CN111741496A

CN111741496A - Method and device for directional switching between cells

Info

Publication number: CN111741496A
Application number: CN201910226771.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张亚静; 王茂吉
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-25
Filing date: 2019-03-25
Publication date: 2020-10-02

Abstract

The invention discloses a directional switching method and a directional switching device among cells. The method comprises the following steps: if the source cell determines that the UE has the ENDC function and the ENDC function of the source cell is not started, determining that the UE with the dual-connection ENDC capability needs to meet a directional switching condition; the source cell does not start an ENDC function; the source cell sends a directional switching request to the target cell; the target cell and the source cell have different frequencies and the same coverage and start an ENDC function; the neighbor cells of the target cell comprise NR cells; the directional switching request is used for indicating the target cell to send an SgNB adding request to an NR cell corresponding to the target cell so as to acquire SgNB adding information; the SgNB addition request is used to acquire SgNB addition information for dual connectivity between the UE and the NR cell.

Description

Method and device for directional switching between cells

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for directional handover between cells.

Background

Currently, two networking schemes, namely Non-Stand Alone (NSA) and Stand Alone (SA), are introduced in the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G) standard. The non-independent networking is used as a transition scheme, the bandwidth of a hot spot area is mainly improved, and in the non-independent networking, a 5G base station does not have an independent signaling surface and works by relying on a fifth-generation mobile communication technology (4G) base station and a 4G core network. And the independent networking can realize the new characteristics of all 5G, is beneficial to exerting the whole capability of the 5G, and is a 5G target scheme accepted in the industry.

However, in the initial stage of 5G network construction, due to practical problems such as technical capability and equipment cost, a non-independent networking scheme is temporarily adopted to erect the 5G network. The dependent networking scheme may also be referred to as E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (endec), and the introduction of the endec technique aims at: the 4G frequency band is relatively low, the construction time is long, a mature wide coverage network is formed, and good mobility is achieved; the 5G frequency band is relatively high, the coverage bandwidth of a cell is small in large range, and the problem of high throughput in a hot spot area is mainly solved, so that the construction can be carried out according to the telephone traffic demand, the coverage of the 5G network is improved and the mobility problem is solved by means of the control surface of the 4G network through the ENDC technology, and the capacity demand and the coverage demand of a user can be met more easily.

At present, in order to ensure the common perception of the existing network 4G users and the users supporting dual connectivity, the users supporting dual connectivity need to be switched to a cell with a dual connectivity function as much as possible to ensure the dual connectivity rate of the terminal, and this switching mode is called directional switching. However, the prior art has not provided a complete directional handover solution to ensure user perception and network stability.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a method for directional switching among cells, which is used for realizing the directional switching among the cells and improving the performance of a network under an NSA architecture.

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for directional switching among cells, which comprises the following steps:

the method comprises the steps that a source cell determines that User Equipment (UE) with dual-connection ENDC capability meets a directional switching condition; wherein the source cell does not turn on an ENDC function;

the source cell sends a directional switching request to a target cell; the target cell and the source cell have different frequencies and the same coverage and start an ENDC function; a New Radio access technology (NR) cell is included in the neighbor cell of the target cell; the directional handover request is used for instructing the target cell to send an addition request of a Secondary New Radio NodeB (SgNB) to the NR cell corresponding to the target cell, so as to obtain SgNB addition information; the SgNB addition information is used for the UE to perform dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

A possible implementation manner, after the source cell sends the directional handover request to the target cell, further includes:

the source cell receives a directional switching response sent by the target cell; the directional switching response carries the SgNB adding information;

the source cell sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message to the UE; the RRC reconfiguration message carries the SgNB addition information.

One possible implementation manner, in which the source cell determines that the UE with the enic capability satisfies the directional handover condition, includes:

the source cell receives a B1 measurement report reported by the UE; the threshold value of the B1 measurement report is determined according to the switching thresholds of the source cell and the target cell;

and the source cell determines that the UE meets the directional switching condition according to the B1 measurement report.

One possible implementation manner, where the threshold value of the B1 measurement report is determined according to the handover thresholds of the source cell and the target cell, includes:

if the source cell determines that the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell is greater than or equal to the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell, configuring the threshold value of the B1 measurement report of the UE as the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell; otherwise, setting the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell;

the threshold parameters at least include: one or more of a cell measurement event trigger hysteresis factor, a cell measurement event trigger duration, and a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) threshold reported by B1.

