CN117729569A

CN117729569A - Timing advance management method, apparatus, storage medium, and product

Info

Publication number: CN117729569A
Application number: CN202410175844.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘旭
Original assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Current assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Priority date: 2024-02-08
Filing date: 2024-02-08
Publication date: 2024-03-19
Anticipated expiration: 2044-02-08
Also published as: CN117729569B

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a timing advance management method, equipment, a storage medium and a product, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: receiving first indication information sent by first network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating equipment for effectively managing the timing advance TA of a candidate cell; the equipment for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is terminal equipment or first network equipment or second network equipment; the candidate cells are one or more; and if the equipment for carrying out the validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the terminal equipment, carrying out the validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information. Therefore, the method and the device realize the effective management of the TA selectively through the terminal equipment or the first network equipment or the second network equipment, and improve the flexibility of TA management.

Description

Timing advance management method, apparatus, storage medium, and product

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a timing advance management method, apparatus, storage medium, and product.

Background

With the continuous development of communication technology, various mobility management methods have emerged. One such mobility management mechanism is the LTM (Layer 1/2 triggeredmobility) mechanism. In the LTM mechanism, before triggering cell change, in order to ensure uplink synchronization between the terminal and the candidate cell, the terminal is triggered to acquire the Timing Advance of the candidate cell, and needs to manage the validity of the Timing Advance (TA for short).

At present, when the validity of the TA is managed, the TA is generally managed by a network device, so that the mobility of TA management is poor.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a timing advance management method, equipment, a storage medium and a product, which are applied to the technical field of communication and are used for realizing the effective management of TA selectively through terminal equipment or source cell network equipment or candidate cell network equipment when the effective of TA is managed, so that the flexibility of TA management is improved.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a timing advance management method, which may be performed by a terminal device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) configured in the terminal device. The present application is not limited in this regard.

For example: the method comprises the following steps: receiving first indication information sent by first network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating equipment for effectively managing the timing advance TA of a candidate cell; the device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is a terminal device or a first network device or a second network device; candidate cells are one or more; and if the equipment for carrying out the validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the terminal equipment, carrying out the validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information. The first network device is a source cell network device, and the second network device is a candidate cell network device.

Therefore, the timing advance management method provided by the embodiment of the application provides three ways of effectively managing the TAs of one or more candidate cells, namely, effectively managing the TAs based on the terminal device or the first network device or the second network device. Therefore, the terminal device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell by receiving the first indication information sent by the first network device and when determining that the validity management of the TA by the terminal device is indicated in the first indication information. The management is not limited to the network equipment, so that the flexibility of TA management is improved.

Optionally, the method further comprises: receiving second indication information sent by the first network equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether a contention-free random access (CFRA) process comprises a Random Access Response (RAR); sending a CFRA request to the second network device, wherein the CFRA request is used for indicating the second network device to acquire the TA of the corresponding candidate cell; if the second indication information indicates that the CFRA process comprises RAR, receiving RAR sent by the second network equipment, wherein the RAR comprises TA corresponding to the candidate cell;

or alternatively;

transmitting a CFRA request including an RAR to the second network device, the CFRA request including the RAR for indicating that the CFRA procedure includes the RAR; and receiving RAR sent by the second network equipment, wherein the RAR comprises TA corresponding to the candidate cell.

That is, the premise of validity management of the TA is that the terminal device obtains the TA first. The two methods are provided herein, so that the terminal equipment obtains the TA, the first method includes that the terminal equipment receives second indication information for indicating whether the CFRA process includes the RAR or not, and sends a CFRA request to the second network equipment according to the second indication information, when the second indication information indicates that the CFRA process includes the RAR, the RAR including the corresponding candidate cell TA sent by the second network equipment is received, and therefore the terminal equipment can successfully obtain the TA returned by the second network equipment by utilizing the RAR, and compared with sending a new instruction to obtain the TA, transmission resources are saved. Secondly, the terminal equipment sends the CFRA request comprising the RAR to the second network equipment by itself, so as to receive the RAR comprising the corresponding candidate cell TA sent by the second network equipment, thereby enabling the terminal equipment to send the CFRA request comprising the RAR by itself and improving the efficiency of acquiring the candidate cell TA.

