CN111050384B

CN111050384B - Signal transmission method and device

Info

Publication number: CN111050384B
Application number: CN201811190455.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 彦楠; 傅婧
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-12
Filing date: 2018-10-12
Publication date: 2021-06-08
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-12
Also published as: WO2020073875A1; CN111050384A

Abstract

The application discloses a signal transmission method and a signal transmission device, which are used for enabling UE to monitor energy-saving signals of only one CG (control center) and avoiding electric quantity loss of the UE caused by awakening the UE to monitor the energy-saving signals for multiple times. On a network side, a signal transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes: determining a cell group CG which needs to send an energy-saving signal to user equipment UE; and controlling the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal sent by the CG only.

Description

Signal transmission method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a signal transmission method and apparatus.

Background

A Dual Connectivity (DC) scenario, for example, a Dual Connectivity between an Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and an NR node, or a Dual Connectivity between two NR nodes, or a Dual Connectivity between two LTE nodes. One Node acts as a primary base station (MN) and the other as a Secondary base Station (SN). The MN and the SN are connected via a network interface.

In a Multiple Connectivity (Multiple Connectivity) scenario, on a dual Connectivity basis, one MN may form Multiple connections with Multiple SNs.

In order to solve the problem of high power consumption of terminal equipment, a concept of an energy-saving signal is introduced. The energy-saving signal usually carries Identification (ID) information of the UE, and the UE determines whether the energy-saving signal corresponds to the UE by detecting the energy-saving signal and performing correlation matching, for example, the energy-saving signal may be a Wake Up Signal (WUS) signal.

In a DC scenario, if each node separately configures an energy saving signal, power consumption of the UE may be caused by waking up the UE for listening for multiple times due to different configured time points.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a signal transmission method and a signal transmission device, which are used for enabling a UE to monitor an energy-saving signal of only one CG and avoiding electric quantity loss of the UE caused by waking up the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal for multiple times.

On a network side, a signal transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

determining a cell group CG which needs to send an energy-saving signal to user equipment UE;

and controlling the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal sent by the CG only.

By the method, a cell group CG which needs to send an energy-saving signal to user equipment UE is determined; and controlling the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal sent by the CG only, so that the UE only monitors the energy-saving signal of one CG, and avoiding the electric quantity loss of the UE caused by waking up the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal for multiple times.

Optionally, a cell group CG which needs to send a power saving signal to the user equipment UE is determined by the master base station MN.

Optionally, controlling the UE to monitor only the energy saving signal sent by the CG includes:

the main base station MN controls other CGs except the CG to suspend the connection with the UE;

and the MN sends energy-saving signal configuration information to the UE, so that the UE keeps connection with the CG which sends the energy-saving signal to the UE and suspends the connection with other CGs.

Optionally, if the energy saving signal is sent by a secondary cell group SCG under a secondary base station SN, the MN controls the UE to monitor only the energy saving signal sent by the CG, further including: and the MN informs the SCG under the SN of sending the energy-saving signal.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

when data arrives at a network side node, if the network side node does not include a CG for sending an energy-saving signal, the network side node informs the CG to send the energy-saving signal to the UE through inter-node signaling, wherein the network side node is the MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

Optionally, the inter-node signaling is sent by the network side node having data arriving directly to the network side node where the CG sending the energy saving signal is located, or relayed through the MN.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the network side node or MN restores or deletes the CG which is connected with the UE in a suspended mode through signaling between nodes;

or, the network side node shunts data to the suspended CG and implicitly restores the CG connected with the UE in a suspended manner.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

when data arrives at a network side node, if the network side node comprises a CG for sending an energy-saving signal, the network side node triggers the CG to send the energy-saving signal to the UE, wherein the network side node is the MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

the network side node recovers or deletes the CG which is connected with the UE in a suspended mode through inter-node signaling;

Correspondingly, on the terminal side, the signal transmission method provided by the embodiment of the application comprises the following steps:

determining energy-saving signal configuration information sent to User Equipment (UE) by a network side;

and monitoring the energy-saving signal sent by only one cell group CG according to the configuration information.

Optionally, after monitoring the power saving signal, the method further includes:

and monitoring a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) on the CG and keeping the connection with other CGs suspended.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and when a network side instruction for restoring the connection with the other CG or a network side instruction for reconfiguring the other CG is received, restoring the double connection or multi-connection work according to the network side instruction.

monitoring a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) on the CG; and actively restoring the connection with the suspended CG and monitoring the PDCCH on the CG for restoring the connection.

