CN112970287A

CN112970287A - Data forwarding method, equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN112970287A
Application number: CN201980073822.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 唐海
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2019-02-12
Filing date: 2019-02-12
Publication date: 2021-06-15
Anticipated expiration: 2039-02-12
Also published as: CN112970287B; WO2020163996A1

Abstract

The invention discloses a data forwarding method, which comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment stores a switching command sent by the network equipment and information of a cell associated with the switching command; the switching command is a switching command based on condition triggering switching and used for indicating the terminal equipment to switch from a first cell to a second cell; and the information of the cell associated with the switching command is used for forwarding data between the first network equipment corresponding to the first cell serving the terminal equipment and the target network equipment corresponding to the second cell after the terminal equipment is switched to the second cell. The invention also discloses another data forwarding method, equipment and a storage medium.

Description

Data forwarding method, equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a data forwarding method, device, and storage medium.

Background

In the related art, for conditional cell handover (conditional handover), after a source network device sends a handover command to a terminal device, the terminal device needs to wait for cell handover when a handover trigger condition is satisfied. When the terminal device meets the triggering condition and is switched to the target network device 1, the target network device 1 triggers the path to be switched to the core network to become a new service cell of the terminal device. When the target network device 2 also satisfies the trigger condition, the terminal device may still initiate cell handover. However, after the terminal device is switched to the target network device 2, the target network device 1 does not know that the terminal device has been switched to the target network device 2, and therefore, the target network device 1 cannot actively initiate data forwarding; moreover, context information and signaling interaction related to the terminal device are not established between the target network device 1 and the target network device 2, so the target network device 2 does not know which cell the terminal device is switched to, and cannot send a data forwarding request; therefore, when the terminal equipment is switched from one cell to another cell, the data forwarding between the cells cannot be realized.

Disclosure of Invention

To solve the foregoing technical problem, embodiments of the present invention provide a data forwarding method, device and storage medium, which can cause a terminal to implement data forwarding between cells when a terminal device is handed over from one cell to another cell.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a data forwarding method, including: the terminal equipment stores a switching command sent by the network equipment and information of a cell associated with the switching command;

the switching command is a switching command based on condition triggering switching and used for indicating the terminal equipment to switch from a first cell to a second cell; and the information of the cell associated with the handover command is used for forwarding data between the first network device corresponding to the first cell and the target network device corresponding to the second cell when the terminal device is handed over from the first cell to the second cell.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a data forwarding method, including: the method comprises the steps that target network equipment receives first information sent by terminal equipment, wherein the first information is used for representing relevant information of a first cell corresponding to the first network equipment;

the target network equipment performs data forwarding with first network equipment based on the first information; the first network device is a corresponding network device before the terminal device initiates cell switching, and the target network device is a corresponding network device after the terminal device initiates cell switching.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal device, including: a storage unit configured to store a handover command transmitted by a network device and information of a cell associated with the handover command;

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

the second transceiving unit is configured to receive first information sent by the terminal device, where the first information is used to represent relevant information of a first cell corresponding to the first network device; performing data forwarding with first network equipment based on the first information;

the first network device is a corresponding network device before the terminal device initiates cell switching, and the target network device is a corresponding network device after the terminal device initiates cell switching.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal device, including a processor and a memory, where the memory is used for storing a computer program that can be executed on the processor, and the processor is configured to execute, when executing the computer program, the steps of the data forwarding method executed by the terminal device.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a storage medium, which stores an executable program, and when the executable program is executed by a processor, the data forwarding method executed by the target network device is implemented.

The data forwarding method provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment stores a switching command sent by source network equipment and information of a cell associated with the switching command; and when the handover is initiated from the first cell to the second cell, sending the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal device in the first cell to the target network device corresponding to the second cell. When the terminal equipment is continuously switched to the cell, the target network equipment can acquire the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell. Therefore, the target network device can know which cell the terminal device is switched from, and according to the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal device in the first cell, data forwarding between the first network device corresponding to the first cell and the target network device is realized, and the time delay of switching the terminal device is reduced; in addition, each target cell does not need to update the switching command again, and signaling overhead is saved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cell handover process according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conditional hand flow according to the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of terminal equipment switching to a target network equipment in a conditional handover according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic view of an alternative processing flow of a data forwarding method applied to a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart of data forwarding in the conditional handle according to the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an alternative processing flow of the data forwarding method applied to the target network device in the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a target network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a hardware component structure of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

So that the manner in which the features and technical contents of the embodiments of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the embodiments of the present invention will be rendered by reference to the appended drawings, which are included for purposes of illustration and not limitation.

