CN114286437A

CN114286437A - PLMN selection method, device, terminal equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN114286437A
Application number: CN202111508784.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李加; 颜安
Original assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-10
Filing date: 2021-12-10
Publication date: 2022-04-05

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a PLMN selection method, a device, a terminal device and a storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: performing a network search to determine at least two PLMNs; acquiring network slice information sets of at least two PLMNs, wherein the network slice information sets comprise slice information of at least one first network slice; acquiring slice information of at least one second network slice used by the terminal equipment; selecting a target PLMN from the at least two PLMNs based on the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs and the slice information of the at least one second network slice. Therefore, when two or more PLMNs are searched in network searching, the network slice information used by the terminal equipment is utilized to assist the selection of the PLMN, the target PLMN matched with the use habit of the terminal equipment is selected, the cell residence success rate of the terminal on the target PLMN is higher, the PLMN reselection is avoided or the PLMN reselection times are reduced, the network searching time is shortened on the whole, and the network searching energy consumption is reduced.

Description

PLMN selection method, device, terminal equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to communications technologies, and in particular, to a PLMN selection method, apparatus, terminal device, and storage medium.

Background

When the terminal is in a deregistered state, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) needs to be searched and selected for registration, and if the initial registration process is successful, the PLMN provides the terminal with a corresponding subscription service. However, considering the diversity change of the 5G network and the terminal, the network searching time is too long.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the foregoing technical problem, embodiments of the present application desirably provide a PLMN selection method, an apparatus, a terminal device, and a storage medium.

The technical scheme of the application is realized as follows:

in a first aspect, a PLMN selection method is provided, including:

executing network search to obtain network slice information sets of at least two PLMNs, wherein the network slice information sets comprise slice information of a first network slice;

and selecting a target PLMN from the at least two PLMNs based on the slice information of the first network slice and the slice information of a second network slice, wherein the second network slice is used by the terminal equipment.

In a second aspect, a PLMN selection apparatus is provided, including:

the network slicing device comprises an acquisition unit, a slicing unit and a slicing unit, wherein the acquisition unit is used for executing network search and acquiring network slice information sets of at least two PLMNs, and the network slice information sets comprise slice information of a first network slice;

and the selecting unit is used for selecting a target PLMN from the at least two PLMNs based on the slice information of the first network slice and the slice information of a second network slice, wherein the second network slice is used by the terminal equipment.

In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided, which includes: a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program capable of running on the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to perform the steps of the aforementioned method when running the computer program.

In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the aforementioned method.

The embodiment of the application provides a PLMN selection method, a device, a terminal device and a storage medium, when two or more PLMNs are searched in network search, the network slice information used by the terminal device is used for assisting the selection of the PLMN, a target PLMN matched with the use habit of the terminal device is selected, the cell residence success rate of the terminal on the target PLMN is higher, the PLMN reselection is avoided or the PLMN reselection times are reduced, the network search time is shortened on the whole, and the network search energy consumption is reduced.

Drawings

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

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first process of a PLMN selection method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a second flowchart of a PLMN selection method according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a third flow of a PLMN selection method in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a fourth flowchart illustrating a PLMN selection method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a PLMN selection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

So that the manner in which the features and elements of the present embodiments can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the embodiments, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) System, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) System, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) System, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) System, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) System, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication System, or a 5G System.

For example, a communication system 100 applied in the embodiment of the present application may be as shown in fig. 1. The communication system 100 may include a network device 110, and the network device 110 may be a device that communicates with a terminal device 120 (or referred to as a communication terminal, a terminal). Network device 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and may communicate with terminal devices 120 located within that coverage area. Optionally, the Network device 110 may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a GSM system or a CDMA system, a Network device (NodeB, NB) in a WCDMA system, an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN), or a Network-side device such as a Mobile switching center, a relay Station, an Access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a hub, a switch, a bridge, a router, a core Network in a 5G Network, a Base Station, or a Network device in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) for future evolution, and the like.