On the network side, a signal transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

a first unit, configured to determine a cell group CG that needs to send an energy saving signal to a user equipment UE;

a second unit, configured to control the UE to monitor only the energy saving signal sent by the CG.

On a terminal side, a signal transmission apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

the device comprises a determining unit, a judging unit and a processing unit, wherein the determining unit is used for determining energy-saving signal configuration information sent to User Equipment (UE) by a network side;

and the monitoring unit is used for monitoring the energy-saving signal sent by only one cell group CG according to the configuration information.

On the network side, a computing device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

a memory for storing program instructions;

a processor for calling the program instructions stored in the memory and executing according to the obtained program:

and controlling the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal sent by the CG only.

Optionally, the device is a master base station MN.

controlling other CGs except the CG to suspend the connection with the UE;

and sending energy-saving signal configuration information to the UE, so that the UE keeps connection with the CG which sends the energy-saving signal to the UE, and suspends the connection with other CGs.

Optionally, if the power saving signal is sent by a secondary cell group SCG under a secondary base station SN, the processor is further configured to: and informing the SCG under the SN to send the energy-saving signal.

Optionally, when the device has data arriving, if the device does not include a CG transmitting a power saving signal, the processor is further configured to: informing the CG of sending an energy-saving signal to the UE through inter-node signaling, wherein the equipment is a main base station MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

Optionally, the inter-node signaling is sent by the processor directly to a network side node where a CG that sends an energy saving signal is located, or relayed through the MN.

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

through signaling between nodes, recovering or deleting the CG which is connected with the UE in a suspended mode;

or, shunting data to the suspended CG and implicitly restoring the CG connected with the suspension of the UE.

Optionally, when the device has data arriving, if the device includes a CG transmitting a power saving signal, the processor is further configured to: and triggering the CG to send an energy-saving signal to the UE, wherein the equipment is a main base station MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

Correspondingly, on the terminal side, the computing device provided by the embodiment of the application comprises:

a memory for storing program instructions;

Optionally, after monitoring the power saving signal, the processor is further configured to:

Optionally, the processor is further configured to:

Another embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform any one of the methods described above.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity (EN-DC) network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity (NGEN-DC) network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity (NE-DC) network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 and fig. 5 are schematic diagrams respectively illustrating network side protocol termination selection of dual connectivity user plane bearer according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a terminal energy saving mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of another terminal energy saving mode provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an energy saving signal that a UE wakes up multiple times to listen to two network nodes according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a schematic signal transmission flow chart according to a first embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic signal transmission flow diagram according to a second embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic signal transmission flow diagram according to a third embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic signal transmission flow diagram according to a fourth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic signal transmission flow diagram according to a fifth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic flowchart of a signal transmission method at a network side according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a signal transmission method at a terminal side according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal transmission apparatus on a network side according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a signal transmission apparatus at a terminal side according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of another signal transmission apparatus on a network side according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of another signal transmission apparatus at a terminal side according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

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

A Dual Connectivity (DC) scenario is introduced as follows:

several nodes are explained as follows:

eNB: a base station in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system.

And g NB: a node providing a user plane and a control plane of a next generation radio (NR) to a User Equipment (UE) is connected to a 5G Core Network (5G Core Network, 5GC) through an NG interface.

en-gNB: the nodes providing the NR user and control planes towards the UE act as secondary nodes in the EN-DC architecture.

ng-eNB: a node providing an E-UTRAN user plane and a control plane to a UE is connected to the 5GC through an NG interface.

NG-C: a control plane interface between the NG-RAN and the 5 GC;

NG-U: a user plane interface between the NG-RAN and the 5 GC;

several architectural definitions:

MR-DC: dual connectivity between Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and NR nodes. In MR-DC, one Node acts as a master base station (MN) and the other as a Secondary base Station (SN). The MN and the SN are connected through a network interface, wherein at least the MN is connected to a core network (5GC or EPC).

MR-DC contains several architectures:

E-UTRA-NR double ligation (EN-DC): as shown in fig. 1, in this architecture, a UE is connected to one eNB as MN and one en-gbb as SN. Where the eNB (i.e., MN) is connected to an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) through an S1 interface and to an en-gbb (i.e., SN) through an X2 interface. The en-gNB may also be connected to the EPC via the S1-U interface, and the X2-U interface to other en-gNBs.

NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR double junction (NGEN-DC): as shown in fig. 2, in this architecture, the UE is connected to one ng-eNB as MN and to one gNB as SN. Wherein the ng-eNB is connected to the 5GC and the gNB, wherein the nb-eNB possesses the protocol layer functionality of LTE, and the gNB is connected to the ng-eNB over an Xn interface.

