CN116980100A

CN116980100A - Cell measurement and conversion method and device

Info

Publication number: CN116980100A
Application number: CN202210435750.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周化雨; 雷珍珠; 赵思聪; 潘振岗
Original assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Current assignee: Spreadtrum Communications Shanghai Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-04-24
Filing date: 2022-04-24
Publication date: 2023-10-31
Also published as: WO2023207810A1

Abstract

The application provides a cell measurement and conversion method and a device, wherein the cell measurement method comprises the following steps: and according to the measurement instruction, performing measurement. By measuring after receiving the measurement instruction, the non-anchor cell can be opened only when the terminal equipment is required to be served, network energy saving is facilitated, and meanwhile, the terminal equipment can measure the periodic measurement reference signal of the non-anchor cell according to the requirement.

Description

Cell measurement and conversion method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for cell measurement and handover.

Background

In a 5G network, due to more frequency spectrum resources, when the network load is low, carriers or cells corresponding to some frequency bands can be closed and opened as required, so that the aim of saving energy of the network is fulfilled.

For a terminal device in a connected state, before the terminal device needs to be switched from a target cell to a switching target cell, the switching target cell needs to send a periodic measurement reference signal to support the terminal device to measure the switching target cell. In order to achieve the purpose of network energy saving, the switching target cell can only send the measurement reference signals as required. Therefore, how to make the switching target cell measure the reference signal with the required transmission period is a problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The present application provides a cell measurement and switching method and apparatus for solving the above problems.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a cell measurement method, including:

and according to the measurement instruction, performing measurement.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement reference signal is valid during the running of the measurement timer.

In a possible embodiment, the measurement timer is started after receiving the measurement indication.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement reference signal includes at least one of:

a synchronization signal block;

channel state information reference signal.

In one possible implementation, the synchronization signal measurement timing configuration is valid during the measurement timer run.

In one possible implementation, the measurement indication is carried by the PDCCH.

In one possible implementation, the PDCCH is a PDCCH order.

In one possible implementation, the measurement indication is carried by RRC signaling.

In one possible implementation, the measurement indication is carried by the MAC CE.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

the measurement is performed according to the measurement object configuration.

In a possible embodiment, the measurement object configuration comprises a cell identity or a cell physical identity.

In one possible implementation, the measurement object configuration includes a cell frequency point.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a cell measurement method, including:

and sending a measurement instruction to the terminal equipment.

In one possible implementation, the PDCCH is a PDCCH order.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

and sending the measurement object configuration to the terminal equipment.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a cell switching method, including:

And backing up from the transition target cell to the serving cell.

In one possible implementation manner, the backing-off from the handover target cell to the serving cell includes:

and backing off from the switching target cell to the service cell when a switching timer is overtime.

In one possible implementation, the duration of the handover timer is configured by higher layer signaling.

In one possible embodiment, the switching timer is started when the terminal device receives a switching instruction.

In one possible implementation, the handover timer is started or restarted when the terminal device detects a PDCCH on the handover target cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the handover timer is started or restarted when the terminal device receives scheduling information on the handover target cell.

and when receiving a rollback instruction, rolling back to the service cell from the switching target cell.

In one possible implementation, the back-off indication is carried by the PDCCH; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

the back-off indication is carried by RRC signaling; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

The back-off indication is carried by the MAC CE.

and when the measured value is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value, backing off from the switching target cell to the service cell.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement value is a measurement value of the handover target cell or a measurement value corresponding to a measurement target after handover to the handover target cell.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement value is any one of the following:

RSRP；

RSRQ；

SINR。

in one possible implementation, the preset threshold is configured by higher layer signaling.

and when the radio link failure or the beam failure occurs, backing off from the switching target cell to the service cell.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a cell switching method, including:

the terminal device is instructed to fall back from the handover target cell to the serving cell.

In one possible implementation manner, the indicating that the terminal device rolls back from the handover target cell to the serving cell includes:

and according to a switching timer, indicating the terminal equipment to fall back to the service cell from the switching target cell.

and sending a back-off indication to the terminal equipment, wherein the back-off indication is used for indicating the terminal equipment to back off from the switching target cell to the service cell.

the back-off indication is carried by the MAC CE.

And sending a preset threshold value to the terminal equipment, wherein the preset threshold value indicates the terminal equipment to fall back to the service cell from the switching target cell when the measured value is smaller than or equal to the preset threshold value.

In one possible implementation manner, the measured value is a measured value of the terminal device on the switching target cell, or a measured value corresponding to a measured target after the terminal device switches to the switching target cell.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement value is any one of the following:

RSRP；

RSRQ；

SINR。

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a cell measurement apparatus, comprising:

and the measurement module is used for measuring according to the measurement instruction.

a synchronization signal block;

channel state information reference signal.

In one possible implementation, the PDCCH is a PDCCH order.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement module is further configured to:

the measurement is performed according to the measurement object configuration.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a cell measurement apparatus, comprising:

and the sending module is used for sending the measurement indication to the terminal equipment.

