CN115087054A

CN115087054A - Condition switching method, device, equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN115087054A
Application number: CN202110271756.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘潇蔓; 谢芳; 唐晓璇; 陈宁宇
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2021-03-12
Filing date: 2021-03-12
Publication date: 2022-09-20
Also published as: WO2022188890A1

Abstract

The invention discloses a condition switching method, a condition switching device, a condition switching equipment and a storage medium. Wherein the method comprises the following steps: when a terminal in a dual-connection mode performs condition switching, the terminal is switched from a first main base station to a second main base station; the terminal acquires a candidate cell list and sends the candidate cell list to the second main base station; the candidate cell list characterizes a secondary cell group configured when the first secondary base station performs Conditional PScell Change (CPC) configuration on the terminal; the candidate cell list is used for the second master base station to establish a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition that the first auxiliary base station is reserved, so that the second master base station and the first auxiliary base station jointly provide dual connectivity service for the terminal.

Description

Condition switching method, device, equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, a device, and a storage medium for conditional switching.

Background

Currently, with the rapid development of communication technology, when a terminal moves from one cell to another cell, handover control may be performed on the terminal in order to ensure the communication quality of the terminal. In practical application, the terminal can be configured with conditional switching, so that when the threshold of the conditional switching configuration is met, the terminal can actively initiate a random access process to a target base station without triggering measurement report to wait for a network to issue a switching command. However, for a terminal in the dual connectivity mode, after initiating condition switching, a base station after switching may not provide a dual connectivity service to the terminal in time.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, embodiments of the present invention are intended to provide a method, an apparatus, a device, and a storage medium for conditional switching.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention is realized as follows:

at least one embodiment of the present invention provides a conditional switching method, including:

when a terminal in a dual-connection mode performs condition switching, the terminal is switched from a first main base station to a second main base station;

the terminal acquires a candidate cell list and sends the candidate cell list to the second main base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when the first auxiliary base station performs Conditional PScell Change (CPC) configuration on the terminal;

the candidate cell list is used for the second master base station to establish a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition that the first auxiliary base station is reserved, so that the second master base station and the first auxiliary base station jointly provide dual connectivity service for the terminal.

Further, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, the sending the candidate cell list to the second master base station includes:

the terminal carries the candidate cell list in first information;

and the terminal sends the first information to the second main base station.

Further, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention, when the terminal in the dual connection mode performs the conditional switching, the switching of the terminal from the first master base station to the second master base station includes:

the terminal receives the condition switching configuration sent by the first main base station;

the terminal determines a plurality of candidate cells satisfying an execution condition in the conditional handover configuration from a plurality of conditional handover candidate cells;

and the terminal selects a target cell from the candidate cells to access the second main base station.

Further, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises:

and in the process that the terminal accesses the second main base station, the CPC configuration is not released.

Furthermore, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprises:

the terminal receives the updated candidate cell list sent by the second main base station; wherein the updated candidate cell list is obtained by updating CPC configuration when the second master base station is rejected to establish a communication interface with a cell in the candidate cell list;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the terminal receives the updated random access configuration sent by the second main base station; wherein the random access configuration is obtained by updating random access resources reserved for the terminal by at least one cell establishing a communication interface with the second master base station in the candidate cell list.

when a terminal in a dual-connection mode executes conditional switching from a first main base station to a second main base station, the second main base station acquires a candidate cell list from a first auxiliary base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when the first auxiliary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal;

Further in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention, the second master base station obtains a candidate cell list from the first secondary base station, including one of:

after the terminal is switched to the second main base station, the second main base station sends second information to the first auxiliary base station; the second information is used for instructing the first secondary base station to send the candidate cell list to the second primary base station; the second main base station receives a candidate cell list sent by the first auxiliary base station;

and after the terminal is switched to the second main base station, the second main base station receives the candidate cell list sent by the first auxiliary base station.

the second main base station sends the updated candidate cell list to the terminal; wherein the updated candidate cell list is obtained by updating CPC configuration when the second master base station is rejected to establish a communication interface with a cell in the candidate cell list;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the second master base station sends the updated random access configuration to the terminal; wherein the random access configuration is obtained by updating random access resources reserved for the terminal by at least one cell establishing a communication interface with the second master base station in the candidate cell list.

At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a condition switching apparatus including:

a first processing unit for switching from a first main base station to a second main base station when a terminal in a dual connectivity mode performs a condition switching;

a sending unit, configured to obtain a candidate cell list and send the candidate cell list to the second master base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when a first auxiliary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a candidate cell list from a first secondary base station when a terminal in a dual connectivity mode performs conditional switching from a first primary base station to a second primary base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when the first auxiliary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal;

and a second processing unit, configured to establish a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition that the first secondary base station is reserved, so that the second master base station and the first secondary base station jointly provide a dual connectivity service for the terminal.

At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal including:

a first processor for switching from a first master base station to a second master base station when a terminal in a dual connectivity mode performs a conditional switch;

a first communication interface, configured to obtain a candidate cell list and send the candidate cell list to the second master base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when a first auxiliary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal;

At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a network device, including:

a second communication interface, configured to obtain a candidate cell list from the first secondary base station when the terminal in the dual connectivity mode performs conditional switching from the first primary base station to the second primary base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when the first auxiliary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal;

and a second processor, configured to establish a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition that the first secondary base station is reserved, so that the second master base station and the first secondary base station jointly provide a dual connectivity service for the terminal.

