CN113271629A

CN113271629A - Network load balancing method, access network equipment and network system

Info

Publication number: CN113271629A
Application number: CN202010093621.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 石小丽; 张凯; 邹兰
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-02-14
Filing date: 2020-02-14
Publication date: 2021-08-17
Anticipated expiration: 2040-02-14
Also published as: WO2021160003A1; CN113271629B

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of communication, and particularly provides a network load balancing method, access network equipment and a network system. The method comprises the following steps: the first access network equipment determines first connection information of a first slice, wherein the first slice is the slice of the first access network equipment; the first access network equipment sends the first connection information and the identification of the first slice to the second access network equipment, and the first connection information and the identification of the first slice are used for load balancing of the second access network equipment. By the method, the access network devices share the connection information of the slices, so that the user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the slices, and the load of each slice is not easy to exceed the slice specification configured by the network management side, thereby improving the capacity of a network system and improving the user network experience.

Description

Network load balancing method, access network equipment and network system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a network load balancing method, an access network device, and a network system.

Background

With the development of mobile communication technology, various new services and application scenarios are emerging continuously, and the requirements of these services on network functions, connection performance, security and other aspects are greatly different. If a single network is used to carry these services, it is difficult to satisfy the requirements of high bandwidth, low delay, high reliability, etc. at the same time. If a new network is established for each service separately, huge cost is brought. This requires that the fifth generation (5th-generation, 5G) communication technology be flexible and expandable, and at the same time, be able to satisfy different service requirements. For this purpose, the 5G communication technology provides a customized network service to a user through an end-to-end network slicing (network slicing). The network slice refers to a set of logical network functional entities supporting a specific communication service requirement, and realizes a service that a communication service can be customized mainly by means of a software defined network (SND) technology and a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology. Specifically, the 5G communication technology provides services for users in a targeted manner by flexibly allocating network resources, networking on demand, and virtually forming a plurality of mutually isolated logical subnets with different characteristics on the same set of physical facilities (including access network equipment and core network equipment). This logical subnet may be referred to as a network slice. Network resources may include cloud-based communication, computing and storage resources, physical connections and communication resources, wireless radio access (wireless radio access) resources, such as frequency, time, code multiple access resources, telecommunications resources, storage resources, and computing resources.

In general, a 5G network slice mainly includes enhanced mobile broadband service (eMBB) type network slices, mass machine type communication (mtc) type network slices, and ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC) type network slices. Fig. 1 shows a physical infrastructure (physical infrastructure) supporting the aforementioned three types of network slices. As shown in fig. 1, the physical infrastructure will include sites and three tiers of Data Centers (DCs). The station can support various modes such as 5G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) and the like in the form of a macro base station, a micro base station and a pico base station. The three-layer cloud DCs comprise computing and storage resources, wherein the bottom layer name is central office DC, and a relatively short distance is reserved from the site side; the second layer is local DC; the uppermost layer is the regional DC. As shown in fig. 1, the service requirement types of the eMBB, the mtc, and the URLLC are different, and the locations where the caches are deployed are also different. Network slices of the eMBB type have high requirements on bandwidth, and therefore tend to deploy caches (caches) in Mobile Cloud Engines (MCEs) of local DC to provide high-speed services, thereby reducing bandwidth requirements on the backbone network. Unmanned, remote management, etc. network slices of the urrllc type have strict requirements on time delay, so a Radio Access Network (RAN) real-time processing functional unit (RNA real-time, RNA-RT) and a RAN non-real-time processing functional unit (RNA non-real-time, RNA-NRT) are generally deployed as close to a site side as possible, a V2X server and a service gateway are deployed in a mobile cloud engine of a central office DC, and a control plane function is deployed in a local DC and a local DC. The mtc type network slice does not require a large amount of and high frequency data interaction, and thus may be deployed in a mobile cloud engine of a local DC, and other additional functions and application servers (e.g., internet of things (IOT) servers) may be deployed in a local DC.

In the related protocol of LTE, a load balancing (load balancing) function is defined, which means that parameters related to mobility are automatically adjusted by exchanging load information between evolved base stations (enbs), so that services or users are uniformly distributed among different enbs, thereby maintaining a high radio resource utilization rate and improving system capacity. However, in 5G, due to the introduction of network slice, the radio resource allocation changes, but the load balancing function defined by LTE is difficult to adapt to the change, so that handover failure often occurs when the UE in 5G performs cell handover.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a network load balancing method, access network equipment and a network system, so as to realize uniform distribution of user equipment among slices and improve the capacity of the network system.

In a first aspect, a network load balancing method is provided, where the method includes: the first access network equipment determines first connection information of a first slice, wherein the first slice is the slice of the first access network equipment; the first access network equipment sends the first connection information and the identification of the first slice to the second access network equipment, and the first connection information and the identification of the first slice are used for load balancing of the second access network equipment.

That is, the method can determine the connection information of the slices of the access network device and send the connection information to other access network devices, so that the connection information can be considered when the other access network devices perform load balancing, thereby ensuring the uniform distribution of the user devices among the slices and prompting the capacity of the network system.

In one possible implementation, the first connection information includes at least one of:

the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipment, the number of deactivated user equipment and the number of idle user equipment are controlled by the radio resources.

In one possible implementation, the first connection information includes a first available connection capacity value, the first available connection capacity value is determined by a first maximum connection number and a first connection number, the first maximum connection number is a maximum connection number of the user equipment in the first slice, and the first connection number is a number of the user equipment in the first slice.

In one possible implementation, the first maximum number of connections comprises a maximum number of RRC connections, the first number of connections comprises a number of RRC connections, and the first available connection capacity value comprises an available RRC connection capacity value; the available RRC connection capacity value is determined by the first access network equipment according to the maximum RRC connection number and the RRC connection number.

In one possible implementation, the first maximum connection number includes a maximum number of active user equipments, the first connection number includes a number of active user equipments, and the first available connection capacity value includes an available active user equipment capacity value; the capacity value of the available active user equipment is determined by the first access network equipment according to the maximum number of the active user equipment and the number of the active user equipment.

In a possible implementation manner, the first maximum connection number includes a maximum number of deactivated user equipments, the first connection information includes a number of deactivated user equipments, and the first available connection capacity value includes a capacity value of available deactivated user equipments; the capacity value of the available deactivated user equipment is determined and obtained by the first access network equipment according to the maximum number of the deactivated user equipment and the number of the deactivated user equipment.

In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the first access network device receives a first maximum number of connections from a network management entity.

In one possible implementation, the first slice includes:

a slice of the first cell, a slice of the first base station, or a slice of the first beam; the first cell is a cell under the first access network device, the first base station is a base station corresponding to the first access network device, and the first beam is a beam under the first access network device.

In one possible implementation, the identification of the first slice is at least one of:

single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI, network slice selection assistance information NSSAI, network slice subnet instance NSSI, network slice instance NSI.

In one possible implementation, the first access network device includes a CU and a DU; the first access network device determining the first connection information of the first slice comprises: the CU determines the RRC connection number of the first slice, and the DU determines the number of the active state user equipment of the first slice; the sending, by the first access network device, the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to the second access network device includes: and the first access network equipment sends the RRC connection number and the number of the active user equipment to the second access network equipment.

In a second aspect, a network load balancing method is provided, where the method includes: the first access network equipment receives a first maximum connection number from a network management entity, wherein the first maximum connection number is the maximum connection number of the first access network equipment; the first access network equipment determines a first connection number, wherein the first connection number is the number of user equipment under the first access network equipment; and the first access network equipment performs load balancing according to the first maximum connection number and the first connection number.

That is to say, the network management entity may send the maximum connection number of the access network device to the access network device, so that the access network device may perform load balancing according to the maximum connection number and the actual connection number, thereby ensuring uniform distribution of the user devices among the access network devices and prompting the capacity of the network system.

In one possible implementation, the first maximum number of connections includes:

a maximum number of connections for the first cell, a maximum number of connections for the first base station, or a maximum number of connections for the first beam; the first cell is a cell under the first access network device, the first base station is a base station corresponding to the first access network device, and the first beam is a beam under the first access network device.

In one possible implementation, the first maximum number of connections includes a maximum number of RRC connections, and the first number of connections includes a number of RRC connections; and/or the first maximum connection number comprises the maximum number of the active user equipment, and the first connection number comprises the number of the active user equipment; and/or the first maximum connection number comprises the maximum number of the user equipment in the deactivated state, and the first connection number comprises the number of the user equipment in the deactivated state.

In a third aspect, a first access network device is provided, where the first access network device includes: a processor configured to determine first connection information of a first slice, where the first slice is a slice of a first access network device; and the transceiver is used for sending the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to the second access network device, and the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice are used for load balancing of the second access network device.

In one possible implementation, the first maximum number of connections comprises a maximum number of RRC connections, the first number of connections comprises a number of RRC connections, and the first available connection capacity value comprises an available RRC connection capacity value; wherein, the available RRC connection capacity value is determined by the processor according to the maximum RRC connection number and the RRC connection number.

In one possible implementation, the first maximum connection number includes a maximum number of active user equipments, the first connection number includes a number of active user equipments, and the first available connection capacity value includes an available active user equipment capacity value; the capacity value of the available activated user equipment is determined and obtained by the processor according to the maximum number of the activated user equipment and the number of the activated user equipment.

In a possible implementation manner, the first maximum connection number includes a maximum number of deactivated user equipments, the first connection information includes a number of deactivated user equipments, and the first available connection capacity value includes a capacity value of available deactivated user equipments; the capacity value of the available user equipment in the deactivated state is determined and obtained by the processor according to the maximum number of the user equipment in the deactivated state and the number of the user equipment in the deactivated state.

In one possible implementation, the transceiver is further configured to: a first maximum number of connections is received from a network management entity.

In one possible implementation, the first slice includes:

In one possible implementation, the processor includes a CU module and a DU module; the CU module is used for determining the RRC connection number of a first slice, and the DU module is used for determining the number of the active user equipment of the first slice; the transceiver is further configured to send the RRC connection number and the active user equipment number to the second access network device.

In a fourth aspect, a first access network device is provided, the first access network device comprising: a transceiver for receiving a first maximum connection number from a network management entity, the first maximum connection number being a maximum connection number of a first access network device; the processor is used for determining a first connection number, wherein the first connection number is the number of user equipment under the first access network equipment; the processor is further configured to perform load balancing based on the first maximum number of connections and the first number of connections.

In one possible implementation, the first maximum number of connections is any one of:

the maximum number of connections of the first cell, the maximum number of connections of the first base station, and the maximum number of connections of the first beam; the first cell is a cell under the first access network device, the first base station is a base station corresponding to the first access network device, and the first beam is a beam under the first access network device.

In a fifth aspect, a first access network device is provided, the first access network device comprising: a processing unit, configured to determine first connection information of a first slice, where the first slice is a slice of a first access network device; and the communication unit is used for sending the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to the second access network device, and the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice are used for load balancing of the second access network device.

In one possible implementation, the first maximum number of connections comprises a maximum number of RRC connections, the first number of connections comprises a number of RRC connections, and the first available connection capacity value comprises an available RRC connection capacity value; and the available RRC connection capacity value is determined by the processing unit according to the maximum RRC connection number and the RRC connection number.