The communication system 100 further comprises at least one terminal device 120 located within the coverage area of the network device 110. As used herein, a "terminal device" is a terminal device that is set to communicate through a wireless interface, and may be referred to as a "wireless communication terminal", "wireless terminal", or "mobile terminal". Examples of mobile terminals include, but are not limited to, satellite or cellular telephones; personal Communications Systems (PCS) terminals that may combine cellular radiotelephones with data processing, facsimile, and data Communications capabilities; personal Digital Assistant (PDA) that may include a radiotelephone, pager, internet/intranet access, Web browser, notepad, calendar, and/or Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver; and conventional laptop and/or palmtop receivers or other electronic devices that include a radiotelephone transceiver. Terminal device 120 may refer to an access terminal, User Equipment (UE), subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote terminal, mobile device, User terminal, vehicle-mounted device, wearable device, wireless communication device, User agent, or User Equipment. An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a PDA, a handheld device with Wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a Wireless modem, a single-mode or multi-mode enabled terminal device in a 5G network, a terminal device in a future evolved PLMN, etc.

When the UE is powered on, network search and registration are performed. The network search of the UE can be divided into two procedures of PLMN selection and cell search. During the PLMN selection process, the UE maintains a list of PLMNs, which are sorted by priority and then searched down from a high priority. The 3GPP protocol T23.122 specifies that the terminal device has a specified priority for the last registered PLMN and its EPLMN and HPLMN, but when the terminal moves out of the PLMN network that is preferentially selected and searches for a network, a plurality of PLMNs with the same priority are searched, so that the terminal device cannot determine which PLMN is selected and cell residence can be successfully performed, and a new network searching process is easily triggered to avoid or reduce a PLMN reselection process.

In view of this, the present application provides a PLMN selection method, which is to use network slice information used by a terminal device to assist selection of a PLMN when two or more PLMNs are searched during network search, and select a target PLMN matching usage habits of the terminal device. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first flow of a PLMN selection method in the embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 2, the method may specifically include:

step 201: executing network search to obtain network slice information sets of at least two PLMNs, wherein the network slice information sets comprise slice information of a first network slice;

for example, the network slice information set may be a network slice information set of a PLMN successfully registered by the terminal device, and the first network slice is a network slice included in the network slice information set.

For example, in some embodiments, the network slice information set includes an allowed network slice information set (allowed NSSAI) including a first network slice allowed to be used by the terminal device under the current PLMN, or the network slice information set includes a configured network slice information set (configured NSSAI) including a first network slice available to the terminal device configured under the current PLMN and an allowed network slice information set (allowed NSSAI).

Allowed NSSAI: indicates the NSSAI allowed for the terminal under the current PLMN, current location (Registration Area), and current Access Type. The Allowed NSSAI contains up to 8S-NSSAIs, and is treated the same as the Configured NSSAI, and if the terminal receives more than 8 Allowed NSSAIs, the terminal only stores the first 8. The contents in the Allowed NSSAI mainly come from the request NSSAI Requested by the terminal, the signed NSSAI, the network support capability and the mutual interaction processing result of the network slicing application strategy. Current protocols do not support user-level slicing strategies.

Configured NSSAI: the network slice list Configured for the UE by the 5G core network based on operator deployment and user subscription is a superset of available network slices (Allowed NSSAIs) available to the user, i.e., the UE may select a network slice that it desires to use from the Configured NSSAIs and request allocation of the network slice list to the 5G core network.

Illustratively, obtaining the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs comprises: and locally acquiring the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs from the terminal equipment. Namely, the terminal device locally stores the network slice information of the registered successful PLMN.

Illustratively, obtaining the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs comprises: the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment sends a slice information acquisition request to network equipment, wherein the acquisition request carries identification information of at least two PLMNs; and the terminal equipment receives the acquisition response of the network equipment, analyzes the acquisition response and obtains the network slice information of at least two PLMNs.

