step 1008, the BSC transmits data on the released carriers in the sixth message.

Example 3

In this example, GSM implements carrier sharing during a sharing period.

Referring to fig. 11, the method includes:

step 1100, configuring a sharing time period (for example, 22; and simultaneously configuring a third corresponding relation between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the cell identifier of the BSC at the BSC.

Step 1101, when the GSM starts the configured sharing time period (for example: 22). If no GSM carrier can be released, no processing is done.

In this step, the BSC may evaluate the load condition of its own carrier by at least one of: the current used power of the carrier and the number of users currently carried by the carrier.

For example, when the current used power of the carrier is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold, the load of the carrier is considered to be less than or equal to the second predetermined threshold, that is, the carrier is in an idle state; when the current use power of the carrier is greater than a second preset threshold, the load of the carrier is considered to be greater than the second preset threshold, namely the carrier is in a non-idle state.

For another example, when the number of users currently carried by the carrier is less than or equal to a second predetermined threshold, the load of the carrier is considered to be less than or equal to the second predetermined threshold, that is, the carrier is in an idle state; and when the number of the users currently carried by the carrier is greater than a second preset threshold, the load of the carrier is considered to be greater than the second preset threshold, namely the carrier is in a non-idle state.

In this step, if the GSM has an energy saving function, that is, when the GSM service data is small, the BSC needs to migrate the user data to a certain carrier or carriers according to the load status of each carrier of the GSM, and perform dormancy on other idle carriers. When the GSM traffic comes, the BSC may migrate the user data to the dormant carrier again, making full use of the spectrum resources. If the GSM does not have the energy-saving function, the BSC directly detects the idle carrier.

If the NB-IoT receives occupied one frequency point at a certain time, but does not receive unoccupied event notification at all times, the NB-IoT considers that the frequency point is occupied all the time. That is, if one frequency point is always occupied, the GSM does not need to repeat the notification.

Step 1102, the BSC periodically sends a first message to the eNodeB through the MME, where the first message includes a first correspondence between a cell identifier of the eNodeB, a cell identifier of the BSC, and a frequency point value of an idle carrier.

In this step, the BSC sends the first message only to the eNodeB corresponding to the eNodeB whose cell id has the third correspondence with the cell id of the BSC corresponding to the idle carrier.

1103, the eNodeB determining whether the carrier resources corresponding to the cell identifier of the eNodeB in the first message are sufficient, and when the carrier resources corresponding to the cell identifier of the eNodeB in the first message are insufficient, transmitting data on the idle carrier in the first message, and periodically sending a second message to the BSC through the MME, where the second message includes a second correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and a frequency point value of an occupied carrier; and when the carrier resources corresponding to the cell identifier of the eNodeB in the first message are sufficient, the frequency point value of the carrier occupied in the second message sent to the BSC is null.

And 1104, when the eNodeB does not need to use the carrier of the BSC, releasing the carrier that does not need to be used, and sending a sixth message to the BSC through the MME, where the sixth message includes a fifth correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the frequency point value of the released carrier.

Step 1105, when the sharing time period is over (for example, 06: 00), the BSC sends a fifth message to the eNodeB through the MME, where the fifth message includes a fourth correspondence between the cell identifier of the BSC and the frequency point value of the carrier that needs to be recovered, and indicates the carrier that needs to be recovered.

Step 1106, the eNodeB releases the carrier that needs to be recovered, and sends a sixth message to the BSC through the MME, where the sixth message includes a fifth correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the frequency point value of the released carrier.

Step 1107, the BSC transmits data on the released carriers in the sixth message.

Example 4

In this example, GSM implements carrier sharing during a sharing time period.

Referring to fig. 12, the method includes:

step 1200, configuring a sharing time period (for example, 22; and simultaneously configuring a third corresponding relation between the cell identification of the eNodeB and the cell identification of the BSC in the eNodeB.

Step 1201, when the GSM starts the configured sharing time period (for example, 22). If no GSM carrier can be released, no processing is done.

If NB-IoT receives a frequency point occupied at a certain time, but does not receive any subsequent event notification that it is not occupied, then NB-IoT will consider that frequency point to be occupied. That is, if one frequency point is always occupied, the GSM does not need to repeat the notification.

Step 1202, the BSC periodically sends a first message to the eNodeB through the MME, where the first message includes a first correspondence between a cell identifier of the BSC and a frequency point value of an idle carrier.

In this step, the BSC sends the first message only to the eNodeB corresponding to the cell id of the eNodeB having the third correspondence with the cell id of the BSC corresponding to the idle carrier.