In one possible implementation, the first maximum connection number includes a maximum number of active user equipments, the first connection number includes a number of active user equipments, and the first available connection capacity value includes an available active user equipment capacity value; the capacity value of the available active user equipment is determined and obtained by the processing unit according to the maximum number of the active user equipment and the number of the active user equipment.

In a possible implementation manner, the first maximum connection number includes a maximum number of deactivated user equipments, the first connection information includes a number of deactivated user equipments, and the first available connection capacity value includes a capacity value of available deactivated user equipments; the capacity value of the available user equipment in the deactivated state is determined and obtained by the processing unit according to the maximum number of the user equipment in the deactivated state and the number of the user equipment in the deactivated state.

In one possible implementation, the communication unit is further configured to: a first maximum number of connections is received from a network management entity.

In one possible implementation, the first slice includes:

In one possible implementation, the processing unit includes a CU sub-unit and a DU sub-unit; the CU subunit is used for determining the RRC connection number of the first slice, and the DU subunit is used for determining the active state user equipment number of the first slice; the communication unit is further configured to send the RRC connection number and the active state user equipment number to the second access network device.

In a sixth aspect, a first access network device is provided, the first access network device comprising: a communication unit, configured to receive a first maximum connection number from a network management entity, where the first maximum connection number is a maximum connection number of a first access network device; a processing unit, configured to determine a first connection number, where the first connection number is the number of user equipment in a first access network device; the processing unit is further configured to perform load balancing according to the first maximum connection number and the first connection number.

In a seventh aspect, a network system is provided, which includes a first access network device and a second access network device; the first access network equipment is used for determining first connection information of a first slice, and the first slice is the slice of the first access network equipment; the first access network equipment is further used for sending the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to the second access network equipment; the second access network device is configured to perform load balancing according to the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice.

In an eighth aspect, a network system is provided, which includes a network management entity and a first access network device; the network management entity is used for determining a first maximum connection number, wherein the first maximum connection number is the maximum connection number of the first access network equipment; the first access network equipment is used for determining a first connection number, and the first connection number is the number of user equipment under the first access network equipment; the first access network device is configured to perform load balancing according to the first maximum connection number and the first connection number.

In a ninth aspect, a computer storage medium is provided, which comprises computer instructions that, when run on an access network device, cause the access network device to perform the method provided by the first aspect or the method provided by the second aspect.

In a tenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which comprises program code that, when executed by a processor in an access network device, performs the method provided by the first aspect or the method provided by the second aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, a chip system applied to an access network device is provided, where the chip system includes: a processor and an interface circuit; the processor and the interface circuit are coupled to perform operations of the first access network device in the provided methods of the various aspects described above.

In a twelfth aspect, a network system is provided, which includes a first access network device and a second access network device, where the first access device is configured to perform the method provided in the first aspect or in various possible implementations of the first aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, a network system is provided, which includes a network management entity and a first access network device, where the first access network device is configured to execute the method provided by the second aspect or various possible implementations of the second aspect.

By the network load balancing method provided by the embodiment of the application, the access network devices share the connection information of the slices respectively, so that the user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the slices, and therefore, the load (connected or managed UE) of each slice is not easy to exceed the slice specification configured on the network management side, the capacity of a network system is improved, and the network experience of a user is improved. For example, when the access network device performs UE handover between slices, connection information of slices of other access network devices may be considered, so that the UE handover failure rate may be reduced more effectively.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a physical infrastructure that can support multiple types of network slices;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a UE handover scenario;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another UE handover scenario;

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system;

FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a network management entity;

fig. 4C is a schematic structural diagram of an access network device;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of a network load balancing method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for determining a load balancing policy according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a flowchart of a network load balancing method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a method for determining a load balancing policy according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of a network load balancing method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a flowchart of a network load balancing method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be apparent that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments.

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments," or the like, means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the present application. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," or the like, in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but rather "one or more but not all embodiments" unless specifically stated otherwise.

Wherein in the description of the present specification, "/" indicates a meaning, for example, a/B may indicate a or B; "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more than two.

In the description of the present specification, the terms "first", "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implying any number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and variations thereof mean "including, but not limited to," unless expressly specified otherwise.

Before describing and expanding the scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the related characteristics of the lower network slice are described.

Resources between different network slices may be isolated and not shared with each other. Alternatively, resources between different network slices may be shared. In general, different network slices may be identified and distinguished by single network slice selection support information (S-NSSAI). One S-NSSAI may include network slice information/service type (SST). SST points to network slice specific features and traffic types. The service types are eMBB, mMTC, URLLC, etc. as described above. Optionally, the S-NSSAI may further include a slice classifier (SD). SD, in addition to SST, can be used to further distinguish multiple network slice instances that satisfy the same SST.

In addition, there are several classifications for S-NSSAI.

Subscription S-NSSAIs (subscribed S-NSSAIs), which belong to the subscription data of the user.

Default S-NSSAI (default S-NSSAI): one or more of the user 'S subscription S-NSSAIs may be set as a default S-NSSAI, depending on the operator' S policy. If the User Equipment (UE) does not carry an allowed NSSAI (allowed NSSAI) in the registration request message (registration request), the network will use the default S-NSSAI to provide service to the UE in the presence of the default S-NSSAI.

The request NSSAI (requested NSSAI) refers to NSSAI carried by the UE in a registration request message (registration request).

Allowed NSSAI (allowed NSSAI) refers to the S-NSSAI allowed by the network in the NSSAI requested by the UE. The network will allow nsai to the UE by registering the "Allowed nsai" element (IE) of the received message (registration accept).

Reject NSSAI (rejected NSSAI) refers to the network-rejected NSSAI of the NSSAI requested by the UE. The network will bring the reject NSSAl to the UE by registering the "Rejected NSSAI" IE of the received message.

The configured NSSAI (configured NSSAI) refers to an NSSAI configured by the network to the UE. The network will bring the Configured NSSAI to the UE by registering the "Configured NSSAI" IE of the received message. Upon receiving this configuration parameter, the UE knows which S-NSSAIs are available under the network. If the configuration of the UE changes after registration, the network may notify the UE of the update through a configuration update command (configuration update command). The UE will save the configuration NSSAI configured for it by each network in non-volatile memory. Generally, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) can configure only one configured NSSAI at most.

The UE may access the network slice through the cell. In general, the radio resources of one network slice may be part or all of the radio resources of at least one cell. In other words, the radio resources of one network slice may be part or all of the radio resources of one cell, or the radio resources of one network slice may be part or all of the radio resources of a plurality of cells. From the network system perspective, the network slices that an access network device (e.g., a base station) can support are granular in Tracking Area (TA), i.e., different cells of different access network devices or different cells of the same access network device support the same network slices if they belong to the same tracking area. In other words, the network slices supported by cells within the same tracking area are the same. If the cells belong to different tracking areas, the network slices supported by the cells may or may not be the same. In addition, one cell may support one or more network slices.

In this specification, a network slice may be simply referred to as a slice (slice).

Next, the context of mobility load balancing features will be described.

The load balancing (load balancing) function defined by LTE is to exchange load information between enbs, automatically adjust parameters related to mobility, and implement uniform distribution of services or users between different enbs.

The mobility load balancing is to control the unbalanced traffic distribution so as to achieve the balanced distribution of the traffic load among different cells. Load balancing is also to increase system capacity in order to maintain high radio resource utilization.

Generally, mobility load balancing has mainly the following gains:

and a, selecting proper UE to transfer to the pilot frequency adjacent region with relatively light load.

And b, relieving the state of load imbalance among the pilot frequency cells.

And c, improving the access success rate of the service, improving the service experience of the user and improving the utilization rate of system resources.

According to the results discussed in the current NR standard, the load that the base station can currently account for includes cell load, slice load, and Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) beam load. In other words, the base station may perform load balancing of cells, load balancing of network slices, and load balancing of SSB beams.

The cell load includes a cell radio resource status (radio resource status), a hardware load (HW load), a transmission load (TNL load), an available capacity (available capacity) of the cell, Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection information of the cell, and the number of active UEs of the cell.

The cell radio resource status may be a cell (PRB) utilization (usage), which may include uplink and downlink PRB utilizations, as well as Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) type PRB utilizations and Non-guaranteed bit rate (Non-GBR) type PRB utilizations.

The hardware load is divided into low, medium, high and overload. The base station evaluates the utilization rates of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) of a baseband board, integrates the utilization rates of the CPU and the DSP, and distinguishes different levels of load states.

The transmission load is divided into low, medium, high and overload. And the base station evaluates the use condition of the interface bandwidth of the core network and distinguishes load states of different grades according to the use condition of the bandwidth.

The available capacity of a cell refers to the total level of available resources (over available resource level) of the downlink (downlink) or uplink (uplink) of the cell.

The RRC connection information of the cell refers to a state of RRC connection within the cell, including a number of RRC connections (RRC _ connected) of the cell, which refers to an absolute number of UEs in an RRC _ connected (RRC _ connected) mode within the cell, and an available RRC connection capacity of the cell, which is a remaining percentage representing the number of RRC connections with respect to a maximum number of RRC connections supported by the cell. The number of RRC connections may also be referred to as the number of RRC connections.

Slice load refers to the available capacity (slice available capacity) of a slice, which may also be referred to as the total level of available resources of the slice, and indicates the proportion of the amount of resources available for a network slice relative to the total amount of resources of a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN).

The SSB beam load is composed of radio resource status (radio resource status) of the SSB area (area) and available capacity (available capacity) of the SSB beam. The radio resource status of the SSB region may be PRB utilization (PRB usage) of the SSB region, which may include uplink and downlink PRB utilization, and PRB utilization of a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) type and PRB utilization of a Non-guaranteed bit rate (Non-GBR) type. The available capacity of the SSB beam refers to the total level of downlink (downlink) or uplink (uplink) available resources of the SSB region.

Next, the cell types in load balancing (also referred to as load balancing) are introduced.

The source cell refers to a cell that needs to transfer load outward to trigger load balancing, and may also be referred to as a serving cell in this specification.

The candidate neighbor cell is a cell which meets the selection condition of load balancing to the neighbor cell and can become the different frequency or the same frequency of the target cell.

The target cell is a neighbor cell that is prepared to accommodate the load of the source cell relative to the source cell.

Currently, in the network management protocol [ see TS28.541 ], the maximum number of connections (of connections) of a network slice is defined, and the maximum number of connections of the network slice describes the maximum number of session connections of the network slice, and the value can be sent to the base station through the northbound interface of the network management side device.

With the above description, when performing balanced load of network slices, the following two scenarios may occur.

In a scenario one, different slices of a cell share resources of the whole cell, and load balancing between different slices or between the same slices can be performed in the cell and between the cells. Slices of a cell may also be referred to as cell-supported slices, or as intra-cell slices. Referring to fig. 2, it can be assumed that cell a1 has slice B1 and slice B2, cell a2 has slice B2, and cell A3 has slice B1.

