CN113473596A

CN113473596A - Paging method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN113473596A
Application number: CN202010237266.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 谢宗慧; 王宏; 陈磊; 李秉肇
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-30
Filing date: 2020-03-30
Publication date: 2021-10-01
Also published as: WO2021197286A1; WO2021197286A9

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a paging method, equipment and a system, in the paging method, an access network device configures a first parameter for a terminal device, wherein the first parameter is used for adjusting a Paging Time Window (PTW) parameter of the terminal device and/or expanding a discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle. Then, the access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device according to the first parameter, so that the terminal device can monitor paging downlink control information and receive the paging message based on the first parameter. Since the access network device may configure the terminal device with the first parameter, the first parameter may adjust the duration of the PTW or the length of the eDRX cycle. Therefore, the access network equipment can flexibly control the duration and the time of the paging process, namely, the flexibility of the paging process between the terminal equipment and the access network equipment is improved.

Description

Paging method, device and system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a paging method, device, and system.

Background

The paging procedure (paging) refers to that the access network device sends a paging message (paging message) to the terminal device at a specific time to notify the terminal device to perform a corresponding operation or update a related parameter. In this process, a terminal device configured with extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) or configured with a Paging Time Window (PTW) attempts to receive a paging message from an access network device within the PTW, and determines whether there is a change in current system information by decoding the paging message. If the terminal device detects that the system information has changed, the terminal device will reacquire the system information at a next Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) modification period boundary.

In the foregoing paging process, the PTW of the terminal device is configured by the core network device, and after the PTW configuration of the terminal device is completed, the terminal device needs to monitor a paging message from the access network device in the PTW. Therefore, the location duration and timing of the terminal device attempting to receive the paging message is relatively fixed. Therefore, flexibility of receiving an access network paging message (RAN-paging) by the terminal device is affected, and a balance among energy saving, reliability and time delay of the terminal device is not facilitated.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a paging method, paging equipment and a paging system, which are used for improving the flexibility of signaling interaction between access network equipment and terminal equipment.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a paging method, in which an access network device configures a first parameter for a terminal device, where the first parameter is used to adjust a paging time window PTW parameter of the terminal device and/or extend a discontinuous reception eDRX cycle. Then, the access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device according to the first parameter.

In this embodiment, since the access network device may configure the first parameter for the terminal device, the first parameter may adjust the duration of the PTW and/or the length of the eDRX cycle, and may further adjust a ratio of the duration of the PTW to the eDRX cycle. Therefore, the access network equipment can flexibly control the duration and the time of the paging process, that is, the flexibility of the paging process between the terminal equipment and the access network equipment is improved, that is, the flexibility of the terminal equipment monitoring the paging downlink control information from the access network equipment and receiving the paging message is improved.

According to a first aspect, in a first implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first parameter is a PTW scaling factor, and the PTW scaling factor is used for determining a duration of a target PTW; alternatively, the first parameter is a duration of the target PTW.

In this embodiment, it is proposed that the first parameter may be a parameter for adjusting the PTW, and the target PTW is determined to control the terminal device to monitor the paging downlink control information from the access network device, which is beneficial to improving the flexibility of the paging procedure between the terminal device and the access network device.

In a second implementation form of the first aspect of the present application, as the first parameter is a PTW scaling factor, the target PTW has a duration equal to a product of a duration of the initial PTW and the PTW scaling factor.

In this embodiment, it is further proposed how to determine the target PTW using the PTW scale factor when the aforementioned first parameter is the PTW scale factor.

According to the first aspect, in a third implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first parameter is an eDRX cycle scaling factor, and the eDRX cycle scaling factor is used to determine a target eDRX cycle; or, the first parameter is a target eDRX cycle.

In this embodiment, it is proposed that the first parameter may be a parameter for adjusting an eDRX cycle, and the time interval during which the terminal device monitors between two eDRX cycles is controlled by determining the target eDRX cycle, so as to adjust the frequency of sending an access network paging message (RAN-paging), thereby facilitating improvement of flexibility of a paging procedure between the terminal device and the access network device.

According to a third implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the first aspect of this embodiment of the present application, when the first parameter is an eDRX cycle scaling factor, the target eDRX cycle is equal to a product of an initial eDRX cycle and the eDRX cycle scaling factor.

In this embodiment, it is further provided how to determine the target eDRX cycle by using the eDRX cycle scaling factor when the first parameter is the eDRX cycle scaling factor.

According to the first aspect, or any one of the first implementation manner of the first aspect to the fourth implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth implementation manner of the first aspect of the examples of the present application, the method further includes: the access network device sends the first parameter to a core network device.

In this embodiment, after the access network device sends the first parameter to the core network device, the core network device also determines a target PTW and/or a target eDRX cycle based on the first parameter, and delivers a paging message to the access network device according to the target PTW and/or the target eDRX cycle. Therefore, the time range of the core network device submitting the paging message to the access network device is ensured to be consistent with the time range of the terminal device monitoring the paging message from the access network device.

According to any one of the foregoing implementation manners, in a sixth implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first parameter is located in a radio resource control release message.

In a seventh implementation form of the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application according to any of the preceding implementation forms, the PTW scaling factor is greater than 0 and less than 1.

In the present embodiment, it is proposed that the PTW scale factor is greater than 0 and less than 1. It can be understood that the access network device instructs the terminal device to shorten the duration of the PTW; it can also be understood that the access network device controls the terminal device to determine a shorter PTW as the target PTW. Because the terminal device needs to consume power when monitoring the paging downlink control information and receiving the paging message, the time length of the PTW is shortened, that is, the time length of the terminal device monitoring the paging downlink control information in one eDRX cycle is shortened, so that the energy consumption of the terminal device is saved, and the standby time of the terminal device is prolonged.

In an eighth implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, according to any of the preceding implementation manners, the eDRX cycle scaling factor is greater than 1.

In this embodiment, it is proposed that the eDRX cycle scaling factor is greater than 1. It can be understood that the access network device instructs the terminal device to extend the eDRX cycle; it can also be understood that the access network device reduces the number of times that the terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information within a period of time; it can also be understood that the access network device controls the terminal device to determine a longer eDRX cycle as the target eDRX cycle. Because the terminal device needs to consume power when monitoring the paging downlink control information and receiving the paging message, the longer eDRX cycle prolongs the time of the terminal device in the dormant state, and the ratio of the duration of the PTW of the terminal device to the eDRX cycle is reduced, which is relatively shorter than the duration of the terminal device needing to monitor the paging downlink control information in the eDRX cycle. Therefore, the energy consumption of the terminal equipment is saved, and the standby time of the terminal equipment is prolonged.

According to any one of the foregoing implementation manners, in a ninth implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application, when the following preset conditions are met, the access network device executes the method recited in any one of the foregoing first aspect, the first implementation manner of the first aspect, to the ninth implementation manner of the first aspect:

the preset condition includes at least one of the following: the terminal equipment is positioned in a cell under the candidate access network equipment in the access network notification area, and the time synchronization between the access network equipment and the candidate access network equipment is realized; or, the access network notification area is a cell under the access network device; or the moving speed of the terminal equipment is smaller than a first preset value; or the signal quality of the terminal equipment is greater than a second preset value.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a paging method, in which a terminal device receives a first parameter from an access network device, where the first parameter is used to adjust a paging time window PTW parameter and/or an extended discontinuous reception eDRX cycle of the terminal device; and the terminal equipment monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network equipment according to the first parameter.

In this embodiment, since the access network device may configure the first parameter for the terminal device, the first parameter may adjust the duration of the PTW or the length of the eDRX cycle, so that the terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network device according to the first parameter. Therefore, the access network equipment can flexibly control the duration and the time of the paging process, that is, the flexibility of the paging process between the terminal equipment and the access network equipment is improved, that is, the flexibility of the terminal equipment monitoring the paging downlink control information from the access network equipment and receiving the paging message is improved.

According to a second aspect, in a first implementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first parameter is a PTW scaling factor, and the PTW scaling factor is used for determining a duration of the target PTW; alternatively, the first parameter is a duration of the target PTW. The terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network device according to the first parameter, including: and the terminal equipment monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network equipment in the target PTW.

In accordance with a first implementation of the second aspect, as in a second implementation of the second aspect of this embodiment, the method further comprises: and the terminal equipment replaces the duration of the initial PTW with the duration of the target PTW, wherein the duration of the target PTW is equal to the product of the duration of the initial PTW and the PTW scaling factor.

Specifically, it can be understood that, when the first parameter is a PTW scaling factor, the terminal device multiplies the duration of an initial PTW by the PTW scaling factor to obtain the target PTW, and replaces the duration of the initial PTW with the duration of the target PTW; and when the first parameter is the time length of the target PTW, the terminal equipment directly adopts the time length of the target PTW to replace the time length of the initial PTW.

In this embodiment, it is further proposed how, when the first parameter is a PTW scaling factor, the terminal device determines a target PTW by using the PTW scaling factor; and when the first parameter is the time length of the target PTW, the terminal equipment can directly replace the time length of the initial PTW with the time length of the target PTW.

According to the second aspect, in a third implementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first parameter is an eDRX cycle scaling factor, and the eDRX cycle scaling factor is used for determining a target eDRX cycle; or, the first parameter is a target eDRX cycle. The terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network device according to the first parameter, including: the terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network device according to the target eDRX period and receives paging messages.

In a fourth implementation form of the second aspect of this application as that third implementation form of the second aspect, the method further comprises: the terminal device replaces the initial eDRX cycle with the target eDRX cycle, wherein the target eDRX cycle is equal to the product of the initial eDRX cycle and the eDRX cycle scaling factor.

Specifically, it can be understood that, when the first parameter is an eDRX cycle scaling factor, the terminal device multiplies the initial eDRX cycle by the eDRX cycle scaling factor to obtain the target eDRX cycle, and replaces the initial eDRX cycle with the target eDRX cycle; and when the first parameter is the target eDRX period, the terminal equipment directly adopts the target eDRX period to replace the initial eDRX period.

In this embodiment, it is further provided how the terminal device determines the target eDRX cycle by using the eDRX cycle scale factor when the first parameter is the eDRX cycle scale factor; and when the first parameter is the target eDRX period, the terminal equipment can directly replace the initial eDRX period with the target eDRX period.

According to any one of the foregoing embodiments, in a fifth implementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the first parameter is located in a radio resource control release message.

In a sixth implementation form of the second aspect of this application as any of the preceding implementation forms, the PTW scaling factor is greater than 0 and less than 1.

In a seventh implementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiments of the present application, according to any one of the preceding implementation manners, the eDRX cycle scaling factor is greater than 1.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for updating system information, which is used to improve flexibility of signaling interaction between an access network device and a terminal device. In the system information updating method, a terminal device receives a first message from an access network device. The first message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to immediately acquire updated system information, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information after a first offset duration, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at a broadcast control channel BCCH modification period boundary.

In this embodiment, because the terminal device may immediately acquire the updated system information based on the first indication information or acquire the updated system information after the first offset duration, compared with a scheme in the prior art that the updated system information is acquired only after the eDRX system message acquisition boundary, the present embodiment advances a range in which the terminal device may acquire the updated system information, which is beneficial to improving flexibility of the terminal device in acquiring the updated system information. In addition, compared with the prior art that the validity of the system information must be checked before access and the updated system information is acquired when the system information is invalid, the method and the device are beneficial to shortening the time delay introduced by the terminal device for acquiring the updated system information before access.

According to the third aspect, in a first implementation manner of the third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first message includes second indication information and the first indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary. The method further comprises the following steps: the terminal device obtains the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary.

It can also be understood that the terminal device can acquire the system information at the BCCH modification period boundary at the earliest. It should also be understood that the aforementioned BCCH modification period boundary refers to the next BCCH modification period boundary after the first message is received by the terminal device, and can also be understood as the nearest BCCH modification period boundary after the first message is received by the terminal device.

In this embodiment, since the terminal device can obtain the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary, the BCCH modification period boundary is generally earlier than the eDRX system information obtaining boundary. Compared with the scheme that the updated system information can be acquired only after the eDRX system information acquisition boundary in the prior art, the embodiment advances the time for the terminal device to acquire the updated system information, which is beneficial to improving the flexibility for the terminal device to acquire the updated system information and shortening the time delay introduced by acquiring the updated system information before the terminal device is accessed.

According to the third aspect, in a second implementation manner of the third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first message includes the first indication information and does not include the second indication information. The method further comprises the following steps: the terminal device immediately acquires the updated system information.

In this embodiment, the terminal device may obtain the updated system message immediately after receiving the first message. That is, updated system information can be acquired as early as possible based on the aforementioned first message. Therefore, the flexibility of acquiring the updated system information by the terminal equipment can be improved, and the time delay caused by acquiring the updated system information before the terminal equipment is accessed can be further shortened.

According to the third aspect, in a third implementation manner of the third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first indication information is the first offset duration; alternatively, the first message further includes the first offset duration. The method further comprises the following steps: the terminal device obtains the system information after receiving the first offset duration of the first message.

In this embodiment, since the terminal device can directly determine the time at which the updated system information can be obtained earliest according to the first offset time, the flexibility of obtaining the updated system information by the terminal device can be improved, and the time delay caused by updating the system information before the terminal device is accessed can be shortened. In addition, the terminal device can acquire the updated system information by waiting for a long time compared with the current time through the first offset time, so that calculation is not needed, the calculation amount of the terminal device is reduced, and the energy consumption of the terminal device is saved.

According to the third aspect, or any one of the first implementation manner of the third aspect to the third implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the third aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the first indication information is used to indicate modification of the BCCH to a first terminal device, and an extended discontinuous reception eDRX cycle of the first terminal device is longer than a BCCH modification cycle. The second indication information is used to indicate modification of the BCCH to a second terminal device that does not include terminal devices having eDRX periods longer than the BCCH modification period.

According to any one of the foregoing implementation manners, in a fifth implementation manner of the third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device receives third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether the updated system information is changed.

For one system information change, the access network device may continuously send the first message for multiple times, and then the terminal device may receive the first message for multiple times, and the terminal device may misunderstand that the system information has been changed for multiple times, and further repeatedly acquire updated system information, which causes unnecessary power consumption. In this embodiment, the first message carries third indication information indicating whether or not the updated system information is changed. In such an embodiment, it is advantageous to prevent the terminal device from repeatedly acquiring the same system information to cause power consumption.

In a sixth implementation manner of the third aspect of the embodiments of the present application, in any one of the preceding implementation manners, the first indication information is systemlnfodification-eDRX; the second indication is systemlnfomformation.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a system information updating method, in which,

the access network device sends a first message to the terminal device, where the first message includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to immediately acquire the updated system information, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information after a first offset duration, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at a broadcast control channel BCCH modification period boundary.

According to the fourth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first message includes second indication information and the first indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary.

In this embodiment, it is proposed that the terminal device can obtain the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary, which is generally earlier than the eDRX system information obtaining boundary. Compared with the scheme that the updated system information can be acquired only after the eDRX system information acquisition boundary in the prior art, the embodiment advances the range in which the terminal device can acquire the updated system information, thereby facilitating improvement of flexibility of the terminal device in acquiring the updated system information and shortening of time delay introduced by the terminal device in acquiring the updated system information before access.

According to a fourth aspect, in a second implementation form of the fourth aspect of this embodiment of the present application, the first message includes the first indication information and does not include the second indication information.

In this embodiment, it is proposed that the terminal device may obtain the updated system message immediately after receiving the first message. That is, updated system information can be acquired as early as possible based on the aforementioned first message. Therefore, the flexibility of acquiring the updated system information by the terminal equipment can be improved, and the time delay caused by acquiring the updated system information before the terminal equipment is accessed can be further shortened.

According to a fourth aspect, in a third implementation manner of the fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first indication information is the first offset duration; alternatively, the first message further includes the first offset duration.

In this embodiment, it is proposed that the terminal device may determine the earliest time at which the updated system information can be obtained directly according to the first offset time, so as to improve flexibility of obtaining the updated system information by the terminal device and shorten a time delay caused by updating the system information before the terminal device accesses the terminal device. In addition, the terminal device can acquire the updated system information by waiting for a long time compared with the current time through the first offset time, so that calculation is not needed, the calculation amount of the terminal device is reduced, and the energy consumption of the terminal device is saved.

According to the fourth aspect or any one of the first to third implementation manners of the fourth aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the fourth aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the first indication information is used to indicate modification of the BCCH to the first terminal device, and the extended discontinuous reception eDRX cycle of the first terminal device is longer than the BCCH modification cycle. The second indication information is used to indicate modification of the BCCH to a second terminal device that does not include terminal devices having eDRX periods longer than the BCCH modification period.

According to any one of the foregoing implementation manners, in a fifth implementation manner of the fourth aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device receives third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether the updated system information is changed.

In a sixth implementation manner of the fourth aspect of the present application as in any one of the preceding implementation manners, the first indication information is systemlnfodification-eDRX; the second indication is systemlnfomformation.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may also be a chip or a module in a device, and may also be a chip or a system on a chip, where the communication device includes: a processing unit, configured to configure a first parameter for a terminal device, where the first parameter is used to adjust a Paging Time Window (PTW) parameter and/or an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle of the terminal device; and the receiving and sending unit is used for sending the paging message to the terminal equipment according to the first parameter.

In this embodiment, since the access network device may configure the first parameter for the terminal device, the first parameter may adjust the duration of the PTW or the length of the eDRX cycle, and further may adjust the ratio of the duration of the PTW to the eDRX cycle. Therefore, the access network equipment can flexibly control the duration and the time of the paging process, that is, the flexibility of the paging process between the terminal equipment and the access network equipment is improved, that is, the flexibility of the terminal equipment monitoring the paging downlink control information from the access network equipment and receiving the paging message is improved.

According to a fifth aspect, in a first implementation form of the fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first parameter is a PTW scaling factor, and the PTW scaling factor is used for determining a duration of the target PTW; alternatively, the first parameter is a duration of the target PTW.

In a second implementation form of the fifth aspect of the present application, according to the first implementation form of the fifth aspect, when the first parameter is a PTW scaling factor, the duration of the target PTW is equal to the product of the duration of the initial PTW and the PTW scaling factor.

According to a fifth aspect, in a third implementation manner of the fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first parameter is an eDRX cycle scaling factor, and the eDRX cycle scaling factor is used for determining a target eDRX cycle; or, the first parameter is a target eDRX cycle.

According to a third implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, when the first parameter is an eDRX cycle scaling factor, the target eDRX cycle is equal to a product of an initial eDRX cycle and the eDRX cycle scaling factor.

According to the fifth aspect or any one of the first implementation manner of the fifth aspect to the fourth implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a fifth implementation manner of the fifth aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver unit is further configured to send the first parameter to a core network device.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may also be a chip or a module in a device, and may also be a chip or a system on a chip, where the communication device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to receive a first parameter from an access network device, where the first parameter is used to adjust a Paging Time Window (PTW) parameter of the terminal device and/or extend an eDRX cycle; and the processing unit is used for monitoring the paging downlink control information from the access network equipment according to the first parameter.

In this embodiment, since the access network device may configure the first parameter for the terminal device, the first parameter may adjust the duration of the PTW or the length of the eDRX cycle, so that the terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network device according to the first parameter. Therefore, the access network equipment can flexibly control the duration and the time of the paging process, namely, the flexibility of the paging process between the terminal equipment and the access network equipment is improved.

According to a sixth aspect, in a first implementation form of the sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present application, the first parameter is a PTW scaling factor, and the PTW scaling factor is used for determining a duration of the target PTW; or, the first parameter is a duration of the target PTW; the processing unit is specifically configured to monitor, in the target PTW, paging downlink control information from the access network device.

According to a first implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a second implementation manner of the sixth aspect of the present application, the processing unit is further configured to replace the duration of the initial PTW with the duration of the target PTW, where the duration of the target PTW is equal to a product of the duration of the initial PTW and the PTW scaling factor.

It is understood that, the processing unit is further configured to, when the first parameter is a PTW scaling factor, multiply the duration of the initial PTW by the PTW scaling factor to obtain the target PTW; or, the processing unit is further configured to replace the duration of the initial PTW with the duration of the target PTW when the first parameter is the duration of the target PTW.

According to a sixth aspect, in a third implementation manner of the sixth aspect of this embodiment of the present application, the first parameter is an eDRX cycle scaling factor, and the eDRX cycle scaling factor is used for determining a target eDRX cycle; or, the first parameter is a target eDRX cycle. The processing unit is specifically configured to monitor the paging downlink control information from the access network device according to the target eDRX cycle.

According to a third implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the sixth aspect of this embodiment of the present application, the processing unit is further configured to replace the initial eDRX cycle with the target eDRX cycle, where the target eDRX cycle is equal to a product of the initial eDRX cycle and the eDRX cycle scaling factor.

It is to be understood that, when the first parameter is an eDRX cycle scaling factor, the processing unit is further configured to multiply the initial eDRX cycle by the eDRX cycle scaling factor to obtain the target eDRX cycle; or, the processing unit is further configured to replace the initial eDRX cycle with the target eDRX cycle when the first parameter is the target eDRX cycle.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, where the communication device may also be a chip or a module in a device, and may also be a chip or a system on a chip, where the communication device includes: a transceiver unit, configured to receive a first message from an access network device, where the first message includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to immediately acquire the updated system information, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information after a first offset duration, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at a broadcast control channel BCCH modification period boundary.

In this embodiment, because the communication device may immediately acquire the updated system information based on the first indication information or acquire the updated system information after the first offset duration, compared with a scheme in the prior art that the updated system information is acquired only after the eDRX system message acquisition boundary, the present embodiment advances a range in which the terminal device may acquire the updated system information, which is beneficial to improving flexibility of the terminal device in acquiring the updated system information. In addition, compared with the prior art that the validity of the system information must be checked before access and the updated system information is acquired when the system information is invalid, the method and the device are beneficial to shortening the time delay introduced by the terminal device for acquiring the updated system information before access.

According to a seventh aspect, in a first implementation manner of the seventh aspect of this embodiment of the present application, the first message includes second indication information and the first indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary. The transceiver unit is further configured to acquire the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary.

According to a seventh aspect, in a second implementation manner of the seventh aspect of this embodiment of the present application, the first message includes the first indication information and does not include the second indication information. The transceiver unit is further configured to immediately acquire the updated system information.

According to a seventh aspect, in a third implementation manner of the seventh aspect of this embodiment of the present application, the first indication information is the first offset duration; alternatively, the first message further includes the first offset duration. The transceiver unit is further configured to obtain the system information after receiving the first offset duration of the first message.

According to the seventh aspect, or any one of the first implementation manner to the third implementation manner of the seventh aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the seventh aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the first indication information is used to indicate modification of the BCCH to a first terminal device, and an extended discontinuous reception eDRX cycle of the first terminal device is longer than a BCCH modification cycle. The second indication information is used to indicate modification of the BCCH to a second terminal device that does not include terminal devices having eDRX periods longer than the BCCH modification period.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, where the communication device may also be a chip or a module in a device, and may also be a chip or a system on a chip, where the communication device includes: and the receiving and sending unit is used for the terminal equipment to send the first message. The first message includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to immediately acquire the updated system information, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information after a first offset duration, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at a broadcast control channel BCCH modification period boundary.

According to the eighth aspect, in a first implementation manner of the eighth aspect of this embodiment of the present application, the first message includes second indication information and the first indication information, where the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary.

According to an eighth aspect of the second implementation form of the eighth aspect of this embodiment of the present application, the first message includes the first indication information and does not include the second indication information.

According to an eighth aspect of the present application, in a third implementation manner of the eighth aspect of the example, the first indication information is the first offset duration; alternatively, the first message further includes the first offset duration.

According to the eighth aspect or any one of the first to third implementation manners of the eighth aspect, in a fourth implementation manner of the eighth aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the first indication information is used to indicate modification of the BCCH to the first terminal device, and an extended discontinuous reception eDRX cycle of the first terminal device is longer than a BCCH modification cycle. The second indication information is used to indicate modification of the BCCH to a second terminal device that does not include terminal devices having eDRX periods longer than the BCCH modification period.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, where the communication device may be the access network device in the foregoing embodiment, and may also be a chip in the access network device. The communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. When the communication device is an access network device, the processing module may be a processor, and the transceiver module may be a transceiver; the access network device may further include a storage module, which may be a memory; the storage module is configured to store instructions, and the processing module executes the instructions stored by the storage module to cause the access network device to perform the method of the first aspect or any implementation manner of the first aspect, or to cause the access network device to perform the method of any implementation manner of the fourth aspect or any implementation manner of the fourth aspect. When the communication device is a chip within an access network device, for example, the communication device is a chip in the access network device, the processing module may be a processor, and the transceiver module may be an input/output interface, a pin, a circuit, or the like; the processing module executes the instructions stored by the storage module to cause the access network device to perform the method of the first aspect or any of the embodiments of the first aspect, or to cause the access network device to perform the method of the fourth aspect or any of the embodiments of the fourth aspect. The memory module may be a memory module (e.g., register, cache, etc.) within the chip, or may be a memory module (e.g., read only memory, random access memory, etc.) within the access network device that is external to the chip.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, where the communication device may be the terminal device in the foregoing embodiment, and may also be a chip in the terminal device. The communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. When the communication device is a terminal device, the processing module may be a processor, and the transceiver module may be a transceiver; the terminal device may further include a storage module, which may be a memory; the storage module is configured to store instructions, and the processing module executes the instructions stored by the storage module to cause the terminal device to perform the method of the second aspect or any of the embodiments of the second aspect, or to cause the terminal device to perform the method of any of the third aspect or any of the embodiments of the third aspect. When the communication device is a chip in a terminal device, for example, the communication device is a chip in the terminal device, the processing module may be a processor, and the transceiver module may be an input/output interface, a pin, a circuit, or the like; the processing module executes instructions stored by the storage module to cause the terminal device to perform the method of the first aspect or any of the embodiments of the first aspect, or to cause the terminal device to perform the method of the third aspect or any of the embodiments of the third aspect. The memory module may be a memory module (e.g., register, cache, etc.) within the chip, or may be a memory module (e.g., read only memory, random access memory, etc.) within the access network device that is external to the chip.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be an integrated circuit chip. The integrated circuit chip includes a processor. The processor is coupled with a memory for storing a program or instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the communication device to perform the method as in the first aspect or any of the embodiments of the first aspect, and the method as in any of the fourth aspect or any of the embodiments of the fourth aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, which may be an integrated circuit chip. The integrated circuit chip includes a processor. The processor is coupled with a memory for storing a program or instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the communication device to perform the method as in the second aspect or any of the embodiments of the second aspect, and the method as in any of the third aspect or any of the embodiments of the third aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in the first to fourth aspects above, and any of the various embodiments of the aspects above.

In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as described in the first to fourth aspects and any one of the various embodiments of the foregoing aspects.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, where the communication system includes the communication device in the first aspect and any one of the embodiments of the first aspect, and the communication device in any one of the second aspect and the second aspect; alternatively, the communication system includes the communication device in any of the above third aspect and the communication device in any of the above fourth aspect and fourth aspect.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 1 is a diagram of an application scenario of a paging method in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a paging method in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an eDRX cycle in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is another flow chart of a paging method in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a system information updating method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is another flow chart of a system information updating method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7A is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a system information updating method in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7B is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a system information updating method in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7C is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a system information updating method in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a communication device in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the communication device in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the communication device in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the communication device in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments.

The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like in the description and in the claims of the present application and in the drawings described above, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It will be appreciated that the data so used may be interchanged under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The following first introduces a system architecture and an application scenario applicable to the paging method proposed in the embodiment of the present application:

the scheme provided in the embodiment of the present application is mainly applied to a communication system based on a New Radio (NR) technology of a fifth generation mobile network (5th generation mobile networks, 5G), and may also be based on a subsequent evolution access system, which is not limited herein. Specifically, the scheme may be applied to an internet of things (IoT) system based on 5G NR, for example, based on a narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) system or an enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) system, which is not limited herein.

The scheme provided by the embodiment of the application is mainly applied to a scenario in which a terminal device configured with a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mechanism or a terminal device configured with an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) mechanism monitors a paging message. In the scene, the terminal equipment periodically enters a sleep mode without monitoring paging messages; and wakes up from the sleep state for another period in the cycle to listen for the paging message by decoding the paging message to perform a corresponding operation or update related parameters. Taking fig. 1 as an example, the communication system includes an access network device 101, a terminal device 102, and a core network device 103. In the scene of the internet of things, the terminal device 102 monitors a paging message to report data to the access network device 101; alternatively, the terminal device 102 listens for an incoming call (incoming call) from the access network device 101 to trigger a random access procedure. In addition, in the emergency warning scenario, the terminal device 102 may further determine whether to receive information of an Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS) and a Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) through a paging message. Furthermore, in this scenario, the core network device 103 may obtain the relevant information of the terminal device 102 from the access network device 101, so that the core network device 103 sends an indication to the terminal device 102.

In this embodiment, the access network device 101 may be a Radio Access Network (RAN) device, such as a base station or an access point; and may also refer to devices in the access network that communicate over the air interface with the wireless terminal device through one or more cells. The access network device 101 may be configured to interconvert a received air frame and an Internet Protocol (IP) packet, and serve as a router between the terminal device and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network may include an IP network. The access network device 101 may also coordinate management of attributes for the air interface. For example, the access network device 101 may include an evolved node B (enodeb, NodeB, eNB, or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution LTE system or an evolved LTE system (LTE-a), a next generation node B (gNB) in a New Radio (NR) system, or may also include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) in a cloud access network (cloudlan) system, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

It should be understood that the access network device 101 in the embodiment of the present application may be any one of the above devices or chips, and is not limited herein. The access network device 101 may be manufactured, sold or used as a stand-alone product, whether as a device or as a chip. In this embodiment and the following embodiments, only the access network device is taken as an example for description.

Further, the aforementioned terminal equipment 102 includes equipment that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, and may include, for example, a handheld device having wireless connection capability or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminal device 102 may communicate with a core network via a Radio Access Network (RAN), exchanging voice and/or data with the RAN. The terminal device may include a User Equipment (UE), a wireless terminal device, a mobile terminal device, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a subscriber station (subscriber station), a mobile station (mobile), a remote station (remote station), an Access Point (AP), a remote terminal device (remote terminal), an access terminal device (access terminal), a user terminal device (user terminal), a user agent (user agent), or a user equipment (user device). For example, mobile phones (or so-called "cellular" phones), computers with mobile terminal equipment, portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included or vehicle-mounted mobile devices, smart wearable devices, and the like may be included. For example, Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and the like. In addition, if the terminal device 102 is a vehicle-mounted terminal in a 5G-based vehicle networking (V2X) system, the terminal device 102 may be a wearable device, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothes and shoes, or other portable devices that can be worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothes or accessories of the user, which is not limited in the present application. In addition, in the scenario of the internet of things, the terminal device 102 may be a limited device, for example, a low power consumption terminal device, or a terminal device with limited storage capability, or a terminal device with limited computing capability, or other NB-IoT devices and eMTC devices, which is not limited herein.

It should be understood that the terminal device 102 in the embodiment of the present application may be any one of the above devices or chips, and is not limited herein. The terminal device 102 may be manufactured, sold or used as a stand-alone product, whether as a device or as a chip. In this embodiment and the following embodiments, only the terminal device is taken as an example for description.

In addition, the core network device 103 may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element for controlling the terminal device 102, or a User Plane Function (UPF) network element for transmitting data to the terminal device 102, and is not limited herein.

Based on the foregoing system architecture and application scenario, the following describes a flow of a paging method, specifically as shown in fig. 2, including the following steps:

201. the access network device configures a first parameter for the terminal device.

Specifically, the access network device may send the first parameter to the terminal device through a proprietary signaling. Proprietary signaling such as radio resource control release (RRC release) messages; alternatively, the access network device may broadcast the first parameter to the terminal device, which is not limited herein.

The terminal device is converted from an RRC connected state to an inactive state (inactive state) after an RRC release procedure, and when the terminal device is in the inactive state, the access network device stores a Context (Context) of the terminal device, where the Context refers to a link established between functional entities and used for information transmission. In addition, the access network device also stores connection information between the terminal device and the core network device. If the last access network device serving the terminal device receives downlink data from the UPF network element or downlink signaling from the AMF network element, the access network device pages the terminal device in all cells of an access network notification area (radio access network, RAN notification area, RNA). Wherein the RNA region refers to a range where the access network device can page the terminal device. Specifically, it may be understood that when the terminal device is located in the RNA region, the movement of the terminal device may not be reported to the core network, and only when the RNA timer of the terminal device is overtime or the terminal device moves out of the RNA range, the terminal device needs to initiate an RNAU (RAN-based notification area update) flow to report to the core network device. In this embodiment, the RNA region may be one or more cells under the access network device, or the RNA region may be formed by a plurality of cells under a plurality of access network devices, which is not limited herein. When the RNA region is composed of a plurality of cells under a plurality of access network devices, the access network device may send an XnAP-RAN-Paging message to other access network devices in the RNA region through an Xn port.

In addition, the first parameter is a parameter related to an eDRX period (eDRX period) or a Paging Time Window (PTW). As shown in fig. 3, a terminal device configured with eDRX starts monitoring a Paging Occasion (PO) at a start location (PTW _ start) of a PTW configured for the terminal device by a core network device until the monitoring is stopped at an end location (PTW _ stop) of the PTW, or until a paging message including a non-access stratum identity (NAS ID) of the terminal device is received during the PTW. It should be noted that the time for the terminal device to end listening for paging is based on the earlier time of the time corresponding to the end position (PTW _ stop) of the PTW and the time corresponding to the reception of the paging message containing the NAS ID. The terminal device will attempt to receive a paging message (paging message) from the access network device at each PO within the PTW. It should be noted that what the terminal device monitors in each of the aforementioned POs is paging downlink control information (paging DCI) scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identity (P-RNTI) on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and if the aforementioned paging downlink control information is monitored, the terminal device further receives a paging message on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). Therefore, the terminal device may control the flexibility of the terminal device to receive the paging message by adjusting the length of the PTW or the length of the eDRX cycle.

In this embodiment, the first parameter is used to adjust the ratio of the paging time window PTW to the eDRX cycle.

Optionally, the first parameter may be used to adjust a paging time window PTW parameter of the terminal device, so as to obtain a target PTW. At this time, the first parameter may be a PTW scaling factor (PTW scaling factor), where the PTW scaling factor is used to adjust a duration of a PTW of the terminal device to determine a duration of a target PTW; the first parameter may also be directly the duration of the target PTW; in addition, the first parameter may also play a role in modifying the duration of the PTW in other manners, for example, a sequence number indicates a certain value in a predefined PTW length value list, and the specific details are not limited herein.

Optionally, the first parameter may also be used to adjust an eDRX cycle of the terminal device, so as to obtain a target eDRX cycle. At this time, the first parameter may be an eDRX period scaling factor (eDRX period scaling factor), where the eDRX period scaling factor is used to adjust the length of an eDRX period of the terminal device, so as to determine a target eDRX period; the first parameter may also be directly a target eDRX cycle, and in addition, the first parameter may also play a role in modifying the eDRX cycle in other manners, for example, a value in a predefined eDRX cycle value list is indicated by a sequence number, which is not limited herein.

Furthermore, it should be further understood that the access network device may configure the foregoing first parameter for the terminal device when any of the following preset conditions is met:

in an optional preset condition, the preset condition for configuring the first parameter may be set according to a time synchronization condition between access network devices in the RNA region. Alternatively, when time synchronization between the respective access network devices within the RNA region is performed, the PTW parameter may be configured such that the duration of the target PTW is shortened; when the time between the various access network devices within the RNA region is not synchronized, the PTW parameters may be configured such that the duration of the target PTW is extended. In addition, the time synchronization between the two access network devices can be understood as that the time deviation between the two access network devices is within a certain threshold range; the time between the two access network devices is not synchronized, and it can be understood that the time deviation between the two access network devices is greater than a certain threshold. For example, the terminal device is located in a cell under a candidate access network device within the RNA region, the access network device and the candidate access network device are time synchronized. At this time, since the foregoing access network device is the access network device to which the terminal device is connected last, the access network device retains the context of the terminal device. If the access network device is time-synchronized with other access network devices (i.e. the candidate access network devices) in the RNA region, adjusting the length of the PTW can control the flexibility of the terminal device to monitor the paging downlink control information and receive the paging message. For example, shortening the duration of the PTW may save energy consumption of the terminal device; extending the aforementioned PTW may ensure that the terminal device is not prone to miss a PO after moving or after cell reselection. The flexibility of controlling the terminal equipment to monitor the paging downlink control information and receive the paging message by the eDRX period can be adjusted. For example, the eDRX cycle is extended to save energy consumption of the terminal device; the eDRX cycle is shortened to speed up the time when the terminal device enters the next PO monitoring.

In another optional preset condition, the RNA region is a cell under the access network device. That is, the terminal device moves only within a certain cell under the access network device. Because the terminal device does not miss the PO due to cell reselection, the access network device may shorten the duration of the PTW by configuring the first parameter to achieve the effect of saving energy.

In another optional preset condition, the terminal device is in a stationary state, or a moving track of the terminal device is relatively fixed and is far away from a cell edge. Whether the terminal device is far away from the cell edge or close to the cell center can be measured by the signal quality of the terminal device. The signal quality of the terminal device may be measured by at least one of a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP), a Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ), or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). For example, when the signal quality of the terminal device is greater than the second preset value, the terminal device may be considered to be far away from the cell edge. Moreover, if the movement trajectory of the terminal device is relatively fixed, it can be understood that the terminal device hardly performs cell reselection, and a situation that PO is missed due to cell reselection does not occur, so that the access network device can shorten the PTW by configuring the first parameter to achieve an energy saving effect.

It should be understood that the first preset value and the second preset value may be adjusted according to an actual application scenario, and the specific data of the first preset value and the second preset value is not limited in this embodiment.

202. And the terminal equipment monitors paging downlink control information from the access network equipment based on the first parameter.

In this embodiment, after receiving the first parameter from the access network device, the terminal device may monitor the paging downlink control information from the access network device in a certain time window within the target eDRX cycle determined by the first parameter and receive a paging message; or monitoring paging downlink control information from the access network equipment in a target PTW determined by the first parameter and receiving a paging message; or monitoring paging downlink control information from the access network equipment in the target PTW in the target eDRX period and receiving a paging message. It can also be understood that the terminal device may monitor the paging downlink control information from the access network device and receive the paging message at some number of POs within the target eDRX period determined by the first parameter.

It should be understood that the terminal device will also receive the paging message from the network device after monitoring the aforementioned paging downlink control information. Therefore, in some embodiments, it may also be interpreted that the terminal device listens for paging messages from the access network device. In this embodiment and the following embodiments, the example that the terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information and receives the paging message is described.

203. The access network device sends the first parameter to the core network device.

In this embodiment, step 203 is an optional step. When the access network device executes step 203, there is no explicit chronological definition of step 202 and step 203. That is, the step of sending the first parameter to the core network device by the access network device and the step of monitoring the paging downlink control information by the terminal device are relatively independent. It can be understood that the access network device may first send the first parameter to the core network device, and then the access network device sends the paging message to the terminal device based on the first parameter, so that the terminal device may listen to the paging downlink control information from the access network device based on the first parameter. It can also be understood that, while the access network device sends the first parameter to the core network device, the access network device also sends a page to the terminal device based on the first parameter, and then the terminal device monitors paging downlink control information from the access network device based on the first parameter, which is not limited herein.

After step 203 is executed, the core network device may acquire the first parameter, and determine a target PTW and/or a target eDRX cycle according to the first parameter. In addition, when interacting with the access network device, the core network device may deliver the target PTW and/or the target eDRX cycle to the access network device through downlink data from the UPF or downlink signaling from the AMF.

In this embodiment, since the access network device may configure the first parameter for the terminal device, the first parameter may adjust the duration of the PTW or the length of the eDRX cycle, and further may adjust the ratio of the duration of the PTW to the eDRX cycle. Therefore, the access network equipment can flexibly control the duration and the time of the paging process, namely, the flexibility of the paging process between the terminal equipment and the access network equipment is improved.

The following further describes the flow of the paging method, and as shown in fig. 4 in detail, the method includes the following steps:

401. and the core network equipment configures a paging time window PTW for the terminal equipment.

In this embodiment, the core network device may send the length (PTW length) of the paging time window to the terminal device through signaling interaction with the terminal device. Optionally, when the core network device is an AMF network element, the core network device may configure a PTW for the terminal device in an attach procedure. For example, the core network device carries the length of the paging time window in an attach accept (attach accept) message based on an attach request (attach request). Optionally, when the core network device is a UPF network element, the core network device may configure a PTW for the terminal device in a terminal device tracking flow. For example, the core network device carries the length of the paging time window in a tracking area update accept (TAU accept) message based on a tracking area update request (TAU request). It should be understood that, the foregoing lists only some common flows that may be used to configure the PTW to the terminal device, and other signaling flows may also be multiplexed in practical applications, and are not limited herein.

402. The core network equipment configures an inactive state transition reporting mechanism related to the terminal equipment for the access network equipment.

The mechanism for reporting the inactive state transition of the terminal device refers to that the access network device reports the inactive state transition condition of the terminal device to the core network device. The inactive state transition condition of the terminal device is used to indicate whether the terminal device enters an inactive state. Optionally, the Inactive state Transition condition of the terminal device may be configured through an RRC Inactive state Transition Report Request ie (RRC Inactive Transition Report Request ie), and in the case that the Transition Report is configured, the access network device may notify the core network through an RRC Inactive state Transition Report (RRC Inactive Transition Report) when the terminal device performs an Inactive state Transition.

In this embodiment, the core network device may send an RRC Inactive transmission Report Request IE to the access network device through signaling interaction with the access network device. Optionally, the core network device may carry the RRC Inactive transmission Request IE in a context modification Request (context modification Request). At this time, the access network device may reply a context modification response (context modification response) message to the core network device to notify the core network device that the configuration is successful. Optionally, the core network device may carry the RRC Inactive transmission Request IE in an initial context setup Request (initial context setup Request). At this time, the access network device may reply an initial context setup response (initial context setup response) message to the core network device to notify the core network device that the configuration is successful.

In addition, in practical application, the core network device may also configure an inactive state transition reporting mechanism for the terminal device in other signaling for the access network device, which is not limited herein. It should be understood that, after the core network device configures the mechanism for reporting the inactive state transition of the terminal device for the access network device, if the terminal device enters the inactive state, the access network device may report to the core network device, that is, the access network device may send the inactive state transition condition of the terminal device to the core network device

It should be understood that the access network device may report multiple times. For example, when the state of the terminal device is converted from the idle state to the inactive state or from the connected state to the inactive state, the access network device may report the state of the terminal device to the core network device, so that the core network device may know that the terminal device has entered the inactive state.

In this embodiment, when the first parameter in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 2 is used to adjust the PTW configuration of the paging time window of the terminal device, the first parameter may be a PTW scaling factor. At this point, the access network device will perform step 403 a. When the first parameter in the foregoing embodiment corresponding to fig. 2 is used to adjust the eDRX cycle of the terminal device, the first parameter may be an eDRX cycle scaling factor. At this point, the access network device will perform step 403 b.

403a, the access network device sends the PTW scale factor to the terminal device.

And the PTW scale factor is used for adjusting the duration of the PTW of the terminal equipment. Optionally, the PTW scaling factor is used to determine a target PTW, and the target PTW adopts the adjusted time length. Alternatively, the product of the PTW scaling factor and the duration of the initial PTW may determine the duration of the target PTW, i.e., determine the target PTW. Therefore, the access network device may adjust the timing when the terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information and receives the paging message by using the PTW scaling factor.

Optionally, the PTW scaling factor is greater than 0 and less than 1. It can be understood that the access network device instructs the terminal device to shorten the duration of the PTW; it can also be understood that the access network device controls the terminal device to determine a shorter PTW as the target PTW. Because the terminal device needs to consume power when monitoring the paging downlink control information and receiving the paging message, the time length of the PTW is shortened, that is, the time length of the terminal device monitoring the paging downlink control information in one eDRX cycle is shortened, so that the energy consumption of the terminal device is saved, and the standby time of the terminal device is prolonged.

403b, the access network device sends the eDRX cycle scale factor to the terminal device.

Wherein the eDRX cycle scale factor is used for adjusting the eDRX cycle of the terminal equipment. Optionally, the eDRX cycle scaling factor is used to determine a target eDRX cycle. Optionally, the product of the eDRX cycle scaling factor and the initial eDRX cycle may determine the target eDRX cycle. Accordingly, the access network device may adjust how often access network paging messages (RAN-paging) are transmitted using the eDRX cycle scaling factor.

404a, the terminal device determines a target PTW based on the PTW scaling factor, and monitors paging downlink control information from the access network device in the target PTW.

In this embodiment, after the access network device performs step 403a, the terminal device will perform step 404 a.

Specifically, reference may be made to the related description in step 403a, which is not described herein again.

404b, the terminal device determines a target eDRX cycle based on the eDRX cycle scale factor, and monitors paging downlink control information from the access network device in the PTW in the target eDRX cycle.

In this embodiment, after the access network device performs step 403b, the terminal device will perform step 404 b.

Specifically, reference may be made to the related description in step 403b, which is not described herein again.

405a, the access network equipment sends the PTW scale factor to the core network equipment.

Step 405a is an optional step. When the access network device executes step 405a, there is no explicit chronological definition between step 405a and steps 403a to 404 a. That is, the step of sending the PTW scaling factor to the core network device by the access network device is independent from the step of determining the target PTW and monitoring the paging downlink control information from the access network device by the terminal device based on the PTW scaling factor. It is understood that the access network device may perform step 405a first, then step 403a, and then the terminal device performs step 404 a. It can also be understood that the access network device performs step 403a and step 405a simultaneously, and then the terminal device performs step 404 a.

After the access network device performs step 403a, the access network device may perform step 405 a.

Optionally, the access network device may send the PTW scale factor to the core network device through an RRC inactive transition report (RRC inactive transition report). In addition, the access network device may also transmit the PTW scaling factor to the core network device by using signaling between the access network device and the core network device, which is not limited herein.

In this embodiment, after the access network device sends the PTW scaling factor to the core network device, the core network device also determines a target PTW based on the PTW scaling factor, and delivers a paging message to the access network device according to the target PTW. Therefore, the time range of the core network device submitting the paging message to the access network device is kept consistent with the time range of the terminal device monitoring the paging message from the access network device, and the terminal device can monitor the paging downlink control information from the access network device and receive the paging message in the target PTW.

405b, the access network device sends the eDRX cycle scale factor to the core network device.

Step 405b is an optional step. When the access network device executes step 405b, there is no explicit chronological definition between step 405b and steps 403b to 404 b. That is, the step of the access network device sending the eDRX cycle scaling factor to the core network device is independent from the step of the terminal device determining the target eDRX cycle based on the eDRX cycle scaling factor and monitoring the paging downlink control information from the access network device. It is understood that the access network device may perform step 405b, then step 403b, and then the terminal device performs step 404 b. It can also be understood that the access network device performs step 403b and step 405b simultaneously, and then the terminal device performs step 404 b.

After the access network device performs step 403b, the access network device may perform step 405 b.

Optionally, the access network device may send the eDRX cycle scaling factor to the core network device through an RRC inactive transition report (RRC inactive transition report). In addition, the access network device may also transmit the eDRX cycle scaling factor to the core network device by using other signaling with the core network device, which is not limited herein.

In this embodiment, after the access network device sends the eDRX cycle scaling factor to the core network device, the core network device also determines a target eDRX cycle based on the eDRX cycle scaling factor. At this time, the access network device and the core network device adopt the same period, which is beneficial to data synchronization. If the target eDRX period is larger than the initial eDRX period, the energy consumption of the terminal equipment is saved, and the standby time of the terminal equipment is prolonged.

Optionally, when the target eDRX cycle is any one of the set of selectable eDRX cycles, the access network device may not perform step 405 b.

When 403b is executed and 405b is not executed, the core network still delivers downlink data from the UPF network element or downlink signaling from the AMF network element according to the original cycle, or sends a core network paging (CN-paging) message, but the access network equipment can flexibly change the frequency of sending the access network paging (RAN-paging) message.

When 405b is executed, it may be understood that the access network device modifies eDRX cycle parameters of both the terminal device and the core network side. Optionally, the eDRX cycle scaling factor is greater than 1. It can be understood that the access network device instructs the terminal device to extend the eDRX cycle; it can also be understood that the access network device reduces the number of times that the terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information within a period of time; it can also be understood that the access network device controls the terminal device to determine a longer eDRX cycle as the target eDRX cycle. Because the terminal device needs to consume power when monitoring the paging downlink control information and receiving the paging message, the longer eDRX cycle prolongs the time of the terminal device in the dormant state, and the ratio of the duration of the PTW of the terminal device to the eDRX cycle is reduced, which is relatively shorter than the duration of the terminal device needing to monitor the paging downlink control information in the eDRX cycle. Therefore, the energy consumption of the terminal equipment is saved, and the standby time of the terminal equipment is prolonged.

It should be understood that the foregoing steps 403a to 405a and 403b to 405b are independent from each other. That is, the access network device sending the PTW scaling factor to the terminal device does not affect the access network device sending the eDRX cycle scaling factor to the terminal device. The terminal device adjusts the duration of the PTW and/or the eDRX period based on the received first parameter. When the access network device only performs steps 403a and 403b, the terminal device will also perform steps 404a and 404 b. At this time, the terminal device may determine a target PTW and a target eDRX cycle, i.e., the terminal device will monitor a paging message from the access network device at the target PTW within the target eDRX cycle.

Alternatively, when the first parameter is the duration of the target PTW, the PTW scaling factor in the step 403a may be directly replaced with the duration of the target PTW. At this time, the terminal device in step 404a may directly utilize the target PTW without performing other calculations, i.e., directly listen to the paging message from the access network device in the target PTW.

Optionally, when the first parameter is the target eDRX cycle, the eDRX cycle scaling factor in step 403b may be directly replaced with the duration of the target eDRX cycle. At this time, the terminal device in step 404b can directly utilize the target eDRX cycle without performing other calculations, i.e., directly monitor the paging message from the access network device in a time window (e.g., paging time window) within the target eDRX cycle.

Based on the system architecture and the application scenario, the embodiment of the application further provides a system information updating method. The following describes a flow of the system information updating method, and as shown in fig. 5 in detail, the method includes the following steps:

501. the terminal device receives a first message from the access network device.

In this embodiment, when system information in the access network device is changed, the access network device may send a first message to the terminal device. The terminal device may then receive the first message from the access network device. The first message at least includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire updated system information (i.e., new system information) at a certain time after receiving the first message. Specifically, the first indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to immediately acquire updated system information, instruct the terminal device to acquire the updated system information after a first offset time (offset time), or instruct the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) modification period boundary.

Optionally, the first indication information may be located in paging downlink control information (paging DCI) scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identity (P-RNTI), and in this case, the first message may be the paging downlink control information. Alternatively, the first indication information may be carried in a short message (short message) in the paging downlink control information, in which case the first message may be the short message. Alternatively, the first indication information may be located in a paging message (paging message) carried on a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). At this time, the first message may be the aforementioned paging message. In addition, in the 5G NR or subsequent evolution systems, the first indication information may also be carried in other messages or signaling, and the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the message carrying the first indication information.

502. And the terminal equipment acquires the updated system information according to the first message.

In this embodiment, the terminal device will obtain updated system information based on the content indicated by the first indication information. That is, the terminal device may immediately acquire the updated system information, may acquire the updated system information after the first offset duration, and may also acquire the updated system information at the boundary of the modification period of the BCCH.

Specifically, reference may be made to the foregoing step 501, which is not described herein again.

In this embodiment, because the terminal device may immediately acquire the updated system information based on the first indication information or acquire the updated system information after the first offset duration, compared with a scheme in which the updated system information is acquired only after the eDRX system message acquisition boundary in the prior art, the present embodiment advances the range in which the terminal device may acquire the updated system information, which is beneficial to improving the flexibility of acquiring the updated system information by the terminal device and shortening the time delay introduced by the terminal device to acquire the updated system information.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, the system information updating method will be further described below. Specifically, as shown in fig. 6, the system information updating method includes the following steps:

601. the terminal device receives a first message from the access network device.

The first message at least includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that system information in the access network device is about to change, so that the terminal device obtains updated system information at a certain time after receiving the first message. Specifically, reference may be made to the related description in step 501, and details are not described here.

In this embodiment, the first message may further include other indication information in different scenarios, so that the terminal device obtains updated system information at different times based on the different indication information. The following are introduced separately:

in an alternative embodiment, the first message includes the first indication information and the second indication information. Wherein the first indication information is used for indicating modification of a broadcast control channel, BCCH, to the first terminal device, and the second indication information is used for indicating modification of the BCCH to the second terminal device. That is to say, the first indication information and the second indication information are used to indicate different terminal devices, and what is indicated is that the BCCH of the access network device is modified, so that the different terminal devices obtain updated system information at a certain subsequent time. Wherein the eDRX cycle of the first terminal device is longer than the BCCH modification cycle. That is, the first terminal device is a terminal device configured with an eDRX mechanism, and the eDRX cycle is longer than the BCCH modification cycle, that is, the eDRX cycle is longer than the system information change cycle. In addition, the second terminal device is a terminal device which is not configured with the eDRX cycle. For example, the second terminal device is a terminal device other than the first terminal device, or a terminal device configured with only the DRX mechanism.

In addition, the first indication information may indicate that the system information of the terminal device configured with the eDRX mechanism is changed, and the second indication information may indicate that the system information of the terminal device configured with the DRX mechanism is changed.

Further, similar to the aforementioned first indication information, the second indication information may be located in the paging DCI scrambled by the P-RNTI, and at this time, the first message may be paging downlink control information. Alternatively, the first indication information may be carried in a short message (short message) in the paging downlink control information, in which case the first message may be the short message. Alternatively, the second indication information may be located in a paging message (paging message) carried on the PDSCH. In addition, in the 5G NR or subsequent evolution system, the second indication information may also be carried in other messages or signaling. In addition, in the 5G NR or subsequent evolution system, the second indication information may also be carried in other messages or signaling, and the embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the message carrying the second indication information.

Optionally, the first indication information is systemlnfommodify-eDRX; the second indication is systemlnfomformation. It should be understood that, in practical applications, other characters or fields may also be used to represent the aforementioned first indication information and second indication information, and are not limited herein.

In this embodiment, when the terminal device determines that the first message includes the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device will execute step 602 a.

In another alternative embodiment, the first message only includes the first indication information and not the second indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate a modification of the broadcast control channel BCCH to the first terminal device, the eDRX cycle of the first terminal device being longer than the BCCH modification cycle. It can also be understood that the first indication information is used for notifying the terminal device configured with eDRX that the system information changes. Optionally, the first indication information is systemlnfommodify-eDRX. Specifically, reference may be made to the description of the first indication information in the foregoing embodiments, and details are not described here.

In this embodiment, when the terminal device determines that the first message only includes the foregoing first indication information and does not include the second indication information, the terminal device will execute step 602 b.

In another alternative embodiment, the first message includes a first offset duration. Optionally, the first indication information is the first offset duration; alternatively, the first message includes the first indication information and the first offset duration.

When the first indication information is the first offset duration, the location carried by the first offset duration may refer to the description of the location carried by the first indication information, which is not described herein again.

When the first message includes the first indication information and the first offset duration, the first offset duration may be carried in the same message as the first indication information or may be carried in a different message from the first indication information, which is not limited herein. For example, the first indication information is carried in a short message in the paging downlink control information, and the first offset duration is carried in the paging downlink control information but is not in the short message. In practical applications, other bearer forms may exist, and are not specifically listed here.

In this embodiment, when the terminal device determines that the first message includes the first offset duration, the terminal device will execute step 602 c.

And 602a, the terminal equipment acquires updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary.

In this embodiment, when the first message includes the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device will obtain the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary. Alternatively, it can be understood that the terminal device may acquire the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary at the earliest time. Since the length of the eDRX system message acquisition cycle is multiple times the length of the BCCH modification cycle, multiple BCCH modification cycle boundaries may exist before the eDRX system message acquisition cycle boundary. Therefore, it should also be understood that the aforementioned BCCH modification period boundary refers to the next BCCH modification period boundary after the first message is received by the terminal device, and can also be understood as the nearest BCCH modification period boundary after the first message is received by the terminal device. For the convenience of understanding, taking fig. 7A as an example for description, if the terminal device receives the first message at time T4, and the first message includes the first indication information and the second indication information, the terminal device may acquire the updated system information at the earliest time T2.

Therefore, the time when the terminal device acquires the updated system information is not earlier than the BCCH modification period boundary and not later than the eDRX system message acquisition boundary. That is, the terminal device will acquire updated system information at or after the BCCH modification period boundary. For ease of understanding, reference will still be made to fig. 7A as an example. If the first message received by the terminal device includes the aforementioned first indication information and second indication information, the terminal device may determine that the time of receiving the first message is within the nth BCCH modification period (i.e., the range from time T1 to time T2), and the access network device will send the updated system information to the terminal device at the beginning of the (n + 1) th BCCH modification period (i.e., after time T2). At this time, the terminal device may determine that the updated system information is available at time T2. But the terminal device has not yet determined the time interval between the current time and the time T2. Therefore, the terminal device needs to calculate the exact position of the time T2, which can also be understood as calculating the time length of the terminal device between the time when the first message is received and the time T2, that is, the time length of the terminal device between the time T4 and the time T2. When the terminal device determines the exact location of time T2, the terminal device can acquire updated system information between time T2 to time T3, and thus the range of the system information that can be acquired is T2, T3.

In this embodiment, since the terminal device can obtain the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary, the BCCH modification period boundary is generally earlier than the eDRX system information obtaining boundary. Compared with the scheme that the updated system information can be acquired only after the eDRX system information acquisition boundary in the prior art, the embodiment advances the range in which the terminal device can acquire the updated system information, which is beneficial to improving the flexibility of the terminal device in acquiring the updated system information. In addition, compared with the prior art that the validity of the system information must be checked before access and the updated system information is acquired when the system information is invalid, the method and the device are beneficial to shortening the time delay introduced by the terminal device for acquiring the updated system information before access.

And 602b, the terminal equipment immediately acquires the updated system information.

In this embodiment, when the first message includes the first indication information but does not include the second indication information, the terminal device immediately acquires the updated system information.

For ease of understanding, fig. 7B is taken as an example for description. If the terminal device receives the first message only including the first indication information and not including the second indication information, the terminal device may determine that the time of receiving the first message is later than the start position of the (n + 1) th BCCH modification period (i.e., after time T2). For example, the terminal device receives the first message at time T5. At this time, the terminal device can immediately acquire the updated system information. Alternatively, the terminal device may acquire the updated system information between the time T5 and the time T3, and thus the terminal device may acquire the updated system information in the range of T5, T3.

In this embodiment, since the terminal device can acquire the updated system information as early as possible based on the first message, the flexibility of acquiring the updated system information by the terminal device can be improved, and the time delay caused by acquiring the updated system information before the terminal device accesses can be further shortened.

And 602c, the terminal device acquires the updated system information after receiving the first offset duration of the first message.

Wherein, the first indication information is a first offset duration; or, the first message further includes a first offset duration in addition to the first indication information or the second indication information.

And when the first indication information is the first offset duration, the terminal equipment acquires the updated system information after receiving the first offset duration in the first message. Taking fig. 7C as an example, if the time when the terminal device receives the first message is T6 and indicates the first offset duration, the terminal device may obtain the updated system information at the first offset duration after the time T6 (i.e., at the time T7). It is also understood that the terminal device may acquire the updated system information at the earliest time at the first offset time of the aforementioned first message (i.e., time T7).

In addition, the first message may further include the at least one indication information in addition to the first offset duration.

Optionally, the first message includes the first indication information, the second indication information, and the first offset duration. Since the terminal device obtains the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary when the first message includes the aforementioned first indication information and second indication information. (please refer to step 602a above) therefore, the first offset duration is a duration between the time when the terminal device receives the first message and the BCCH modification period boundary. Taking fig. 7C as an example, the first offset period is a period between the time T4 and the time T2. In this embodiment, the terminal device may directly determine the time at which the updated system information can be obtained earliest according to the first offset time without performing calculation, which is beneficial to reducing the calculation amount of the terminal device and saving the energy consumption of the terminal device.

Optionally, the first message includes the first indication information and the first offset duration, and does not include the second indication information. At this time, the terminal device obtains the updated system information at a time corresponding to the first offset duration after receiving the first message. Specifically, the first offset duration may be 0, and at this time, the terminal device may immediately acquire the updated system information. In this embodiment, the time for the terminal device to acquire the updated system information may be flexibly controlled by adjusting the first offset duration, which is beneficial to improving the flexibility for the terminal device to acquire the updated system information and reducing the time delay for the terminal device to access the cell.

It should be understood that the terminal device may perform any one of the

aforementioned steps

602a, 602b, and 602 c. The terminal device may also perform the foregoing step 602a and step 602c at the same time; alternatively, the terminal device may perform step 602b and step 602c simultaneously, which is not limited herein.

Based on the foregoing embodiment, for one system information change, the access network device may continuously send the foregoing first message multiple times, and then the terminal device may receive the first message multiple times, and the terminal device may misunderstand that the system information has changed multiple times, and further repeatedly acquire updated system information, which causes unnecessary power consumption. In this regard, in some optional embodiments, the first message may further include third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate whether the updated system information is changed. Optionally, the third indication information may be carried in a short message (short message). For example, 1bit is set in the short message, and if the bit in the third indication information currently received by the terminal device is not inverted compared with the bit in the third indication information received last time by the terminal device, the terminal device may determine that the third indication information indicates the last system information modification, or determine that the terminal device receives the repeated first message. And if the bit in the third indication information currently received by the terminal equipment is inverted compared with the bit in the third indication information received by the terminal equipment last time, the terminal equipment acquires the updated system information according to the first message. In such an embodiment, it is advantageous to prevent the terminal device from repeatedly acquiring the same system information to cause power consumption.

As shown in fig. 8, the present embodiment provides a schematic structural diagram of another communication device 80. It should be understood that the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments corresponding to fig. 2, fig. 4, fig. 5, and fig. 6 may be based on the structure of the communication device 80 shown in fig. 8 in this embodiment.

The communication device 80 includes at least one processor 801, at least one memory 802, and at least one transceiver 803. Wherein the processor 801, the memory 802 and the transceiver 803 are connected. Optionally, the communication device 80 may also include an input device 805, an output device 806, and one or more antennas 804. The antenna 804 is connected to the transceiver 803, and the input device 805 and the output device 806 are connected to the processor 801.

In this embodiment, the memory 802 is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The memory 802 may be separate and coupled to the processor 801. Optionally, the memory 802 may be integrated with the processor 801, for example, within one or more chips. The memory 802 can store program codes for executing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and the processor 801 controls the execution of the program codes, and various executed computer program codes can also be regarded as drivers of the processor 801. It should be understood that fig. 8 in this embodiment only shows one memory and one processor, but in practical applications, multiple processors or multiple memories may exist in the communication device 80, and are not limited herein. The memory 802 may also be referred to as a storage medium, a storage device, or the like. The memory 802 may be a memory element on the same chip as the processor, i.e., an on-chip memory element, or a separate memory element, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the transceiver 803 may be used to support the reception or transmission of radio frequency signals between the communication device 80 and the access network device, and the transceiver 803 may be connected to the antenna 804. The transceiver 803 includes a transmitter Tx and a receiver Rx. Specifically, one or more antennas 804 may receive a radio frequency signal, and the receiver Rx of the transceiver 803 is configured to receive the radio frequency signal from the antennas 804, convert the radio frequency signal into a digital baseband signal or a digital intermediate frequency signal, and provide the digital baseband signal or the digital intermediate frequency signal to the processor 801, so that the processor 801 performs further processing on the digital baseband signal or the digital intermediate frequency signal, such as demodulation processing and decoding processing. In addition, the transmitter Tx in the transceiver 803 is also used to receive a modulated digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal from the processor 801, convert the modulated digital baseband signal or digital intermediate frequency signal into a radio frequency signal, and transmit the radio frequency signal through the one or more antennas 804. Specifically, the receiver Rx may selectively perform one or more stages of down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion on the rf signal to obtain a digital baseband signal or a digital intermediate frequency signal, and the sequence of the down-mixing and analog-to-digital conversion is adjustable. The transmitter Tx may selectively perform one or more stages of up-mixing and digital-to-analog conversion processes on the modulated digital baseband signal or the modulated digital intermediate frequency signal to obtain the rf signal, where the order of the up-mixing and the digital-to-analog conversion processes is adjustable. The digital baseband signal and the digital intermediate frequency signal may be collectively referred to as a digital signal.

It should be understood that the aforementioned transceiver 803 may also be referred to as a transceiving unit, a transceiver, a transceiving means, etc. Optionally, a device for implementing a receiving function in the transceiver unit may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device for implementing a sending function in the transceiver unit may be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the transceiver unit includes a receiving unit and a sending unit, the receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, an input port, a receiving circuit, and the like, and the sending unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a sending circuit, and the like.

The processor 801 may be a baseband processor or a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and the baseband processor and the CPU may be integrated together or separated. The processor 801 may be configured to implement various functions for the terminal device, such as processing communication protocols and communication data, or controlling the whole terminal device, executing software programs, and processing data of the software programs; or to assist in completing computational processing tasks, such as processing of graphical images or audio, etc.; or the processor 801 may be configured to perform one or more of the functions described above.

In addition, the output device 806 is in communication with the processor 801 and may display information in a variety of ways, which are not limited thereto.

Specifically, in the communication device 80, the transceiver 803 may receive a first parameter from an access network device; and monitoring paging downlink control information from the access network equipment according to the first parameter and receiving a paging message.

Specifically, in the communication device 80, the transceiver 803 may listen to paging downlink control information from the access network device within the target PTW and receive a paging message; or monitoring paging downlink control information from the access network equipment in the target eDRX period and receiving a paging message.

Specifically, in the communication device 80, the transceiver 803 may receive a first message from an access network device. The processor 801 may obtain updated system information at BCCH modification period boundaries; alternatively, the processor 801 may obtain updated system information immediately; alternatively, the processor 801 may obtain the system information after receiving the first offset duration of the first message.

As shown in fig. 9, the present embodiment provides a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 90. It should be understood that the access network device in the foregoing method embodiments corresponding to fig. 2, fig. 4, fig. 5, and fig. 6 may be based on the structure of the communication device 90 shown in fig. 9 in this embodiment. It should also be understood that, when the access network device or the base station of the subsequent evolved node b performs the method according to the embodiment of the present application, the access network device or the base station of the subsequent evolved node b may also adopt the structure of the communication device 90 shown in fig. 9 in this embodiment.

The communication device 90 includes at least one processor 901, at least one memory 902, at least one transceiver 903, at least one network interface 905, and one or more antennas 904. The processor 901, the memory 902, the transceiver 903 and the network interface 905 are connected by a connection means, and the antenna 904 is connected to the transceiver 903. The connection device may include various interfaces, transmission lines, buses, and the like, which is not limited in this embodiment.

The network interface 905 is used to connect the communication device 90 to other communication devices via a communication link. Specifically, the network interface 905 may include a network interface between the communication device 90 and a core network element, such as an S1 interface; the network interface 905 may also include a network interface between the communication device 90 and other network devices (e.g., other access network devices or core network elements), such as an X2 or Xn interface.

The transceiver 903, the memory 902, and the antenna 904 may refer to the description of the transceiver 803, the memory 802, and the antenna 804 in the corresponding embodiment of fig. 8, and are not described herein again in detail.

Further, the processor 901 is mainly used for processing the communication protocol and the communication data, controlling the entire network device, executing a software program, and processing data of the software program, for example, for supporting the communication device 90 to perform the actions described in the foregoing embodiments. The communication device 90 may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit, wherein the baseband processor is mainly used for processing a communication protocol and communication data, and the central processing unit is mainly used for controlling the whole communication device 90, executing a software program, and processing data of the software program. The processor 901 in fig. 9 may integrate functions of a baseband processor and a central processing unit, and those skilled in the art will understand that the baseband processor and the central processing unit may also be independent processors, and are interconnected through a bus or the like. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the communication device 90 may include multiple baseband processors to accommodate different network formats, the communication device 90 may include multiple central processors to enhance its processing capabilities, and various components of the communication device 90 may be connected by various buses. The baseband processor can also be expressed as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processing unit can also be expressed as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing the communication protocol and the communication data may be built in the processor, or may be stored in the memory in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to realize the baseband processing function.

Specifically, in the communication device 90, the processor 901 may configure a first parameter for a terminal device, where the first parameter is used to adjust a paging time window PTW parameter and/or an extended discontinuous reception eDRX cycle of the terminal device; the transceiver 903 may transmit a paging message to the terminal device according to the first parameter.

For example, the transceiver 903 may send the first parameter to the core network device.

For example, the transceiver 903 may send the aforementioned first message to the terminal device.

For the rest, reference may be made to the method for accessing the network device in the foregoing embodiment, which is not described herein again.

As shown in fig. 10, the present embodiment provides another communication device 100, and the communication device 100 may be a terminal device or a chip in the terminal device. The communication device 100 includes a transceiver 1001 and a processing unit 1002.

As shown in fig. 11, the present embodiment provides another communication device 110, and the communication device 110 may be an access network device or a chip in the access network device. The communication device 110 includes a transceiver 1101 and a processing unit 1102.

When the communication device 100 is a terminal device or a user equipment, and the communication device 110 is an access network device or a base station, the transceiving unit 1001 and the transceiving unit 1101 may be a transmitting unit or a transmitter when transmitting information, and the transceiving unit 1001 and the transceiving unit 1101 may be a receiving unit or a receiver when receiving information. The aforementioned transceiver unit may be a transceiver, and the transceiver, the transmitter or the receiver may be a radio frequency circuit, and when the terminal device or the user equipment includes a storage unit, the storage unit is used to store computer instructions, and the processor is communicatively connected with the memory, and executes the computer instructions stored in the memory, so as to make the terminal device and the access network device execute the methods according to the embodiments corresponding to fig. 2, fig. 4, fig. 5 and fig. 6. In addition, the processing unit 1002 and the processing unit 1102 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), or a Microcontroller (MCU). The processor may be a single semiconductor chip, or may be integrated with other circuits to form a semiconductor chip, for example, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) with other circuits (such as a codec circuit, a hardware acceleration circuit, or various buses and interface circuits), or may be integrated into an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) as a built-in processor.

When the communication device 100 is a chip in a terminal device, and when the communication device 110 is a chip in an access network device, the transceiving unit 1001 and the transceiving unit 1101 may be input and/or output interfaces, pins, circuits, or the like. Furthermore, the aforementioned processing unit 1002 may be a processor of a chip in the terminal device, and the processing unit 1102 may be a processor of a chip in the access network device. The processor may execute the computer executable instructions stored in the storage unit to cause the chip in the terminal device and the chip in the access network device to execute the methods according to the embodiments corresponding to fig. 2, fig. 4, fig. 5 and fig. 6. Optionally, the storage unit is a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, and the like, and the storage unit may also be a storage unit located outside the chip in the terminal device. Such as Read Only Memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that may store static information and instructions, Random Access Memory (RAM), and so forth.

It should be understood that the terminal device may have functional units (means) corresponding to the steps of the method or procedure of the terminal device, and the access network device may have functional units corresponding to the steps of the method or procedure of the access network device. One or more of the above modules or units may be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of both. When any of the above modules or units are implemented in software, which is present as computer program instructions and stored in a memory, a processor may be used to execute the program instructions to implement the above method flows.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, where the communication system includes a terminal device and an access network device. The structure of the terminal device may refer to the communication device 80 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 8; the structure of the access network device may refer to the communication device 90 in the corresponding embodiment of fig. 9. In addition, when the terminal device is a chip and the access network device is a chip, the chip in the terminal device may refer to the communication device 100 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 10; the chip in the access network device may refer to the communication device 110 in the corresponding embodiment of fig. 11.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here. It should also be understood that reference herein to first, second, third, fourth, and various numerical designations is made only for ease of description and is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" herein is merely one type of association relationship that describes an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and not to limit the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for paging, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that access network equipment configures first parameters for terminal equipment, wherein the first parameters are used for adjusting a Paging Time Window (PTW) parameter of the terminal equipment and/or expanding a discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle;

and the access network equipment sends a paging message to the terminal equipment according to the first parameter.

2. The method of claim 1,

the first parameter is a PTW scale factor, and the PTW scale factor is used for determining the duration of a target PTW;

or,

the first parameter is a duration of the target PTW.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein when the first parameter is the PTW scaling factor, the target PTW has a duration equal to a product of a duration of an initial PTW and the PTW scaling factor.

4. The method of claim 1,

the first parameter is an eDRX cycle scaling factor, and the eDRX cycle scaling factor is used for determining a target eDRX cycle;

or,

the first parameter is the target eDRX cycle.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein when the first parameter is the eDRX cycle scale factor, the target eDRX cycle is equal to a product of an initial eDRX cycle and the eDRX cycle scale factor.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

and the access network equipment sends the first parameter to core network equipment.

7. A method for paging, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives a first parameter from access network equipment, wherein the first parameter is used for adjusting a Paging Time Window (PTW) parameter and/or an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle of the terminal equipment;

and the terminal equipment monitors paging downlink control information from the access network equipment according to the first parameter.

8. The method of claim 7,

or,

the first parameter is a duration of the target PTW;

the terminal device monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network device according to the first parameter, and the method comprises the following steps:

and the terminal equipment monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network equipment in the target PTW.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

and the terminal equipment replaces the time length of the initial PTW with the time length of the target PTW, wherein the time length of the target PTW is equal to the product of the time length of the initial PTW and the PTW scale factor.

10. The method of claim 7,

or,

the first parameter is the target eDRX cycle;

and the terminal equipment monitors the paging downlink control information from the access network equipment according to the target eDRX period.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

and the terminal equipment replaces an initial eDRX period by the target eDRX period, wherein the target eDRX period is equal to the product of the initial eDRX period and the eDRX period scaling factor.

12. A method for updating system information, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives a first message from access network equipment, wherein the first message comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to immediately acquire updated system information, or indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the updated system information after a first offset duration, or indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the updated system information at a broadcast control channel BCCH modification period boundary.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first message comprises second indication information and the first indication information, and wherein the second indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to obtain the updated system information to the BCCH modification period boundary;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and the terminal equipment acquires the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the first message includes the first indication information and does not include second indication information;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and the terminal equipment immediately acquires the updated system information.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the first indication information is the first offset duration; or, the first message further includes the first offset duration;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and the terminal equipment acquires the updated system information after receiving the first offset duration of the first message.

16. The method according to claims 12 to 15,

the first indication information is used for indicating modification of BCCH to first terminal equipment, and an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle of the first terminal equipment is longer than a BCCH modification cycle;

the second indication information is used for indicating modification of the BCCH to a second terminal device, and the second terminal device does not include a terminal device with an eDRX cycle longer than the BCCH modification cycle.

17. A communication device, comprising:

a processing unit, configured to configure a first parameter for a terminal device, where the first parameter is used to adjust a Paging Time Window (PTW) parameter and/or an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle of the terminal device;

and the receiving and sending unit is used for sending the paging message to the terminal equipment according to the first parameter.

18. The communication device of claim 17,

or,

the first parameter is a duration of the target PTW.

19. The communications device of claim 18, wherein when the first parameter is the PTW scaling factor, the target PTW has a duration equal to a product of a duration of an initial PTW and the PTW scaling factor.

20. The communication device of claim 17,

or,

the first parameter is the target eDRX cycle.

21. The communications device of claim 20, wherein when the first parameter is the eDRX cycle scaling factor, the target eDRX cycle is equal to an initial eDRX cycle multiplied by the eDRX cycle scaling factor.

22. The communication device according to any of claims 17 to 21, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to send the first parameter to a core network device.

23. A communication device, comprising:

a transceiver unit, configured to receive a first parameter from an access network device, where the first parameter is used to adjust a Paging Time Window (PTW) parameter and/or an extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) cycle of the terminal device;

and the processing unit is used for monitoring the paging downlink control information from the access network equipment according to the first parameter.

24. The communication device of claim 23,

or,

the first parameter is a duration of the target PTW;

the processing unit is specifically configured to monitor the paging downlink control information from the access network device in the target PTW.

25. The communication device of claim 24,

the processing unit is further configured to replace the duration of the initial PTW with the duration of the target PTW, where the duration of the target PTW is equal to a product of the duration of the initial PTW and the PTW scaling factor.

26. The communication device of claim 23,

or,

the first parameter is the target eDRX cycle;

the processing unit is specifically configured to monitor the paging downlink control information from the access network device according to the target eDRX cycle.

27. The communication device of claim 26,

the processing unit is further configured to replace an initial eDRX cycle with the target eDRX cycle, where the target eDRX cycle is equal to a product of the initial eDRX cycle and the eDRX cycle scaling factor.

28. A communication device, comprising:

a transceiver unit, configured to receive a first message from an access network device, where the first message includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate the terminal device to immediately acquire updated system information, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information after a first offset duration, or indicate the terminal device to acquire the updated system information at a broadcast control channel BCCH modification period boundary.

29. The communications device of claim 28, wherein the first message includes second indication information and the first indication information, the second indication information being used to instruct the terminal device to obtain the updated system information up to the BCCH modification period boundary;

the transceiver unit is further configured to acquire the updated system information at the BCCH modification period boundary.

30. The communications device of claim 28, wherein said first message includes said first indication information and does not include second indication information;

the transceiver unit is further configured to immediately acquire the updated system information.

31. The communications device of claim 28, wherein the first indication information is the first offset duration; or, the first message further includes the first offset duration;

the transceiver unit is further configured to acquire the updated system information after receiving the first offset duration of the first message.

32. The communication device according to claim 28 to 31,

33. A communication device, comprising: a processor coupled with a memory for storing a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 6, or the method of any of claims 7 to 11, or the method of any of claims 12 to 16.

34. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program or instructions, which when executed cause a computer to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 6, or the method of any of claims 7 to 11, or the method of any of claims 12 to 16.

35. A chip, comprising: a processor coupled with a memory, the memory to store a program or instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause an apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 16.

36. A communication system comprising a communication device according to any of claims 17 to 22 and a communication device according to any of claims 23 to 27; or, comprising a communication device according to any of claims 28 to 32.