Illustratively, the network search process may specifically include:

1. triggering a network search (such as user power-on);

2. if the terminal has successfully Registered a certain PLMN and its equivalent PLMN before, i.e. Registered PLMN (Registered PLMN, RPLMN) and its equivalent PLMN (equivalent PLMN), then preferentially trying to search for this PLMN;

3. if any PLMN has not been successfully registered before, then trying to search for the Home PLMN (Home PLMN, H PLMN) of the USIM/SIM card;

4. if the terminal equipment supports the 5G multimode terminal equipment, selecting an access technology according to user preference or system equipment;

5. the terminal equipment searches whether the prior information of the PLMN which is successfully registered before is stored or not, wherein the prior information comprises information such as cells, frequency points and the like. If the cell is stored, the cell is selected by using the stored prior information, so that the network searching efficiency is improved;

6. if the cell of the PLMN is found, cell residence is carried out;

7. if the cell of the PLMN is not found, searching one or more other PLMNs; checking whether the actually searched PLMN is contained in the PLMN according to the priority defined by the user or the operator and other information for assisting in selecting the PLMN, and selecting the PLMN with the highest priority to try cell residence;

8. if two or more PLMNs are found to have the same priority, the PLMN selection method provided by the embodiment of the application is adopted, and the slice information is combined to perform PLMN selection.

That is to say, in the network search process, if a plurality of PLMNs that satisfy the selection condition and have the same priority are present, it may also be understood that the priority cannot be determined, and the PLMN selection method provided by the present application is used to assist PLMN selection by applying the network slice information. For example, the selection condition may be that the network signal strengths all exceed a certain threshold.

Step 202: and selecting a target PLMN from the at least two PLMNs based on the slice information of the first network slice and the slice information of a second network slice, wherein the second network slice is used by the terminal equipment.

For example, the second network slice may be a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session activated by the terminal device each time, a Single network slice corresponding to the PDU session selects auxiliary information (Single NSSAI, S-NSSAI), and the terminal device records slice information of the second network slice in a period of time, so as to characterize a PDU session activation habit of the terminal device. When participation in PLMN selection with slice information of a second network slice is required, slice information of at least one second network slice that has been used is locally obtained from the terminal device.

The slice information may comprise slice parameters for characterizing the network slice, which may be understood as a slice identification for uniquely identifying a single network slice, different network slices corresponding to different slice parameters. The slice parameter is expressed as S-NSSAI ═ SST + SD, SST is a slice/service type, and is called slice/service type in all english, SD is a slice description, and is called slice differtiator in all english, and when the slice parameters of two network slices are the same, the same network slice is expressed. SST refers to the expected network slice behavior in terms of function and service, and SD is optional information that supplements a slice/service type to distinguish between multiple network slices of the same slice/service type.

Illustratively, a single network slice type includes: enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), high-reliability and Low-Latency Communication (Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communications, uRLLC), mass Machine Communication (mMTC), Vehicle-to-electric (V2X).

For example, in some embodiments, the selecting a target PLMN from the at least two PLMNs based on the slice information of the first network slice and the slice information of the second network slice includes: obtaining matching degrees of the at least two PLMNs based on the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs and the slice information of the second network slice; and selecting the PLMN with the highest matching degree as the target PLMN.

Here, the degree of matching of the PLMN is used to represent the degree of matching between the PLMN and the usage habit of the terminal device, and a higher degree of matching of the PLMN indicates that the PLMN and the usage habit of the terminal device are more matched, whereas the PLMN and the usage habit of the terminal device are more mismatched. Illustratively, the matching degree of the PLMN is determined according to the number and/or the number of times of use of the second network slice used by the user included in the network slice information set of the PLMN, the PLMN with the highest matching degree is selected as the target PLMN, and the terminal device attempts cell camping on the target PLMN. In practical application, the more the number of the same network slices is, the higher the matching degree is, and the more the use times is, the higher the matching degree is.

