CN114449682A

CN114449682A - Communication method between base stations, base station and communication system

Info

Publication number: CN114449682A
Application number: CN202210132697.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 许森; 李俊杰; 张乐; 张光辉; 孙震强
Original assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Current assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2018-09-30
Filing date: 2018-09-30
Publication date: 2022-05-06
Also published as: CN114500271A; CN110972331A; CN110972331B; CN114500271B

Abstract

The disclosure provides a communication method, a base station and a communication system between base stations. The communication method between the base stations comprises the following steps: when all cells of the first base station supporting the NSA single mode or supporting the NSA and SA dual modes are switched to support the SA single mode: the method comprises the steps that a first base station sends an inter-base station interface release request to a second base station through an inter-base station interface so that the second base station deletes application layer configuration and SCTP connection of the inter-base station interface stored in the second base station, wherein the inter-base station interface release request comprises base station identification and interface deletion reason information of the first base station; and deleting the application layer configuration and SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations stored in the first base station according to the deletion confirmation information fed back by the second base station. By the method, the configuration of the base station meets the requirement of mode updating, and the self-adaptive capacity of the base station configuration to the mode is improved.

Description

Communication method between base stations, base station and communication system

The application is a divisional application of an original application with the application number of 201811153260.7 (application date is 2018, 9 and 30 days, and the name of the invention is communication method, base station and communication system among the base stations).

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, a base station, and a communication system for communication between base stations.

Background

The 5G is used as the main technology of the next generation wireless network and has the characteristics of supporting ultra wide band, large connection and the like. In 2018, 3GPP completes standard freezing work for EUTRAN-NR DC (Dual Connectivity, abbreviated as EN-DC) in NSA (Non-Stand Alone networking) in 6 months, and defines and describes the main key functions in SA (Stand Alone networking) architecture.

By the end of 6 months in 2018, the conditions of networking architectures and interfaces of several mainstream in the current specifications are as follows:

in an EN-DC networking scenario, as shown in fig. 1, an NR (New Radio, New air interface) base station is referred to as an EN-gbb, and is connected to an eNB (E-UTRAN NodeB, E-UTRAN base station node) by using an X2 interface, in this scenario, the eNB only maintains an S1-C interface to an EPC (Evolved Packet Core), the EN-gbb needs to support an S1-U interface of the EPC when supporting SCG (Secondary Cell Group) bearer or SCG Split bearer, and relevant protocol details are defined in TS 37.340.

Compared with the past radio technologies, two types of radio access base stations, namely, a new air interface-based NR gbb and an LTE evolution-based ng-eNB (Next Generation eNB), are supported in the 5G, and both types of base stations are connected to a core network 5GC of the 5G, and a radio network structure thereof is shown in fig. 2. The base stations are connected through an Xn interface, the base stations are connected with the 5G core network through an NG interface, and the related architecture details are defined in TS 38.300.

When the gNB and LTE eNB are connected to their respective core networks, i.e. the gNB is connected to 5GC and the eNB is connected to EPC, the scenario is as shown in fig. 3, according to the conclusion of 3GPP 7 months ago 2018, that the interface between the gNB and eNB does not support the establishment of inter-base station interface.

In the EN-DC scenario, the eNB and the gNB perform interface establishment through the process of EN-DC X2Setup, the signaling flow chart is shown in fig. 4, and the specific signaling content is shown in table 1.

Table 1 eNB and gNB establish signaling over the EN-DC X2Setup interface

From the eNB perspective, the target base station is an EN-gNB base station that supports EN-DC mode, and there is no information indicating that the eNB may additionally support SA mode, and no EN-DC related signaling, such as EN-DC Configuration Updated and EN-DC Cell Activation, involves a change in NSA/SA mode for one or more cells in the base station.

In the network deployment process, a base station can have three modes, namely, NSA only, SA only and NSA + SA in principle. In order to search for a mode of a target NR base station in an SON (Self-Organized network) ANR (Automatic Neighbor Relation), three modes in which a terminal reports a cell in a measurement report of LTE are proposed in the related art. ANR is typically used in scenarios where inter-base station or inter-cell neighbor relations have not been established and there is no inter-base station interface.

In the network deployment process, some operators consider that the perception of users is improved by deploying the EN-DC architecture when the 5G core network is not deployed in the early stage, that is, the 5GC is not deployed and the gNB is not considered to be connected to the 5 GC. Subsequently, the function of supporting the SA is directly upgraded on the gbb where the SA is deployed and connected to the 5GC, so that the base station supporting the NR air interface supports the NSA and SA dual modes, and a protocol stack thereof is shown in fig. 5.

Disclosure of Invention

One purpose of the present disclosure is to improve the adaptive capability of the base station configuration to the mode, and improve the backward compatibility, thereby ensuring to determine an appropriate mobility policy for the terminal and ensuring the user experience.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method for communication between base stations is provided, including: when the first base station establishes an inter-base station connection with the second base station: the method comprises the steps that a first base station sends configuration information of the first base station to a second base station through an interface between the base stations so that the second base station can store a neighbor cell list, wherein if a cell covered by the first base station comprises one or more cells supporting NSA (non-subsampled) and SA (dual-modal), the configuration information of the first base station comprises mode information supported by a corresponding cell; the first base station receives configuration information from a second base station through an interface between the base stations, wherein the configuration information of the second base station comprises cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station; and the first base station stores the configuration information of the second base station into the neighbor list.

In some embodiments, the configuration information of the first base station further includes Cell identification, PCI (Physical Cell Identifier) information, TAC (Tracking Area Code) information, and frequency point and frame structure information.