Among them, slice B1 of cell a1 and slice B2 of cell a1 share resources of cell a1, and the available capacity of slice B1 of cell a1 is equal to the available capacity of slice B2 of cell a1, which is equal to the available capacity of cell a 1. The network management entity configures the maximum connection number of the UEs in each slice, that is, the connection number of the UEs in each slice in the network cannot exceed the maximum connection number of the respective UEs.

In this scenario one, the following situation may occur.

The available capacity of cell a1 is not small enough or the available capacity of cell a1 is still sufficient for connecting one or more UEs, and the current number of UE connections for slice B1 has reached the maximum number of connections for the UE. As described above, since the available capacity of the slice B1 of the cell a1 is equal to the available capacity of the cell a1, according to the prior art, the cell load judgment of the base stations is based on the available capacity of the slice, and only the available capacity of the slice B1 of the cell a1 is exchanged between the base stations, at this time, on one hand, the slice B1 of the cell a1 may continue to receive new UE access, and on the other hand, the neighboring base stations may also instruct UEs under the slice B1 of its cell (e.g., the cell A3) to switch to the slice B1 of the cell a 1. Since the number of UE connections of slice B1 has reached the maximum value, but the base stations of cell a1 and cell A3 do not know this information, access failure or handover failure of the UE may result, or the user network experience may be poor.

In scenario two, different slices of a cell are resource isolated (i.e., the cell allocates specific resources for different slices in the cell, respectively. Referring to fig. 3, cell a4 has a slice B3, to which a specific resource is allocated for slice B3. Cell a5 has a slice B3, which allocates specific resources for slice B3. The network management entity configures slice B3 with the maximum number of connections for the UE.

In this scenario two, the following situation may occur.

The available capacity of slice B3 supported by cell a4 is not small enough or the available capacity of slice B3 of cell a4 is still sufficient for connecting one or more UEs, but the current number of UE connections of slice B3 of cell a4 has reached the maximum number of connections of the UEs, i.e., B3 of cell a4 is in a heavily loaded state. Since the cell load determination of the base stations is based on the available capacity of the slice, and the base stations only exchange the available capacity of the slice B3 of the cell a4, on one hand, the slice B3 of the cell a4 may continue to receive new UE access, and on the other hand, its neighboring base stations may also instruct UEs under the slice B3 of its cell (e.g., the cell a5) to switch to the slice B3 of the cell a 4. Since the number of UE connections of slice B3 has reached the maximum value, but the base station to which cell a5 belongs does not know this information, access failure or handover failure of the UE may be caused, or the user network experience may be poor.

Scenario three, it can be set that cell a6 of base station G1 has slice B4, and cell a7 of base station G2 has slice B4. The network management entity defines the maximum number of connections for the UE for slice B4. The number of UE connections for slice B4 of cell a6 and the number of UE connections for cell a7 are not allowed to exceed the maximum number of connections for the UE. Since the base station G1 does not know the number of UEs currently connected in slice B4 of cell a7, it is only limited by the maximum number of UEs connected to admit UE access. In addition, the base station G2 does not know the number of UEs currently connected in slice B4 of cell a6, and admits UE access only by the maximum connection number of UEs. In this case, it may occur that the sum of the number of UE connections of slice B4 of cell a6 and the number of UE connections of slice B4 of cell a7 exceeds the maximum number of connections of the UEs, resulting in a dropped call, making the user network experience poor.

The embodiment of the application provides a network load balancing method, and access network equipment can determine current connection information of slices of the access network equipment, wherein the current connection information can include the number of currently connected UE. The access network device may send the slice current connection information to other access network devices, so that the access network device may consider the slice current connection information of the target cell when performing load balancing (for example, when switching the UE access cell), thereby avoiding a handover failure caused by the number of UEs currently connected to the slice of the target cell reaching or exceeding the maximum connection number.

Fig. 4A is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a communication system. The communication system includes an access network and a core network. The access network may be a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), and the core network may be a 5G core network (5G core network, 5 GC). The access network may include base stations (e.g., a gnb (next generation nodeb), or ng-enb (next generation enodeb)), which are connected to each other via an interface (e.g., an Xn interface). The base station and the 5GC may be connected through an interface (e.g., Ng interface). The core network may include access and mobility management functions (AMFs). The core network may also include a User Plane Function (UPF).

As shown in fig. 4A, the communication system may further include a network management entity (which may also be referred to as a network management device). Illustratively, the network management entity (e.g., management function entity (MnF)) may be connected to the base station via a northbound interface. Illustratively, the network management entity may also be connected to the 5G core network via an interface (not shown).

MnF is a management entity defined by (3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP), whose externally visible behaviors and interfaces are defined as management services. In the service-offering management architecture, MnF may act as a management service Producer (Producer of MnS) or a management service Consumer (Consumer of MnS). Illustratively, as shown in fig. 4B, MnF may act as both a management service producer and a management service consumer.

A management service produced by a management service producer of MnF may have a plurality of customers. MnF can consume multiple management services from one or more management service producers. In other words, the MnF-acting management service producer may manage a plurality of management service consumers, and may acquire management information from a plurality of management service consumers.

For example, the management service consumer may specifically be a network element management entity such as a wireless automation engine (MAE), an Element Management System (EMS), and the like. The network element management entity may also be referred to as a domain management device.

Illustratively, the management service producer may specifically be a Network Management System (NMS) or the like.

Management service producers (e.g., NMSs), management service consumers (e.g., MAEs, EMSs, etc.) may be collectively referred to as network management entities. In other words, the network management entity may refer to a management service producer, a management service consumer, an NMS, a MAE, or an EMS.

Next, taking the gNB as an example, a base station in the communication system shown in fig. 4A will be further described.

FIG. 4C shows an architectural diagram of a CU-DU in a New Radio (NR) system. As shown in fig. 4C, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU). The functions of the base station are split, part of the functions of the gNB are deployed on one CU, and the other part of the functions of the gNB are deployed on the DU. The number of DUs may be one or more. A plurality of DUs can share one CU to save cost and facilitate network expansion. The CU and the DU are connected via an interface (e.g., F1 interface). A CU represents a gbb connected to the core network via an interface (e.g., Ng interface). The CU represents that the gNB is connected to other gnbs through interfaces (e.g., Xn interface, Xn-C interface).

The functional partitioning of CUs and DUs may be performed according to a protocol stack. In one illustrative example, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer and a Service Data Adaptation (SDAP) layer may be deployed on a CU. Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and physical layer (PHY) are deployed in the DU. Accordingly, the CU has the processing capabilities of RRC, PDCP and SDAP. The DU has the processing capabilities of RLC, MAC and PHY. It is noted that the above function division is only an illustrative example, and other ways of function division are also possible. For example, a CU includes the processing capabilities of RRC, PDCP, RLC, and SDAP, and a DU has the processing capabilities of MAC, and PHY. Also for example, a CU may include processing capabilities for RRC, PDCP, RLC, SDAP, and partial MAC (e.g., MAC header), and a DU may have processing capabilities for PHY and partial MAC (e.g., scheduling). Names of the CUs and the DUs may be changed, and the access network nodes that can achieve the above functions can be regarded as the CUs and the DUs in this specification.

It should be noted that the architecture shown in fig. 4C may also be applied to a multi-hop relay scenario, that is, a DU may be a relay device, or a DU and a UE are transmitted through the relay device.

Fig. 5 illustrates yet another communication system that may include a plurality of access network devices that may include access network device C1 and access network device C2. For example, the access network device C1 and the access network device C2 may be configured to connect or manage multiple UEs. Illustratively, the access network device C2 may be an access network device adjacent to the access network device C1. Illustratively, the access network device C1 may be connected to the access network device C2 via an Xn interface.

The access network device (e.g. access network device C1 or access network device C2) may be a base station, or a CU, or a DU, or an Access Point (AP), or a cluster (cluster).

In some embodiments, a cluster may be a set of one or more base stations, or may be a subnet. Illustratively, the cluster may be managed by a network management entity (e.g., MAE or EMS or NMS, etc.), or may be managed by one other newly defined centralized management entity or domain management entity.

In some embodiments, under the CU-DU architecture, a set of one or more DUs below a CU may be treated as one cluster. In this case, the cluster may be managed by the CU.

In some embodiments, under the CU-DU architecture, a set of one or more CUs may act as a cluster. In this case, the cluster may be managed by a network management entity (e.g., MAE or EMS or NMS, etc.), or may be managed by one other newly defined centralized management entity or domain management entity.

In the embodiments of the present application, an entity or device that manages cluster may be referred to as a centralized management entity for convenience of description.

In some embodiments, the communication system in which the access network device C1 and the access network device C2 are located may be the communication system shown in fig. 4A, and accordingly, the access network device C1 and the access network device C2 may be base stations. Illustratively, the access network device C1 and the access network device C2 may be adjacent, i.e., the access network device C1 is one of two adjacent base stations and the access network device C2 is the other of the two adjacent base stations.

An access network device (e.g., access network device C1 or access network device C2) may have one or more slices, which may be referred to as a slice of the access network device. The slices of the access network device may include one hierarchy or multiple hierarchies of slices.

For example, the slices of the access network device may include slices of a cell hierarchy, in other words, one or more of the slices of the access network device may specifically be a slice of a cell under the access network device.

For example, the slices of the access network device may include slices of a base station hierarchy, in other words, one or more of the slices of the access network device may be a slice of a base station. The base station is a base station corresponding to the access network equipment. In one example, when the access network device is a base station, the base station is the access network device. In one example, the base station may be any one or more base stations (or CUs, or DUs) in a cluster.

For example, when the access network device is cluster, the slices of the access network device may include slices of the cluster hierarchy, in other words, one or more of the slices of the access network device may be slices of the cluster. For example, when a cluster is composed of one or more base stations, the slice of the cluster may be a slice common to the one or more base stations, i.e., the slice of the cluster may be a slice commonly supported by the one or more base stations. For example, when a cluster is composed of a plurality of base stations, the slice of the cluster may be a slice of a part of the base stations in the plurality of base stations, that is, the slice of the cluster may be a slice supported by the part of the base stations in the plurality of base stations. For example, when a cluster is composed of one or more CUs, the slice of the cluster may be a slice common to the one or more CUs, i.e., the slice of the cluster may be a slice commonly supported by the one or more CUs. For example, when a cluster is composed of multiple CUs, the slice of the cluster may be a slice of a partial CU in the multiple CUs, that is, the slice of the cluster may be a slice supported by the partial CU in the multiple CUs. For example, when a cluster consists of one or more DUs, the slice of the cluster may be a slice common to the one or more DUs, i.e., the slice of the cluster may be a slice commonly supported by the one or more DUs. For example, when a cluster is composed of a plurality of DUs, the slice of the cluster may be a slice of a part of the DUs in the plurality of DUs, that is, the slice of the cluster may be a slice of a part of the DUs in the plurality of DUs.

For example, the slices of the access network device may include slices of a beam hierarchy, in other words, one or more of the slices of the access network device may be a slice of a beam under the access network device. Illustratively, the beams may be Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) beams.