On the basis, the application provides two methods for the terminal equipment to acquire the TA of the candidate cell, so that the flexibility of the terminal equipment in acquiring the TA is improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementation manners of the first aspect, a carrying manner of the first indication information and the second indication information may be: the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) scheduling instruction; or the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in an infinite resource control (RRC) reconfiguration signaling message; or, the first indication information is carried in a PDCCH instruction and the second indication information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message; alternatively, the first indication information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the second indication information is carried in a PDCCH order.

That is, four ways of carrying the first indication information and the second indication information are provided, so that flexibility of transmitting the first indication information and the second indication information is improved. Further, by carrying the first indication information and the second indication information in the PDCCH order or the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, or carrying the first indication information in the PDCCH order and the second indication information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, or carrying the first indication information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the second indication information in the PDCCH order, resource waste caused by additional transmission can be avoided.

On the basis, the application provides four methods for bearing the first indication information and the second indication information, and flexibility in transmitting the first indication information and the second indication information is improved.

It should be understood that the PDCCH order may also carry CFRA resources for the terminal device to initiate the CFRA procedure. The RRC reconfiguration signaling message may also carry candidate cell configuration information.

Optionally, the method further comprises: and receiving the first configuration information and the second configuration information sent by the first network equipment.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first configuration information includes a TA public valid duration and information exceeding a public valid duration TA failure of the candidate cell, or a TA private valid duration and information exceeding a private valid duration corresponding to TA failure of the candidate cell. And the second configuration information is a TA public update time length threshold value of the candidate cell or a TA private update time length threshold value of the corresponding candidate cell.

The TA public updating time length threshold value of the candidate cell is a value smaller than the public effective time length or a value smaller than the residual public effective time length; the remaining public effective duration is the difference value between the public effective duration and the timing time when the TA timer is started; the TA private update time length threshold value of the corresponding candidate cell is a value smaller than the private effective time length or a value smaller than the residual private effective time length, and the residual private effective time length is the difference value between the private effective time length and the timing time when the TA timer is started.

That is, before the validity management is performed on the TA of the candidate cell, the terminal device needs to acquire the first configuration information and the second configuration information with multiple collocations, so as to perform the validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the content included in the first configuration information and the second configuration information with multiple collocations, thereby improving the flexibility of the management of the terminal device.

Optionally, when the validity management is performed on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information, the method includes: starting a TA timer of the candidate cell to count time, and triggering to update the TA of the corresponding candidate cell if the counted time reaches a TA public update time threshold or a TA private update time threshold.

That is, the terminal device starts the TA timer of the candidate cell, so that the terminal device can trigger to update the TA of the corresponding candidate cell when the timing time reaches the TA public update time threshold or the TA private update time threshold, thereby improving the timeliness of updating the TA of the candidate cell.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, a carrying manner of the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be: the first configuration information and the second configuration information are carried in a downlink control channel scheduling PDCCH instruction; or the first configuration information and the second configuration information are carried in an infinite resource control (RRC) reconfiguration signaling message; or, the first configuration information is carried in a PDCCH order and the second configuration information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message; alternatively, the first configuration information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the second configuration information is carried in a PDCCH order.

That is, four ways of carrying the first configuration information and the second configuration information are provided, and flexibility of transmitting the first configuration information and the second configuration information is improved. Further, by carrying the first configuration information and the second configuration information in the PDCCH order or the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, or carrying the first configuration information in the PDCCH order and the second configuration information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, or carrying the first configuration information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the second configuration information in the PDCCH order, resource waste caused by additional transmission can be avoided.

On the basis, the application provides four methods for bearing the first configuration information and the second configuration information, and flexibility of transmitting the first configuration information and the second configuration information is improved.

Optionally, when triggering to update the corresponding candidate cell TA, the method includes: sending a CFRA request to the second network device, wherein the CFRA request is used for indicating the second network device to acquire the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell; receiving a CFRA response sent by the second network device, wherein the CFRA response comprises the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell; updating the corresponding candidate cell TA according to the current TA;

or, executing the current TA measurement process of the candidate cell and acquiring the current TA of the candidate cell; and updating the corresponding candidate cell TA according to the current TA.

