CN112469094A

CN112469094A - Network switching method and device

Info

Publication number: CN112469094A
Application number: CN202011277224.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 武传国; 是元吉; 唐兵; 谭定富
Original assignee: Shanghai Qingkun Information Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Qingkun Information Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-11-16
Filing date: 2020-11-16
Publication date: 2021-03-09

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a network switching method, which is applied to a networking scene of a ground network TN and a non-ground network NTN, and the network switching method comprises the following steps: user Equipment (UE) measures a cell signal quality metric of a first cell of a first network where the UE currently resides; measuring, by the UE, a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of a second network; the UE compares the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the second cell to obtain a first comparison result; if the first comparison result meets a first switching condition, switching the UE from the first cell to the second cell; wherein the first network is a TN and the second network is an NTN; or, the first network is NTN and the second network is TN. According to the scheme of the embodiment of the application, the receiver algorithm of the TN and NTN hybrid networking can be simultaneously supported in the wireless communication, and the high-efficiency switching of the multimode UE in the TN and NTN hybrid network can be ensured.

Description

Network switching method and device

Technical Field

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

Background

With the development of wireless communication technology, the application of wireless networks is more and more extensive, and wireless access technology is continuously evolving. For example, a fifth Generation (5G) communication technology, or New Radio (NR) communication technology, is already in commercial use, and the convergence of satellite communication and terrestrial communication is also beginning to enter the research phase. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) working group also starts to study the convergence of satellite communication and terrestrial radio access networks (such as terrestrial 5G networks), and constructs a sea, land, air and ground integrated communication network to meet various ubiquitous business requirements of users, which is an important direction for future communication development.

However, existing User Equipment (UE) generally supports only access to a Terrestrial Network (TN) or only access to a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN); or even if the access of the TN and the NTN is considered at the same time, a switching mechanism under the mixed networking of the TN and the NTN is lacked at present.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the present application provides a network handover method and apparatus to support a receiver algorithm of a TN and NTN hybrid networking simultaneously in wireless communication, so as to ensure efficient handover of a multimode UE in a TN and NTN hybrid network.

In one implementation, the present application provides a network switching method, which is applied to a networking scenario of a ground network TN and a non-ground network NTN, and the method includes: user Equipment (UE) measures a cell signal quality metric of a first cell of a first network where the UE currently resides; the UE measures a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of the second network; the UE compares the cell signal quality measurement of the first cell with the cell signal quality measurement of the second cell to obtain a first comparison result; if the first comparison result meets the first switching condition, the UE is switched from the first cell to the second cell; wherein the first network is TN and the second network is NTN; alternatively, the first network is NTN and the second network is TN.

Further, when the first network is a TN and the second network is an NTN, if the first comparison result does not satisfy the first handover condition, the UE may further perform an initial synchronization process of the first network; or, when the first network is NTN and the second network is TN, if the first comparison result does not satisfy the first handover condition, the UE may also stay in the first cell.

Further, when the first network is TN and the second network is NTN, before the UE measures the cell signal quality metric of the second cell of the second network, the UE may further: measuring a cell signal quality metric of a third cell of the first network, wherein the third cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell; comparing the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the third cell to obtain a second comparison result; and determining that the second comparison result does not satisfy the second switching condition.

Further, the cell signal quality metric of the first cell may include at least one of: the reference signal received power RSRP of the first cell, the reference signal received quality of the first cell and the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the first cell; the cell reference signal of the second cell may comprise at least one of: the reference signal received power RSRP of the second cell, the reference signal received quality of the second cell, and the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the second cell.

Further, the first handover condition may include at least one of a first handover sub-condition, a second handover sub-condition and a third handover sub-condition, wherein the first handover sub-condition is that RSRP of the first cell is higher than RSRP of the second cell by a first sub-threshold, the second handover sub-condition is that RSRQ of the first cell is higher than RSRQ of the second cell by a second sub-threshold, and the third handover sub-condition is that SNR of the first cell is higher than SNR of the second cell by a third sub-threshold.