Before describing the data forwarding method provided by the embodiment of the present invention in detail, a cell switching process and a data forwarding method after cell switching in the related art are briefly described.

Currently, with the pursuit of speed, delay, high-speed mobility, energy efficiency, and diversity and complexity of services in future life, the 3GPP international standards organization has begun to develop 5G. The main application scenarios of 5G are: enhanced Mobile Ultra wide band (eMBB), Low Latency high reliability Communications (URLLC), and Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC).

The eMBB still targets users to obtain multimedia content, services and data, and its demand is growing very rapidly. On the other hand, because the eMBB may be deployed in different scenarios, such as indoor, urban, rural, etc., and the difference between the capabilities and the requirements is relatively large, it cannot be said in a general way, and it is necessary to analyze in detail in combination with a specific deployment scenario. Typical applications of URLLC include: industrial automation, electric power automation, remote medical operation (surgery), traffic safety, and the like. Typical characteristics of mtc include: high connection density, small data volume, insensitive time delay service, low cost and long service life of the module, etc.

Similar to the LTE system, a New radio (New ratio, NR) system supports a handover procedure of a connected terminal device. When a terminal device using network service moves from one cell to another cell, or due to reasons such as adjustment of wireless transmission service load, activation of operation maintenance, device failure, etc., in order to ensure communication continuity and service quality, the system needs to transfer a communication link between the terminal device and an original cell to a new cell, i.e., to perform a handover procedure.

Taking an Xn interface handover process as an example, as shown in fig. 1, a cell handover process is divided into the following three stages:

phase 1 (including steps 1 to 5), handover preparation: including measurement control and reporting, handover requests and acknowledgements

Stage 2 (comprising steps 6 to 8), the handover is performed: the terminal equipment immediately executes the switching process after receiving the switching command, namely the terminal equipment disconnects the source cell and is connected with the target cell (for example, random access is executed, and an RRC switching completion message is sent to the target network equipment and the like); and (4) state transfer and data forwarding of a Secondary Node (SN).

Stage 3 (including steps 9 to 12), handover complete: the target cell and (AMF) and the User Plane Function (UPF) perform Path switching (Path Switch), releasing the terminal device context of the source network device.

In terms of network implementation, the source network device may initiate handover preparation or request messages for multiple target cells simultaneously or sequentially according to the measurement report (including the measurement results of multiple cells) of the terminal device; specifically, the source network device may initiate a handover preparation or request message based on a direct connection X2/Xn interface, or through an S1/N2 interface between Mobility Management Entities (MMEs)/AMFs. After receiving the handover preparation/request message, each target cell performs access control according to its own RRM algorithm, and sends a handover request response message (which is a response to a handover request failure message if access control fails) to the network device where the source cell is located under the premise of access control, where the handover request response message carries a handover command generated by the target cell. And the source network equipment selects one of the target cells returning the switching response as a final switching target cell according to the RRM algorithm of the source network equipment, and sends a switching command corresponding to the target cell to the terminal equipment through the RRC reconfiguration message, so that the network equipment can completely control the switching process.

The handover process triggered by the measurement report of the terminal device is mainly the management of the network device for the mobility connection of the terminal device, so that the terminal device keeps the continuity of the current transmission service when moving to the cell boundary and entering a new cell. Unlike such handover triggering conditions, LTE and NR systems also support blind handover procedures. One of the triggering conditions for blind handover is based on load balancing considerations at the network side, e.g. when the current serving cell is congested, the serving cell may handover one or more connected state terminal devices to other less loaded cells, even if the terminal devices do not actually move to the cell border. The existing X2 and Xn interfaces already support interaction of load information of respective cells between different base stations, so that a serving cell can obtain load conditions of other neighboring cells and decide whether to perform blind handover on a part of terminal devices according to respective load comparisons.