In some embodiments, the mode information supported by the cell is carried by an identifier with a predetermined length, and when the identifier is a first predetermined value, the cell supports the NSA and SA dual modes; when the identifier is a second preset value or no identifier exists and the length of the TAC information is 3 bits, the cell supports an SA single mode; when the identity is the second predetermined value or the identity is not present, and the length of the TAC information includes 3 bits and 2 bits, the cell supports the NSA single mode.

In some embodiments, in case the establishment of the connection between the first base station and the second base station is initiated by the first base station, the first base station actively sends the configuration information of the first base station to the second base station, so that the second base station feeds back the configuration information of the second base station.

In some embodiments, in a case where establishing the connection between the first base station and the second base station is initiated by the second base station, the first base station sends the configuration information of the first base station to the second base station through an inter-base station interface message after receiving the configuration information of the second base station.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: when the cell which supports the single NSA mode and is covered by the first base station is switched to support the double NSA and SA modes: the first base station sends target mode configuration information of the first base station to the second base station through an inter-base station interface, wherein the target mode configuration information of the first base station comprises configuration confidence of each cell covered by the first base station after being switched into an NSA dual mode and an SA dual mode.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: after the first base station sends the configuration information of the target mode of the first base station to the second base station, the first base station receives the configuration information from the second base station through an interface between the base stations and updates a neighbor list.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: and when the first base station determines that the second base station has the cross-core network switching capability according to the neighbor cell list, determining that the terminal which is positioned in the cell supporting the SA mode and supports the SA mode can carry out cross-core network switching.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: in the case where the mode of all cells in the first base station is switched to the SA single mode: a first base station sends an inter-base station interface release request to a second base station through an inter-base station interface message, wherein the inter-base station interface release request comprises a base station identifier of the first base station and interface deletion reason information; and deleting the application layer configuration of the interface between the base stations and the SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) connection according to the deletion confirmation information fed back by the second base station.

In some embodiments, the first base station is a gNB or an en-gNB and the second base station is an evolved node B (eNB) or an ng-eNB.

By the method, mode information supported by the base station and cross-core network switching capability information of the base station can be interacted when the base stations are connected, and are mutually stored in the neighbor cell list, so that a proper mobility strategy can be conveniently determined for the terminal, and user experience is guaranteed.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for inter-base station communication is provided, including: when the cell which supports the single NSA mode and is covered by the first base station is switched to support the double NSA and SA modes: the method comprises the steps that a first base station sends target mode configuration information of the first base station to a second base station through an interface between the base stations so that the second base station can store a neighbor cell list, and the target mode configuration information of the first base station comprises mode information of supporting NSA and SA dual modes by a cell covered by the first base station; the first base station receives configuration information from a second base station through an interface between the base stations, wherein the configuration information of the second base station comprises cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station; and the first base station stores the configuration information of the second base station into the neighbor list.

In some embodiments, the target mode configuration information of the first base station further includes cell identification, PCI information, TAC information, and frequency and frame structure information after the cell is switched to support the NSA and SA dual modes.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: when the first base station establishes an inter-base station connection with the second base station: a first base station sends configuration information of the first base station to a second base station through an interface between the base stations, wherein if a cell covered by the first base station comprises one or more cells supporting NSA (non-switched antenna array) and SA (system access) dual modes, the configuration information of the first base station comprises mode information supported by the corresponding cell; a first base station receives configuration information from a second base station through an inter-base station interface, wherein the configuration information of the first base station comprises cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station; and the first base station stores the configuration information of the second base station into the neighbor list.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: and when the first base station determines that the second base station has the cross-core network switching capability information according to the neighbor cell list, determining that the terminal which is positioned in the cell supporting the SA mode and supports the SA mode can carry out cross-core network switching.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: in the case where the mode of all cells in the first base station is switched to the SA single mode: sending an inter-base station interface release request to a second base station through an inter-base station interface message, wherein the inter-base station interface release request comprises a base station identifier of a first base station and interface deletion reason information; and deleting the application layer configuration and SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations according to the deletion confirmation information fed back by the second base station.

In some embodiments, the first base station is a gNB or an en-gNB and the second base station is an eNB or an ng-eNB.

By the method, when the cell which supports the NSA single mode and is covered by the first base station is switched to support the NSA and SA dual modes, the configuration information can be sent to the second base station in time to update the neighbor cell list of the second base station, so that the updated neighbor cell list is adopted to determine a proper mobility strategy for the terminal, and user experience is guaranteed.

According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for inter-base station communication is provided, including: when all cells of the first base station supporting the NSA single mode or the NSA and SA dual modes are switched to support the SA single mode: the method comprises the steps that a first base station sends an inter-base station interface release request to a second base station through an inter-base station interface so that the second base station deletes application layer configuration and SCTP connection of the inter-base station interface stored in the second base station, wherein the inter-base station interface release request comprises base station identification and interface deletion reason information of the first base station; and deleting the application layer configuration and SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations stored in the first base station according to the deletion confirmation information fed back by the second base station.

In some embodiments, the first base station is a gNB or en-gNB and the second base station is an eNB or ng-eNB.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: when the first base station establishes the connection between the base stations with the second base station: the method comprises the steps that a first base station sends configuration information of the first base station to a second base station through an interface between the base stations so that the second base station can store a neighbor cell list, wherein if a cell covered by the first base station comprises one or more cells supporting NSA (non-subsampled) and SA (dual-modal), the configuration information of the first base station comprises mode information supported by a corresponding cell; the first base station receives configuration information from a second base station through an interface between the base stations, wherein the configuration information of the second base station comprises cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station; and the first base station stores the configuration information of the second base station into the neighbor list.