In one possible implementation, the PDCCH is a PDCCH order.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

and sending the measurement object configuration to the terminal equipment.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a cell switching apparatus, including:

and the processing module is used for backing off from the switching target cell to the service cell.

the back-off indication is carried by the MAC CE.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement value is any one of the following:

RSRP；

RSRQ；

SINR。

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a cell switching apparatus, including:

and the processing module is used for indicating the terminal equipment to fall back to the service cell from the switching target cell.

the back-off indication is carried by the MAC CE.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement value is any one of the following:

RSRP；

RSRQ；

SINR。

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a terminal device, including: at least one processor and memory;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions;

the at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory causes the at least one processor to perform the cell measurement method according to any one of the first aspect, or causes the at least one processor to perform the cell switching method according to any one of the third aspect.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a network device comprising: at least one processor and memory;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions;

the at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory causes the at least one processor to perform the cell measurement method according to any one of the second aspect, or causes the at least one processor to perform the cell switching method according to any one of the fourth aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the cell measurement method according to any one of the first to second aspects or the cell conversion method according to any one of the third to fourth aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product comprising a computer program which when executed by a processor implements the cell measurement method of any one of the first to second aspects, or the cell switching method of any one of the third to fourth aspects.

According to the scheme provided by the application, after the anchor point cell sends the measurement instruction, the non-anchor point cell which is not opened can be controlled to be opened and the measurement reference signal of the period is sent, and the terminal equipment starts to measure after receiving the measurement instruction, so that the non-anchor point cell is found. By measuring after receiving the measurement instruction, the non-anchor cell can be opened only when the terminal equipment is required to be served, network energy saving is facilitated, and meanwhile, the terminal equipment can measure the periodic measurement reference signal of the non-anchor cell according to the requirement.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions of the prior art, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below, it will be obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort to a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flow chart of a cell measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a cell conversion method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell measurement apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell measurement device according to a second embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell switching device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell switching device according to a second embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying 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 of the present application. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application.

For ease of understanding, first, the concepts related to the present application will be described.

Terminal equipment: the device comprises a wireless receiving and transmitting function and can be matched with network equipment to provide communication service for users. In particular, a terminal device may refer to a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a User terminal, a wireless communication device, a User agent, or a User Equipment. For example, the terminal device may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a session initiation protocol (Session Initiation Protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network or a network after 5G, etc.

Network equipment: the network device may be a device for communicating with the terminal device, for example, may be a base station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (Global System for Mobile Communication, GSM) or code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA) communication system, may be a base station (NodeB, NB) in a wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) system, may be an evolved base station (Evolutional Node B, eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or the network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network-side device in a future 5G network or a network device in a future evolved public land mobile network (Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN) network, or the like.

The network devices involved in embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN) devices. The RAN equipment is connected with the terminal equipment and is used for receiving the data of the terminal equipment and sending the data to the core network equipment. The RAN devices correspond to different devices in different communication systems, e.g. to base stations and base station controllers in 2G systems, to base stations and radio network controllers (Radio Network Controller, RNC) in 3G systems, to evolved base stations (Evolutional Node B, eNB) in 4G systems, and to access network devices (e.g. gNB, centralized unit CU, distributed unit DU) in 5G systems, such as NR.

Synchronization signal block: synchronization Signal and PBCH block, SSB for short, consists of a primary synchronization signal (Primary Synchronization Signals, PSS for short), a secondary synchronization signal (Secondary Synchronization Signals, SSS for short) and a physical broadcast channel (Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH) together. In Rel-15 NR, the synchronization signal, broadcast channel, is transmitted in the form of a synchronization signal block, and the function of sweeping the beam is introduced. The primary synchronization signal, the secondary synchronization signal and the physical broadcast channel are in a synchronization signal block. Each synchronization signal block can be regarded as a resource of one beam (analog domain) in the beam sweeping process. A plurality of synchronization signal blocks constitute one synchronization signal burst (SS-burst). A synchronization signal burst may be considered a relatively concentrated block of resources comprising a plurality of beams. A plurality of synchronization signal bursts form a synchronization signal burst set (SS-burst-set). The synchronization signal block is repeatedly sent on different beams, which is a beam sweeping process, and through the training of beam sweeping, the user equipment can sense which beam receives the strongest signal. The time domain position of the L sync signal blocks within a 5ms window is fixed. The indexes of the L synchronization signal blocks are arranged consecutively in time domain positions from 0 to L-1. The transmission instant of a synchronization signal block within this 5ms window is therefore fixed, as is the index.

RRC: radio Resource Control, radio resource control.

MAC CE: medium Access Control Control Element, medium access control entity.

PDCCH: physical Downlink Control Channel, physical downlink control channel.

SMTC: sychanronization Measurement Timing Configuration, synchronization signal measurement timing configuration.

In a 5G network, because of more spectrum resources, such as frequency bands of 1GHz, 2GHz, 4GHz, 6GHz, 26GHz, etc., when the network load is low, carriers (carriers) or cells (cells) corresponding to some frequency bands (such as 4GHz, 6GHz, 26GHz, etc.) of the base station may be turned off as much as possible, and carriers or cells corresponding to other frequency bands (such as 1GHz, 2GHz, etc.) may be turned on as much as possible, and turned on and off as required, so as to achieve the purpose of network energy saving. That is, when the network load is low, the base station may not use some carriers or cells to carry data, but use other carriers or cells to carry data. That is, the purpose of network energy saving can be achieved by switching some carriers, but this is generally achieved when the network load is low.