Illustratively, in some embodiments, the method further comprises: and selecting the PLMN with a low matching degree as the target PLMN when the cell residence on the target PLMN fails.

By adopting the technical scheme, when two or more PLMNs are searched during network search, the network slice information used by the terminal equipment is utilized to assist the selection of the PLMN, the target PLMN matched with the use habit of the terminal equipment is selected, the cell residence success rate of the terminal on the target PLMN is higher, the PLMN reselection is avoided or the PLMN reselection times are reduced, the network searching time is shortened on the whole, and the network searching energy consumption is reduced.

For further example, the PLMN selection method in the embodiment of the present application is further illustrated below, fig. 3 is a second flowchart of the PLMN selection method in the embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 3, when the slice information of the first network slice includes a slice parameter, and the slice information of the second network slice includes a slice parameter, the method may specifically include:

step 301: determining, based on the slicing parameters, a same network slice between the first network slice and the second network slice in each network slice information set;

a slice parameter may be understood as a slice identification for uniquely identifying a single network slice, with different network slices corresponding to different slice parameters.

The slice parameters for a single network slice are expressed as: and judging that the network slice information set of each PLMN contains the number of second network slices used by the terminal equipment by comparing the slice parameters.

Step 302: determining the matching degree of each PLMN based on the number of the same network slices;

it can be understood that, the more the network slice information set of the PLMN includes the second network slices used by the terminal device, the higher the degree of matching between the PLMN and the usage habit of the terminal device.

Illustratively, the network slice information set includes: 11-S-NSSAI, 12-S-NSSAI, 13-S-NSSAI, 14-S-NSSAI, 15-S-NSSAI, 16-S-NSSAI, 17-S-NSSAI, 18-S-NSSAI; the at least one second network slice used by the terminal device comprises: 21-S-NSSAI, 22-S-NSSAI, 23-S-NSSAI, 24-S-NSSAI; the same network slice includes: 11-S-NSSAI (i.e., 21-S-NSSAI), 12-S-NSSAI (i.e., 22-S-NSSAI).

For example, the matching degree y can be calculated based on the following formula:

y＝f(x)

in the formula, y is the matching degree of the PLMN and the terminal using habit, x is the number of the same network slices, and f (·) is a mapping function of the number of the same network slices and the matching degree.

Step 303: and selecting the PLMN with the highest matching degree as the target PLMN.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a third flow of a PLMN selection method in this embodiment, and as shown in fig. 4, when the slice information of the first network slice includes a slice parameter, and the slice information of the second network slice includes a slice parameter and a number of times of use, the method may specifically include:

step 401: determining, based on the slicing parameters, a same network slice between the first network slice and the second network slice in each network slice information set;

Step 402: determining the matching degree of each PLMN based on the same network slice and the using times thereof;

here, the matching degree of each PLMN and the usage habit of the terminal is determined based on the same network slice and the number of times of usage thereof, wherein the matching degree is higher as the number of the same network slices is larger, and the matching degree is higher as the number of times of usage is larger.

Illustratively, the network slice information set includes: 11-S-NSSAI, 12-S-NSSAI, 13-S-NSSAI, 14-S-NSSAI, 15-S-NSSAI, 16-S-NSSAI, 17-S-NSSAI, 18-S-NSSAI; the at least one second network slice used by the terminal device comprises: 21-S-NSSAI, 22-S-NSSAI, 23-S-NSSAI, 24-S-NSSAI; the same network slice includes: 11-S-NSSAI (21-S-NSSAI), 12-S-NSSAI (22-S-NSSAI).

wherein y is the matching degree of PLMN and terminal use habit, N is the number of same network slices, and x_iF (-) is a mapping function of the number of times of use and the matching degree.

In some embodiments, a matching degree weight may also be configured for each network slice, and a matching degree weight calculation is performed.

Step 403: and selecting the PLMN with the highest matching degree as the target PLMN.