Before the source cell receives the B1 measurement report reported by the UE, a possible implementation manner further includes:

when the source cell determines that the UE accords with the directional switching configuration, configuring a threshold value of a B1 measurement report for the UE; the directional switching configuration comprises the following conditions:

whether the UE is ENDC capable;

whether the target cell is an intra-site, inter-frequency and completely same coverage cell of the source cell or not and starts an adjacent cell with an ENDC function;

whether an NR cell is included in neighbor cells of the target cell;

whether the NR frequency band supported and configured by the UE is the same as the frequency band to which the NR frequency point configured by the target cell belongs;

and the source cell configures a supported NR frequency band for the UE, wherein the supported NR frequency band of the UE is the same as the frequency band to which the frequency point of the NR cell belongs.

the target cell generates an SgNB adding request sent to an NR cell in an adjacent cell according to the directional switching request sent by the source cell; the directional switching request is sent after the source cell determines that the UE with dual-connection ENDC capability meets the directional switching condition;

the target cell sends an SgNB addition request to the NR cell; the SgNB addition request is used to acquire SgNB addition information for dual connectivity between the UE and the NR cell, so that the UE performs dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes:

the target cell acquires a confirmation message of an SgNB addition request sent by the NR cell;

the target cell sends a directional switching response to the source cell; the directional switching response carries the SgNB addition information, so that the source cell sends the RRC reconfiguration message carrying the SgNB addition information to the UE;

and the target cell completes the directional switching from the UE to the target cell according to the RRC reconfiguration completion message sent by the UE and executes the double connection with the NR cell.

the UE acquires an RRC reconfiguration message sent by a source cell; the RRC reconfiguration message comprises SgNB addition information; the SgNB addition information is obtained by an SgNB addition request sent by a target cell to an NR cell in a neighbor cell of the target cell;

and the UE determines to execute double connection in the directional switching process and sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the target cell.

A possible implementation manner, before the UE acquires the RRC reconfiguration message sent by the source cell, the method further includes:

the UE reports a B1 measurement report to the source cell; the threshold value of the B1 measurement report is determined according to the switching thresholds of the source cell and the target cell; the B1 measurement is for the source cell to determine that the UE satisfies a directional handover condition from the B1 measurement report.

if the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell is determined to be greater than or equal to the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell, the threshold value of the B1 measurement report of the UE is the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell; otherwise, setting the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell;

the threshold parameters at least include: one or more of a cell measurement event trigger hysteresis factor, a cell measurement event trigger duration, and an RSRP threshold reported by B1.

The embodiment of the invention provides a device for directional switching among cells, which comprises:

a processing unit for determining that a UE with dual connectivity ENDC capability satisfies a directional handover condition; wherein the source cell does not turn on an ENDC function;

a receiving and sending unit, which is used for sending a directional switching request by a target cell; the target cell and the source cell have different frequencies and the same coverage and start an ENDC function; the neighbor cells of the target cell comprise NR cells; the directional switching request is used for indicating the target cell to send an SgNB adding request to an NR cell corresponding to the target cell so as to acquire SgNB adding information; the SgNB addition information is used for the UE to perform dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

the processing unit is used for generating an SgNB addition request sent to an NR cell in an adjacent cell according to the directional switching request; the directional switching request is sent after the source cell determines that the UE with dual-connection ENDC capability meets the directional switching condition;

a transceiving unit, configured to send a SgNB addition request to the NR cell; the SgNB addition request is used to acquire SgNB addition information for dual connectivity between the UE and the NR cell, so that the UE performs dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

a transceiver unit, configured to acquire an RRC reconfiguration message sent by a source cell; the RRC reconfiguration message comprises SgNB addition information; the SgNB addition information is obtained by an SgNB addition request sent by a target cell to an NR cell in a neighbor cell of the target cell;

and the processing unit is used for determining to execute dual connection in the directional switching process and sending an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the target cell.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a base station, comprising a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, wherein,

the processor is used for reading the program saved in the memory and executing the following operations:

determining that a UE with dual-connection ENDC capability meets a directional switching condition; the cell where the UE is located does not start an ENDC function;

the transceiver sends a directional switching request to a target cell; the target cell and the source cell have different frequencies and the same coverage and start an ENDC function; the neighbor cells of the target cell comprise NR cells; the directional switching request is used for indicating the target cell to send an SgNB adding request to an NR cell corresponding to the target cell so as to acquire SgNB adding information; the SgNB addition information is used for the UE to perform dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a storage medium storing a program of a method for directional handover between cells, where the program, when executed by a processor, performs the following steps:

sending a directional switching request to a target cell; the target cell and the source cell have different frequencies and the same coverage and start an ENDC function; the neighbor cells of the target cell comprise NR cells; the directional switching request is used for indicating the target cell to send an SgNB adding request to an NR cell corresponding to the target cell so as to acquire SgNB adding information; the SgNB addition information is used for the UE to perform dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

The invention has the following beneficial effects: the source cell determines that the UE with dual-connection ENDC capability meets the directional switching condition; the source cell sends a directional switching request to a target cell; the target cell and the source cell have different frequencies and the same coverage and start an ENDC function; the neighbor cells of the target cell comprise NR cells; the directional switching request is used for indicating the target cell to send an SgNB adding request to an NR cell corresponding to the target cell so as to acquire SgNB adding information; the SgNB addition information is used for the UE to execute dual connectivity in the directional switching process, so that a user supporting dual connectivity can be switched to a cell supporting ENDC without influencing user perception and the establishment of dual connectivity can be completed even when the user supporting dual connectivity accesses a cell scene not supporting ENDC, the stability of a network is ensured, and the risk of network paralysis is reduced.