NR-E-UTRA double ligation (NE-DC): as shown in fig. 3, in NE-DC, the UE is connected to one gNB as MN and one ng-eNB as SN. Where the gNB is connected to the 5GC and the ng-eNB is connected to the gNB through an Xn interface.

NR-DC: the UE is connected with two gNBs, wherein one gNB serves as a main node, and the other gNB serves as an auxiliary node;

LTE-DC: the UE is connected to two enbs, one of which acts as a primary node and the other as a secondary node.

In the embodiment of the invention, DC comprises the above 3 major categories of MR-DC, NR-DC and LTE-DC.

The following is introduced with respect to dual connectivity user plane bearers:

from the UE side perspective, there are three bearer types for dual connectivity: MCG bearers, SCG bearers and split bearers.

From the network side perspective, each bearer (MCG, SCG and split bearer) can be terminated at either the MN or the SN. Network side protocol termination options are shown in fig. 4 and 5 for EN-DC and MR-DC and 5GC (NGEN-DC and NE-DC), respectively.

Energy Saving (Power Saving) is described as follows:

in order to solve the problem of high power consumption of terminal equipment, a concept of an energy-saving signal is introduced. There are two energy-saving schemes. The energy-saving Signal usually carries Identification (ID) Information of the UE, and the UE determines whether the energy-saving Signal corresponds to the UE by detecting the energy-saving Signal and performing correlation matching, for example, the energy-saving Signal may be a Wake Up Signal (WUS) Signal or a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) of the UE.

The first method is as follows: the UE periodically receives the power saving signal. The network may configure the period information of the power saving signal transmission, or the UE may listen to the power saving signal according to other configured periods, such as a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) period or a Semi-persistent Scheduling (SPS) period. If the UE receives the energy saving signal corresponding to the UE, the UE will continuously listen to a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of n timeslots and/or subframes and/or symbols after receiving the energy saving signal, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1. If the UE does not receive the energy-saving signal corresponding to the UE, the UE enters an energy-saving state, namely the UE does not monitor the PDCCH. The specific flow is shown in fig. 6.

The second method comprises the following steps: as shown in fig. 7, the UE determines whether to monitor the PDCCH according to the power saving signal indication. In this case, the UE needs to listen to the power saving signal all the time, assuming that the power consumption of the UE listening to the power saving signal is very low. After the UE detects the energy saving signal corresponding thereto, the UE will continuously monitor the PDCCH of n slots and/or subframes and/or symbols, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The UE then enters the power saving state, i.e. does not listen to the PDCCH anymore.

As shown in fig. 8, the UE needs to wake up at time t2(t4, t6) after listening to the energy saving signal at time t1(t3, t5) to enter the energy saving state, because the UE listens to the energy saving signal at the Master Cell Group (MCG) corresponding to the MN and the Secondary Cell Group (SCG) corresponding to the SN at different locations. The prior art cannot solve the problem that the UE wakes up for many times to listen to the energy-saving signal.

In summary, in a DC scenario, if each node configures an energy saving signal independently, power consumption of the UE may be caused by waking up the UE for listening for multiple times due to different configured time points. Because the main node and the auxiliary node are base stations with double connection, the energy-saving signal can be configured on only one node, so that the UE only monitors one set of energy-saving signal when no data is received, and the power consumption of the UE caused by monitoring the energy-saving signals on a plurality of cells is avoided.

The method and the device are based on the same application concept, and because the principles of solving the problems of the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be mutually referred, and repeated parts are not repeated.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be suitable for various systems, particularly 5G systems. For example, the applicable system may be a global system for mobile communication (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a universal microwave Access (WiMAX) system, a 5G NR system, and the like. These various systems include terminal devices and network devices.

The terminal device referred to in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a device providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device having a wireless connection function, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. The names of the terminal devices may also be different in different systems, for example, in a 5G system, the terminal devices may be referred to as User Equipments (UEs). Wireless terminal devices, which may be mobile terminal devices such as mobile telephones (or "cellular" telephones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, e.g., mobile devices that may be portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included, or vehicle-mounted, communicate with one or more core networks via the RAN. Examples of such devices include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and the like. The wireless terminal device may also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a subscriber station (subscriber station), a mobile station (mobile), a remote station (remote station), an access point (access point), a remote terminal device (remote terminal), an access terminal device (access terminal), a user terminal device (user terminal), a user agent (user agent), and a user device (user device), which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The network device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a base station, and the base station may include a plurality of cells. A base station may also be referred to as an access point, or a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with wireless terminal devices, or by other names, depending on the particular application. The network device may be configured to interconvert received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, which may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network device may also coordinate attribute management for the air interface. For example, the network device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), may also be a network device (NodeB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), may also be an evolved network device (eNB or e-NodeB) in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a 5G base station in a 5G network architecture (next generation system), and may also be a home evolved node B (HeNB), a relay node (relay node), a home base station (femto), a pico base station (pico), and the like, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Various embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the display sequence of the embodiment of the present application only represents the sequence of the embodiment, and does not represent the merits of the technical solutions provided by the embodiments.