Illustratively, in some embodiments, the method further comprises: the cell residence on the target PLMN is failed, and the PLMN with low matching degree is selected as the target PLMN

Fig. 5 is a fourth flowchart illustrating a PLMN selection method in the embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

step 501: when the terminal equipment is successfully registered to the PLMN, acquiring and storing a network slice information set of the PLMN;

here, after the terminal device successfully registers to any PLMN within a period of time, the network slice information set of the PLMN needs to be stored according to NAS layer signaling of the currently registered PLMN. The information is updated according to the configuration signaling update of the network, and the information is not deleted under the conditions of shutdown, entering into an airplane mode and losing network coverage.

Illustratively, the network slice information set includes an allowed network slice information set (allowed NSSAI), or the network slice information set includes a configured network slice information set (configured NSSAI) and an allowed network slice information set (allowed NSSAI).

Illustratively, in some embodiments, the method further comprises: in a preset first life cycle, deleting the network slice information of the target PLMN when a network slice information set of the target PLMN stored by the terminal equipment is not used;

that is, the network slice information set of the PLMN has a certain life cycle, such as 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, one month, etc., and if the network slice information set of the PLMN is never used in the first life cycle, which indicates that the terminal device is temporarily going to the location of the PLMN, and the probability of going to the location in the future is low, then the network slice information set of the PLMN is deleted when the terminal device is powered off and enters the flight mode.

Illustratively, in some embodiments, the method further comprises: and deleting the network slice information set of the PLMN outside the preset first life cycle. That is, each of the stored PLMNs has the same generation context, the network slice information set of the PLMN newly registered is stored as time passes, the network slice information set of the PLMN whose lifecycle is ended is deleted, and it can also be understood that the terminal device only stores the network slice information set of the PLMN successfully registered in the first lifecycle before the current time.

Step 502: the terminal equipment successfully activates a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, increases the use times of a second network slice associated with the PDU session by 1 time and stores the use times;

in a 5G communication Network, a PDU connection service is a service for exchanging PDU packets between a user equipment UE and a Data Network (DN), and is implemented by initiating establishment of a PDU session by the UE or an application server AF. A PDU session refers to a process of communication between a UE and a DN, and after the PDU session is established, a data transmission channel between the UE and the DN is established.

The second network slice may be a PDU session corresponding to S-NSSAI activated by the terminal device each time the terminal device successfully activates, and the terminal device records slice information of the second network slice in a period of time, so as to characterize usage habits of the terminal device for activating the PDU session.

Here, the slice information includes a slice parameter and a number of times of use, the terminal device activates a PDU session each time successfully, if the terminal device has saved a second network slice corresponding to the PDU session, the number of times of use of the second network slice is increased by 1 time, and if the terminal device has not saved the second network slice corresponding to the PDU session, the slice parameter of the second network slice is obtained, and the number of times of use is initialized to 1 and stored.

Illustratively, in some embodiments, the method further comprises: and in a preset second life cycle, determining that the use times of the target second network slice are not increased, and deleting the slice information of the target second network slice.

Here, the second lifetime is the same as or different from the first lifetime, and if the number of times of use of the target second network slice in the second lifetime is not increased, which indicates that the terminal device has not used the network slice in the period of time, and slice information of the network slice cannot be used to characterize usage habits of the terminal device in the period of time, the slice information of the target second network slice is deleted when the terminal device is powered off and enters the flight mode.

Illustratively, in some embodiments, the method further comprises: and deleting the slice information of the second network slice outside the preset second life cycle.

Step 503: executing network search, and locally acquiring network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs from the terminal equipment;

the network slice information set includes slice information of a first network slice, the network slice information set may be a network slice information set of a PLMN successfully registered by the terminal device, and the first network slice is a network slice included in the network slice information set.

Step 504: acquiring slice information of at least one second network slice used by the terminal equipment;

for example, the second network slice may be the S-NSSAI for each successful activation of a PDU session by the terminal device.

Step 505: selecting a target PLMN from the at least two PLMNs based on the slice information of the first network slice and the slice information of the second network slice.