Drawings

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

FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram of an NSA architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram of an NSA architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1c is a schematic diagram of an NSA architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method for directional handover between cells according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method for directional handover between cells according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of an implementation of a method for directional handover between cells according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method for directional handover between cells according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for directional handover between cells according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for directional handover between cells according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for directional handover between cells according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal in an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be suitable for various systems, particularly NSA 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, a terminal device may be referred to as a user equipment. 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 (long term evolution, LTE) system, a 5G base station in a 5G network architecture (next generation system), or may also be a home evolved node B (HeNB), a relay node (HeNB), a home base station (femto), a pico base station (pico), and the like, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 1a is a schematic diagram of an LTE +5G non-independent Networking (NSA) architecture, which supports dual connectivity in an LTE-NR system, where SgNB signaling interacts through an X2 port and is communicated with a UE by a Master base station (Master eNB, MeNB). In this scenario, as shown in fig. 1c, LTE may be the primary base station, and the node of the 5G network may be the secondary base station.

In the deployment of the 5G base station, a long term evolution network base station (LTE eNB) is used as a control plane anchor point to access a Core network (EPC), and the UE has only one control plane connection with the Core network. An LTE eNB is directly connected with an EPC through S1-C and S1-U, and a New Radio NodeB (gNB) is connected with the eNB through an X2 port to transmit control information and user information; as shown in fig. 1b, the gNB also has S1-U connection with the EPC at the user plane.

The data plane of the 5G base station is connected to the 4G core network, an X2 link is established between the base station and the 4G base station, and the dual connection of LTE and NR can be realized through the adding process of SgNB as long as the terminal is accessed in the 4G cell supporting the ENDC dual connection.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for directional handover between cells, as shown in fig. 2, to implement directional handover between cells, improve a success rate of dual connectivity after directional handover, and improve performance of a network under an NSA architecture.

Step 201: the source cell determines that the UE with dual-connection ENDC capability meets the directional switching condition;

wherein the source cell does not turn on an ENDC function;

step 202: a source cell sends a directional switching request to a target cell;

the target cell and the source cell have different frequencies and the same coverage and start an ENDC function; the neighbor cells of the target cell comprise NR cells;

step 203: the target cell generates an SgNB addition request sent to an NR cell in an adjacent cell according to the directional switching request;

step 204: the target cell sends an SgNB addition request to an NR cell in an adjacent cell;

the SgNB addition request is used for acquiring SgNB addition information of dual connectivity between the UE and the NR cell, so that the UE performs dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

Through the embodiment, for the UE supporting ENDC, when the UE is initially accessed to the network not supporting ENDC and the signal strength of the UE position meets the directional switching condition, the UE can be successfully switched to the network supporting ENDC by the method of directional switching of the base station, and the addition of SgNB is completed in the directional switching process.

The source cell may be understood as a base station where the source cell is located, where the base station where the source cell is located and the source cell both represent a source side in a cell handover process, that is, a side where the handover request message is sent, and both may represent the same meaning in this embodiment of the application, and may be used as each other.

And before determining the target cell, the source cell receives a measurement message sent by the UE, where the measurement message includes an identifier of the source cell and quality information of a radio link of a peripheral cell, that is, the UE measures the quality of the radio link of the peripheral cell, and then summarizes and sends the measurement result to the source cell, so that the source cell selects the target cell meeting the condition according to the measurement result.

One possible implementation manner, namely, the target cell meeting the condition of the directional handover, may be understood as: the quality of a wireless link of the target cell is good, and the ENDC function is started, so that the overall service can be improved.

The target cell may be understood as a base station where the target cell is located, and both the base station where the target cell is located and the target cell represent a target side in a cell handover process, that is, a side that receives the handover request message and sends the handover response message.

Before the source cell determines that the dual-connectivity endec capable UE satisfies the directional handover condition, for example, when the terminal accesses the source cell, the configuration of the B1 measurement report may be configured according to whether the directional handover configuration condition is satisfied or not according to the terminal and base station configuration; under the condition of meeting the directional switching configuration condition, the configuration of the terminal B1 measurement report is confirmed and configured through the B1 measurement configuration of the current cell and the adjacent cell of LTE, so that the practical threshold of SgNB addition can be met after the B1 report; the problem that ping-pong between SgNB deletion and SgNB addition may occur due to inconsistent B1 threshold configurations of two cells before and after handover after adding SgNB during directional handover is solved.