For the problems of frequent handover and easy failure of handover in high-speed mobile scenarios and high-frequency deployment scenarios, 3GPP is currently discussing the introduction of conditional handover (conditional handover) for LTE and NR systems. As shown in fig. 2, when evaluating the condition trigger related to the target cell, the terminal device performs handover to the target cell according to a pre-configured handover command (i.e., triggering a random access procedure and sending a handover completion message) according to the condition configured by the network device, so as to avoid the problem that the measurement report cannot be sent or the handover command cannot be sent due to high-speed movement entering a coverage area.

In the conditional handover, after the source network device issues the handover command, the terminal device does not immediately perform the handover but performs the handover until the handover trigger condition is satisfied. As shown in fig. 3, when the network device meets the trigger condition and switches to a target network device (e.g., the target network device 1 in fig. 3), the target network device triggers a path switch to the core network to become a new serving cell of the terminal device. Thereafter, if another target network device (for example, the target network device 2 in fig. 3) satisfies the handover trigger condition corresponding to the handover command issued by the previous source network device, the terminal device may still initiate handover, however, data forwarding cannot be completed based on the following reasons:

1. conditional handover is the triggered handover of the terminal device, and the target network device 1 does not know that the terminal device has been handed over to the target network device 2, so the target network device 1 cannot initiate data forwarding actively;

2. the target network device 2 establishes X2/Xn signaling interaction among the same source network devices, and the source network device does not receive the data of the core network any more because the path after the path switch is transferred to the target network device 1;

3. no X2/Xn context information and signaling interaction about the terminal device has been established between the target network device 2 and the target network device 1, and the target network device 2 does not know which cell the terminal device is handed over to enter, and cannot make a data forwarding request.

Based on the above problem, the present invention provides a data forwarding method, and the data forwarding method in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, for example: a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) System, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) System, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) System, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (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 Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication System, or a 5G System.

For example, a communication system 100 applied in the embodiment of the present application is shown in fig. 4. The communication system 100 may include a network device 110, and the network device 110 may be a device that communicates with a terminal device 120 (or referred to as a communication terminal, a terminal). Network device 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and may communicate with terminal devices located within that coverage area. Optionally, the Network device 110 may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a GSM system or a CDMA system, a Base Station (NodeB, NB) in a WCDMA system, an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN), or a Network device in a Mobile switching center, a relay Station, an Access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a hub, a switch, a bridge, a router, a Network-side device in a 5G Network, or a Network device in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) for future evolution, or the like.

The communication system 100 further comprises at least one terminal device 120 located within the coverage area of the network device 110. As used herein, "terminal equipment" includes, but is not limited to, connections via wireline, such as Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Digital cable, direct cable connection; and/or another data connection/network; and/or via a Wireless interface, e.g., to a cellular Network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a digital television Network such as a DVB-H Network, a satellite Network, an AM-FM broadcast transmitter; and/or means of another terminal device arranged to receive/transmit communication signals; and/or Internet of Things (IoT) devices. A terminal device arranged to communicate over a wireless interface may be referred to as a "wireless communication terminal", "wireless terminal", or "mobile terminal". Examples of mobile terminals include, but are not limited to, satellite or cellular telephones; personal Communications Systems (PCS) terminals that may combine cellular radiotelephones with data processing, facsimile, and data Communications capabilities; PDAs that may include radiotelephones, pagers, internet/intranet access, Web browsers, notepads, calendars, and/or Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers; and conventional laptop and/or palmtop receivers or other electronic devices that include a radiotelephone transceiver. Terminal Equipment may refer to an access terminal, User Equipment (UE), subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, User terminal, wireless communication device, User agent, or User Equipment. An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having Wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a Wireless modem, a vehicle mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a 5G network, or a terminal device in a future evolved PLMN, etc.

Optionally, a Device to Device (D2D) communication may be performed between the terminal devices 120.

Alternatively, the 5G system or the 5G network may also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) system or an NR network.

Fig. 4 exemplarily shows one network device and two terminal devices, and optionally, the communication system 100 may include a plurality of network devices and may include other numbers of terminal devices within the coverage of each network device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the communication system 100 may further include other network entities such as a network controller, a mobility management entity, and the like, which is not limited in this embodiment.