By the method, when all cells covered by the first base station are switched to the single mode supporting the SA, the interfaces between the base stations of the first base station and the second base station can be released, and the release reasons can be recorded, so that the configuration of the base stations meets the requirement of mode updating, and the self-adaptive capacity of the base station configuration to the mode is improved.

According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for inter-base station communication is provided, including: when the first base station establishes an inter-base station connection with the second base station: the second base station sends configuration information of the second base station to the first base station through an interface between the base stations so that the first base station can store a neighbor cell list, wherein the configuration information of the second base station comprises cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station; the second base station receives configuration information from the first base station through an interface between base stations, wherein if a cell covered by the first base station comprises one or more cells supporting NSA and SA dual modes, the configuration information of the first base station comprises mode information supported by a corresponding cell; and the second base station stores the configuration information of the first base station into the neighbor list.

In some embodiments, the configuration information of the first base station further includes cell identification, PCI information, TAC information, and frequency and frame structure information.

In some embodiments, the second base station determines a mode supported by the cell according to an identifier with a predetermined length in the configuration information of the first base station, wherein when the identifier is a first predetermined value, it is determined that the cell supports the NSA and SA dual modes; when the identifier is a second preset value or the configuration information of the first base station does not carry the identifier and the length of the TAC information is 3 bits, determining that the cell supports the SA single mode; when the identifier is the second predetermined value or the configuration information of the first base station does not carry the identifier, and the length of the TAC information includes 3 bits and 2 bits, the cell supports the NSA single mode.

In some embodiments, in case the establishment of the connection between the first base station and the second base station is initiated by the second base station, the second base station actively sends the configuration information of the second base station to the first base station, so that the first base station feeds back the configuration information of the first base station.

In some embodiments, in a case where establishing the connection between the first base station and the second base station is initiated by the first base station, the second base station sends the configuration information of the second base station to the first base station through an inter-base station interface message after receiving the configuration information of the first base station.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: when the cell which supports the single NSA mode and is covered by the first base station is switched to support the double NSA and SA modes: the second base station acquires target mode configuration information of the first base station through an interface between the base stations and updates a neighbor cell list, wherein the target mode configuration information of the first base station comprises configuration information of each cell covered by the first base station after being switched into an NSA (non-switched) dual mode and an SA (non-switched) dual mode; and sending the configuration information of the second base station to the first base station through the interface between the base stations.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: and when the second base station determines that the second base station has the cross-core network switching capability and determines that the terminal supporting the SA mode is positioned in the cell supporting the SA mode according to the adjacent cell list, the second base station allows the terminal to be switched in a cross-core network mode.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: and the second base station determines a cell supporting the SA single mode and/or the NSA and SA dual modes and a frequency point where the cell is located according to the neighbor cell list, and adds the frequency point and/or reselection parameter information of the cell in the broadcast message of the second base station.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: in the case where the first base station switches to support the SA single mode: receiving an inter-base station interface release request from a first base station through an inter-base station interface, wherein the inter-base station interface release request comprises a base station identifier of the first base station and interface deletion reason information; deleting the application layer configuration of the interface between the base stations and the SCTP connection, and feeding back deletion confirmation information to the first base station.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for inter-base station communication is provided, including: when the cell which supports the single NSA mode and is covered by the first base station is switched to support the double NSA and SA modes: the second base station receives target mode configuration information from the first base station through an interface between the base stations and stores the target mode configuration information into a neighbor cell list, wherein the target mode configuration information of the first base station comprises configuration information after each cell covered by the first base station is switched to support NSA and SA dual modes; and the second base station sends the configuration information of the second base station to the first base station through the inter-base station interface so that the first base station can store the neighbor cell list, wherein the configuration information of the second base station comprises the cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: when the first base station establishes an inter-base station connection with the second base station: the second base station sends configuration information of the second base station to the first base station through an interface between the base stations, wherein the configuration information of the second base station comprises cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station; and the second base station receives configuration information from the first base station through an interface between the base stations and stores the configuration information into a neighbor cell list, wherein if the cell covered by the first base station comprises one or more cells supporting NSA (non-switched antenna array) and SA (system access) dual modes, the configuration information of the first base station comprises mode information supported by the corresponding cell.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: and when the second base station determines that the second base station has the cross-core network switching capability and the terminal supporting the SA mode is positioned in the cell supporting the SA mode, allowing the terminal to be switched across the core network.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station communication method further comprises: in case all cells in the first base station are switched to support SA single mode: receiving an inter-base station interface release request from a first base station through an inter-base station interface, wherein the inter-base station interface release request comprises a base station identifier of the first base station and interface deletion reason information; and deleting the application layer configuration and the SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations, and feeding back deletion confirmation information to the first base station so that the first base station deletes the application layer configuration and the SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations.

By the method, when the cell supporting the NSA single mode covered by the first base station is switched to the cell supporting the NSA and SA dual modes, the second base station can acquire updated configuration information from the first base station to update the own neighbor cell list and can provide the own cross-core network switching capacity information for the first base station, so that the base station can conveniently determine a proper mobility strategy for the terminal by adopting the updated neighbor cell list, and user experience is guaranteed.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for communication between base stations is provided, including: when all cells of the first base station supporting the NSA single mode or the NSA and SA dual modes are switched to support the SA single mode: the second base station receives an inter-base station interface release request from the first base station through an inter-base station interface, wherein the inter-base station interface release request comprises a base station identifier and interface deletion reason information of the first base station; deleting the application layer configuration and SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations; and feeding back deletion confirmation information to the first base station so that the first base station deletes the application layer configuration and the SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations.

