CN116347547A - An access network switching method, device, communication device and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides an access network switching method, an access network switching device, communication equipment and a storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: the terminal equipment receives a switching rule sent by the network equipment, and based on the switching rule, performs switching of the access network when the condition is met, or sends a switching request for switching the access network to the network equipment when the condition is met.

Description

An access network switching method, device, communication device and storage medium

technical field

The present invention relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to an access network switching method, device, communication equipment and storage medium.

Background technique

Since the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP, 3rd Generation Partnership Project) access network (such as 5G network) and non-3GPP access network will coexist for a long time, and in some application scenarios, it is necessary to support terminals to dynamically switch between different network types. switching, but the current switching standards are not perfect.

Contents of the invention

In order to solve existing technical problems, embodiments of the present invention provide an access network switching method, device, communication device, and storage medium.

In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention is achieved in this way:

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an access network switching method, the method comprising:

The terminal device receives the switching rule sent by the network device, and based on the switching rule, executes the switching of the access network when the condition is satisfied, or sends a switching request for switching the access network to the network device when the condition is satisfied.

In the above solution, the access network includes a 3GPP access network and/or a non-3GPP access network.

In the above solution, the method further includes: the terminal device receives the policy information sent by the network device, measures the access network based on the policy information, and obtains a measurement report.

In the above solution, the policy information includes at least access network type and/or measurement configuration information.

In the above solution, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

A measurement category; the measurement category includes at least radio signal measurement and/or network performance measurement;

measurement object;

measurement standard;

measurement cycle;

Measurement report configuration;

A measurement event, where the measurement event indicates that at least one corresponding measurement indicator satisfies a first preset condition.

In the above solution, the measuring the access network based on the policy information includes:

When the measurement category is the wireless signal measurement, the terminal device measures the accessed access network based on the measurement configuration information, and/or, based on the measurement configuration information, measures the and not connected to the access network for measurement;

When the measurement category is the network performance measurement, the terminal device measures the accessed access network based on the measurement configuration information.

In the above solution, the method further includes: the terminal device sending the measurement report to the network device.

In the above solution, the terminal device receives the policy information sent by the network device, including:

The terminal device receives the policy sent by the network device through radio resource control (RRC, Radio Resource Control) signaling, non-access stratum (NAS, Non-Access-Stratum) signaling or Internet Protocol (IP, Internet Protocol) signaling information.

In the above solution, the handover rule includes at least one set of mapping relationships between access network types and handover conditions.

In the solution above, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: measurement event, application identifier, access domain name, location information of the terminal device, and time window information.

In the above solution, the handover rule further includes a restriction, and the restriction includes at least one of the following: geographical area restriction, time restriction, and Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN, Public Land Mobile Network) restriction.

In the above solution, performing the switching of the access network based on the switching rule when the condition is met, or sending a switching request for switching the access network to the network device when the condition is satisfied, includes:

When the terminal device detects that the first handover condition in the handover rule is met, perform handover to the first access network corresponding to the first access network type corresponding to the first handover condition, or send a message to the network device Sending a first handover request, where the first handover request is used to request handover to the first access network; the first handover condition is any handover condition included in the handover rule.

In the above solution, performing the switching of the access network based on the switching rule when the condition is met, or sending a switching request for switching the access network to the network device when the condition is satisfied, includes:

When the terminal device detects that the first handover condition in the handover rule is met and the first restriction condition corresponding to the first handover condition is met, perform handover to the first access network corresponding to the first handover condition The first access network corresponding to the type, or sending a first switching request to the network device, the first switching request is used to request switching to the first access network; the first switching condition is the switching Any toggle condition included in the rule.

In the above solution, the switch request includes the type of access network requested for access; the method further includes: the terminal device receives indication information sent by the network device, the indication information is used to indicate whether to switch to the network type. The access network corresponding to the above access network type.

In the above solution, the terminal device receiving the switching rule sent by the network device includes: the terminal device receiving the switching rule sent by the network device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In the second aspect, the embodiment of the present invention also provides a method for switching access networks, the method comprising:

The network device sends a switching rule to the terminal device, and the switching rule is used for the terminal device to perform switching of accessing the network when a condition is met, or for the terminal device to send a handover rule to the network device when a condition is met. Access network handover request.

In the above solution, the access network includes a 3GPP access network and/or a non-3GPP access network.

In the solution above, the method further includes: the network device sending policy information to the terminal device, where the policy information is used by the terminal device to measure the access network.

In the above solution, the policy information includes at least access network type and/or measurement configuration information.

In the above solution, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

A measurement category; the measurement category includes at least radio signal measurement and/or network performance measurement;

measurement object;

measurement standard;

measurement cycle;

Measurement report configuration;

A measurement event, where the measurement event indicates that at least one corresponding measurement indicator satisfies a first preset condition.

In the above solution, the method further includes: the network device receiving the measurement report sent by the terminal device.

In the above solution, the network device sending the policy information to the terminal device includes: the network device sending the policy information to the terminal device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In the above solution, the handover rule includes at least one set of mapping relationships between access network types and handover conditions.

In the solution above, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: measurement event, application identifier, access domain name, location information of the terminal device, and time window information.

In the above solution, the handover rule further includes restriction conditions, and the restriction conditions include at least one of the following: geographical area restriction conditions, time restriction conditions, and PLMN restriction conditions.

In the above solution, the method further includes: the network device receiving a handover request sent by the terminal device, where the handover request includes the type of access network requested for access;

The network device decides whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type based on the measurement report, and sends indication information to the terminal device according to the decision result, and the indication information is used to indicate whether to switch to the access network. The access network corresponding to the access network type.

In the above solution, the network device sending the switching rule to the terminal device includes: the network device sending the switching rule to the terminal device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an access network switching device, the device including: a first communication unit and a first processing unit; wherein,

The first communication unit is configured to receive a switching rule sent by a network device;

The first processing unit is configured to, based on the switching rule, execute the switching of the access network when a condition is met, or send a message for switching the access network to the network device through the first communication unit when the condition is satisfied. switch request.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an access network switching device, the device including: a second communication unit, configured to send a switching rule to a terminal device, and the switching rule is used by the terminal device when the terminal device satisfies When a condition is met, the network access switch is executed, or when the condition is satisfied, the terminal device sends a switch request for switching the access network to the network device.

In the fifth aspect, the embodiment of the present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the program is executed by a processor, the network switching method described in the first aspect or the second aspect of the embodiment of the present invention is implemented. A step of.