At least one embodiment of the invention provides a terminal comprising a processor and a memory storing a computer program capable of running on the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to execute the steps of the method of any one of the above terminal sides when running the computer program.

At least one embodiment of the invention provides a network device comprising a processor and a memory storing a computer program capable of running on the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to execute the steps of the method of any one of the above network device sides when running the computer program.

At least one embodiment of the invention provides a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of any of the methods described above.

According to the condition switching method, the device, the equipment and the storage medium provided by the embodiment of the invention, when the terminal in the double-connection mode executes condition switching, the terminal is switched from a first main base station to a second main base station; the terminal acquires a candidate cell list and sends the candidate cell list to the second main base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when a first auxiliary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal; the candidate cell list is used for the second master base station to establish a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition that the first auxiliary base station is reserved, so that the second master base station and the first auxiliary base station jointly provide dual connectivity service for the terminal. By adopting the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, for a terminal under a dual-connection mode which is configured with both CPC and Conditional Handover (CHO), when the CHO is triggered firstly, namely the terminal is switched from a first main base station to a second main base station, if the second main base station keeps the original auxiliary base station unchanged, the terminal actively reports a candidate cell list to the second main base station, so that the second main base station and the original auxiliary base station can conveniently establish a communication interface at a node where the candidate cell configured with the CPC is located, and the second main base station and the original auxiliary base station can timely provide dual-connection service for the terminal, thereby avoiding the dual-connection service from being interrupted.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a flow of implementing handover of a terminal in the related art;

fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation of a first conditional access method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation process of ensuring dual connectivity services of a terminal when a condition of the terminal is switched in a first dual connectivity mode according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation process of ensuring dual connectivity service of a terminal when a condition of the terminal is switched in a second dual connectivity mode according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation flow of guaranteeing dual connectivity service of a terminal when the terminal initiates a condition switch in a third dual connectivity mode according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation of a second conditional access method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a first condition switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a second conditional access apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of a conditional access system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Before the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention is introduced, a description is given of a related art.

In the related art, a terminal may establish an air interface connection with a main base station (also referred to as a Master Node), so as to implement communication with the main base station; the terminal may also establish an air interface connection with an auxiliary base station (also referred to as an auxiliary Node (SN)), so as to implement communication with the auxiliary base station; the terminal can also establish air interface connection with the main base station and the auxiliary base station simultaneously, so that communication between the terminal and the main base station and communication between the terminal and the auxiliary base station are realized simultaneously. The terminal establishes two connections with a main base station and an auxiliary base station simultaneously in a dual-connection mode, wherein the main base station is mainly responsible for signaling transmission, and the auxiliary base station is responsible for data transmission. The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application is mainly used for the terminal in the double-connection mode.

For a terminal in a dual connectivity mode, a CHO may be configured, that is, a main base station may configure a threshold for triggering handover for the terminal and a random access resource used by the terminal in a potential target cell, and once the handover threshold is met, the terminal initiates a random access process to the target base station without triggering a measurement report to wait for a network to issue a handover command.

For a terminal in dual connectivity mode, CPC, i.e., a condition that triggers a PScell change, and a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) to connect with the terminal may also be configured. The terminal may access the potential SN when the CPC condition is satisfied.

Here, for the terminal in the dual connectivity mode, the network may configure the CHO and the CPC for the terminal, and the order of the CHO and the CPC is not fixed.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a flow of implementing handover of a terminal in the related art, as shown in fig. 1, for a terminal in a dual connectivity mode, for example, for an MR-DC terminal, when handover occurs, a target base station (target MN) may add a new SN to the terminal, may also reserve an original SN for the terminal, and may also delete the original SN for the terminal, that is, the target base station may determine whether to reserve, change, or delete an SN being served. The reserved original SN may mean that the target SN and the source SN are the same SN.

In summary, assuming that the CPC is configured first and then the CHO is configured, the network does not carry the CPC-related configuration when configuring the CHO. Aiming at a terminal in a dual connectivity mode, both CHO and CPC are configured, under the condition that CHO occurs first, if the target cell keeps original SN after UE is switched to the target cell, the target cell does not know CPC configuration of the original SN, so that a Xn port is not established between a new MN and the original SN to add a candidate SN cell, and the new MN cannot cooperate with the original SN together, thereby causing the problem that the terminal cannot continue to receive dual connectivity service.

Based on this, in various embodiments of the present invention, when a terminal in a dual connection mode performs a conditional switch, the terminal is switched from a first master base station to a second master base station; the terminal acquires a candidate cell list and sends the candidate cell list to the second main base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when a first auxiliary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal; the candidate cell list is used for the second master base station to establish a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition that the first auxiliary base station is reserved, so that the second master base station and the first auxiliary base station jointly provide dual connectivity service for the terminal.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, for a terminal in a dual connectivity mode configured with both CPC and CHO, when the CHO is triggered first, the terminal is switched from a first master base station to a second master base station, and the second master base station keeps an original secondary base station (original SN) unchanged, the terminal actively reports a candidate cell list to the second master base station, that is, the candidate cell list configured with CPC is notified to a target base station, so that the second master base station (new MN) establishes a communication interface with a node where a candidate cell of the original SN is located, or the original SN notifies the second master base station (new MN), that is, the candidate cell list configured with CPC is notified to the target base station, so that the second master base station (new MN) establishes a communication interface with a node where a candidate cell of the original SN is located.