Currently these carriers or cells still need to transmit measurement reference signals (synchronization signal blocks, tracking reference signals, etc.) to support access and mobility of the terminal device. Such carriers or cells may be referred to as non-anchor carriers (non-anchor carriers) or non-anchor cells (non-anchor cells), or as second class carriers or second class cells, or as secondary carriers (secondary component carrier, SCC) or secondary cells (scells). In contrast, a carrier or cell that is not turned off may be referred to as an anchor carrier (anchor carrier) or anchor cell (non-anchor cell), or as a first type carrier or first type cell, or as a primary carrier (primary component carrier, PCC) or primary cell (PCell). The non-anchor carrier may be different from the secondary cell in carrier aggregation (carrier aggregation, CA) or Dual Connectivity (DC), and the non-anchor carrier may be the primary cell or primary secondary cell in CA or DC (primary secondary cell, PSCell). In general, the anchor carrier is the primary or secondary cell in CA or DC. Thus, the transition between the non-anchor carrier and the anchor carrier may be a transition between the primary cell or the primary and secondary cells. If the non-anchor carrier is understood as a secondary cell in CA or DC, the transition between the non-anchor carrier and the anchor carrier may be understood as the addition, deletion or modification of a secondary cell in CA or DC. The anchor carrier and the non-anchor carrier are simpler to use than CA or DC, the requirement on the backhaul network is low, and the UE is not required to receive signals of a plurality of carriers at the same time, so that the implementation is easier.

The above embodiments describe the related content of network energy saving, and a scenario to which the method of the present application is applied will be described below with reference to fig. 1 based on the above content.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario provided in an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 1, the mobile station includes a terminal device 101, an anchor cell 102, a non-anchor cell 103, and a base station 104.

In the embodiment of the present application, the anchor Cell 102 may be represented by a Serving Cell (Serving Cell) or a Source Cell (Source Cell) or a current Cell (current Cell), and the Non-anchor Cell 103 may be represented by a Non-Serving Cell (Non-Serving Cell) or a Target Cell (Target Cell) or a candidate Cell (candidate Cell). Since for a given terminal device 101 the serving or source or current cell before the terminal device 101 switch may be the non-closed cell or carrier described above, the anchor cell 102 may be the serving or source or current cell. While the non-serving or target or candidate cell targeted for the handover may be the on-demand cell or carrier described above, and thus the non-anchor cell 103 may be the non-serving or target or candidate cell.

The anchor cell 102 and the non-anchor cell 103 may belong to the same base station, or may be configured in different base stations. When the anchor cell 102 and the non-anchor cell 103 belong to the same base station, the anchor cell 102 may be referred to as a PCell or PCC, and the non-anchor cell 103 may be referred to as an SCell or SCC. When the anchor cell 102 and the non-anchor cell 103 belong to different base stations, the anchor cell 102 may be referred to as a PCell or PCC, and the non-anchor cell 103 may also be referred to as a PCell or PCC.

It should be noted that, when the anchor cell 102 is used as the execution body to perform the corresponding action in the present application, it may be understood that the base station corresponding to the anchor cell 102 is used as the execution body to perform the corresponding action, that is, the anchor cell 102 may be replaced with the base station corresponding to the anchor cell 102. Likewise, when the non-anchor cell 103 is used as an execution body to execute a corresponding action in the present application, it can be understood that the base station corresponding to the non-anchor cell 103 is used as the execution body to execute the corresponding action, that is, the non-anchor cell 103 can be replaced with the base station corresponding to the non-anchor cell 103.

In the present application, the RRC of the non-anchor cell may be the RRC of the non-anchor cell that the anchor cell previously transmitted to the terminal device, or may be the RRC of the non-anchor cell that the non-anchor cell reconfigures.

Referring again to fig. 1, one base station 104 may configure both non-anchor cell 103 and anchor cell 102. Under the condition of low network load, the terminal equipment 101 can complete transmission of service data on the anchor point cell 102, and the base station 104 can close the non-anchor point cell 103 to achieve the purpose of network energy saving. Under the condition of higher network load, the non-anchor point cell 103 can be opened, namely the terminal equipment 101 can access the network through the non-anchor point cell 103, so as to achieve the aim of supporting data load balancing.

It can be appreciated that the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application may be applied to NR communication technology, where NR refers to a new generation radio access network technology, and may be applied to future evolution networks, such as the fifth generation mobile communication (the 5th Generation Mobile Communication,5G) system. The scheme in the embodiment of the application can be also applied to other wireless communication networks such as wireless fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, WIFI), long-term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) and the like, and the corresponding names can be replaced by the names of the corresponding functions in the other wireless communication networks.

The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly describing the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of the new service scenario, the technical solution provided by the embodiments of the present application is applicable to similar technical problems.

The synchronization signal block may be used for time-frequency synchronization by the user equipment to acquire a master information block (Master Information Block, MIB) and a system information block (System Information Block, SIB). For non-anchor carriers or cells, they serve only as data load balancing purposes, do not need to carry MIB, and thus can simplify synchronization signal blocks (bursts). Conversely, anchor carriers or cells need to carry MIB and SIBs to support cell search and system information transmission. The non-anchor carrier or cell may still need to support paging, random access, and radio resource management (Radio Resource Management, RRM) measurements, etc., and thus still need to carry a synchronization signal block to support time-frequency synchronization/time-frequency tracking and RRM measurements by the user equipment.

In general, the non-anchor cells are network controlled and open on demand, where the non-anchor cells may be open before or after the terminal device completes random access. When the moment of opening the non-anchor point cell is before the terminal equipment completes the random access, the terminal equipment can use the resources of the non-anchor point cell as soon as possible, so that the non-anchor point cell provides more load balancing, and the signaling overhead when the connection state is switched is reduced. The random access procedure is generally divided into four steps, corresponding to four channels or messages of the random access channel, respectively. The random access channels include physical random access channels (Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH) also referred to as message 1 (Msg 1), random access response (Random Access Response, RAR) also referred to as message 2 (Msg 2), message 3 (Msg 3), message 4 (Msg 4), and so on. The non-anchor cell may be turned on before the UE initiates random access, i.e., before the PRACH is transmitted. The terminal device may initiate random access on the non-anchor cell using random access channel (Random Access Channel, RACH) resources on the non-anchor cell. The non-anchor cell may be turned on before the terminal device completes the random access after initiating the random access, for example, before sending the message 3. In this way, the terminal device can be transferred to the non-anchor cell as soon as possible after initiating random access on the anchor cell. When the moment of opening the non-anchor cell is after the terminal equipment completes the random access, namely after the terminal equipment completes the initial access or enters a connection state, the non-anchor cell can only serve the terminal equipment in the connection state, the closing time of the non-anchor cell is increased, and the energy-saving gain of the non-anchor cell is increased.

In the embodiment of the application, the situation that the terminal equipment in a connection state is to be converted into the non-anchor cell is aimed at when the non-anchor cell is opened after the terminal equipment completes random access. Before the terminal device switches to the non-anchor cell, the terminal device performs measurement on the non-anchor cell. Since the anchor cell and the non-anchor cell generally adopt different frequency points, in order to avoid complex interference management, measurement for the non-anchor cell is usually inter-frequency measurement, that is, the non-anchor cell needs to send a periodic measurement reference signal to support the terminal device to perform inter-frequency measurement of Layer three (Layer 3, L3). However, the non-anchor cells are on-demand, that is, the non-anchor cells need to transmit measurement reference signals on-demand for energy saving purposes. How to enable the terminal device to measure the periodic measurement reference signals of the non-anchor cell according to the need is a problem to be solved.

Based on this, the present application provides a cell measurement method, and the scheme of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of a cell measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 2, the method may include:

S21, the network equipment sends a measurement instruction to the terminal equipment.

In some cases, for example when uplink and downlink burst traffic arrives, the anchor cell may derive or perceive which non-anchor cells the terminal device is close to, and the anchor cell may then indicate the non-anchor cells to send periodic measurement reference signals.

Further, the anchor cell may send a measurement indication to the terminal device, for instructing the terminal device to perform measurement. Alternatively, the network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a base station to which the anchor cell belongs.

S22, the terminal equipment performs measurement according to the measurement instruction.

The terminal device may measure these non-anchor cells after receiving the measurement indication. For example, after receiving the measurement instruction, the terminal device may measure the non-anchor cells according to the periodic measurement reference signals sent by the non-anchor cells in a period of time, so as to obtain a measurement result. After the terminal equipment measures the non-anchor cell, the measurement result can be reported, and then the terminal equipment is switched to a proper non-anchor cell according to the measurement result, so that the non-anchor cell provides service for the terminal equipment, and the service processing is completed.

According to the cell measurement method provided by the embodiment of the application, after the anchor cell sends the measurement instruction, the non-anchor cell which is not opened yet can be controlled to be opened and the measurement reference signal of the period is sent, and the terminal equipment starts to measure according to the measurement instruction after receiving the measurement instruction, so that the non-anchor cell is found. By measuring after receiving the measurement instruction, the non-anchor cell can be opened only when the terminal equipment is required to be served, network energy saving is facilitated, and meanwhile, the terminal equipment can measure the periodic measurement reference signal of the non-anchor cell according to the requirement.

The following describes the aspects of the application in detail with reference to specific examples.

The anchor cell may instruct the terminal device to make measurements by means of a measurement indication, which may be carried in different signaling.

For example, the measurement indication may be carried in the PDCCH. The anchor cell sends the PDCCH to the terminal equipment, and the terminal equipment can acquire the measurement indication after receiving the PDCCH. The measurement indication is carried in the PDCCH, the indication mode is relatively quick, and the anchor point cell can indicate the terminal equipment in a connection state to measure the non-anchor point cell through the measurement indication.

Alternatively, the PDCCH may be a PDCCH order (PDCCH order). By carrying the measurement indication in the PDCCH order, the terminal device can be triggered to transmit the PRACH by the PDCCH order itself, thereby reducing modification to the PDCCH.

For example, the measurement indication may be carried in RRC signaling. The anchor cell sends an RRC signaling to the terminal device, and the terminal device can acquire the measurement indication after receiving the RRC signaling. The RRC signaling is reliable, so that the reliability of the indication is improved by carrying the measurement indication in the RRC signaling. The anchor point cell indicates the terminal equipment in a connection state to measure the non-anchor point cell through the measurement indication carried in the RRC signaling.

Illustratively, the measurement indication may be carried in the MAC CE. The anchor cell sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, and the terminal device can acquire the measurement indication after receiving the MAC CE. The rapidity and the reliability are both considered by the way of carrying the measurement indication in the MAC CE. The anchor point cell indicates the terminal equipment in a connection state to measure the non-anchor point cell through the measurement indication carried in the MAC CE.

In the above embodiment, a scheme is described that a measurement instruction can be carried in PDCCH, RRC signaling and MAC CE, so as to instruct a terminal device to measure a non-anchor cell. The specific procedure by which the terminal device performs the measurement will be described below.

In one embodiment, the terminal device starts a measurement timer after receiving the measurement instruction, and the measurement timer starts to run.

The terminal device assumes that the measurement reference signal is valid before the measurement timer expires and that the measurement reference signal is invalid after the measurement timer expires. I.e. the terminal device considers the measurement reference signal valid during the running of the measurement timer, it needs to be measured, and after the measurement timer has timed out the measurement reference signal is invalid, it does not need to be measured.

By setting the measurement timer, the anchor cell can control the non-anchor cell to send the measurement reference signal only in a period of time, and can also control the terminal device to measure the periodically sent measurement reference signal only in a period of time, thereby meeting the requirement of network energy saving.

Optionally, the measurement reference signal includes a synchronization signal block, and the terminal device may blindly detect and find the non-anchor cell according to the synchronization signal block, and may also obtain timing information of the non-anchor cell, and perform measurement at the same time.

Optionally, the measurement reference signal comprises a channel state information reference signal. Although non-anchor cells cannot be blindly detected and found by the channel state information reference signal and timing information of non-synchronized non-anchor cells is obtained, some non-anchor cells, such as synchronized found non-anchor cells, may be measured by the channel state information reference signal using less time-frequency resources.

The terminal device assumes that SMTC is active before the measurement timer expires and that SMTC is inactive after the measurement timer expires. Typically SMTC is a periodic window in which the terminal device may only make measurements. In general, whether SMTC is valid for a terminal device also represents whether a measurement of a synchronization signal block is required. On the one hand, the network device can avoid configuring the period of the synchronous signal block in the measurement object for the terminal device by configuring the SMTC; on the other hand, the SMTC period may be larger than the period of the synchronization signal block, and measurement of the synchronization signal block may be reduced by SMTC. Thus, by means of the timer, the anchor cell can control the non-anchor cell to only transmit the measurement reference signal for a period of time, and also can control the UE to only perform periodic measurement for a period of time.

The anchor cell may send the measurement object configuration to the terminal device, which performs measurement according to the measurement object configuration.

Illustratively, the measurement object configuration includes a cell identifier or a cell physical identifier. The anchor cell can inform the terminal equipment of the measurement reference signal transmitted by the non-anchor cell needing to be measured by configuring a cell identifier or a cell physical identifier, and the sequence of the measurement reference signal is generated by the cell identifier or the cell physical identifier.

The measurement object configuration includes cell frequency points, so that the non-anchor cell is deployed on different frequency points from the anchor cell, interference to the anchor cell is reduced, better sharing of service flow by the non-anchor cell is facilitated, and the terminal equipment is served.

In the above embodiments, a scheme is described in which the terminal device can perform measurement on the non-anchor cell after receiving the measurement instruction, so as to switch to the non-anchor cell based on the measurement result. In the connected state, the switching of the terminal device to the non-anchor cell may be only brief for transceiving data, e.g. the non-anchor cell service is only directed to the moment when high throughput bursty traffic occurs. In this case, frequent switching between non-anchor cells and anchor cells can result in a large amount of signaling and frequent traffic disruption. Based on the above, the embodiment of the application provides a cell switching method, which realizes efficient rollback to an anchor cell after the terminal equipment completes burst service through a non-anchor cell.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a cell conversion method according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 3, the method may include:

s31, backing up to the service cell from the switching target cell.

For a terminal device in a connected state, the terminal device may be switched to a non-anchor cell to transmit and receive data only briefly. For example, the non-anchor cell service is only for the time when high throughput bursty traffic occurs. For such situations, the terminal device may fall back to the anchor cell after completing transceiving data. The terminal device may fall back from the handover target cell to the serving cell under the instruction of the network device, or may autonomously fall back from the handover target cell to the serving cell.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device may fall back from the non-anchor cell to the anchor cell upon expiration of the handoff timer. Specifically, the network device may configure a handover timer for the terminal device, and instruct the terminal device to fall back from the non-anchor cell to the anchor cell through the handover timer. The terminal device can execute cell switching from the non-anchor cell to the anchor cell when the switching timer times out without performing cell switching during the operation of the switching timer.

Compared with the scheme of carrying out cell switching through switching indication, as the switching indication is physical layer control signaling, false detection is easy to occur, when false detection occurs, the anchor point cell can be mistakenly considered that the terminal equipment is switched to the non-anchor point cell, but the terminal equipment is not actually switched to the non-anchor point cell, and the scheme of carrying out cell switching through the switching timer carries out rollback after the switching timer is overtime, the terminal equipment carries out rollback from the non-anchor point cell to the anchor point cell, and the anchor point cell can be ensured to still control the terminal equipment finally.

Optionally, the duration of the switching timer is configured by higher layer signaling. The anchor cell can match the duration of the burst service that needs to be received and transmitted on the non-anchor cell through the high-level signaling, and then synchronize the duration of the switching timer to the terminal device. The terminal equipment determines the time for returning to the anchor point cell through switching the timer.

Optionally, the switching timer is started when the terminal device receives the switching indication. After the terminal equipment receives the conversion instruction, the switching timer is started and starts to run. And backing to the anchor point cell until the switching timer is overtime.

Optionally, the handover timer is started or restarted when the terminal device detects a PDCCH on the non-anchor cell. When the terminal device detects the PDCCH on the non-anchor cell, the non-anchor cell also needs to schedule or control the terminal device. The time when the terminal device detects the PDCCH on the non-anchor cell may be used as the time when the handover timer is started or restarted. After the switching timer is started or restarted, the switching timer starts to run. And backing to the anchor point cell until the switching timer is overtime.

Optionally, the handover timer is started or restarted when the terminal device receives scheduling information on the non-anchor cell. When the terminal equipment receives the scheduling information on the non-anchor cell, the non-anchor cell also needs to schedule or control the terminal equipment. The time when the terminal device receives the scheduling information on the non-anchor cell may be used as the time when the switching timer is started or restarted. After the switching timer is started or restarted, the switching timer starts to run. And backing to the anchor point cell until the switching timer is overtime.

In one possible implementation, the network device may fallback from the non-anchor cell to the anchor cell upon receiving the fallback indication by sending the fallback indication to the terminal device.

Alternatively, the back-off indication may be carried in the PDCCH. The anchor cell sends the PDCCH to the terminal equipment, and the terminal equipment can acquire the rollback instruction after receiving the PDCCH. The back-off indication is carried in the PDCCH, the indication mode is relatively quick, and the terminal equipment can be indicated to back-off to the anchor point cell through the back-off indication.

Alternatively, the back-off indication may be carried in RRC signaling. The anchor cell sends an RRC signaling to the terminal device, and the terminal device may acquire the backoff indication after receiving the RRC signaling. The RRC signaling is reliable, so that the reliability is improved by carrying the back-off indication in the RRC signaling. The terminal device may be instructed to fall back to the anchor cell by the fall-back indication.

Illustratively, the back-off indication may be carried in the MAC CE. The anchor cell sends the MAC CE to the terminal device, and the terminal device may acquire the backoff indication after receiving the MAC CE. The rapidity and the reliability are considered by carrying the rollback indication in the MAC CE. The terminal device may be instructed to fall back to the anchor cell by the fall-back indication.

In one possible implementation, the network device may send a preset threshold to the terminal device for instructing the terminal device to perform the cell switching when the measured value is less than or equal to the preset threshold. The terminal device may fall back from the non-anchor cell to the anchor cell when the measured value is less than or equal to a preset threshold.

Alternatively, the measurement value is a measurement value of a handover target cell (i.e., a non-anchor cell), or a measurement value corresponding to a measurement target after handover to the handover target cell.

When the measured value is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value, the measured value indicates that the terminal equipment is in the edge area of the non-anchor cell, and the terminal equipment is not suitable for completing burst service on the non-anchor cell. At this time, the terminal equipment is retracted to the anchor point cell, so that the anchor point cell can be ensured to still control the terminal equipment finally.

Optionally, the preset threshold is configured by higher layer signaling. The anchor cell or non-anchor cell may match the duration of the bursty traffic that needs to be transceived on the anchor cell by higher layer signaling.

Alternatively, the measured value may be RSRP, where RSRP is an average value of the received power on a resource element carrying the reference signal over the measured frequency bandwidth, and may reflect the strength of the radio signal to some extent. When the RSRP is less than or equal to the preset threshold, it indicates that the terminal device is not suitable for completing the burst service on the non-anchor cell, and the terminal device needs to fall back to the anchor cell.

Alternatively, the measured value may be RSRQ, which is the reference signal received quality. When the RSRQ is less than or equal to the preset threshold, it indicates that the terminal device is not suitable for completing the burst service on the non-anchor cell, and the terminal device needs to fall back to the anchor cell.

Alternatively, the measurement value may be SINR, which refers to the ratio of the strength of the received useful signal to the strength of the received interfering signal, i.e. the signal-to-noise ratio. When the SINR is less than or equal to the preset threshold, it indicates that the terminal device is not suitable for completing the burst service in the non-anchor cell, and the terminal device needs to fall back to the anchor cell.

It is to be understood that, for different types of measured values, the preset thresholds set correspondingly may be the same or different, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

In one possible implementation, the terminal device may fall back from the non-anchor cell to the anchor cell upon occurrence of a radio link failure or a beam failure. A radio link is a decision of whether one link of a higher layer fails, and a beam can be regarded as a decision of whether one link of a physical layer fails. When a radio link failure or a beam failure occurs, it indicates that the channel condition corresponding to the radio link or the beam is poor, and at this time, the terminal device cannot use the radio resource of the non-anchor cell, for example, serious deep attenuation or shielding is encountered. The terminal device is already unsuitable for completing bursty traffic on the non-anchor cell. At this time, the terminal equipment is retracted to the anchor point cell, so that the anchor point cell can be ensured to still control the terminal equipment finally.

In summary, the present application provides a cell measurement and cell conversion method, when uplink and downlink burst traffic arrives, an anchor cell derives or senses a non-anchor cell close to a terminal device, then controls measurement reference signals of transmission periods of the non-anchor cells, and instructs the terminal device to measure the non-anchor cell through measurement indication. And then, sending a signaling to the terminal equipment through a measurement result fed back by the terminal equipment, so that the terminal equipment is efficiently switched to a non-anchor cell. When the service is completed, the terminal device can efficiently fall back to the anchor point cell.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell measurement device according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 4, the cell measurement device 40 includes:

the measurement module 41 is configured to perform measurement according to the measurement instruction.

a synchronization signal block;

channel state information reference signal.

In one possible implementation, the PDCCH is a PDCCH order.

In one possible implementation, the measurement module 41 is further configured to:

the measurement is performed according to the measurement object configuration.

The cell measurement device provided in the embodiment of the present application is configured to execute the above method embodiment, and its implementation principle and technical effects are similar, and this embodiment will not be described herein.

The cell measurement device shown in the embodiment of the application can be a chip, a hardware module, a processor and the like. Of course, the cell measurement apparatus may take other forms, which are not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a second schematic structural diagram of a cell measurement device according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, the cell measurement device 50 includes:

a sending module 51, configured to send a measurement instruction to a terminal device.

In one possible implementation, the PDCCH is a PDCCH order.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises:

and sending the measurement object configuration to the terminal equipment.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell switching device according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 6, the cell switching device 60 includes:

a processing module 61, configured to fall back from the handover target cell to the serving cell.

the back-off indication is carried by the MAC CE.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement value is any one of the following:

RSRP；

RSRQ；

SINR。

The cell switching device provided in the embodiment of the present application is configured to execute the above method embodiment, and its implementation principle and technical effects are similar, and this embodiment will not be described herein.

The cell conversion device in the embodiment of the application can be a chip, a hardware module, a processor and the like. Of course, the cell measurement apparatus may take other forms, which are not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a second schematic structural diagram of a cell switching device according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, the cell switching device 70 includes:

and the processing module 71 is configured to instruct the terminal device to fall back from the handover target cell to the serving cell.

In one possible implementation, the processing module 71 is specifically configured to:

the back-off indication is carried by the MAC CE.

In one possible embodiment, the measurement value is any one of the following:

RSRP；

RSRQ；

SINR。

An embodiment of the present application provides a chip, where the chip includes a processor, and the processor may be configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in a memory, to implement a cell measurement method (for example, perform measurement according to a measurement instruction) described in any of the foregoing method embodiments of the present application, or to implement a cell handover method (for example, fallback from a handover target cell to a serving cell) described in any of the foregoing method embodiments of the present application. Alternatively, the memory storing the computer-executable instructions may be a memory internal to the chip or may be a memory external to the chip.

An embodiment of the present application provides a chip, where the chip includes a processor, and the processor may be configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in a memory, to implement a cell measurement method (for example, send a measurement indication to a terminal device) described in any of the foregoing method embodiments of the present application, or to implement a cell handover method (for example, instruct the terminal device to fall back from a handover target cell to a serving cell) described in any of the foregoing method embodiments of the present application. Alternatively, the memory storing the computer-executable instructions may be a memory internal to the chip or may be a memory external to the chip.

With respect to each of the apparatuses and each of the modules/units included in the products described in the above embodiments, it may be a software module/unit, a hardware module/unit, or a software module/unit, and a hardware module/unit. For example, for each device or product applied to or integrated on a chip, each module/unit included in the device or product may be implemented in hardware such as a circuit, or at least part of the modules/units may be implemented in software program, where the software program runs on a processor integrated inside the chip, and the rest (if any) of the modules/units may be implemented in hardware such as a circuit; for each device and product applied to or integrated in the chip module, each module/unit contained in the device and product can be realized in a hardware manner such as a circuit, different modules/units can be located in the same component (such as a chip, a circuit module and the like) or different components of the chip module, or at least part of the modules/units can be realized in a software program, the software program runs on a processor integrated in the chip module, and the rest (if any) of the modules/units can be realized in a hardware manner such as a circuit; for each device and product applied to or integrated in the terminal device/network device, each module/unit included in the device/network device may be implemented in hardware such as a circuit, and different modules/units may be located in the same component (e.g. a chip, a circuit module, etc.) or different components in the terminal device/network device, or at least part of the modules/units may be implemented in a software program, where the software program runs on a processor integrated in the terminal device/network device, and the remaining (if any) part of the modules/units may be implemented in hardware such as a circuit.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 8, the terminal device 80 may include: a transceiver 81, a memory 82, a processor 83. The transceiver 81 may include: a transmitter and/or a receiver. The transmitter may also be referred to as a transmitter, transmit port, transmit interface, or the like, and the receiver may also be referred to as a receiver, receive port, receive interface, or the like. The transceiver 81, the memory 82, and the processor 83 are illustratively interconnected by a bus 84.

The memory 82 is used for storing program instructions;

the processor 83 is configured to execute the program instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the terminal device 80 to execute any of the above-described cell measurement methods or cell switching methods.

The receiver of the transceiver 81 may be configured to perform the transceiving function of the terminal device in the cell measurement method or the cell switching method.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 9, the network device 90 may include: a transceiver 91, a memory 92, a processor 93. The transceiver 91 may include: a transmitter and/or a receiver. The transmitter may also be referred to as a transmitter, transmit port, transmit interface, or the like, and the receiver may also be referred to as a receiver, receive port, receive interface, or the like. Illustratively, the transceiver 91, the memory 92, and the processor 93 are interconnected by a bus 94.

Memory 92 is used to store program instructions;

the processor 93 is configured to execute the program instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the network device 90 to execute any of the cell measurement methods or cell switching methods described above.

The receiver of the transceiver 91 may be used to perform the transceiving functions of the network device in the cell measurement method or the cell switching method.

Embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions for implementing the above-described cell measurement method or cell switching method when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor.

Embodiments of the present application may also provide a computer program product executable by a processor, which when executed, may implement a cell measurement method or a cell switching method performed by any of the above-described terminal devices.

The transmission device, the computer readable storage medium and the computer program product in the embodiments of the present application may execute the cell measurement method or the cell conversion method executed by the terminal device, and specific implementation processes and beneficial effects thereof are referred to above and are not described herein.

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

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

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

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that: all or part of the steps for implementing the method embodiments described above may be performed by hardware associated with program instructions. The aforementioned computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The computer program, when executed by a processor, implements steps comprising the method embodiments described above; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program code, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some or all of the technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit of the application.

Claims

1. A method for cell measurement, comprising:

and according to the measurement instruction, performing measurement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement reference signal is valid during a measurement timer run.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement timer is started after receiving the measurement indication.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement reference signal comprises at least one of:

a synchronization signal block;

channel state information reference signal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the synchronization signal measurement timing configuration is valid during a measurement timer run.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the measurement timer is started after receiving the measurement indication.

7. The method according to any of claims 1-6, characterized in that the measurement indication is carried by a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the PDCCH is a PDCCH order.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the measurement indication is carried by radio resource control, RRC, signaling.

10. The method according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the measurement indication is carried by a medium access control entity, MAC CE.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, further comprising:

The measurement is performed according to the measurement object configuration.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the measurement object configuration comprises a cell identity or a cell physical identity.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the measurement object configuration comprises a cell frequency point.

14. A method for cell measurement, comprising:

and sending a measurement instruction to the terminal equipment.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the measurement indication is carried by a PDCCH.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the PDCCH is a PDCCH order.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the measurement indication is carried by RRC signaling.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the measurement indication is carried by a MAC CE.

19. The method according to any one of claims 14-18, further comprising:

and sending the measurement object configuration to the terminal equipment.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the measurement object configuration comprises a cell identity or a cell physical identity.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the measurement object configuration comprises a cell frequency point.

22. A method for cell switching, comprising:

and backing up from the transition target cell to the serving cell.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the backing-off from the handover target cell to the serving cell comprises:

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the duration of the handoff timer is configured by higher layer signaling.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the handoff timer is started when the terminal device receives a transition indication.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the handover timer is started or restarted when the terminal device detects a PDCCH on the handover target cell.

27. The method according to claim 23, wherein the handover timer is started or restarted when the terminal device receives scheduling information on the handover target cell.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the backing-off from the handover target cell to the serving cell comprises:

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the back-off indication is carried by a PDCCH; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

the back-off indication is carried by the MAC CE.

30. The method of claim 22, wherein the backing-off from the handover target cell to the serving cell comprises:

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the measurement value is a measurement value for the handover target cell or a measurement value corresponding to a measurement target after handover to the handover target cell.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the measurement is any one of:

reference signal received power RSRP;

reference signal received quality RSRQ;

signal to interference plus noise ratio SINR.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the preset threshold is configured by higher layer signaling.

34. The method of claim 22, wherein the backing-off from the handover target cell to the serving cell comprises:

35. A method for cell switching, comprising:

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein the instructing the terminal device to fall back from the handover target cell to the serving cell comprises:

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the duration of the handoff timer is configured by higher layer signaling.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the handoff timer is started when the terminal device receives a transition indication.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the handover timer is started or restarted when the terminal device detects a PDCCH on the handover target cell.

40. The method according to claim 36, wherein the handover timer is started or restarted when the terminal device receives scheduling information on the handover target cell.

41. The method according to claim 35, wherein the instructing the terminal device to fall back from the handover target cell to the serving cell comprises:

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the back-off indication is carried by a PDCCH; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

the back-off indication is carried by the MAC CE.

43. The method according to claim 35, wherein the instructing the terminal device to fall back from the handover target cell to the serving cell comprises:

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the measurement value is a measurement value of the handover target cell by the terminal device or a measurement value corresponding to a measurement target after the terminal device has been handed over to the handover target cell.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the measurement is any one of:

RSRP；

RSRQ；

SINR。

46. the method of claim 43, wherein the preset threshold is configured by higher layer signaling.

47. A cell measurement apparatus, comprising:

48. A cell measurement apparatus, comprising:

49. A cell switching apparatus, comprising:

50. A cell switching apparatus, comprising:

51. A terminal device, comprising: at least one processor and memory;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions;

the at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory cause the at least one processor to perform the cell measurement method of any one of claims 1-13 or cause the at least one processor to perform the cell switching method of any one of claims 22-34.

52. A network device, comprising: at least one processor and memory;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions;

the at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory cause the at least one processor to perform the cell measurement method of any one of claims 14-21 or cause the at least one processor to perform the cell conversion method of any one of claims 35-46.

53. A computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, implement the cell measurement method of any of claims 1-21 or the cell conversion method of any of claims 22-46.

54. A computer program product comprising a computer program, which when executed by a processor implements the cell measurement method of any of claims 1-21 or the cell switching method of any of claims 22-46.