In a specific implementation process, the directional handover configuration condition may include:

whether the UE is ENDC capable;

whether an NR cell is included in neighbor cells of the target cell;

For example, in determining whether the target cell is capable of endec, the source cell may employ, but is not limited to, the following:

when the source cell determines that the target cell is governed by a base station supporting the R15 protocol (e.g., governed by the source cell), but the target cell does not turn on the NSA function switch, the target cell is determined to be not EN-DC capable.

Specifically, if the base station dominating the target cell supports the R15 protocol, it indicates that the target cell must support the R15 protocol, but the target cell does not have the EN-DC capability because the NSA function switch is not turned on by the target cell.

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for judging a directional configuration condition, which comprises the following steps:

the first condition is as follows: and judging whether the UE capability supports the ENDC function.

Specifically, the related IE identifier may be queried in the report of the UE capability at the air interface of the terminal, to determine whether the UE supports the endec function; if yes, entering a second condition; otherwise, determining that the directional switching configuration condition is not met;

and a second condition: and judging whether the UE supports the configured NR frequency band.

Specifically, the relevant IE identifier may be queried in the air interface UE capability report of the terminal, and the NR frequency band supported by the terminal is determined, if it is determined that the frequency band is the same as the frequency band to which the NR pilot frequency point configured in the target cell belongs; entering a third condition; otherwise, determining that the directional switching configuration condition is not met;

and (3) carrying out a third condition: and judging whether the target cell supports the ENDC function or not. The judgment can be carried out by judging the ENDC switch, and if the ENDC switch is closed, the condition IV is entered; otherwise, determining that the directional switching configuration condition is not met;

and a fourth condition: judging whether the target cell has an adjacent cell which is in-station, different-frequency, completely same-coverage and supports the ENDC function;

for example, if it is determined that the source cell is an LTE cell, it is determined whether a neighboring cell that supports the endec function and is in intra-site, inter-frequency, and completely co-coverage with the source cell exists in the neighboring cells. If so, entering a condition five; otherwise, determining that the directional switching configuration condition is not met;

and a fifth condition: judging whether an NR neighboring cell exists in the neighboring cell; if so, entering a condition six; otherwise, determining that the directional switching configuration condition is not met;

and a sixth condition: and judging whether the source cell is configured with the frequency point information of the NR adjacent cell. Namely, the frequency point of the NR adjacent area is configured in the pilot frequency carrier table of the source area; if the configuration exists, the directional switching configuration condition is met; otherwise, determining that the directional switching configuration condition is not met.

The order of the above determination conditions is merely an example, and the determination order may not be limited in the specific implementation process.

And when the source cell determines that the UE meets the directional switching configuration condition, configuring a threshold value of a B1 measurement report for the UE.

In a specific implementation process, the B1 measurement configuration added by the SgNB is configured for the UE, including configuring a frequency point of an NR cell corresponding to a target cell for a measurement object. B1, when configuring the threshold parameter in the measurement configuration, it needs to compare the parameter configurations of the source cell and the target cell and configure the UE.

One possible implementation manner, the determining manner of the threshold value of the B1 measurement report may include:

Specifically, the method may include:

when the event trigger lag factor of the source cell is larger than that of the target cell, configuring the event trigger lag factor of the source cell for the UE, otherwise, configuring the event trigger lag factor of the target cell for the UE;

when the event trigger duration of the source cell is greater than the event trigger duration of the target cell, configuring the event trigger duration of the source cell for the terminal, otherwise, configuring the event trigger duration of the target cell;

and when the B1 measurement report RSRP threshold of the source cell is greater than the B1 measurement report RSRP threshold of the target cell, configuring B1 report RSRP threshold parameters of the source cell for the UE, and otherwise configuring B1 report RSRP threshold parameters of the target cell.

Through the configuration mode, the UE can directly meet the B1 measurement configuration of the target cell after reporting the B1 measurement, can directly perform preparation of directional switching and SgNB addition, and avoids the problem that ping-pong between SgNB deletion and SgNB addition can occur due to inconsistent B1 threshold configurations of two cells before and after switching after the SgNB is added during the directional switching.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the source cell, that the UE with the enic capability satisfies the directional handover condition may include:

step one, UE reports a B1 measurement report to the source cell;

wherein the threshold value of the B1 measurement report is determined according to the switching thresholds of the source cell and the target cell;

step two, the source cell receives a B1 measurement report reported by the UE;

and step three, the source cell determines that the UE meets the directional switching condition according to the B1 measurement report.

In a specific implementation process, the directional switching condition may include:

at least one NR cell in the B1 measurement report is a neighbor cell of the target cell;

and/or the target cell is below a high load threshold.

The B1 measurement is to measure the signal received power of the UE in the neighboring cells that can be monitored by the source cell or the target cell.

For example, the source cell may determine, in the target cell, the signal reception power of the UE in each 4G neighboring cell of the 4G network and the signal reception power of the UE in each 5G neighboring cell of the 5G network according to the measurement result reported by the UE.