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a conditional switching method, which is applied to a terminal, and as shown in fig. 2, the method includes:

step 201: when a terminal in a dual connectivity mode performs conditional switching, the terminal is switched from a first master base station to a second master base station.

Step 202: and the terminal acquires a candidate cell list and sends the candidate cell list to the second main base station.

The candidate cell list represents a secondary cell group configured when a first secondary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal; the candidate cell list is used for the second master base station to establish a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition that the first auxiliary base station is reserved, so that the second master base station and the first auxiliary base station jointly provide a dual connectivity service for the terminal.

Here, in step 201, in an actual application, the conditional handover configuration may refer to that the terminal does not need to trigger the measurement report waiting network to issue a handover instruction to implement the handover, but determines whether a cell meeting the execution condition of the conditional handover configuration exists in the conditional handover candidate cells, and when a cell meeting the execution condition of the conditional handover configuration exists in the conditional handover candidate cells, accesses the cell as a target cell to the second master base station.

Here, in step 202, in actual application, the CHO is triggered first, the terminal is switched from the first master base station to the second master base station, and under the condition that the second master base station keeps the original secondary base station (original SN) unchanged, the terminal actively reports the candidate cell list to the second master base station, so that the second master base station (new MN) establishes a communication interface with a node where the candidate cell of the original SN is located, and thus the new MN and the original SN can provide dual connectivity service for the terminal together.

Here, establishing the communication interface may refer to establishing an Xn interface between the second master base station and a node corresponding to each cell in the candidate cell list.

Here, in the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal is a terminal in a dual connectivity mode in which both CPC and CHO are configured.

A detailed description will be given below of how to guarantee the dual connectivity service of the terminal in the case where the terminal in the dual connectivity mode is conditionally switched.

In actual application, aiming at a terminal in double connection, when a condition is switched, the terminal is switched from an original MN to a new MN, if the new MN does not delete or change the original SN, namely the new MN actively reports the candidate cell list configured by the existing CPC to the new MN under the condition of keeping the original SN, the new MN can be ensured to establish a communication interface with each cell of the original SN in time, so that the new MN and the original SN jointly provide double connection service for the terminal, and the double connection service is ensured not to be interrupted.

Based on this, in an embodiment, the sending the candidate cell list to the second master base station includes:

the terminal carries the candidate cell list in first information;

and the terminal sends the first information to the second main base station.

Here, the candidate cell list may characterize a secondary cell group configured when the first secondary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal. The CPC configuration may refer to a condition that triggers a PScell change. The PScell is the first cell connected in a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) under the original SN after the terminal establishes connection with the first secondary base station. The SCG may include a PScell and a plurality of scells, which are other cells than the PScell in the SCG.

Table 1 is an illustration of a candidate cell list, and as shown in table 1, the SCG configured for the CPC configuration by the first secondary base station includes 5 cells, that is, a PScell, an SCell1, an SCell2, an SCell3, and an SCell 4.

TABLE 1

Here, the manner in which the terminal transmits the candidate cell list to the second master base station includes the following two ways:

in the first mode, after the terminal is accessed to a second main base station, namely a new MN, a reconfiguration completion message is sent to the new MN; the reconfiguration complete message carries the candidate cell list.

In the second mode, after the terminal accesses a second main base station, namely a new MN, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message is sent to the MN; the RRC message carries the candidate cell list.

In practical application, in order to avoid the situation that the terminal triggers the measurement report to wait for the network to issue the switching instruction to realize switching, the first main base station can configure condition switching for the terminal, and the terminal can initiatively initiate switching to the second main base station under the condition that the condition switching is met.

Based on this, in an embodiment, when the terminal in dual connectivity mode performs conditional switching, the switching of the terminal from a first master base station to a second master base station includes:

Here, the conditional handover configuration may refer to that the terminal does not need to trigger the measurement report to wait for the network to issue a handover instruction to implement handover, but evaluates whether the conditional handover candidate cell meets an execution condition in the conditional handover configuration.

The execution condition may refer to a measurement threshold reached when the candidate cell satisfies the conditional handover.

For example, as shown in table 2, assuming that the candidate cells are represented by cell1, cell2, and cell3, the measurement value of cell1 is 10dB, the measurement value of cell2 is 20dB, the measurement value of cell3 is 30dB, and the measurement threshold corresponding to the execution condition is 15dB, then cell2 and cell3 satisfy the execution condition, and the terminal may select one cell from cell2 and cell3 as the target cell.

Conditional handover candidate cell names	Measured value
		Cell1	10dB
Cell2	20dB
		Cell3	30dB

TABLE 2

In practical application, for a terminal in dual connectivity, when the first master base station, namely the original MN, is switched to the second master base station, namely the new MN, and if the new MN retains the original SN, the terminal does not release the candidate cell group configured by the CPC, so that the new MN can be ensured to establish a communication interface with the candidate cell of the original SN in time after acquiring the candidate cell list configured by the CPC by the original SN, thereby providing dual connectivity service for the terminal together.