In another implementation, the present application further provides a network handover apparatus, which includes a unit for implementing the above network handover method, where each step may be implemented by a separate unit, or all or part of the units may be integrated together. These units may be logic units, stored in the form of software or hardware, for example, in a memory in the form of a program, which is called by a processor to implement the functions of the respective units; as another example, the instructions may be implemented in hardware circuitry, such as may be implemented by logic gates.

In one example, the present application provides a network switching apparatus, which is applied in a networking scenario of a terrestrial network TN and a non-terrestrial network NTN, and the network switching apparatus includes: a first measurement unit, configured to measure a cell signal quality metric of a first cell of a first network in which the network switching apparatus currently resides; a second measurement unit for measuring a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of the second network; a comparing unit, configured to compare the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the second cell to obtain a first comparison result; a switching unit, configured to switch the UE from the first cell to the second cell if the first comparison result satisfies the first switching condition; wherein the first network is TN and the second network is NTN; alternatively, the first network is NTN and the second network is TN.

Further, when the first network is a TN and the second network is an NTN, the apparatus may further include: a synchronization unit, configured to perform an initial synchronization process of the first network if the first comparison result does not satisfy the first switching condition; or, when the first network is an NTN and the second network is a TN, the apparatus may further include: and the resident unit is used for keeping resident in the first cell if the first comparison result does not meet the first switching condition.

Further, when the first network is TN and the second network is NTN, the first measurement unit may be further configured to: measuring a cell signal quality metric of a third cell of the first network before measuring a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of the second network, wherein the third cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell; the comparison unit may be further configured to: comparing the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the third cell to obtain a second comparison result; the switching unit may be further configured to determine that the second comparison result does not satisfy the second switching condition.

Further, the first handover condition may include at least one of a first handover sub-condition, a second handover sub-condition and a third handover sub-condition, wherein the first handover sub-condition is that RSRP of the second cell is higher than RSRP of the first cell by a first sub-threshold, the second handover sub-condition is that RSRQ of the second cell is higher than RSRQ of the first cell by a second sub-threshold, and the third handover sub-condition is that SNR of the second cell is higher than SNR of the first cell by a third sub-threshold.

In another example, the present application further provides a network switching apparatus, including a processor, configured to call a program stored in a memory to implement the above network switching method.

In yet another implementation, the present application further provides a storage medium having program code stored therein, which when called by a processor, causes the processor to implement the above network switching method.

By the method, under the networking scenes of TN and NTN, the UE can measure the cell signal quality metric of the cell of the current resident network and the cell signal quality metric of the cell of the other network, and when the cell signal quality metric of the cell of the current resident network and the cell signal quality metric of the cell of the other network are compared and meet the switching condition, the UE is switched from the cell of the current resident network to the cell of the other network, so that the UE can be efficiently switched under the networking scenes of TN and NTN.

Drawings

The following description of specific embodiments of the present application will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network handover method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a network handover method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of another network handover method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a network switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another network switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following description will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some examples of the present application, and that for a person skilled in the art, other drawings and other embodiments can be obtained from these drawings without inventive effort. For the sake of simplicity, the drawings only schematically show the parts relevant to the present application, and they do not represent the actual structure as a product.

Please refer to fig. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system includes AN Access Network (AN) 110 and a Core Network (Core Network, CN)120, and a User Equipment (UE) 130 accesses to a wireless Network through the AN110 and communicates with other networks, such as a Data Network (Data Network), through the CN 120.

The AN may also be referred to as a Radio Access Network (RAN), and the device on the AN side may be referred to as AN device or a RAN device, and may also be referred to as a base station. The names of the different communication systems are different, for example, in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, the communication system may be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), and in a 5G system, the communication system may be referred to as a next generation Node B (gnb). AN apparatus may also be a Centralized Unit (CU), a Distributed Unit (DU), or include a CU and a DU.

In the communication system shown in fig. 1, AN110 includes a terrestrial network TN111 and a non-terrestrial network NTN112, wherein AN apparatus 1 in TN111 is disposed on the ground and AN apparatus 2 in NTN112 is disposed on a satellite.

