CN116261229A

CN116261229A - Capability limiting method, terminal and network side equipment

Info

Publication number: CN116261229A
Application number: CN202111504103.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘选兵
Original assignee: Vivo Mobile Communication Co Ltd
Current assignee: Vivo Mobile Communication Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-09
Filing date: 2021-12-09
Publication date: 2023-06-13
Also published as: WO2023104077A1

Abstract

The application discloses a capability limiting method, a terminal and network side equipment, which belong to the technical field of wireless communication, and the capability limiting method of the embodiment of the application comprises the following steps: the terminal sends a first media access Control (Medium Access Control, MAC) Control Element (CE) command to the network side device, where the first MAC CE command is used to request at least one of the following: a capability restriction of the terminal, the capability restriction being for restricting a target capability of the terminal, the target capability being a capability related to a secondary cell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell; activating at least one second SCell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG; at least one second SCG is activated.

Description

Capability limiting method, terminal and network side equipment

Technical Field

The application belongs to the technical field of wireless communication, and particularly relates to a capability limiting method, a terminal and network side equipment.

Background

A Multi-SIM terminal (Multi-SIM UE, which may also be referred to as a Multi-card UE) refers to a terminal that supports two or more subscriber identity modules (Subscriber Identity Module, SIMs) cards. The multi-card terminal can reside in a plurality of networks at the same time, and the capability of the multi-card terminal can be single-shot double-shot and the like. One feature of multi-card terminals is that they may reside in multiple networks simultaneously, but the implementation of multi-card terminals is different, e.g., some terminals may transmit and receive in multiple networks simultaneously without interaction. Some multi-card terminals supporting dual-transmission and dual-reception can transmit and receive simultaneously in a plurality of networks on a specific frequency band without mutual influence. On other bands, it is possible to transmit and receive data on both networks in a time-division manner. .

In a specific application, the multi-card terminal may support a connection state in the network a, and the terminal may be in a connection state or an idle state in the network B. For multi-card terminals supporting multiple transmissions (Tx) or multiple receptions (Rx), it is possible to utilize part of the Tx or Rx path to perform tasks on network B while residing or maintaining a connected state on network a. The current capabilities or configuration of the terminal at network a may result in the terminal not being able to utilize part of the resources to meet its multi-card task requirements at network B for which case a corresponding solution needs to be provided.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a capability limiting method, a terminal and network side equipment, which can solve the problem that the current capability or configuration of the terminal cannot meet the multi-card task requirement of the terminal.

In a first aspect, a method of capability restriction is provided, comprising: the terminal sends a first media access Control (Medium Access Control, MAC) Control Element (CE) command to the network side device, where the first MAC CE command is used to request at least one of the following: a capability restriction of the terminal, the capability restriction being for restricting a target capability of the terminal, the target capability being a capability related to a secondary cell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell; activating at least one second SCell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG; at least one second SCG is activated.

In a second aspect, there is provided a capability limiting device comprising: a determining module, configured to determine a capability limit of the terminal; a first sending module, configured to send a first MAC CE command to a network side device, where the first MAC CE command is used to request at least one of the following: a capability restriction of the terminal, the capability restriction being for restricting a target capability of the terminal, the target capability being a capability related to a secondary cell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell; activating at least one second SCell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG; at least one second SCG is activated.

In a third aspect, a capability restriction response method is provided, including: the network side equipment receives a first MAC CE command sent by a terminal; the network side equipment sends a response message to the terminal, wherein the response message is used for responding to the request of the first MAC CE signaling; wherein the first MAC CE command is to request at least one of: a capability restriction of the terminal, the capability restriction being for restricting a target capability of the terminal, the target capability being a capability related to a secondary cell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell; activating at least one second SCell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG; at least one second SCG is activated.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a capability restriction response device comprising: the first receiving module is used for receiving a first MAC CE command sent by the terminal; a second sending module, configured to send a response message to the terminal, where the response message is used to respond to the request of the first MAC CE signaling; wherein the first MAC CE command is to request at least one of: a capability restriction of the terminal, the capability restriction being for restricting a target capability of the terminal, the target capability being a capability related to a secondary cell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell; activating at least one second SCell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG; at least one second SCG is activated.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a terminal comprising a processor and a memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, which when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the method as described in the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a terminal is provided, including a processor and a communication interface, where the processor is configured to implement the steps of the method according to the first aspect, and the communication interface is configured to communicate with an external device.

In a seventh aspect, a network side device is provided, comprising a processor and a memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, which when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a network side device is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface, where the processor is configured to implement the steps of the method according to the third aspect, and the communication interface is configured to communicate with an external device.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a capability limiting system comprising: a terminal operable to perform the steps of the method as described in the first aspect, and a network side device operable to perform the steps of the method as described in the third aspect.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a readable storage medium having stored thereon a program or instructions which when executed by a processor, performs the steps of the method according to the first aspect, or performs the steps of the method according to the third aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the processor being coupled, the processor being for running a program or instructions, implementing the steps of the method according to the first aspect, or implementing the steps of the method according to the third aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program/program product stored in a storage medium, the computer program/program product being executed by at least one processor to implement the steps of the method as described in the first aspect, or to implement the steps of the method as described in the third aspect.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal requests at least one of the following from the network side device: the capability limitations of the terminal; deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell; activating at least one second SCell; deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG; at least one second SCG is activated, so that resources used by the terminal on the secondary cell can be saved, and the part of resources is utilized to meet the requirement of the terminal on the primary cell.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applicable;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method of capability restriction provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of a capability restriction response method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of another capability limiting method provided by embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 5a illustrates a flow chart of yet another capability limiting method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 5b shows a schematic diagram of MAC CE signaling in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of yet another capability limiting method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart of yet another capability limiting method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a capability limiting device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a capability restriction response device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 shows a schematic hardware structure of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 shows a schematic hardware structure of a network side device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present application are within the scope of the protection of the present application.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the application are capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein, and that the terms "first" and "second" are generally intended to be used in a generic sense and not to limit the number of objects, for example, the first object may be one or more. Furthermore, in the description and claims, "and/or" means at least one of the connected objects, and the character "/" generally means a relationship in which the associated object is an "or" before and after.

It is noted that the techniques described in embodiments of the present application are not limited to long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE)/LTE evolution (LTE-Advanced, LTE-a) systems, but may also be used in other wireless communication systems, such as code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA), time division multiple access (Time Division Multiple Access, TDMA), frequency division multiple access (Frequency Division Multiple Access, FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access, OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (Single-carrier FrequencyDivision Multiple Access, SC-FDMA), and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in embodiments of the present application are often used interchangeably, and the techniques described may be used for both the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies, as well as other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes a new air interface (NR) system for purposes of example and uses NR terminology in much of the description that follows, but these techniques are also applicable to applications other than NR system applications, such as generation 6 (6) ^th Generation, 6G) communication system.

Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication system to which embodiments of the present application are applicable. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network device 12. The terminal 11 may be a mobile phone, a tablet (Tablet Personal Computer), a Laptop (Laptop Computer) or a terminal-side Device called a notebook, a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), a palm top, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal Computer (ultra-mobile personal Computer, UMPC), a mobile internet appliance (Mobile Internet Device, MID), an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR)/Virtual Reality (VR) Device, a robot, a Wearable Device (weather Device), a vehicle-mounted Device (VUE), a pedestrian terminal (PUE), a smart home (home Device with a wireless communication function, such as a refrigerator, a television, a washing machine, or a furniture), a game machine, a personal Computer (personal Computer, PC), a teller machine, or a self-service machine, and the Wearable Device includes: intelligent wrist-watch, intelligent bracelet, intelligent earphone, intelligent glasses, intelligent ornament (intelligent bracelet, intelligent ring, intelligent necklace, intelligent anklet, intelligent foot chain etc.), intelligent wrist strap, intelligent clothing etc.. Note that, the specific type of the terminal 11 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. The network-side device 12 may comprise an access network device and/or a core network device, wherein the access network device 12 may also be referred to as a radio access network device, a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN), a radio access network function or a radio access network element. Access network device 12 may include a base station, a WLAN access point, a WiFi node, or the like, which may be referred to as a node B, an evolved node B (eNB), an access point, a base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a basic service set (Basic Service Set, BSS), an extended service set (Extended Service Set, ESS), a home node B, a home evolved node B, a transmitting/receiving point (TransmittingReceivingPoint, TRP), or some other suitable terminology in the art, and the base station is not limited to a particular technical vocabulary so long as the same technical effect is achieved, and it should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, only a base station in an NR system is described as an example, and the specific type of the base station is not limited. The core network device may include, but is not limited to, at least one of: a core network node, a core network function, a mobility management entity (Mobility Management Entity, MME), an access mobility management function (Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF), a session management function (Session Management Function, SMF), a user plane function (User Plane Function, UPF), a policy control function (Policy Control Function, PCF), a policy and charging rules function (Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF), an edge application service discovery function (EdgeApplicationServerDiscoveryFunction, EASDF), unified data management (Unified Data Management, UDM), unified data repository (Unified Data Repository, UDR), a home subscriber server (Home Subscriber Server, HSS), a centralized network configuration (Centralized network configuration, CNC), a network storage function (Network Repository Function, NRF), a network opening function (NetworkExposureFunction, NEF), a local NEF (LocalNEF, or L-NEF), a binding support function (Binding Support Function, BSF), an application function (Application Function, AF), and the like. In the embodiment of the present application, only the core network device in the NR system is described as an example, and the specific type of the core network device is not limited.

The capability limiting schemes provided by the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings through some embodiments and application scenarios thereof.

Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of a capability limiting method according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 2, the method 200 mainly includes the following steps.

S210, the terminal sends a first MAC CE command to the network side device.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first MAC CE command is configured to request at least one of:

(1) A capability restriction of the terminal, the capability restriction being for restricting a target capability of the terminal, the target capability being a capability related to a secondary cell;

(2) Deactivating at least one first secondary cell (SCell);

(3) Activating at least one second SCell;

(4) Deactivating at least one first Secondary Cell Group (SCG);

(5) At least one second SCG is activated.

That is, the first MAC CE command may request limiting of the target capability of the terminal, and may also request deactivation/activation of at least one SCell or SCG.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal may be a Multi-card terminal, and the Multi-card terminal may include a plurality of UEs, which are called Multi-SIM UEs. The UE may be regarded as a subscription body. A plurality of subscribers may be provided on one terminal device. The subscribers may be embodied by subscriber identity module (Subscriber Identity Module, SIM) cards. One SIM card corresponds to a subscription body of one network. The SIM card stores therein the identity of the subscriber, i.e. the UE identity, such as the subscriber identity (Subscription Permanent Identifier, SUPI), or the international mobile subscriber identity (International Mobile Subscription Identity, IMSI), etc. Therefore, when a plurality of SIM cards are inserted into one terminal or a plurality of electronic SIM card information are configured, the terminal and different signer bodies can form different UE.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal may perform step S210 in case of determining its capability limit. For example, for a multi-card terminal supporting multiple Tx or Rx, while the terminal is resident or maintaining a connected state on network a, it may be necessary to utilize part of the Tx or Rx path to perform tasks on network B, in order to meet this requirement, the terminal determines that it is necessary to temporarily limit its terminal capabilities on network a to support tasks on network B, e.g., to limit secondary cell related capabilities on network a to reserve resources.

Thus, in one possible implementation, prior to S210, the terminal may determine a capability limit, wherein the capability limit may include at least one of:

(1) The number of maximum supported scells (secondary cells); i.e. the number of scells that the terminal maximally supports in case of capability restrictions.

(2) The number of maximally supported carrier elements (Component Carrier, CC); i.e. the number of CCs that the terminal maximally supports in case of capability restriction.

(3) The maximum number of scells (secondary cells) that can be activated; i.e. the number of scells that the terminal is able to activate at most in case of a capability restriction.

(4) The maximum number of CCs that can be activated; i.e. the number of CCs that the terminal is able to activate at most in case of capability restriction.

(5) At least one SCell that needs to be deactivated; i.e. in case of capability limitation, the terminal needs a deactivated secondary cell, while the secondary cells other than the at least one first SCell are activatable secondary cells.

(6) At least one SCell capable of activation; i.e. in case of capability restrictions, the terminal may activate secondary cells, while scells other than those that are capable of activation are secondary cells that cannot be activated.

(7) A first secondary cell group (Secondary Cell Group, SCG) requiring deactivation; i.e. in case of a capability limitation, the terminal needs a deactivated secondary cell group, whereas the SCGs other than the at least one first SCG are activatable secondary cell groups.

(8) An activatable SCG; i.e. in case of capability restrictions, the secondary cell group that the terminal can activate, while SCGs other than these SCGs are SCGs that cannot be activated.

In one possible implementation manner, the first MAC CE command may include at least one of the following information:

(1) A first logical channel identification, wherein the first logical channel identification is used for marking the first MAC CE command; wherein, the first logical channel identifier may be included in a MAC sub-header (MAC sub-header). The first logical channel identification is used for marking the first MAC CE command, i.e. the first logical channel identification is used for marking that the MAC CE command is used for requesting a capability restriction of the terminal. In case only this information is included in the first MAC CE command, the first MAC CE command may be used to indicate that the SCG is deactivated or activated, e.g. in this possible implementation, the first MAC CE command is used to request a capability restriction, the logical channel identification may indicate that the SCG is deactivated.

(2) And the first indication information is used for indicating the capability of limiting the terminal.

(3) The second indication information is used for indicating that the capability of the terminal is not limited;

for example, a bit in the first MAC CE command may be used to indicate whether to limit the capability of the terminal, e.g. the bit indicates that a capability limitation is required for TRUE (i.e. the first indication information), and FALSE (i.e. the second indication information) indicates that the capability limitation is removed, in this possible implementation, the first MAC CE command is used to request the capability limitation of the terminal, so the first indication information may be carried in the first MAC CE.

(4) A first number, wherein the first number is used for indicating the number of the maximum supported scells of the terminal, or the first number is used for indicating the number of the maximum supported CCs of the terminal; i.e. the number of scells or CCs that the terminal is maximally capable of supporting is indicated by the first number.

(5) A second number, where the second number is used to indicate a number of scells that the terminal is maximally activatable, or the second number is used to indicate a number of CCs that the terminal is maximally activatable; i.e. the number of scells or CCs that the terminal is maximally capable of activating is indicated by the first number. The second number may be the number of scells that the terminal can activate maximally, or the number of CCs that the terminal can activate maximally, or the second number may also be the number of scells that need to deactivate, where the network side device may learn the number of scells or the number of CCs that the terminal can activate maximally under the capability limitation according to the number of scells that the terminal activates currently or the number of CCs that the terminal activates currently and the number of scells that need to deactivate or the number of CCs that the terminal activates de-activate currently.

(6) Third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating at least one first SCell needing to be deactivated; the SCell that needs to be deactivated may be directly indicated by the third indication information.

(7) Fourth indication information, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating at least one second SCell which can be activated; the SCell that can be activated may be directly indicated by the fourth indication information.

(8) Fifth indication information, wherein the fifth indication information is used for indicating a first secondary cell group needing to be deactivated; the SCG that needs to be deactivated may be directly indicated by the fifth indication information.

(9) A sixth indication information, wherein the sixth indication information is used for indicating a second secondary cell group which can be activated; the SCG which can be activated can be directly indicated through the sixth indication information;

(10) Seventh indication information, wherein the seventh indication information is used for indicating to deactivate at least one first SCell; i.e. the first MAC CE command requests deactivation of at least one first SCell.