Based on this, in an embodiment, the method further comprises:

Here, not releasing the CPC configuration may mean that the terminal maintains connection with each cell in the candidate cell group in which the CPC configuration is performed with the first secondary base station, that is, the original SN.

In an example, as shown in fig. 3, a procedure for guaranteeing dual connectivity service of a terminal when a conditional handover occurs to the terminal in dual connectivity mode is described, including:

step 301: when a terminal in dual connectivity mode performs CHO, the terminal is switched from a first master base station to a second master base station.

Here, before the terminal in the dual connectivity mode is not subjected to conditional handover, the first primary base station, i.e., the original MN, and the first secondary base station, i.e., the original SN, jointly provide the dual connectivity service for the terminal.

Step 302: the terminal acquires a candidate cell list for CPC configuration of the first secondary base station.

Here, the candidate cell list may refer to a secondary cell group in which the first secondary base station, i.e., the original SN, performs CPC configuration for the terminal.

Step 303: the terminal carries the candidate cell list in first information; and sending the first information to the second main base station.

Step 304: and the second main base station establishes a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition of reserving the first auxiliary base station, so that the second main base station and the first auxiliary base station jointly provide the dual-connection service for the terminal.

Here, the terminal actively reports the candidate cell list to the second master base station, which has the following advantages:

(1) for a terminal in a dual connectivity mode (DC) configured with both a CHO and a CPC, when the terminal executes a target cell selected by the CHO to reserve an original SN, the terminal actively reports a candidate cell list configured by the CPC when accessing the target cell, so that a second main base station (new MN) can acquire the CPC configuration of the original SN, and an Xn port is established with the CPC candidate cell in advance to realize that the new MN and the original SN jointly provide dual connectivity service.

(2) The second master base station, namely the target MN, acquires the candidate cell list configured by the CPC of the corresponding first auxiliary base station, namely the original SN only after the terminal is successfully accessed, so that the signaling overhead of interaction between the first master base station, namely the original MN and the target MN at the early stage can be reduced.

(3) By the method, the target MN can establish Xn with the candidate cell configured by the CPC of the original SN as soon as possible, and the condition that the target SN cannot be accessed due to the satisfaction of the CPC condition is avoided.

(4) Since the SN is not replaced, even if the MN changes, the CPC configuration is valid, and in this way, the time delay for configuring the CPC can be shortened, and the power consumption of the UE for configuring the CPC and the problem of repeated configuration can be reduced.

In practical application, the CHO is triggered first, the terminal is switched from the first main base station to the second main base station, and the second main base station can establish a communication interface with a node where the candidate cell of the original SN is located after acquiring the candidate cell list reported by the terminal under the condition that the second main base station keeps the first auxiliary base station (original SN) unchanged. The node where the candidate cell of the original SN is located may establish a communication interface with the second master base station, or may refuse to establish a communication interface with the second master base station. Under the condition that the node where the candidate cell of the original SN is located refuses to establish a communication interface with the second master base station, the second master base station may update the candidate cell list and/or update the random access resource reserved for the terminal by the candidate cell. For example, deleting part of candidate cells in the candidate cell list, where Xn ports cannot be established; or refusing to establish a candidate cell of an Xn interface with the second base station; or, updating the configuration of the random access resource reserved for the terminal by the configured candidate cell.

Based on this, in an embodiment, the method further comprises:

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

Here, in practical application, the cell in the candidate cell list may refuse to establish a communication interface with the second master base station under certain conditions, such as a full load condition. As shown in table 3, the cell PScell and the cell SCell4 agree to establish an Xn port with the second master base station, and the cell SCell1, the cell SCell2, and the cell SCell3 refuse to establish an Xn port with the second master base station.

Name of cell	Whether to refuse to establish Xn port
		PScell	Agree to
SCell1	Rejection of
		SCell2	Rejection of
SCell3	Rejection of
		SCell4	Agree to

TABLE 3

In one example, in a case that there is a cell that rejects establishment of a communication interface with the second master base station in the candidate cell list, the second master base station may update the candidate cell list for CPC configuration of the first secondary base station, that is, delete the cell that rejects establishment of the communication interface from the candidate cell list. In this way, after receiving the updated candidate cell list sent by the second master base station, the terminal does not need to measure the cell which is in the candidate cell list and is connected with the second master base station, so that resources can be saved.

In another example, in a case that there is a cell in the candidate cell list that rejects establishment of the communication interface with the second master base station, the candidate cell list may update the random access resources reserved for the terminal, that is, the random access resources reserved for the terminal by the cell that can establish the communication interface are updated. In this way, the terminal initiates random access according to the latest random access resource after receiving the updated random access configuration sent by the main base station, thereby avoiding initiating unnecessary/wrong random access processes.

In an example, as shown in fig. 4, a procedure for guaranteeing a dual connectivity service of a terminal when the terminal initiates a conditional handover in a dual connectivity mode is described, including:

step 401: the first master base station (old MN) configures the CHO for the terminal.