That is, there are two methods for the terminal device to trigger the update of the corresponding candidate cell TA. Firstly, the terminal equipment acquires the current TA of the candidate cell by triggering the CFRA request, and updates the corresponding TA of the candidate cell according to the current TA, so that the current TA returned by the second network equipment can be successfully obtained, and compared with the current TA acquired by sending a new instruction, transmission resources are saved. Secondly, the terminal equipment measures the current TA by itself, and updates the TA of the corresponding candidate cell according to the current TA, so that the efficiency of acquiring the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved.

On the basis, the application provides two methods for triggering updating of the candidate cell TA, and improves the flexibility of effectively managing the candidate cell TA when managed by the terminal equipment.

Optionally, the method further comprises: receiving MAC CE signaling sent by first network equipment; if there is a valid target cell TA, or if there is no valid target cell TA and the MAC CE signaling includes a target cell TA value, sending a handover indication to a second network device corresponding to the target cell, where the handover indication is used to indicate handover to the target cell. And if the effective target cell TA does not exist and the MAC CE signaling does not comprise the target cell TA value, executing an uplink synchronization process with the target cell.

That is, the terminal device can directly perform handover to the target cell when it is determined that there is a valid target cell TA currently, or when there is no valid target cell TA but the target cell TA is included in the MAC CE signaling by receiving the MAC CE signaling. And can perform an uplink synchronization procedure including CFRA with the target cell when it is determined that there is currently no valid target cell TA and the target cell TA is not included in the MAC CE signaling, so as to obtain a valid target cell TA and thus perform handover. The terminal equipment can execute the switching of the target cell when the TA of the candidate cell is effectively managed, and the success rate of the switching is improved.

Optionally, the method further comprises: if the equipment for carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is first network equipment, third indication information is sent to the first network equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the TA or the TA value of the corresponding candidate cell is acquired; and if the equipment for carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the second network equipment, sending third indication information to the second network equipment.

That is, when the terminal device determines that the TA of the candidate cell is effectively managed by the first network device or the second network device, the first network device or the second network device needs to know the TA of the candidate cell. Therefore, the terminal device sends the TA value representing the candidate cell or the third indication information of the TA of the obtained corresponding candidate cell to the first network device or the second network device, so that the first network device or the second network device can effectively manage the TA of the candidate cell according to the TA value of the candidate cell or the TA of the obtained corresponding candidate cell.

In a second aspect, a timing advance management method is provided that may be performed by a first network device or may be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or circuit) configured in the first network device. The present application is not limited in this regard.

For example, the method includes: transmitting first indication information to a terminal device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating a device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of a candidate cell; the device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is a terminal device or a first network device or a second network device; candidate cells are one or more; if the equipment for carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the first network equipment, receiving third indication information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the TA or the TA value of the corresponding candidate cell is acquired; and carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information.

That is, the first indication information may be transmitted by the first network device to the terminal device, so that the terminal device may determine a device for validity management of the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information, thereby enabling the terminal device to transmit the third indication information to the first network device when it is determined that the TA is managed by the first network device. Therefore, the first network device can effectively manage the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information, so that the timing advance of a plurality of devices can be managed, and the management flexibility is improved.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first network device is a network device to which the source cell belongs. That is, the first network device is a source network device.

Optionally, the method further comprises: and sending second indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the contention-free random access (CFRA) process comprises Random Access Response (RAR).

That is, the first network device may trigger the CFRA procedure by sending the second indication information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device may smoothly obtain the TA returned by the second network device by using the RAR according to the second indication information, and compared with sending a new instruction to obtain the TA, transmission resources are saved.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, a carrying manner of the first indication information and the second indication information may be: the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) scheduling instruction; or the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in an infinite resource control (RRC) reconfiguration signaling message; or, the first indication information is carried in a PDCCH instruction and the second indication information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message; alternatively, the first indication information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the second indication information is carried in a PDCCH order.

Optionally, the method further comprises: and receiving the first configuration information and the second configuration information sent by the second network equipment.