It should be understood that a device having a communication function in a network/system in the embodiments of the present application may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system 100 shown in fig. 4 as an example, the communication device may include a network device 110 and a terminal device 120 having a communication function, and the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may be the specific devices described above, which are not described herein again; the communication device may also include other devices in the communication system 100, such as other network entities, for example, a network controller, a mobility management entity, and the like, which is not limited in this embodiment.

As shown in fig. 5, an optional processing flow of the data forwarding method applied to the terminal device provided in the embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

step S201, the terminal device stores the handover command sent by the network device and the information of the cell associated with the handover command.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the handover command is a handover command triggered based on a condition, and is used to instruct the terminal device to perform handover from a first cell to a second cell; and the information of the cell associated with the handover command is used for forwarding data between the first network device corresponding to the first cell and the target network device corresponding to the second cell when the terminal device is handed over from the first cell to the second cell. The cell associated with the handover command refers to a cell corresponding to the network device configured with the handover command. Optionally, the first network device is a network device that sends the handover command to a terminal device; or the first network device is a network device corresponding to the terminal device after the terminal device performs cell switching from the network device sending the switching command to the terminal device, that is, the first network device and the network device sending the switching command to the terminal device are not the same network device; or the first network equipment is corresponding network equipment after the terminal equipment performs cell switching for multiple times from the network equipment which sends the switching command to the terminal equipment.

Wherein the handover command is a valid pre-handover command for at least one target network device; in the implementation, whether the handover command stored in the terminal device is valid can be determined by a timer (timer). For example, the terminal device stores the switching command to start timing, and when the timer times out, the terminal device confirms that the switching command is invalid; and if the timer is not overtime, the terminal equipment confirms that the switching command is effective.

In some embodiments, the information of the cell associated with the handover command comprises at least: and the identification information of the cell corresponding to the network equipment configured with the switching command. Wherein the identification information of the cell comprises at least one of: physical Cell Identity (PCI) and frequency points; evolved universal terrestrial radio access network Cell Global Identifier (ECGI); new radio Cell Global Identifier (NCGI).

In this embodiment of the present invention, the handover command includes: a handover command of at least one target cell and a condition configuration related to the handover command of the at least one target cell; and when the relevant condition is met, the terminal equipment initiates switching to the target cell based on the switching command. Taking the first condition among the relevant conditions as an example, the terminal device initiates handover to the second cell based on the first handover command among the stored handover commands. And after the random access is successful, the terminal device sends a handover completion message, such as an RRC reconfiguration completion message, to the target network device corresponding to the second cell.

In some embodiments, before the terminal device sends the handover complete message to the target network device, the terminal device determines whether the first cell is the same as the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command.

In a specific implementation, when the ECGI of the first cell is different from the ECGI of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command, the terminal device confirms that the first cell is different from the cell configured with the first handover command. Or, when the NCGI of the first cell is different from the NCGI of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command, the terminal device confirms that the first cell is different from the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command. Or, when the frequency point of the first cell is different from the frequency point of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command, the terminal device determines that the first cell is different from the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command. Or, when the PCI of the first cell is different from the PCI of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command, the terminal device confirms that the first cell is different from the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command.

Correspondingly, when the ECGI of the first cell is the same as the ECGI of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command, the terminal device confirms that the first cell is the same as the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command. Or the NCGI of the first cell is the same as the NCGI of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command, and the terminal device confirms that the first cell is the same as the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command. Or, the PCI of the first cell is the same as the PCI of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command, and the frequency point of the first cell is the same as the frequency point of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command, and the terminal device determines that the first cell is the same as the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command.

If the first cell is the same as the cell configuring the first handover command, it indicates that the first cell is the same as the cell corresponding to the network device configuring the first handover command, and the handover preparation process has been performed between the first network device corresponding to the first cell and the target network device, if the context information (context) of the X2/Xn interface about the terminal device has been established, the target cell only needs to send a forward ADDRESS information message with the same content as that in the related art to trigger the first network device to forward (data FORWARDING)

If the first cell is different from the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command, that is, the first cell and the second cell corresponding to the target device do not establish the context information of the X2/Xn interface with respect to the terminal device, the method further includes:

step S202, the terminal device sends first information to the target network device, wherein the first information is used for representing the relevant information of the first cell.