Here, the first master base station (original MN) sends conditional handover requests to the potential target MN(s); after receiving the conditional switch request of the original MN, the potential target MN executes 401b, i.e., adds the original SN. Then, the first primary base station (original MN) sends the CHO configuration to the terminal through RRC reconfiguration, and the terminal evaluates whether the conditional handover candidate cell satisfies the execution condition in the CHO configuration.

It should be noted that: step 401b may occur before 401a or after 401 a.

Here, before the terminal does not have the conditional switch, the terminal is in the dual connectivity mode, and the first primary base station (original MN) and the first secondary base station (original SN) together provide the dual connectivity service for the terminal.

Step 402: the first secondary base station (original SN) configures the CPC for the terminal.

Here, the process of the first secondary base station (original SN) deciding to configure CPC for the terminal may include: the method comprises the steps that a first auxiliary base station (original SN) generates corresponding execution conditions for each candidate cell and sends the execution conditions to a first main base station (original MN), the first main base station (original MN) generates CPC configuration after acquiring the configuration of the CPC candidate cell, the CPC configuration is configured to a terminal through RRC reconfiguration information, and the terminal measures whether the candidate cell meets the execution conditions in the CPC configuration.

It should be noted that: the CPC configuration may be before the CHO, after the CHO, or sent to the terminal by the first primary base station (original MN) through the same RRC reconfiguration message.

Step 403: when the target cell meets the execution condition in the CHO configuration, the terminal initiates access to the target cell, and meanwhile, the terminal keeps the CPC configuration not to be released.

Here, the SN corresponding to the target cell is the original SN.

Step 404: after the terminal is successfully accessed to the second main base station (target MN), the candidate cell list is actively reported to the second main base station (target MN).

Here, the terminal may transmit a reconfiguration complete message to the second master base station, i.e., the target MN; the reconfiguration complete message carries a candidate cell list; or, the terminal sends the candidate cell list configured by the CPC to the target MN through a separate uplink RRC message.

Step 405: the second main base station (target MN) informs the first main base station (original MN) that the terminal is switched to the second main base station (target MN); the first master base station (original MN) informs other candidate cells to release resources and sends a reconfiguration complete message to the first secondary base station (original SN).

Step 406: and the second main base station (target MN) adds corresponding nodes based on the candidate cell list configured by the CPC fed back by the terminal, and establishes an Xn port.

It should be noted that: step 406 may occur before or after step 405, where the node where the CPC candidate cell is located may establish an Xn interface with the target MN, either reject or update the configuration.

Step 407: and under the condition that the candidate cell refuses to establish the Xn port with the second main base station (target MN), the second main base station (target MN) updates a candidate cell list of CPC configuration and/or corresponding random access configuration for the terminal.

Here, when the terminal in the dual connectivity mode initiates the condition switching, the terminal actively reports the candidate cell list to the second master base station, which has the following advantages:

(1) for a terminal in a dual connectivity mode (DC) configured with both CHO and CPC, when the terminal executes a target cell selected by CHO to reserve an original SN, the terminal actively reports a candidate cell list configured by CPC when accessing the target cell, so that a second main base station (target MN) can obtain the CPC configuration of the original SN and establish an Xn port with the CPC candidate cell in advance to realize that the target MN and the original SN jointly provide dual connectivity service.

(2) After the CHO is completed, if the candidate cell refuses to establish the Xn port with the second master base station (target MN), the second master base station may update the CPC configuration to delete the candidate cell and/or the random access resource reserved for the terminal by the candidate cell, so that it may be avoided that the second master base station (target MN)/the original SN performs CPC reconfiguration again according to the measurement of the terminal on the candidate cell, and may be the case of the CPC candidate cell configured by the original SN, thereby avoiding the problems of terminal power consumption waste and CPC configuration delay increase caused by the need of network reconfiguration of CPC, terminal repeated measurement, and the like.

By adopting the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, for a terminal under a double-connection mode which is configured with both CPC and CHO, when the CHO is triggered firstly, namely the terminal is switched from the first main base station to the second main base station, if the second main base station keeps the original auxiliary base station unchanged, the terminal actively reports the candidate cell list to the second main base station, so that the second main base station and the original auxiliary base station can conveniently establish a communication interface at the node where the candidate cell configured with CPC is located, and the second main base station and the original auxiliary base station can timely provide double-connection service for the terminal, thereby avoiding the interruption of the double-connection service.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a conditional switching method, which is applied to a second master base station, and as shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

step 501: when the terminal in the dual connectivity mode performs conditional switching from a first master base station to a second master base station, the second master base station acquires a candidate cell list from a first secondary base station.

Step 502: and the second main base station establishes a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition of reserving the first auxiliary base station, so that the second main base station and the first auxiliary base station jointly provide the dual-connection service for the terminal.

Here, the candidate cell list represents a secondary cell group configured when the first secondary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal.

Here, in step 501, in an actual application, the conditional handover configuration may refer to that the terminal does not need to trigger the measurement report waiting network to issue a handover instruction to implement the handover, but determines whether a cell meeting the execution condition of the conditional handover configuration exists in the conditional handover candidate cells, and when a cell meeting the execution condition of the conditional handover configuration exists in the conditional handover candidate cells, accesses the cell as a target cell to the second master base station. The method comprises the steps that a CHO is triggered firstly, a terminal is switched from a first main base station to a second main base station, and under the condition that the second main base station keeps an original auxiliary base station (original SN) unchanged, the second main base station obtains a candidate cell list from the first auxiliary base station, so that a communication interface is established between the second main base station (new MN) and a node where a candidate cell of the original SN is located, and the new MN and the original SN can provide double-connection service for the terminal together.