In some embodiments, the inter-base station interface is initiated by the first base station or the second base station; when the first base station establishes the connection between the base stations with the second base station: the second base station sends configuration information of the second base station to the first base station through an interface between the base stations, wherein the configuration information of the second base station comprises cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station; and the second base station receives configuration information from the first base station through an interface between the base stations and stores the configuration information into a neighbor cell list, wherein if the cell covered by the first base station comprises one or more cells supporting NSA (non-switched antenna array) and SA (system access) dual modes, the configuration information of the first base station comprises mode information supported by the corresponding cell.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a base station is provided, including: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to perform any of the inter-base station communication methods above based on instructions stored in the memory.

The base station can realize interaction of mode information and configuration information of each covered cell and cross-core network switching capability information of the base station, and can change configuration according to the interaction information, so that the self-adaptive capability of the base station configuration to the mode is improved, backward compatibility is improved, a proper mobility strategy is ensured to be determined for the terminal, and user experience is ensured.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is proposed, on which computer program instructions are stored, which instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of any one of the above inter-base station communication methods.

By executing the instruction on the computer-readable storage medium, the base station can realize interaction of mode information and configuration information of each covered cell and cross-core network switching capability information of the base station, and can change configuration according to the interaction information, so that the self-adaptive capability of the base station configuration to the mode is improved, backward compatibility is improved, a proper mobility strategy is ensured to be determined for the terminal, and user experience is ensured.

Further, according to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication system including: a first base station configured to perform any of the methods described above as being performed by the first base station; a second base station configured to perform any of the methods described above as being performed by the second base station; and, a core network.

In the communication system, the base station can realize interaction of mode information and configuration information of each covered cell and cross-core network switching capability information of the base station, and can change configuration according to the interaction information, so that the self-adaptive capability of the base station configuration to the mode is improved, backward compatibility is improved, a proper mobility strategy is determined for the terminal, and user experience is ensured.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the disclosure and not to limit the disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a networking architecture in an EN-DC scenario.

Fig. 2 is a structure diagram of a 5G wireless network.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an eNB and a gNB networking scenario.

Fig. 4 is a signaling flow diagram for eNB and gNB to establish an interface connection through EN-DC X2 Setup.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a protocol stack of a scenario in which NSA and SA co-exist.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of an embodiment of an inter-base station communication method of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of another embodiment of an inter-base station communication method of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of another embodiment of an inter-base station communication method according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a signaling flow diagram of an embodiment of an inter-base station communication method according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a base station of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a base station of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a communication system of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The technical solution of the present disclosure is further described in detail by the accompanying drawings and examples.

The inventors found that the following problems exist in the related art:

1) when the mode of the gNB changes, the eNB cannot instantly acquire:

based on the X2 interface established through the EN-DC X2Setup process at present, LTE considers that the gNB is an EN-gNB base station, and if the gNB changes to the NSA + SA dual mode, the existing X2 signaling process does not support the change of the gNB mode, and the ANR process cannot be used to acquire the mode change. Reasons for failure to acquire a mode change include: (1) the ANR is used in a scene that no adjacent cell relation exists between cells and no X2 interface exists, but an X2 interface is already arranged between two base stations in the scene; (2) the LTE eNB cannot know when the NR gbb has modified the state, which would result in the consumption of extra air interface signaling if the terminal continues to perform ANR measurement.

In the case that the target base station mode cannot be determined, the LTE base station cannot determine whether a terminal supporting an SA or NSA + SA dual mode can be switched into the gNB through the cross-core network, which may cause the terminal experience to be poor in some scenarios.

2) The eNB cannot know the mode difference of different cell configurations within the same gNB base station:

one base station can support a plurality of 5G frequency points, such as 3400-3500 MHz and 3500 MHz-3600 MHz, wherein part of the frequency points are suitable for NSA with LTE 1.8GHz, and part of the frequency points are not suitable for NSA with LTE 1.8GHz due to larger uplink double transmission power backspace. Therefore, different frequency points or cells in one base station have the situation that the configuration can be NSA, SA or NSA + SA dual mode.

The current X2 interface signaling does not support cell-level mode interaction, and if an interface is established according to the EN-DC X2Setup procedure, LTE may consider that all cells of a target base station support an NSA mode, so all the gNB cells in the LTE's neighbor list support NSA. If a SeNB (Secondary eNB, Secondary E-UTRAN base station node) addition procedure is initiated, the SeNB will be caused to reject the addition.

3) The gbb cannot know whether the eNB supports handover across the core network:

in the NSA phase, since all mobility anchor points are located on the LTE side, the eNB may not have the function of supporting handover across the core network, which requires the eNB to support additional signaling and formats. When the gbb is upgraded to be an NSA + SA dual mode, handover across the core network becomes necessary, and if the eNB does not support handover, handover from the gbb to the eNB may fail.

4) The X2 interface cannot be released after the gbb upgrades to the SA single mode:

since the current protocol does not support the gNB in the SA mode to establish an X2 interface with the eNB, when the NR base station is changed from the EN-gNB to the gNB, the X2 interface established according to the EN-DC mode needs to be released, but the existing EN-DC X2 Removal does not explicitly indicate why the eNB needs to be released, and the eNB cannot change the cell mode in the neighbor relation based on the reason.

A flow chart of one embodiment of the inter-base station communication method of the present disclosure is shown in fig. 6, where the left side of the dashed line is performed by a first base station and the right side of the dashed line is performed by a second base station. In one embodiment, the first base station may be a gNB or an en-gNB and the second base station may be an eNB or an ng-eNB. When the first base station establishes an inter-base station connection with the second base station:

in step 601, the first base station sends configuration information of the first base station to the second base station through an inter-base station interface, where if a cell covered by the first base station includes one or more cells supporting the NSA and SA dual modes, the configuration information of the first base station includes mode information supported by a corresponding cell.