The core idea of the embodiment of the invention is as follows: a network side node, e.g. MN, configures the UE to listen to the power saving signal on only one CG.

On the network side:

the CG transmitting the power saving signal may be either MCG or SCG;

the MCG informs or triggers the CG which sends the energy-saving signal, and starts the energy-saving signal sending function;

the MCG informs other CGs to suspend connection with the UE;

the MCG sends energy-saving signal configuration information to the UE; after receiving the configuration information, the UE maintains the connection with the configured CG transmitting the energy saving signal, that is, only monitors the energy saving signal under the CG, suspends the connection with the other CGs, and does not perform data reception or energy saving signal monitoring for the other CGs.

When the network side node has data arrival:

if the network side node with the data arrival does not contain the CG for sending the energy-saving signal, the network side node with the data arrival needs to inform the CG through inter-node signaling, so that the CG is triggered to send the energy-saving signal to the UE;

further, the method can also comprise the following steps: a network side node or MN with data arriving restores or deletes the CG connected with the UE in a hanging way through signaling between nodes;

or, the network side node with the data arriving shunts the data to the suspended CG, and implicitly recovers the CG connected with the UE in a suspended manner.

If the network side node with data arrival contains the CG sending the energy-saving signal, besides triggering the CG to send the energy-saving signal to the UE, the method further may further comprise:

the network side node with data arriving restores or deletes the CG which is suspended before through the signaling between the nodes;

or, the network side node with data arriving shunts the data to the previously suspended CG, and implicitly recovers the previously suspended CG.

The network side node is a main base station MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

Accordingly, on the UE side:

when the UE monitors the energy saving signal, if the UE receives the energy saving signal belonging to the UE, the following steps may be performed:

the UE starts monitoring the PDCCH on the CG but suspends the connection with the rest CGs; restoring the Double Connection (DC) or Multi Connection (MC) operation according to the indication of the network side after the CG is restored or the configuration of the CG is reconfigured;

alternatively, the UE starts monitoring the PDCCH on this CG and actively resumes connection with the suspended CG (monitors the PDCCH on the suspended CG).

Specific examples are as follows:

the first embodiment is as follows: the MCG is used as the CG for sending the energy-saving signal, and after the MCG enters the energy-saving mode, data needs to be sent on the MN. Referring to fig. 9, the specific process includes:

step 901: MN decides to send energy-saving signal by MCG;

step 902: the MN informs the SN to suspend the connection with the UE, but may retain all configurations and UE context. That is, if the SN needs to send data to the UE, the MN needs to be notified first to wake up the UE;

step 903: and the MN sends energy-saving signal configuration information to the UE to inform the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal on the MCG only. This information may be carried using an RRC connection reconfiguration message (RRCConnectionReconfiguration/rrcconfiguration). The power saving signal configuration information includes, but is not limited to, the following: resource location information of the energy-saving signal on the MN, such as a period of the energy-saving signal, a frequency domain location of the energy-saving signal, and the like; the configuration information may further include ID information of the energy saving signal, and optionally, the ID information may be used to indicate scrambling code information of the energy saving signal, or the ID information may be used to indicate symbol offset information of the energy saving signal, and the same ID information may be sent to one UE or multiple UEs.

Step 904: and after receiving the energy-saving signal configuration information sent by the MN, the UE executes the configuration process of the energy-saving signal, enters an energy-saving state and starts monitoring the energy-saving signal of the MCG according to the energy-saving signal configuration information. The UE may send an RRC connection reconfiguration success (rrcconnectionreconfiguration complete/rrcconnectionreconfiguration complete) message to the MN after the configuration is successful.

Step 905: the MN determines that there is data to send to the UE, which may be data sent on an MCG or SCG terminating at the MN, or data sent on a split bearer terminating at the MN.

Step 906: and the MN sends an energy-saving signal to the UE on the MCG according to the energy-saving signal configuration information configured for the UE.