In the sixth aspect, the embodiment of the present invention also provides a communication device, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and operable on the processor, and the processor implements the implementation of the present invention when executing the program. For example, the steps of the network switching method described in the first aspect or the second aspect.

The embodiment of the present invention provides an access network switching method, device, communication device, and storage medium. The method includes: the terminal device receives the switching rule sent by the network device, and based on the switching rule, executes the switching rule of accessing the network when the condition is satisfied. switching, or sending a switching request for switching access networks to the network device when a condition is met. With the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal device decides to execute the switching of the access network based on the switching rule sent by the network device (that is, the terminal device decides to switch by itself), or sends the switching rule for switching the access network to the network device. Request (that is, network device decision-making switching) to solve the problem of dynamic switching of terminals between different network types (such as 3GPP access network and non-3GPP access network) in certain application scenarios.

Description of drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an optional architecture for 3GPP and non-3GPP network integration;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the ATSSS technical architecture;

FIG. 3 is a first schematic flow diagram of an access network switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an overall technical solution of an access network switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a second schematic flow diagram of an access network switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a first schematic diagram of an interaction flow of an access network switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a second schematic diagram of the interactive flow of the access network switching method according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a first structural schematic diagram of an access network switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a second structural diagram of an access network switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a hardware composition structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The present invention will be described in further detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to various communication systems, for example: Global System of Mobile communication (GSM, Global System of Mobile communication) system, Long Term Evolution (LTE, Long Term Evolution) system or 5G system, etc. Optionally, the 5G system or the 5G network may also be called a New Radio (NR, New Radio) system or an NR network.

Exemplarily, the communication system to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied may include a network device and a terminal device (also referred to as a terminal, a communication terminal, etc.); the network device may be a device that communicates with the terminal device. Wherein, the network device can provide communication coverage within a certain area, and can communicate with terminals located in the area. Optionally, the network device may be a base station in each communication system, such as an evolved base station (eNB, Evolutional Node B) in an LTE system, or a base station (gNB) in a 5G system or an NR system.

It should be understood that a device with a communication function in the network/system in the embodiment of the present application may be referred to as a communication device. Communication equipment may include network equipment and terminals with communication functions, and the network equipment and terminal equipment may be the specific equipment described above, which will not be repeated here; communication equipment may also include other equipment in the communication system, such as network controllers , mobility management entity and other network entities, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and/or" in this article is just an association relationship describing associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and/or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and there exists alone B these three situations. In addition, the character "/" in this article generally indicates that the contextual objects are an "or" relationship.

The terms "first", "second" and the like in the specification and claims of the present application are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It is to be understood that the data so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the application described herein, for example, can be practiced in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having", as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, for example, a process, method, system, product or device comprising a sequence of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to the expressly listed instead, may include other steps or elements not explicitly listed or inherent to the process, method, product or apparatus.

Before describing the access network handover method of the embodiment of the present invention, a brief description of the applicable network architecture of the embodiment of the present invention is given first.

As a new generation of communication technology, the 5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (5G, 5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology) uses its characteristics of large bandwidth, low delay, high reliability and wide connection to provide the necessary network infrastructure support for vertical industry applications and promote the development of various industries. The intelligent upgrade of various industries is moving towards the intelligent interconnection of all things. However, at present, various vertical industries have generally deployed local area networks and Internet of Things based on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, wired, Zigbee (Zigbee), long-range radio (Lora, Long RangeRadio) and other network types. Considering that it is impossible for various industries to completely replace existing networks with 5G networks in the short term. Therefore, in various industries, 5G networks and other types of networks will coexist for a long time. If the terminals of the 5G network are isolated from the terminals of other networks, the goal of the 5G Internet of Everything will not be realized. Therefore, the integration of the 5G network and other types of networks is imperative.

In order to achieve the integration of 5G network and other networks, the framers of 5G communication specifications defined the framework for the integration of 3GPP network and non-3GPP network, based on non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, Non-3GPP InterWorking Function), trusted non-3GPP gateway function ( TNGF, Trusted Non-3GPP Gateway Function), wired access gateway function (W-AGF, Wireline Access Gateway Function) and other network elements, non-3GPP networks can access the 5G core network.

Exemplarily, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an optional architecture for 3GPP and non-3GPP network integration; as shown in FIG. Interconnection based on N3IWF.

Based on the above converged architecture, 3GPP also defines Access Traffic Steering, Switching, and Splitting (ATSSS, AccessTraffic Steering, Switching, Splitting) technology, and its architecture diagram is shown in Figure 2: User Equipment (UE, UserEquipment) includes multiple Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP, MultiPath Transmission Control Protocol) function (MPTCP functionality) and ATSSS low-layer function (ATSSS-LL functionality, ATSSS-Low-Layer functionality), the UE can access the 3GPP network and / or non-3GPP networks. The user plane function (UPF, User Plane Function) includes the MPTCP proxy function (MPTCPProxy functionality) for processing the UE's 3GPP access (3GPP Access) and/or non-3GPP access (Non-3GPPAccess) user plane.

ATSSS technology enhances the integration of 3GPP access network and non-3GPP access network through the following features:

The UE can simultaneously access 3GPP and non-3GPP networks by creating a Multi-Access Protocol Data Unit (MA PDU, Multi-Access Protocol DataUnit) session, thereby increasing the access bandwidth;

When one of the 3GPP access network and the non-3GPP access network has no signal coverage or fails, the UE can choose another network to access, which improves the overall network reliability;

The performance measurement function (PMF, Performance Measurement Functionality) function on the UPF can monitor the performance data of two types of networks. Based on this data system, the dynamic allocation of terminal access policies can be realized, so as to make full use of existing network resources.

After the UE creates the MA PDU, the UE will receive the ATSSS rule from the session management function (SMF, Session Management Function), which contains the distribution mode of the traffic on the 3GPP network and the non-3GPP network. Currently, four modes are defined:

Active/standby mode: The 3GPP access network and the non-3GPP access network are connected in active/standby mode. The traffic uses the active access by default. When the active access is unavailable, switch to the standby access; when the active access is available again, The traffic is switched back to the active access;

Minimum delay mode: traffic is directed to the access method with the minimum round-trip time (RTT, Round-Trip Time); the RTT of 3GPP access and non-3GPP access is determined by measurement between UE and UPF;

Load balancing mode: By configuring the percentage of traffic sent by 3GPP access and non-3GPP access, load balancing between the two accesses is achieved; moreover, if one access becomes unavailable, all traffic is switched to the other available access;

Priority mode: All traffic is directed to high-priority access until the access is determined to be congested. Additionally, all traffic is switched to low-priority access when high-priority access is unavailable.

