CN117479159A

CN117479159A - Switching method, device, apparatus and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN117479159A
Application number: CN202210869191.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘子乔; 张惠英; 赵亚利
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-07-21
Filing date: 2022-07-21
Publication date: 2024-01-30

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a switching method, device, apparatus and storage medium, wherein the switching method, device and storage medium are applied to first network equipment, and the method comprises the following steps: acquiring authorization information of a terminal, wherein the authorization information is used for indicating whether the terminal is authorized to serve as a relay terminal; and executing a switching flow according to the authorization information. According to the switching method, the device, the apparatus and the storage medium, the first network equipment can acquire the authorization information of the terminal and execute the switching process by combining the acquired authorization information of the terminal, so that various decisions in the switching process can be more optimized, switching failure caused by the fact that the authorization information of the terminal cannot be acquired is reduced, and the success rate of switching is improved.

Description

Switching method, device, apparatus and storage medium

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communications technologies, and in particular, to a switching method, device, apparatus, and storage medium.

Background

The traditional wireless communication adopts a cellular network communication mode, namely, a terminal and network equipment transmit uplink and downlink data/control information through a Uu interface. In order to extend Network coverage, one solution is to introduce a Relay from a terminal (also called User Equipment, UE) to a Network device, i.e. a UE-to-Network Relay, which may be a terminal with a Relay function. For the terminal-to-network device relay scenario, the Uu interface is used as an interface between the relay terminal and the network device, the direct communication interface (also referred to as a Sidelink interface or a proximity communication port 5 (Proximity Communication Port, PC 5) interface) is used between the relay terminal and the relayed terminal (may be referred to as a remote terminal), the link between the relay terminal and the network device may be referred to as a Backhaul link (BH) for the remote terminal, and the data transmission between the relay terminal and the remote terminal may be performed through the direct communication link (also referred to as a Sidelink or PC 5).

For the inter-base station handover (inter-gNB switch from direct/indirect to indirect path) scenario in which a direct (terminal directly connects to a base station) or an indirect (terminal connects to a base station through a relay) path is switched to an indirect path, the inter-base station handover is different from the conventional inter-base station handover in that a relay terminal is involved, so that some problems may be caused if a handover procedure is performed according to the conventional inter-base station handover method: for example, the source base station may select an unauthorized target relay terminal to cause handover failure.

Therefore, how to provide an effective solution for switching from a direct path to an indirect path between base stations is a technical problem that needs to be solved in the present industry.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the technical problems to be solved, the embodiments of the present application provide a switching method, device, apparatus and storage medium.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a handover method, applied to a first network device, including:

acquiring authorization information of a terminal, wherein the authorization information is used for indicating whether the terminal is authorized to serve as a relay terminal;

and executing a switching flow according to the authorization information.

Optionally, the acquiring the authorization information of the terminal includes:

Before a handover request is initiated to a target network device, acquiring authorization information of a potential target relay terminal; and/or the number of the groups of groups,

and after the handover request is initiated to the target network equipment, acquiring the authorization information of the target relay terminal.

Optionally, the acquiring authorization information of the potential target relay terminal includes:

and receiving authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by service network equipment of the potential target relay terminal.

Optionally, the receiving the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by the service network device of the potential target relay terminal includes:

sending a first request message to service network equipment of a potential target relay terminal, wherein the first request message is used for requesting authorization information of the potential target relay terminal, and the first request message comprises an identification of the potential target relay terminal;

and receiving the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by the service network equipment of the potential target relay terminal.

and receiving a measurement report sent by a remote terminal, wherein the measurement report comprises authorization information of a potential target relay terminal and one or more of an identification of the potential target relay terminal, a cell identification of the potential target relay terminal and signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the remote terminal.

Optionally, the acquiring the authorization information of the target relay terminal includes:

and receiving a handover preparation failure message sent by the target network equipment, wherein the handover preparation failure message comprises a reason field, and the reason field is used for indicating that the reason of the handover failure is that the target relay terminal is not authorized to be used as the relay terminal.

Optionally, the authorization information of the terminal includes one or more of the following:

the terminal is authorized or not authorized to be used as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer three relay;

the terminal is authorized or not authorized to be used as a relay terminal adjacent to the second relay of the service layer;

an authorized relay terminal identification;

a list of authorized public land mobile networks for the terminal;

a reason field included in the handover preparation failure message for indicating that the reason for the handover failure is that the terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal.

Optionally, after obtaining the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal, executing a handover procedure according to the authorization information, including:

determining a target relay terminal according to the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal;

and initiating a switching request to the service network equipment of the determined target relay terminal, and completing the subsequent switching flow.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a handover method, which is applied to a second network device, including:

and sending authorization information of a first terminal to a first network device, wherein the authorization information is used for indicating whether the first terminal is authorized to serve as a relay terminal, and the first terminal is one or more terminals under the second network device.

Optionally, the sending authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device includes:

receiving a first request message sent by first network equipment, wherein the first request message is used for requesting authorization information of the first terminal, and the first request message comprises an identifier of the first terminal;

and sending the authorization information of the first terminal to the first network equipment according to the first request message.

receiving a switching request message sent by first network equipment, wherein the switching request message comprises an identifier of a first terminal;

and in the case that the first terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, sending a handover preparation failure message to the first network device, wherein the handover preparation failure message comprises a reason field, and the reason field is used for indicating that the reason of the handover failure is that the first terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal.

Optionally, the authorization information of the first terminal includes one or more of the following:

the first terminal is authorized or not authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer three relay;

the first terminal is authorized or not authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the second relay of the service layer;

an authorized relay terminal identification;

an authorized public land mobile network list of the first terminal;

a reason field included in the handover preparation failure message for indicating that the reason for the handover failure is that the first terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and under the condition that the target relay terminal is authorized to be used as the relay terminal, sending a switching request confirmation message to the first network equipment, wherein the switching request confirmation message comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration information of a remote terminal, and sending the RRC reconfiguration message to the target relay terminal.

Optionally, in case the centralized unit and the distributed unit of the second network device are separated, the method further comprises:

the centralized unit of the second network device sends an F1 message to the distributed unit of the second network device, where the F1 message is used to reconfigure the distributed unit of the second network device.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a handover method, applied to a remote terminal, including:

receiving authorization information of a potential target relay terminal sent by the potential target relay terminal;

and sending a measurement report to the first network equipment, wherein the measurement report comprises authorization information of the potential target relay terminal and one or more of an identification of the potential target relay terminal, a cell identification of the potential target relay terminal and signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the remote terminal.