The existing UE receiver algorithm generally only considers the TN network or only considers the NTN network, and even if the TN network and the NTN network are simultaneously considered for reception, the handover mechanism of the UE in such a hybrid network is not considered.

In view of the above problems, embodiments of the present application provide a receiver algorithm supporting mixed networking of TN and NTN in wireless communication, so as to ensure efficient handover of a multimode UE in a mixed network of TN and NTN.

The scheme of the embodiment of the application is described below with reference to the attached drawings.

Please refer to fig. 2, which is a schematic diagram of a network handover method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the method is executed by a UE or a chip in the UE, and is applied to a networking scenario of TN and NTN, and the method includes the following steps:

s210: measuring a cell signal quality metric of a first cell of a currently camped first network;

s220: measuring a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of the second network;

s230: comparing the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the second cell to obtain a first comparison result;

s240: if the first comparison result meets the first switching condition, switching from the first cell to the second cell;

wherein the first network is a TN and the second network is an NTN; or, the first network is NTN and the second network is TN.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 2, in some embodiments, when the first network is a TN and the second network is an NTN, the method may further include: if the first comparison result does not meet the first switching condition, performing an initial synchronization process of the first network, namely performing an initial synchronization process of the TN; or, when the first network is an NTN and the second network is a TN, the method may further include: if the first comparison result does not satisfy the first handover condition, the ue stays camped on the first cell, that is, stays camped on the current cell of the NTN.

In some embodiments, when the first network is a TN and the second network is an NTN, before measuring the cell signal quality metric of the second cell of the second network, the method may further include: measuring a cell signal quality metric of a third cell of the first network, wherein the third cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell; comparing the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the third cell to obtain a second comparison result; determining that the second comparison result does not satisfy the second switching condition.

In some embodiments, the cell signal quality metric of one cell (e.g., the first cell, the second cell, or the third cell, etc.) may include at least one of: reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) of the cell, Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ) of the cell, and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of the cell.

In the above embodiment, the first handover condition may include at least one of a first sub-handover condition, a second sub-handover condition and a third sub-handover condition, wherein the first sub-handover condition is that RSRP of the second cell is higher than RSRP of the first cell by a first sub-threshold, the second handover condition is that RSRQ of the second cell is higher than RSRQ of the first cell by a second sub-threshold, and the third handover condition is that SNR of the second cell is higher than SNR of the first cell by a third sub-threshold.

It is to be understood that since the first handover condition relates to a cell handover between different networks, the first handover condition may also be understood as a handover condition between different networks.

In the above embodiment, the second handover condition may include at least one of handover condition a, handover condition B and handover condition B, where handover condition a is that RSRP of the third cell is higher than RSRP of the first cell by sub-threshold a, handover condition B is that RSRQ of the third cell is higher than RSRQ of the first cell by sub-threshold B, and handover condition C is that SNR of the third cell is higher than SNR of the first cell by sub-threshold C.

It is to be understood that the second handover condition may also be understood as a handover condition with the network, since the second handover condition relates to a handover between different cells within the network.

To further illustrate aspects of embodiments of the present application, reference is made to fig. 3 and 4 for details. It should be noted that, in the embodiment shown in fig. 3 and fig. 4, the same or similar contents as those in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 may refer to the detailed description in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, and are not repeated in the following.

Please refer to fig. 3, which is a flowchart illustrating a network handover method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It should be noted that, in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, the description is given by taking an example where the first network is a TN, the second network is an NTN, the first cell is a current camped cell in the TN, the second cell is a different network cell of the NTN, and the third cell is an adjacent cell of the camped cell in the TN. As shown in fig. 3, the UE may perform the following steps:

s310: the UE periodically measures the cell signal quality metric of the currently camped cell in the TN.

Specifically, the UE periodically performs measurement of RSRP, RSRQ, SNR, and the like of the current camping cell in the TN. Wherein, the default unit of the measurement result of RSRP can be dBm, and the default unit of the measurement result of RSRQ and SNR can be dB; the measurement period in step S310 may be 20ms per time.