In practical application, the CHO is triggered firstly, the terminal is switched from the first main base station to the second main base station, and under the condition that the second main base station keeps the first auxiliary base station (original SN) unchanged, the second main base station actively acquires the candidate cell list from the first auxiliary base station, so that a communication interface is established between the second main base station (new MN) and a node where the candidate cell of the original SN is located, and the new MN and the original SN can jointly provide double-connection service for the terminal. Or, the CHO is triggered firstly, the terminal is switched from the first main base station to the second main base station, and under the condition that the second main base station keeps the first auxiliary base station (original SN) unchanged, the first auxiliary base station actively sends the candidate cell list to the second main base station, so that the second main base station (new MN) establishes a communication interface with a node where the candidate cell of the original SN is located, and the new MN and the original SN can jointly provide double-connection service for the terminal.

Based on this, in an embodiment, the second master base station acquires a candidate cell list from the first secondary base station, including one of:

In practical application, the CHO is triggered first, the terminal is switched from the first main base station to the second main base station, and the second main base station can establish a communication interface with a node where the candidate cell of the original SN is located after acquiring the candidate cell list reported by the terminal under the condition that the second main base station keeps the first auxiliary base station (original SN) unchanged. The node where the candidate cell of the original SN is located may establish a communication interface with the second master base station, or may refuse to establish a communication interface with the second master base station. Under the condition that the node where the candidate cell of the original SN is located refuses to establish a communication interface with the second master base station, the second master base station may update the candidate cell list and/or update the random access resource reserved for the terminal by the candidate cell.

Based on this, in an embodiment, the method further comprises:

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the second master base station sends the updated random access configuration to the terminal; and updating the random access resource reserved for the terminal by at least one cell establishing a communication interface with the second master base station in the candidate cell list.

In an example, as shown in fig. 6, a procedure for how to guarantee a dual connectivity service of a terminal when the terminal initiates a conditional handover in a dual connectivity mode is described, including:

step 601: the first master base station (old MN) configures the CHO for the terminal.

Here, the first master base station (original MN) sends a conditional switch request to the potential target MN(s); after receiving the conditional switch request of the original MN, the potential target MN executes 601b, i.e., adds the original SN. Then, the first main base station (original MN) sends the CHO configuration to the terminal through the RRC reconfiguration message, and the terminal evaluates whether the conditional handover candidate cell satisfies the execution condition in the CHO configuration.

It should be noted that: step 401b may occur before 401a or after 401 a.

Step 602: the first secondary base station (original SN) configures the CPC for the terminal.

Step 603: when the target cell meets the execution condition in the CHO configuration, the terminal initiates access to the target cell, and meanwhile, the terminal keeps the CPC configuration not to be released.

Here, the SN corresponding to the target cell is the original SN.

Step 604: the second main base station (target MN) informs the first main base station (original MN) that the terminal is switched to the second main base station (target MN); the first master base station (original MN) informs other candidate cells (candidate MNs) to release resources.

Step 605: after the terminal is successfully accessed to a second main base station (target MN), the second main base station (target MN) sends a reconfiguration completion message to a first auxiliary base station (original SN); the reconfiguration completion message carries indication information and is used for inquiring a candidate cell list of CPC configuration of an original SN;

step 606: the first secondary base station (original SN) feeds back the candidate cell list to the second primary base station (target MN).

It should be noted that: step 606 may be based on the indication information in step 605, or may be that, after receiving the reconfiguration complete message sent by the second master base station (target MN), the first secondary base station (original SN) actively feeds back the candidate cell list to the second master base station (target MN).

Step 607: and the second main base station (target MN) adds corresponding nodes based on the candidate cell list configured by the CPC fed back by the first auxiliary base station (original SN), and establishes an Xn port.

Here, the node where the candidate cell of the CPC configuration is located may establish an Xn interface with the target MN, or reject, or update the configuration.

Step 608: and under the condition that the candidate cell refuses to establish the Xn port with the second main base station (target MN), the second main base station (target MN) updates a candidate cell list of CPC configuration and/or corresponding random access configuration for the terminal.

Here, when the terminal in the dual connectivity mode initiates the condition switching, the second primary base station obtains the candidate cell list from the first secondary base station, and the method has the following advantages:

(1) for a terminal in a dual connectivity mode (DC) configured with both a CHO and a CPC, when the terminal executes a target cell selected by the CHO to reserve an original SN, after the terminal successfully accesses the target cell, a second master base station (target MN) actively inquires a candidate cell list configured by the CPC from the original SN, and the terminal does not release the CPC configuration triggered by the original SN, so that the second master base station (target MN) can acquire the CPC configuration of the original SN, and an Xn port is established in advance with the candidate cell configured by the CPC to realize that the target MN and the original SN jointly provide dual connectivity service.