(11) Eighth indication information, wherein the eighth indication information is used for indicating to activate at least one second SCell; i.e. the first MAC CE command requests activation of at least one second SCell.

(12) A ninth indication information, wherein the ninth indication information is used for indicating to deactivate at least one first secondary cell group; i.e. the first MAC CE command requests deactivation of at least one first secondary cell group.

(13) Tenth indication information, wherein the tenth indication information is used for indicating to activate at least one second secondary cell group; i.e. the first MAC CE command requests activation of at least one second SCG.

Through the possible implementation manner, the network side equipment can know the specific capability of the terminal under the capability limitation, so that the terminal is consistent with the understanding of the capability limitation by the network side equipment.

In the above possible implementation manner, the third indication information may include an identification of at least one first SCell that needs to be deactivated, and/or the fourth indication information may include an identification of at least one second SCell that is capable of being activated. Or the third indication information and the fourth indication information are a first bit sequence, wherein one bit in the bit sequence corresponds to one SCell, the indication that the SCell corresponding to the bit needs to be deactivated is performed when the value of the bit is a first value, and the indication that the SCell corresponding to the bit can be activated is performed when the value of the bit is a second value.

In the above possible implementation manner, the seventh indication information may include an identification of the deactivated at least one first SCell, and/or the eighth indication information may include an identification of the activated at least one second SCell. Or the seventh indication information and the eighth indication information are a second bit sequence, wherein one bit in the bit sequence corresponds to one SCell, the deactivation of the SCell corresponding to the bit is indicated when the value of the bit is a first value, and the activation of the SCell corresponding to the bit is indicated when the value of the bit is a second value.

In one or more possible implementations, the terminal may send the first MAC CE command on the primary cell group, or the terminal may also send the first MAC CE command on the secondary cell group.

In one or more possible implementations, after S210, the terminal may monitor a response message sent by the network side device; and under the condition that the response message sent by the network side equipment is monitored, determining that the capacity limit is effective. By means of the possible implementation manner, the terminal can determine that the capability limitation is effective after monitoring the response message of the network side device for the first MAC CE command, so that the terminal can be ensured to be consistent with the understanding of the network side device.

In one or more possible implementations, the response message may include at least one of:

(1) Acknowledgement information, wherein the acknowledgement information is used for acknowledging the request of the first MAC CE signaling; through the confirmation information, the network side device can be indicated to confirm the capability limitation of the terminal request.

(2) A deactivation command of the first SCell; that is, the deactivation command is used to instruct to deactivate the first SCell. For example, when the first MAC CE command carries the first indication information and the seventh indication information, the network side device may send the deactivation command after receiving the first MAC CE command, and the terminal determines that the network side device confirms the request of the first MAC CE command, that is, confirms the capability restriction when receiving the deactivation command. Or, if the first indication information is carried in the first MAC CE command, that is, the capability of limiting the terminal is indicated, the network side device may send the deactivation command after receiving the first MAC CE command, where the deactivation command is equivalent to a request for confirming the terminal.

(2) An activation command of a second SCell; that is, the activation command is used to instruct activation of the second SCell. For example, when the first MAC CE command carries the first indication information and the eighth indication information, the network side device may send the activation command after receiving the first MAC CE command, and the terminal determines that the network side device confirms the request of the first MAC CE command, that is, confirms the capability restriction when receiving the activation command. Or, if the first MAC CE command carries the third indication information, that is, indicates at least one first SCell that needs to be deactivated, the network side device may send an activation command for activating the second SCell after receiving the first MAC CE command, where the activation command activates at least one first SCell that is not requested to be deactivated by the terminal, and is equivalent to a request for confirming the terminal.

(3) A deactivation command for the first secondary cell group; that is, the deactivation command is used to instruct to deactivate the first SCG. For example, when the first MAC CE command carries the first indication information and the ninth indication information, the network side device may send the deactivation command after receiving the first MAC CE command, and the terminal determines that the network side device confirms the request of the first MAC CE command, that is, confirms the capability restriction when receiving the deactivation command. Or, in the case that the first MAC CE command carries the first logical channel identifier, the network side device may send a deactivation command for deactivating the first SCG after receiving the first MAC CE command, where the deactivation command is equivalent to a request for confirming the terminal.

(4) An activate command for the second secondary cell group. That is, the activation command is used to instruct activation of the second SCG. For example, when the first MAC CE command carries the first indication information and the tenth indication information, the network side device may send the activation command after receiving the first MAC CE command, and the terminal determines that the network side device confirms the request of the first MAC CE command, that is, confirms the capability restriction when receiving the activation command. Or, in the case that the fifth indication information is carried in the first MAC CE command, that is, the first SCG that needs to be deactivated is indicated, the network side device may send an activation command for activating the second SCG after receiving the first MAC CE command, where the activation command activates the first SCG that is not requested to be deactivated by the terminal, and is equivalent to a request for confirming the terminal.

In one or more possible implementations, after the terminal sends the first MAC CE command to the network side device, if the response message sent by the network side device is not monitored within a predetermined time, the terminal performs at least one of the following operations:

(1) Determining that the capability limit is in effect;

(2) Deactivating the first SCell;

(3) Activating the second SCell;

(4) Deactivating the first secondary cell group;

(5) Activating a second secondary cell group;

that is, in the possible implementations of (1) - (5) above, the terminal defaults to the network side device accepting the request of the capability restriction of the terminal.

(6) Retransmitting the first MAC CE command; i.e. the terminal requests again the capability restrictions from the network side device.

(7) Updating the capability limit, and updating and transmitting the first MAC CE command based on the updated capability limit. That is, the terminal may redefine the capability limit according to the current requirement, and then send a request for the capability limit to the network side device based on the redetermined capability limit.

For example, after the terminal may send the first MAC CE command to the network side device, start a timer, monitor a response message of the network side device, if the response message sent by the network side device is received before the timer expires, determine that the capability restriction is valid, and if the response message sent by the network side device is not received yet after the timer expires, perform at least one operation of the foregoing operations (1) to (7).

In one or more possible implementations, after the terminal sends the first MAC CE command to the network-side device, the terminal may also cancel the capability restriction, e.g., the terminal has performed the task on network B and may cancel its capability restriction on network a. Thus, after S210, the method may further include: and the terminal sends a second MAC CE command to the network side equipment, wherein the second MAC CE command is used for requesting to release the capacity restriction.

In one or more possible implementations, the second MAC CE command may carry parameters corresponding to or identical to the first MAC CE command described above, but the parameter values of the respective parameters are different from the first MAC CE command.

Optionally, the second MAC CE command may be used to indicate a target SCell and/or a target SCG that is capable of activation; wherein, the target SCell includes: the first MAC CE command indicates at least one SCell that needs to be deactivated; the target SCG includes: the first MAC CE command indicates at least one SCG that needs to be deactivated. For example, the first MAC CE command carries the third indication information, which indicates at least one first SCell that needs to be deactivated, and the second MAC CE command may be used to indicate the at least one first SCell that can be activated. Or the first MAC CE command carries the fifth indication information, which indicates that the first secondary cell group needs to be deactivated, and the second MAC CE command may be used to indicate the first secondary cell group that can be activated, or request that the secondary cells in the first secondary cell group can be activated.

In one or more possible implementations, the first MAC CE command is configured to instruct the UE to ignore or reject an operation sent by the network side device that is inconsistent with the first MAC CE command before receiving the second MAC CE command. For example, between the transmission of the first MAC CE command and the transmission of the second MAC CE command by the terminal, may be referred to as a capability limit period of the terminal, during which the network-side device cannot perform an operation inconsistent with the first MAC CE command. For example, it may be agreed that a network side device cannot perform an operation inconsistent with the first MAC CE command during the capability constraint.