S320: the UE periodically measures cell signal quality metrics of neighboring cells of the camped cell in the TN.

Specifically, the UE periodically measures RSRP, RSRQ, SNR, etc. of neighboring cells of the camped cell in the TN. Wherein, the default unit of the measurement result of RSRP can be dBm, and the default unit of the measurement result of RSRQ and SNR can be dB; the measurement period in step S320 may be 80ms per time.

S330: and comparing the cell signal quality metric of the resident cell with the cell signal quality metric of the adjacent cell, and judging whether the switching conditions among different cells in the TN are met.

In particular, at least one of RSRP, RSRQ, SNR of the camped cell and the neighboring cell may be compared.

In one example, the handover condition between different cells in the TN is that RSRP of the neighboring cell is higher than RSRP of the camped cell by a preset threshold. For example, RSRP of a neighbor cell-RSRP of a camped cell >3 dB. Of course, the preset threshold in this example may be other values, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In another example, the handover condition between different cells in the TN is that RSRQ of the neighboring cell is higher than RSRQ of the camped cell by a preset threshold. For example, RSRQ of a neighboring cell-RSRQ of a camped cell >3 dB. Of course, the preset threshold in this example may be other values, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In yet another example, the handover condition between different cells in the TN is that the SNR of the neighboring cell is higher than the SNR of the camping cell by a preset threshold. For example, the SNR of the neighboring cell-the SNR of the camped cell >3 dB. Of course, the preset threshold in this example may be other values, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In this step, if the switching conditions between different cells in the TN are satisfied, step S340 is executed; if the switching condition between different cells in the TN is not satisfied, step S350 is executed.

S340: the UE switches from the camped cell to a neighboring cell in the TN.

Specifically, when the present procedure is applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1, the UE still resides in TN111 in fig. 1 after being handed over to the neighboring cell.

S350: the UE initiates cell signal quality metric measurements of the different network cells of the NTN.

Specifically, the UE may perform measurement of RSRP, RSRQ, SNR, etc. of the different network cells of the NTN. Wherein, the default unit of the measurement result of RSRP can be dBm, and the default unit of the measurement result of RSRQ and SNR can be dB.

S360: and comparing the cell signal quality measurement of the resident cell with the cell signal quality measurement of the different network cell, and judging whether the switching conditions among different networks are met.

In particular, at least one of RSRP, RSRQ, SNR of the camped cell and the foreign network cell may be compared.

In one example, the handover condition between different networks is that RSRP of the cell in the different network is higher than RSRP of the cell in the camping by a preset threshold. For example, RSRP of the heterogeneous network cell — RSRP of the camped cell >6 dB. Of course, the preset threshold in this example may be other values, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In another example, the handover condition between different networks is that RSRQ of the different network cell is higher than RSRQ of the camping cell by a preset threshold. For example, RSRQ of the heterogeneous network cell-RSRQ of the camped cell >6 dB. Of course, the preset threshold in this example may be other values, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In yet another example, the handover condition between different networks is that the SNR of the different network cell is higher than the SNR of the camping cell by a preset threshold. For example, the SNR of the different network cell-the SNR of the camped cell >6 dB. Of course, the preset threshold in this example may be other values, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In this step, if the switching condition between different networks is satisfied, step S380 is executed; if the handover condition between different networks is not satisfied, step S370 is executed.

S370: the UE re-performs the initial synchronization procedure of the TN.

S380: the UE switches to a different network cell in the NTN.

Specifically, when the present procedure is applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1, the UE is handed over to the NTN112 in fig. 1.

As can be seen from the above, in the scheme of the embodiment of the present application, on one hand, the UE preferentially determines whether the switching conditions between different cells in the TN are satisfied, and since the TN is closer to the base station and requires lower transmission power compared to the NTN, the switching in the TN network preferentially saves more power; in addition, the economic cost is also lower. On the other hand, when the handover condition between different cells in the TN is not satisfied, the UE may measure the cell signal quality metric of the different network cell in the NTN, and when it is determined that the handover condition between different networks is satisfied, the UE is switched to the NTN, thereby ensuring that the UE can be switched to the NTN when the UE cannot be switched to an adjacent cell in the TN.