In one embodiment, the configuration information of the first base station may include, but is not limited to:

identification information of the cell: NR CGI (Common Gateway Interface) information, length 36 bits

PCI information of the cell

TAC information of the cell: 2byte and/or 3byte length

Frequency point and frame structure information of a cell

Mode information of the cell.

In an embodiment, the mode information of the cell may be carried by an identifier with a length of 1 bit, when the identifier is a first predetermined value, such as 1, the cell is a dual mode of NSA and SA, when the identifier is a second predetermined value, such as 2, or when the identifier field is empty, the determination needs to be performed according to format combination of TACs, if only TAC with 3 bytes is present, it is considered that only SA mode is supported, and if TAC with 2 bytes and 3 bytes is present, it is considered that only NSA is supported.

In step 602, the second base station receives configuration information sent by the first base station through an inter-base station interface.

In step 603, the second base station stores the configuration information of the first base station in the neighbor list.

In one embodiment, the neighbor list stored by the second base station according to the configuration information of the first base station may include, but is not limited to, the following:

identification of the cell: NR CGI information, which may be 36 bits in length

PCI information of the cell

TAC information of the cell: 2byte and/or 3byte length

Frequency points of a cell

Frame structure of cell

Mode information of the cell: support for NSA single mode only, SA single mode only, or NSA and SA dual mode

In step 604, the second base station sends configuration information of the second base station to the first base station through the inter-base station interface, where the configuration information of the second base station includes cross-core network handover capability information of the second base station.

In one embodiment, the second base station and cell configuration information includes, but is not limited to, the following:

base station identification of the second base station

Configuration information for each cell, including:

frequency information of the cell

TAC of the cell

PCI information of the cell

Bandwidth and subframe configuration information of the cell

Whether handover is supported across EPC and 5GC core networks: 1 bit, 1 indicates support, and 0 or this information does not carry support.

In step 605, the first base station receives configuration information from the second base station over an inter-base station interface.

In step 606, the first base station stores the configuration information of the second base station in the neighbor list. In one embodiment, after receiving the configuration information sent by the second base station, the first base station stores the base station configuration information, the cell configuration information and the information about whether to support switching across the core network of the second base station according to the content of the received message.

In one embodiment, step 601 has no context with step 604, and step 601 to step 603 may be performed first, and then step 604 to step 606 may be performed, or step 604 to step 606 may be performed first, and then step 601 to step 603 may be performed. In one embodiment, if the first base station establishes a connection between the first base station and the second base station, the first base station actively sends configuration information of the first base station to the second base station, and the second base station feeds back the configuration information of the second base station after receiving the configuration information of the first base station; if the connection between the first base station and the second base station is established by the second base station, the first base station sends the configuration information of the first base station to the second base station through the interface message between the base stations after receiving the configuration information of the second base station.

By the method, the core network or the control personnel can initiate the establishment of the connection between the base stations through any one side of the first base station or the second base station, and the control flexibility is improved.

In an embodiment, the first base station may determine whether the terminal supporting the SA mode may adopt a mode of handover between the EPC and the 5GC core network according to the neighbor list information and whether the second base station supports the capability of handover between the EPC and the 5GC core network. In one embodiment, the second base station may add reselection parameter information of frequency points and/or cells to a broadcast message of the second base station for the frequency points supporting the SA single mode and/or the frequency points where the NSA and SA dual mode cells are located in the neighbor cell list. And the second base station determines that the terminal adopts the activated first base station as the SeNB according to the neighbor cell list information, the capability of the terminal and whether the second base station supports the capability of switching across EPC and 5GC core networks or not, and adopts a mobility scheme of switching across EPC and 5GC core networks or maintaining in LTE carrier waves and the like, so that a proper mobility strategy is determined for the terminal, and the user experience is ensured.

Another embodiment of the inter-base station communication method of the present disclosure is shown in fig. 7, wherein the left side of the dotted line is performed by a first base station and the right side of the dotted line is performed by a second base station. In one embodiment, the first base station is a gNB or an en-gNB and the second base station is an eNB or an ng-eNB. When the cell which supports the single NSA mode and is covered by the first base station is switched to support the double NSA and SA modes:

in step 701, the first base station sends target mode configuration information of the first base station to the second base station through an inter-base station interface, where the target mode configuration information of the first base station includes configuration information after each cell covered by the first base station is switched to an NSA dual mode and an SA dual mode.

In step 702, the second base station receives target mode configuration information from the first base station through an inter-base station interface.

In step 703, the second base station stores the target mode configuration information of the first base station in the neighbor list.

In step 704, the second base station sends configuration information of the second base station to the first base station through the inter-base station interface, where the configuration information of the second base station includes cross-core network handover capability information of the second base station.

In step 705, the first base station receives configuration information from the second base station over an inter-base station interface.

In step 706, the first base station updates the neighbor cell list using the received configuration information of the second base station.

In an embodiment, the second base station may further increase, in a broadcast message of the frequency points and/or cells, reselection parameter information of the frequency points and/or cells for the frequency points and/or cells supporting the SA single mode and/or the NSA and SA dual mode cells in the neighbor cell list, and delete, in the broadcast message of the frequency points and/or cells, reselection parameter configurations of the frequency points and/or cells for the frequency points and/or cells no longer supporting the SA.

The second base station checks whether the second base station supports the switching function of crossing EPC and 5GC core networks, if not, the configuration information of the cell and the configuration information of the base station are sent to the first base station through an interface message between the base stations, otherwise, the enhanced configuration information is indicated to the first base station through the interface between the base stations.

And the first base station determines whether the terminal supporting the SA mode can adopt a mode of switching between the EPC and the 5GC core networks or not according to the adjacent area list information and the capability of whether the second base station supports switching between the EPC and the 5GC core networks or not.