That is, before the TA of the candidate cell is effectively managed, the first network device needs to acquire the first configuration information and the second configuration information with multiple collocations, so as to effectively manage the TA of the candidate cell according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information with multiple collocations. Thereby increasing the flexibility of the management of the first network device.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first configuration information includes a TA public valid duration and information exceeding a public valid duration TA failure of the candidate cell or a TA private valid duration and information exceeding a private valid duration corresponding to TA failure of the candidate cell. And the second configuration information is a TA public update time length threshold value of the candidate cell or a TA private update time length threshold value of the corresponding candidate cell.

Optionally, when the validity management is performed on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information, the method includes: starting a TA timer of the candidate cell to count time, and triggering to update the TA of the corresponding candidate cell if the counted time reaches a TA public update time threshold or a TA private update time threshold.

That is, by starting the TA timer of the candidate cell, the first network device may trigger to update the TA of the corresponding candidate cell when the timing time reaches the TA public update duration threshold or the TA private update duration threshold, so as to improve the timeliness of the first network device for updating the TA of the candidate cell.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, a manner of carrying the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be: the first configuration information and the second configuration information are carried in a single piece of independent signaling. Alternatively, the first configuration information is carried in one independent signaling and the second configuration information is carried in another independent signaling.

That is, two ways of carrying the first configuration information and the second configuration information are provided, and flexibility of transmitting the first configuration information and the second configuration information is improved. Further, the first configuration information and the second configuration information are carried in one independent signaling, so that resource waste caused by additional transmission can be avoided, or the first configuration information and the second configuration information are respectively carried in corresponding independent signaling, so that the efficiency of analyzing the first configuration information and the second configuration information can be improved.

On the basis, the application provides two types of transmission of the first configuration information and the second configuration information, and flexibility of the transmission of the first configuration information and the second configuration information is improved.

Optionally, when triggering to update the corresponding candidate cell TA, the method includes: transmitting a PDCCH instruction to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDCCH instruction comprises random access resource indication information; the random access resource indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the corresponding candidate cell current TA from the second network equipment through the CFRA request; and receiving fourth indication information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating that the TA of the corresponding candidate cell is updated or the updated TA value.

Or, sending a measurement instruction to the terminal equipment, wherein the measurement instruction is used for instructing the terminal equipment to execute the current TA measurement process of the candidate cell; and receiving fourth indication information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating that the TA of the corresponding candidate cell is updated or the updated TA value.

That is, there are two methods for the first network device to trigger the update of the corresponding candidate cell TA. Firstly, the first network device sends a PDCCH instruction triggering a CFRA request to the terminal device, so that the terminal device obtains the current TA of the candidate cell according to the PDCCH instruction, and the terminal device updates the corresponding TA of the candidate cell according to the current TA, so that the first network device can successfully obtain the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal device obtains the current TA returned by the second network device, and compared with the method that the terminal device obtains the latest TA of the candidate cell after sending the new instruction to obtain the current TA, transmission resources are saved, and timeliness of the first network device for obtaining the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved. The second method sends a measurement instruction to the terminal equipment so that the terminal equipment can automatically measure the current TA and update the corresponding candidate cell TA according to the current TA, so that the first network equipment can acquire the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal equipment automatically obtains the current TA, and the efficiency of the first network equipment in acquiring the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved.

On the basis, the application provides two ways of triggering the updating of the candidate cell TA, and improves the flexibility of updating the candidate cell TA when managed by the first network equipment.

Optionally, the method further comprises: if the effective target cell TA exists, carrying the target cell TA value in the MAC CE signaling; transmitting the MAC CE signaling to the terminal equipment; the MAC CE signaling is used for indicating the terminal equipment to send a switching instruction to the second network equipment corresponding to the target cell; if the effective target cell TA does not exist, the target cell TA value is not carried in the MAC CE signaling; transmitting the MAC CE signaling to the terminal equipment; the MAC CE signaling is configured to instruct the terminal device to perform an uplink synchronization process with a second network device corresponding to the target cell.

That is, in order for the terminal device to perform handover to the target cell, the first network device may transmit MAC CE signaling to the terminal device according to the validity of the target cell TA, that is, transmit MAC CE signaling including the target cell TA when the target cell TA is determined to be valid, and transmit MAC CE signaling excluding the target cell TA when the target cell TA is determined to be invalid. So that the terminal device can switch when the target cell TA is valid according to the MAC CE signaling, and when the target cell TA is invalid, the second network device corresponding to the target cell performs an uplink synchronization procedure including CFRA. Thereby realizing the switching and improving the success rate of the switching.