Therefore, in roaming, when a plurality of PLMNs with the same priority are searched, based on the network slice information set stored before the terminal equipment and the used network slice records, PLMN selection is assisted, and the PLMN most conforming to the use habit is preferentially selected so as to avoid PLMN reselection or reduce the frequency of PLMN reselection, so that the network searching time is shortened on the whole, and the network searching energy consumption is reduced. If the slice information is not considered in the conventional selection manner, the network reselection procedure may be triggered later, possibly due to usage habits.

To implement the method of the embodiment of the present application, based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a PLMN selection apparatus, as shown in fig. 6, where the apparatus 60 includes:

an obtaining unit 601, configured to perform network search and obtain network slice information sets of at least two PLMNs, where the network slice information sets include slice information of a first network slice;

a selecting unit 602, configured to select a target PLMN from the at least two PLMNs based on the slice information of the first network slice and the slice information of the second network slice.

In some embodiments, the selecting unit 602 is configured to obtain matching degrees of the at least two PLMNs based on the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs and the slice information of the second network slice; and selecting the PLMN with the highest matching degree as the target PLMN.

In some embodiments, the slice information of the first network slice comprises a slice parameter, and the slice information of the second network slice comprises a slice parameter;

a selecting unit 602 for determining, based on slice parameters, identical network slices between the first network slice and the second network slice in each network slice information set; based on the number of identical network slices, a degree of match for each PLMN is determined.

In some embodiments, the slice information of the first network slice comprises a slice parameter, and the slice information of the second network slice comprises a slice parameter and a number of uses;

a selecting unit 602 for determining, based on slice parameters, identical network slices between the first network slice and the second network slice in each network slice information set; and determining the matching degree of each PLMN based on the same network slice and the using times thereof.

In some embodiments, the obtaining unit 601 is configured to obtain and store a network slice information set of a PLMN when a terminal device successfully registers to the PLMN; performing a network search to determine the at least two PLMNs; and locally acquiring the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs from the terminal equipment.

In some embodiments, the obtaining unit 601 is configured to delete the network slice information of the target PLMN when the network slice information set of the target PLMN stored in the terminal device is not used in a preset first life cycle.

In some embodiments, the network slice information set comprises an allowed network slice information set; or, the network slice information set comprises a configuration network slice information set and an allowed network slice information set;

wherein the allowed network slice information set includes network slices allowed to be used by the terminal device under the current PLMN, and the configured network slice information set includes available network slices configured by the terminal device under the current PLMN.

In some embodiments, the slice information of the second network slice comprises a slice parameter and a number of uses; the method further comprises the following steps:

an obtaining unit 601, configured to successfully activate a protocol data unit PDU session by a terminal device, increase the number of times of using a second network slice associated with the PDU session by 1 time, and store the second network slice.

In some embodiments, the obtaining unit 601 is configured to determine that the number of times of use of the target second network slice is not increased, and delete the slice information of the target second network slice in a preset second life cycle.

By adopting the device, when two or more PLMNs are searched in network search, the used network slice information of the terminal equipment is utilized to assist the selection of the PLMN, the target PLMN matched with the use habit of the terminal equipment is selected, the cell residence success rate of the terminal on the target PLMN is higher, the PLMN reselection is avoided or the PLMN reselection times are reduced, the network search time is shortened on the whole, and the network search energy consumption is reduced.

Based on the hardware implementation of each unit in the PLMN selection apparatus, an embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal device, as shown in fig. 7, where the terminal device 70 includes: a processor 701 and a memory 702 configured to store a computer program capable of running on the processor;

wherein the processor 701 is configured to execute the method steps in the previous embodiments when running the computer program.

In practice, of course, the various components of the terminal device are coupled together by a bus system 703, as shown in fig. 7. It is understood that the bus system 703 is used to enable communications among the components. The bus system 703 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to the data bus. For clarity of illustration, however, the various buses are labeled in the figure as bus system 703.