In summary, the scheme of the embodiment of the application can simultaneously support the receiver algorithm of TN and NTN hybrid networking, thereby ensuring that the UE can be efficiently switched in TN and NTN networking scenes.

Please refer to fig. 4, which is a flowchart illustrating another network handover method according to an embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that, in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, a description is given by taking as an example a different network cell in which the first network is an NTN, the second network is a TN, the first cell is a current camped cell in the NTN, and the second cell is a TN. As shown in fig. 4, the UE may perform the following steps:

s410: the UE periodically measures the cell signal quality metric of the currently camped cell in the NTN.

Specifically, the UE periodically performs measurement of RSRP, RSRQ, SNR, etc. of the current camping cell in the NTN. Wherein, the default unit of the measurement result of RSRP can be dBm, and the default unit of the measurement result of RSRQ and SNR can be dB.

S420: the UE periodically measures the cell signal quality metric of the different network cells in the TN.

Specifically, the UE periodically measures RSRP, RSRQ, SNR, etc. of the different network cells in the TN. Wherein, the default unit of the measurement result of RSRP can be dBm, and the default unit of the measurement result of RSRQ and SNR can be dB.

In some embodiments, the measurement period in step 410 is greater than the measurement period in step 420, that is, when the UE currently resides in NTN, the measurement period of the NTN by the UE is greater than the measurement period of the TN by the UE, for example, the measurement period in step S410 may be 80ms per time, and the measurement period in step S420 may be 20ms per time. Here, the reason for this is that the distance between the UE and the AN device of the NTN is longer than the distance between the UE and the AN device of the TN, so that the signal quality of the NTN received by the UE is poor, and it takes more time to make the NTN measurement.

S430: and comparing the cell signal quality measurement of the resident cell with the cell signal quality measurement of the different network cell, and judging whether the switching conditions among different networks are met.

In one example, the handover condition between different networks is that RSRP of the cell in the different network is higher than RSRP of the cell in the camping by a preset threshold. For example, RSRP of the heterogeneous network cell — RSRP of the camped cell >3 dB. Of course, the preset threshold in this example may be other values, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In another example, the handover condition between different networks is that RSRQ of the different network cell is higher than RSRQ of the camping cell by a preset threshold. For example, RSRQ of the heterogeneous network cell-RSRQ of the camped cell >3 dB. Of course, the preset threshold in this example may be other values, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In yet another example, the handover condition between different networks is that the SNR of the different network cell is higher than the SNR of the camping cell by a preset threshold. For example, the SNR of the different network cell-the SNR of the camped cell >3 dB. Of course, the preset threshold in this example may be other values, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In this step, if the switching condition between different networks is satisfied, step S440 is executed; if the handover condition between different networks is not satisfied, step S410 and the following steps are executed again.

S440: the UE switches from the camped cell to a different network cell in the TN.

Specifically, when the present procedure is applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1, the UE is switched to TN111 in fig. 1.

As can be seen from the above, in the solution of the embodiment of the present application, when the UE resides in the NTN and meets the handover conditions between different networks, the UE is handed over to the TN, and since the TN is closer to the base station than the NTN, the required transmission power is lower, and thus the network is handed over to the TN with less power consumption; in addition, the economic cost is also lower. Therefore, the scheme of the embodiment of the application can simultaneously support the receiver algorithm of TN and NTN mixed networking, thereby ensuring that the UE can be efficiently switched in TN and NTN networking scenes.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides an apparatus, which may be a UE, or an apparatus located in the UE, such as a chip, a board, and the like, and is configured to execute the method executed by the UE in the foregoing method embodiment.