In a third aspect, a timing advance management method is provided that may be performed by a second network device or may be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or circuit) configured in the second network device. The present application is not limited in this regard.

For example, the method includes: if the equipment for carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the second network equipment, receiving third indication information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the TA or the TA value of the corresponding candidate cell is acquired; and carrying out validity management on the TA of the corresponding candidate cell according to the third indication information.

That is, when the terminal device determines to be managed by the second network device according to the first indication information, the second network device can be caused to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell by transmitting the third indication information to the second network device. Therefore, the timing advance of a plurality of devices can be managed, and the management flexibility is improved.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the third network device is a network device to which the candidate cell belongs. That is, the second network device is a candidate network device.

Optionally, the method further comprises: receiving a CFRA request sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the CFRA request is used for indicating a second network equipment to acquire the TA of the corresponding candidate cell, the CFRA request is sent to the second network equipment by the terminal after the first network equipment sends second indication information to the terminal, and the second indication information is used for indicating whether a contention-free random access (CFRA) process comprises a Random Access Response (RAR); if the second indication information indicates that the CFRA process comprises RAR, the RAR is sent to the terminal equipment, wherein the RAR comprises TA corresponding to the candidate cell;

or alternatively;

receiving a CFRA request comprising RAR sent by a terminal device, wherein the CFRA request comprising RAR is used for indicating that a CFRA process comprises RAR; and transmitting RAR to the terminal equipment, wherein the RAR comprises TA corresponding to the candidate cell.

That is, there are two cases that cause the second network device to transmit the TA to the terminal. First, the second network device receives a CFRA request sent by the terminal device, and sends an RAR with TA to the terminal device after judging that the CFRA request includes the RAR. Second, the second network device directly receives the CFRA request including the RAR sent by the terminal device, and sends the RAR with TA to the terminal device. Thereby increasing the flexibility of the terminal device to acquire the TA.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, a carrying manner of the second indication information may be: the second indication information is carried in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) scheduling instruction; alternatively, the second indication information is carried in a RRC reconfiguration signaling message.

Optionally, the method comprises: and acquiring the first configuration information and the second configuration information of the corresponding candidate cell.

That is, before the TA of the candidate cell is effectively managed, the second network device needs to acquire the first configuration information and the second configuration information with multiple collocations, so as to effectively manage the TA of the candidate cell according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information with multiple collocations. Thereby increasing the flexibility of the second network device management.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first configuration information includes a TA public valid duration and information exceeding a public valid duration TA failure of the candidate cell, or a TA private valid duration and information exceeding a private valid duration corresponding to TA failure of the candidate cell. And the second configuration information is a TA public update time length threshold value of the candidate cell or a TA private update time length threshold value of the corresponding candidate cell.

Optionally, when the validity management is performed on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information, starting a TA timer to perform timing, and if the timing time reaches the TA public update duration threshold or the TA private update duration threshold, triggering to perform the update of the TA of the corresponding candidate cell.

That is, the second network device may trigger to update the TA of the corresponding candidate cell by starting the TA timer of the corresponding candidate cell when the timing time reaches the TA public update duration threshold or the TA private update duration threshold, without triggering the update of the TA of the candidate cell when the TA of the candidate cell is about to fail, so as to improve the timeliness of the second network device for updating the TA of the candidate cell.

Optionally, when triggering to update the corresponding candidate cell TA, the method includes: sending a first message to a first network device, wherein the first message is used for indicating the first network device to send a PDCCH instruction to a terminal device; receiving a CFRA request sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the CFRA request is used for indicating the second network equipment to acquire the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell; transmitting a CFRA response to the terminal device, wherein the CFRA response comprises the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell; receiving fourth indication information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the updated TA of the corresponding candidate cell or the updated TA value;

or alternatively;

sending a second message to the first network device, wherein the second message is used for indicating the first network device to send a measurement instruction to the terminal device; and receiving fourth indication information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating that the TA of the corresponding candidate cell is updated or the updated TA value.