Step 907: optionally, the MN may further recover or delete the previously suspended CG through inter-node signaling; or, shunting data to the previously suspended CG and implicitly restoring the previously suspended CG; the recovery process may recover a portion of the CGs or all CGs previously suspended;

step 908: after monitoring the energy-saving signal sent by the MCG, the UE starts monitoring the PDCCH. The monitoring may be to monitor only the PDCCH on the CG (MCG in the current embodiment) configured with the energy saving signal, or to monitor the PDCCH on all CGs. If monitoring only the PDCCH on the CG (MCG in the current embodiment) configured with the energy saving signal, the DC or MC operation may be resumed (i.e. which PDCCH/PDCCHs are monitored) according to the network side instruction after subsequently receiving the network side instruction to resume the CG or to reconfigure the CG.

Example two: the MCG is used as CG for sending the energy-saving signal, and after the MCG enters the energy-saving mode, data needs to be sent on the SN. Referring to fig. 10, the specific processing flow includes:

steps 101 to 104 correspond to the embodiments, and are not described herein again.

Step 105: the SN determines that there is data to send to the UE. The data may be data sent on an MCG or SCG terminated by an SN, or data sent on a split bearer terminated by an SN.

Step 106: the SN that needs to send data sends a request to the MN asking the MN to notify the UE.

Step 107: and the MN sends an energy-saving signal to the UE according to the energy-saving signal configuration information configured for the UE.

Step 108: optionally, the MN may further recover or delete the previously suspended CG through inter-node signaling; or the SN which needs to send the data is required to shunt the data to the CG which is suspended before, and the CG which is suspended before is recovered implicitly;

step 109: after monitoring the energy-saving signal sent by the MCG, the UE starts monitoring the PDCCH. The monitoring may be to monitor only the PDCCH on the CG (MCG in the current embodiment) configured with the energy saving signal, or to monitor the PDCCH on all CGs. If monitoring only the PDCCH on the CG (MCG in the current embodiment) configured with the energy saving signal, the DC operation may be resumed (i.e. monitoring which PDCCH on which CG/CGs is/are monitored) according to the indication of the network side after the subsequent CG recovery or CG reconfiguration is received.

Example three: the SCG is used as the CG for sending the energy-saving signal, and after entering the energy-saving mode, the MN needs to send data. Referring to fig. 11, the specific process includes:

step 111: the MN decides to send a power save signal by the SN where one SCG (assumed to be represented as SCG1) is located;

step 112: optionally, the MN informs the SN where the other SCGs are (other SNs) to suspend connection with the UE, but may retain all configurations and UE context. That is, if other SCGs need to send data to the UE, the SCG1 needs to be notified first to wake up the UE;

step 113: the MN sends energy-saving signal configuration information to the UE to inform the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal on the SCG1 only. This information may be carried using an RRC connection reconfiguration message (RRCConnectionReconfiguration/rrcconfiguration). The power saving signal configuration information includes, but is not limited to, the following: resource location information of the energy-saving signal on the MN, such as a period of the energy-saving signal, a frequency domain location of the energy-saving signal, and the like; the configuration information may further include ID information of the energy saving signal, and optionally, the ID information may be used to indicate scrambling code information of the energy saving signal, or the ID information may be used to indicate symbol offset information of the energy saving signal, and the same ID information may be sent to one UE or multiple UEs.

Step 114: after receiving the energy-saving signal configuration information sent by the MN, the UE executes the configuration process of the energy-saving signal, and enters an energy-saving state to start monitoring the energy-saving signal of the SCG1 according to the configuration information. The UE may send an RRC connection reconfiguration success (rrcconnectionreconfiguration complete/rrcconnectionreconfiguration complete) message to the MN after the configuration success.

Step 115: the MN determines that there is data to send to the UE. The data may be data sent over an MCG or SCG terminating at the MN, or data sent over a split bearer terminating at the MN.

Step 116: the MN needs to send a request to the SCG1 asking the SCG1 to notify the UE.

Step 117: a power save signal is sent to the UE on SCG 1.

Step 118: optionally, the MN may further recover or delete the previously suspended CG through inter-node signaling; or the SN where the SCG1 is positioned is required to shunt data to the CG which is suspended before, and the CG which is suspended before is implicitly recovered; the recovery process may recover a portion of the CGs or all CGs previously suspended;

step 119: after monitoring the energy-saving signal sent by the SCG1, the UE starts to monitor the PDCCH. The monitoring may be to monitor only the PDCCH on the CG (SCG 1 in the present embodiment) configured with the power saving signal, or to monitor the PDCCH on all CGs. If only the PDCCH on the CG (SCG 1 in the present embodiment) configured with the power saving signal is monitored, the DC or MC operation can be resumed (i.e. monitored which PDCCH/PDCCHs on the CGs) according to the network side instruction after the subsequent CG recovery or CG reconfiguration is received.