The source cell may determine whether a condition for directional handover to the target cell is satisfied according to signal reception power of the UE in each 4G neighbor cell of the 4G network in the target cell;

screening a 5G adjacent cell in which the signal receiving power of the UE reaches a preset threshold value in a target cell by a source cell, configuring the 5G adjacent cell as a cell accessed by the UE in a 5G network, and setting a base station corresponding to the 5G adjacent cell as the SgNB of the UE; if there are multiple 5G neighboring cells in which the signal reception power of the UE reaches the preset threshold, the target cell may randomly select one 5G neighboring cell, or select one 5G neighboring cell in which the signal reception power of the UE is strongest, and the specific selection manner may be adjusted according to the actual application environment, which is not described herein again.

Therefore, after B1 measurement is reported, whether the B1 measurement report meets the directional switching is judged, blind switching in the station is carried out under the condition that the directional switching is met, so that the target cell can be successfully switched to a target cell, and after the directional switching, the target cell can be used as an MeNB to form a non-independent networking with the SgNB, so that service is provided for the UE through a 4G network and a 5G network simultaneously, the service performance is effectively improved, and the problem that ping-pong between the SgNB deletion and the SgNB addition can possibly occur due to inconsistent B1 threshold configurations of two cells before and after the switching after the SgNB is added during the directional switching is avoided.

In a possible implementation manner, the source cell determines that the UE with the endec capability satisfies the directional handover condition, and may also make a decision by the base station based on the measurement of the terminal and the service requirement of the terminal.

When the UE performs cell handover, if it is determined that dual connectivity is added in the handover process, the procedure may be as shown in fig. 3. After receiving a handover request message sent by a source cell, a target cell determines whether dual connectivity needs to be established according to bearer information carried in the handover request message. If the dual connectivity needs to be established and there is a suitable auxiliary target cell SgNB, the target cell will initiate a procedure of adding a request message to the auxiliary target cell SgNB. After the target cell receives the response of the auxiliary target cell SgNB, the target cell sends a handover response message to the source cell.

At this time, in the directional handover process, the target cell performs an operation of establishing dual connectivity, as shown in fig. 3, the specific steps may include:

301, the source cell sends a directional switching request to the target cell; the directional switching request carries an SgNB adding request;

step 302, the target cell sends an SgNB addition request to the NR cell;

step 303, the NR cell sends a confirmation message of the SgNB addition request to the target cell;

step 304, the target cell sends a directional switching response to the source cell; the directional switching response comprises SgNB adding information in a confirmation message of the gNB adding request;

305, the source cell receives the directional switching response sent by the target cell and sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE; the directional switching response carries the SgNB adding information; the RRC reconfiguration message carries the SgNB addition information.

Step 306, the UE acquires an RRC reconfiguration message sent by the source cell; and the UE determines to execute double connection in the directional switching process and sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the target cell. The RRC reconfiguration message includes SgNB addition information.

Step 307, the target cell completes the directional handover from the UE to the target cell according to the RRC reconfiguration complete message sent by the UE, and sends an acknowledgement message added by the SgNB to the NR cell, and executes the dual connectivity with the NR cell.

After B1 measurement is reported, whether the B1 measurement report meets the directional switching is judged, and in the condition of meeting the directional switching, blind switching and SgNB addition in the station are carried out to ensure that the target cell can be successfully switched; and moreover, when the terminal is ensured to be directionally switched to an LTE (Long term evolution) neighbor area, the SgNB can be successfully triggered to be added.

In the embodiment of the invention, if the UE has EN-DC capability, after the UE in a connection state is switched to the target cell, the target cell can be used as the MeNB, and the SgNB working in the 5G network is added to the UE, so that the network connection strength of the UE is enhanced, and a network side can better provide service for the UE.

In specific implementation, if the source cell determines not to establish dual connectivity in the directional handover process, the target cell may send a handover response message to the source cell, and the handover response message does not carry SgNB addition information for indicating that the target cell does not establish dual connectivity.

As shown in fig. 4, a specific flowchart of a method for directional handover according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, and includes:

step 401: when the UE accesses the network, judging whether the UE meets the directional switching configuration condition, and entering step 402; otherwise, the UE is not executed with directional switching;

step 402: and B1 measurement configuration added by the SgNB is configured for the terminal, and the frequency point of the NR adjacent region is configured for the measurement object.