Optionally, the first information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration complete message, and the first information includes: the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell. The identification information of the terminal device in the first cell at least comprises: a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) of the terminal device. The identification information of the first cell comprises at least one of: PCI and frequency points; ECGI; NCGI.

In specific implementation, as shown in fig. 6, the target network device performs cell identifier addressing according to the identifier information of the first cell, establishes X2/Xn interface context information between the first network device and the target network device, and triggers the first network device to perform data forwarding. For example, the target network device establishes X2/Xn interface context information with the first cell in the process of invoking context retrieve, where the context ID used is derived from the information of the first cell reported in the terminal device RRC reconfiguration complete message and the identification information of the terminal device in the first cell. After the context information of the X2/Xn interface is established, the target network device may trigger the first cell to forward data by sending a forward ADDRESS INDICATION message.

In some embodiments, when the handover command stored in the terminal device is updated, the method further includes:

step S203, the terminal device stores the updated handover command and the information of the cell associated with the updated handover command.

Here, the handover command update is that handover command configuration is updated for a certain target cell; the updating of the handover command may be performed by a network device that originally configured the handover command, or may be performed by a network device different from the network device that originally configured the handover command.

Aiming at the data forwarding method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the related RRC protocol needs to be modified; taking the report of the RRC Reconfiguration Complete message in the TS38.331 specification to the PCI, the frequency point and the C-RNTI as examples:

RRC Reconfiguration Complete message

as shown in fig. 7, an optional processing flow of the data forwarding method applied to the target network device provided in the embodiment of the present invention includes:

step S301, a target network device receives first information sent by a terminal device, wherein the first information is used for representing relevant information of a first cell corresponding to the first network device.

In some embodiments, the first information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration complete message, and the first information includes: the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell. The identification information of the first cell comprises at least one of: PCI and frequency points; ECGI; and an NCGI.

Step S302, the target network device performs data forwarding with the first network device based on the first information.

When the specific implementation is carried out again, the target network equipment establishes context information with the first network equipment based on the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell; and the target network equipment sends a second message to the first network equipment, wherein the second message is used for triggering the first network equipment to forward data to the target network equipment.

In other embodiments, if the target network device does not receive the first information sent by the terminal device, the target network device only needs to send a second message to the first network device without establishing context information with the first network device.

Optionally, the second message is a DATA FORWARDING ADDRESS INDICATION message.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal device, where a structure of the terminal device 400, as shown in fig. 8, includes:

a storage unit 401 configured to store a handover command sent by a network device and information of a cell associated with the handover command;

In some embodiments, the handover command is a valid pre-handover command for at least one target network device.

In some embodiments, the information of the cell associated with the handover command comprises at least: and the identification information of the cell corresponding to the network equipment configured with the switching command.

In some embodiments, the identification information of the cell corresponding to the network device configuring the handover command includes at least one of the following: PCI and frequency points; ECGI; and an NCGI.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 400 further includes: a processing unit 402 configured to initiate handover to the second cell based on a first handover command of the handover commands when a first condition is satisfied.

In some embodiments, when the first cell is different from the cell corresponding to the network device configuring the first handover command, the terminal device 400 further includes:

a first transceiver unit 403, configured to send first information to the target network device, where the first information is used to characterize relevant information of the first cell.

In some embodiments, the first cell different from the cell corresponding to the network device configuring the first handover command comprises: the ECGI of the first cell is different from the ECGI of the cell corresponding to the network equipment configured with the first switching command; or the NCGI of the first cell is different from the NCGI of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the first handover command; or the frequency point of the first cell is different from the frequency point of the cell corresponding to the network equipment for configuring the first switching command; or the PCI of the first cell is different from the PCI of the cell corresponding to the network device configuring the first handover command.

In some embodiments, the first information comprises: the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell.

In some embodiments, the identification information of the terminal device in the first cell includes at least: and C-RNTI of the terminal equipment.

In some embodiments, the identification information of the first cell comprises at least one of: PCI and frequency points; ECGI; and an NCGI.

In some embodiments, the first information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration complete message.

In some embodiments, the storage unit 401 is further configured to store the updated handover command and information of the cell associated with the updated handover command when the handover command is updated.