The access network device may determine or identify the slice by the identification of the slice. In one example, the identification of the slice may select side information (S-NSSAI) for a single network slice. In one example, the identification of the slice may be Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI). In one example, the identification of the slice may be a Network Slice Subnet Instance (NSSI). In one example, the identification of the slice may be a Network Slice Instance (NSI). In one example, the identification of the slice may be a combination of any two or more of S-NSSAI, NSSI, NSI. In one example, the slice identifier may be information corresponding to one or more of S-NSSAI, NSSI, and NSI. In one example, the identification of the slice may be other identifications defined by the access network device.

The above is merely an example to introduce slice identification and is not limiting. Information that may be used by an access network device to determine or identify a slice may be referred to as an identification of the slice.

Next, referring to fig. 6, a method for network load balancing provided in the embodiment of the present application is described by taking an application in the communication system shown in fig. 5 as an example.

The access network device C1 may perform step 601 by determining connection information for the slice of the access network device C1. The slice of access network device C1 may be a slice of cells under access network device C1. The slice may also be a slice of a base station corresponding to access network device C1. The slice may also be a slice of a beam under access network device C1. The foregoing types of slices can be referred to the above description of the slices in the embodiments shown in fig. 5, and are not described again here.

The slice under the access network device C1 may also be another type of slice under the access network device C1, which is not listed here. .

For example, when the access network device C1 has multiple slices, the access network device C1 may determine connection information for each of the multiple slices. For example, when the access network device C1 has multiple slices, the access network device C1 may determine connectivity information for a number of the multiple slices, which may be less than the number of the multiple slices.

Slice D1 may be set to be one slice of access network device C1. Specifically, the slice D1 may be a slice of a cell under the access network device C1, or may be a slice of a base station corresponding to the access network device C1, or may be a slice of a beam under the access network device C1, or may be another type of slice under the access network device C1. The connection information of the slice D1 determined by the access network device C1 may refer to related information of the user devices connected or managed by the slice D1 while using the resources provided or managed by the access network device C1. Next, for convenience of description, the connection information of the slice D1 determined by the access network device C1 may be referred to as connection information D11.

In some embodiments, the access network device C1 may count the RRC connection number (slice number of RRC connections) of slice D1. The RRC connection number of the slice D1 is an absolute number of user equipments in the RRC _ connected mode in the slice D1, in other words, the RRC connection number of the slice D1 is a number of the RRC connections actually existing at the present time in the slice D1. For example, under the architecture of CU-DU separation for the gNB, a CU may count the number of RRC connections for slice D1. The counted RRC connection number may be used as the connection information D11 or included in the connection information D11. In other words, the connection information D11 may be the number of RRC connections, or the connection information D11 may include the number of RRC connections.

In some embodiments, the access network device C1 may count the number of active UEs (slice number of active UEs) in slice D1. The number of active user devices in slice D1 is the number of user devices with data transmission under slice D1, in other words, the number of active user devices in slice D1 is the number of active user devices in slice D1 that actually exist currently. For example, under the architecture of CU-DU separation for the gNB, the DUs may count the number of active ues in slice D1. The counted number of active user equipments may be used as the connection information D11 or included in the connection information D11. In other words, the connection information D11 may be the active state user device number, or the connection information D11 may include the active state user device number.

In some embodiments, the access network device C1 may count the number of deactivated UEs (slice number of inactive UEs) in the slice D1. The RRC connection number of the slice D1 is the number of deactivated user equipments of the slice D1, in other words, the number of deactivated user equipments of the slice D1 is the number of deactivated user equipments of the slice D1 that actually exist currently. The counted number of the deactivated user equipments may be used as the connection information D11 or included in the connection information D11. In other words, the connection information D11 may be the number of deactivated user devices, or the connection information D11 may include the number of deactivated user devices.

In some embodiments, the access network device C1 may count the number of idle user devices of slice D1. The counted number of idle ues may be used as the connection information D11 or included in the connection information D11. In other words, the connection information D11 may be the number of idle user equipments, or the connection information D11 may include the number of idle user equipments.

In this embodiment of the present application, the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipments, and the number of deactivated user equipments may be collectively referred to as a connection number or a UE connection number, that is, the connection number or the UE connection number may refer to the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipments, or the number of deactivated user equipments.

In some embodiments, the network management entity on the network management side may configure the specification for the slice below the access network device and send the configured slice specification to the access network device. Taking slice D1 of access network device C1 as an example, the network management entity may configure the specification of slice D1. The size of the slice D1 may be a maximum connection number of the UEs of the slice D1 (the maximum connection number of the UEs may also be referred to as a maximum connection number), which may be information for describing how many user equipments are connectable or managed at most by the slice D1. In other words, the slice D1 may be or include the maximum number of user devices that slice D1 can connect or manage. The network management entity may send the specification of slice D1 to access network device C1.

Note that the specification of the slice D1 may refer to the specification of a slice of a cell. For example, the slice D1 of a cell may be sized for a maximum number of connections for a UE. For example, the maximum number of connections for a UE may be 100 or 200. The maximum number of connections for UEs in other slices of the cell may be the same as or different from the maximum number of connections for slice D1 of the cell. That is, the number of connections of the UE under the intra-cell slice D1 cannot exceed the set maximum number of connections of the UE. The maximum connection number of the UE may refer to the maximum connection number of the RRC, may refer to the maximum connection number of the active UE, and may refer to the maximum connection number of the deactivated UE.

Alternatively, the specification of slice D1 may refer to the specification of a slice of a base station. For example, the slice D1 of the base station may be sized to be the maximum number of connections for the UE. The maximum number of connections for UEs in other slices of the base station may be the same as or different from the maximum number of connections for slice D1 of the base station. The number of connections of the UE in slice D1 of the base station cannot exceed the set maximum number of connections of the UE. The maximum connection number of the UE may refer to the maximum connection number of the RRC, may refer to the maximum connection number of the active UE, and may refer to the maximum connection number of the deactivated UE.

Alternatively, the specification of slice D1 may refer to a slice of a beam. For example, the slice D1 of the beam of the cell may be sized for a maximum number of connections for the UE. The maximum number of connections for UEs of other slices of the beam may be the same as or different from the maximum number of connections for slice D1 of the beam. The number of connections of the UE under the beam slice D1 of the cell cannot exceed the set maximum number of connections of the UE. The maximum connection number of the UE may refer to the maximum connection number of the RRC, may refer to the maximum connection number of the active UE, and may refer to the maximum connection number of the deactivated UE.

Alternatively, the slice D1 may be a slice of the core network. For example, the slice D1 of the core network may be sized for a maximum number of connections for the UE. The maximum number of connections for UEs of other slices of the core network may be the same as or different from the maximum number of connections of slice D1 of the core network. The number of connections of the UE in slice D1 of the core network cannot exceed the set maximum number of connections of the UE. The maximum connection number of the UE may refer to the maximum connection number of the RRC, may refer to the maximum connection number of the active UE, and may refer to the maximum connection number of the deactivated UE.

In one example of these embodiments, the specification of slice D1 may include the RRC maximum connection number of slice D1. The maximum RRC connection number of a slice may also be referred to as a maximum RRC connection number of a slice (slice maximum RRC connections). The available RRC connection capacity value (slice available RRC connection capacity value) of slice D1 may be determined according to the maximum RRC connection number of slice D1 and the RRC connection number of slice D1. In one example, the RRC connection number of slice D1 may be subtracted from the RRC maximum connection number of slice D1, and the resulting difference may be compared with the RRC maximum connection number of slice D1, and the resulting ratio (e.g., percentage) may be used as the available RRC connection capacity value of slice D1. In one example, the maximum number of RRC connections that can be sliced D1 may be subtracted by the number of RRC connections of slice D1 to obtain an available RRC connection capacity value of slice D1. The available RRC connection capacity value of the slice D1 may be used as the connection information D11 or may be included in the connection information D11. In other words, the connection information D11 may be an available RRC connection capacity value of the available slice D1, or the connection information D11 may include an available RRC connection capacity value of the slice D1.

In another example of these embodiments, the specification of slice D1 may include the maximum number of active user devices for slice D1. The maximum number of active UEs of a slice may be referred to as the maximum number of active UEs (slice maxnum active UEs). The available active ue capacity value of the slice D1 may be determined according to the maximum number of active ue devices in the slice D1 and the number of active ue devices in the slice D1. In one example, the maximum number of active user devices of slice D1 may be subtracted by the number of active user devices of slice D1, and the resulting difference is compared to the maximum number of active user devices of slice D1, and the resulting ratio (e.g., percentage) may be used as the available active user device capacity value of slice D1. In one example, the maximum number of active user devices in slice D1 may be subtracted by the number of active user devices in slice D1 to obtain the available active user device capacity value in slice D1. The available active user equipment capacity value of the slice D1 may be used as the connection information D11 or may be included in the connection information D11. In other words, the connection information D11 may be an available active user equipment capacity value of the slice D1, or the connection information D11 may include an available active user equipment capacity value of the slice D1.

In yet another example of these embodiments, the specification of slice D1 may include a maximum number of deactivated user devices for slice D1. The maximum number of deactivated user equipments of a slice may be referred to as a maximum number of deactivated user equipments (slice maxnum inactive UEs). The available deactivated user equipment capacity value (slice available inactive UEs capacity value) of the slice D1 may be determined according to the maximum number of deactivated user equipments of the slice D1 and the number of deactivated user equipments of the slice D1. In one example, the maximum number of deactivated user devices in slice D1 may be subtracted by the number of deactivated user devices in slice D1, and the resulting difference is then compared to the maximum number of deactivated user devices in slice D1, and the resulting ratio (e.g., percentage) may be used as the available deactivated user device capacity value in slice D1. In one example, the number of deactivated user devices in slice D1 may be subtracted from the maximum number of deactivated user devices in slice D1 to obtain the available deactivated user device capacity value in slice D1. The available deactivated user equipment capacity value of the slice D1 may be used as the connection information D11 or may be included in the connection information D11. In other words, the connection information D11 may be an available deactivated user equipment capacity value of the slice D1, or the connection information D11 may include an available deactivated user equipment capacity value of the slice D1.

The maximum number of RRC connections (may be abbreviated as profile 1), the maximum number of active ue (may be abbreviated as profile 2), and the maximum number of deactivated ue (may be abbreviated as profile 3). In one example, the network management entity may send profile 1, profile 2, profile 3, profile 4 to the CU. A CU may send one or more of profile 1, profile 2, profile 3, profile 4 to the DU via existing or future defined F1 interface messages. In one example, the network management entity may send profile 1, profile 2, profile 3, profile 4 to the DU. The DU may send one or more of the spec 1, spec 2, spec 3, spec 4 to the CU via existing or future defined F1 interface messages. In one example, the network management entity may send one or more of profile 1, profile 2, profile 3, and profile 4 (e.g., profile 1, profile 2) to the CUs and the other (e.g., profile 3, profile 4) to the DUs.

For example, a CU may determine a corresponding capacity value according to the received specification and the actual number of connections (or the number of ues) corresponding to the specification. The DU may determine a corresponding capacity value according to the received specification and the actual connection number (or the number of the user equipments) corresponding to the specification. Illustratively, the CU and DU may exchange their respective determined capacity values via existing or future defined F1 interface messages.