(2) For a terminal in a dual connectivity mode (DC) configured with both a CHO and a CPC, when the terminal executes a target cell selected by the CHO to reserve an original SN, after the terminal successfully accesses the target cell, the original SN actively sends a candidate cell list of the CPC configuration to a second main base station (target MN), and the terminal does not release the CPC configuration triggered by the original SN, so that the second main base station (target MN) can obtain the CPC configuration of the original SN, and an Xn port is established with the CPC candidate cell in advance to realize that the target MN and the original SN jointly provide dual connectivity service.

(3) After the CHO is completed, if the candidate cell refuses to establish the Xn port with the second master base station (target MN), the second master base station may update the CPC configuration to delete the candidate cell and/or the random access resource reserved for the terminal by the candidate cell, so that it may be avoided that the second master base station (target MN)/the original SN performs CPC reconfiguration again according to the measurement of the terminal on the candidate cell, and may be the case of the CPC candidate cell configured by the original SN, thereby avoiding the problems of terminal power consumption waste and CPC configuration delay increase caused by the need of network reconfiguration of CPC, terminal repeated measurement, and the like.

By adopting the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, for a terminal under a double-connection mode with both CPC and CHO configuration, when the CHO is triggered firstly, namely the terminal is switched from the first main base station to the second main base station, if the second main base station keeps the original auxiliary base station unchanged, the second main base station obtains the candidate cell list from the first auxiliary base station, so that the second main base station and the original auxiliary base station (the first auxiliary base station) can conveniently establish a communication interface at the node where the candidate cell for CPC configuration is located, and the second main base station and the original auxiliary base station can timely provide double-connection service for the terminal, thereby avoiding the interruption of the double-connection service.

In order to implement the condition switching method according to the embodiment of the present invention, a condition switching device is further provided in the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of the condition switching device according to the embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 7, the apparatus includes:

a first processing unit 71 for switching from the first main base station to the second main base station when the terminal in the dual connectivity mode performs conditional switching;

a sending unit 72, configured to obtain a candidate cell list, and send the candidate cell list to the second master base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when the first auxiliary base station conditionally changes CPC configuration for the terminal by PScell;

In an embodiment, the sending unit 72 is specifically configured to:

the terminal carries the candidate cell list in first information;

and the terminal sends the first information to the second main base station.

In an embodiment, the first processing unit 71 is specifically configured to:

In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

a receiving unit, configured to receive the updated candidate cell list sent by the second master base station; wherein the updated candidate cell list is obtained by updating CPC configuration when the second master base station is denied to establish a communication interface with a cell in the candidate cell list;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

receiving the updated random access configuration sent by the second master base station; wherein the random access configuration is obtained by updating random access resources reserved for the terminal by at least one cell establishing a communication interface with the second master base station in the candidate cell list.

In practical application, the sending unit 72 and the receiving unit may be implemented by communication interfaces in the conditional switching apparatus; the first processing unit 71 may be implemented by a processor in the conditional switching apparatus.

It should be noted that: the condition switching device provided in the above embodiment is only exemplified by the division of each program module when performing condition switching, and in practical applications, the processing distribution may be completed by different program modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device may be divided into different program modules to complete all or part of the processing described above. In addition, the condition switching apparatus and the condition switching method provided in the foregoing embodiments belong to the same concept, and specific implementation processes thereof are described in the method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In order to implement the condition switching method according to the embodiment of the present invention, a condition switching apparatus is further provided in the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of the condition switching apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 8, the apparatus includes:

an obtaining unit 81 configured to obtain a candidate cell list from the first secondary base station when the terminal in the dual connectivity mode performs conditional switching from the first primary base station to the second primary base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when the first auxiliary base station performs CPC configuration on the terminal;

a second processing unit 82, configured to establish a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition that the first secondary base station is reserved, so that the second master base station and the first secondary base station jointly provide a dual connectivity service for the terminal.

In an embodiment, the obtaining unit 81 is specifically configured to perform one of the following operations:

In an embodiment, the second processing unit 82 is further configured to:

sending the updated candidate cell list to the terminal; wherein the updated candidate cell list is obtained by updating CPC configuration when the second master base station is rejected to establish a communication interface with a cell in the candidate cell list;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

sending the updated random access configuration to the terminal; wherein the random access configuration is obtained by updating random access resources reserved for the terminal by at least one cell establishing a communication interface with the second master base station in the candidate cell list.

In practical application, the obtaining unit 81 may be implemented by a communication interface in the condition switching device; the second processing unit 82 may be implemented by a processor in the conditional switching apparatus.

It should be noted that: the condition switching device provided in the above embodiment is only exemplified by the division of each program module when performing condition switching, and in practical applications, the processing distribution may be completed by different program modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device may be divided into different program modules to complete all or part of the processing described above. In addition, the condition switching device and the condition switching method provided by the above embodiments belong to the same concept, and specific implementation processes thereof are detailed in the method embodiments and are not described herein again.

In order to implement the condition switching method according to the embodiment of the present invention, a condition switching system is further provided according to the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of the condition switching system according to the embodiment of the present invention; as shown in fig. 9, the system includes:

a terminal 91 for switching from a first main base station to a second main base station when the terminal in the dual connectivity mode performs condition switching; acquiring a candidate cell list and sending the candidate cell list to the second main base station;

and a second master base station 92, configured to establish a communication interface with each cell in the candidate cell list under the condition that the first secondary base station is reserved, so that the second master base station and the first secondary base station jointly provide a dual connectivity service for the terminal.