Example four: the SCG is used as a CG for transmitting the power saving signal, and after entering the power saving mode, the SN where the SCG is located needs to transmit data. Referring to fig. 12, the specific process includes:

steps 121 to 124 are the same as those in the third embodiment, and are not described herein again.

Step 125: the SN in which the SCG1 that can send the power saving signal is located determines that there is data to send to the UE. The data may be data sent on an MCG or SCG terminated by an SN, or data sent on a split bearer terminated by an SN.

Step 126: the SN may inform the MN to ask the MN to determine on which CGs the data that needs to be transmitted is transmitted;

step 127: a power save signal is sent to the UE on SCG 1.

Step 128: optionally, after receiving the notification that data is to be sent from the SN where the SCG1 is located, the MN may further recover or delete the CG that was suspended before through inter-node signaling; or the SN where the SCG1 is positioned is required to shunt data to the CG which is suspended before, and the CG which is suspended before is implicitly recovered; the recovery process may recover a portion of the CGs or all CGs previously suspended;

step 129: after monitoring the energy-saving signal sent by the SCG1, the UE starts to monitor the PDCCH. The monitoring may be to monitor only the PDCCH on the CG (SCG 1 in the present embodiment) configured with the power saving signal, or to monitor the PDCCH on all CGs. If only monitoring the PDCCH on the CG (SCG 1 in the current embodiment) configured with the power saving signal is performed, the DC or MC operation can be resumed (i.e. which PDCCH/pdcs on the CG/CGs is/are monitored) according to the network side indication after the network side indication of the CG resumption or the CG reconfiguration is subsequently received.

Example five: the SCG is used as the CG for sending the energy-saving signal, and after entering the energy-saving mode, data needs to be sent on other SNs. Referring to fig. 13, the specific process includes:

steps 131 to 134 are the same as those in the third embodiment, and are not described herein again.

Step 135: other SNs than the SN in which the SCG1 that can transmit the power saving signal is located (e.g., denoted as SN2) determine that there is data to transmit to the UE. The data may be data sent on an MCG or SCG terminating at SN2, or data sent on a split bearer terminating at SN 2.

Step 136: SN2 may inform the MN to ask the MN to determine on which CGs data needs to be transmitted;

step 137: the MN needs to inform the SCG1 to request it to send a power save signal to wake up the UE;

step 138: a power save signal is sent to the UE on SCG 1.

Step 139: optionally, after receiving the notification sent by the SN2 that data is to be sent, the MN may further recover or delete the CG that was suspended before through inter-node signaling; or require the SN2 to offload data to a previously suspended CG, implicitly restoring the previously suspended CG; the recovery process may recover a portion of the CGs or all CGs previously suspended;

step 1310: after monitoring the energy-saving signal sent by the SCG1, the UE starts to monitor the PDCCH. The monitoring may be to monitor only the PDCCH on the CG (SCG 1 in the present embodiment) configured with the power saving signal, or to monitor the PDCCH on all CGs. If only monitoring the PDCCH on the CG (SCG 1 in the current embodiment) configured with the power saving signal is performed, the DC or MC operation can be resumed (i.e. which PDCCH/pdcs on the CG/CGs is/are monitored) according to the network side indication after the network side indication of the CG resumption or the CG reconfiguration is subsequently received.

In summary, referring to fig. 14, a signal transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application on a network side includes:

s141, determining a cell group CG which needs to send an energy-saving signal to user equipment UE;

the execution subject of this step may be MN or SN.

And S142, controlling the UE to only monitor the energy-saving signal sent by the CG.

Similarly, the execution subject of this step may be MN or SN.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

Correspondingly, referring to fig. 15, on the terminal side, a signal transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

s151, determining energy-saving signal configuration information sent to User Equipment (UE) by a network side;

s152, according to the configuration information, only monitoring the energy-saving signal sent by one cell group CG.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

The following describes the apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application.

On the network side, referring to fig. 16, a signal transmission device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes:

a first unit 161, configured to determine a cell group CG that needs to send an energy saving signal to a user equipment UE;

a second unit 162, configured to control the UE to monitor only the power saving signal sent by the CG.

Alternatively, the cell group CG which needs to send a power saving signal to the user equipment UE is determined by the first unit 161 in the master base station MN.