Step 403: waiting for a B1 measurement report reported by the terminal; after acquiring a B1 measurement report reported by the terminal, executing step 404;

step 404: the source cell judges whether the B1 measurement report meets the directional switching condition, if the directional switching condition is met, the step 405 is executed, otherwise, the step 403 is executed;

step 405: a source cell sends a directional switching request to a target cell;

specifically, the directional switching request may be designated as a directional switching scenario; the target cell sends a SgNB addition request message to the NR cell;

step 406: after receiving a switching request from a source cell, a target cell sends an SgNB addition request message to an NR cell;

specifically, the target cell may also start a timer to wait for the NR cell to reply;

step 407: judging whether an ACK message added by the SgNB sent by the NR cell is received; if yes, go to step 408; otherwise, go to step 4011;

specifically, it is determined that the ACK message added by the SgNB sent by the NR cell is not received, and may be that within a predetermined time, the request message added by the SgNB sent by the NR cell is received; it may also be that the message transmitted by the NR cell is not received within a predetermined time.

Step 408: the target cell replies a response message of the directional switching request to the source cell and carries the SgNB adding information;

step 409: the source cell sends an air interface RRC reconfiguration message (carrying SgNB addition information) to the terminal, and executes a directional switching process carrying the SgNB addition;

step 410: and the UE sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to a target cell, completes the directional switching from the UE to the target cell and simultaneously completes the SgNB adding process.

A specific SgNB addition process can be seen in the flow of fig. 5.

Step 411: the target cell replies a response message of the switching request to the source cell, and the SgNB addition information is not carried;

step 4012: the source cell sends an air interface RRC reconfiguration message (not carrying SgNB addition information) to the UE, and the air interface RRC reconfiguration message is used for executing a directional switching process without carrying SgNB addition;

step 4013: and the UE sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the target cell so that the UE is successfully switched to the target cell.

In summary, the method in the embodiment of the present invention, by determining the directional handover condition, including determining the B1 measurement configuration condition configured for the terminal and determining the B1 measurement report reported by the terminal, realizes that SgNB addition, i.e., establishment of dual connectivity, can be successfully performed during directional handover, effectively avoids ping-pong between SgNB addition and SgNB deletion, and effectively realizes directional handover while ensuring user perception and network stability.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, in an embodiment of the present invention, after a source cell queries capability of a UE and performs directional handover for the UE, a detailed procedure (signaling interaction process) for configuring a 5G neighbor cell is as follows, where a target cell is referred to as a master base station (MeNB):

step 500: the MeNB transmits a Radio Resource Control (RRC) RRC connection reconfiguration request message, i.e., RRCConnectionReconfiguration, to the UE.

Step 501: the UE establishes an RRC connection between the MeNB and the SgNB and sends an RRC connection reconfiguration complete message, i.e., rrcconnectionreconfiguration complete, to the MeNB.

In the RRC connection reconfiguration request message sent this time, the MeNB notifies the UE to establish an RCC connection with the SgNB.

Step 502: the MeNB transmits a secondary base station addition completion message, i.e., SgNB reconfiguration complete, to the SgNB.

Step 503: the MeNB sends a radio bearer Modification Indication message, i.e., an E-RAB Modification Indication, to a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

Specifically, after the SgNB is added, the UE accesses the MeNB and the SgNB respectively in a dual connectivity mode, the MeNB provides service for the UE in the 4G network, the SgNB accesses the core network through the MeNB and provides service for the UE in the 5G network, wherein, in order to provide more efficient service for the UE, optionally, the MeNB needs to transfer most of radio bearers to the SgNB, so that on one hand, the operation load of the MeNB can be increased, and on the other hand, better service can be provided for the UE through the 5G network.

Therefore, the MeNB needs to request the MME within the system to modify the related radio bearer.

Step 504: and the MME adjusts the radio bearer corresponding to the MeNB and the SgNB according to the instruction of the MeNB, and sends a radio bearer Modification Confirmation message, namely E-RAB Modification Confirmation to the MeNB.

In summary, in the embodiment of the present invention, in an NSA environment, when a target cell serving as a main base station determines that a UE is switched from a target cell to a second cell governed by the target cell, it may determine whether the target cell has an EN-DC capability, determine that the target cell does not have the EN-DC capability, and actively query the EN-DC capability of the UE by the target cell, and when it is determined that the UE has the EN-DC capability, configure a source cell and a corresponding secondary base station operating in a 5G network environment for the UE, so that the UE may simultaneously access the main base station and the secondary base station, and use corresponding service services through a 4G network and a 5G network respectively in an NSA working mode, thereby effectively reducing a resource load of the main base station, simultaneously fully utilizing 5G network resources, improving cell throughput, and significantly improving a service rate of the UE, the user satisfaction is improved.

Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a device for directional handover between cells, and because the principles of solving the problems of these devices are similar to the method for directional handover between cells, the implementation of these devices can refer to the implementation of the method, and repeated details are not described again.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for directional handover between cells, as shown in fig. 6, which may include:

a processing unit 601, configured to determine that a UE with dual connectivity endec capability satisfies a directional handover condition; wherein the source cell does not turn on an ENDC function;

a transceiving unit 602, configured to send a directional handover request to a target cell; the target cell and the source cell have different frequencies and the same coverage and start an ENDC function; the neighbor cells of the target cell comprise NR cells; the directional switching request is used for indicating the target cell to send an SgNB adding request to an NR cell corresponding to the target cell so as to acquire SgNB adding information; the SgNB addition information is used for the UE to perform dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 601 is further configured to:

receiving a directional switching response sent by a target cell; the directional switching response carries the SgNB adding information;

the transceiver 602 is further configured to send an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE; the RRC reconfiguration message carries the SgNB addition information.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 602 is specifically configured to:

receiving a B1 measurement report reported by the UE; the threshold value of the B1 measurement report is determined according to the switching thresholds of the source cell and the target cell;

the processing unit 601 is specifically configured to: and determining that the UE meets a directional switching condition according to the B1 measurement report.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 601 is specifically configured to: if the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell is determined to be greater than or equal to the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell, configuring the threshold value of the B1 measurement report of the UE as the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell; otherwise, setting the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell;

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 601 is specifically configured to: configuring a B1 measurement report threshold value for the UE when the UE is determined to be in accordance with the directional switching configuration; the directional switching configuration comprises the following conditions:

whether the UE is ENDC capable;

whether an NR cell is included in neighbor cells of the target cell;

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for directional handover between cells, as shown in fig. 7, which may include:

a transceiver unit 701, configured to generate, according to a directional handover request sent by a source cell, an SgNB addition request sent to an NR cell in an adjacent cell; the directional switching request is sent after the source cell determines that the UE with dual-connection ENDC capability meets the directional switching condition;

a processing unit 702, configured to send an SgNB addition request to an NR cell in a neighboring cell; the SgNB addition request is used to acquire SgNB addition information for dual connectivity between the UE and the NR cell, so that the UE performs dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 701 is further configured to acquire a confirmation message that the NR cell sends an SgNB addition request; sending a directional handover response to the source cell; the directional switching response carries the SgNB addition information, so that the source cell sends the RRC reconfiguration message carrying the SgNB addition information to the UE;

the processing unit 702 is further configured to complete directional handover from the UE to the target cell according to the RRC reconfiguration complete message sent by the UE, and execute dual connectivity with the NR cell.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for directional handover between cells, as shown in fig. 8, which may include:

a transceiver unit 801, configured to acquire an RRC reconfiguration message sent by a source cell; the RRC reconfiguration message comprises SgNB addition information; the SgNB addition information is obtained by an SgNB addition request sent by a target cell to an NR cell in a neighbor cell of the target cell;

a processing unit 802, configured to determine to execute dual connectivity in a directional handover process, and send an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 802 is further configured to report a B1 measurement report to the source cell; the threshold value of the B1 measurement report is determined according to the switching thresholds of the source cell and the target cell; the B1 measurement is for the source cell to determine that the UE satisfies a directional handover condition from the B1 measurement report.

In a possible implementation manner, if it is determined that the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell is greater than or equal to the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell, the threshold value of the B1 measurement report of the UE is the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell; otherwise, setting the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell; the threshold parameters at least include: one or more of a cell measurement event trigger hysteresis factor, a cell measurement event trigger duration, and an RSRP threshold reported by B1.

For convenience of description, each part of the above-described apparatus is separately described as being functionally divided into various modules or units. Of course, the functionality of the various modules or units may be implemented in the same one or more pieces of software or hardware in practicing the invention.

When the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention is implemented, the implementation can be carried out as follows.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station, as shown in the figure, the base station includes:

a processor 900 for reading the program in the memory 920, executing the following processes:

determining that a UE with dual-connection ENDC capability meets a directional switching condition; wherein the source cell does not turn on an ENDC function;

a transceiver 910 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 900, performing the following processes:

In one possible implementation manner, the processor 901 is further configured to:

the transceiver 902, further configured to send an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE; the RRC reconfiguration message carries the SgNB addition information.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver 902 is specifically configured to:

the processor 901 is specifically configured to: and determining that the UE meets a directional switching condition according to the B1 measurement report.

In a possible implementation manner, the processor 901 is specifically configured to: if the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell is determined to be greater than or equal to the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell, configuring the threshold value of the B1 measurement report of the UE as the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the source cell; otherwise, setting the threshold value of the threshold parameter of the target cell;

In a possible implementation manner, the processor 901 is specifically configured to: configuring a B1 measurement report threshold value for the UE when the UE is determined to be in accordance with the directional switching configuration; the directional switching configuration comprises the following conditions:

whether the UE is ENDC capable;

whether an NR cell is included in neighbor cells of the target cell;

In fig. 9, among other things, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 900, and various circuits, represented by memory 920, 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 910 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 900 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 920 may store data used by the processor 900 in performing operations.

As shown in fig. 10, an embodiment of the present invention provides a base station, including:

the processor 1000, which is used to read the program in the memory 1020, executes the following processes:

generating an SgNB adding request sent to an NR cell in an adjacent cell according to the directional switching request; the directional handover request determines for the source cell that a dual-connectivity ENDC capable UE satisfies a directional handover condition.