In one embodiment, in the terminal communication process, when the first base station determines that the second base station has the cross-core network switching capability information according to the neighbor cell list, it is determined that the terminal which is located in the cell supporting the SA mode and supports the SA mode can perform cross-core network switching. In one embodiment, the second base station allows the terminal to switch across the core network when determining that the second base station is capable of switching across the core network and the terminal supporting the SA mode is located in the cell supporting the SA mode. For example, when the terminal only supports the SA mode, if the terminal needs to switch to the 5G network due to situations such as triggering an AR/VR service, the terminal can be switched to the gNB in a cross-core switching manner according to the neighbor list information and the cross-core switching capability supported by the terminal, so that user experience is improved.

By the method, the appropriate mobility strategy can be ensured to be determined for the terminal, and the user experience is ensured.

A flowchart of yet another embodiment of the inter-base station communication method of the present disclosure is shown in fig. 8, wherein the left side of the dotted line is performed by a first base station and the right side of the dotted line is performed by a second base station. In one embodiment, the first base station is a gNB or an en-gNB and the second base station is an eNB or an ng-eNB. When all cells in the coverage area of the first base station are switched to only support the SA single mode:

in step 801, a first base station sends an inter-base station interface release request to a second base station through an inter-base station interface, where the inter-base station interface release request includes a base station identifier of the first base station and interface deletion reason information.

In one embodiment, the first base station may utilize an inter-base station communication message, such as an EN-DC X2Setup Request procedure, to inform the second base station that the inter-base station interface X2 connection needs to be released, the EN-DC X2Setup Request message including, but not limited to, one or a combination of the following information:

base station identification of the first base station: length of 22-32 bits

Reason for deletion: EN-DC state not support

In step 802, the second base station receives an inter-base station interface release request from the first base station over the inter-base station interface.

In step 803, the second base station deletes the application layer configuration and SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations. In an embodiment, the second base station may determine all cells of the base station in the neighbor cell list according to the base station identifier of the first base station carried in the message, determine that the cells become a state supporting only the SA according to the deletion cause, and change the mode of the cells into the state supporting only the SA. And aiming at the frequency point information of the cells, adjusting corresponding frequency points in the broadcast message and/or the reselection parameter configuration of the cells. In an embodiment, after receiving the EN-DC X2Setup Request message, the second base station may further determine whether the terminal supporting the SA function is handed over to the gNB through the cross-core network according to whether the terminal supports the handover function across the EPC and the 5 GC.

In step 804, the second base station feeds back deletion confirmation information to the first base station. In one embodiment, the second base station may send an EN-DC X2Setup Response message to the gNB, the acknowledgement information including, but not limited to, the following:

identification of the second base station beacon

Whether handover is supported across EPC and 5GC core networks: 1 bit, 1 indicates support, 0 or this information does not carry support.

In step 805, the first base station acquires deletion confirmation information fed back by the second base station.

In step 806, the application layer configuration and SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations is deleted according to the deletion confirmation information fed back by the second base station. In one embodiment, after receiving the acknowledgement message, the first base station adjusts the neighboring cell information, determines that all cells of the first base station and the second base station have no inter-base station interface connection, and deletes all application layer configurations in the inter-base station interface connection and the SCTP connection of the inter-base station interface.

A signaling flow diagram of one embodiment of the inter-base station communication method of the present disclosure is shown in fig. 9.

Assume that there are two base station nodes in the scenario, eNB and gNB respectively, where all cells of the gNB support NSA and SA dual modes, and there is no X2 interface between the two base station nodes. Neither the neighbor relation table of eNB nor the gNB has the configuration information of the other. The gNB includes four cells, cell 1/3 and cell 2/4, where cells 1 and 3 use frequency point F1 and cells 2 and 4 use frequency point F2.

If OMC (Operation and Maintenance Center) of the gNB triggers an X2 interface establishment procedure with the gNB, then:

in 901, the gNB sends its own base station configuration and enhanced configuration information of each cell to the eNB through an EN-DC X2Setup Response message.

The configuration information of cells 1 and 3 includes:

identification information of the cell: NR CGI information, 36 bits in length

PCI information of the cell

TAC information of the cell: 3byte length

Frequency point and frame structure information of a cell

Mode information of the cell: 1

The configuration information of cells 2 and 4 includes:

identification information of the cell: NR CGI information, 36 bits in length

PCI information of the cell

TAC information of the cell: length of 3 bytes

Frequency point and frame structure information of a cell

Mode information of the cell: 0

After receiving the EN-DC X2Setup Response message sent by the gNB, the eNB stores the configuration information of the gNB cell in a neighbor list, where the neighbor list includes:

identification of the cell: NR CGI information

PCI information of the cell

TAC information of the cell: length of 3 bytes

Frequency points of a cell

Frame structure of cell

Mode information of the cell

At 902, the eNB sends the configuration information of the local cell and the configuration information of the base station to the gNB through an EN-DC X2Setup Request message, where the message includes:

base station identification of eNB

The configuration information of each cell comprises:

frequency information of the cell

TAC of the cell

PCI information of the cell

Bandwidth and subframe configuration information of the cell

Whether handover is supported across EPC and 5GC core networks: 1

In an embodiment, the eNB may add reselection parameter information of F1 and F2 in a broadcast message of the frequency point F1 where cells 1 and 3 are located and a frequency point F2 where cells 2 and 4 are located in the neighbor cell list. And the eNB switches the terminal to the gNB in a cross-core network switching mode according to the capability that the terminal only supports the SA mode and under the condition that the core network needs to be switched due to triggering of the AR/VR service and according to the neighbor list information and the capability that the eNB supports the cross-core network switching.