Here, the execution procedures of the terminal 91 and the second main base station 92 have been described above and are not described in detail here.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal, as shown in fig. 10, including:

the first communication interface 101 can perform information interaction with other equipment;

the first processor 102 is connected to the first communication interface 101, and configured to execute a method provided by one or more technical solutions of the foregoing smart device side when running a computer program. And the computer program is stored on the first memory 103.

It should be noted that: the specific processing procedures of the first processor 102 and the first communication interface 101 are detailed in the method embodiment, and are not described herein again.

Of course, in practice, the various components in the terminal are coupled together by the bus system 104. It is understood that the bus system 104 is used to enable communications among the components. The bus system 104 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus. For clarity of illustration, the various buses are designated as bus system 104 in fig. 10.

The first memory 103 in the embodiment of the present application is used to store various types of data to support the operation of the controller 110. Examples of such data include: any computer program for operating on a terminal.

The method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the first processor 102, or implemented by the first processor 102. The first processor 102 may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method may be implemented by integrated logic circuits of hardware or instructions in the form of software in the first processor 102. The first Processor 102 may be a general purpose Processor, a Digital data Processor (DSP), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, etc. The first processor 102 may implement or perform the methods, steps and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in a storage medium located in the first memory 103, and the first processor 102 reads the information in the first memory 103 and completes the steps of the foregoing method in combination with its hardware.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network device, as shown in fig. 11, including:

the second communication interface 111 can perform information interaction with other equipment;

and a second processor 112, connected to the second communication interface 111, and configured to execute the method provided by one or more technical solutions of the foregoing smart device side when running a computer program. And the computer program is stored on the second memory 113.

It should be noted that: the specific processing procedures of the second processor 112 and the second communication interface 111 are detailed in the method embodiment, and are not described herein again.

Of course, in practice, the various components in the second node device are coupled together by the bus system 114. It will be appreciated that the bus system 114 is used to enable communications among the components. The bus system 104 includes a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus. For clarity of illustration, however, the various buses are labeled as bus system 114 in FIG. 11.

The second memory 113 in the embodiment of the present application is used to store various types of data to support the operation of the terminal 120. Examples of such data include: any computer program for operating on a network device.

The method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the second processor 112, or implemented by the second processor 112. The second processor 112 may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method may be implemented by integrated logic circuits of hardware or instructions in the form of software in the second processor 112. The second Processor 112 may be a general purpose Processor, a Digital data Processor (DSP), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, etc. The second processor 122 may implement or perform the methods, steps and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in a storage medium located in the second memory 123, and the second processor 122 reads the information in the second memory 123, and in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the foregoing method.

In an exemplary embodiment, the terminal, the network Device, or other electronic components may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), DSPs, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), general purpose processors, controllers, Micro Controllers (MCUs), microprocessors (microprocessors), or other electronic components for performing the foregoing methods.

It is understood that the memories (the first memory 103 and the second memory 113) of the embodiments of the present application may be volatile memories or nonvolatile memories, and may include both volatile and nonvolatile memories. Among them, the nonvolatile Memory may be a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a magnetic random access Memory (FRAM), a Flash Memory (Flash Memory), a magnetic surface Memory, an optical disk, or a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM); the magnetic surface storage may be disk storage or tape storage. Volatile Memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache Memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Synchronous Static Random Access Memory (SSRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (DDRSDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (ESDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (Enhanced DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SLDRAM), Direct Memory (DRmb Access), and Random Access Memory (DRAM). The memories described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention further provides a storage medium, i.e. a computer storage medium, in particular a computer readable storage medium, for example, including the first memory 111 storing a computer program, which is executable by the first processor 122 of the terminal to complete the steps of the aforementioned terminal-side method. The computer readable storage medium may be Memory such as FRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash Memory, magnetic surface Memory, optical disk, or CD-ROM.

It should be noted that: "first," "second," and the like are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.

In addition, the technical solutions described in the embodiments of the present invention may be arbitrarily combined without conflict.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of conditional switching, the method comprising:

the terminal acquires a candidate cell list and sends the candidate cell list to the second main base station; the candidate cell list represents an auxiliary cell group configured when the first auxiliary base station conditionally changes CPC configuration for the terminal by PScell;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the list of candidate cells to the second master base station comprises:

the terminal carries the candidate cell list in first information;

and the terminal sends the first information to the second main base station.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the switching of the terminal from the first master base station to the second master base station when the terminal in the dual connectivity mode performs the conditional switching comprises:

the terminal receives a condition switching configuration sent by the first main base station;

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

6. A method of conditional switching, the method comprising:

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second master base station obtains the candidate cell list from the first secondary base station, and wherein the candidate cell list comprises one of:

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

9. A condition switching apparatus, comprising:

10. A condition switching apparatus, comprising:

11. A terminal, comprising:

12. A network device, comprising:

13. A terminal comprising a processor and a memory for storing a computer program capable of running on the processor,

wherein the processor is adapted to perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 5 when running the computer program.

14. A network device comprising a processor and a memory for storing a computer program capable of running on the processor,

wherein the processor is adapted to perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 6 to 8 when running the computer program.

15. 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 5, or carries out the steps of the method of any one of claims 6 to 8.