CN116033500A

CN116033500A - Network searching method and terminal equipment

Info

Publication number: CN116033500A
Application number: CN202211604785.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李淑蓉
Original assignee: Zeku Technology Beijing Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Zeku Technology Beijing Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2022-12-13
Filing date: 2022-12-13
Publication date: 2023-04-28

Abstract

The application provides a network searching method and terminal equipment. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives a first message, wherein the first message comprises first frequency point information, the first frequency point information is used for indicating a first frequency point, and the first frequency point belongs to a first network; the terminal equipment executes network searching aiming at the first network according to the first frequency point information; the network where the terminal equipment is currently located is a second network, the first network and the second network are based on different wireless access technologies, and the priority of the first network is higher than that of the second network. Based on the information indicated by the first message, the terminal device may perform network searching for the first network without a timer based on the high priority network searching. Thus, the present application can avoid delay caused by the timer of the high priority network search.

Description

Network searching method and terminal equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method for searching a network and a terminal device.

Background

The terminal device may search for and camp on a higher priority network through a high priority network search process. The terminal device performs the high priority network search only when the timer for the high priority network search times out. In case the timer of the high priority network search does not time out, the location of the terminal device may also be where there is a higher priority network. However, in this case, the high-priority network search may still be performed until the timer for the high-priority network search expires. This can result in the terminal device still needing to camp on the lower priority network before the timer for the high priority network search expires, thereby causing the terminal device to delay camping on the higher priority network.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, embodiments of the present application are directed to providing a method for searching for a network and a terminal device. Various aspects of the present application are described in detail below.

In a first aspect, a method of searching for a network is provided. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives a first message, wherein the first message comprises first frequency point information, the first frequency point information is used for indicating a first frequency point, and the first frequency point belongs to a first network; the terminal equipment executes network searching aiming at the first network according to the first frequency point information; the network where the terminal equipment is currently located is a second network, the first network and the second network are based on different wireless access technologies, and the priority of the first network is higher than that of the second network.

In a second aspect, there is provided a terminal device comprising: the receiving unit is used for receiving a first message, wherein the first message comprises first frequency point information, the first frequency point information is used for indicating a first frequency point, and the first frequency point belongs to a first network; a first search unit that performs a network search for the first network without being based on the first frequency point information; the network where the terminal equipment is currently located is a second network, the first network and the second network are based on different wireless access technologies, and the priority of the first network is higher than that of the second network.

In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided, which has the functionality of implementing the terminal device in the method design of the first aspect. These functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a fourth aspect, a terminal device is provided that includes a transceiver, a processor, and a memory. The processor is configured to control the transceiver to transceive signals, the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program from the memory, so that the terminal device performs the method in the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, an apparatus for communication is provided. The device can be the terminal equipment in the method design or a chip arranged in the terminal equipment. The device comprises: a memory for storing computer executable program code; the system comprises a communication interface and a processor, wherein the processor is coupled with the memory and the communication interface. Wherein the program code stored in the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method performed by the terminal device in any one of the possible designs of the first aspect or the first aspect described above.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the above aspects.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium storing program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of the above aspects.

In an eighth aspect, a chip system is provided, which comprises a processor for a terminal device to implement the functions involved in the above aspects, e.g. to generate, receive, transmit, or process data and/or information involved in the above methods. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the terminal device. The chip system can be composed of chips, and can also comprise chips and other discrete devices.

Based on the information indicated by the first message, the terminal device may perform network searching for the first network without a timer based on the high priority network searching. Thus, the present application can avoid delay caused by the timer of the high priority network search. In addition, the terminal device can conduct targeted network searching on the first network according to the indication of the first message. That is, in the process of performing the high-priority network search, a part of networks in the network set of the high-priority network may be searched, so that the efficiency of the terminal device performing the high-priority network search may be improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an exemplary diagram of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applicable.

Fig. 2 is an exemplary diagram of a method of searching a network.

Fig. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a scenario in which an embodiment of the present application is applicable.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for searching a network according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of another method for searching a network according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for communication according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is an exemplary diagram of a wireless communication system 100 to which embodiments of the present application apply. The wireless communication system 100 may include a network device 110 and a terminal device 120. Network device 110 may be a device that communicates with terminal device 120. Network device 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and may communicate with terminal devices 120 located within the coverage area.

Fig. 1 illustrates one network device and two terminal devices by way of example, and the wireless communication system 100 may alternatively include multiple network devices and may include other numbers of terminal devices within the coverage area of each network device, as embodiments of the present application are not limited in this regard.

Optionally, the wireless communication system 100 may further include a network controller, a mobility management entity, and other network entities, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be understood that the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various communication systems, for example: fifth generation (5th generation,5G) systems or New Radio (NR), long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), and the like. The technical scheme provided by the application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as a sixth generation mobile communication system, a satellite communication system and the like.