In some embodiments, the connection information D11 may include a combination of any two or more of the above-mentioned RRC connection number, active state user equipment number, deactivated state user equipment number, idle state user equipment number, available RRC connection capacity value, available active state user equipment capacity value, and available deactivated state user equipment capacity value. For example, under the CU-DU architecture, the CU and the DU may exchange information through existing or future defined F1 interface messages, such as exchange respective determined capacity values, and/or exchange respective statistical actual connection numbers or numbers.

The connection information D11 of the slice D1 may be determined by the above-described scheme. If the access network device C1 has multiple slices, the access network device C1 may determine the connection information of other slices with reference to the scheme for determining the connection information D11.

The access network device C1 may perform step 603 of sending the connection information for the slice of the access network device C1 and the identification of the slice of the access network device C1 to the access network device C2.

The connectivity information for the slice of access network device C1 may include the connectivity information D11 determined above, and may also include connectivity information for other slices of the slice of access network device C1. The identification of the slice of access network device C1 may include an identification of slice D1, and may also include identifications of other slices in the slice of access network device C1. The connection information of the slice of the access network device C1 corresponds to the identifier of the slice of the access network device C1 one to one, that is, the connection information of one slice corresponds to the identifier of the slice. For the identification of the slice, reference may be made to the above description of the embodiment shown in fig. 5, and details are not repeated here.

In some embodiments, the access network device C2 and the access network device C1 may be a gNB, and the access network device C1 may send the connection information and the identification of the slice to the access network device C2 via an Xn interface message. The Xn interface message may be an existing Xn interface message or a Xn interface message defined in the future. For example, under the CU-DU architecture, a CU corresponding to the access network device C1 may send connection information and an identification of a slice to the access network device C2.

In one illustrative example, the connection information may be configured to include a number of RRC connections for a slice, an available RRC connection capacity value for a slice, a number of active user equipment for a slice, an available active user equipment capacity value for a slice, a number of inactive user equipment for a slice, and an identification of a slice. The connection information may be included or carried in an Xn AP resource status update message for transmission of the connection information between access network devices. In one example, the Xn AP resource status update message includes an Information Element (IE) as shown in table 1.

TABLE 1

Wherein > > slice RRC Connections include the sub-cells as shown in table 2.

TABLE 2

As described above, S-NSSAI/NSSAI/NSSI/NSI is used as a marker for the slice. Slice Number of RRC Connections is the Number of RRC Connections of a Slice. Slice Available RRC Connection Capacity Value is the Available RRC Connection Capacity Value of the Slice.

Wherein > > slice Number of Active UEs comprises subcells as shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3

IE/Group Name
	S-NSSAI/NSSAI/NSSI/NSI
>Slice Number of Active UEs
	>Slice Available Active UEs Capacity Value
>slice number of inactive UEs

And the Slice Number of Active UEs is the Number of the Active user equipment of the Slice. Slice Available Active UEs Capacity Value is the Slice Available Active user equipment Capacity Value. And the slice number of inactive UEs is the number of the deactivated user equipment of the slice.

It should be noted that tables 1, 2 and 3 are examples of formats of messages used for introducing the connection information transmitted between the access network devices, and are not limited. Messages of other formats may also be used for the transmission of the connection message, for example, the sub-cell > slice Number of Active UEs may be separated from the sub-cell > slice Number of Active UEs, and so on.

The access network device C1 may send the sliced connection information to other access network devices in the communication system in which it is located (particularly, to access network devices adjacent to the access network device C1) in addition to sending the sliced connection information to the access network device C2. The access network device C2 may receive the sliced connection information from other access network devices in the communication system in which it is located (particularly, the access network device adjacent to the access network device C2), in addition to the access network device C1.

When or after receiving the sliced connection information, each access network device may perform load balancing (load balancing) according to the received sliced connection information.

Next, an example description will be given by taking the access network device C2 as an example.

Continuing with fig. 6, the access network device C2 may perform step 605 to load balance based on the connection information of the slice of the access network device C1 and the identification of the slice of the access network device C1.

Next, an example will be given to introduce a scheme of load balancing.

In some embodiments, the access network device C2 may determine connection information for its own slice, which may be implemented as described above with reference to step 601. The access network device C2 may decide whether to perform UE handover for load balancing according to the connection information of its own slice and the connection information of the slice of the access network device C1.

For example, the load balancing may be load balancing between the same slices. The same slice refers to identifying the same two or more slices, which may respectively belong to different access network devices. For example, the slice D2 may be set to be one slice of the access network device C2. If the identity of D2 is the same as that of D1, D2 and D1 are considered to be the same slice.

The same inter-slice load balancing is presented by way of example with load balancing between D2 and D1. The access network device C2 may compare the connection information D21 of D2 with the connection information D11 of the slice D1.

In some embodiments, it may be set that the maximum number of RRC connections of the same slice is also the same (the maximum number of RRC connections of slice D2 is equal to the maximum number of RRC connections of slice D1), the connection information D21 includes the number of RRC connections, and the connection information D11 includes the number of RRC connections, the number of RRC connections in the connection information D21 and the number of RRC connections in the connection information D11 may be compared, and if the number of RRC connections in the connection information D21 is greater than the number of RRC connections in the connection information D11, the access network device C2 may instruct or control the UEs in slice D2 to switch with slice D1 as a target slice. In a specific example, the number of RRC connections in the connection information D11 may be set to 40, the number of RRC connections in the connection information D12 may be set to 100, and the access network device C2 may instruct or control the UEs in the slice D2 to switch with the slice D1 as a target slice.

If the number of RRC connections in the connection information D21 is less than the number of RRC connections in the connection information D11, the access network device C2 avoids performing the UE handover in D2 with the slice D1 as the target slice.

In some embodiments, the maximum number of active user equipments of the same slice may be set to be the same (the maximum number of active user equipments of slice D2 is equal to the maximum number of active user equipments of slice D1), the connection information D21 includes the number of active UEs, and the connection information D11 includes the number of active UEs. The number of active UEs in the connection information D21 and the number of active UEs in the connection information D11 may be compared, and a handover policy for the active UEs may be formulated according to the comparison result.

In some embodiments, the maximum number of deactivated UEs in the same slice may be set to be the same (the maximum number of deactivated UEs in slice D2 is equal to the maximum number of deactivated UEs in slice D1), the connection information D21 includes the number of deactivated UEs, and the connection information D11 includes the number of deactivated UEs. The number of deactivated UEs in the connection information D21 and the number of deactivated UEs in the connection information D11 may be compared, and a handover policy of the deactivated UEs may be formulated according to the comparison result.

In some embodiments, it may be set that the connection information D21 includes an available RRC connection capacity value, the connection information D11 includes an available RRC connection capacity value, the available RRC connection capacity value in the connection information D21 and the available RRC connection capacity value in the connection information D11 may be compared, and a handover policy of the UE may be formulated according to the comparison result. In a specific example, the available RRC connection capacity value in the connection information D11 may be set to 60%, the available RRC connection capacity value in the connection information D12 may be set to 0, and the access network device C2 may instruct or control the UEs in the slice D2 to switch with the slice D1 as a target slice.

In some embodiments, the connection information D21 may be set to include an available active UE capacity value, the connection information D11 includes an available active UE capacity value, the available active UE capacity value in the connection information D21 and the available active UE capacity value in the connection information D11 may be compared, and a handover policy of the active UE may be made according to the comparison result.

In some embodiments, it may be set that the connection information D21 includes a capacity value of the available deactivated UE, the connection information D11 includes a capacity value of the available deactivated UE, the capacity value of the available deactivated UE in the connection information D21 and the capacity value of the available deactivated UE in the connection information D11 may be compared, and a handover policy of the deactivated UE may be formulated according to a comparison result.

The above description is merely an example and is not intended to be limiting. The access network device may also perform load balancing according to other schemes.

Next, a load balancing method of slices suitable for cluster is described.

As described above, an entity or device that manages cluster may be referred to as a centralized management entity. Taking the centralized management entity J1 and the centralized management entity J2 as an example, a load balancing method applicable to a cluster slice is described as an example.

The centralized management entity J1 may determine connection information for the slices of the centralized management entity J1. The slice of the centralized management entity J1 may be a slice of cluster managed by the centralized management entity J1. The slices of cluster can be referred to the above description of the embodiment shown in fig. 5.

The specific process of determining the connection information of the slice of the centralized management entity J1 can refer to the description of step 601 in fig. 6, and is not described herein again.

The network management entity can configure the specification of the slice of the cluster and send the slice to the centralized management entity. The slice of cluster may be sized for the maximum number of connections for the UE. When the cluster slice is a plurality of slices, the cluster slice may be set to include slice D3 and slice D4. The maximum number of connections for the UEs of slice D3 may be the same as or different from the maximum number of connections for slice D4. The number of connections of the UE in slice D3 (or slice D4) cannot exceed the set maximum number of connections of the UE. The maximum connection number of the UE may refer to the maximum connection number of the RRC, may refer to the maximum connection number of the active UE, and may refer to the maximum connection number of the deactivated UE.

The centralized management entity J1 may send the connection information of the slice it determines and the identification of the slice to the centralized management entity J2. For example, the centralized management entity J2 may be a centralized management entity adjacent to the centralized management entity J1.

The process of the centralized management entity J1 sending the connection information of the slice of the centralized management entity J1 and the identifier of the slice of the centralized management entity J1 to the centralized management entity J2 may refer to the description of step 603 in fig. 6, and is not described herein again.

The centralized management entity J2 may perform load balancing according to the connection information of the slice of the centralized management entity J1 and the identification of the slice of the centralized management entity J1. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 605 in fig. 6, which is not described herein again.

By the network load balancing method provided by the embodiment of the application, the centralized management entities share the connection information of the respective slices, so that the user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the slices, and therefore, the load (connected or managed UE) of each slice is not easy to exceed the slice specification configured by the network management side, the capacity of a network system is improved, and the network experience of a user is improved. For example, when the centralized management entity performs UE handover between slices, connection information of slices of other access network devices may be considered, so that the UE handover failure rate may be reduced more effectively.

Next, an example introduces a method of determining a load balancing policy.

Referring to fig. 7, the access network device may perform step 701 to determine performance information of the slice.

The access network device may be a base station, a CU, a DU, or an access point. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of the access network device shown in fig. 5, which is not described herein again.

The slice may be a slice of a cell under the access network device. The slice may also be a slice of a base station corresponding to the access network device. The slice may also be a slice of a beam under the access network device. The foregoing types of slices can be referred to the above description of the slices in the embodiments shown in fig. 5, and are not described again here.

In some embodiments, when the access network device is a base station or a CU or DU, the access network device may count performance information for the slices identified by NSSAI and/or S-NSSAI.

In some embodiments, step 701 may be performed periodically, that is, the access network device may periodically count the performance information of the slice. The statistical period may be configured by a network management entity.

In some embodiments, step 701 may be performed by event triggering, that is, performance information of the access network device statistics slice may be triggered by an event. The event may be an event configured and sent by a network management entity.

In some embodiments, the performance information of the slice may include a RRC connection number.