Optionally, the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal includes one or more of the following:

the potential target relay terminal is authorized or not authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer three relay;

the potential target relay terminal is authorized or not authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the second relay of the service layer;

an authorized relay terminal identification;

list of authorized public land mobile networks for potential target relay terminals.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a first network device, including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under control of the processor; a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

and executing a switching flow according to the authorization information.

an authorized relay terminal identification;

a list of authorized public land mobile networks for the terminal;

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a second network device, including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

an authorized relay terminal identification;

an authorized public land mobile network list of the first terminal;

Optionally, the operations further comprise:

Optionally, in case the centralized unit and the distributed unit of the second network device are separate, the operations further comprise:

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a remote terminal, including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

an authorized relay terminal identification;

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a switching apparatus, applied to a first network device, including:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire authorization information of a terminal, the authorization information being used to indicate whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal;

and the switching unit is used for executing a switching flow according to the authorization information.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a switching apparatus, applied to a second network device, including:

and the first sending unit is used for sending authorization information of a first terminal to the first network equipment, wherein the authorization information is used for indicating whether the first terminal is authorized to serve as a relay terminal, and the first terminal is one or more terminals under the second network equipment.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a switching device, applied to a remote terminal, including:

the receiving unit is used for receiving the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by the potential target relay terminal;

and the second sending unit is used for sending a measurement report to the first network equipment, wherein the measurement report comprises authorization information of the potential target relay terminal and one or more of an identification of the potential target relay terminal, a cell identification where the potential target relay terminal is located and signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the far-end terminal.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a computer to perform the handover method according to the first aspect, or to perform the handover method according to the second aspect, or to perform the handover method according to the third aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a communication device, where a computer program is stored, where the computer program is configured to cause the communication device to perform the handover method according to the first aspect, or perform the handover method according to the second aspect, or perform the handover method according to the third aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a processor to perform the handover method according to the first aspect, or to perform the handover method according to the second aspect, or to perform the handover method according to the third aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a chip product, where a computer program is stored, where the computer program is configured to cause the chip product to perform the handover method according to the first aspect, or perform the handover method according to the second aspect, or perform the handover method according to the third aspect.

According to the switching method, the device, the apparatus and the storage medium, the first network equipment can acquire the authorization information of the terminal and execute the subsequent switching process by combining the acquired authorization information of the terminal, so that various decisions in the switching process can be more optimized, switching failure caused by the fact that the authorization information of the terminal cannot be acquired is reduced, and the success rate of switching is improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the related art, the following description will briefly describe the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments or the related technical descriptions, and it is obvious that, in the following description, the drawings are some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without any inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication manner of network centralized control provided by the related art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a direct communication method provided by the related art;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a relay scenario provided in the related art;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional handover scenario between base stations provided in the related art;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a conventional handover procedure between base stations provided in the related art;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an inter-base station handover scenario provided in the related art, in which a direct or indirect path is switched to an indirect path;

fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a switching method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a second flow chart of a switching method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a third flow chart of a switching method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a remote terminal according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a switching device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a second schematic diagram of a switching device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 15 is a third schematic structural diagram of the switching device according to the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In the embodiment of the application, the term "and/or" describes the association relationship of the association objects, which means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may be represented: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship.

The term "plurality" in the embodiments of the present application means two or more, and other adjectives are similar thereto.

The following description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be made clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without undue burden from the present disclosure, are within the scope of the present disclosure.

In order to facilitate a clearer understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, some technical contents related to the embodiments of the present application will be first described.

1. Cellular network communication

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication mode of centralized control of a network provided in the related art, as shown in fig. 1, in conventional wireless communication, a cellular network communication mode is adopted, and the communication mode is centralized controlled by a network device, so that a terminal and the network device transmit uplink and downlink data or control information through a Uu interface.

2. Direct communication

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a direct communication manner provided in the related art, and as shown in fig. 2, the direct communication refers to a manner in which a neighboring terminal can perform data transmission through a direct communication link in a close range. The wireless interface to which the direct communication link corresponds is referred to as a direct communication interface (also referred to as a sidlink interface or a PC5 interface).

3. Relay

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a Relay scenario provided in the related art, as shown in fig. 3, in order to extend Network coverage, a UE-to-Network Relay (terminal-to-Network Relay) is introduced, and a remote terminal may be connected to a Network device through a Relay terminal.

4. Inter-base station (inter gNB) handover

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional handover scenario between base stations provided by the related art, and fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a conventional handover procedure between base stations provided by the related art, as shown in fig. 4 and fig. 5, the conventional handover procedure between base stations is approximately: the terminal sends a measurement report to the source base station, the source base station selects a target base station according to the measurement report, and initiates a switching request to the target base station, and the target base station receives the switching and replies a switching response of the source base station, wherein the switching response comprises a radio resource control (Radio Resource Control, RRC) reconfiguration message for the terminal. After the terminal executes RRC reconfiguration, the terminal sends an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the target base station, the target base station requests path conversion to the core network, and after the path conversion is completed, the target base station instructs the source base station to release the terminal context.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an inter-base station handover scenario from a direct path to an indirect path, where the direct path refers to a manner in which a terminal and a network device shown in fig. 1 are directly connected, and the indirect path refers to a manner in which a remote terminal and a network device shown in fig. 3 are connected through a relay terminal, as shown in fig. 6, in which (a) part of the diagram shows an inter-base station handover scenario from a direct path to an indirect path, and in which (b) part of the diagram shows an inter-base station handover scenario from an indirect path to an indirect path, the inter-base station handover shown in fig. 6 differs from a conventional inter-base station handover in that a source base station selects a target relay terminal according to a measurement report sent by the remote terminal and sends a handover request to a target base station where the target relay terminal is located.

For the switching flow between base stations switching from direct or indirect path to indirect path, the flow involves the remote terminal reporting a measurement report of the quality of the PC5 port signal between the remote terminal and the potential target relay terminal, and then the source base station selects the target relay terminal according to the measurement report. If the handover procedure is executed according to the conventional inter-base station handover method, the source base station selects the target relay terminal according to the measurement report reported by the remote terminal, and possibly selects an unauthorized terminal as the target relay terminal, the handover will fail, and the source base station cannot even learn that the handover failure is due to the unauthorized terminal.

In view of the above problems, embodiments of the present application provide a solution for switching between base stations from a direct path or an indirect path to an indirect path, so that a source base station may select a target relay terminal according to authorization information of the terminal, thereby improving a success rate of the switching; or under the condition that the terminal is not authorized to cause the switching failure, the source base station can timely acquire the reason of the switching failure, so that the follow-up switching flow can be more optimally processed, and the success rate of the next switching is improved.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a handover method according to an embodiment of the present application, where the method is applied to a first network device, as shown in fig. 7, and the method includes the following steps:

step 700, obtaining authorization information of the terminal, wherein the authorization information is used for indicating whether the terminal is authorized to serve as a relay terminal.

Step 701, executing a switching flow according to the authorization information.

In particular, the first network device may be a source network device, such as a source base station, switching the scenario.