Optionally, the controlling, by the second unit 162, the UE to only monitor the energy saving signal sent by the CG includes:

the second unit 162 in the master base station MN controls the CGs other than the CG to suspend the connection with the UE;

the second unit 162 in the MN sends energy saving signal configuration information to the UE, so that the UE maintains connection with the CG that sends the energy saving signal to the UE, and suspends connection with the other CGs.

Optionally, if the energy-saving signal is sent by a secondary cell group SCG under a secondary base station SN, the second unit 162 in the MN controls the UE to monitor only the energy-saving signal sent by the CG, further including: the second unit 162 in the MN notifies the SCG under the SN to send the power saving signal.

Optionally, the signal transmission apparatus is a network side node where data arrives, and when the network side node has data arrives, if the network side node does not include a CG that sends an energy saving signal, the network side node further includes a unit configured to notify, through inter-node signaling, that the CG sends the energy saving signal to the UE, where the network side node is the MN or the secondary base station SN.

Optionally, the signal transmission apparatus is a network side node or MN, and the signal transmission apparatus further includes a unit that implements the following functions:

Optionally, the signal transmission apparatus is a network side node, and when data arrives at the network side node, if the network side node includes a CG that sends an energy saving signal, the network side node further includes a unit configured to trigger the CG to send the energy saving signal to the UE, where the network side node is the MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

Optionally, the signal transmission device further includes a unit for implementing the following functions:

On the terminal side, referring to fig. 17, an embodiment of the present application provides a signal transmission apparatus, including:

a determining unit 171, configured to determine energy saving signal configuration information sent by a network side to a user equipment UE;

and the monitoring unit 172 is configured to monitor the energy saving signal sent by only one cell group CG according to the configuration information.

Optionally, the signal transmission apparatus at the terminal side provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes a unit for implementing the following functions:

after the monitoring unit 172 monitors the energy saving signal, a physical downlink control channel PDCCH is monitored on the CG, and the connection with other CGs is kept suspended.

after the monitoring unit 172 monitors the energy-saving signal, a physical downlink control channel PDCCH is monitored on the CG; and actively restoring the connection with the suspended CG and monitoring the PDCCH on the CG for restoring the connection.

It should be noted that the division of the unit in the embodiment of the present application is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation. In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The embodiment of the present application provides a computing device, which may specifically be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and the like. The computing device may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, input/output devices, etc., the input devices may include a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, etc., and the output devices may include a Display device, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), etc.

The memory may include Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM), and provides the processor with program instructions and data stored in the memory. In the embodiments of the present application, the memory may be used for storing a program of any one of the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application.

The processor is used for executing any one of the methods provided by the embodiment of the application according to the obtained program instructions by calling the program instructions stored in the memory.

Embodiments of the present application provide a computer storage medium for storing computer program instructions for an apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application, which includes a program for executing any one of the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application.

The computer storage media may be any available media or data storage device that can be accessed by a computer, including, but not limited to, magnetic memory (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical memory (e.g., CDs, DVDs, BDs, HVDs, etc.), and semiconductor memory (e.g., ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), Solid State Disks (SSDs)), etc.

For example, on the network side, referring to fig. 18, a computing device provided in an embodiment of the present application may be, for example, any type of base station, including:

a memory 520 for storing program instructions;

a processor 500 for calling the program instructions stored in the memory, and executing, according to the obtained program:

and controlling the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal sent by the CG only.

Optionally, the device is a master base station MN.

controlling other CGs except the CG to suspend the connection with the UE;

Optionally, if the power saving signal is sent by a secondary cell group SCG under a secondary base station SN, the processor 500 is further configured to: and informing the SCG under the SN to send the energy-saving signal.

Optionally, when the device has data arriving, if the device does not include a CG transmitting a power saving signal, the processor 500 is further configured to: informing the CG of sending an energy-saving signal to the UE through inter-node signaling, wherein the equipment is a main base station MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

Optionally, the processor 500 is further configured to:

Optionally, when the device has data to arrive, if the device includes a CG transmitting a power saving signal, the processor 500 is further configured to: and triggering the CG to send an energy-saving signal to the UE, wherein the equipment is a main base station MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

Optionally, the processor 500 is further configured to:

A transceiver 510 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 500.

In fig. 18, among other things, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors represented by processor 500 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 520 being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 510 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a transceiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 500 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 520 may store data used by the processor 500 in performing operations.

The processor 500 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD).