Illustratively, the number of RRC connections herein may include an average number of RRC connections in a particular time period, and/or a maximum number of RRC connections in a particular time period. Here, the maximum number of RRC connections is different from the above-described maximum number of RRC connections. As described above, the maximum RRC connection number is the number of RRC connections that the slice configured by the network management side can reach or carry at most, and is a type of specification information. The maximum number of RRC connections here is the number of RRC connections at a certain time in the specific time period, and the number of RRC connections at that time is greater than or equal to the number of RRC connections at other times in the specific time period.

For example, when step 701 is performed periodically, the specific time period may be a period duration. When the event trigger execution is performed in step 701, the specific time period is a time period from the receiving time of the last event to the receiving time of the current event.

In some embodiments, the slice performance information may include the number of active user devices.

For example, the number of active user devices may include an average number of active user devices in a specific time period, and/or a maximum number of active user devices in a specific time period. It should be noted that the maximum number of active user equipments herein is different from the maximum number of active user equipments described above. As described above, the maximum number of active UE is the number of active UEs that the slice configured by the network management side can reach or bear at most, and is a specification information. The maximum number of active state user devices here is the number of active state user devices at a certain time in the specific time period, and the number of active state user devices at the certain time is greater than or equal to the number of active state user devices at other times in the specific time period.

In some embodiments, the slice performance information may include a number of deactivated user devices.

For example, the number of deactivated user equipments herein may include an average number of deactivated user equipments in a specific time period, and/or a maximum number of deactivated user equipments in a specific time period. It should be noted that the maximum number of the deactivated user equipments herein is different from the maximum number of the deactivated user equipments described above. As described above, the maximum number of the deactivated UEs is the number of deactivated UEs that can be reached or carried by the maximum slice configured by the network management side, and is a specification information. The maximum number of the deactivated user equipments herein is the number of the deactivated user equipments at a certain time in the specific time period, and the number of the deactivated user equipments at the certain time is greater than or equal to the number of the deactivated user equipments at other times in the specific time period.

Continuing with fig. 7, the access network device may perform step 703 of sending the slice performance information to the network management device.

In some embodiments, the access network device may be a base station or a CU or DU. The network management device may be one or a combination of EMS, MAE, NMS, management service Producer (Producer of MnS), and management service Consumer (Consumer of MnS).

In some embodiments, the access network device may be an EMS or MAE. The network management entity may be an NMS.

With continued reference to fig. 7, the network management device may perform step 705 to determine a load balancing policy for the slice based on the performance information of the slice.

In some embodiments, the load balancing policy may specifically be the specification of the slice. The network management device may determine the slice specification based on the slice performance information.

For example, when the slice performance information includes the RRC connection number, the network management device may determine the RRC maximum connection number according to the RRC connection number. For example, when the number of RRC connections includes a maximum number of RRC connections, the maximum number of RRC connections (or a preset value may be added or subtracted to the maximum number of RRC connections) may be determined as the maximum number of RRC connections.

For example, when the performance information of the slice includes the number of active user equipments, the network management device may determine the maximum number of active user equipments according to the number of active user equipments. For example, when the number of active user devices includes a maximum number of active user devices, the maximum number of active user devices (or a preset value may be added or subtracted to the maximum number of active user devices) may be determined as the maximum number of active user devices.

For example, when the performance information of the slice includes the number of the deactivated user equipments, the network management equipment may determine the maximum number of the deactivated user equipments according to the number of the deactivated user equipments. For example, when the number of deactivated user equipments includes the maximum number of deactivated user equipments, the maximum number of deactivated user equipments (or a preset value may be added or subtracted to the maximum number of deactivated user equipments) may be determined as the maximum number of deactivated user equipments.

In some embodiments, after the network management entity obtains the slice performance information, for example, the slice performance information of the cell, the network management entity may reconfigure a mobility parameter of the user equipment for the base station according to the performance information, where the mobility parameter is a parameter for the base station to control the user equipment to be handed over.

By the method for determining the load balancing strategy, the load balancing strategy of the slice can be determined according to the performance information of the slice, so that the access network equipment can more effectively perform load balancing among the slices, uniform distribution of users among the slices is ensured, and the capacity of a network system is improved.

Next, a method of determining a load balancing policy for slices of cluster is introduced.

As described above, an entity or device that manages cluster may be referred to as a centralized management entity.

Performance information of the slice that the centralized management entity can determine. The slice may be a slice of a cluster managed by a centralized management entity.

For a specific process of determining the performance information of the slice, reference may be made to the above description of step 701 in fig. 7, which is not described herein again.

When the centralized management entity is an MAE or an EMS, the centralized management entity may count performance information of slices identified by the NSSI and/or the NSI.

The centralized management entity may send its determined performance information to the network management entity. Reference may be made to the above description of step 703 in fig. 7, which is not repeated herein.

The network management entity may determine a load balancing policy for the slice according to the performance information of the slice. Reference may be made to the above description of step 703 in fig. 7, which is not repeated herein.

By the method for determining the load balancing strategy, the load balancing strategy of the cluster slices can be determined according to the performance information of the cluster slices, so that a centralized management entity can more effectively perform load balancing among the cluster slices, user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the cluster slices, and the capacity of a network system is improved.

The above introduces a network load balancing scheme between slices. Next, another network load balancing method is introduced.

For more effective load balancing between cells, the current load of different cells, i.e. the number of user equipments connected or managed by different cells, may also need to be considered, for example, the number of RRC connections of a cell, the number of active user equipments of a cell, and the number of deactivated user equipments of a cell. And the specifications of different cells, i.e. the maximum number of user equipments connectable or manageable for different cells, need to be considered.

In view of the above situation, an embodiment of the present application provides a network load balancing method. As shown in fig. 8, the method includes the following steps.

The network management entity may perform step 801a to determine the specifications of the access network device.

Reference may be made to the above description of the embodiments shown in fig. 4A and 4B by a network management entity. Reference may be made to the above description of the embodiments illustrated in fig. 5 by the access network device.

As described above, the network management entity is a functional entity on the network management side, and can configure the specification of the access network device.

In this embodiment of the present application, the specification may be a maximum connection number of the UE, and may include one or more of a maximum connection number of RRC, a maximum number of active user equipment, and a number of deactivated user equipment.

The specification of the access network device may include a specification of a cell under the access network device, or may include a specification of a base station (the base station is the access network device or a base station managed by the access network device), or may include a specification of a beam (for example, an SSB beam) under the access network device, or may include a specification of a slice of a cell under the access network device, or may include a specification of a slice of a base station corresponding to the access network device, or may be a specification of a slice of a beam under the access network device.

The specification of the access network device may simultaneously include one or more of a specification of a cell, a specification of a base station, a specification of a beam, a specification of a slice of a cell, a specification of a slice of a base station, and a specification of a slice of a beam.

With continued reference to fig. 8, the network management entity may perform step 803a to send the specification of the access network device to the access network device.

Specifically, the network management entity may transmit the specifications of the cell, the specifications of the base station, and the specifications of the beam determined in step 801a to the access network device.

The network management device may also send a cell identifier corresponding to the cell specification to the access network device. The cell identifier may be a cell ID, a Cell Global Identifier (CGI), or a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI). The cell id may also be other identification information, which is not listed here.

The network management device may also send the cell identifier and the identifier of the slice corresponding to the specification of the slice of the cell to the access network device. The cell identifier may be a cell ID, a CGI, or a PCI, and the slice identifier may be an S-NSSAI, NSI, or NSSI, or a newly defined slice identifier, which is not limited herein in this embodiment of the present application.

The network management device may also send a base station identifier corresponding to the specification of the base station to the access network device. For example, when the base station is a gNB, the base station identifier may be a gNB ID, a gNB name (gNB name), and the like, which are not listed here.

The network management device may also send the base station identifier corresponding to the specification of the slice of the base station and the identifier of the slice to the access network device. The identifier of the base station may be a gNB ID or a name of a gNB, and the identifier of the slice may be an S-NSSAI, NSI, NSSI, or a newly defined slice identifier, which is not limited herein in this embodiment of the present invention.

The network management device may further send a beam identifier corresponding to the beam specification to the access network device. When the beam is an SSB beam, the beam identification may be an SSB index (SSB index).

The network management device may further send the beam identifier and the identifier of the slice corresponding to the specification of the slice of the beam to the access network device. The beam identifier may be SSB index, and the slice identifier may be S-NSSAI, NSI, NSSI, or a newly defined slice identifier, which is not limited herein in this embodiment of the present application.

In one illustrative example, as shown in table 4, one or more of the "maximum number of RRC connections", "maximum number of active UEs", "maximum number of UEs" of a cell, and slices of the cell may be increased in the NRcellCU.

TABLE 4

The maximum RRC connection number is represented by MaxnumRRCconnection, the maximum active state UE number is represented by MaxnumActiveUEs, and the maximum UE number is represented by MaxnumUEs.

Continuing with fig. 8, the access network device may perform step 801b to determine the load of the access network device.

The load may also be referred to as a connection number or connection information, and may include one or more of an RRC connection number, an active user equipment number, and a deactivated user equipment number. In other words, the access network device may count one or more of the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipments, and the number of deactivated user equipments of the access network device.

The load of the access network device may include a load of a cell under the access network device, a load of a base station (the base station is the access network device or a base station managed by the access network device), and a load of a beam (for example, an SSB beam) under the access network device.

In other words, the access network device may count one or more of the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipments, and the number of deactivated user equipments of the cell. One or more of the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipments, and the number of deactivated user equipments of the base station may also be counted. One or more of the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipments, and the number of deactivated user equipments of the beam may also be counted.

The load of the access network device may simultaneously comprise one or more of the load of a cell, the load of a base station, the load of a beam.

The load of the access network device may include a load of a slice of a cell under the access network device, may also include a load of a slice of a base station (the base station is the access network device or a base station managed by the access network device), and may also include a load of a slice of a beam (e.g., an SSB beam) under the access network device. In other words, the access network device may count one or more of the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipments, and the number of deactivated user equipments of the slice of the cell. One or more items of the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipments, and the number of deactivated user equipments of the slice of the base station may also be counted. One or more of the number of RRC connections, the number of active user equipments, and the number of deactivated user equipments of the slice of the beam may also be counted. Reference may be made in particular to the above description of step 601 in fig. 6.

Continuing with fig. 8, the access network device may perform step 805 to perform load balancing according to the specification of the access network device and the load of the access network device.

Through the specification and load of the access network equipment, the access network equipment can obtain the specification of a cell (or a base station or a beam), and further can determine an available RRC connection capacity value, an available activated state user equipment capacity value and an available deactivated state user equipment capacity value of the cell (or the base station or the beam) so as to balance the load of the cell (or the base station or the beam).

Illustratively, the access network device may also receive specifications of other access network devices and loads of other access network devices. For example, the specification of the other access network device may be received from a network management device or other access network device, and the load of the other access network device may be received from the other access network device. In step 805, the access network device may combine its own specification and load with the specification and load of other access network devices to perform cell (or base station or beam) load balancing.

The load balancing between cells (or base stations or beams) can be implemented by referring to the above description of step 605 in fig. 6, and will not be described herein again.

The access network device may perform load balancing between slices according to the specifications and loads of the slices (slices of a cell or slices of a base station or slices of a beam), and specifically refer to the description of step 605 in fig. 6 above.

According to the network load balancing method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the access network equipment performs load balancing between cells (or base stations or beams) or between slices, the specification and the load of the cells (or base stations or beams) or the slices can be comprehensively considered, so that the load balancing between the cells (or base stations or beams) or the slices can be more effectively performed, the user equipment can be uniformly distributed between the cells (or base stations or beams) or the slices, and the capacity of a network system is improved.

Next, an example is presented to determine the network load balancing method between the cluster

The network management entity may determine the specification of cluster. The specification and the determination process may specifically refer to the above description of step 801a in fig. 8.

The network management entity may determine the specification of the slice of cluster. The specification and the determination process may specifically refer to the above description of step 801a in fig. 8.

The network management entity may send the specification of cluster to the centralized management entity. Reference may be made in particular to the above description of 803a in fig. 8.

The network management equipment can also send the cluster identifier corresponding to the specification of the cluster to the centralized management entity. The cluster identity may be a cluster ID.

Illustratively, the NMS may send the specification of cluster to the EMS as a network management entity, and the EMS acts as a centralized management entity.

The network management entity may send the specification of the cluster's slice to the centralized management entity. Reference may be made in particular to the above description of 803a in fig. 8.

The network management equipment can also send the cluster identifier corresponding to the specification of the cluster slice and the identifier of the cluster slice to the centralized management entity. The cluster identifier may be a cluster ID, and the identifier of the slice may be S-NSSAI, NSI, NSSI, or a newly defined slice identifier, which is not limited herein in this embodiment of the present application. .

The centralized management entity may determine the load of cluster. The load and determination process may be referred to as described above for step 801 b.

The centralized management entity may determine the load of the slices of cluster. The load and determination process may be referred to as described above for step 801 b.

The centralized management entity can balance the load among the cluster according to the specification of the cluster and the load of the cluster. Reference may be made specifically to the above description of step 805 in fig. 8.

The centralized management entity can balance the load among the slices of the cluster according to the specification of the slices of the cluster and the load of the slices of the cluster. Reference may be made specifically to the above description of step 805 in fig. 8.

According to the network load balancing method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the access network equipment performs load balancing among the cluster (or the slices of the cluster), the specification and the load of the cluster (or the slices of the cluster) can be comprehensively considered, so that the load balancing among the cluster (or the slices of the cluster) can be more effectively performed, the user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the clusters (or the slices of the cluster), and the capacity of a network system is improved.

Next, an example introduces a method of determining a load balancing policy.

Referring to fig. 9, the access network device may perform step 901 to determine performance information of the access network device.

The access network device may be a base station, a CU, a DU, an access network device management entity, or an access point. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of the access network device shown in fig. 5, which is not described herein again.

The performance information of the access network device may include performance information of a cell under the access network device, may also include performance information of a base station (the base station is the access network device or a base station managed by the access network device), and may also include performance information of a beam (e.g., an SSB beam) under the access network device.

The performance information of the access network device may include one or more of performance information of a cell, performance information of a base station, and performance information of a beam.

In some embodiments, step 901 may be performed periodically, that is, the access network device may periodically count the performance information of the slice. The statistical period may be configured by the network management device.

In some embodiments, step 901 may be performed by event triggering, that is, performance information of the access network device statistics slice may be triggered by an event. The event may be an event configured and transmitted by the network management device.

In some embodiments, the performance information may include a RRC connection number.

Illustratively, the number of RRC connections herein may include an average number of RRC connections in a particular time period, and/or a maximum number of RRC connections in a particular time period. Here, the maximum number of RRC connections is different from the above-described maximum number of RRC connections. As described above, the maximum RRC connection number is the maximum number of reachable or bearable RRC connections configured by the network management side, and is a type of specification information. The maximum number of RRC connections here is the number of RRC connections at a certain time in the specific time period, and the number of RRC connections at that time is greater than or equal to the number of RRC connections at other times in the specific time period.

For example, when step 901 is performed periodically, the specific time period may be a period duration. When the event is triggered to be executed in step 901, the specific time period is a time period from the receiving time of the last event to the receiving time of the current event.

In some embodiments, the performance information may include the number of active user devices.

For example, the number of active user devices may include an average number of active user devices in a specific time period, and/or a maximum number of active user devices in a specific time period. It should be noted that the maximum number of active user equipments herein is different from the maximum number of active user equipments described above. As described above, the maximum number of active user equipments is the maximum number of active user equipments that can be reached or carried by the network management side configuration, and is a specification information. The maximum number of active state user devices here is the number of active state user devices at a certain time in the specific time period, and the number of active state user devices at the certain time is greater than or equal to the number of active state user devices at other times in the specific time period.

In some embodiments, the performance information may include a number of deactivated user devices.

For example, the number of deactivated user equipments herein may include an average number of deactivated user equipments in a specific time period, and/or a maximum number of deactivated user equipments in a specific time period. It should be noted that the maximum number of the deactivated user equipments herein is different from the maximum number of the deactivated user equipments described above. As described above, the maximum number of the deactivated user equipments is the number of the deactivated user equipments which can be reached or carried at most and is configured by the network management side, and is a specification information. The maximum number of the deactivated user equipments herein is the number of the deactivated user equipments at a certain time in the specific time period, and the number of the deactivated user equipments at the certain time is greater than or equal to the number of the deactivated user equipments at other times in the specific time period.

Continuing with fig. 9, the access network device may perform step 903 to send the performance information of the access network device to the network management entity.

In some embodiments, the access network device may be a base station or a CU or DU. The network management entity may be one or a combination of EMS, MAE, NMS, management service Producer (Producer of MnS), and management service Consumer (Consumer of MnS).

With continued reference to fig. 9, the network management entity may perform step 905 to determine a load balancing policy of the access network device according to the performance information of the access network device.

In some embodiments, the load balancing policy may specifically be a specification of the access network device. The network management device may determine the specification of the access network device according to the performance information of the access network device.

For example, when the performance information of the access network device (specifically, the cell or the base station or the beam r) includes the RRC connection number, the network management device may determine the RRC maximum connection number of the access network device (specifically, the cell or the base station or the beam) according to the RRC connection number of the access network device (specifically, the cell or the base station or the beam). For example, when the number of RRC connections includes a maximum number of RRC connections, the maximum number of RRC connections (or a preset value may be added or subtracted to the maximum number of RRC connections) may be determined as the maximum number of RRC connections of the access network device (specifically, may be a cell or a base station or a beam).

For example, when the performance information of the access network device (specifically, a cell, a base station, or a beam) includes the number of active user equipments, the network management device may determine, according to the number of active user equipments of the access network device (specifically, a cell, a base station, or a beam), the maximum number of active user equipments of the access network device (specifically, a cell, a base station, or a beam). For example, when the number of active user devices includes a maximum number of active user devices, the maximum number of active user devices (or a preset value may be added or subtracted to the maximum number of active user devices) may be determined as the maximum number of active user devices.

For example, when the performance information of the access network device (specifically, a cell, a base station, or a beam) includes the number of deactivated user equipments, the network management device may determine, according to the number of deactivated user equipments of the access network device (specifically, a cell, a base station, or a beam), the maximum number of deactivated user equipments of the access network device (specifically, a cell, a base station, or a beam). For example, when the number of deactivated user equipments includes the maximum number of deactivated user equipments, the maximum number of deactivated user equipments (or a preset value may be added or subtracted to the maximum number of deactivated user equipments) may be determined as the maximum number of deactivated user equipments.

By the method for determining the load balancing strategy, the load balancing strategy of the access network equipment can be determined according to the performance information of the access network equipment, so that the access network equipment can more effectively perform load balancing, user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the access network equipment, and the capacity of a network system is improved.

Next, an example introduces a method of determining a cluster load balancing policy.

The centralized management entity may determine performance information for the cluster. The performance information and the specific process of determining the performance information may refer to the above description of step 901 in fig. 9.

The centralized management entity may send the cluster's performance information to the network management entity. Illustratively, the centralized management entity may be an EMS or a MAE. The network management entity may be an NMS.

The network management entity can determine the load balancing strategy of the cluster according to the performance information of the cluster. Reference may be made specifically to the above description of step 905 in fig. 9.

By the method for determining the load balancing strategy, the load balancing strategy of the cluster can be determined according to the performance information of the cluster, so that the centralized management entity can more effectively perform load balancing, user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the clusters, and the capacity of a network system is improved.

An embodiment of the present application provides a network load balancing method, as shown in fig. 10, which includes the following steps.

Step 1001, a first access network device determines first connection information of a first slice, where the first slice is a slice of the first access network device. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 601 in fig. 6, and details are not described here again.

Step 1003, the first access network device sends the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to the second access network device, and the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice are used for load balancing of the second access network device. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 603 and step 605 in fig. 6, which is not described herein again.

In some embodiments, the first connection information may include at least one of:

Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 601 in fig. 6, and details are not described here again.

In some embodiments, the first connection information includes a first available connection capacity value, the first available connection capacity value being determined by a first maximum number of connections and a first number of connections, the first maximum number of connections being a maximum number of connections for the user equipment of the first slice, the first number of connections being a number of user equipment in the first slice.

In one example of these embodiments, the first maximum number of connections comprises a RRC maximum number of connections, the first number of connections comprises a RRC number of connections, the first available connection capacity value comprises an available RRC connection capacity value; the available RRC connection capacity value is determined by the first access network equipment according to the maximum RRC connection number and the RRC connection number. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 601 in fig. 6, and details are not described here again.

In one example of these embodiments, the first maximum number of connections comprises a maximum number of active user equipment, the first number of connections comprises a number of active user equipment, and the first available connection capacity value comprises an available active user equipment capacity value; the capacity value of the available active user equipment is determined by the first access network equipment according to the maximum number of the active user equipment and the number of the active user equipment. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 601 in fig. 6, and details are not described here again.

In one example of these embodiments, the first maximum connection number comprises a maximum number of deactivated user equipments, the first connection information comprises a number of deactivated user equipments, and the first available connection capacity value comprises an available deactivated user equipment capacity value; the capacity value of the available deactivated user equipment is determined and obtained by the first access network equipment according to the maximum number of the deactivated user equipment and the number of the deactivated user equipment. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 601 in fig. 6, and details are not described here again.

In some embodiments, the first maximum number of connections is configured by the network management entity; the method further comprises the following steps: the first access network device receives a first maximum number of connections from a network management entity. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 601 in fig. 6, and details are not described here again.

In some embodiments, the first slice comprises:

Specifically, reference may be made to the description of step 601 in fig. 5 and fig. 6, which is not described herein again.

In some embodiments, the first access network device comprises a CU and a DU; the first access network device determining the first connection information of the first slice comprises: the CU determines the RRC connection number of the first slice, and the DU determines the number of the active state user equipment of the first slice; the sending, by the first access network device, the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to the second access network device includes: and the first access network equipment sends the RRC connection number and the number of the active user equipment to the second access network equipment.

Specifically, reference may be made to the introduction of step 601 and step 603 in fig. 6, which is not described herein again.

An embodiment of the present application provides a network load balancing method, as shown in fig. 11, which includes the following steps.

Step 1101, the first access network device receives a first maximum connection number from the network management entity, where the first maximum connection number is the maximum connection number of the first access network device. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 801a and step 803a in fig. 8, which are not described herein again.

Step 1103, the first access network device determines a first connection number, where the first connection number is the number of the user devices in the first access network device. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 801b in fig. 8, which is not described herein again.

Step 1105, the first access network device performs load balancing according to the first maximum connection number and the first connection number. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 805 in fig. 8, and details are not described here again.

In some embodiments, the first maximum number of connections comprises:

Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 801a in fig. 8, which is not described herein again.

In some embodiments, the first maximum number of connections comprises a RRC maximum number of connections, the first number of connections comprises a RRC number of connections; and/or the first maximum connection number comprises the maximum number of the active user equipment, and the first connection number comprises the number of the active user equipment; and/or the first maximum connection number comprises the maximum number of the user equipment in the deactivated state, and the first connection number comprises the number of the user equipment in the deactivated state.

Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 801a, step 801b, and step 805 in fig. 8, which is not described herein again.

According to the network load balancing method provided by the embodiment of the application, the specification and the load of the access network equipment can be comprehensively considered when the access network equipment performs load balancing, so that the load balancing of the access network equipment can be performed more effectively, the user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the access network equipment, and the capacity of a network system is improved.

An embodiment of the present application provides an access network device 1200, as shown in fig. 12, the access network device 1200 includes:

a processing unit 1210 configured to determine first connection information for a first slice, where the first slice is a slice of a first access network device. Specifically, reference may be made to the above description of step 601 in fig. 6, and details are not described here again.

A communication unit 1220, configured to send the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to another access network device, where the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice are used for load balancing by the other access network device.

The functions of the functional units of the access network device 1200 may be implemented with reference to the embodiments shown in fig. 10, and are not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the application, the access network devices share the connection information of the respective slices, so that the user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the slices, and therefore, the load (connected or managed UE) of each slice is not easy to exceed the slice specification configured by the network management side, thereby improving the capacity of a network system and improving the user network experience. For example, when the access network device performs UE handover between slices, connection information of slices of other access network devices may be considered, so that the UE handover failure rate may be reduced more effectively.

The foregoing mainly introduces the access network device provided in the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of method flow. It is understood that each access network device includes corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the above functions in order to implement the above functions. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, functional modules of an access network device and the like may be divided according to the method embodiments shown in fig. 10, for example, the functional modules may be divided according to the functions, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

An embodiment of the present application provides an access network device 1300, as shown in fig. 13, the access network device 1300 includes:

a communication unit 1310, configured to receive a first maximum connection number from a network management entity, where the first maximum connection number is a maximum connection number of a first access network device.

The processing unit 1320 is configured to determine a first connection number, where the first connection number is the number of the user equipment in the first access network device.

The processing unit 1320 is further configured to perform load balancing according to the first maximum connection number and the first connection number.

The functions of the functional units of the access network device 1300 may be implemented with reference to the embodiments shown in fig. 11, and are not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the application, when the access network equipment performs load balancing, the specification and the load of the access network equipment can be comprehensively considered, so that the load balancing of the access network equipment can be performed more effectively, the user equipment can be uniformly distributed among the access network equipment, and the capacity of a network system is improved.

In the embodiment of the present application, functional modules of an access network device and the like may be divided according to the method embodiments shown in fig. 11, for example, the functional modules may be divided corresponding to the functions, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

The embodiment of the application provides an access network device 1400. Referring to fig. 14, the access network device 1400 may perform the operations of the access network device described in any of the method embodiments shown in fig. 6-11. The access network device 1400 may include, among other things, a processor 1410 and a transceiver 1420. The processor 1410 and the transceiver 1420 are connected to perform the operation of the access network apparatus in any of the method embodiments shown in fig. 6-11. In particular, processor 1410 may perform data processing operations and transceiver 1420 may perform transmit and/or receive operations.

In some embodiments, the access network apparatus 1400 further includes a memory 1430. Stored in memory 1430 are instructions that are executable by processor 1410. When the instructions are executed by the processor 1410, the access network device 1400 may perform the operations of the access network device described in any of the embodiment methods shown in fig. 6-11.

The embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, which can be applied to an access network device, and the chip system includes: a processor and an interface circuit; the processor is connected to the interface circuit and is configured to perform the operations of the access network device according to any one of the embodiments of the method shown in fig. 6-11.

In some embodiments, the chip system further comprises a memory. The memory has stored therein instructions executable by the processor. When executed by a processor, the system on chip may perform the operations of the access network device described in any of the embodiments methods shown in fig. 6-11.

It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but may be any conventional processor.

The method steps in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by software instructions executed by a processor. The software instructions may consist of corresponding software modules that may be stored in Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted over a computer-readable storage medium. The computer instructions may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

It is to be understood that the various numerical references referred to in the embodiments of the present application are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for network load balancing, the method comprising:

a first access network device determines first connection information of a first slice, wherein the first slice is a slice of the first access network device;

and the first access network equipment sends the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to second access network equipment, wherein the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice are used for load balancing of the second access network equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first connection information comprises at least one of:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first connection information comprises a first available connection capacity value, wherein the first available connection capacity value is determined by a first maximum number of connections and a first number of connections, wherein the first maximum number of connections is a maximum number of connections for the user equipment in the first slice, and wherein the first number of connections is a number of user equipment in the first slice.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first maximum number of connections comprises a RRC maximum number of connections, wherein the first number of connections comprises a RRC number of connections, and wherein the first available connection capacity value comprises an available RRC connection capacity value; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

and the available RRC connection capacity value is determined and obtained by the first access network equipment according to the maximum RRC connection number and the RRC connection number.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the first maximum number of connections comprises a maximum number of active user equipments, wherein the first number of connections comprises a number of active user equipments, and wherein the first available connection capacity value comprises an available active user equipment capacity value; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

and the capacity value of the available activated user equipment is determined and obtained by the first access network equipment according to the maximum number of the activated user equipment and the number of the activated user equipment.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the first maximum connection number comprises a maximum number of deactivated user equipments, wherein the first connection information comprises a number of deactivated user equipments, and wherein the first available connection capacity value comprises an available deactivated user equipment capacity value; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

and the capacity value of the available deactivated user equipment is determined and obtained by the first access network equipment according to the maximum number of the deactivated user equipment and the number of the deactivated user equipment.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of removing the substrate comprises removing the substrate from the substrate

The first access network device receives the first maximum number of connections from the network management entity.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first slice comprises:

9. The method of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the identification of the first slice is at least one of:

10. The method according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the first access network device comprises a CU and a DU;

the determining, by the first access network device, first connection information for a first slice includes: the CU determines the number of RRC connections of the first slice, and the DU determines the number of active user equipment of the first slice;

the sending, by the first access network device, the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to the second access network device includes:

and the first access network equipment sends the RRC connection number and the number of the active user equipment to the second access network equipment.

11. A method for network load balancing, the method comprising:

the first access network equipment receives a first maximum connection number from a network management entity, wherein the first maximum connection number is the maximum connection number of the first access network equipment;

the first access network equipment determines a first connection number, wherein the first connection number is the number of user equipment under the first access network equipment;

and the first access network equipment performs load balancing according to the first maximum connection number and the first connection number.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first maximum number of connections comprises:

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first maximum number of connections comprises a RRC maximum number of connections, and wherein the first number of connections comprises a RRC number of connections; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the first maximum connection number comprises the maximum number of the active user equipment, and the first connection number comprises the number of the active user equipment; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the first maximum connection number comprises the maximum number of the user equipment in the deactivated state, and the first connection number comprises the number of the user equipment in the deactivated state.

14. A first access network device, the first access network device comprising:

a processor configured to determine first connection information for a first slice, the first slice being a slice of the first access network device;

a transceiver, configured to send the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to a second access network device, where the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice are used for load balancing of the second access network device.

15. The first access network device of claim 14, wherein the first connection information comprises at least one of:

16. The first access network device of claim 14, wherein the first connection information comprises a first available connection capacity value, wherein the first available connection capacity value is determined by a first maximum number of connections and a first number of connections, wherein the first maximum number of connections is a maximum number of connections for the first slice of user devices, and wherein the first number of connections is a number of user devices in the first slice.

17. The first access network device of claim 16, wherein the first maximum number of connections comprises a RRC maximum number of connections, wherein the first number of connections comprises a RRC number of connections, and wherein the first available connection capacity value comprises an available RRC connection capacity value; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

and the available RRC connection capacity value is determined by the processor according to the maximum RRC connection number and the RRC connection number.

18. The first access network device of claim 16, wherein the first maximum number of connections comprises a maximum number of active user devices, wherein the first number of connections comprises a number of active user devices, and wherein the first available connection capacity value comprises an available active user device capacity value; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

and the capacity value of the available activated user equipment is determined and obtained by the processor according to the maximum number of the activated user equipment and the number of the activated user equipment.

19. The first access network device of claim 16, wherein the first maximum connection number comprises a maximum number of deactivated user devices, wherein the first connection information comprises a number of deactivated user devices, and wherein the first available connection capacity value comprises an available deactivated user device capacity value; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

and the capacity value of the available deactivated user equipment is determined and obtained by the processor according to the maximum number of the deactivated user equipment and the number of the deactivated user equipment.

20. The first access network device of claim 16, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: receiving the first maximum number of connections from the network management entity.

21. The first access network device of any of claims 14-20, wherein the first slice comprises:

22. The first access network device of any of claims 14-21, wherein the identification of the first slice is at least one of:

23. The first access network device of any of claims 14-22, wherein the processor comprises a CU module and a DU module;

the CU module is used for determining the RRC connection number of the first slice, and the DU module is used for determining the active state user equipment number of the first slice;

the transceiver is further configured to send the RRC connection number and the active user equipment number to the second access network device.

24. A first access network device, the first access network device comprising:

a transceiver, configured to receive a first maximum connection number from a network management entity, where the first maximum connection number is a maximum connection number of a first access network device;

a processor, configured to determine a first connection number, where the first connection number is the number of user equipment in the first access network device;

the processor is further configured to perform load balancing according to the first maximum connection number and the first connection number.

25. The first access network device of claim 24, wherein the first maximum number of connections comprises:

26. The first access network device of claim 24, wherein the first maximum number of connections comprises a RRC maximum number of connections, and wherein the first number of connections comprises a RRC number of connections; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

27. A network system comprising a first access network device and a second access network device; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the first access network equipment is used for determining first connection information of a first slice, wherein the first slice is the slice of the first access network equipment;

the first access network device is further configured to send the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice to the second access network device;

the second access network device is configured to perform load balancing according to the first connection information and the identifier of the first slice.

28. A network system, comprising a network management entity and a first access network device; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the network management entity is configured to determine a first maximum connection number, where the first maximum connection number is a maximum connection number of the first access network device;

the first access network equipment is used for determining a first connection number, wherein the first connection number is the number of user equipment under the first access network equipment;

the first access network device is configured to perform load balancing according to the first maximum connection number and the first connection number.

29. A computer storage medium, characterized in that the computer storage medium comprises computer instructions that, when run on an access network device, cause the access network device to perform the method of any of claims 1-10 or the method of any of claims 11-13.