In this embodiment of the present application, the first network device may acquire authorization information of a terminal, where the terminal may be any terminal that may potentially become a target relay terminal (hereinafter referred to as a potential target relay terminal), and may be a target relay terminal determined by the first network device, which is not limited herein. The authorization information refers to information indicating whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal, and the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal, or the terminal is authorized to perform a relay service.

Optionally, the authorization information of the terminal may include one or more of the following:

(1) The terminal is authorized or not authorized as a Relay terminal for proximity services Layer three Relay (ProSe Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay).

For example, the authorization information of one or more terminals acquired by the first network device may be authorization information specifically indicating, for a single terminal, whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer three relay, and the authorization information of different terminals may be distinguished by different terminal identifiers, where the terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier (L2 ID) or other terminal identifiers.

(2) The terminal is authorized or not authorized as a Relay terminal for a proximity service Layer two Relay (ProSe Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay).

For example, the authorization information of one or more terminals acquired by the first network device may be authorization information specifically indicating, for a single terminal, whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer two relay, and the authorization information of different terminals may be distinguished by different terminal identifiers, where the terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

(3) Authorized relay terminal identification.

For example, the authorization information of one or more terminals acquired by the first network device may be authorized relay terminal identifiers, that is, the terminals corresponding to the terminal identifiers are all authorized terminals serving as relay terminals, so that the first network device may learn, through the terminal identifiers, which terminals are authorized terminals, and may preferentially select, in a subsequent handover procedure, the terminals as relay terminals. The terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

(4) An authorized public land mobile network list (authorized PLMN list) of the terminal.

For example, the authorization information of one or more terminals acquired by the first network device may be an authorized public land mobile network list specifically indicating the terminal for a single terminal, and the authorized public land mobile network lists of different terminals may be distinguished by different terminal identifiers, where the terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

After the first network device obtains the authorized public land mobile network list of a certain terminal, the authorized public land mobile network list of the terminal can be compared with the public land mobile network list supported by the service base station of the terminal, if the two lists have intersection, the terminal is authorized, otherwise, the terminal is not authorized. The first network device may obtain a public land mobile network list supported by other network devices during an Xn interface establishment or NG-RAN configuration update with the other network devices.

(5) The reason field included in the handover preparation failure message is used to indicate that the reason for the handover failure is that the terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal.

In this case, the first network device knows that the target relay terminal is not authorized as the relay terminal, based on a cause field (e.g., cause value "unauthorized") in a handover preparation failure message replied by the target network device after initiating a handover request to a serving network device (i.e., the target network device) of the target relay terminal.

Specifically, after receiving the handover request, the target network device determines that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, and thus sends a handover preparation failure message to the first network device, where the message includes a cause field indicating that the reason for the handover failure is that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, so that the first network device can acquire authorization information of the target relay terminal.

After the first network device obtains the authorization information of the terminal, the subsequent switching process can be executed by combining the authorization information of the terminal. For example, the first network device may select in combination with the authorization information of the terminal when selecting the target relay terminal, so that the probability of handover failure caused by the selected target relay terminal not being authorized may be reduced; or, the first network device may learn that the target relay terminal selected at this time is not authorized, and then will not connect the remote terminal to the unauthorized terminal; or, the first network device may perform a more optimal handover decision in combination with the obtained authorization information of the terminal in other handover procedures, which is not limited herein.

According to the switching method provided by the embodiment of the application, the first network equipment can acquire the authorization information of the terminal and execute the switching process by combining the acquired authorization information of the terminal, so that various decisions in the switching process can be more optimized, switching failure caused by the fact that the authorization information of the terminal cannot be acquired is reduced, and the success rate of switching is improved.

Optionally, acquiring the authorization information of the terminal may include:

For example, the first network device may acquire authorization information of potential target relay terminals before initiating a handover request to the target network device, so that an appropriate target relay terminal may be selected in combination with the authorization information of the potential target relay terminals, and then initiate the handover request.

For example, the first network device may first select a target relay terminal according to a measurement report reported by the remote terminal, initiate a handover request to a service network device (i.e., a target network device) of the target relay terminal, and then determine whether the target relay terminal is authorized according to a message sent back by the target network device.

Optionally, acquiring authorization information of the potential target relay terminal may include:

and receiving authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by the service network equipment of the potential target relay terminal.

Specifically, the first network device may acquire authorization information of each potential target relay terminal from the service network device of each potential target relay terminal before selecting the target relay terminal, and then select the target relay terminal according to the authorization information of each potential target relay terminal.

Optionally, receiving authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by the service network device of the potential target relay terminal includes:

sending a first request message to a service network device of the potential target relay terminal, wherein the first request message is used for requesting authorization information of the potential target relay terminal, and the first request message comprises an identification of the potential target relay terminal;

Specifically, in one embodiment, the first network device receives the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by the service network device of the potential target relay terminal, which may be the authorization information of the potential target relay terminals that is actively sent by the service network device of each potential target relay terminal to the first network device.

For example, other network devices having an Xn interface with the first network device may actively send authorization information of terminals under these network devices to the first network device through Xn signaling (which may be existing or newly defined Xn interface signaling, not limited herein). When the authorization information of the terminal is changed or a new terminal is accessed to the network devices, the network devices can inform the updated authorization information of the terminal to the first network device through Xn signaling.

In another embodiment, the first network device may request authorization information of each potential target relay terminal from the serving network device of the potential target relay terminal.

For example, the first network device selects one or more potential terminals that may become target relay terminals based on the measurement report, and then sends a first request message (which may be an existing or newly defined Xn interface signaling, not limited herein) to the service network devices of the potential target relay terminals, requests authorization information of the potential target relay terminals, and carries an identifier of the potential target relay terminals, such as a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers, in the first request message.

After the service network device of the potential target relay terminal receives the first request message sent by the first network device, the service network device of the potential target relay terminal can send the authorization information of the corresponding terminal to the first network device according to the identification of the potential target relay terminal carried in the first request message, and meanwhile carries the identification of the terminal corresponding to the authorization information, such as layer two identification or other terminal identifications.

Optionally, acquiring authorization information of the potential target relay terminal includes:

and receiving a measurement report sent by the remote terminal, wherein the measurement report comprises authorization information of the potential target relay terminal and one or more of an identification of the potential target relay terminal, a cell identification of the potential target relay terminal and signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the remote terminal.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the potential target relay terminal may send its own authorization information to the remote terminal in a discovery (discovery) process with the remote terminal, and when the remote terminal reports the measurement report to the first network device, the remote terminal may send the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal (or may send the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal) to the first network device together in the measurement report, so that the first network device may obtain the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal through the measurement report of the remote terminal. The measurement report may further include an identifier of the potential target relay terminal (such as a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers), a cell identifier where the potential target relay terminal is located (such as a global cell identifier (Cell Global Identifier, CGI)), signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the remote terminal, and the like.

Optionally, after obtaining the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal, performing a handover procedure according to the authorization information, including:

Specifically, after the first network device obtains the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal, an appropriate target relay terminal can be selected according to the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal and the measurement report reported by the remote terminal, and then a handover request is initiated to the service network device (i.e. the target network device) of the selected target relay terminal, and the subsequent handover procedure is completed. For example, after receiving a handover request acknowledgement message sent by the target network device, the first network device performs reconfiguration on the remote terminal if the handover request acknowledgement message carries an RRC reconfiguration message for the remote terminal. For example, if a handover preparation failure message sent by the target network device is subsequently received, the first network device determines a subsequent handover procedure according to a specific cause of the handover failure.

Optionally, acquiring authorization information of the target relay terminal includes:

And receiving a handover preparation failure message sent by the target network equipment, wherein the handover preparation failure message comprises a reason field, and the reason field is used for indicating that the reason of the handover failure is that the target relay terminal is not authorized to serve as the relay terminal.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the first network device may first select a target relay terminal according to a measurement report reported by the remote terminal, initiate a handover request to a serving network device (i.e., a target network device) of the target relay terminal, after the target network device receives the handover request, in a case where it is determined that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, the target network device may send a handover preparation failure message to the first network device, and include a cause field (such as a cause value of "unauthorized") in the handover preparation failure message, where the cause field is used to indicate that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal for the handover failure, so that after the first network device receives the handover preparation failure message, it may learn that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, and may not connect the remote terminal to the terminal that is not authorized any more.

Fig. 8 is a second flowchart of a handover method according to an embodiment of the present application, where the method is applied to a second network device, as shown in fig. 8, and the method includes the following steps:

step 800, transmitting authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device, where the authorization information is used to indicate whether the first terminal is authorized to be used as a relay terminal, and the first terminal is one or more terminals under the second network device.

In particular, the first network device may be a source network device, such as a source base station, switching the scenario. The second network device may be a network device that establishes an Xn interface connection with the first network device, which in a handover scenario is a potential target network device or target network device.

In this embodiment of the present application, the second network device may send, to the first network device, authorization information of a terminal under the second network device, where the authorization information refers to information that may indicate whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal, and may also be understood as that the terminal is authorized to perform a relay service.

Optionally, the authorization information of the first terminal may include one or more of the following:

(1) The first terminal is authorized or unauthorized as a Relay terminal for proximity services Layer three Relay (ProSe Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay).

For example, the authorization information of one or more terminals sent by the second network device may be authorization information specifically indicating, for a single terminal, whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer three relay, where the authorization information of different terminals may be distinguished by different terminal identifiers, and the terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

(2) The first terminal is authorized or unauthorized as a Relay terminal for a proximity services Layer two Relay (ProSe Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay).

For example, the authorization information of one or more terminals sent by the second network device may be authorization information specifically indicating, for a single terminal, whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer two relay, where the authorization information of different terminals may be distinguished by different terminal identifiers, and the terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

(3) Authorized relay terminal identification.

For example, the authorization information of one or more terminals sent by the second network device may be authorized relay terminal identifiers, that is, the terminals corresponding to the terminal identifiers are all authorized terminals serving as relay terminals, so that the first network device may learn, through the terminal identifiers, which terminals are authorized terminals, and may preferentially select, in a subsequent handover procedure, the terminals as relay terminals. The terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

(4) An authorized public land mobile network list (authorized PLMN list) of the first terminal.

For example, the authorization information of one or more terminals sent by the second network device may be an authorized public land mobile network list specifically indicating the terminal for a single terminal, and the authorized public land mobile network lists of different terminals may be distinguished by different terminal identifiers, where the terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

(5) The reason field included in the handover preparation failure message is used to indicate that the reason for the handover failure is that the first terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal.

In this case, after the second network device receives the handover request initiated by the first network device, it is determined that the target relay terminal of the handover is not authorized as a relay terminal, and then a handover preparation failure message is sent to the first network device, and a reason field (such as a reason value of "unauthorized") is included in the message, which indicates that the reason for the handover failure is that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, so that the first network device can learn that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal according to the reason field in the handover preparation failure message replied by the second network device.

According to the switching method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the second network equipment can send the authorization information of the terminal under the second network equipment to the first network equipment, so that the first network equipment can execute a switching process by combining the acquired authorization information of the terminal after acquiring the authorization information of the terminal, various decisions in the switching process can be more optimized, switching failure caused by the fact that the authorization information of the terminal cannot be acquired is reduced, and the success rate of switching is improved.

Optionally, sending authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device includes:

receiving a first request message sent by first network equipment, wherein the first request message is used for requesting authorization information of a first terminal, and the first request message comprises an identifier of the first terminal;

Specifically, in one implementation, the second network device sends the authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device, which may be that the second network device actively sends the authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device.

For example, the second network device may actively send authorization information of the terminal under the second network device to the first network device through Xn signaling (which may be existing or newly defined Xn interface signaling, not limited herein). When the authorization information of the terminal is changed or a new terminal is accessed to the second network device, the second network device can inform the updated authorization information of the terminal to the first network device through Xn signaling.

In another embodiment, the second network device may send the authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device based on the first request message sent by the first network device.

For example, the first network device selects one or more potential terminals that may become target relay terminals based on the measurement report, and then sends a first request message (which may be an existing or newly defined Xn interface signaling, not limited herein) to the service network devices (i.e., the second network device) of the potential target relay terminals, requests authorization information of the potential target relay terminals, and carries an identifier of the potential target relay terminals, such as a layer two identifier or other terminal identifier, in the first request message.

After receiving the request of the first network device, the second network device may send the authorization information of the corresponding terminal to the first network device according to the identifier of the potential target relay terminal carried in the first request message, and meanwhile, carry the identifier of the terminal corresponding to the authorization information, such as the layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

In the case that the first terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, a handover preparation failure message is sent to the first network device, the handover preparation failure message including a cause field for indicating that the reason for the handover failure is that the first terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the first network device may first select a target relay terminal according to a measurement report reported by the remote terminal, initiate a handover request to a serving network device (i.e., a second network device) of the target relay terminal, after the second network device receives the handover request message and carries an identifier (such as a layer two identifier or other terminal identifier) of the target relay terminal, in the case that it is determined that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, the second network device may send a handover preparation failure message to the first network device, and include a cause field (such as a cause value of "unauthorized") in the handover preparation failure message, where the cause field is used to indicate that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, so that after the first network device receives the handover preparation failure message, it may be known that the target relay terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal, and may not connect the remote terminal to the terminal that is not authorized.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and under the condition that the target relay terminal is authorized to serve as the relay terminal, sending a switching request confirmation message to the first network equipment, wherein the switching request confirmation message comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration information of the remote terminal, and sending the RRC reconfiguration message to the target relay terminal.

Specifically, the first network device selects a target relay terminal, initiates a handover request to a service network device (i.e., a second network device) of the target relay terminal, after the second network device receives the handover request message and carries an identifier (such as a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers) of the target relay terminal, if the second network device determines that the target relay terminal is authorized to be used as a relay terminal, the second network device may send a handover request acknowledgement message to the first network device if the second network device receives the handover, and the handover request acknowledgement message carries RRC reconfiguration information of a remote terminal, so that the first network device performs RRC reconfiguration on the remote terminal, and the second network device may send an RRC reconfiguration message to the target relay terminal to perform RRC reconfiguration on the target relay terminal.

The RRC reconfiguration information or RRC reconfiguration message may include one or more of configuration mapping (e.g., mapping between bearers and radio link control (Radio Link Control, RLC) channels), uu RLC channels, PC5 RLC channels, and local identification (local ID) of the remote terminal.

the centralized unit of the second network device sends an F1 message to the distributed units of the second network device, the F1 message being used to reconfigure the distributed units of the second network device.

Specifically, for a scenario in which a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) of a network device are separated, if it is determined that a target relay terminal is authorized as a relay terminal, if a serving network device (second network device) of the target relay terminal receives the handover, the CU of the second network device may also send an F1 message to the DU of the second network device for reconfiguration of the DU. The F1 message may include one or more of configuration map, uu RLC channel, PC5 RLC channel, local identity of the remote terminal.

Fig. 9 is a third flowchart of a handover method according to an embodiment of the present application, where the method is applied to a remote terminal, as shown in fig. 9, and the method includes the following steps:

Step 900, receiving authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by the potential target relay terminal.

Step 901, sending a measurement report to a first network device, where the measurement report includes authorization information of a potential target relay terminal and one or more of an identifier of the potential target relay terminal, a cell identifier where the potential target relay terminal is located, and signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and a remote terminal.

In this embodiment of the present application, the potential target relay terminal may send its own authorization information to the remote terminal in the discovery (discovery) process with the remote terminal, optionally, the potential target relay terminal may send its own terminal identifier (such as a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers) to the remote terminal when sending the authorization information, and of course, the potential target relay terminal may only send the authorization information, and the remote terminal may learn the terminal identifier of the connected potential target relay terminal.

Then, when the remote terminal reports the measurement report to the first network device, the remote terminal may send the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal (or may be one or more) to the first network device together in the measurement report, so that the first network device may obtain the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal through the measurement report of the remote terminal. The measurement report may further include an identifier of the potential target relay terminal (e.g., layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers), a cell identifier where the potential target relay terminal is located (e.g., CGI), signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the remote terminal, and so on.

Optionally, the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal may include one or more of the following:

(1) The potential target Relay terminal is authorized or unauthorized as a Relay terminal for proximity services Layer three Relay (ProSe Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay).

For example, the potential target relay terminal may transmit information about whether itself is authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer three relay to the remote terminal so that the remote terminal knows the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal.

In addition, the authorization information of one or more terminals included in the measurement report may be authorization information specifically indicating, for a single terminal, whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer three relay, and the authorization information of different terminals may be distinguished by different terminal identifiers, where the terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

(2) The potential target Relay terminal is authorized or unauthorized as a Relay terminal for proximity service Layer two Relay (ProSe Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay).

For example, the potential target relay terminal may transmit information about whether itself is authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer two relay to the remote terminal so that the remote terminal knows the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal.

In addition, the authorization information of one or more terminals included in the measurement report may be authorization information specifically indicating, for a single terminal, whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal adjacent to the service layer two relay, and the authorization information of different terminals may be distinguished by different terminal identifiers, where the terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

(3) Authorized relay terminal identification.

For example, the authorization information of one or more terminals included in the measurement report may be authorized relay terminal identifiers, that is, the terminals corresponding to the terminal identifiers are all authorized terminals serving as relay terminals, and the first network device may learn, through the terminal identifiers, which terminals are authorized terminals, and may preferably select, in a subsequent handover procedure, the terminals as relay terminals. The terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

(4) An authorized public land mobile network list (authorized PLMN list) of potential target relay terminals.

For example, the potential target relay terminal may send its own list of authorized public land mobile networks to the remote terminal so that the remote terminal sends the list to the first network device.

The authorization information of one or more terminals included in the measurement report may be an authorized public land mobile network list specifically indicating the terminal for a single terminal, and the authorized public land mobile network lists of different terminals may be distinguished by different terminal identifiers, where the terminal identifier may be a layer two identifier or other terminal identifiers.

According to the switching method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the remote terminal can send the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal to the first network equipment together in the measurement report, so that the first network equipment can execute a switching process by combining the acquired authorization information of the terminal after acquiring the authorization information of the terminal, various decisions in the switching process can be more optimized, switching failure caused by the fact that the authorization information of the terminal cannot be acquired is reduced, and the success rate of switching is improved.

The methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are based on the same application conception, so that the implementation of each method may be referred to each other, and the repetition is not repeated.

The following illustrates the method provided in each of the foregoing embodiments of the present application by an embodiment of a specific application scenario.

Embodiment one: the source base station obtains authorization information of the potential target relay terminal through Xn signaling interaction before switching triggering, wherein the authorization information is sent by the service base station of the potential target relay terminal based on the request of the source base station.

The remote terminal reports the measurement report to the source base station, wherein the measurement report carries the L2 ID of the potential target relay terminal, the cell identifier CGI where the potential target relay terminal is located, the signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the remote terminal, and the like.

The source base station selects one or more potential terminals that may become target relay terminals based on the measurement reports.

The source base station sends Xn interface signaling: such as an Xn SETUP REQUEST (Xn SETUP REQUEST), NG-RAN node configuration update acknowledgement (NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE), search terminal context response (RETRIEVE UE CONTEXT RESPONSE), or a new signaling, to the potential target base station where one or more potential target relay terminals are located, where the Xn interface signaling carries the L2 ID of the potential target relay terminal.

The potential target base station where the one or more potential target relay terminals are located indicates, through the core network, that authorization information of the potential target relay terminals is obtained, where the specific authorization information may include one or more of the following three types: the 5G neighbor serving Layer three terminal to Network device Relay (5G ProSe Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay) is authorized or not, the 5G neighbor serving Layer two terminal to Network device Relay (5G ProSe Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay) is authorized or not, and the public land mobile Network list is authorized (authorized PLMN list).

According to the request of the source base station, the potential target base station where the potential target relay terminal is located signals through an Xn interface: an Xn setup response (XN SETUP RESPONSE), NG-RAN node configuration update (NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE), search terminal context request (RETRIEVE UE CONTEXT REQUEST) or a new signaling, replying to the authorization information of the source base station potential target relay terminal.

The source base station determines a target relay terminal according to the measurement report and authorization information of the potential target relay terminal, and sends a switching request message to a target base station where the target relay terminal is located through an Xn switching request (Xn handover request), wherein the switching request message carries an L2 ID of the target relay terminal and a target cell identifier (target CGI). The target base station receives the handover, replies a handover request acknowledgement (handover request ACK) message to the source base station, wherein the RRC reconfiguration related information is carried to the remote terminal.

And then, the target base station performs RRC reconfiguration on the target relay terminal, and for CU/DU separation scenes, CU of the target base station performs reconfiguration on DU of the target base station through F1 signaling. The source base station performs RRC reconfiguration on the remote terminal, the remote terminal triggers the establishment of PC5 connection with the target relay terminal, and then the RRC reconfiguration completion message of the remote terminal is sent to the target base station through the target relay terminal. The message of the reconfiguration (RRC reconfiguration of the target relay terminal by the target base station, DU reconfiguration of the target base station by the CU of the target base station, and reconfiguration of the remote terminal by the target base station) may include one or more of mapping (mapping), uu RLC channel, PC5 RLC channel, and local (local) ID of the remote terminal.

The above mentioned authorization information of the potential target Relay terminal sent by the potential target base station to the source base station may be of an enumerated type, such as information about whether a certain potential target Relay terminal is authorized (5G ProSe Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay is authorized or not authorized, 5G ProSe Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay is authorized or not authorized), possibly carrying the L2 ID of the potential target Relay terminal; the potential target base station can only reply the L2 ID of the authorized potential target relay terminal, and the potential target relay terminal without replying the L2 ID represents that the potential target relay terminal is not authorized; the authorization information may also be authorized PLMN list of each potential target relay terminal, where the source base station compares authorized PLMN list received potential target relay terminals with PLMN lists supported by the potential target base station, where the list has an intersection indicating that the potential target relay terminals are authorized, and where the PLMN lists supported by the potential target base station may be obtained by the source base station during an Xn interface establishment or NG-RAN configuration update with the source base station.

Embodiment two: and the source base station acquires the authorization information of the target relay terminal through the reason value after the switching trigger.

The remote terminal reports the measurement report to the source base station, wherein the measurement report carries the L2 ID of the potential target relay terminal, the cell identifier CGI of the potential target relay terminal, the signal quality information between the potential target relay terminal and the PC5 port between the remote terminals, and the like.

And the source base station selects a target relay terminal according to the measurement report sent by the remote terminal.

The source base station triggers a switching flow, and initiates an Xn switching request which contains the L2 ID of the target relay terminal.

The target base station receives the L2 ID of the target relay terminal, the target base station determines whether the target relay terminal is authorized, and the target base station determines whether the target relay terminal is authorized or not according to authorization information of the terminal indicated by the core network, wherein the specific authorization information may include one or more of the following three types: the 5G proximity services Layer three terminal to Network device Relay (5G ProSe Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay) is authorized or not, the 5G proximity services Layer two terminal to Network device Relay (5G ProSe Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay) is authorized or not, and the public land mobile Network list is authorized (authorized PLMN list).

If the target relay terminal is not authorized, the target base station replies with a handover preparation failure (handover preparation failure) message carrying a cause value indicating that the target relay terminal is not authorized. This allows the source base station to know the exact reason why the handover was denied, and the source base station may record this information and subsequently not want to connect the remote terminal to this unauthorized relay terminal.

If the target relay terminal is authorized, the target base station replies with a handover request confirm (handover request ACK) message to the source base station, wherein the RRC reconfiguration related information is carried to the remote terminal.

And the target base station performs RRC reconfiguration on the target relay terminal, and for CU/DU separation scenes, CU of the target base station performs reconfiguration on DU of the target base station through F1 signaling. The source base station performs RRC reconfiguration on the remote terminal, the remote terminal triggers the establishment of PC5 connection with the target relay terminal, and then the RRC reconfiguration completion message of the remote terminal is sent to the target base station through the target relay terminal. The message of the reconfiguration (RRC reconfiguration of the target relay terminal by the target base station, DU reconfiguration of the target base station by the CU of the target base station, and reconfiguration of the remote terminal by the target base station) may include one or more of mapping (mapping), uu RLC channel, PC5 RLC channel, and local (local) ID of the remote terminal.

Embodiment III: before the switching trigger, the source base station reports the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal through the remote terminal by the potential target relay terminal.

The potential target relay terminal tells the remote terminal about the authorization information (the relay terminal knows the own authorization information naturally) in the discovery (discovery) process with the remote terminal, and the authorization information is written in a subscriber identity module (Subscriber Identity Module, SIM) card.

In the measurement report, the remote terminal reports the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal, the L2 ID of the potential target relay terminal, the cell identifier CGI of the potential target relay terminal, the signal quality information of the PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the remote terminal, and the like to the source base station.

The source base station obtains authorization information of the potential target relay terminal.

The source base station determines a target relay terminal according to the measurement report, initiates an Xn handover request (Xn handover request) to the target base station where the target relay terminal is located, and includes the L2 ID of the target relay terminal, and this process can implement secondary verification, because the authorization information provided to the source base station by the target relay terminal through the remote terminal is not necessarily true, and may be tampered with. After receiving the handover request, the target base station replies to the handover preparation failure (handover preparation failure) message, carrying a cause value, indicating that the target relay terminal is not authorized, if the target relay terminal is not authorized. The method reduces the likelihood of some handover being rejected by the target base station compared to the embodiment.

If the target relay terminal is authorized, the target base station replies with a handover request confirm (handover request ACK) message, wherein the RRC reconfiguration related information is carried to the remote terminal.

The above mentioned authorization information of the potential target Relay terminal sent by the remote terminal to the source base station may be of an enumerated type, such as information about whether a certain potential target Relay terminal is authorized (5G ProSe Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay is authorized or not authorized, 5G ProSe Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay is authorized or not authorized), possibly carrying the L2 ID of the potential target Relay terminal; the L2 ID of the potential target relay terminal that is not transmitting the L2 ID may also be transmitted, and the potential target relay terminal that is not transmitting the L2 ID represents that it is not authorized; the authorization information may also be authorized PLMN list of each potential target relay terminal, where the source base station compares authorized PLMN list received potential target relay terminals with PLMN lists supported by the serving base station (potential target base station) of the potential target relay terminals, where the list has an intersection indicating that the potential target relay terminals are authorized, and the PLMN lists supported by the potential target base station may be obtained by the source base station during an Xn interface establishment or NG-RAN configuration update with the source base station.

Embodiment four: the source base station obtains authorization information of the potential target relay terminal through Xn signaling before switching triggering, and the authorization information is actively sent by the potential target base station.

And the potential target base station with the Xn interface with the source base station actively transmits authorization information of a terminal below the potential target base station to the source base station through Xn interface signaling. The target base station obtains the authorization information according to the indication of the core network, and the specific authorization information may include one or more of the following three types: the 5G proximity services Layer three terminal to Network device Relay (5G ProSe Layer-3UE-to-Network Relay) is authorized or not, the 5G proximity services Layer two terminal to Network device Relay (5G ProSe Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay) is authorized or not, and public land mobile Network list is authorized (authorized PLMN list).

The potential target base station sends authorization information of the potential target relay terminal to the source base station typically before the source side handover trigger. When the authorization information of the terminal is changed or a new terminal is accessed to the potential target base station, the potential target base station can also inform the source base station through Xn interface signaling.

When the source base station receives the measurement report sent by the remote terminal, the target relay terminal is determined by combining the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal received before, and a handover request is sent to the target base station where the target relay terminal is located through an Xn handover request (Xn handover request), wherein the handover request carries the L2 ID of the target relay terminal and a target cell identifier (target CGI). The target base station receives the handover, replies a handover request acknowledgement (handover request ACK) message to the source base station, wherein the RRC reconfiguration related information is carried to the remote terminal.

The above mentioned authorization information of the potential target Relay terminal sent by the potential target base station to the source base station may be of an enumerated type, such as information about whether a certain potential target Relay terminal is authorized (5G ProSe Layer-2 UE-to-Network Relay is authorized or not authorized, 5G ProSe Layer-3 UE-to-Network Relay is authorized or not authorized), possibly carrying the L2 ID of the potential target Relay terminal; the L2 ID of the potential target relay terminal that is not transmitting the L2 ID may also be transmitted, and the potential target relay terminal that is not transmitting the L2 ID represents that it is not authorized; the authorization information may also be authorized PLMN list of each potential target relay terminal, where the source base station compares authorized PLMN list received potential target relay terminals with PLMN lists supported by the serving base station (potential target base station) of the potential target relay terminals, where the list has an intersection indicating that the potential target relay terminals are authorized, and the PLMN lists supported by the potential target base station may be obtained by the source base station during an Xn interface establishment or NG-RAN configuration update with the source base station.

The method and the device provided in the embodiments of the present application are based on the same application conception, and since the principles of solving the problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other, and the repetition is not repeated.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a first network device according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 10, where the first network device includes a memory 1020, a transceiver 1010, and a processor 1000; wherein the processor 1000 and the memory 1020 may also be physically separate.

A memory 1020 for storing a computer program; a transceiver 1010 for transceiving data under the control of the processor 1000.

In particular, the transceiver 1010 is used to receive and transmit data under the control of the processor 1000.

Wherein in fig. 10, a bus architecture may comprise any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and in particular one or more processors represented by the processor 1000 and various circuits of the memory, represented by the memory 1020, are chained together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1010 may be a number of elements, i.e., including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over transmission media, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical cables, and the like.

The processor 1000 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1020 may store data used by the processor 1000 in performing operations.

Processor 1000 may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a Field programmable gate array (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or a complex programmable logic device (Complex Programmable Logic Device, CPLD), or the processor may employ a multi-core architecture.

Processor 1000 is operable to perform any of the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application, for example, by invoking a computer program stored in memory 1020, in accordance with the obtained executable instructions: acquiring authorization information of a terminal, wherein the authorization information is used for indicating whether the terminal is authorized to serve as a relay terminal; and executing a switching flow according to the authorization information.

Optionally, acquiring authorization information of the terminal includes:

an authorized relay terminal identification;

a list of authorized public land mobile networks for the terminal;

the reason field included in the handover preparation failure message is used to indicate that the reason for the handover failure is that the terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a second network device according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 11, where the second network device includes a memory 1120, a transceiver 1110, and a processor 1100; the processor 1100 and the memory 1120 may also be physically separated.

A memory 1120 for storing a computer program; a transceiver 1110 for transceiving data under the control of the processor 1100.

In particular, the transceiver 1110 is configured to receive and transmit data under the control of the processor 1100.

Wherein in fig. 11, a bus architecture may comprise any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and in particular one or more processors represented by processor 1100 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 1120, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1110 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical cables, and the like.

The processor 1100 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1120 may store data used by the processor 1100 in performing operations.

The processor 1100 may be a CPU, ASIC, FPGA or CPLD, or the processor may employ a multi-core architecture.

The processor 1100 is configured to execute any of the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application according to the obtained executable instructions by calling a computer program stored in the memory 1120, for example: and sending authorization information of the first terminal to the first network equipment, wherein the authorization information is used for indicating whether the first terminal is authorized to serve as a relay terminal, and the first terminal is one or more terminals under the second network equipment.

Optionally, the authorization information of the first terminal includes one or more of:

an authorized relay terminal identification;

An authorized public land mobile network list of the first terminal;

the reason field included in the handover preparation failure message is used to indicate that the reason for the handover failure is that the first terminal is not authorized as a relay terminal.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a remote terminal according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 12, the remote terminal includes a memory 1220, a transceiver 1210 and a processor 1200; wherein processor 1200 and memory 1220 may also be physically separate.

A memory 1220 for storing a computer program; a transceiver 1210 for transceiving data under the control of the processor 1200.

In particular, the transceiver 1210 is configured to receive and transmit data under the control of the processor 1200.

Wherein in fig. 12, a bus architecture may comprise any number of interconnected buses and bridges, and in particular, one or more processors represented by processor 1200 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 1220, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1210 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over transmission media, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical cables, and the like. The user interface 1230 may also be an interface capable of interfacing with an inscribed desired device for a different user device, including but not limited to a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc.

The processor 1200 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1220 may store data used by the processor 1200 in performing operations.

The processor 1200 may be a CPU, ASIC, FPGA or CPLD, and the processor may also employ a multi-core architecture.

Processor 1200 is configured to execute any of the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application according to the obtained executable instructions by calling a computer program stored in memory 1220, for example: receiving authorization information of a potential target relay terminal sent by the potential target relay terminal; and sending a measurement report to the first network equipment, wherein the measurement report comprises authorization information of the potential target relay terminal and one or more of an identification of the potential target relay terminal, a cell identification of the potential target relay terminal and signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the remote terminal.

Optionally, the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal includes one or more of:

an authorized relay terminal identification;

It should be noted that, the first network device, the second network device and the remote terminal provided in the embodiments of the present application can implement all the method steps implemented in the embodiments of the present application, and can achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the embodiments of the present application are omitted herein.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus is applied to a first network device, as shown in fig. 13, and the apparatus includes:

an acquiring unit 1300 configured to acquire authorization information of a terminal, the authorization information being used to indicate whether the terminal is authorized as a relay terminal;

and a switching unit 1310 for executing a switching process according to the authorization information.

Optionally, acquiring authorization information of the terminal includes:

an authorized relay terminal identification;

a list of authorized public land mobile networks for the terminal;

Fig. 14 is a second schematic structural diagram of a switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application, where the switching apparatus is applied to a second network device, as shown in fig. 14, and the switching apparatus includes:

the first sending unit 1400 is configured to send, to the first network device, authorization information of the first terminal, where the authorization information is used to indicate whether the first terminal is authorized to be used as a relay terminal, and the first terminal is one or more terminals under the second network device.

an authorized relay terminal identification;

an authorized public land mobile network list of the first terminal;

Optionally, the first sending unit 1400 is further configured to:

Optionally, in case the centralized unit and the distributed unit of the second network device are separated, the first sending unit 1400 is further configured to:

Fig. 15 is a third schematic structural diagram of a switching device according to an embodiment of the present application, where the switching device is applied to a remote terminal, as shown in fig. 15, and the switching device includes:

a receiving unit 1500, configured to receive authorization information of a potential target relay terminal sent by the potential target relay terminal;

the second sending unit 1510 is configured to send a measurement report to the first network device, where the measurement report includes authorization information of the potential target relay terminal, and one or more of an identifier of the potential target relay terminal, a cell identifier where the potential target relay terminal is located, and signal quality information of a PC5 port between the potential target relay terminal and the remote terminal.

an authorized relay terminal identification;

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the units is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual practice. In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in software functional units.

The integrated units, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as stand-alone products, may be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied in essence or a part contributing to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor (processor) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

It should be noted that, the above device provided in this embodiment of the present application can implement all the method steps implemented in the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted.

In another aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a computer to execute the handover method provided in the above embodiments.

It should be noted that, the computer readable storage medium provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in the embodiment are omitted herein.

The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by a computer, including, but not limited to, magnetic storage (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical storage (e.g., CD, DVD, BD, HVD, etc.), and semiconductor storage (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, nonvolatile storage (NAND FLASH), solid State Disk (SSD)), etc.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be suitable for various systems, in particular to a 5G system. For example, suitable systems may be global system for mobile communications (global system of mobile communication, GSM), code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) universal packet Radio service (general packet Radio service, GPRS), long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE), LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD), LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), long term evolution-advanced (long term evolution advanced, LTE-a), universal mobile system (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX), 5G New air interface (New Radio, NR), and the like. Terminal devices and network devices are included in these various systems. Core network parts such as evolved packet system (Evloved Packet System, EPS), 5G system (5 GS) etc. may also be included in the system.

The terminal according to the embodiments of the present application may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, etc. The names of terminals may also be different in different systems, for example in a 5G system, a terminal may be referred to as User Equipment (UE). The wireless terminal device may communicate with one or more Core Networks (CNs) via a radio access Network (Radio Access Network, RAN), which may be mobile terminal devices such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, e.g., portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and/or data with the radio access Network. Such as personal communication services (Personal Communication Service, PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (Session Initiated Protocol, SIP) phones, wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (Personal Digital Assistant, PDAs), and the like. The wireless terminal device may also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit (subscriber unit), subscriber station (subscriber station), mobile station (mobile), remote station (remote station), access point (access point), remote terminal device (remote terminal), access terminal device (access terminal), user terminal device (user terminal), user agent (user agent), user equipment (user device), and the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

The network device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a base station, where the base station may include a plurality of cells for providing services for a terminal. A base station may also be called an access point or may be a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with wireless terminal devices, or other names, depending on the particular application. The network device may be operable to exchange received air frames with internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) packets as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, which may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network device may also coordinate attribute management for the air interface. For example, the network device according to the embodiments of the present application may be a network device (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (Global System for Mobile communications, GSM) or code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA), a network device (NodeB) in a wideband code division multiple access (Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA), an evolved network device (evolutional Node B, eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a 5G network architecture (next generation system), a home evolved base station (Home evolved Node B, heNB), a relay node (relay node), a home base station (femto), a pico base station (pico), and the like. In some network structures, the network device may include a Centralized Unit (CU) node and a Distributed Unit (DU) node, which may also be geographically separated.

Multiple-input Multiple-output (Multi Input Multi Output, MIMO) transmissions, which may be Single-User MIMO (SU-MIMO) or Multiple-User MIMO (MU-MIMO), may each be performed between a network device and a terminal using one or more antennas. The MIMO transmission may be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO, or may be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, beamforming transmission, or the like, depending on the form and number of the root antenna combinations.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, magnetic disk storage, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These processor-executable instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present application without departing from the spirit or scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims and the equivalents thereof, the present application is intended to cover such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method of handover, applied to a first network device, comprising:

and executing a switching flow according to the authorization information.

2. The handover method according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring authorization information of the terminal includes:

3. The handover method according to claim 2, wherein the acquiring authorization information of the potential target relay terminal includes:

4. The handover method according to claim 3, wherein the receiving the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by the serving network device of the potential target relay terminal includes:

5. The handover method according to claim 2, wherein the acquiring authorization information of the potential target relay terminal includes:

6. The handover method according to claim 2, wherein the acquiring the authorization information of the target relay terminal includes:

7. The handover method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the authorization information of the terminal includes one or more of:

an authorized relay terminal identification;

a list of authorized public land mobile networks for the terminal;

8. The handover method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein after obtaining authorization information of the potential target relay terminal, the performing a handover procedure according to the authorization information includes:

9. A method of handover, applied to a second network device, comprising:

10. The handover method according to claim 9, wherein the transmitting the authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device includes:

11. The handover method according to claim 9, wherein the transmitting the authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device includes:

12. The handover method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the authorization information of the first terminal includes one or more of:

an authorized relay terminal identification;

an authorized public land mobile network list of the first terminal;

13. The handover method according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

14. The handover method according to claim 13, wherein in case the centralized unit and the distributed unit of the second network device are separated, the method further comprises:

15. A handover method, applied to a remote terminal, comprising:

16. The handover method according to claim 15, wherein the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal includes one or more of:

an authorized relay terminal identification;

17. A first network device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

and executing a switching flow according to the authorization information.

18. The first network device of claim 17, wherein the acquiring authorization information of the terminal comprises:

19. The first network device of claim 18, wherein the obtaining authorization information for the potential target relay terminal comprises:

20. The first network device of claim 19, wherein the receiving the authorization information of the potential target relay terminal sent by the serving network device of the potential target relay terminal comprises:

21. The first network device of claim 18, wherein the obtaining authorization information for the potential target relay terminal comprises:

22. The first network device of claim 18, wherein the obtaining authorization information of the target relay terminal comprises:

23. A second network device comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

24. The second network device according to claim 23, wherein the transmitting the authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device comprises:

25. The second network device according to claim 23, wherein the transmitting the authorization information of the first terminal to the first network device comprises:

26. A remote terminal, comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor;

27. A switching apparatus, for use with a first network device, comprising:

28. A switching apparatus, for use with a second network device, comprising:

29. A switching device, for use in a remote terminal, comprising:

30. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium stores a computer program for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, or to perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 14, or to perform the method of any one of claims 15 to 16.