In practical applications, the processor may be at least one of an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Digital Signal Processing Device (DSPD), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a controller, a microcontroller, and a microprocessor. It is understood that the electronic devices for implementing the above processor functions may be other devices, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited in particular.

The Memory may be a volatile Memory (volatile Memory), such as a Random-Access Memory (RAM); or a non-volatile Memory (non-volatile Memory), such as a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a flash Memory (flash Memory), a Hard Disk (HDD), or a Solid-State Drive (SSD); or a combination of the above types of memories and provides instructions and data to the processor.

In practical applications, the apparatus may be a terminal device, or may be a chip applied to the terminal device. In this application, the apparatus may implement the functions of multiple units through either software or hardware or a combination of software and hardware, so that the apparatus may perform the PLMN selection method provided in any of the above embodiments. And the technical effects of the technical solutions of the apparatus can refer to the technical effects of the corresponding technical solutions in the PLMN selection method, which is not described in detail herein.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, such as a memory including a computer program, which is executable by a processor of a terminal device to perform the steps of the foregoing method.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising computer program instructions.

Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding process implemented by the terminal device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer program.

Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the corresponding process implemented by the terminal device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not described here again.

It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used in this application and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The expressions "having", "may have", "include" and "contain", or "may include" and "may contain" in this application may be used to indicate the presence of corresponding features (e.g. elements such as values, functions, operations or components) but does not exclude the presence of additional features.

It is to be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various information, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another, and are not necessarily used to describe a particular order or sequence. For example, first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The technical solutions described in the embodiments of the present application can be arbitrarily combined without conflict.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed method, apparatus, and device may be implemented in other ways. The above-described embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of a unit is only one logical function division, and there may be other division ways in actual implementation, such as: multiple units or components may be combined, or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not implemented. In addition, the coupling, direct coupling or communication connection between the components shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between the devices or units may be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units; some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, all functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may be separately regarded as one unit, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit; the integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, or in a form of hardware plus a software functional unit.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for PLMN selection, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a target PLMN from the at least two PLMNs based on the slice information of the first network slice and the slice information of the second network slice comprises:

obtaining matching degrees of the at least two PLMNs based on the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs and the slice information of the second network slice;

and selecting the PLMN with the highest matching degree as the target PLMN.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the slice information of the first network slice comprises a slice parameter, and wherein the slice information of the second network slice comprises a slice parameter;

the obtaining the matching degrees of the at least two PLMNs based on the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs and the slice information of the second network slice includes:

determining, based on the slicing parameters, a same network slice between the first network slice and the second network slice in each network slice information set;

based on the number of identical network slices, a degree of match for each PLMN is determined.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the slice information of the first network slice comprises a slice parameter, and the slice information of the second network slice comprises a slice parameter and a number of uses;

and determining the matching degree of each PLMN based on the same network slice and the using times thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the terminal equipment is successfully registered to the PLMN, acquiring and storing a network slice information set of the PLMN;

the executing network search to obtain the network slice information sets of at least two PLMNs includes:

performing a network search to determine the at least two PLMNs;

and locally acquiring the network slice information sets of the at least two PLMNs from the terminal equipment.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

and in a preset first life cycle, the network slice information set of the target PLMN stored by the terminal equipment is not used, and the network slice information set of the target PLMN is deleted.

7. The method of claim 1,

the network slice information set comprises an allowed network slice information set;

or, the network slice information set comprises a configuration network slice information set and an allowed network slice information set;

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the slicing information of the second network slice comprises a slicing parameter and a number of uses, the method further comprising:

the terminal equipment successfully activates a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, increases the use times of a second network slice associated with the PDU session by 1 time and stores the use times.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

and in a preset second life cycle, determining that the use times of the target second network slice are not increased, and deleting the slice information of the target second network slice.

10. A PLMN selection apparatus, comprising:

11. A terminal device, characterized in that the terminal device comprises: a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program capable of running on the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 9 when running the computer program.

12. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.