Among them, the 5G studied by the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) aims to meet the pursuit of speed, delay, high-speed mobility and energy efficiency by people, and to adapt to the diversity and complexity of business in future life. The main application scenarios of 5G include: enhanced mobile ultra-wideband (enhanced mobile broadband, emmbb), low latency high reliability communications (URLLC), large-scale machine type communications (massive machine type communication, mMTC).

The ebb aims at users getting multimedia contents, services and data, and its demand is growing very rapidly. On the other hand, since the eMBB may be deployed in different scenarios, such as indoor, urban, rural, etc., the capability and demand of the eMBB are also relatively different, so that detailed analysis must be performed in connection with a specific deployment scenario. Typical applications of URLLC include: industrial automation, electric power automation, remote medical operation (surgery), traffic safety guarantee and the like. Typical characteristics of mctc include: high connection density, small data volume, delay insensitive traffic, low cost and long service life of the module, etc.

The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The terminal device in the embodiment of the application can be a device for providing voice and/or data connectivity for a user, and can be used for connecting people, things and machines, such as a handheld device with a wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device and the like. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (Pad), a notebook, a palm, a mobile internet device (mobile internet device, MID), a wearable device, a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in teleoperation (remote medical surgery), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), or the like. Alternatively, the UE may be used to act as a base station. For example, the UEs may act as scheduling entities that provide side-uplink signals between UEs in V2X or D2D, etc. For example, a cellular telephone and a car communicate with each other using side-link signals. Communication between the cellular telephone and the smart home device is accomplished without relaying communication signals through the base station.

The network device in the embodiments of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, which may also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device, e.g. the network device may be a base station. The network device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) node (or device) that accesses the terminal device to the wireless network. The base station may broadly cover or replace various names in the following, such as: a node B (NodeB), an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a relay station, an access point, a transmission point (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), a transmission point (transmitting point, TP), a master MeNB, a secondary SeNB, a multi-mode wireless (MSR) node, a home base station, a network controller, an access node, a wireless node, an Access Point (AP), a transmission node, a transceiver node, a baseband unit (BBU), a remote radio unit (Remote Radio Unit, RRU), an active antenna unit (active antenna unit, AAU), a radio head (remote radio head, RRH), a Central Unit (CU), a Distributed Unit (DU), a positioning node, and the like. The base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or the like, or a combination thereof. A base station may also refer to a communication module, modem, or chip for placement within the aforementioned device or apparatus. The base station may also be a mobile switching center, a device-to-device, D2D, a vehicle-to-device (V2X), a device that assumes the function of a base station in machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, a network device in a 6G network, a device that assumes the function of a base station in a future communication system, etc. The base stations may support networks of the same or different access technologies. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology and the specific device form adopted by the network device.

The base station may be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone may be configured to act as a mobile base station, and one or more cells may move according to the location of the mobile base station. In other examples, a helicopter or drone may be configured to function as a device to communicate with another base station.

In some deployments, the network device in embodiments of the present application may refer to a CU or a DU, or the network device includes a CU and a DU. The gNB may also include an AAU.

Network devices and terminal devices may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held or vehicle-mounted; the device can be deployed on the water surface; but also on aerial planes, balloons and satellites. In the embodiment of the application, the scene where the network device and the terminal device are located is not limited.

It should be understood that all or part of the functionality of the communication device in this application may also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g. a cloud platform).

In some communication systems, such as NR systems, the radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) state may include an RRC IDLE state (rrc_idle), an RRC CONNECTED state (rrc_connected), an RRC INACTIVE state (rrc_inactive), and so on.

Under rrc_idle, there is no RRC connection between the terminal device and the network device. The mobility of the terminal device is mainly embodied in cell selection/reselection based on the terminal device. Under rrc_idle, the paging procedure of the network device to the terminal device is initiated by a Core Network (CN), and the paging area is configured by the CN. Furthermore, under rrc_idle, the network device does not have an Access Stratum (AS) context of the terminal device. The RRC idle state may be referred to as an idle state.

Under rrc_connected, there is an RRC connection between the terminal device and the network device. Both the network device and the terminal device store the AS context of the terminal device. Under rrc_connected, the terminal device location that the network device can learn is a cell level location. Under rrc_connected, unicast data may be transmitted between the terminal device and the network device, and mobility of the terminal device is managed and controlled by the network device. The RRC connected state may also be referred to as a connected state.

Rrc_inactive is a new RRC state defined by the NR system. Rrc_inactive may reduce air interface signaling for the communication system. In addition, the terminal device in rrc_inactive can quickly restore the radio connection and quickly restore the data traffic. Under rrc_inactive, there is a connection between CN-NRs. The AS context of the terminal device is stored on a certain network device. Furthermore, under rrc_inactive, the paging procedure of the network device to the terminal device may be triggered by the radio access network (radio access network, RAN), and the RAN-based paging area may be managed by the RAN. Furthermore, under rrc_inactive, the location of the terminal device that the network device can learn is a location based on the paging area level of the RAN, and mobility of the terminal device is mainly reflected in terminal device-based cell selection/reselection. The RRC inactive state may also be referred to as inactive state.