In some embodiments, the handover command comprises: a handover command of at least one target cell and a condition configuration related to the handover command of the at least one target cell; and when the relevant condition is met, the terminal equipment initiates switching to the target cell based on the switching command.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a target network device, where a structure of the target network device 500 is as shown in fig. 9, and includes:

a second transceiving unit 501, configured to receive first information sent by a terminal device, where the first information is used to represent relevant information of a first cell corresponding to a first network device; performing data forwarding with first network equipment based on the first information;

In some embodiments, the second transceiving unit 501 is configured to establish context information with the first network device based on the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal device in the first cell.

In some embodiments, the second transceiver unit 501 is further configured to send a second message to the first network device when the first information sent by the terminal device is not received, where the second message is used to trigger the first network device to forward data to the target network device.

In some embodiments, the second message is a DATA forward ADDRESS INDICATION message.

In the embodiment of the present invention, because the terminal device can simultaneously obtain the handover commands of a plurality of target cells and the information of the cell corresponding to the network device configured with the handover commands, when the terminal device continuously performs cell handover (for example, after the terminal device is handed over to a first cell, it is handed over to a second cell), the target network device corresponding to the second cell can acquire the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal device in the first cell. Therefore, the target network device can know which cell the terminal device is switched from, and according to the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal device in the first cell, data forwarding between the first network device corresponding to the first cell and the target network device is realized, and the time delay of switching the terminal device is reduced; in addition, each target cell does not need to update the switching command again, and signaling overhead is saved.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal device, which includes a processor and a memory for storing a computer program capable of running on the processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute the steps of the data forwarding method executed by the terminal device when running the computer program.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a target network device, which includes a processor and a memory for storing a computer program capable of running on the processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute the steps of the data forwarding method executed by the target network device when running the computer program.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a hardware composition structure of electronic devices (a terminal device and a target network device) according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the terminal device 700 includes: at least one processor 701, a memory 702, and at least one network interface 704. The various components in the terminal device 700 are coupled together by a bus system 705. It is understood that the bus system 705 is used to enable communications among the components. The bus system 705 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus. But for the sake of clarity the various busses are labeled in figure 10 as the bus system 705.

It will be appreciated that the memory 702 can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, and can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile Memory may be ROM, Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), magnetic random access Memory (FRAM), Flash Memory (Flash Memory), magnetic surface Memory, optical Disc, or Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM); the magnetic surface storage may be disk storage or tape storage. Volatile Memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache Memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Synchronous Static Random Access Memory (SSRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (DDRSDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (ESDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (Enhanced DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SLDRAM), Direct Memory (DRmb Access), and Random Access Memory (DRAM). The memory 702 described in connection with the embodiments of the invention is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The memory 702 in the embodiments of the present invention is used for storing various types of data to support the operation of the terminal device 700. Examples of such data include: any computer program for operating on the terminal device 700, such as the application program 7022. Programs that implement methods in accordance with embodiments of the present invention can be included within application program 7022.

The method disclosed in the above embodiments of the present invention may be applied to the processor 701, or implemented by the processor 701. The processor 701 may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method may be implemented by integrated logic circuits of hardware or instructions in the form of software in the processor 701. The Processor 701 may be a general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, or the like. The processor 701 may implement or perform the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in embodiments of the present invention. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed by the embodiment of the invention can be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or can be implemented by combining hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may be located in a storage medium located in the memory 702, and the processor 701 may read the information in the memory 702 and perform the steps of the aforementioned methods in conjunction with its hardware.

In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal Device 700 may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), DSPs, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), FPGAs, general purpose processors, controllers, MCUs, MPUs, or other electronic components for performing the aforementioned methods.

The embodiment of the application also provides a storage medium for storing the computer program.

Optionally, the storage medium may be applied to the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute corresponding processes in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. 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.

The above description is only exemplary of the present invention and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the present invention, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements, etc. that are within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the present invention.