Accordingly, on the terminal side, referring to fig. 19, an embodiment of the present application provides a computing device, including:

a memory 620 for storing program instructions;

a processor 600, configured to call the program instructions stored in the memory, and execute, according to the obtained program:

Optionally, after monitoring the power saving signal, the processor 600 is further configured to:

Optionally, the processor 600 is further configured to:

A transceiver 610 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 600.

In fig. 19, among other things, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges with various circuits of one or more processors, represented by processor 600, and memory, represented by memory 620, being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 610 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. For different user devices, the user interface 630 may also be an interface capable of interfacing with a desired device externally, including but not limited to a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.

The processor 600 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 620 may store data used by the processor 600 in performing operations.

Alternatively, the processor 600 may be a CPU (central processing unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device).

In summary, the method provided by the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a terminal device, and may also be applied to a network device.

The Terminal device may also be referred to as a User Equipment (User Equipment, abbreviated as "UE"), a Mobile Station (Mobile Station, abbreviated as "MS"), a Mobile Terminal (Mobile Terminal), or the like, and optionally, the Terminal may have a capability of communicating with one or more core networks through a Radio Access Network (RAN), for example, the Terminal may be a Mobile phone (or referred to as a "cellular" phone), a computer with Mobile property, or the like, and for example, the Terminal may also be a portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-built-in, or vehicle-mounted Mobile device.

A network device may be a base station (e.g., access point) that refers to a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with wireless terminals. The base station may be configured to interconvert received air frames and IP packets as a router between the wireless terminal and the rest of the access network, which may include an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The base station may also coordinate management of attributes for the air interface. For example, the Base Station may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in GSM or CDMA, a Base Station (NodeB) in WCDMA, an evolved Node B (NodeB or eNB or e-NodeB) in LTE, or a gNB in 5G system. The embodiments of the present application are not limited.

The above method process flow may be implemented by a software program, which may be stored in a storage medium, and when the stored software program is called, the above method steps are performed.

To sum up, in the embodiment of the present application, the MN configures the UE to monitor only the energy saving signal on one CG. The problem that the UE energy-saving signals cannot be effectively configured due to the fact that MN or SN cannot participate in the configuration of the UE energy-saving signals together in a double-connection scene is solved. The UE is enabled to monitor the energy-saving signal of only one CG, and the electric quantity loss of the UE caused by waking up the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal for multiple times is avoided.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A method of signal transmission, the method comprising:

and controlling the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal sent by the CG only.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the determination of the cell group CG which needs to send a power saving signal to the user equipment UE is made by the master base station MN.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling the UE to monitor only the power saving signal sent by the CG comprises:

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein if the energy saving signal is sent by a secondary cell group SCG under a secondary base station SN, the MN controls the UE to monitor only the energy saving signal sent by the CG, further comprising: and the MN informs the SCG under the SN of sending the energy-saving signal.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the inter-node signaling is sent by the network side node having data to arrive directly to the network side node where the CG sending the energy saving signal is located, or relayed through the MN.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

10. A method of signal transmission, the method comprising:

11. The method of claim 10, wherein after monitoring the power saving signal, the method further comprises:

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

13. The method of claim 10, wherein after monitoring the power saving signal, the method further comprises:

14. A signal transmission apparatus, comprising:

15. A signal transmission apparatus, comprising:

16. A computing device, comprising:

a memory for storing program instructions;

and controlling the UE to monitor the energy-saving signal sent by the CG only.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, characterized in that it is a master base station MN.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein controlling the UE to monitor only the power saving signal sent by the CG comprises:

controlling other CGs except the CG to suspend the connection with the UE;

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein if the power save signal is sent by a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) under a secondary base Station (SN), the processor is further configured to: and informing the SCG under the SN to send the energy-saving signal.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein when the device has data arriving, if the device does not include a CG sending a power save signal, the processor is further configured to: informing the CG of sending an energy-saving signal to the UE through inter-node signaling, wherein the equipment is a main base station MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the inter-node signaling is sent by the processor directly to a network side node where a CG sending a power saving signal is located, or relayed through the MN.

22. The device of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to:

23. The device of claim 18, wherein when the device has data arriving, if the device includes a CG that sends a power-save signal, the processor is further configured to: and triggering the CG to send an energy-saving signal to the UE, wherein the equipment is a main base station MN or an auxiliary base station SN.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to:

25. A computing device, comprising:

a memory for storing program instructions;

26. The device of claim 25, wherein after listening for the power-save signal, the processor is further configured to:

27. The device of claim 26, wherein the processor is further configured to:

28. The device of claim 25, wherein after listening for the power-save signal, the processor is further configured to:

29. A computer storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.