Cell selection/reselection may refer to: the terminal equipment can select a cell with better signal quality to reside by monitoring the signal quality of the adjacent cell and the current service cell in an idle state. Based on the S value of the cell or the corresponding frequency point of the cell, the terminal equipment can realize cell selection/reselection. Wherein the S value may be used to indicate the signal strength of the cell. For example, the S value may include: the cell selection reception level value Srxlev and/or the cell selection quality value square.

The formulas for Srxlev and square are as follows:

Srxlev＝Q _rxlevmeas -(Q _rxlevmin +Q _{rxlevminoffset} )-P _compensation -Qoffset _temp

Squal＝Q _qualmeas -(Q _qualmin +Q _{qualminoffset} )-Qoffset _temp

wherein Q is _rxlevmeas And Q _qualmeas RSRP and RSRQ may be measured for the terminal device, respectively. Q (Q) _rxlevmin And Q _qualmin The minimum RSRP required by the network device and the minimum RSRQ required by the network device may be respectively. Q (Q) _{rxlevminoffset} And Q _{qualminoffset} The offset of the minimum required reception level in the cell and the offset of the minimum required quality level in the cell may be respectively. P (P) _compensation May be power compensation. For example, when the maximum allowed transmit power of the network device is greater than the maximum uplink transmit power determined by the terminal device's own capability, P _compensation May be a power compensation due to low power of the terminal device. Qoffset _temp The offset temporarily applied to the cell may be used for special scenarios and normal conditions may not apply.

The terminal device may decide whether to start measurement of the neighbor cell according to the signal strength of the serving cell. For example, in case the S value of the serving cell is less than or equal to the measurement initiation threshold, the terminal device may initiate the measurement for the neighbor cell. Under the condition that the S value of the serving cell is larger than the measurement starting threshold, the terminal equipment can not measure the neighbor cell. In some embodiments, the measurement initiation threshold may include inter-frequency/inter-radio access technology (inter radio access technology, IRAT) measurement parameters S _{nonIntraSearchP} 、S _{nonIntraSearchQ} . Srxlev in serving cell<S _{nonIntraSearchP} And/or clothingThe square of a serving cell<S _{nonIntraSearchQ} In the above, the terminal device may start measurement of the neighbor cell for the inter-frequency/IRAT.

The network device may indicate a frequency point corresponding to the neighboring cell, and the terminal device may measure the frequency point or a cell corresponding to the frequency point. For example, when the terminal device moves to an area, an IRAT frequency point (IRAT frequency) may exist in the network of the area. The inter-RAT frequency point information can be transmitted to the terminal equipment by means of an IRAT frequency point list (IRAT frequency list). The network device may send IRAT frequency point information to the terminal device via a system message (system information) of the current serving cell. The terminal device can measure the IRAT frequency point based on the information of the IRAT frequency point in the system message.

After the frequency point is measured, the S value of the adjacent cell corresponding to the frequency point can be obtained, and the adjacent cell can be selected under the condition that the S value of the adjacent cell meets the condition. For example, in case that both Srxlev and square of a certain neighbor cell are larger than 0, the terminal device may select the neighbor cell. Or, when the S value of a certain neighboring cell is greater than the threshold value and the S value is greater than the threshold value for a period of time, the terminal device may select the cell. As an implementation, if a certain neighbor cell satisfies Srxlev>Thresh _X,HighP And a duration of time greater than Treselection _RAT The terminal device may select the cell.

With the development of wireless communication systems, current wireless environments support networks of multiple standards. The UICC card may have stored therein priorities of different networks so that the terminal device resides in a higher priority network. Due to the limitations of the operator network deployment and the signal interference complexity of the urban environment, the terminal device cannot guarantee to stay in the network with the highest priority at the current position all the time. Thus, the terminal device faces the question of how to search faster and camp on a higher priority network.

In some embodiments, the terminal device may determine the network set of high priority networks based on the priority of the network currently residing. Wherein, the priority of the networks in the high priority network set can be higher than the network currently resident. The network set of high priority networks may be implemented in the form of a list, i.e. a list of high priority networks. Based on the network set of high priority networks, the terminal device may attempt to camp on a higher priority network.

Some communication standards (e.g., 3GPP specification) define a timer for high priority network searches (simply referred to as high priority network search timer) in the UICC card. The timer for the high priority network search may be, for example, a high priority public land mobile network timer (high-priority public land mobile network, HPPLMN timer). The timer for the high priority network search may be used to instruct the terminal device to periodically perform the high priority network search procedure. The timer for the high priority network search may be started when the terminal device resides in a lower priority network. When the timer of the high-priority network search expires, the terminal device may perform a high-priority network search procedure for all high-priority networks in the network set of the high-priority networks. If a high priority network is searched, the terminal device may attempt to camp on the high priority network.

It will be appreciated that "high priority web search" is just one term used in the embodiments of the present application, and its meaning is already described in this application, and its name should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments, the "high priority network search" may also be referred to as "higher priority public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN) search network," "background search network (background research)", "search network," "background search," "search network," and the like.

The high priority network search and cell selection/reselection technique may be implemented in combination. Fig. 2 is an exemplary diagram of a combination of the two above solutions.

As shown in fig. 2, the terminal device is in an idle state. The method shown in fig. 2 may include steps S110-S160.

In step S110, the terminal device resides in a low priority network RAT1-PLMN1. At this time, the high priority network list of the terminal device may include, for example: RAT2-PLMN1, RAT3-PLMN1, RAT1-PLMN2, RAT2-PLMN2.

In step S120, the terminal device starts an HPPLMN timer.

In step S130, the terminal device receives the system message sent by the network device. The system message contains IRAT frequency point information.

Step S140, the terminal equipment decides whether to start IRAT frequency point measurement according to the signal intensity of the system message service cell. The information of the IRAT frequency point is obtained based on step S130. The terminal device may use the new cell measured in the measurement result for cell reselection evaluation.

Step S150, the HPPMLN timer times out.

In step S160, the terminal device performs a high priority network search in response to the HPPLMN timeout.

It will be appreciated that steps S110, S120, S150 and S160 may be associated with a high priority network search, and steps S130 and S140 are associated with cell selection/reselection.

From the above description of the high priority network search, it is known that the terminal device performs the high priority network search only when the timer of the high priority network search expires. In case the timer of the high priority network search does not time out, the location of the terminal device may also be where there is a higher priority network. However, in this case, the high-priority network search may still be performed until the timer for the high-priority network search expires. This can result in the terminal device still needing to camp on the lower priority network before the timer for the high priority network search expires, thereby causing the terminal device to delay camping on the higher priority network. In addition, the unit of the timer for the high priority network search is typically minutes. In other words, the high-priority network search is performed only when the timer of the high-priority network search of the minute level expires. In this case, the delay of the terminal device residing in the higher priority network may also reach the minute level.

The problems with the high priority network search described above are described below in connection with fig. 3.

In fig. 3, a terminal device resides at a time point A1 on a frequency point 1 of an LTE-PLMN01 network or a cell1 (frequency 1/cell1, hereinafter abbreviated as f1/c 1) corresponding to the frequency point 1. For the terminal device, the LTE-PLMN01 network is not the highest priority network. Thus, the terminal device starts the HPPLMN timer.

At the time point A2, since the terminal device moves, the terminal device resides in the LTE-PLMN01 network frequency point 2 or the cell2 (frequency 2/cell2, hereinafter abbreviated as f2/c 2) corresponding to the frequency point 2. At the time point A2, the frequency point 3 or the cell3 (frequency 3/cell3, hereinafter abbreviated as f3/c 3) corresponding to the frequency point 3 belonging to the high priority network NR-PLMN01 is the neighbor cell of f2/c 2. However, since the HPPLMN timer does not time out, after time points A2 and A2, even if the f3/c3 signal strength is good, the terminal device will not camp on f3/c3 through a high priority network search attempt, but only periodically measured to determine if reselection is met. Or if the serving cell f2/c2 does not reach the measurement start threshold, the terminal equipment does not reside on f3/c3 through a cell reselection mechanism. Alternatively, if f3/c3 does not reach the reselection threshold (e.g., T _threshhold ) The terminal device will not attempt to reside on f 3. Until the time point B1, the HPPLMN timer times out, the terminal device starts a high priority network search, searches for NR-PLMN01, and can not reside on f3/c3 of NR-PLMN01.

As can be seen from fig. 3, the terminal device is not allowed to reside in the high priority network NR-PLMN01 until a delay of a certain time (time difference between time points A2-B1). For example, the HPPPLM timer has a timing duration of 2 minutes (min), and the duration between the A2 time point and the A1 time point is 30 seconds(s), and the terminal device is resident on f3/c3 of NR-PLMN01 for 90 seconds.

The present application provides a method of searching for a network to solve the above-mentioned problems. Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for searching a network according to an embodiment of the present application. The method shown in fig. 4 may be performed by a terminal device. The method shown in fig. 4 may include steps S410-S420.

In step S410, the terminal device receives the first message.

The first message may contain first frequency point information. The first frequency point information may be used to indicate a first frequency point. The first frequency point may belong to a first network. In other words, the first message may indicate the first frequency point, and thus the first network. The first message may also indicate the first network in other ways. For example, the first message may be used directly to indicate the first network. Alternatively, the first message may include information of the first network.

The priority of the first network may be higher than the priority of the network in which the terminal device is currently located. The network in which the terminal device is currently located may be a second network. In some embodiments, the first network may be based on a higher priority than the second network. For example, the first network may be based on NR and the second network may be based on LTE, 3G, or 2G. As an implementation, the first network may be NR-PLMN1 and the second network may be LTE-PLMN1.

It should be noted that the first network and the second network may be based on different RATs. For example, the first network may be based on RAT1 and the second network may be based on RAT2. In addition, the first network-associated PLMN and the second network-associated PLMN may be the same. For example, the first network may be RAT1-PLMN1 and the second network may be RAT2-PLMN1.

In step S420, the terminal device performs a network search for the first network.

As described above, the first network is a higher priority network than the second network. Thus, a network search for a first network may be understood as a high priority network search for the first network.

In some embodiments, the network search for the first network is performed without the first timer expiring, which may be a timer for a high priority network search. Wherein the high priority network has a higher priority than the second network. In other words, the high priority network has a higher priority than the network in which the terminal device is located. It follows that based on the information in the first message, the terminal device may perform network searching for the first network without a timer based on the high priority network searching. Thus, the present application can avoid delay caused by the timer of the high priority network search.

In addition, the terminal device can conduct targeted small-range network searching on the first network according to the indication of the first message. That is, in the process of performing the high-priority network search, the search may be performed for a part of the networks in the network set of the high-priority network (for example, not all the networks in the network set of the high-priority network), so that the efficiency of the terminal device performing the high-priority network search may be improved.

The present application is not limited to a particular type of first message. In some embodiments, the first message may be a system message broadcast by the network device. For example, the first message may be a system message containing IRAT frequency point information. The first frequency point information may be included in IRAT frequency point information. In other words, the application can realize targeted high-priority network searching based on IRAT frequency point information broadcasted by network equipment in a cell selection/reselection mechanism. For example, the network device may broadcast a system message, and IRAT frequency point information in the system message may include one or more IRAT frequency points. The IRAT frequency point may be affiliated to a higher priority network. The terminal device may perform network searching only for one or more networks of higher priority to which IRAT frequency points belong. Taking fig. 2 as an example, in step S130, the IRAT frequency point included in the system message may belong to RAT2-PLMN1 or RAT3-PLMN1, and the terminal device may perform network searching on RAT2-PLMN1 or RAT3-PLMN 1.

It can be appreciated that the present application may implement network searching for high priority networks based on IRAT frequency points in the cell selection/reselection mechanism. On the one hand, the terminal device can realize the search of the high-priority network by utilizing the information sent by the network device in the cell selection/reselection mechanism, thereby reducing the interaction between the terminal device and the network device and further saving the waste of communication resources. On the other hand, in the case where the S criterion is not satisfied, the related art cannot select/reselect a cell corresponding to the IRAT frequency point through the cell, and thus cannot camp in a higher priority network through the cell selection/reselection. The present application may search for a high priority network directly without considering the S criteria, i.e. without considering the measurement situation of the serving cell and/or the neighbor cell, so as to quickly camp on the high priority network.

In some embodiments, the terminal device may be configured with a network set of high priority networks. For example, the set of networks may indicate a set of RATs to which the high priority network belongs, and/or the set of networks may also indicate a set of PLMNs to which the high priority network belongs. The network collection may be embodied in the form of a list. In other words, the set of networks may be the high priority network list described above.

Before step S420, the terminal device may determine whether the first network belongs to the network set of the above-described high priority networks. The terminal device may perform a network search for the first network if the first network belongs to the set of networks. The present application may determine, based on the above method, that the first network is indeed a high priority network of the terminal device, thereby further performing a network search on the first network. If the first network does not belong to the network set, the terminal device may wait for a timer for the high priority network search to timeout and then perform network searches for all the high priority networks.

In some embodiments, the terminal device may screen the first frequency point indicated by the first message, that is, screen the first network. And performing network searching on the first network under the condition that the first network meets the condition. As an implementation manner, the terminal device may determine whether to perform network searching on the first network based on the S value of the cell corresponding to the first frequency point. This will be described in detail below.

In some embodiments, the terminal device may measure the first frequency point to obtain an S value of the cell corresponding to the first frequency point. The S value is used to indicate the signal strength of the cell. The S value may include, for example: the cell selection reception level value Srxlev and/or the cell selection quality value square.

If the S value is greater than 0, the terminal device may perform a network search for the first network. For example, srxlev > 0 and/or square > 0, the terminal device may perform a network search for the first network. And under the condition that the S value is larger than 0, the signal quality of the first frequency point is better, and the success rate of the terminal equipment attempting to reside in the first network is higher. Therefore, the method can try to reside on the network with better signal quality, thereby improving the success rate of the terminal equipment residing in the high-priority network.

If the S value is less than or equal to 0 and the first timer times out, the terminal device performs network searching for all high priority networks. In other words, in the case where the S value is less than or equal to 0, the terminal device may follow the background search for all networks in the network set for the high priority network in the related art.

It should be noted that, when step S420 is performed, the terminal device may be in an IDLE state (rrc_idle). In other words, the terminal device may perform a network search for the first network while the terminal device is in an idle state. The present application does not limit the first frequency point information to what connection state the terminal device receives, i.e. the state of the terminal device when the present application executes the unrestricted step S410. For example, the first frequency point information may be frequency point information received by the terminal device in an idle state. Alternatively, the first frequency point information may be frequency point information collected by a connection state (rrc_connected) of the terminal device before the idle state.

If the first frequency point information is the frequency point information received by the terminal device in the idle state, the terminal device may execute step S420 in response to receiving the first message. That is, in the idle state, when the frequency point information of high priority is acquired, the terminal device may immediately perform the network search for the first network. The scheme can search for the high-priority network as early as possible, thereby enabling the high-priority network to serve the terminal device more quickly.

If the first frequency point information is frequency point information received by the terminal equipment in the connection state, the terminal equipment can execute network searching for the first network based on the first frequency point information after switching to the idle state. In other words, the terminal device may determine whether to start a network search for the first network based on the previously collected information of the first network.

It should be noted that, the measurement of IRAT frequency points may not be limited by the related art. For example, in the case where the serving cell strength is good and there is no need to measure IRAT frequency points according to the related art, if IRAT frequency points are affiliated to a higher priority network, the measurement of secondary IRAT may still be started. If the cell with the S value larger than 0 is detected in the measurement result, the background network searching can be immediately carried out.

The above embodiments may be implemented alone or in combination. Alternatively, the above-described embodiments may be implemented in combination with the related art. The above embodiments are illustrated in conjunction with the implementation of fig. 5. The method shown in fig. 5 may be implemented by a terminal device and/or a network device. The method shown in fig. 5 may include steps S510-S570.

In step S510, the terminal device resides in a low priority network RAT1-PLMN1. At this time, the high priority network list may include one or more of the following networks: RAT2-PLMN1, RAT3-PLMN1, RAT1-PLMN2, and RAT2-PLMN2.

In step S520, the terminal device starts an HPPLMN timer.

In step S530, the terminal device receives the system message broadcast by the network device. The system message contains an IRAT frequency point list. The IRAT frequency point list may include IART frequency point information. For example, the IRAT frequency bin list may include first frequency bin information.

Step S540, the terminal equipment reads the system message in step S530 and acquires the IRAT frequency point list.

In step S550, the terminal device determines whether the frequency point in the IRAT frequency point list belongs to the high priority network of the terminal device. The high priority network may be a network in a high priority network list of the terminal device.

In case that the frequency point in the IRAT frequency point list belongs to the high priority network, the terminal device may perform step S560. In case that the frequency points in the IRAT frequency point list are not affiliated to the high priority network, the terminal device may perform step S570. It should be noted that, in some cases, after S540 is performed, step S560 may be directly performed. That is, step S560 is directly performed without performing the judgment of step S550.

Step S560 may include steps S561-S563.

In step S561, the terminal device starts measurement for all frequency points in the IRAT frequency point list.

In step S562, the terminal device determines whether the detected cell (detected cell) measurement result satisfies the S value > 0, that is, satisfies the S criterion, in the measurement result of each frequency point in step S561.

If the judgment result of the step S562 is yes, a step S563 is executed; if the judgment result of step S562 is NO, step S570 is performed. It should be noted that, in some embodiments, step S561 and/or step S562 may not be performed, and step S563 may be performed directly after step S540 or step S550.

Step S563, high priority network searching is executed for the RAT-PLMN to which the frequency point or the cell corresponding to the frequency point in the IRAT frequency point list belongs. For example, the high priority network search may be performed on the RAT-PLMN to which the cell or frequency point having the S value greater than 0 in step S562 belongs.

Step S570 may include steps S571 and S572.

In step S571, the HPPLMN timer is waited for time out.

In step S572, in case the HPPLMN timer expires, the terminal device may perform a high priority network search for the networks in all high priority network lists.

It can be understood that step S560 is an optimized background network searching mechanism proposed in the present application; step S570 may be a background network searching mechanism of the main stream in the related art.

If the method shown in fig. 5 is applied in the scenario of fig. 3, IRAT frequency point information including f3 may be received at a location where the terminal device moves to at a point of time A2. The terminal device may start an optimized background network search mechanism, starting the measurement for f 3. When the S value of the cell c3 belonging to the frequency point f3 is detected to be larger than 0, the background network searching of the network NR-PLMN01 to which the frequency point f3 belongs can be started. In this way, the terminal device can quickly detect the NR-PLMN01 at the A2 point in time and become camped on this higher priority network. Compared with the background network searching mechanism of the main stream in the related art, based on the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment resides on the NR-PLMN01 of the higher priority network, and can be advanced by about 90 seconds. It can be seen that the effective benefit obtained by the embodiments of the present application is evident.

The application also provides a test method for verifying whether the communication equipment uses the technical scheme provided by the application. The test method may include steps 1-4.

And step 1, performing initial network configuration. The initial network configuration includes the following operations: the test meter only opens cells of a certain low priority LTE-PLMN. For convenience of description, the cell of the LTE-PLMN is referred to as cell a (cell-a). In addition, a neighboring frequency point of the cell a is configured, and the neighboring frequency point belongs to an IRAT NR frequency point of the high-priority RAT-PLMN. The discontinuous reception cycle (discontinuous reception cycle, DRX cycle) of cell a is configured to be 1.28 seconds.

And step 2, connecting the mobile phone with the test instrument. The signal strength of cell a is adjusted so that the mobile successfully camps to cell a of this low priority LTE-PLMN. I.e. cell a becomes the serving cell of the handset.

Step 3, reducing the signal strength of the cell a, and/or setting the inter-frequency/inter-RAT measurement parameters S of the test meter _{nonIntraSearchP} 、S _{nonIntraSearchQ} So that the signal strength of the serving cell a satisfies: srxlev<S _{nonIntraSearchP} And/or square<S _{nonIntraSearchQ} The terminal device starts the measurement of the IRAT frequency point.

Step 4: setting reselection parameter Thresh of test instrument _X,HighP So that the signal strength of cell b (cell-b) of NR-PLMN satisfies Srxlev >Thresh _X,HighP . Setting Treselection _RAT For 7 seconds. Observation of Treselection _RAT Within the time, when the handset resides on cell b.

If the handset successfully resides on cell b in the current DRX cycle or the next DRX cycle (i.e., within 1-3 seconds), it can be stated that although cell b does not meet the cell reselection conditions, the handset remains in the high priority network, and it is stated that the test handset uses the scheme of the present application.

If the terminal device is in the 6 th DRX period, i.e. Treselection _RAT After the time-out, the test mobile phone is resided on the cell b, which indicates that the test mobile phone is resided on the high-priority network through the cell reselection flow, so that the technical scheme of the application cannot be determined to be used.

It should be noted that, all of the steps 1 to 4 occur when the HPPLMN timer does not expire.

Note that the IRAT frequency point may also be referred to as an IRAT adjacent frequency point. The system message may be transmitted in the form of a broadcast. The system message may also be referred to as a system broadcast message.

It should be noted that, the high-priority network may be a network having a higher priority than the second network, that is, a network having a higher priority than the network where the terminal device is located may be referred to as a high-priority network. In some embodiments, the high priority network may also be a higher priority network.

Having described in detail method embodiments of the present application above, device embodiments of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with fig. 6-7. It is to be understood that the description of the method embodiments corresponds to the description of the device embodiments, and that parts not described in detail can therefore be seen in the preceding method embodiments.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 600 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 600 may include a receiving unit 610 and a first searching unit 620.

The receiving unit 610 is configured to receive a first message, where the first message includes first frequency point information, where the first frequency point information is used to indicate a first frequency point, and the first frequency point belongs to a first network; the first search unit 620 is configured to perform a network search for the first network according to the first frequency point information; the network where the terminal equipment is currently located is a second network, the first network and the second network are based on different wireless access technologies, and the priority of the first network is higher than that of the second network.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 600 further comprises: the measuring unit is used for measuring the first frequency point to obtain an S value of a cell corresponding to the first frequency point, wherein the S value is used for indicating the signal intensity of the cell; the first search unit 620 is specifically configured to: and if the S value of the cell is larger than 0, the terminal equipment performs network searching for the first network.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 600 further comprises: a second search unit configured to perform network searches for all high-priority networks if the S value of the cell is less than or equal to 0 and the first timer times out; the first timer is a timer used for searching a high-priority network, and the priority of the high-priority network is higher than that of the second network.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 600 is configured with a network set of high priority networks, the terminal device 600 further comprising: a determining unit configured to determine whether the first network belongs to the network set; the first search unit is specifically configured to: if the first network belongs to the network set, the terminal device performs a network search for the first network.

In some embodiments, the terminal device 600 is a terminal device in an idle state, and the first frequency point information is frequency point information received by the terminal device in the idle state; or the first frequency point information is frequency point information collected by the connection state of the terminal equipment before the idle state.

In some embodiments, the network search for the first network is performed without a first timer expiring, the first timer being a timer for a high priority network search, the high priority network having a higher priority than the second network.

In some embodiments, the first message is a system broadcast message.

In some embodiments, the first frequency point is a different radio access technology frequency point.

In an alternative embodiment, the first search unit 620 may be a processor 720, the receiving unit 610 may be a transceiver 740, and the terminal device may further include an input/output interface 730 and a memory 710, as shown in fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 700 for communication in accordance with an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 700 shown in fig. 7 may include: memory 77, processor 720, input/output interface 730, and transceiver 740. The memory 710, the processor 720, the input/output interface 730, and the transceiver 740 are connected through an internal connection path, the memory 710 is used for storing instructions, and the processor 720 is used for executing the instructions stored in the memory 720, so as to control the input/output interface 730 to receive input data and information, output data such as operation results, and control the transceiver 740 to transmit signals. The apparatus 700 may be a terminal device or a chip.

It should be appreciated that in the embodiments of the present application, the processor 720 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for executing related programs to implement the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be appreciated that the transceiver 740, also known as a communication interface, uses a transceiving means such as, but not limited to, a transceiver to enable communication between the apparatus 700 and other devices or communication networks.

The memory 710 may include read only memory and random access memory and may provide instructions and data to the processor 720. A portion of processor 720 may also include nonvolatile random access memory. For example, processor 720 may also store information of the device type.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuitry in hardware or instructions in software in processor 720. The method for requesting uplink transmission resources disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as a hardware processor executing or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory 710, and the processor 720 reads the information in the memory 710 and, in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the method described above. To avoid repetition, a detailed description is not provided herein.

It should be appreciated that in embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), the processor may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), off-the-shelf programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a, from which B may be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may also determine B from a and/or other information.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" is merely an association relationship describing the associated object, and means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the front and rear associated objects are an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by the functions and internal logic thereof, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, produces a flow or function in accordance with embodiments of the present application, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber Line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be read by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains an integration of one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a digital versatile disk (digital video disc, DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), or the like.

The foregoing is merely specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and the changes and substitutions are intended to be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of searching for a network, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives a first message, wherein the first message comprises first frequency point information, the first frequency point information is used for indicating a first frequency point, and the first frequency point belongs to a first network;

the terminal equipment executes network searching aiming at the first network according to the first frequency point information;

the network where the terminal equipment is currently located is a second network, the first network and the second network are based on different wireless access technologies, and the priority of the first network is higher than that of the second network.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein before the terminal device performs a network search for the first network according to the first frequency point information, the method further comprises:

The terminal equipment measures the first frequency point to obtain an S value of a cell corresponding to the first frequency point, wherein the S value is used for indicating the signal intensity of the cell;

the terminal device performs network searching for the first network according to the first frequency point information, and includes:

and if the S value of the cell is larger than 0, the terminal equipment performs network searching for the first network.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

if the S value of the cell is smaller than or equal to 0 and the first timer is overtime, the terminal equipment executes network searching for all high-priority networks;

the first timer is a timer used for searching a high-priority network, and the priority of the high-priority network is higher than that of the second network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is configured with a network set of high priority networks,

before the terminal device performs network searching for the first network according to the first frequency point information, the method further includes:

the terminal equipment determines whether the first network belongs to the network set;

if the first network belongs to the network set, the terminal device performs a network search for the first network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device is a terminal device in an idle state, and the first frequency point information is frequency point information received by the terminal device in the idle state; or the first frequency point information is frequency point information collected by the connection state of the terminal equipment before the idle state.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network search for the first network is performed without a first timer expiring, the first timer being a timer for a high priority network search, the high priority network having a higher priority than the second network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message is a system broadcast message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first frequency point is a different radio access technology frequency point.

9. A terminal device, comprising:

the receiving unit is used for receiving a first message, wherein the first message comprises first frequency point information, the first frequency point information is used for indicating a first frequency point, and the first frequency point belongs to a first network;

a first search unit that performs a network search for the first network without being based on the first frequency point information;

10. The terminal device according to claim 9, characterized in that the terminal device further comprises:

the measuring unit is used for measuring the first frequency point to obtain an S value of a cell corresponding to the first frequency point, wherein the S value is used for indicating the signal intensity of the cell;

the first search unit is specifically configured to:

11. The terminal device according to claim 10, characterized in that the terminal device further comprises:

A second search unit configured to perform network searches for all high-priority networks if the S value of the cell is less than or equal to 0 and the first timer times out;

12. The terminal device according to claim 9, wherein the terminal device is configured with a network set of high priority networks,

the terminal device further includes:

a determining unit configured to determine whether the first network belongs to the network set;

the first search unit is specifically configured to:

13. The terminal device according to claim 9, wherein the terminal device is a terminal device in an idle state, and the first frequency point information is frequency point information received by the terminal device in the idle state; or the first frequency point information is frequency point information collected by the connection state of the terminal equipment before the idle state.

14. The terminal device of claim 9, wherein the network search for the first network is performed without a first timer expiring, the first timer being a timer for a high priority network search, the high priority network having a higher priority than the second network.

15. The terminal device of claim 9, wherein the first message is a system broadcast message.

16. The terminal device of claim 9, wherein the first frequency point is a different radio access technology frequency point.

17. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon the method of any of claims 1-8.

18. A terminal device comprising a memory for storing a program and a processor for invoking the program in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform the method of any of claims 1-8.