In one or more possible implementations, the operation sent by the network side device inconsistent with the first MAC CE command includes at least one of:

(1) The number of the SCell configured by the network side equipment can exceed the number of the SCell which is indicated by the first MAC CE command and is maximally supported by the terminal; that is, during the capability restriction, the network side device must not activate scells exceeding the number of scells maximally supported by the terminal.

(2) The network side equipment activates a target SCell, wherein the target SCell comprises at least one of the following: a first MAC CE command indicating a deactivated SCell, the first MAC CE command indicating a SCell that needs to be deactivated; for example, the target SCell is one of the at least one SCell indicated by the third indication information, or the target SCG is one of the sclls indicated by the fifth indication information.

(3) The network side equipment activates a target SCG, wherein the target SCG comprises at least one of the following components: a first MAC CE command to deactivate an SCG, the first MAC CE command indicating a SCG that needs to be deactivated; for example, the target SCG is the SCG indicated by the fifth indication information.

During the capability restriction of the terminal, the terminal may accept the operation of the network side device to release the target SCell or the target SCG.

In one or more possible implementations, the terminal is allowed to send the first MAC CE command only in case of multi-card purpose, that is, the terminal is allowed to perform the capability restriction only in case of multi-card purpose. For example, it may be agreed that the terminal allows the capability restriction only in the case of multi-card purpose, or that the default setting terminal allows the capability restriction only in the case of multi-card purpose, not for power saving or overheat reasons.

In an embodiment of the present application, the UE determines a capability restriction, including at least one of:

-the maximum supported number of scells (secondary cells) or CCs;

number of scells (secondary cells) or number of CCs that can be activated;

-at least one SCell that may be activated or needs to be deactivated;

SCG may be activated or need to be deactivated.

The UE transmits the first MAC CE information to the network. The first MAC CE information is used to temporarily limit UE capabilities related to the SCell, or to deactivate or release the SCell, or to activate the SCell.

The first MAC CE information may include at least one of the following:

-a logical channel identification LC ID. The LCID marks the MAC CE command. The LCID may be contained in a MAC sub-header (MAC sub-header)

-an indication of a capability limit. For indicating whether to temporarily limit UE capabilities. For example, when the indication information is TRUE, the required capacity limit is indicated, and when the indication information is FALSE, the required capacity limit is indicated.

-the maximum supported number of scells (secondary cells) or CCs;

-the maximum number of scells (secondary cells) or CCs that can be activated;

-at least one SCell identity that may be activated or needs to be deactivated;

can activate or need to deactivate SCG

The UE may also send a second MAC CE information cancellation capability restriction. During the capacity limitation, the network must not activate more scells than the maximum supported.

The UE may send the above MAC CE on the MCG or SCG.

The UE may start a timer after sending the first MAC CE information, monitor a response message of the network, and may use a corresponding process after the timer expires.

Further, the UE is only allowed to send the MAC CE information for multi-card purposes.

Through the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the UE can send the MAC CE to limit the UE capacity related to the secondary cell Scell, instruct to activate or deactivate the designated Scell or SCG, and corresponding signaling process and processing, support the purpose of fast limiting capacity, and support the multi-card function with smaller delay.

Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of a capability restriction response method provided by an embodiment of the present application, where the method 300 is an execution step of a network side device corresponding to the method 200, and has the same or a corresponding implementation manner as the method 200, and the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below mainly starting from the network side device. As shown in fig. 3, the method 300 generally includes the following steps.

S310, the network side equipment receives a first MAC CE command sent by the terminal.

Wherein the first MAC CE command is to request at least one of:

(2) Deactivating at least one first SCell;

(3) Activating at least one second SCell;

(4) Deactivating at least one first SCG;

(5) At least one second SCG is activated.

Wherein, the terminal may send the first MAC CE command in the manner described in the method 200, and the relevant content may be referred to as relevant description in the method 200.

In one possible implementation manner, the first MAC CE command includes at least one of the following information:

(1) A first logical channel identification, wherein the first logical channel identification is used for marking the first MAC CE command;

(2) The first indication information is used for indicating the capability of limiting the terminal;

(4) A first number, wherein the first number is used for indicating the maximum supported number of scells of the terminal, or the first number is used for indicating the maximum supported number of CCs of the terminal;

(5) A second number, where the second number is used to indicate the maximum number of scells that the terminal can activate, or the second number is used to indicate the maximum number of CCs that the terminal can activate;

(6) Third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating at least one first SCell needing to be deactivated;

(7) Fourth indication information, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating at least one second SCell which can be activated;

(8) Fifth indication information, wherein the fifth indication information is used for indicating a first secondary cell group needing to be deactivated;

(9) A sixth indication information, wherein the sixth indication information is used for indicating a second secondary cell group which can be activated;

(10) Seventh indication information, wherein the seventh indication information is used for indicating to deactivate at least one first SCell;

(11) Eighth indication information, wherein the eighth indication information is used for indicating to activate at least one second SCell;

(12) A ninth instruction information, wherein the ninth instruction information is used for instructing to deactivate the first secondary cell group;

(13) Tenth indication information, wherein the tenth indication information is used for indicating to activate the second secondary cell group.

S312, the network side equipment sends a response message to the terminal, wherein the response message comprises a request for confirming the first MAC CE signaling.

In one possible implementation, the response message includes at least one of:

acknowledgement information, wherein the acknowledgement information is used for acknowledging the request of the first MAC CE signaling;

A deactivation command of the first SCell;

an activation command of a second SCell;

a deactivation command for the first secondary cell group;

an activate command for the second secondary cell group.

In one possible implementation manner, the network side device sends a response message to the terminal, including at least one of the following:

the network side equipment confirms the request of the first MAC CE signaling and sends the confirmation information to the terminal;

transmitting a first deactivation command to the terminal in case that the first MAC CE signaling indicates at least one SCell to be deactivated or needs to be deactivated, the first deactivation command being used to deactivate the at least one SCell to be deactivated or the first MAC CE signaling indicates to deactivate;

in case the first MAC CE signaling indicates at least one second SCell that is active or capable of being active, sending a first activation command to the terminal, the first activation command being used to activate the at least one SCell that is active or capable of being active that is indicated by the first MAC CE signaling;

sending a second deactivation command to the terminal under the condition that the first MAC CE signaling indicates deactivation or a secondary cell group needing deactivation, wherein the second deactivation command is used for deactivating at least one SCG (SCG) indicated by the first MAC CE signaling or needing deactivation;

And in the case that the first MAC CE signaling indicates an activated or activatable second secondary cell group, sending a second activation command to the terminal, wherein the second activation command is used for activating at least one activated or activatable SCG indicated by the first MAC CE signaling.

For example, in case the first MAC CE signaling indicates at least one first SCell that needs to be deactivated, the network-side device may send the acknowledgement information to a terminal and send a deactivation command of the first SCell to the terminal. For another example, in the case that the first MAC CE signaling indicates a second secondary cell group that can be activated, the network side device may send the acknowledgement information to the terminal, and send an activation command of the second secondary cell group to the terminal. Or in the case that the first MAC CE signaling indicates at least one first SCell that needs to be deactivated, the network side device may send, instead of the acknowledgement information, a deactivation command of the first SCell to the terminal, through which the request of the network side device to acknowledge the terminal is implicitly indicated.

In one possible implementation manner, after the network side device receives the first MAC CE command sent by the terminal, the method further includes: and receiving a second MAC CE command sent by the terminal, wherein the second MAC CE command is used for requesting to release the capability restriction.

In one possible implementation, the second MAC CE command is used to indicate a target SCell and/or a target SCG that can be activated; wherein, the target SCell includes: the first MAC CE command indicates at least one SCell that needs to be deactivated; the target SCG includes: the first MAC CE command indicates at least one SCG that needs to be deactivated. For example, the target SCell indicates for the first MAC CE signaling one of the at least one SCell that needs to be deactivated.

In one possible implementation, before receiving the second MAC CE command, the method further includes: and the network side equipment prohibits the execution of the operation inconsistent with the first MAC CE command.

In one possible implementation manner, the network side device prohibits performing an operation inconsistent with the first MAC CE command, including at least one of:

the number of SCell configured by the network side equipment does not exceed the number of SCell which is indicated by the first MAC CE command and is supported by the terminal at maximum;

the network side equipment disables activation of a target SCell, wherein the target SCell comprises at least one of the following: a first MAC CE command indicating a deactivated SCell, the first MAC CE command indicating a SCell that needs to be deactivated;

The network side equipment disables activation of a target SCG, wherein the target SCG comprises at least one of the following: a first MAC CE command to deactivate an SCG, the first MAC CE command indicating a SCG that needs to be deactivated;

the network side device allows releasing the target SCell or the target SCG.

By the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the network side equipment can respond to the capacity limiting request of the terminal, so that the purpose of quickly and temporarily limiting the capacity can be supported, and the multi-card function can be supported with smaller delay.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of another capability limiting method provided by an embodiment of the present application, as illustrated in fig. 4, the method 400 may include the following steps.

S410, the UE determines a SCell related capability restriction, where the capability restriction includes at least one of:

(1) The number of maximum supported scells (secondary cells) or CCs.

(2) The maximum number of scells (secondary cells) or CCs that can be activated.

S420, the UE sends the first MAC CE information to the network side equipment. The first MAC CE information is used to temporarily limit UE capabilities related to the SCell.

The first MAC CE information may include at least one of:

(1) Indication of capability restrictions. For indicating whether to temporarily limit UE capabilities. For example, the indication information being TRUE indicates that temporary restriction capability is required, and the indication information being FALSE indicates that temporary restriction capability is not required.

(2) The number of maximum supported scells (secondary cells) or CCs.

(3) The maximum number of scells (secondary cells) or CCs that can be activated.

(4) A certain number of scells are deactivated.

For example, in the first MAC CE information, the length of the capability-restricted indication information field is 2bits, and the length of the maximum SCell Size field is 6bits.

And S430, the network side equipment sends a response message to the UE.

Wherein, the response message can be one or more of the following information:

(1) Downlink MAC CE information or acknowledgement ACK information. This information is used to acknowledge the request of the first MAC CE, indicating that the capacity limit is valid.

(2) SCell Activation/Deactivation (Activation/Deactivation) MAC CE. The network side device sends a request for activating/deactivating the MAC CE of the SCell and/or confirming the first MAC CE. Further, the network side device may send the SCell Activation/Deactivation MAC CE when the request indicated by the first MAC CE is acknowledged and the SCell needs to be deactivated or activated.

In addition, the network side device can also store the capability restriction information. Further, after the connection of the UE is released, the network side device releases the capability restriction information.

S440, after receiving the response message of the network, the UE validates the capacity limitation.

S450, during the capability restriction, the network must not activate more scells than the maximum supported.

S460, the UE transmits the MAC CE to release the capacity restriction.

Fig. 5a shows a flowchart of yet another capability limiting method provided by an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5a, the method 500 may include the following steps.

S510, the UE determines SCell related capability restrictions. Wherein the capability limit comprises: at least one SCell that may be activated or needs to be deactivated.

S520, the UE transmits the first MAC CE information to the network. The first MAC CE information is used to request activation or deactivation of the SCell.

Wherein the first MAC CE information may include at least one of:

(1) And the indication information of the capability limitation is used for indicating whether the UE capability is temporarily limited. For example, the indication information being TRUE indicates that temporary restriction capability is required, and the indication information being FALSE indicates that temporary restriction capability is not required.

(2) At least one SCell identity that may be activated or needs to be deactivated.

In one implementation, the first MAC CE information may include indication information of 1 Oct or 4 Oct to indicate the above capability restriction and at least one SCell identifier that may be activated or need to be deactivated.

Where 4 Oct are employed, the 4 Oct may include two information fields, i.e., an Ind field and a Ci field. As shown in fig. 5b, wherein:

-Ind indication bit: at least 1bit, indicating whether the capability is limited. The Ind field is set to 1, indicating that the MAC entity needs temporary restriction capability, otherwise the MAC entity does not need temporary restriction capability, and ignores the Ci field.

-Ci: if the MAC entity configures the SCell with SCell number i, ci indicates the activation or deactivation state of the SCell. Otherwise, the MAC entity ignores the Ci field. A Ci field set to 1 indicates a corresponding SCell activation, and a Ci field set to 0 indicates a corresponding SCell deactivation. i has a value ranging from 1 to 31.

And S530, the network side equipment sends a response message to the UE.

In this embodiment, the response message may be one or more of the following information:

(1) And the MAC CE or the confirmation information is used for confirming the request of the first MAC CE, and the indicated capacity limit is effective.

(2) SCell Activation/Deactivation MAC CE. The network side device may send a request for the SCell to activate/deactivate the MAC CE and/or to acknowledge the first MAC CE.

S540, after receiving the response message of the network, the UE validates the capacity limitation.

S550, the network side device must not activate the SCell deactivated by the UE. That is, the SCell deactivated by the UE may only be activated by the UE.

S560, the UE sends the MAC CE again, requests activation of the SCell, and releases the capability restriction.

Fig. 6 shows a flowchart of yet another capability limiting method provided by an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 6, the method 600 may include the following steps.

S610, the UE determines a capability restriction.

Wherein the capability limit comprises: SCG may be activated or required to be deactivated.

S620, the UE transmits the first MAC CE information to the network. The first MAC CE information is used to request activation or deactivation of SCG.

Wherein the first MAC CE may contain at least one of:

(1) Indication of capability restrictions. For indicating whether to temporarily limit UE capabilities. For example, the indication indicates that temporary restriction capability is required for TRUE and that temporary restriction capability is not required for FALSE.

(2) SCG may be activated or required to be deactivated.

In one embodiment, an indication bit may be set in the first MAC CE: an SCG capability limit state (SCG Capability Restriction status), the indication bit set to 1 indicates that SCG can be activated, and a setting of 0 indicates that SCG needs to be deactivated.

S630, the network side equipment sends a response message to the UE.

The response message may be one or more of the following:

(2) SCG Activity/Deactivation MAC CE. The network side device sends a request for activating and deactivating the MAC CE by the SCG and/or confirming the first MAC CE.

And S640, after receiving the response message of the network, the UE validates the capacity limitation.

S650, the network side device must not activate the SCG deactivated by the UE. SCGs deactivated by the UE may only be activated again by the UE.

S660, after the capability restriction is released, the UE sends the MAC CE again to request to activate the SCG

Fig. 7 shows a flowchart of yet another capability limiting method provided by an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, the method 700 may include the following steps.

S710, which is the same as S410, S510, or S610, is exemplified as the same as S510 in fig. 7.

S720, the same as S420 or S520 or S620, is exemplified as S520 in fig. 7.

S730, after the UE sends the first MAC CE information, the target timer is started. Wherein the target timer duration is agreed by the network configuration or protocol.

S740, the UE listens for the response message of the network.

S750, the target timer times out, and if no response message of the network is received, the UE performs the target operation.

Wherein the target operation includes at least one of:

(1) The capacity limit takes effect;

(2) Activating or deactivating the SCell;

(3) Activating or deactivating SCG;

(4) The UE may retransmit the first MAC CE;

(5) The UE may send the updated first MAC CE.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the UE limits the UE capacity related to the Scell of the secondary cell by sending the MAC CE, instructs to activate or deactivate the designated Scell or SCG, and executes the corresponding signaling process and processing, so that the quick temporary limiting capacity can be supported, and the multi-card function can be supported with smaller delay.

According to the capacity limiting method provided by the embodiment of the application, the execution subject can be a capacity limiting device. In the embodiment of the present application, a method for executing a capability limiting method by a capability limiting device is taken as an example, and the capability limiting device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a capability limiting device according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 8, the device 800 mainly includes: a determination module 801 and a first transmission module 802.

In the embodiment of the present application, a determining module 801 is configured to determine a capability restriction of a terminal; a first sending module 802, configured to send a first MAC CE command to a network side device, where the first MAC CE command is used to request at least one of the following:

a capability restriction of the terminal, the capability restriction being for restricting a target capability of the terminal, the target capability being a capability related to a secondary cell;

Deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell;

activating at least one second SCell;

deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG;

at least one second SCG is activated.

In one possible implementation, the capability limit includes at least one of: the method comprises the steps of a maximum number of supported scells, a maximum number of supported carrier units CCs, a maximum number of activatable scells, a maximum number of activatable CCs, at least one SCell that needs to be deactivated, an activatable SCell, at least one SCG that needs to be deactivated, at least one SCG that is activatable.

a first logical channel identification, wherein the first logical channel identification is used for marking the first MAC CE command;

the first indication information is used for indicating the capability of limiting the terminal;

the second indication information is used for indicating that the capability of the terminal is not limited;

a first number, wherein the first number is used for indicating the number of the maximum supported scells of the terminal, or the first number is used for indicating the number of the maximum supported CCs of the terminal;

A second number, wherein the second number is used for indicating the number of the maximum activatable scells of the terminal, or the second number is used for indicating the number of the maximum activatable CCs of the terminal;

a third indication information, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating at least one SCell needing to be deactivated;

fourth indication information, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating at least one SCell capable of being activated;

fifth indication information, wherein the fifth indication information is used for indicating a secondary cell group needing to be deactivated;

a sixth indication information, wherein the sixth indication information is used for indicating an activatable secondary cell group;

seventh indication information, wherein the seventh indication information is used for indicating to deactivate at least one first SCell;

eighth indication information, wherein the eighth indication information is used for indicating to activate at least one second SCell;

a ninth indication information, wherein the ninth indication information is used for indicating to deactivate at least one first secondary cell group;

and tenth indication information, wherein the tenth indication information is used for indicating to activate at least one second secondary cell group.

In one possible implementation, the second number is one of: the number of the SCell which can be activated by the terminal, the number of the CCs which can be activated by the terminal, the number of the SCell which needs to be deactivated, and the number of the CCs which need to be deactivated.

In one possible implementation manner, the third indication information includes: identification of at least one first SCell that needs to be deactivated; and/or, the fourth indication information includes: an identification of at least one second SCell capable of activation.

In one possible implementation manner, the third indication information and the fourth indication information are a first bit sequence, where one bit in the first bit sequence corresponds to one SCell, the SCell corresponding to the bit is indicated to be required to be deactivated when the value of the bit is a first value, and the SCell corresponding to the bit is indicated to be able to be activated when the value of the bit is a second value; and/or

The seventh indication information and the eighth indication information are a second bit sequence, wherein one bit in the second bit sequence corresponds to one SCell, the deactivation of the SCell corresponding to the bit is indicated when the value of the bit is a first value, and the activation of the SCell corresponding to the bit is indicated when the value of the bit is a second value.

In one possible implementation manner, the first sending module 802 sends a first MAC CE command to a network side device, including one of the following:

The terminal sends the first MAC CE command on a master cell group;

the terminal sends the first MAC CE command on a secondary cell group.

In one possible implementation, the apparatus further includes: the monitoring module is used for monitoring the response message sent by the network side equipment; the determining module 801 is further configured to determine that the capability restriction is valid if a response message sent by the network side device is monitored.

In one possible implementation, the response message includes at least one of:

a deactivation command of the first SCell;

an activation command of a second SCell;

a deactivation command for the first secondary cell group;

an activate command for the second secondary cell group.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining module 801 is further configured to perform at least one of the following operations if the response message sent by the network side device is not monitored within a predetermined time:

determining that the capability limit is in effect;

deactivating the first SCell;

activating the second SCell;

deactivating the first secondary cell group;

activating a second secondary cell group;

Retransmitting the first MAC CE command;

updating the capability limit, and updating and transmitting the first MAC CE command based on the updated capability limit.

In one possible implementation manner, the first sending module is further configured to send a second MAC CE command to the network side device, where the second MAC CE command is used to request to release the capability restriction.

In one possible implementation, the second MAC CE command is used to indicate a target SCell and/or a target SCG that can be activated; wherein, the target SCell includes: the first MAC CE command indicates at least one SCell that needs to be deactivated; the target SCG includes: the first MAC CE command indicates at least one SCG that needs to be deactivated.

In one possible implementation, the first MAC CE command is used to instruct the UE to ignore or reject the operation that is not consistent with the first MAC CE command and sent by the network side device before receiving the second MAC CE command.

In one possible implementation manner, the operation that is not consistent with the first MAC CE command and sent by the network side device includes at least one of the following:

the number of SCell configured by the network side equipment exceeds the number of SCell which is indicated by the first MAC CE command and is supported by the terminal at maximum;

The network side device activates a target SCell, wherein the target SCell comprises at least one of the following: a first MAC CE command indicating a deactivated SCell, the first MAC CE command indicating a SCell that needs to be deactivated;

the network side equipment activates a target SCG, wherein the target SCG comprises at least one of the following components: the first MAC CE commands the deactivated SCGs, the first MAC CE commands indicating the SCGs that need to be deactivated.

The capability limiting device in the embodiments of the present application may be an electronic device, for example, an electronic device with an operating system, or may be a component in an electronic device, for example, an integrated circuit or a chip. The electronic device may be a terminal, or may be other devices than a terminal. By way of example, terminals may include, but are not limited to, the types of terminals 11 listed above, other devices may be servers, network attached storage (Network Attached Storage, NAS), etc., and embodiments of the application are not specifically limited.

The capability limiting device provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement each process implemented by the terminal in the method embodiment of fig. 2 to fig. 7, and achieve the same technical effects, so that repetition is avoided, and no further description is given here.

Fig. 9 illustrates a capability restriction response device provided in an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 9, the device 900 mainly includes: a first receiving module 901 and a second transmitting module 902.

In this embodiment of the present application, a first receiving module 901 is configured to receive a first MAC CE command sent by a terminal; a second sending module 902, configured to send a response message to the terminal, where the response message includes a request for confirming the first MAC CE signaling;

wherein the first MAC CE command is to request at least one of:

deactivating at least one first SCell;

activating at least one second SCell;

deactivating at least one first SCG;

at least one second SCG is activated.

a first number, wherein the first number is used for indicating the maximum supported number of scells of the terminal, or the first number is used for indicating the maximum supported number of CCs of the terminal;

a second number, where the second number is used to indicate the maximum number of scells that the terminal can activate, or the second number is used to indicate the maximum number of CCs that the terminal can activate;

A ninth instruction information, wherein the ninth instruction information is used for instructing to deactivate the first secondary cell group;

tenth indication information, wherein the tenth indication information is used for indicating to activate the second secondary cell group.

In one possible implementation, the response message includes at least one of:

a deactivation command of the first SCell;

an activation command of a second SCell;

a deactivation command for the first secondary cell group;

an activate command for the second secondary cell group.

In one possible implementation, the second sending module 902 sends a response message to the terminal, including at least one of the following:

confirming the request of the first MAC CE signaling, and sending the confirmation information to the terminal;

in case the first MAC CE signaling indicates at least one SCell that is activated or capable of being activated, sending a first activation command to the terminal, the first activation command being used to activate the at least one SCell that is activated or capable of being activated indicated by the first MAC CE signaling;

Sending a second deactivation command to the terminal in case the first MAC CE signaling indicates at least one SCG to be deactivated or needs to be deactivated, the second deactivation command being used to deactivate the at least one SCG to be deactivated or the first MAC CE signaling indicates to deactivate;

and in the case that the first MAC CE signaling indicates at least one SCG which is activated or can be activated, sending a second activation command to the terminal, wherein the second activation command is used for activating the at least one SCG which is activated or can be activated and indicated by the first MAC CE signaling.

In one possible implementation manner, the first receiving module 901 is further configured to receive a second MAC CE command sent by the terminal, where the second MAC CE command is used to request that the capability restriction be released.

In one possible implementation, the apparatus further includes: and the execution module is used for prohibiting the execution of the operation inconsistent with the first MAC CE command before the second MAC CE command is received.

In one possible implementation, the execution module prohibits execution of operations inconsistent with the first MAC CE command, including at least one of:

the number of configured scells does not exceed the number of scells maximally supported by the terminal indicated by the first MAC CE command;

disabling activation of the target SCell, wherein the target SCell comprises at least one of: a first MAC CE command indicating a deactivated SCell, the first MAC CE command indicating a SCell that needs to be deactivated;

disabling activation of a target SCG, wherein the target SCG comprises at least one of: a first MAC CE command to deactivate an SCG, the first MAC CE command indicating a SCG that needs to be deactivated;

allowing release of the target SCell or the target SCG.

The capability restriction response device provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement each process implemented by the network side device or the network in the method embodiment of fig. 2 to fig. 7, and achieve the same technical effects, so that repetition is avoided, and no detailed description is given here.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 10, the embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1000, including a processor 1001 and a memory 1002, where the memory 1002 stores a program or an instruction that can be executed on the processor 1001, for example, when the communication device 1000 is a terminal, the program or the instruction is executed by the processor 1001 to implement the steps of the embodiment of the capability limiting method, and achieve the same technical effect. When the communication device 1000 is a network side device, the program or the instruction, when executed by the processor 1001, implements the steps of the above-described embodiment of the capability restriction response method, and can achieve the same technical effects, so that repetition is avoided, and no further description is given here.

The embodiment of the application also provides a terminal, which comprises a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is used for realizing the steps of the embodiment of the capacity limiting method, and the communication interface is used for communicating with external equipment. The terminal embodiment corresponds to the terminal-side method embodiment, and each implementation process and implementation manner of the method embodiment can be applied to the terminal embodiment, and the same technical effects can be achieved. Specifically, fig. 11 is a schematic hardware structure of a terminal for implementing an embodiment of the present application.

The terminal 1100 includes, but is not limited to: at least part of the components of the radio frequency unit 1101, the network module 1102, the audio output unit 1103, the input unit 1104, the sensor 1105, the display unit 1106, the user input unit 1107, the interface unit 1108, the memory 1109, and the processor 1110, etc.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal 1100 may further include a power source (e.g., a battery) for powering the various components, and that the power source may be logically coupled to the processor 1110 by a power management system so as to perform functions such as managing charging, discharging, and power consumption by the power management system. The terminal structure shown in fig. 11 does not constitute a limitation of the terminal, and the terminal may include more or less components than shown, or may combine some components, or may be arranged in different components, which will not be described in detail herein.

It should be appreciated that in embodiments of the present application, the input unit 1104 may include a graphics processing unit (Graphics Processing Unit, GPU) 11041 and a microphone 11042, the graphics processor 11041 processing image data of still pictures or video obtained by an image capturing device (e.g., a camera) in a video capturing mode or an image capturing mode. The display unit 1106 may include a display panel 11061, and the display panel 11061 may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, or the like. The user input unit 1107 includes at least one of a touch panel 11071 and other input devices 11072. The touch panel 11071 is also referred to as a touch screen. The touch panel 11071 may include two parts, a touch detection device and a touch controller. Other input devices 11072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (e.g., volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, a joystick, and so forth, which are not described in detail herein.

In this embodiment, after receiving downlink data from the network side device, the radio frequency unit 1101 may transmit the downlink data to the processor 1110 for processing; in addition, the radio frequency unit 1101 may send uplink data to the network side device. Typically, the radio frequency unit 1101 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, an amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low noise amplifier, a duplexer, and the like.

Memory 1109 may be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 1109 may mainly include a first memory area storing programs or instructions and a second memory area storing data, wherein the first memory area may store an operating system, application programs or instructions (such as a sound playing function, an image playing function, etc.) required for at least one function, and the like. Further, the memory 1109 may include volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or the memory 1109 may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a Read-only memory (ROM), a programmable Read-only memory (ProgrammableROM, PROM), an erasable programmable Read-only memory (ErasablePROM, EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable Read-only memory (ElectricallyEPROM, EEPROM), or a flash memory, among others. The volatile memory may be random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double Data Rate SDRAM (ddr SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (Enhanced SDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct RAM (DRRAM). Memory 1109 in embodiments of the present application includes, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Processor 1110 may include one or more processing units; optionally, the processor 1110 integrates an application processor that primarily processes operations involving an operating system, user interface, application programs, and the like, and a modem processor that primarily processes wireless communication signals, such as a baseband processor. It will be appreciated that the modem processor described above may not be integrated into the processor 1110.

The radio frequency unit 1101 is configured to send a first MAC control element CE command to a network side device, where the first MAC CE command is configured to request at least one of the following:

deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell;

activating at least one second SCell;

deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG;

at least one second SCG is activated.

The embodiment of the application also provides network side equipment, which comprises a processor and a communication interface, wherein the processor is used for realizing the steps in the embodiment of the capacity limit response method, and the communication interface is used for communicating with external equipment. The network side device embodiment corresponds to the network side device method embodiment, and each implementation process and implementation manner of the method embodiment can be applied to the network side device embodiment, and the same technical effects can be achieved.

Specifically, the embodiment of the application also provides network side equipment. As shown in fig. 12, the network side device 1200 includes: an antenna 1201, a radio frequency device 1202, a baseband device 1203, a processor 1204, and a memory 1205. The antenna 1201 is connected to a radio frequency device 1202. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 1202 receives information via the antenna 1201 and transmits the received information to the baseband device 1203 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 1203 processes information to be transmitted, and transmits the processed information to the radio frequency device 1202, and the radio frequency device 1202 processes the received information and transmits the processed information through the antenna 1201.

The method performed by the network side device in the above embodiment may be implemented in the baseband apparatus 1203, and the baseband apparatus 1203 includes a baseband processor.

The baseband device 1203 may, for example, include at least one baseband board, where a plurality of chips are disposed, as shown in fig. 12, where one chip, for example, a baseband processor, is connected to the memory 1205 through a bus interface, so as to call a program in the memory 1205 to perform the network device operation shown in the above method embodiment.

The network-side device may also include a network interface 1206, such as a common public radio interface (common public radio interface, CPRI).

Specifically, the network side device 1200 of the embodiment of the present invention further includes: instructions or programs stored in the memory 1205 and executable on the processor 1204, the processor 1204 invokes the instructions or programs in the memory 1205 to perform the method performed by the modules shown in fig. 9 and achieve the same technical effects, and are not described herein in detail for the sake of avoiding repetition.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a readable storage medium, where a program or an instruction is stored on the readable storage medium, and when the program or the instruction is executed by a processor, each process of the above-mentioned capability restriction method embodiment is implemented, or each process of the above-mentioned capability restriction response method embodiment is implemented, and the same technical effects can be achieved, so that repetition is avoided, and no further description is given here.

Wherein the processor is a processor in the terminal described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes computer readable storage medium such as computer readable memory ROM, random access memory RAM, magnetic or optical disk, etc.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, where the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface is coupled to the processor, and the processor is configured to execute a program or an instruction, implement each process of the above-mentioned capability restriction method embodiment, or implement each process of the above-mentioned capability restriction response method embodiment, and achieve the same technical effect, so that repetition is avoided, and no further description is provided herein.

It should be understood that the chips referred to in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as system-on-chip chips, or the like.

The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program/program product stored in a storage medium, where the computer program/program product is executed by at least one processor to implement each process of the above-mentioned capability limiting method embodiment, or implement each process of the above-mentioned capability limiting response method embodiment, and achieve the same technical effects, and are not repeated herein.

The embodiment of the application also provides a capability limiting system, which comprises: the terminal can be used for executing the steps of the capability limiting method, and the network side device can be used for executing the steps of the capability limiting response method.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element. Furthermore, it should be noted that the scope of the methods and apparatus in the embodiments of the present application is not limited to performing the functions in the order shown or discussed, but may also include performing the functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in an opposite order depending on the functions involved, e.g., the described methods may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may also be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, features described with reference to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

From the above description of the embodiments, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the above-described embodiment method may be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, but of course may also be implemented by means of hardware, but in many cases the former is a preferred embodiment. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art in the form of a computer software product stored in a storage medium (such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk), comprising several instructions for causing a terminal (which may be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device, etc.) to perform the method described in the embodiments of the present application.

The embodiments of the present application have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-described embodiments, which are merely illustrative and not restrictive, and many forms may be made by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit of the present application and the scope of the claims, which are also within the protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of capability restriction, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal sends a first Media Access Control (MAC) control unit (CE) command to network side equipment, wherein the first MAC CE command is used for requesting at least one of the following:

deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell;

activating at least one second SCell;

deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG;

at least one second SCG is activated.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the capability limit comprises at least one of: the method comprises the steps of a maximum number of supported scells, a maximum number of supported carrier units CCs, a maximum number of activatable scells, a maximum number of activatable CCs, at least one SCell that needs to be deactivated, an activatable SCell, at least one SCG that needs to be deactivated, at least one SCG that is activatable.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first MAC CE command includes at least one of the following information:

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the second number is one of: the number of the SCell which can be activated by the terminal, the number of the CCs which can be activated by the terminal, the number of the SCell which needs to be deactivated, and the number of the CCs which need to be deactivated.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the third indication information comprises: identification of at least one SCell that needs to be deactivated; and/or, the fourth indication information includes: identification of at least one SCell capable of activation.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of,

the third indication information and the fourth indication information are a first bit sequence, wherein one bit in the first bit sequence corresponds to one SCell, the SCell corresponding to the bit is indicated to be required to be deactivated when the value of the bit is a first value, and the SCell corresponding to the bit is indicated to be activated when the value of the bit is a second value; and/or

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the terminal sends a first MAC CE command to the network side device, including one of:

the terminal sends the first MAC CE command on a master cell group;

the terminal sends the first MAC CE command on a secondary cell group.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein after the terminal sends the first MAC CE command to the network side device, the method further comprises:

the terminal monitors a response message sent by the network equipment;

and under the condition that the response message sent by the network side equipment is monitored, determining that the capacity limit is effective.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the response message comprises at least one of:

a deactivation command of the first SCell;

an activation command of the second SCell;

a deactivation command for the first secondary cell group;

an activate command for the second secondary cell group.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein after the terminal sends the first MAC CE command to the network side device, the method further comprises:

and under the condition that the response message sent by the network side equipment is not monitored within the preset time, the terminal executes at least one of the following operations:

determining that the capability limit is in effect;

deactivating the first SCell;

activating the second SCell;

deactivating the first SCG;

activating the second SCG;

retransmitting the first MAC CE command;

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein after the terminal sends the first MAC CE command to the network side device, the method further comprises:

and the terminal sends a second MAC CE command to the network side equipment, wherein the second MAC CE command is used for requesting to release the capacity restriction.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the second MAC CE command is used to indicate a target SCell and/or a target SCG that can be activated;

wherein, the target SCell includes: the first MAC CE command indicates at least one SCell that needs to be deactivated;

the target SCG includes: the first MAC CE command indicates at least one SCG that needs to be deactivated.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first MAC CE command is configured to instruct the UE to ignore or reject an operation sent by the network side device that is inconsistent with the first MAC CE command before receiving the second MAC CE command.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the operation sent by the network side device that is inconsistent with the first MAC CE command comprises at least one of:

15. A capability restriction response method, comprising:

the network side equipment receives a first MAC CE command sent by a terminal;

the network side equipment sends a response message to the terminal, wherein the response message is used for responding to the request of the first MAC CE signaling;

wherein the first MAC CE command is to request at least one of:

deactivating at least one first SCell;

activating at least one second SCell;

deactivating at least one first SCG;

at least one second SCG is activated.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first MAC CE command includes at least one of the following information:

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the response message comprises at least one of:

a deactivation command of the first SCell;

an activation command of a second SCell;

a deactivation command for the first secondary cell group;

an activate command for the second secondary cell group.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the network side device sends a response message to the terminal, comprising at least one of:

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein after the network side device receives the first MAC CE command sent by the terminal, the method further comprises:

and receiving a second MAC CE command sent by the terminal, wherein the second MAC CE command is used for requesting to release the capability restriction.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the second MAC CE command is used to indicate a target SCell and/or a target SCG that can be activated;

21. The method of claim 19, wherein prior to receiving the second MAC CE command, the method further comprises:

and the network side equipment prohibits the execution of the operation inconsistent with the first MAC CE command.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the network side device prohibiting execution of an operation inconsistent with the first MAC CE command comprises at least one of:

the network side device allows releasing the target SCell or the target SCG.

23. A capacity limiting device, comprising:

a determining module, configured to determine a capability limit of the terminal;

a first sending module, configured to send a first MAC CE command to a network side device, where the first MAC CE command is used to request at least one of the following:

deactivating at least one first secondary cell SCell;

activating at least one second SCell;

deactivating at least one first secondary cell group SCG;

at least one second SCG is activated.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the device comprises a plurality of sensors,

the apparatus further comprises: the monitoring module is used for monitoring the response message sent by the network side equipment;

the determining module is further configured to determine that the capability restriction takes effect when a response message sent by the network side device is monitored.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the determining module is further configured to perform at least one of the following operations if no response message sent by the network side device is monitored within a predetermined time:

determining that the capability limit is in effect;

deactivating the first SCell;

activating the third SCell;

deactivating the first SCG;

activating the second SCG;

retransmitting the first MAC CE command;

26. The apparatus according to any one of claims 23 to 25, wherein the first sending module is further configured to send a second MAC CE command to the network side device, where the second MAC CE command is configured to request that the capability restriction be released.

27. A capacity restriction response device, comprising:

the first receiving module is used for receiving a first MAC CE command sent by the terminal;

a second sending module, configured to send a response message to the terminal, where the response message is used to respond to the request of the first MAC CE signaling;

wherein the first MAC CE command is to request at least one of:

deactivating at least one first SCell;

activating at least one second SCell;

deactivating at least one first SCG;

at least one second SCG is activated.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the second transmitting module transmits a response message to the terminal, comprising at least one of:

29. The apparatus according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the first receiving module is further configured to receive a second MAC CE command sent by the terminal, where the second MAC CE command is used to request that the capability restriction be released.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

and the execution module is used for prohibiting the execution of the operation inconsistent with the first MAC CE command before the second MAC CE command is received.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the execution module inhibits execution of operations inconsistent with the first MAC CE command, comprising at least one of:

allowing release of the target SCell or the target SCG.

32. A terminal comprising a processor and a memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, which when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the capability limiting method of any one of claims 1 to 14.

33. A network side device comprising a processor and a memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, which when executed by the processor, implement the steps of the capability restriction response method of any one of claims 15 to 22.

34. A readable storage medium, characterized in that the readable storage medium has stored thereon a program or instructions which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the capability restriction method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 or the steps of the capability restriction response method according to any one of claims 15 to 22.