Step 1203, the eNodeB searches a cell identifier of the eNodeB corresponding to the cell identifier of the BSC in the first message in the third correspondence, determines whether carrier resources corresponding to the cell identifier of the eNodeB that is found are sufficient, and transmits data on idle carriers in the first message when the carrier resources corresponding to the cell identifier of the eNodeB that is found are insufficient, and periodically sends a second message to the BSC through the MME, where the second message includes a second correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and frequency point values of occupied carriers; and when the carrier resources corresponding to the cell identifier of the searched eNodeB are sufficient, the frequency point value of the carrier occupied in the second message sent to the BSC is null.

Step 1204, when the eNodeB does not need to use the carrier of the BSC, releasing the carrier that does not need to be used, and sending a sixth message to the BSC through the MME, where the sixth message includes a fifth correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the frequency point value of the released carrier.

Step 1205, when the sharing time period is over (for example, 06: 00), the BSC sends a fifth message to the eNodeB through the MME, where the fifth message includes a fourth correspondence between the cell identifier of the BSC and the frequency point value of the carrier that needs to be recovered, and indicates the carrier that needs to be recovered.

Step 1206, the eNodeB releases the carrier to be recovered, and sends a sixth message to the BSC through the MME, where the sixth message includes a fifth correspondence between the cell identifier of the eNodeB and the frequency point value of the released carrier.

Step 1207, the BSC transmits data on the released carriers in the sixth message.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the descriptions are only used for understanding the embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A carrier sharing method, comprising:

when a first communication node judges that own carrier resources are insufficient and receives a first message of a second communication node, the first communication node transmits data on an idle carrier of the second communication node; wherein the first message comprises: a first correspondence between a cell identity of the second communication node and carrier information of the idle carrier; judging whether the second communication node has an idle carrier or not according to whether the carrier information of the idle carrier in the first message is empty or not;

2. The carrier sharing method according to claim 1, wherein when the first communication node determines that its own carrier resource is insufficient, before the first message of the second communication node is received, the method further comprises:

3. The carrier sharing method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

4. The carrier sharing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an absolute value of a difference between the spectrum bandwidth of the carrier of the first communication node and the spectrum bandwidth of the carrier of the second communication node is less than or equal to a preset threshold.

5. A carrier sharing method, comprising:

the second communication node evaluates the load condition of the carrier wave of the second communication node, and sends a first message to the first communication node according to the load condition of the carrier wave of the second communication node, wherein the first message comprises: the first correspondence between the cell identifier of the second communication node and the carrier information of the idle carrier is used for the first communication node to judge whether the second communication node has the idle carrier or not by judging whether the carrier information of the idle carrier in the first message is empty or not and transmitting data on the idle carrier;

6. The carrier sharing method according to claim 5, wherein before the second communication node evaluates the load condition of the own carrier, the method further comprises:

the second communication node evaluating the load condition of the self carrier comprises the following steps:

7. The carrier sharing method according to claim 5, wherein the second communication node evaluates a load condition of the own carrier during a sharing period.

8. The carrier sharing method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, further comprising:

9. A carrier sharing apparatus, comprising:

a first sending module, configured to transmit data on the idle carrier, where whether the idle carrier exists in the second communication node is determined by whether carrier information of the idle carrier in the first message is empty; sending a second message to the second communication node, the second message comprising: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier; wherein the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems.

10. A carrier sharing apparatus, comprising:

a second sending module, configured to evaluate a load condition of a self-carrier, and send a first message to a first communication node according to the load condition of the self-carrier, where the first message includes: a first corresponding relation between the cell identifier of the second communication node and the carrier information of the idle carrier, so that the first communication node can judge whether the second communication node has the idle carrier according to whether the carrier information of the idle carrier in the first message is empty, and transmit data on the idle carrier;

11. A carrier sharing apparatus comprising a processor and a computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, implement the carrier sharing method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

12. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored which, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of a carrier sharing method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

13. A carrier sharing system, comprising:

the first communication node is used for transmitting data on an idle carrier of a second communication node when judging that own carrier resources are insufficient and receiving a first message of the second communication node; judging whether the second communication node has an idle carrier or not according to whether the carrier information of the idle carrier in the first message is empty or not; sending a second message to the second communication node; wherein the first message comprises: a first correspondence between a cell identity of a second communication node and carrier information of an idle carrier, the second message comprising: a second correspondence between the cell identity of the first communication node and the carrier information of the occupied carrier; the first communication node and the second communication node belong to different communication systems;

the second communication node is used for evaluating the load condition of the carrier wave of the second communication node and sending a first message to the first communication node according to the load condition of the carrier wave of the second communication node; a second message is received for the first communication node.