In an implementation, please refer to fig. 5, which is a schematic diagram of a network switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The network switching device is applied to networking scenes of a ground network TN and a non-ground network NTN. As shown in fig. 5, the apparatus 500 includes a first measurement unit 510, a second measurement unit 520, a comparison unit 530 and a switching unit 540.

The first measurement unit 510 is configured to measure a cell signal quality metric of a first cell of a first network in which the network switching apparatus currently camps; the second measurement unit 520 is configured to measure a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of the second network; the comparing unit 530 is configured to compare the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the second cell to obtain a first comparison result; the switching unit 540 is configured to switch the UE from the first cell to the second cell if the first comparison result satisfies the first switching condition; wherein the first network is TN and the second network is NTN; alternatively, the first network is NTN and the second network is TN.

In some embodiments, when the first network is a TN and the second network is an NTN, the apparatus 500 may further include: and the synchronization unit is used for carrying out an initial synchronization process of the first network if the first comparison result does not meet the first switching condition. Alternatively, when the first network is an NTN and the second network is a TN, the apparatus 500 may further include: and the resident unit is used for keeping resident in the first cell if the first comparison result does not meet the first switching condition.

In some embodiments, when the first network is TN and the second network is NTN, the first measurement unit 510 is further configured to: measuring a cell signal quality metric of a third cell of the first network before measuring a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of the second network, wherein the third cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell; the comparing unit 530 is further configured to: comparing the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the third cell to obtain a second comparison result; the switching unit 540 is further configured to determine that the second comparison result does not satisfy the second switching condition.

Details of the operations performed by the units may refer to the method embodiments shown in fig. 2, fig. 3, or fig. 4, and are not described herein again.

The division of each unit of the above communication device is only a logical division, and the actual implementation may be wholly or partially integrated into one physical entity, or may be physically separated. And these units can be realized in the form of software called by processor; or may be implemented entirely in hardware; and part of the units can be realized in the form of calling by a processor through software, and part of the units can be realized in the form of hardware.

For example, the functions of the above units may be stored in a memory in the form of program codes, which are scheduled by a processor to implement the functions of the above units. The Processing element may be a general-purpose processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or other processor capable of calling programs. As another example, the above units may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above methods, such as: one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), or one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), etc. For another example, in combination with the above two methods, part of the functions is implemented in the form of a scheduler code of the processor, and part of the functions is implemented in the form of a hardware integrated circuit. And when the above functions are integrated together, the functions can be realized in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

In another implementation, please refer to fig. 6, which is a schematic diagram of another network switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the apparatus is a UE600 or is located within the UE 600. The UE600 includes a radio frequency device 610 and a baseband device 620. In the downlink direction, the radio frequency apparatus 610 receives data transmitted by the AN device through the antenna, and transmits the data transmitted by the AN device to the baseband apparatus 620 for processing. In the uplink direction, the baseband device 620 processes data generated by the UE and transmits the processed data to the AN apparatus through the radio frequency device 610 and the antenna. The baseband device 620 includes an interface 621, a processor 622, and a memory 623. The interface 621 is used for communicating with the radio frequency device 610, the storage 623 is used for storing program codes for implementing the above UE-executed methods, and the processor 622 is used for calling the program codes to implement the above UE-executed methods.

In yet another implementation, the present application further provides a network switching apparatus, which includes a processor, configured to call a program stored in a memory to implement the network switching method.

Based on the same inventive concept, the present application also provides a program product, such as a computer-readable storage medium, which includes program code, when called by a processor, causes the processor to implement the above network switching method.