In one embodiment, if the OMC of the eNB triggers the X2 interface establishment procedure with the gNB, then:

in 911, the eNB discovers that the preconfigured information of the target gNB supports NSA and SA dual modes, and the eNB discovers that the preconfigured information of all cells of the target gNB lacks mode information and supports handover functions across EPC and 5GC core networks, and then needs to send the configuration information of the cell and the configuration information of the base station to the gNB through an EN-DC X2Setup Request message, where the message includes a base station identifier of the eNB. The configuration information of each cell includes:

frequency information of the cell

TAC of the cell

PCI information of the cell

Bandwidth and subframe configuration information of the cell

Whether handover is supported across EPC and 5GC core networks: 1

In 912, after receiving the X2 message sent by the eNB, the gNB stores the eNB base station configuration information, the cell configuration information, and the information supporting handover across the core network according to the content of the received message, where if the gNB finds that both cells 1 and 3 support dual modes of NSA and SA, cells 2 and 4 support only the SA mode. The gNB sends its base station configuration and enhanced configuration information of each cell to the eNB through an EN-DC X2Setup Response message.

The configuration information of cells 1 and 3 includes:

identification information of the cell: NR CGI information, 36 bits in length

PCI information of the cell

TAC information of the cell: length of 3 bytes

Frequency point and frame structure information of a cell

Mode information of the cell: 1

The configuration information of cells 2 and 4 includes:

identification information of the cell: NR CGI information, 36 bits in length

PCI information of the cell

TAC information of the cell: length of 3 bytes

Frequency point and frame structure information of a cell

Mode information of the cell: 0

After receiving the EN-DC X2Setup Response message sent by the gNB, the eNB stores the configuration information or enhanced configuration information of the gNB cell into a neighbor list, where the neighbor list includes:

identification of the cell: NR CGI information

PCI information of the cell

TAC information of the cell: length of 3 bytes

Frequency points of a cell

Frame structure of cell

Mode information of the cell

And the eNB adds reselection parameter information of F1 and F2 in a broadcast message of the frequency point F1 where the cells 1 and 3 are located and the frequency point F2 where the cells 2 and 4 are located in the neighbor cell list. And the eNB switches the terminal to the gNB in a cross-core network switching mode according to the capability that the terminal only supports the SA mode and under the condition that the core network needs to be switched due to triggering of the AR/VR service and according to the neighbor list information and the capability that the eNB supports the cross-core network switching.

In one embodiment, when the gNB upgrades from supporting NSA-only mode to supporting NSA + SA dual mode:

in 921, the gNB sends the base station Configuration and the Configuration information of each cell to the eNB through an EN-DC Configuration update Request message after the mode is changed, where the enhanced Configuration information of the four cells includes the following:

identification information of the cell: NR CGI information, 36 bits in length

PCI information of the cell

TAC information of the cell: length of 3 bytes

Frequency point and frame structure information of a cell

Mode information of the cell: 1

In 922, after receiving the EN-DC Configuration Update Response message sent by the gNB, the eNB changes the mode in the enhanced Configuration information of the gNB cell in the neighbor relation list from supporting only NSA to supporting dual modes of NSA and SA.

And the eNB adds reselection parameter information of F1 and F2 in a broadcast message of the frequency point F1 where the cells 1 and 3 are located and the frequency point F2 where the cells 2 and 4 are located in the neighbor cell list. And if the eNB which originally does not support the switching function of the core network of the cross EPC and the 5GC is upgraded and then supports the switching function of the core network of the cross EPC and the 5GC, sending the Configuration information of the cell and the switching capability of the core network of the cross EPC and the 5GC to the gNB through an EN-DC Configuration update Response message.

In one embodiment, when the gNB changes from originally supporting only the NSA mode to supporting only the SA single mode:

at 931, when the mode of all cells in the gNB changes to the SA-only state, the gNB notifies the eNB of the need to release the X2 connection using an EN-DC X2Setup Request procedure, wherein the EN-DC X2Setup Request message contains:

En-gNB base station identity: 22-32 bit length

Reason for deletion: EN-DC state not support

After receiving the EN-DC X2Setup Request message, the eNB determines all cells of the base station in the neighbor cell list according to the En-gNB base station identifier carried in the message, determines that the cells are in a state of only supporting SA according to the deletion reason, and changes the mode of the cells into a state of only supporting SA. And the eNB adds reselection parameter information of F1 and F2 in a broadcast message of the frequency point F1 where the cells 1 and 3 are located and the frequency point F2 where the cells 2 and 4 are located in the neighbor cell list.

At 932, the eNB sends an EN-DC X2Setup Response message to the gNB and deletes all application layer configurations in the X2 connection and the SCTP connection of X2. The message carries confirmation information for deleting the X2 connection, and the confirmation information comprises:

eNB base station identity

Whether handover is supported across EPC and 5GC core networks: 1

And after receiving the confirmation message, the gNB adjusts the adjacent cell information, determines that the gNB is not connected with all cells of the eNB by the X2, and deletes all application layer configurations and SCTP connection of the X2 in the X2 connection. The eNB1 supports only the SA mode according to the UE capability of the UE1, and since the AR/VR service is triggered, switches the UE1 to the gNB in a cross-core handover manner according to the neighbor list information and the cross-core handover capability supported by the eNB.

By the method, when the supported NSA/SA mode of the gNB is changed, the eNB side can automatically sense and adjust the corresponding parameter configuration and mobility strategy, so that manual intervention is reduced; different modes of different cell configurations of the gNB can be supported, and the constraint of the existing protocol system on the system mode configuration is reduced; supporting the automatic interaction of the capability of the eNB supporting the EPC and the 5GC core network, and enabling the gNB to select an effective interoperation scheme based on the information; the change to the terminal is small, and the backward compatibility and the deployment feasibility are good; the enhancement is carried out on the existing protocol, a new protocol process is not introduced, and the realization difficulty is low.

A schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a base station of the present disclosure is shown in fig. 10. The base station comprises a memory 1001 and a processor 1002. Wherein: the memory 1001 may be a magnetic disk, flash memory, or any other non-volatile storage medium. The memory is for storing instructions in the corresponding embodiments of the inter-base station communication method above. The processor 1002 is coupled to the memory 1001 and may be implemented as one or more integrated circuits, such as a microprocessor or microcontroller. The processor 1002 is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, so that the configuration of the base station can meet the requirement of updating the mode, and the adaptive capability of the configuration of the base station to the mode is improved.

In one embodiment, as also shown in fig. 11, a base station 1100 includes a memory 1101 and a processor 1102. Processor 1102 is coupled to memory 1101 through BUS 1103. The base station 1100 may also be coupled to an external storage device 1105 through a storage interface 1104 for retrieving external data, and may also be coupled to a network or another computer system (not shown) through a network interface 1106. And will not be described in detail herein.

In this embodiment, the memory stores the data instruction, and the processor processes the instruction, so that the configuration of the base station can meet the requirement of updating the mode, and the adaptive capacity of the base station configuration to the mode is improved.

In another embodiment, a computer readable storage medium has stored thereon computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method in a corresponding embodiment of the inter base station communication method. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a method, apparatus, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable non-transitory storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

A schematic diagram of one embodiment of a communication system 1200 of the present disclosure is shown in fig. 12. The core network 1201 may include EPC, 5GC, and the specific contents of the core network may be modified according to the network upgrade. The first base station 1202 may be a gNB or an en-gNB, and performs any one of the above inter-base station communication methods performed by the first base station; the second base station 1203 may be an eNB or an ng-eNB, and performs any of the operations performed by the second base station.

In the communication system, the base station can realize interaction of mode information and configuration information of each covered cell and cross-core network switching capability information of the base station, and can change configuration according to the interaction information, so that the self-adaptive capability of the base station configuration to the mode is improved, backward compatibility is improved, a proper mobility strategy is ensured to be determined for the terminal, and user experience is ensured.

The present disclosure is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Thus far, the present disclosure has been described in detail. Some details that are well known in the art have not been described in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present disclosure. It will be fully apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description how to practice the presently disclosed embodiments.

The methods and apparatus of the present disclosure may be implemented in a number of ways. For example, the methods and apparatus of the present disclosure may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination of software, hardware, and firmware. The above-described order for the steps of the method is for illustration only, and the steps of the method of the present disclosure are not limited to the order specifically described above unless specifically stated otherwise. Further, in some embodiments, the present disclosure may also be embodied as programs recorded in a recording medium, the programs including machine-readable instructions for implementing the methods according to the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure also covers a recording medium storing a program for executing the method according to the present disclosure.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above examples are intended only to illustrate the technical solutions of the present disclosure and not to limit them; although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: modifications to the specific embodiments of the disclosure or equivalent substitutions for parts of the technical features may still be made; all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the claims of this disclosure without departing from the spirit thereof.

Claims

1. An inter-base station communication method, comprising:

when all cells of the first base station supporting the NSA single mode of the non-independent networking or supporting the NSA dual mode and the SA single mode of the independent networking are switched to support the SA single mode:

the first base station sends an inter-base station interface release request to a second base station through an inter-base station interface so that the second base station deletes the application layer configuration of the inter-base station interface and Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) connection stored in the second base station, wherein the inter-base station interface release request comprises a base station identifier of the first base station and interface deletion reason information;

and deleting the application layer configuration and SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations stored in the first base station according to the deletion confirmation information fed back by the second base station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first base station is a 5G base station, gbb, or an en-gbb, and the second base station is an evolved node b, eNB, or ng-eNB.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the first base station establishes an inter-base station connection with the second base station:

the first base station sends configuration information of the first base station to the second base station through an inter-base station interface so that the second base station can store a neighbor cell list, wherein if a cell covered by the first base station comprises one or more cells supporting NSA (non-switched antenna array) and SA (secure access) dual modes, the configuration information of the first base station comprises mode information supported by a corresponding cell;

the first base station receives configuration information from the second base station through an inter-base station interface, wherein the configuration information of the second base station comprises cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station;

and the first base station stores the configuration information of the second base station into a neighbor cell list.

4. An inter-base station communication method, comprising:

the second base station receives an inter-base station interface release request from the first base station through an inter-base station interface, wherein the inter-base station interface release request comprises a base station identifier and interface deletion reason information of the first base station;

deleting the application layer configuration and Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) connection of an interface between base stations;

and feeding back deletion confirmation information to the first base station so that the first base station deletes the application layer configuration and the SCTP connection of the interface between the base stations.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first base station is a 5G base station (gNB) or an en-gNB, and the second base station is an evolved node B (eNB) or an ng-eNB.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the inter-base station interface is initiated by the first base station or the second base station;

the second base station sends configuration information of the second base station to the first base station through an inter-base station interface, wherein the configuration information of the second base station comprises cross-core network switching capability information of the second base station;

and the second base station receives configuration information from the first base station through an inter-base station interface and stores the configuration information into a neighbor cell list, wherein if a cell covered by the first base station comprises one or more cells supporting NSA (non-switched antenna array) and SA (system access) dual modes, the configuration information of the first base station comprises mode information supported by the corresponding cell.

7. A base station, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-6 based on instructions stored in the memory.

8. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. A communication system, comprising:

a first base station configured to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 3;

a second base station configured to perform the method of any of claims 4 to 6; and the combination of (a) and (b),

a core network.