Claims

A method of data forwarding, the method comprising:

the terminal equipment stores a switching command sent by the network equipment and information of a cell associated with the switching command;

the switching command is a switching command for triggering switching of a conditional handover based on a condition and is used for indicating the terminal equipment to switch from a first cell to a second cell; and the information of the cell associated with the handover command is used for forwarding data between the first network device corresponding to the first cell and the target network device corresponding to the second cell when the terminal device is handed over from the first cell to the second cell.
The method of claim 1, wherein the handover command is a valid pre-handover command for at least one target network device.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information of the cell associated with the handover command comprises at least: identification information of the cell associated with the handover command.
The method of claim 3, wherein the identification information of the cell associated with the handover command comprises at least one of:

physical Cell Identification (PCI) and frequency points;

an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network cell global identifier ECGI;

new radio cell global identifier NCGI.
The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the terminal device initiates handover to the second cell based on a first of the handover commands when a first condition is met.
The method of claim 5, wherein the first cell is different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command, the method further comprising:

and the terminal equipment sends first information to the target network equipment, wherein the first information is used for representing the relevant information of the first cell.
The method of claim 6, wherein the first cell being different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command comprises:

the ECGI of the first cell is different from the ECGI of the cell corresponding to the network device configuring the first handover command.
The method of claim 6, wherein the first cell being different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command comprises:

the NCGI of the first cell is different from the NCGI of the cell corresponding to the network device configuring the first handover command.
The method of claim 6, wherein the first cell being different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command comprises:

and the frequency point of the first cell is different from the frequency point of the cell corresponding to the network equipment configured with the first switching command.
The method of claim 6, wherein the first cell being different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command comprises:

the PCI of the first cell is different from the PCI of the cell corresponding to the network equipment configured with the first switching command.
The method of any of claims 6 to 10, wherein the first information comprises: the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell.
The method of claim 11, wherein the identification information of the terminal device within the first cell comprises at least:

and the cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI of the terminal equipment.
The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the identification information of the first cell comprises at least one of:

PCI and frequency points;

ECGI；

NCGI。
the method according to any of claims 6 to 13, wherein the first information is carried in a radio resource control, RRC, reconfiguration complete message.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein, when the handover command is updated, the method further comprises:

the terminal device stores the updated handover command and information of the cell associated with the updated handover command.
The method of any of claims 1 to 15, wherein the handover command comprises: a handover command of at least one target cell and a condition configuration related to the handover command of the at least one target cell;

and when the relevant condition is met, the terminal equipment initiates switching to the target cell based on the switching command.
A method of data forwarding, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that target network equipment receives first information sent by terminal equipment, wherein the first information is used for representing relevant information of a first cell corresponding to the first network equipment;

the target network equipment performs data forwarding with first network equipment based on the first information; the first network device is a corresponding network device before the terminal device initiates cell switching, and the target network device is a corresponding network device after the terminal device initiates cell switching.
The method of claim 17, wherein the first information comprises: the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell.
The method of claim 18, wherein the identification information of the first cell comprises at least one of:

physical Cell Identification (PCI) and frequency points;

an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network cell global identifier ECGI;

new radio cell global identifier NCGI.
The method of any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein the first information is carried in a radio resource control, RRC, reconfiguration complete message.
The method of any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the target network device performs data forwarding with the first network device based on the first information, comprising:

the target network equipment establishes context information with the first network equipment based on the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell;

and the target network equipment sends a second message to the first network equipment, wherein the second message is used for triggering the first network equipment to forward data to the target network equipment.
The method of any of claims 17 to 21, wherein the method further comprises:

when the target network device does not receive the first information sent by the terminal device, the target network device sends a second message to the first network device, and the second message is used for triggering the first network device to forward data to the target network device.
The method of claim 22, wherein the second message is a DATA FORWARDING ADDRESS INDICATION message.
A terminal device, the terminal device comprising:

a storage unit configured to store a handover command transmitted by a source network device and information of a cell associated with the handover command;

the switching command is a switching command for triggering switching of a conditional handover based on a condition and is used for indicating the terminal equipment to switch from a first cell to a second cell; and the information of the cell associated with the handover command is used for forwarding data between the first network device corresponding to the first cell and the target network device corresponding to the second cell when the terminal device is handed over from the first cell to the second cell.
The terminal device of claim 24, wherein the handover command is a valid pre-handover command for at least one target network device.
The terminal device of claim 24 or 25, wherein the information of the cell associated with the handover command comprises at least: identification information of the cell associated with the handover command.
The terminal device of claim 26, wherein the identification information of the cell associated with the handover command comprises at least one of:

physical Cell Identification (PCI) and frequency points;

an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network cell global identifier ECGI;

new radio cell global identifier NCGI.
The terminal device of any of claims 24 to 27, wherein the terminal device further comprises:

a processing unit configured to initiate handover to the second cell based on a first handover command of the handover commands when a first condition is satisfied.
The terminal device of claim 28, wherein the first cell is different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command, the terminal device further comprising:

a first transceiver unit configured to send first information to the target network device, where the first information is used to characterize relevant information of the first cell.
The terminal device of claim 29, wherein the first cell being different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command comprises:

the ECGI of the first cell is different from the ECGI of the cell corresponding to the network device configuring the first handover command.
The terminal device of claim 29, wherein the first cell being different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command comprises:

the NCGI of the first cell is different from the NCGI of the cell corresponding to the network device configuring the first handover command.
The terminal device of claim 29, wherein the first cell being different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command comprises:

and the frequency point of the first cell is different from the frequency point of the cell corresponding to the network equipment configured with the first switching command.
The terminal device of claim 29, wherein the first cell being different from a cell corresponding to a network device configuring the first handover command comprises:

the PCI of the first cell is different from the PCI of the cell corresponding to the network equipment configured with the first switching command.
The terminal device of any of claims 29 to 33, wherein the first information comprises: the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell.
The terminal device of claim 34, wherein the identification information of the terminal device within the first cell includes at least:

and the cell radio network temporary identifier C-RNTI of the terminal equipment.
The terminal device of claim 34 or 35, wherein the identification information of the first cell comprises at least one of:

PCI and frequency points;

ECGI；

NCGI。
the terminal device of any one of claims 29 to 36, wherein the first information is carried in a radio resource control, RRC, reconfiguration complete message.
The terminal device according to any of claims 24 to 37, wherein the storage unit is further configured to store the updated handover command and information of the cell associated with the updated handover command when the handover command is updated.
The terminal device of any of claims 24 to 38, wherein the handover command comprises: a handover command of at least one target cell and a condition configuration related to the handover command of the at least one target cell;

and when the relevant condition is met, the terminal equipment initiates switching to the target cell based on the switching command.
A target network device, the target network device comprising:

the second transceiving unit is configured to receive first information sent by the terminal device, where the first information is used to represent relevant information of a first cell corresponding to the first network device; performing data forwarding with first network equipment based on the first information;

the first network device is a corresponding network device before the terminal device initiates cell switching, and the target network device is a corresponding network device after the terminal device initiates cell switching.
The target network device of claim 40, wherein the first information comprises: the identification information of the first cell and the identification information of the terminal equipment in the first cell.
The target network device of claim 41, wherein the identification information of the first cell comprises at least one of:

physical Cell Identification (PCI) and frequency points;

an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network cell global identifier ECGI;

new radio cell global identifier NCGI.
The target network device of any of claims 40 to 42, wherein the first information is carried in a radio resource control, RRC, reconfiguration complete message.
The target network device of any of claims 41 to 43, wherein the second transceiving unit is configured to establish context information with the first network device based on the identity information of the first cell and the identity information of the terminal device within the first cell.
The target network device according to any one of claims 40 to 44, wherein the second transceiver unit is further configured to send a second message to the first network device when the first information sent by the terminal device is not received, where the second message is used to trigger the first network device to forward data to the target network device.
The target network device of claim 44 or 45, wherein the second message is a DATA FORWARDING ADDRESS INDICATION (DATA FORWARDING ADDRESS INDICATION message).
A terminal device comprising a processor and a memory for storing a computer program capable of running on the processor, wherein,

the processor is configured to perform the steps of the data forwarding method according to any one of claims 1 to 16 when running the computer program.
A network device comprising a processor and a memory for storing a computer program capable of running on the processor, wherein,

the processor is configured to perform the steps of the data forwarding method according to any one of claims 17 to 23 when running the computer program.
A storage medium storing an executable program which, when executed by a processor, implements the data forwarding method of any one of claims 1 to 16.
A storage medium storing an executable program which, when executed by a processor, implements the data forwarding method of any one of claims 17 to 23.