Those skilled in the art will understand that: all or part of the steps for implementing the above method embodiments may be implemented by hardware related to program instructions, and the above program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, where the program codes are called by a processor, and the processor is configured to execute the method executed by the UE in the above method embodiments. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the form and number of the memory and the processor, for example, the memory may be a CPU or other processor capable of calling a program, and the memory may be various media capable of storing program codes, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

The foregoing is only a partial embodiment of the present application, and it should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, several modifications and decorations can be made without departing from the principle of the present application, and these modifications and decorations should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A network switching method is applied to a networking scene of a ground network TN and a non-ground network NTN, and comprises the following steps:

user Equipment (UE) measures a cell signal quality metric of a first cell of a first network where the UE currently resides;

measuring, by the UE, a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of a second network;

the UE compares the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the second cell to obtain a first comparison result;

if the first comparison result meets a first switching condition, switching the UE from the first cell to the second cell;

2. The method of claim 1,

the first network is a TN and the second network is an NTN, the method further comprising:

if the first comparison result does not meet the first switching condition, the UE performs an initial synchronization process of the first network;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the first network is an NTN and the second network is a TN, the method further comprising:

if the first comparison result does not satisfy the first handover condition, the UE remains camped on the first cell.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first network is a TN and the second network is a NTN, and wherein before the UE measures the cell signal quality metric for the second cell of the second network, further comprising:

measuring, by the UE, a cell signal quality metric of a third cell of the first network, wherein the third cell is a neighboring cell of the first cell;

the UE compares the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the third cell to obtain a second comparison result;

determining that the second comparison result does not satisfy a second handover condition.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein the cell signal quality metric of the first cell comprises at least one of: the reference signal received power RSRP of the first cell, the reference signal received quality RSRQ of the first cell and the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the first cell; the cell reference signal of the second cell comprises at least one of: the reference signal received power RSRP of the second cell, the reference signal received quality RSRQ of the second cell, and the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the second cell.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first handover condition comprises at least one of a first sub-handover condition, a second sub-handover condition, and a third sub-handover condition, wherein the first handover sub-condition is that the RSRP of the second cell is higher than the RSRP of the first cell by a first sub-threshold, wherein the second handover sub-condition is that the RSRQ of the second cell is higher than the RSRQ of the first cell by a second sub-threshold, and wherein the third handover sub-condition is that the SNR of the second cell is higher than the SNR of the first cell by a third sub-threshold.

6. A network switching device is applied to a networking scene of a ground network TN and a non-ground network NTN, and comprises the following components:

a first measurement unit, configured to measure a cell signal quality metric of a first cell of a first network in which the network switching apparatus currently camps;

a second measurement unit for measuring a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of the second network;

a comparing unit, configured to compare the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the second cell to obtain a first comparison result;

a handover unit, configured to handover the UE from the first cell to the second cell if the first comparison result meets a first handover condition;

7. The network switching apparatus of claim 1,

the first network is a TN and the second network is an NTN, the apparatus further comprising:

a synchronization unit, configured to perform an initial synchronization process of the first network if the first comparison result does not satisfy the first handover condition;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the first network is an NTN and the second network is a TN, the apparatus further comprising:

a camping unit, configured to remain camped in the first cell if the first comparison result does not satisfy the first handover condition.

8. The network switching apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the first network is a TN and the second network is a NTN, the first measurement unit is further configured to: measuring a cell signal quality metric of a third cell of the first network prior to measuring a cell signal quality metric of a second cell of a second network, wherein the third cell is a neighbor cell of the first cell; the comparison unit is further configured to: comparing the cell signal quality metric of the first cell with the cell signal quality metric of the third cell to obtain a second comparison result; the switching unit is further configured to determine that the second comparison result does not satisfy a second switching condition.

9. The network switching apparatus of any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the cell signal quality metric of the first cell comprises at least one of: the reference signal received power RSRP of the first cell, the reference signal received quality of the first cell and the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the first cell; the cell reference signal of the second cell comprises at least one of: the reference signal received power RSRP of the second cell, the reference signal received quality of the second cell, and the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the second cell.

10. The network switching apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first handover condition comprises at least one of a first sub-handover condition, a second sub-handover condition, and a third sub-handover condition, wherein the first handover sub-condition is that the RSRP of the second cell is higher than the RSRP of the first cell by a first sub-threshold, wherein the second handover sub-condition is that the RSRQ of the second cell is higher than the RSRQ of the first cell by a second sub-threshold, and wherein the third handover sub-condition is that the SNR of the second cell is higher than the SNR of the first cell by a third sub-threshold.