Access Network Discovery & Selection Policy (ANDSP, Access Network Discovery & Selection Policy) is a rule used to control the UE to discover and select a non-3GPP access network, which can be provided to the UE by the network.

Currently, the ANDSP only includes rules for the UE to select a wireless local area network (WLAN, Wireless Local Area Network) to access the network, which is referred to as a WLAN Selection Policy (WLANSP, WLAN Selection Policy) or WLANSP rule for short. The selection rules for other types of non-3GPP access networks are not specified.

Wherein, each WLANSP rule includes: a rule identifier, one or more sets of WLAN selection criteria, rule effective area, rule effective time, rule priority, roaming rule and other information.

Each set of WLAN selection criteria includes: standard priority, home network indication, preferred roaming partner list, minimum backhaul threshold, maximum BSS load value, required prototype port tuple, SP exclusion list, preferred SSID list and other information.

At present, in various vertical industries, 3GPP access networks (such as 5G networks) and non-3GPP access networks will coexist for a long time, and in some application scenarios, it is necessary to support terminals to dynamically switch between different network types, for example:

Business scenario 1: Certain scenarios that have strict requirements on network continuity and speed, such as in a hospital covered by both 5G network and Wi-Fi network, during the transfer of critically ill patients from the ward to the operating room, the medical terminal needs to continuously Upload the patient's vital signs data, image data, etc. to the monitoring platform, but the journey may be long during the period, and it may cross floors and enter and exit elevators. and Wi-Fi network switching, and maintain business continuity;

Business Scenario 2: With the continuous development and popularization of IoT technologies, scenarios where multiple wireless access technologies are used collaboratively due to their complementary advantages and disadvantages are becoming more and more common. For example: 5G, Wi-Fi, LoRa three types of networks, 5G and Wi-Fi can provide high speed, but high power consumption, and LoRa low speed but very low power consumption and wide coverage, so 5G/Wi-Fi In end-to-end solutions with LoRa in edge-to-cloud, they can be used complementary and synergistically, and in some scenarios, it is necessary to support terminals to switch between LoRa and 5G/Wi-Fi, such as video surveillance scenarios, where cameras are connected most of the time The LoRa network with low power consumption, when it detects motion, starts recording video and switches to Wi-Fi or 5G network at the same time, uploading the video to the cloud.

Moreover, the current WLAN switching standards in WLANSP are not perfect, and cannot meet the increasing number of dynamic switching scenarios of multiple network types, such as the need to increase signal measurement (power, quality, etc.) and network performance (connection stability, delay, rate, etc.) Related standards;

In addition, currently only WLANSP is defined, and the selection and switching rules of other non-3GPP access networks are not defined, which cannot fully meet the needs of industries such as the above-mentioned business scenario 2.

Based on this, the following embodiments of the present invention are proposed.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for switching access networks, which is applied to terminal equipment. FIG. 3 is a first schematic flow diagram of an access network switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in FIG. 3 , the method includes:

Step 101: the terminal device receives the switching rule sent by the network device;

Step 102: Based on the switching rule, perform switching of the access network when the condition is met, or send a switching request for switching the access network to the network device when the condition is satisfied.

In this embodiment, the access network includes a 3GPP access network and/or a non-3GPP access network.

In this embodiment, the switching rule is a rule for the terminal device to switch access networks. In other embodiments, the switching rule can also be called other names that can realize the above functions. This is not limited.

In some optional embodiments, the terminal device receiving the switching rule sent by the network device includes: the terminal device receiving the switching rule sent by the network device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In this embodiment, the network device may send the handover rule to the terminal device through the existing procedure (such as accessing the network procedure, etc.), through the above-mentioned RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling, or through the existing In addition to the procedure, the handover rule is sent to the terminal device through additional RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, based on the switching rule sent by the network device, the terminal device decides to execute the switching of the access network (that is, the terminal device decides to switch by itself), or sends a switching request for switching the access network to the network device (that is, the network Device decision switching) to solve the problem of dynamic switching of terminals between different network types (such as 3GPP access network and non-3GPP access network) in certain application scenarios.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the method further includes: the terminal device receives policy information sent by the network device, measures the access network based on the policy information, and obtains a measurement report.

In this embodiment, the policy information is used to instruct the terminal device to measure the network environment. In other embodiments, the policy information can also be called other names that can realize the above functions, such as measurement policy information, measurement policy, etc. etc., which is not limited in this embodiment.

In order to enable the network and the terminal device to comprehensively evaluate the real-time status of the converged network environment where the terminal device is currently located as a decision basis for switching access networks, the terminal device performs real-time measurement of the access network according to the policy information. Wherein, for example, the policy information includes at least policy information for wireless signal measurement and/or policy information for network performance measurement.

Wherein, it should be noted that the foregoing access network does not only include the access network currently accessed by the terminal device, but may also include an access network that the terminal device does not currently access but can be measured.

In some optional embodiments, the policy information includes at least access network type and/or measurement configuration information.

Wherein, the access network type indicates the access network type to be measured by the terminal device.

Optionally, the access network type in the policy information may be indicated in at least one of the following ways: bitmap (bitmap), serial number (or serial number), and character string.

Table 1

Optionally, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

A measurement category; used to indicate the measurement category corresponding to the policy information, where the measurement category includes at least radio signal measurement and/or network performance measurement;

Measurement object; used to indicate the target object to be measured, such as the frequency band for wireless signal measurement, the target address for network performance measurement, etc.;

Measurement indicators; measurement indicators used to indicate the measurement objects to be measured;

Measurement period: indicates the interval between two adjacent measurements, which can be millisecond level, second level, etc. This embodiment does not limit the measurement period;

Measurement report configuration;

A measurement event, where the measurement event indicates that at least one corresponding measurement indicator satisfies a first preset condition.

Exemplarily, the measurement indicators may include signal strength measurement indicators, electromagnetic interference measurement indicators, network performance measurement indicators, and the like. Among them, the signal strength measurement indicators include but are not limited to at least one of the following: received signal power, quality, predicted transmission rate, etc., which are used to provide a basis for switching access networks for terminal devices that have high requirements for business continuity; Electromagnetic interference measurement indicators include but are not limited to at least one of the following: signal-to-interference-to-noise ratio, out-of-band interference value, in-band interference value, etc., which are used to provide a basis for switching access to the network for terminal devices sensitive to electromagnetic interference; Performance measurement indicators include but are not limited to at least one of the following: network connection stability, uplink rate, downlink rate, RTT, and packet loss rate, which are used to provide handover access to the network for terminal devices that require high network end-to-end performance basis. The foregoing is only an example of the classification of the measurement indicators, and this embodiment is not limited thereto, and other methods of classification of the measurement indicators may also fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

Exemplarily, the measurement report refers to a report in which the terminal device summarizes, collates, and calculates the measurement results and reports them to the network; the measurement report configuration includes but is not limited to at least one of the following information: report reporting rules (for example: periodic reporting or event triggering Reporting rules), report format, etc.

Exemplarily, a measurement event refers to an event triggered when a measurement result satisfies a certain condition, usually the result of one or more measurement indicators is calculated to be higher or lower than a corresponding threshold value, for example: the power of receiving a certain type of signal When it is lower than a certain threshold value, it means that a corresponding measurement event is triggered.

In some optional embodiments, the measuring the access network based on the policy information includes: when the measurement category is the wireless signal measurement, the terminal device performs the measurement based on the measurement configuration information Performing measurements on access networks that have been accessed, and/or, based on the measurement configuration information, performing measurements on access networks that can be measured but have not been accessed; when the measurement category is the network performance measurement, The terminal device measures the accessed access network based on the measurement configuration information.

In this embodiment, for wireless signal measurement, the terminal device measures the received wireless signals of the multi-access network and reports to the network; the measurement target can be the access network that the terminal device is currently connected to, or it can be a terminal The access network that the device is currently in range of but not connected to. Wireless signal measurement enables the network side to perceive the current wireless signal status of the terminal equipment. In addition, the network side can comprehensively perceive the overall wireless signal distribution status of the current multi-access network integration by receiving the measurement results reported by multiple terminal equipment. The above information can be used as The basis for the terminal device to access the network handover decision.

For network performance measurement, the terminal device measures the network performance of the multi-access network and reports it to the network. The measurement target must be the access network that the terminal device is currently connected to. Wherein, exemplary, the network type includes a wired access network and a wireless access network. Network performance measurement enables the network to perceive the current network performance status of the terminal equipment. At the same time, the network can comprehensively perceive the overall network performance status of the current multi-access network integration by receiving the measurement results reported by multiple terminal equipment. The basis for decision-making of inbound network handover.

In some examples, the method of network performance measurement may be: the network specifies the target address, that is, the terminal device receives the target address about the network performance measurement sent by the network device, or carries the above target address in the measurement configuration information, and the terminal device passes The designated access network sends a measurement message to the target address and receives feedback, and determines network performance according to the feedback message of the measurement message.

In some optional embodiments, the method further includes: the terminal device sending the measurement report to the network device.

In this embodiment, the network device sends policy information for measuring the network environment to the terminal device, and the terminal device measures the specified indicator of the specified measurement object according to the measurement information, and reports the measurement result to the network device based on the indication in the policy information .

In some optional embodiments, the terminal device receiving the policy information sent by the network device includes: the terminal device receiving the policy information sent by the network device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In this embodiment, the network device can send the policy information to the terminal device through the current existing procedures (such as accessing the network procedure, etc.), through the above-mentioned RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling, or through the existing In addition to the procedure, the policy information is sent to the terminal device through additional RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling, which is not limited in this embodiment. Optionally, the policy information and the foregoing switching rule may be transmitted through the same signaling, or may be transmitted through different signaling, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the handover rule includes at least one set of mapping relationships between access network types and handover conditions. Exemplarily, when the terminal device detects that a certain handover condition is met, it can perform handover to the access network type corresponding to the handover condition, or send a handover request for switching the access network type corresponding to the handover condition to the network device .

Wherein, the access network type is used to indicate the access network type to be accessed by the terminal device. The foregoing access network type may be indicated by at least one of the following methods: a bitmap (bitmap), a sequence number (or number), and a character string. For details, please refer to Table 1.

Wherein, the switching condition represents a triggering condition for the terminal device to switch to a corresponding access network type.

In some optional embodiments, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: measurement event, application identifier, access domain name, location information of the terminal device, and time window information.

Optionally, the performing the handover of the access network when a condition is met based on the handover rule, or sending a handover request for switching an access network to the network device when a condition is met includes: the terminal device When it is detected that the first handover condition in the handover rule is satisfied, perform handover to the first access network corresponding to the first access network type corresponding to the first handover condition, or send a first handover to the network device request, the first handover request is used to request handover to the first access network; the first handover condition is any handover condition included in the handover rule.

Wherein: the measurement event indicates that the terminal device detects a certain measurement event during the network transmission capability measurement process. Then the corresponding switching rule means: when a specified measurement event is detected, switch to the corresponding access network type. Exemplary application scenarios may include: in the common coverage area of the 5G network and the Wi-Fi network, when the terminal device detects that the 5G signal strength is lower than a certain threshold, switching to the Wi-Fi access network.

The application identifier indicates an identifier corresponding to a specified application. Then the corresponding switching rule means: when the specified application is started on the terminal device, it switches to the corresponding access network type. Exemplary application scenarios may include: when the terminal device starts the Internet of Things application, switch to the LoRa access network type; when the terminal device starts the video transmission application, switch to the Wi-Fi or 5G access network type. The application identification can be implemented in multiple ways such as ID or character string, for example: the application identification is expressed by "operating system ID + application ID", or the application identification is expressed by "application name + provider name".

The access domain name means a designated domain name. Then the corresponding switching rule means: when the terminal device needs to access the specified domain name, switch to the corresponding access network type. Exemplary application scenarios may include: when the terminal device accesses the local domain name of the park, access to the Wi-Fi local area network; when the terminal device accesses the Internet domain name, access to the 5G network. The realization method of accessing the domain name may be a fully qualified domain name (FQDN, Fully Qualified Domain Name) or a regular expression representing a domain name rule.

The location information of the terminal device indicates a specified location (such as a geographic location). Then the corresponding handover rule indicates that: when the terminal device is in a specified geographic location, handover to the corresponding access network type. Exemplary application scenarios may include: devices connected to Wi-Fi LANs are deployed in a certain geographical area for key services (such as: wireless remote operating room), and other terminal devices enter this area to avoid interference to these devices , switch to access the 5G network. The UE location may be implemented in tracking area (TA, Tracking Area), geographic location (for example: latitude and longitude + altitude), address (for example: city + street + building name + floor + house number) and so on.

The time window information indicates a specified time point or time range. Then the corresponding handover rule means: the terminal equipment is handed over to the corresponding access network type within the specified time window. Exemplary application scenarios may include: in areas covered by both 5G and Wi-Fi, when daily business is busy, in order to avoid Wi-Fi network congestion, designate some terminal devices to access the 5G network. The implementation of the time window can be a time period of a certain day (for example: 8:00-17:00).

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the handover rule further includes restriction conditions, and the restriction conditions include at least one of the following: geographical area restriction conditions, time restriction conditions, and PLMN restriction conditions.

In this embodiment, the switching rule may have a certain restriction condition, that is, the switching rule is applicable only when the restriction condition is satisfied; when the restriction condition is not satisfied, the switching rule becomes invalid. Therefore, the handover rule further includes restriction conditions, and the restriction conditions include at least one of the following: geographical area restriction conditions, time restriction conditions, and PLMN restriction conditions.

Optionally, the performing the handover of the access network when a condition is met based on the handover rule, or sending a handover request for switching an access network to the network device when a condition is met includes: the terminal device When it is detected that the first handover condition in the handover rule is satisfied and the first restriction condition corresponding to the first handover condition is met, perform handover to the first handover condition corresponding to the first access network type corresponding to the first handover condition. An access network, or sending a first switching request to the network device, where the first switching request is used to request switching to the first access network; the first switching condition is included in the switching rule Any switching condition.

Wherein, the geographic area restriction condition means that the handover rule is only applicable when the terminal device is in a specified geographic area. Exemplary application scenarios may include: employees bring their own terminal devices in the industrial campus (such as a doctor's mobile phone in a hospital) to follow the specified access network switching rules in the campus, but the switching rules become invalid when the terminal moves out of the campus. The implementation of the geographical area restriction may be TA, geographical range (for example: latitude and longitude+altitude+radius), address (for example: city+street+unit name) and so on.

The time restriction condition means that the switching rule is only applicable within a specified time window. Exemplary application scenarios may include: setting a specific access network switching rule during a major event communication guarantee period, and the switching rule will automatically become invalid after the event ends. The implementation of the time limit can be a specific date (for example: August 15, 2021-September 15, 2021), it can be a time period of a certain day (for example: 8:00-17:00), etc.;

The PLMN restriction condition refers to that the handover rule is only applicable when the terminal equipment accesses the range of the specified PLMN. Exemplary application scenarios may include: the handover rule is only applicable when the terminal device is within the range of the home PLMN (HPLMN, Home PLMN), and when the terminal device roams out of the range of the HPLMN, the handover rule is automatically invalidated.

An example of the switching rule in this embodiment may refer to Table 2. For example, when the terminal device detects that the received signal strength indication (RSSI, Received Signal Strength Indication) of Wi-Fi is greater than -60dbm, it is determined that a wireless signal measurement event is detected , to trigger switching to the Wi-Fi access network type.

Table 2

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the switching request includes the requested access network type; the method further includes: the terminal device receiving indication information sent by the network device, the indication information It is used to indicate whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type.

In this embodiment, when the conditions are met, the terminal device sends a switching request to the network device for switching the access network, and the network device determines whether the terminal device can access the corresponding After accessing the network, send instruction information to the terminal device, the instruction information is used to indicate whether the terminal device switches to the access network corresponding to the access network type; the terminal device performs access to the network based on the instruction information switch.

As shown in FIG. 4, the embodiment of the present invention is based on the multi-access network convergence architecture of the 3GPP access network and the non-3GPP access network. Handover (that is, the terminal device decides to switch by itself), or sends a handover request for switching the access network to the network device (that is, the network device decides to switch), on the other hand, the policy information (measurement) sent by the network device to the terminal device policy information), so that the terminal device can perform wireless signal measurement and/or network performance measurement based on the policy information, as a decision basis for handover access network.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, the embodiments of the present invention further provide a method for switching access networks, which is applied to network devices. FIG. 5 is a second schematic flow diagram of an access network switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in FIG. 5 , the method includes:

Step 201: The network device sends a switching rule to the terminal device, and the switching rule is used for the terminal device to perform network access switching when a condition is met, or for the terminal device to send a handover rule to the network device when a condition is met. A handover request for switching access networks.

In this embodiment, the access network includes a 3GPP access network and/or a non-3GPP access network.

The access network handover method of this embodiment is applied to a network device. Exemplarily, the network device may be an access network device (such as a base station), a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC, Mobile Edge Computing) server, etc., and this embodiment This example does not limit the type of network equipment.

In some optional embodiments, the network device sending the switching rule to the terminal device includes: the network device sending the switching rule to the terminal device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the method further includes: the network device sending policy information to the terminal device, where the policy information is used for the terminal device to measure the access network.

In this embodiment, the policy information is used to instruct the terminal device to measure the network environment. In other embodiments, the policy information can also be called other names that can realize the above functions, such as measurement policy information, measurement policy, etc. etc., which is not limited in this embodiment.

In some optional embodiments, the policy information includes at least access network type and/or measurement configuration information.

Wherein, the access network type indicates the access network type to be measured by the terminal device. The access network type in the policy information can be indicated by at least one of the following ways: bitmap (bitmap), serial number (or serial number), and character string. For details, refer to the aforementioned Table 1.

Optionally, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

A measurement category; the measurement category includes at least radio signal measurement and/or network performance measurement, and the measurement category includes at least radio signal measurement and/or network performance measurement;

Measurement object; used to indicate the target object to be measured, such as the frequency band for wireless signal measurement, the target address for network performance measurement, etc.;

Measurement indicators; measurement indicators used to indicate the measurement objects to be measured;

Measurement period: indicates the interval between two adjacent measurements, which can be millisecond level, second level, etc. This embodiment does not limit the measurement period;

Measurement report configuration;

A measurement event, where the measurement event indicates that at least one corresponding measurement indicator satisfies a first preset condition.

Exemplarily, the measurement indicators may include signal strength measurement indicators, electromagnetic interference measurement indicators, network performance measurement indicators, and the like. Among them, the signal strength measurement indicators include but are not limited to at least one of the following: received signal power, quality, predicted transmission rate, etc., which are used to provide a basis for switching access networks for terminal devices that have high requirements for business continuity; Electromagnetic interference measurement indicators include but are not limited to at least one of the following: signal-to-interference-to-noise ratio, out-of-band interference value, in-band interference value, etc., which are used to provide a basis for switching access to the network for terminal devices sensitive to electromagnetic interference; Performance measurement indicators include but are not limited to at least one of the following: network connection stability, uplink rate, downlink rate, RTT, and packet loss rate, which are used to provide switching access networks for terminal devices that have high requirements for network end-to-end performance basis. The foregoing is only an example of the classification of measurement indicators, and this embodiment is not limited thereto, and other classification methods of measurement indicators may also fall within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present invention.

Exemplarily, the measurement report refers to a report in which the terminal device summarizes, collates, and calculates the measurement results and reports them to the network; the measurement report configuration includes but is not limited to at least one of the following information: report reporting rules (for example: periodic reporting or event triggering Reporting rules), report format, etc.

Exemplarily, a measurement event refers to an event triggered when a measurement result satisfies a certain condition, usually the result of one or more measurement indicators is calculated to be higher or lower than a corresponding threshold value, for example: the power of receiving a certain type of signal When it is lower than a certain threshold value, it means that a corresponding measurement event is triggered.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the method further includes: the network device receiving the measurement report sent by the terminal device.

In this embodiment, the network device sends policy information for measuring the network environment to the terminal device, and the terminal device implements the policy for the specified indicator of the specified measurement object according to the measurement information, and reports the measurement result to the network device based on the indication in the policy information .

Optionally, the network device sending the policy information to the terminal device includes: the network device sending the policy information to the terminal device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the handover rule includes at least one set of mapping relationships between access network types and handover conditions. Exemplarily, when the terminal device detects that a certain handover condition is met, it can perform handover to the access network type corresponding to the handover condition, or send a handover request for switching the access network type corresponding to the handover condition to the network device .

Optionally, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: measurement event, application identifier, access domain name, location information of the terminal device, and time window information.

In some optional embodiments, the handover rule further includes restriction conditions, and the restriction conditions include at least one of the following: geographical area restriction conditions, time restriction conditions, and PLMN restriction conditions.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the method further includes: the network device receiving a handover request sent by the terminal device, the handover request including the type of access network requested for access; the network device Determine whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type based on the measurement report, and send indication information to the terminal device according to the decision result, where the indication information is used to indicate whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type access network.

In this embodiment, when the conditions are met, the terminal device sends a switching request to the network device for switching the access network, and the network device determines whether the terminal device can access the corresponding After accessing the network, send indication information to the terminal device, where the indication information is used to indicate whether the terminal device switches to the access network corresponding to the access network type.

The access network switching method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to specific examples.

example one

FIG. 6 is a first schematic diagram of an interaction flow of an access network switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in FIG. 6 , the method includes:

Step 301: the network device sends handover rules and policy information to the UE.

Wherein, the meaning and content of the switching rule and policy information may refer to the foregoing embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

Step 302: The terminal device performs measurement based on the policy information, and obtains a measurement report.

Here, the terminal device measures the specified indicator of the specified measurement object according to the measurement information, and obtains the measurement result; optionally, the terminal device may also send a measurement report to the network device based on the indication in the policy information.

Step 303: The terminal device executes the handover of the access network when the condition is met based on the handover rule and the measurement report.

In this embodiment, the terminal device performs handover to the access network corresponding to the access network type corresponding to the handover condition when the handover condition is met according to the measurement result and combined with the handover rule shown in Table 2.

Example two

FIG. 7 is a second schematic diagram of the interactive flow of the access network switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in FIG. 7 , the method includes:

Step 401: the network device sends handover rules and policy information to the UE.

Wherein, the meaning and content of the switching rule and policy information may refer to the foregoing embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

Step 402: The terminal device performs measurement based on the policy information, and obtains a measurement report.

Here, the terminal device measures the specified indicator of the specified measurement object according to the measurement information, and obtains the measurement result; optionally, the terminal device may also send a measurement report to the network device based on the indication in the policy information.

Step 403: The terminal device sends a handover request for switching access networks to the network device when conditions are met based on the handover rule and the measurement report.

Here, the terminal device sends a handover request for switching the access network to the network device when the handover condition is met according to the measurement result and in combination with the handover rules shown in Table 2.

Step 404: The network device makes a comprehensive judgment based on the overall status of the network, decides whether the terminal device should switch to access the network, and sends instruction information to the terminal device. The instruction information is used to indicate whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type .

Here, the network device comprehensively judges the overall status of the network according to the measurement report reported by each terminal device, and decides whether the terminal device should switch to access the network.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an access network switching device. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the composition and structure of an access network switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in FIG. 8 , the device includes: a first communication unit 11 and a first processing unit 12; wherein,

The first communication unit 11 is configured to receive a switching rule sent by a network device;

The first processing unit 12 is configured to, based on the switching rule, execute switching of the access network when a condition is met, or send a message for switching access to the network device through the first communication unit 11 when the condition is satisfied. Incoming network handover request.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the access network includes a 3GPP access network and/or a non-3GPP access network.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the first communication unit 11 is further configured to receive policy information sent by the network device;

The first processing unit 12 is further configured to measure the access network based on the policy information, and obtain a measurement report.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the policy information includes at least access network type and/or measurement configuration information.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

A measurement category; the measurement category includes at least radio signal measurement and/or network performance measurement;

measurement object;

measurement standard;

measurement cycle;

Measurement report configuration;

A measurement event, where the measurement event indicates that at least one corresponding measurement indicator satisfies a first preset condition.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the first processing unit 12 is configured to, if the measurement category is the wireless signal measurement, perform a measurement on the accessed access network based on the measurement configuration information Perform measurement, and/or, based on the measurement configuration information, measure the access network that can be measured and has not been accessed; when the measurement category is the network performance measurement, based on the measurement configuration information, the The connected access network is measured.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the first communication unit 11 is further configured to send the measurement report to the network device.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the first communication unit 11 is configured to receive policy information sent by the network device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the handover rule includes at least one set of mapping relationships between access network types and handover conditions.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: measurement event, application identifier, access domain name, location information of the terminal device, and time window information.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the handover rule further includes restriction conditions, and the restriction conditions include at least one of the following: geographical area restriction conditions, time restriction conditions, and PLMN restriction conditions.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the first processing unit 12 is configured to perform switching to the first access corresponding to the first switching condition when detecting that the first switching condition in the switching rule is satisfied. access to the first access network corresponding to the network type, or send a first switching request to the network device, where the first switching request is used to request switching to the first access network; the first switching condition is the Any switching condition included in the above switching rules.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the first processing unit 12 is configured to detect that the first switching condition in the switching rule is satisfied and the first restriction condition corresponding to the first switching condition is satisfied performing switching to the first access network corresponding to the first access network type corresponding to the first switching condition, or sending a first switching request to the network device, where the first switching request is used to request switching to the The first access network; the first handover condition is any handover condition included in the handover rule.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the switching request includes the type of access network requested for access; the first communication unit 11 is further configured to receive indication information sent by the network device, the indication The information is used to indicate whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the first communication unit 11 is configured to receive the switching rule sent by the network device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus is applied to terminal equipment. The first processing unit 12 in the described device can be composed of a central processing unit (CPU, Central Processing Unit), a digital signal processor (DSP, Digital Signal Processor), a micro control unit (MCU, Microcontroller Unit) or can be used in practical applications. Programmable gate array (FPGA, Field-Programmable Gate Array) realizes; The first communication unit 11 in the described device can pass communication module (comprising: basic communication suite, operating system, communication module, standardized interface and Protocol, etc.) and transceiver antenna implementation.

The embodiment of the present invention also provides an access network switching device. FIG. 9 is a second schematic diagram of the composition and structure of an access network switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention; as shown in FIG. When the terminal device satisfies the condition, it executes the handover of the access network, or when the terminal device satisfies the condition, it sends a handover request for switching the access network to the network device.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the access network includes a 3GPP access network and/or a non-3GPP access network.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the second communication unit 21 is further configured to send policy information to the terminal device, where the policy information is used for the terminal device to measure the access network.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the policy information includes at least access network type and/or measurement configuration information.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following:

A measurement category; the measurement category includes at least radio signal measurement and/or network performance measurement;

measurement object;

measurement standard;

measurement cycle;

Measurement report configuration;

A measurement event, where the measurement event indicates that at least one corresponding measurement indicator satisfies a first preset condition.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the second communication unit 21 is further configured to receive a measurement report sent by the terminal device.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the second communication unit 21 is configured to send policy information to the terminal device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the handover rule includes at least one set of mapping relationships between access network types and handover conditions.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the switching condition includes at least one of the following: measurement event, application identifier, access domain name, location information of the terminal device, and time window information.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the handover rule further includes restriction conditions, and the restriction conditions include at least one of the following: geographical area restriction conditions, time restriction conditions, and PLMN restriction conditions.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the device further includes a second processing unit 21;

The second communication unit 21 is further configured to receive a handover request sent by the terminal device, where the handover request includes the type of access network requested for access;

The second processing unit 21 is further configured to decide whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type based on the measurement report, and send indication information to the terminal device according to the decision result, and the indication information is used for Indicates whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type.

In some optional embodiments of the present invention, the second communication unit 21 is configured to send the switching rule to the terminal device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the device is applied to network equipment. The second processing unit 21 in the described device can be realized by CPU, DSP, MCU or FPGA in practical application; The second communication unit 21 in the described device can pass communication module (comprising: basic communication) in practical application Kit, operating system, communication module, standardized interface and protocol, etc.) and transceiver antenna implementation.

It should be noted that: when the access network switching device provided in the above-mentioned embodiments performs access network switching, the division of the above-mentioned program modules is used as an example for illustration. In practical applications, the above-mentioned processing can be assigned to different Completion of program modules means that the internal structure of the device is divided into different program modules to complete all or part of the processing described above. In addition, the access network switching device provided in the above embodiment and the access network switching method embodiment belong to the same concept, and its specific implementation process is detailed in the method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication device. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the hardware composition structure of the communication device according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. , when the processor 31 executes the program, implements the steps of the access network switching method applied to the terminal device; or, when the processor 31 executes the program, implements the steps of the access network switching method applied to the network device Steps for switching methods.

Optionally, the communication device further includes at least one network interface 33 . Among them, various components in the communication device are coupled together through the bus system 34 . It can be understood that the bus system 34 is used to realize connection and communication between these components. In addition to the data bus, the bus system 34 also includes a power bus, a control bus and a status signal bus. However, for clarity of illustration, the various buses are labeled as bus system 34 in FIG. 10 .

It can be understood that the memory 32 can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, and can also include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Wherein, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM, Read Only Memory), a programmable read-only memory (PROM, Programmable Read-Only Memory), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM, Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), Only Memory), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), Magnetic Random Access Memory (FRAM, Ferromagnetic Random Access Memory), Flash Memory (Flash Memory), Magnetic Surface Memory , CD, or CD-ROM (CD-ROM, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory); the magnetic surface storage can be disk storage or tape storage. The volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), which is used as an external cache. By way of illustration and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM, Static Random Access Memory), Synchronous Static Random Access Memory (SSRAM, Synchronous Static Random Access Memory), Dynamic Random Access Memory Memory (DRAM, Dynamic Random Access Memory), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM, Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (DDRSDRAM, Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), Enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (ESDRAM, Enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), Synchronous Link Dynamic Random Access Memory (SLDRAM, SyncLink Dynamic Random Access Memory), Direct Memory Bus Random Access Memory (DRRAM, Direct Rambus Random Access Memory) . The memory 32 described in the embodiments of the present invention is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The methods disclosed in the foregoing embodiments of the present invention may be applied to the processor 31 or implemented by the processor 31 . The processor 31 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capability. During implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor 31 or instructions in the form of software. The aforementioned processor 31 may be a general processor, DSP, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like. The processor 31 may implement or execute various methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in a storage medium, and the storage medium is located in the memory 32, and the processor 31 reads the information in the memory 32, and completes the steps of the foregoing method in combination with its hardware.

In an exemplary embodiment, the communication device may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC, Application Specific Integrated Circuit), DSP, Programmable Logic Device (PLD, ProgrammableLogic Device), Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD, Complex Programmable Logic Device), FPGA, general-purpose processor, controller, MCU, microprocessor (Microprocessor), or other electronic components to implement the foregoing method.

In an exemplary embodiment, the embodiment of the present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium, such as a memory 32 including a computer program. The above-mentioned computer program can be executed by the processor 31 of the communication device to complete the steps in the foregoing method. The computer-readable storage medium can be FRAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash Memory, magnetic surface memory, optical disk, or CD-ROM, etc.; it can also be various devices including one or any combination of the above-mentioned memories.

The computer-readable storage medium provided by the embodiment of the present invention has a computer program stored thereon, and when the program is executed by a processor, the steps of the access network switching method applied to the terminal device are realized; or, the program is executed by the processor The step of implementing the access network handover method applied to the network device.

The methods disclosed in several method embodiments provided in this application can be combined arbitrarily to obtain new method embodiments under the condition of no conflict.

The features disclosed in several product embodiments provided in this application can be combined arbitrarily without conflict to obtain new product embodiments.

The features disclosed in several method or device embodiments provided in this application can be combined arbitrarily without conflict to obtain new method embodiments or device embodiments.

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

The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units; Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present invention can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can be used as a single unit, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit; the above-mentioned integration The unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional unit.

Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the steps to realize the above method embodiments can be completed by hardware related to program instructions, and the aforementioned program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, the It includes the steps of the above method embodiments; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes such as removable storage devices, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks or optical disks.

Alternatively, if the above-mentioned integrated units of the present invention are implemented in the form of software function modules and sold or used as independent products, they can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for Make a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) execute all or part of the methods described in various embodiments of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes such as removable storage devices, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks or optical disks.

The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Anyone skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention. Should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (31)

1. An access network switching method, characterized in that the method comprises: The terminal device receives the switching rule sent by the network device, and based on the switching rule, executes the switching of the access network when the condition is satisfied, or sends a switching request for switching the access network to the network device when the condition is satisfied. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the access network comprises a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access network and/or a non-3GPP access network. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: The terminal device receives the policy information sent by the network device, measures the access network based on the policy information, and obtains a measurement report. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the policy information includes at least access network type and/or measurement configuration information. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following: A measurement category; the measurement category includes at least radio signal measurement and/or network performance measurement; measurement object; measurement standard; measurement cycle; Measurement report configuration; A measurement event, where the measurement event indicates that at least one corresponding measurement indicator satisfies a first preset condition. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the measuring the access network based on the policy information comprises: When the measurement category is the wireless signal measurement, the terminal device measures the accessed access network based on the measurement configuration information, and/or, based on the measurement configuration information, measures the and not connected to the access network for measurement; When the measurement category is the network performance measurement, the terminal device measures the accessed access network based on the measurement configuration information. 7. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: The terminal device sends the measurement report to the network device. 8. The method according to claim 3, wherein the terminal device receives the policy information sent by the network device, comprising: The terminal device receives the policy information sent by the network device through radio resource control RRC signaling, non-access stratum NAS signaling or Internet Protocol IP signaling. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the handover rule includes at least one set of mapping relationships between access network types and handover conditions. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the switching condition includes at least one of the following: measurement event, application identifier, access domain name, location information of the terminal device, and time window information. 11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the switching rule further includes a restriction, and the restriction includes at least one of the following: Geographical area restrictions, time restrictions, public land mobile network PLMN restrictions. 12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, based on the switching rules, when the conditions are met, the switching of the access network is performed, or when the conditions are met, the network equipment is sent to the network device for switching access Network switching requests, including: When the terminal device detects that the first handover condition in the handover rule is met, perform handover to the first access network corresponding to the first access network type corresponding to the first handover condition, or send a message to the network device Sending a first handover request, where the first handover request is used to request handover to the first access network; the first handover condition is any handover condition included in the handover rule. 13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, based on the switching rules, when the conditions are met, the switching of the access network is performed, or when the conditions are met, the network device is sent to the network device for switching access Network switching requests, including: When the terminal device detects that the first handover condition in the handover rule is met and the first restriction condition corresponding to the first handover condition is met, perform handover to the first access network corresponding to the first handover condition The first access network corresponding to the type, or sending a first switching request to the network device, the first switching request is used to request switching to the first access network; the first switching condition is the switching Any toggle condition included in the rule. 14. The method according to claim 7, wherein the switching request includes the type of access network requested for access; the method further comprises: The terminal device receives indication information sent by the network device, where the indication information is used to indicate whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type. 15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives the switching rule sent by the network device, comprising: The terminal device receives the switching rule sent by the network device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling. 16. An access network switching method, characterized in that the method comprises: The network device sends a switching rule to the terminal device, and the switching rule is used for the terminal device to perform switching of accessing the network when a condition is met, or for the terminal device to send a handover rule to the network device when a condition is met. Access network handover request. 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the access network comprises a 3GPP access network and/or a non-3GPP access network. 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising: The network device sends policy information to the terminal device, where the policy information is used by the terminal device to measure the access network. 19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the policy information includes at least access network type and/or measurement configuration information. 20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the measurement configuration information includes at least one of the following: A measurement category; the measurement category includes at least radio signal measurement and/or network performance measurement; measurement object; measurement standard; measurement cycle; Measurement report configuration; A measurement event, where the measurement event indicates that at least one corresponding measurement indicator satisfies a first preset condition. 21. The method of claim 18, further comprising: The network device receives the measurement report sent by the terminal device. 22. The method according to claim 18, wherein the network device sends policy information to the terminal device, comprising: The network device sends policy information to the terminal device through radio resource control RRC signaling, non-access stratum NAS signaling or Internet Protocol IP signaling. 23. The method according to claim 16, wherein the handover rule includes at least one set of mapping relationships between access network types and handover conditions. 24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the switching condition includes at least one of the following: measurement event, application identifier, access domain name, location information of the terminal device, and time window information. 25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, wherein the switching rule further includes a restriction, and the restriction includes at least one of the following: Geographical area restrictions, time restrictions, public land mobile network PLMN restrictions. 26. The method of claim 21, further comprising: The network device receives a handover request sent by the terminal device, where the handover request includes the type of access network requested for access; The network device decides whether to switch to the access network corresponding to the access network type based on the measurement report, and sends indication information to the terminal device according to the decision result, and the indication information is used to indicate whether to switch to the access network. The access network corresponding to the access network type. 27. The method according to claim 16, wherein the network device sends the switching rule to the terminal device, comprising: The network device sends the switching rule to the terminal device through RRC signaling, NAS signaling or IP signaling. 28. An access network switching device, characterized in that the device comprises: a first communication unit and a first processing unit; wherein, The first communication unit is configured to receive a switching rule sent by a network device; The first processing unit is configured to, based on the switching rule, execute the switching of the access network when a condition is met, or send a message for switching the access network to the network device through the first communication unit when the condition is satisfied. switch request. 29. An access network switching device, characterized in that the device includes: a second communication unit, configured to send a switching rule to a terminal device, and the switching rule is used for the terminal device to perform access when a condition is met Network switching, or for the terminal device to send a switching request for switching access networks to the network device when a condition is met. 30. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, characterized in that, when the program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 are implemented; or, When the program is executed by the processor, the steps of the method described in any one of claims 16 to 27 are realized. 31. A communication device, comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and operable on the processor, characterized in that, when the processor executes the program, any one of claims 1 to 15 is realized the steps of the method; or, The steps of the method described in any one of claims 16 to 27 are implemented when the processor executes the program.

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