A transceiver 1010 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 1000, performing the following processes:

sending an SgNB addition request to an NR cell in an adjacent cell; the SgNB addition request is used to acquire SgNB addition information for dual connectivity between the UE and the NR cell, so that the UE performs dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver 1010 is further configured to acquire a confirmation message that the NR cell sends an SgNB addition request; sending a directional handover response to the source cell; the directional switching response carries the SgNB addition information, so that the source cell sends the RRC reconfiguration message carrying the SgNB addition information to the UE;

the processor 1001 is further configured to complete directional handover from the UE to the target cell according to an RRC reconfiguration complete message sent by the UE, and execute dual connectivity with the NR cell.

Where in fig. 10, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with various circuits being linked together, particularly one or more processors represented by processor 1000 and memory represented by memory 1020. 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 1010 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 1000 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1020 may store data used by the processor 1000 in performing operations.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal, and as shown in fig. 11, the terminal includes:

a transceiver 1110 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 1100, performing the following processes:

acquiring an RRC reconfiguration message sent by a source cell; the RRC reconfiguration message comprises SgNB addition information; the SgNB addition information is obtained by an SgNB addition request sent by a target cell to an NR cell in a neighbor cell of the target cell;

the processor 1100, which reads the program in the memory 1120, performs the following processes:

and determining to execute dual connection in the directional switching process, and sending an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the target cell.

The processor 1100 is further configured to report a B1 measurement report to the source cell; the threshold value of the B1 measurement report is determined according to the switching thresholds of the source cell and the target cell; the B1 measurement is for the source cell to determine that the UE satisfies a directional handover condition from the B1 measurement report.

In FIG. 11, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 1102, and various circuits, represented by memory 1101, 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 bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1103 can be a plurality 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 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 1102 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1101 may store data used by the processor 1102 in performing operations.

The processor 1102 in this embodiment 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).

It should be noted that any memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may include a Read Only Memory (ROM) and a Random Access Memory (RAM), and provide 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 method provided by the embodiment of the application according to the obtained program instructions by calling the program instructions stored in the memory.

Based on the same concept, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, where computer-executable instructions are stored, and the computer-executable instructions are configured to enable a computer to execute any one of the foregoing handover methods.

The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium 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.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the user equipment may also be referred to as a Terminal, a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (Mobile Terminal), and the like, and optionally, the Terminal may have a capability of communicating with one or more core networks via 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, and the like, and for example, the Terminal may also be a portable, pocket, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted Mobile device.

A base station may be an access network device (e.g., an 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, or an evolved Node B (NodeB or eNB or e-NodeB) in LTE, which is not limited in this embodiment.

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.

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.

While the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the application.

The embodiment of the application provides a switching method, a switching device and a computer readable storage medium, wherein a first indication information is carried in a switching request message sent from a base station where a source cell is located to a base station where a target cell is located, so that a suggestion can be provided for the target cell when determining whether to establish dual connectivity, and when the cell switching is relatively urgent, the target cell can be prevented from establishing dual connectivity, and then the cell switching can be executed immediately, so that the probability of switching failure is reduced, and the user experience is improved.

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 for directional handover between cells, comprising:

the source cell sends a directional switching request to a target cell; the target cell and the source cell have different frequencies and the same coverage and start an ENDC function; the neighbor cell of the target cell comprises a new wireless access NR cell; the directional switching request is used for indicating the target cell to send an SgNB addition request to an NR cell corresponding to the target cell so as to acquire addition information of an auxiliary new air interface base station SgNB; the SgNB addition information is used for the UE to perform dual connectivity in a directional handover process.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein after the source cell sends the directed handover request to the target cell, further comprising:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the source cell determining that the ENDC capable UE satisfies the directional handover condition comprises:

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the threshold value of the B1 measurement report is determined based on handover thresholds of the source cell and the target cell, comprising:

the threshold parameters at least include: one or more of a cell measurement event trigger hysteresis factor, a cell measurement event trigger duration, and a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) threshold reported by B1.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein before the source cell receives the B1 measurement report reported by the UE, the method further comprises:

whether the UE is ENDC capable;

whether an NR cell is included in neighbor cells of the target cell;

6. A method for directional handover between cells, comprising:

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

8. A method for directional handover between cells, comprising:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein before the UE acquires the RRC reconfiguration message sent by the source cell, the method further comprises:

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the threshold value of the B1 measurement report is determined based on handover thresholds of the source cell and the target cell, comprising:

11. An apparatus for directional handover between cells, comprising:

12. An apparatus for directional handover between cells, comprising:

13. An apparatus for directional handover between cells, comprising:

14. A base station comprising a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, wherein,

15. A storage medium storing a program of a method for inter-cell directed handover, which when executed by a processor performs the steps of: