CN113891417A

CN113891417A - Path selection method, device and equipment

Info

Publication number: CN113891417A
Application number: CN202111242400.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 朱斌; 胡悦; 王光全
Original assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-10-25
Filing date: 2021-10-25
Publication date: 2022-01-04
Anticipated expiration: 2041-10-25
Also published as: CN113891417B

Abstract

The application discloses a path selection method, a path selection device and path selection equipment, and relates to the field of communication. The method comprises the step that the control equipment judges whether the terminal is in the coverage range of the 5G macro station according to the acquired signal intensity of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal. And if the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station, controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station. By the method, the terminal connected with the 5G micro station in the coverage area of the 5G macro station can be controlled to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station, and the utilization rate of 5G network resources provided by the 5G macro station can be improved.

Description

Path selection method, device and equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, and a device for selecting a path.

Background

With the popularization of the fifth generation mobile communication technology (5G), the coverage area of the 5G network is gradually expanded in the scenes of cities, villages, and the like. The terminal can use the 5G network in the coverage of a 5G macro base station (5G macro station for short). However, in the scenes such as the ocean, the desert, the high altitude and the like, due to the difficulty in building the 5G macro station, no 5G network coverage exists in the scene, and after the terminal enters the area where the scene is located, the terminal is disconnected from the 5G macro station, so that the 5G network cannot be used, and the user experience is reduced. In order to solve the problem, a 5G micro base station (for short, a 5G micro station) is generally configured in the area, and the 5G micro station is connected with a 5G core network through a satellite network, and the 5G micro station provides a 5G network service for the terminal. However, after the terminal enters the coverage area of the 5G macro station, the terminal still uses the satellite network connected to the 5G micro station to transmit data, which causes waste of 5G network resources provided by the 5G macro station. How to improve the utilization rate of 5G network resources provided by a 5G macro station is an urgent problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a path selection method, a path selection device and path selection equipment, which are used for improving the utilization rate of 5G network resources provided by a 5G macro station.

In order to achieve the purpose, the following technical scheme is adopted in the application.

In a first aspect, a path selection method is provided, in which a control device is connected to a 5G micro station, a terminal performs 5G communication through a 5G macro station or the 5G micro station, and a network coverage of the 5G macro station is greater than a network coverage of the 5G micro station, and the method includes: and the control equipment judges whether the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station or not according to the acquired signal strength of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal, and controls the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station if the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station.

Therefore, if the terminal is connected with the 5G micro station, the control equipment judges that the terminal moves to the coverage area of the 5G macro station, the control equipment controls the terminal to be connected with the 5G macro station, and then 5G communication is carried out by using the 5G network provided by the 5G macro station, so that intelligent switching of connection of the terminal between the 5G micro station and the 5G macro station is realized, and the utilization rate of 5G network resources provided by the 5G macro station can be improved.

In one possible implementation manner, the determining whether the terminal is in the coverage area of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the location information of the terminal includes: judging whether the signal intensity of the 5G macro station is greater than a signal intensity threshold value or not, if so, determining that the terminal is in the coverage range of the 5G macro station, and controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station; and if the signal strength of the 5G macro station is less than or equal to the signal strength threshold value, determining that the terminal is not in the coverage range of the 5G macro station.

In one possible implementation manner, the determining whether the terminal is in the coverage area of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the location information of the terminal includes: acquiring the coverage area of the 5G macro station, and judging whether the terminal is in the coverage area of the 5G macro station according to the position information of the terminal and the coverage area of the 5G macro station; and if the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station, controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station.

In one possible implementation manner, the control terminal performs 5G communication through a 5G macro station, and the method includes: and sending a first control instruction to the 5G micro station, wherein the first control instruction is used for instructing the 5G micro station to adjust the power of the transmission signal from the first power to a second power, and the second power is smaller than the first power.

Therefore, the power of the 5G micro station transmitting signals is adjusted, so that the terminal is conveniently connected with the 5G network provided by the 5G macro station with stronger signal intensity, and the utilization rate of the 5G network resources provided by the 5G macro station can be improved.

In one possible implementation manner, the control terminal performs 5G communication through a 5G macro station, and the method includes: and sending a second control instruction to the terminal, wherein the second control instruction is used for indicating the terminal to be connected with the 5G macro station.

The control equipment controls the terminal to be connected with the 5G macro station, so that the terminal can carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station, and the utilization rate of 5G network resources provided by the 5G macro station can be improved.

In a possible implementation manner, if the terminal is not in the coverage of the 5G macro station, the method further includes: and receiving a service request sent by a terminal, wherein the service request comprises service data of at least one service type, and determining at least one satellite path for transmitting the service data of each service type.

According to the service types of the service data, the satellite path for transmitting each service type is determined, that is, the service data of different service types can be transmitted through different satellite paths, so that the utilization rate of satellite resources and the transmission rate of the service data can be improved.

In a second aspect, there is provided a control apparatus comprising: the receiving unit is used for acquiring the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal; the processing unit is used for judging whether the terminal is in the coverage area of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal; and the processing unit is also used for controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station if the terminal is in the coverage area of the 5G macro station.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: judging whether the signal strength of the 5G macro station is greater than a signal strength threshold value; if the signal intensity of the 5G macro station is greater than the signal intensity threshold value, determining that the terminal is in the coverage range of the 5G macro station, and controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station; and if the signal strength of the 5G macro station is less than or equal to the signal strength threshold value, determining that the terminal is not in the coverage range of the 5G macro station.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is specifically configured to acquire a coverage area of the 5G macro station; a processing unit, specifically configured to: judging whether the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station or not according to the position information of the terminal and the coverage of the 5G macro station; and if the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station, controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station.

In a possible implementation manner, the apparatus further includes a sending unit; and the sending unit is used for sending a first control instruction to the 5G micro station, wherein the first control instruction is used for instructing the 5G micro station to adjust the power of the transmission signal from the first power to a second power, and the second power is smaller than the first power.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is configured to send a second control instruction to the terminal, where the second control instruction is used to instruct the terminal to connect to the 5G macro station.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to receive a service request sent by the terminal, where the service request includes service data of at least one red service type; and the processing unit is also used for determining at least one satellite path for transmitting the service data of each service type.

In a third aspect, a control device is provided, including: a processor and a memory; the memory stores instructions executable by the processor; the processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the communication device to carry out the method as provided in the first aspect above.

In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method provided by the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first aspect.

Technical effects brought by any possible implementation manner of the second aspect to the fifth aspect may be brought into consideration with technical effects brought by a corresponding implementation manner of the first aspect, and are not described herein again.

Drawings

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

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

fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a path selection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of another path selection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a plurality of satellite paths according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a schematic composition diagram of a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a control device according to an 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. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

In the embodiments of the present application, for convenience of clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with substantially the same functions and actions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terms "first," "second," etc. do not denote any order or quantity, nor do the terms "first," "second," etc. denote any order or importance. The technical features described in the first and second descriptions have no sequence or magnitude order.

In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present relevant concepts in a concrete fashion for ease of understanding.

In the description of the present application, a "/" indicates a relationship in which the objects associated before and after are an "or", for example, a/B may indicate a or B; in the present application, "and/or" is only an association relationship describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more than two unless otherwise specified. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or multiple.

In the embodiments of the present application, at least one may also be described as one or more, and a plurality may be two, three, four or more, which is not limited in the present application.

According to the path selection method provided by the embodiment of the application, the connection of the terminal between the 5G macro station and the 5G micro station is intelligently adjusted according to the signal intensity of the 5G macro station or the position of the terminal. For example, if the terminal is connected with the 5G micro station, if the terminal moves to the coverage of the 5G macro station, or if the terminal and the 5G micro station are arranged in a vehicle (e.g., a car, a ship, etc.), the vehicle moves to the coverage of the 5G macro station, that is, the terminal is located in the coverage of the 5G macro station, and the control device controls the terminal to perform 5G communication through the 5G macro station, so that the utilization rate of 5G network resources provided by the 5G macro station is improved. If the terminal is not located in the coverage range of the 5G macro station, the control terminal performs 5G communication through the 5G micro station, so that the terminal can use the 5G network to perform 5G communication even if the coverage range of the 5G macro station is absent, a user can be ensured to use the 5G network uninterruptedly, the user can enjoy the large bandwidth and high rate of the 5G network, and user experience is improved.

The following describes a path selection method, a device, and a system provided in the embodiments of the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 10 includes a User Equipment (UE) 101, a 5G micro station 102, a satellite cooperation gateway 103, a satellite user station 104, a satellite system 105, a gateway station 106, a 5G core network 107, a 5G macro station 108, a satellite-ground policy management platform 109, an internet 110, and a satellite measurement and control center 111.

The UE101 may be a device having a wireless transceiving function. The UE101 can be referred to by different names, such as terminal equipment, access terminal, terminal unit, terminal station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, wireless communication device, terminal agent, or terminal device. The terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship and the like); and may also be deployed in the air (e.g., airplanes, balloons, satellites, etc.). The terminal device may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capability, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device or a wearable device, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an unmanned aerial vehicle controller (UAV controller, UAVC), a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transit security (security), a wireless terminal in transit city (city) and a wireless terminal in transit city (city) connected to a wireless modem, a wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device or a wearable device, Wireless terminals in smart homes (smarttools), etc. The terminal equipment may be mobile or fixed. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the UE. In the embodiment of the present application, if the UE101 is located within the coverage of the 5G macro station 108, the UE101 performs 5G communication through the 5G macro station 108. If the UE101 is not located within the coverage of the 5G macro station 108, the UE101 performs 5G communication through the 5G micro station 102.

The 5G micro station 102 is relative to the 5G macro station, and is mainly used for realizing network capacity expansion and coverage guarantee of a key area. The 5G micro station is smaller than the 5G macro station in terms of product form, transmission power, coverage and the like. The 5G micro stations may also have different names, such as 5G pico base stations, 5G femto base stations, etc. In this embodiment, the 5G micro station 102 is configured to provide a 5G network service for the terminal 101 through the 5G core network 107 connected to the satellite system 105 by the 5G micro station 102 when the terminal 101 is not located within the coverage of the 5G macro station 108. The 5G micro station 102 can also receive control instructions sent by the satellite collaboration gateway 103.

The satellite collaboration gateway 103 is connected to the 5G micro station 102 and the satellite user station 104, and the satellite collaboration gateway 103 may be a separate physical device, such as a server or a computer, or may be a Virtual Machine (VM) on one physical device, such as a satellite system gateway, whose functions are integrated with those of a network device. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner of the satellite collaboration gateway. In the embodiment of the present application, the satellite cooperative gateway 103 may be used to control the power of the 5G micro station 102 transmitting signals. The satellite system gateway 103 may also have a 5G module that is capable of sensing the signal strength of the 5G macro station 108. Further, the intelligent handover of the UE101 between the 5G micro station 102 and the 5G macro station 108 can be controlled according to the location of the UE101 or the signal strength of the 5G macro station 108.

The satellite subscriber station 104 may also be referred to as a Radio Network Terminal (RNT), and provides standard interfaces such as telephone, data, and fax, and is connected to a base station through a wireless interface. In the present embodiment, the satellite subscriber station 104, the satellite collaboration gateway 103, and the 5G micro station 102 may be deployed at the same location.

The satellite system 105 may be part of a space segment of satellite resources, i.e., high, medium, and low orbit satellites in space that receive and retransmit data. Satellite system 105 includes communication satellites, navigation satellites, and telemetry satellites. The remote sensing satellite provides remote sensing data, the navigation satellite mainly based on the Beidou satellite provides positioning services and the like, and the communication satellite comprises a broadcasting satellite (providing satellite television) and an internet satellite. The satellite system may serve as a base station transmission channel, for example, a user terminal accesses the base station by conforming to a cellular mobile communication network standard, the base station transmits to the core network through the satellite system, and the satellite system serves as a part of the transmission network to extend the coverage of the base station. The satellite system may also provide access for user terminals. The satellite system 105 is connected to a gateway station 106.

The gateway station 106 is used as a data center node of the satellite communication system, is responsible for distributing and collecting satellite communication service data, can complete exchange of internal data of the satellite communication network and data routing of an external network, has network management and operation control functions, and is responsible for completing whole network resource scheduling, system equipment management and user service management. The gateway station 106 is connected with a 5G core network 107 and a satellite-ground policy management platform 109.

The 5G core (5G core, 5GC)107 plays a crucial role in the network, and is the management center for full access and full service. The 5GC separates a user plane and a control plane, adopts a service architecture design, mainly comprises Network Functions (NF), adopts a distributed function, and is deployed according to actual needs. The 5G core network 107 is connected with a 5G macro station 108, a satellite-ground policy management platform 109 and the Internet 110.

The 5G macro station 108 may be referred to as a 5G base station, and is a core device of a 5G network, and provides wireless coverage to implement wireless signal transmission between a wired communication network and a wireless terminal. In the embodiment of the present application, if the UE101 is located within the coverage of the 5G macro station 108, the 5G macro station 108 provides 5G network services for the UE 101.

The satellite-ground policy management platform 109 may be a management system carried on a network device, where the network device may be an independent network device, such as a server or a computer, may also be a part of the network device, and may also be a distributed system composed of multiple network devices, such as a server cluster. The satellite-ground policy management platform 109 is connected to the satellite measurement and control center 111, and in this embodiment, the satellite-ground policy management platform 109 may obtain information such as access quality, a positioning position, and the like of the satellite subscriber station 104 through the satellite measurement and control center 111, and may configure different tariffs for satellites (high orbit, medium orbit, and low orbit) in different orbits included in the satellite system 105.

The internet 110, also called internet or internet, is a huge network formed by connecting networks in series, and these networks are connected by a set of general protocols to form a logically single huge international network.

The satellite measurement and control center 111 is responsible for tracking measurement, data transmission, information processing, monitoring control and the like of the satellite. In the embodiment of the present application, the satellite measurement and control center 111 may acquire the position information of the satellite subscriber station 104.

It should be noted that a dotted line in fig. 1, for example, a dotted line between the UE101 and the 5G micro station 102, may represent that the UE101 and the 5G micro station 102 may be connected in a wireless manner. The dashed boxes around the 5G micro station 102, satellite collaboration gateway 103, and satellite user stations 104 represent that the 5G micro station 102, satellite collaboration gateway 103, and satellite user stations 104 may be deployed at the same location.

It should be understood that fig. 1 is merely an exemplary architecture diagram and that the number of devices included in the communication system 10 shown in fig. 1 is not limited. The communication system 10 may include other devices besides the devices shown in fig. 1, which is not limited to this.

As shown in fig. 2, an embodiment of the present application provides a path selection method, which includes the following steps.

S201, the control equipment acquires the signal intensity of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal. The control device may be provided with a 5G module, and may be capable of searching for a signal transmitted by the 5G macro station, and further acquiring the signal strength of the signal transmitted by the 5G macro station. It should be noted that the control device may be the satellite collaboration gateway 103 in fig. 1.

In a possible implementation manner, the control device may obtain the location information of the terminal through the 5G micro station.

For example, as can be seen from the communication system shown in fig. 1, the control device is connected to the 5G micro station, and the terminal is connected to the 5G micro station, so that the 5G micro station can report the location information of the terminal connected to the 5G micro station to the control device.

In another possible implementation manner, the control device may obtain the location information of the terminal through the satellite-ground policy management platform.

For example, the satellite-ground policy management platform reports the position information of the satellite subscriber station to the control device. If the satellite subscriber station, the satellite cooperative gateway and the 5G micro station are deployed at the same position (for example, a certain vehicle, a certain ship or a certain airplane), the satellite-ground strategy management platform can acquire the position information of the satellite subscriber station through the satellite measurement and control center, and the satellite subscriber station and the 5G micro station are deployed at the same position. If the 5G micro station is deployed on a certain vehicle, a certain ship or a certain airplane, and the terminal is connected with the 5G micro station, the terminal and the 5G micro station are located at the same position. Therefore, the position information of the satellite user station reported to the control equipment by the satellite-ground strategy management platform can be used as the position information of the terminal.

It should be noted that the location information of the terminal may include longitude and latitude of the location where the terminal is located.

S202, the control equipment determines that the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal.

The control device may determine that the terminal is within the coverage of the 5G macro station by several designs.

Design 1, the control device determines that the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station and a signal strength threshold value.

In some possible embodiments, the control device may receive a signal strength threshold value preset by a manager. If the acquired signal strength of the 5G macro station is greater than the signal strength threshold, it may be determined that the terminal is located within the coverage of the 5G macro station. The following S203 is further executed.

It is understood that the 5G macro station transmits signals at a rated power in order to ensure that a terminal within the coverage of the 5G macro station can maintain a connection with the 5G macro station, and the signal strength within the coverage of the 5G macro station is higher than the signal strength outside the coverage of the 5G macro station. Outside the coverage of the 5G macro station, the terminal may search for a signal transmitted by the 5G macro station, but may not be able to maintain a connection with the 5G macro station. Therefore, a signal strength threshold value can be set, and whether the terminal is in the coverage area of the 5G macro station or not can be judged according to the signal strength threshold value. And if the signal strength of the 5G macro station acquired by the control equipment is greater than the signal strength threshold value, representing that the terminal is located in the coverage range of the 5G macro station.

If the acquired signal strength of the 5G macro station is less than or equal to the preset signal strength threshold, it may be determined that the terminal is not located within the coverage of the 5G macro station.

And designing 2, the control device acquires the coverage range of the 5G macro station, and determines that the terminal is in the coverage range of the 5G macro station according to the position information of the terminal and the coverage range of the 5G macro station.

The control device may acquire the coverage area of the 5G macro station and the location information of the 5G macro station from the 5G core network, and the location information of the 5G macro station may include a longitude and a latitude of a location where the 5G macro station is located. Further, the distance between the 5G macro station and the terminal can be calculated from the longitude and latitude of the location of the terminal and the longitude and latitude of the location of the 5G macro station. And then comparing the coverage range of the 5G macro station according to the distance between the 5G macro station and the terminal so as to judge whether the terminal is positioned in the coverage range of the 5G macro station.

If the distance between the 5G macro station and the terminal is less than or equal to the coverage of the 5G macro station, it may be determined that the terminal is located within the coverage of the 5G macro station, and the following S203 may be performed.

If the distance between the 5G macro station and the terminal is greater than the coverage of the 5G macro station, it may be determined that the terminal is not within the coverage of the 5G macro station.

S203, the control equipment sends a first control instruction to the 5G micro station.

The first control instruction is used for instructing the 5G micro station to adjust the power of the transmission signal from the first power to a second power, and the second power is smaller than the first power.

S204, the 5G micro station receives a first control instruction sent by the control equipment.

And S205, the 5G micro station adjusts the power of the transmission signal according to the first control instruction.

The 5G micro station can adjust the power of the transmission signal from the first power to the second power according to the first control instruction.

For example, the first control instruction may instruct the 5G micro station to adjust the signal strength corresponding to the power of the transmission signal below the signal strength of the 5G macro station. The 5G micro station may make the signal strength corresponding to the adjusted second power lower than the signal strength of the 5G macro station according to the first control instruction, so that the signal strength of the 5G network provided by the 5G micro station is lower than the signal strength of the 5G network provided by the 5G macro station, and further, the terminal may be connected to the 5G network provided by the 5G macro station with stronger signal strength to perform 5G communication. The intelligent switching of the network connection between the 5G macro station coverage range and the 5G micro station coverage range of the terminal is realized, and the utilization rate of 5G network resources provided by the 5G macro station is improved.

It should be noted that the second power may be 0, which indicates that the 5G micro station stops transmitting signals.

Optionally, after determining that the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station, i.e., after S202, the method may further include S206-S208 described below.

S206, the control equipment sends a second control instruction to the terminal.

And the second control instruction is used for instructing the terminal to connect the 5G macro station.

If the terminal is determined to be within the coverage of the 5G macro station, the control device may further send a second control instruction to the terminal to control the terminal to perform 5G communication through the 5G macro station.

And S207, the terminal receives a second control instruction sent by the control equipment.

And S208, the terminal is connected with the 5G macro station according to the second control instruction.

The terminal is connected with the 5G macro station according to the second control instruction, namely if the terminal is connected with the 5G micro station within the coverage range of the 5G micro station, if the terminal moves to the coverage range of the 5G macro station, the terminal is actively disconnected with the 5G micro station, and then the 5G macro station is connected for 5G communication, so that the intelligent switching of the connection of the terminal between the 5G macro station and the 5G micro station is realized. The terminal carries out 5G communication through the 5G macro station, namely the terminal uses the 5G network provided by the 5G macro station to carry out 5G communication, and the utilization rate of the 5G network resource provided by the 5G macro station is improved.

Based on the embodiment of fig. 2, whether the terminal is within the coverage of the 5G macro station is determined according to the location information of the terminal or the signal strength of the 5G macro station. If the terminal is connected with the 5G micro station, if the terminal is determined to move to the coverage range of the 5G macro station, the terminal is controlled to be connected with the 5G macro station, and intelligent switching of connection of the terminal between the 5G macro station and the 5G micro station is achieved. And furthermore, 5G communication is carried out through the 5G network provided by the 5G macro station, so that the utilization rate of the 5G network resources provided by the 5G macro station is improved.

It should be noted that the path selection method provided by the present application is also applicable to intelligent switching of a terminal between a (3G/4G) macro station and a (3G/4G) micro station, and the embodiment of the present application is exemplified by intelligent switching of a terminal between a 5G macro station and a 5G micro station.

The above embodiment describes the steps included in the method when the terminal is located within the coverage of the 5G macro station, and if the terminal is not located within the coverage of the 5G macro station, as shown in fig. 3, the method may further include the following steps.

S301, the terminal sends a service request to the control equipment.

If the terminal is not located in the coverage area of the 5G macro station, the terminal can carry out 5G communication through the 5G micro station. After the terminal connects to the 5G micro station, a service request may be sent to the control device, where the service request may include service data of at least one service type. Illustratively, the service data of the at least one service type may include service data of a voice call service, service data of a video on demand service, and service data of a data text service.

S302, the control device receives a service request sent by the terminal.

S303, the control device determines at least one satellite path for transmitting the service data of each service type.

The 5G micro station is connected with the 5G core network through a satellite system, the 5G micro station provides 5G network service for the terminal, and the satellite system can comprise different satellites. As shown in fig. 4, different satellite connection satellite subscriber stations and gateway stations may form different satellite paths. Illustratively, satellite 1 connects satellite subscriber stations and gateway stations to form satellite path 1, satellite 2 connects satellite subscriber stations and gateway stations to form satellite path 2, and satellite 3 connects satellite subscriber stations and gateway stations to form satellite path 3.

Service data of different service types can be transmitted through different satellite paths. The administrator of the satellite system may perform information configuration on each satellite path in advance through the satellite-ground policy management platform, and the satellite path information may be as shown in table 1 below.

TABLE 1

Different satellites may form different satellite paths, which may be represented by a satellite identification. For example, the satellite identifier 1 in table 1 may represent the satellite path 1 in fig. 4, the satellite identifier 2 in table 1 may represent the satellite path 2 in fig. 4, and the satellite identifier 3 in table 1 may represent the satellite path 4 in fig. 4.

The satellite identifier is used to uniquely identify a satellite, and may be the name of the satellite. The types of satellites can be classified into high orbit satellites, medium orbit satellites, and low orbit satellites. As can be seen from table 1 above, high and medium orbit satellites can provide a longer period of availability than low orbit satellites. But the downlink traffic provided by the low earth orbit satellites is higher than the downlink traffic provided by the high earth orbit satellites and the medium earth orbit satellites.

In a possible embodiment, the control device may determine at least one satellite path for transmitting service data of each service type according to the satellite type, available period, quality and tariff conditions of each satellite path provided in table 1 above, and the service type of each service data included in the service request.

Illustratively, if the data packet of the service request sent by the terminal includes service data of two service types, for example, service data including a voice call service and service data including a data text service. The service data of the voice call service needs to be transmitted in real time, so the service data of the voice call service needs to select a low-delay satellite path for transmission. The service data of the data text service may not need to be transmitted in real time, but the service data of the data text service may need to be transmitted for a longer time, so the service data of the data text service needs to select a satellite path which can provide a longer available time period for transmission.

In combination with the satellite paths shown in table 1 and fig. 4, the satellite path 1 represented by the satellite identifier 1 and the satellite path 3 represented by the satellite identifier 3 can provide 7 × 24 hours of transmission service, but the uplink and downlink traffic provided by the satellite path 3 is higher than the uplink and downlink traffic provided by the satellite path 1, so that the control device can control the transmission of the service data of the data text service through the satellite path 3. The satellite path 4 represented by the satellite identifier 4 and the satellite path 5 represented by the satellite identifier 5 can provide higher uplink and downlink flows, but the available time period of the satellite path 4 is less, which is easy to cause interruption of data transmission, so that the control device can control the service data of the voice call service to be transmitted through the satellite path 5 represented by the satellite identifier 5. The service data contained in the service request can be transmitted via the satellite path 3 and the satellite path 5. In another possible embodiment, the control device may split service data of different service types included in the same service request, and further transmit the service data through multiple satellite paths.

It can be understood that, the service data of different service types included in the same service request are split and transmitted through a plurality of satellite paths, so that the overall bandwidth of the satellite paths can be improved, and the transmission time of the service data can be reduced.

For example, if the data packet of the service request includes service data of one service type, the data packet may be divided into five parts by combining with the multiple satellite paths shown in fig. 4, and each part of the data packet may be marked. The first data packet is transmitted via satellite path 1, the second data packet is transmitted via satellite path 2, the third data packet is transmitted via satellite path 3, the fourth data packet is transmitted via satellite path 4, and the fifth data packet is transmitted via satellite path 5. After the five data packets are transmitted to the 5G core network, the satellite-ground policy management platform can restore the five data packets into one data packet according to the marks of the data packets.

Optionally, before the control device receives the service request sent by the terminal, the control device may also receive a registration signaling sent by the terminal, where the registration signaling is used to indicate that the terminal requests to connect to the 5G micro station.

In particular, the control device may select to transmit the registration signaling over different satellite paths based on the available time period for each satellite path.

Typically, registration signaling requires selecting a satellite path with better quality and capable of providing 7 × 24 hours of service. As can be seen from table 1, the satellite path represented by the satellite identifier 1 and the satellite path represented by the satellite identifier 3 can meet the transmission requirement of the registration signaling, so that the control device can control the 5G micro station to transmit the registration signaling through the satellite path 1 represented by the satellite identifier 1 or the satellite path 3 represented by the satellite identifier 3.

Based on the embodiment shown in fig. 3, the control device may transmit the service data of different service types through different satellite paths, so as to improve the transmission rate of the service data and improve the utilization rate of the satellite resources. Furthermore, the same service data is split and then transmitted through a plurality of satellite paths, so that the overall bandwidth of the satellite paths is improved, and the transmission time of the service data is reduced.

The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the present application from the perspective of interaction between the nodes. It will be appreciated that each node, for example a control device, comprises corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing each function in order to implement the above-described functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software, in conjunction with the exemplary algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

The present application may perform division of function modules on the control device according to the above method example, for example, each function module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, the division of the modules in the present application is schematic, and is only a logical function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a composition of a control device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 5, the control device 50 includes a processing unit 501, a receiving unit 502, and a transmitting unit 503. Optionally, the control device 50 may further include a storage unit 504.

The control device 50 may be a network device or a chip in a network device. When the control device 50 is used to implement the functions of the control apparatus in the above-described embodiments, each unit is specifically used to implement the following functions.

A receiving unit 502, configured to acquire the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the location information of the terminal.

A processing unit 501, configured to determine whether the terminal is within the coverage of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the location information of the terminal.

The processing unit 501 is further configured to control the terminal to perform 5G communication through the 5G macro station if the terminal is within the coverage of the 5G macro station.

Optionally, the processing unit 501 is specifically configured to: judging whether the signal strength of the 5G macro station is greater than a signal strength threshold value; if the signal intensity of the 5G macro station is greater than the signal intensity threshold value, determining that the terminal is in the coverage range of the 5G macro station, and controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station; and if the signal strength of the 5G macro station is less than or equal to the signal strength threshold value, determining that the terminal is not in the coverage range of the 5G macro station.

Optionally, the receiving unit 502 is specifically configured to acquire a coverage area of the 5G macro station.

The processing unit 501 is specifically configured to: judging whether the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station or not according to the position information of the terminal and the coverage of the 5G macro station; and if the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station, controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station.

Optionally, the sending unit 503 is configured to send a first control instruction to the 5G micro station, where the first control instruction is used to instruct the 5G micro station to adjust the power of the transmission signal from the first power to a second power, and the second power is smaller than the first power.

Optionally, the sending unit 503 is configured to send a second control instruction to the terminal, where the second control instruction is used to instruct the terminal to connect to the 5G macro station.

Optionally, the receiving unit 502 is further configured to receive a service request sent by the terminal, where the service request includes service data of at least one service type.

The processing unit 501 is further configured to determine at least one satellite path for transmitting the service data of each service type.

Optionally, the storage unit 504 is configured to store the location information of the terminal.

The storage unit 504 is further configured to store information of a coverage area of the 5G macro station.

The storage unit 504 is further configured to store the service request sent by the terminal.

The elements in fig. 5 may also be referred to as modules, for example, the processing elements may be referred to as processing modules. In addition, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the names of the respective units may not be those shown in the figure, and for example, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit may also be referred to as communication units.

The respective units in fig. 5, if implemented in the form of software functional modules and sold or used as separate products, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be essentially implemented or make a contribution to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions may be implemented in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, and including several instructions to enable a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods of the embodiments of the present application. A storage medium storing a computer software product comprising: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

As shown in fig. 6, the control device 60 includes a processor 11, and optionally, a memory 12 and a communication interface 13 connected to the processor 11. The processor 11, the memory 12 and the communication interface 13 are connected by a bus 14.

The processor 11 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general purpose processor, a Network Processor (NP), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or any combination thereof. The processor may also be any other means having a processing function such as a circuit, device or software module. The processor 11 may also include a plurality of CPUs, and the processor 11 may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, or processing cores that process data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In the embodiment of the present application, the processor 11 may be used to implement the functions of the processing unit 501 in the control device 50. For example, the processor 11 may be configured to determine whether the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the location information of the terminal, and control the terminal to perform 5G communication through the 5G macro station if the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station.

Alternatively, the schematic structural diagram shown in fig. 6 may be used to illustrate the structure of the control device in the above embodiment. The processor 11 is used for controlling and managing the action of the control device. The processor 11 may communicate with other devices, for example with a 5G micro station, via a communication interface 13. The memory 12 is used for storing program codes and data for controlling the apparatus, and may store location information of the terminal, for example.

Memory 12 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that may store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions, but is not limited to, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disk, laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk, blu-ray disk, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory 12 may be separate or integrated with the processor 11. Wherein the memory 12 may have computer program code embodied therein. The processor 11 is configured to execute the computer program code stored in the memory 12, thereby implementing the method provided by the embodiment of the present application. The communication interface 13 may be used for communicating with other devices or communication networks (e.g., ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), etc.). The communication interface 13 may be a module, a circuit, a transceiver or any device capable of enabling communication.

The bus 14 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The bus 14 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 6, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium, which includes computer-executable instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform any one of the methods described above.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising computer executable instructions, which when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform any of the above methods.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, including: a processor coupled to the memory through the interface, and an interface, when the processor executes the computer program or the computer execution instructions in the memory, the processor causes any one of the methods provided by the above embodiments to be performed.

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

While the present application has been described in connection with various embodiments, other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed application, from a review of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the word "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of the present application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure should be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A path selection method is characterized in that the method is executed by a control device, the control device is connected with a 5G micro station, a terminal carries out 5G communication through a 5G macro station or the 5G micro station, the network coverage of the 5G macro station is larger than that of the 5G micro station, and the method comprises the following steps:

acquiring the signal intensity of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal;

judging whether the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station or not according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal;

and if the terminal is in the coverage range of the 5G macro station, controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the location information of the terminal comprises:

judging whether the signal strength of the 5G macro station is greater than a signal strength threshold value;

if the signal strength of the 5G macro station is greater than the signal strength threshold value, determining that the terminal is in the coverage area of the 5G macro station, and controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station;

and if the signal strength of the 5G macro station is less than or equal to the signal strength threshold value, determining that the terminal is not in the coverage range of the 5G macro station.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the location information of the terminal comprises:

acquiring the coverage range of the 5G macro station;

judging whether the terminal is in the coverage of the 5G macro station or not according to the position information of the terminal and the coverage of the 5G macro station;

and if the terminal is determined to be in the coverage range of the 5G macro station according to the position information of the terminal, controlling the terminal to carry out 5G communication through the 5G macro station.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the controlling the terminal to perform 5G communication through the 5G macro station comprises:

and sending a first control instruction to the 5G micro station, wherein the first control instruction is used for instructing the 5G micro station to adjust the power of a transmission signal from a first power to a second power, and the second power is smaller than the first power.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the controlling the terminal to perform 5G communication through the 5G macro station comprises:

and sending a second control instruction to the terminal, wherein the second control instruction is used for indicating the terminal to be connected with the 5G macro station.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein if the terminal is not within the coverage of the 5G macro station, the method further comprises:

receiving a service request sent by the terminal, wherein the service request comprises service data of at least one service type;

at least one satellite path is determined for transmitting the traffic data for each of the traffic types.

7. A control device, comprising:

the receiving unit is used for acquiring the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal;

the processing unit is used for judging whether the terminal is in the coverage range of the 5G macro station according to the signal strength of the 5G macro station or the position information of the terminal;

the processing unit is further configured to control the terminal to perform 5G communication through the 5G macro station if the terminal is within the coverage of the 5G macro station.

8. A control apparatus, characterized by comprising: a processor and a memory;

the memory stores instructions executable by the processor;

the processor is configured to, when executing the instructions, cause the control device to implement the method of any one of claims 1-6.

9. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-6.