That is, there are two methods for the second network device to trigger the update of the corresponding candidate cell TA. The first network device sends the PDCCH command to the first network device in an indication mode, so that the first network device sends the PDCCH command to the terminal according to the indication, the terminal device obtains the current TA of the candidate cell according to the PDCCH command, the terminal device updates the corresponding candidate cell TA according to the current TA, and the terminal device can send an updating result to the second network device, so that the second network device can successfully obtain the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal device obtains the returned current TA, and compared with the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal device sends the new command to obtain the current TA, transmission resources are saved, and timeliness of the second network device for obtaining the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved. Second, the second network device instructs to send a measurement instruction to the first network device, so that the first network device sends the measurement instruction to the terminal device according to the instruction, and the terminal device updates the corresponding candidate cell TA according to the current TA after measuring the current TA by itself, so that the terminal device can send an update result to the second network device. Therefore, the second network equipment can acquire the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal equipment obtains the current TA by itself, and the efficiency of the second network equipment in acquiring the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved.

On the basis, the application provides two methods for triggering updating of the candidate cell TA, and flexibility of updating the candidate cell TA when managed by the second network equipment is improved.

Optionally, the method further comprises: receiving a third message sent by the first network device; the third message is used for indicating whether the target cell TA managed by the second network equipment is valid or not; transmitting a fourth message to the first network device, the fourth message including information whether the target cell TA is valid; the target cell TA valid information is used to indicate whether the MAC CE signaling sent by the first network device to the terminal device includes the target cell TA value.

That is, in order for the terminal device to perform handover to the target cell, the second network device may send a result of whether the target cell TA is valid to the first network device according to a message sent by the first network device by receiving the message confirming whether the target cell TA is valid. The first network equipment sends the MAC CE signaling to the terminal equipment according to the validity of the target cell TA, the terminal equipment switches when the target cell TA is valid according to the MAC CE signaling, and the second network equipment corresponding to the target cell executes an uplink synchronization process comprising CFRA when the target cell TA is invalid. Thereby realizing the switching and improving the success rate of the switching.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a timing advance management apparatus comprising means or units for performing the method of the first aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a timing advance management apparatus comprising means or units for performing the method of the second aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a timing advance management apparatus comprising means or units for performing the method of the third aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

In a seventh aspect, a timing advance management apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and operable to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method of the first aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the timing advance management apparatus is a terminal device. When the timing advance management apparatus is a terminal device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the timing advance management apparatus is a chip configured in the terminal device. When the timing advance management apparatus is a chip configured in a terminal device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In an eighth aspect, a timing advance management apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and operable to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method of the second aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect. Optionally, the timing advance management apparatus further comprises a memory. Optionally, the timing advance management apparatus further comprises a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the timing advance management apparatus is a first network device. When the timing advance management apparatus is a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In another implementation, the timing advance management apparatus is a chip configured in a network device. When the timing advance management apparatus is a chip configured in a network device, the communication interface may be an input/output interface.

In a ninth aspect, a timing advance management apparatus is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and operable to execute instructions or data in the memory to implement the method of the third aspect and any possible implementation of the third aspect. Optionally, the timing advance management apparatus further comprises a memory. Optionally, the timing advance management apparatus further comprises a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

In one implementation, the timing advance management apparatus is a second network device. When the timing advance management apparatus is a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a processor comprising: input circuit, output circuit and processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal via the input circuit and transmit a signal via the output circuit, such that the processor performs the method of the first to third aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to third aspects.

In a specific implementation process, the processor may be one or more chips, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example and without limitation, a receiver, the output signal may be output by, for example and without limitation, a transmitter and transmitted by a transmitter, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation manner of the processor and the various circuits.

In an eleventh aspect, a processing apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to read instructions stored in the memory and is configured to receive a signal via the receiver and to transmit a signal via the transmitter to perform the method of the first to third aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to third aspects.

Optionally, the processor is one or more, and the memory is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integrated with the processor or the memory may be separate from the processor.

In a specific implementation process, the memory may be a non-transient (non-transitory) memory, for example, a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately disposed on different chips.

It should be appreciated that the related data interaction process, for example, transmitting the indication information, may be a process of outputting the indication information from the processor, and the receiving the capability information may be a process of receiving the input capability information by the processor. Specifically, the data output by the processor may be output to the transmitter, and the input data received by the processor may be from the receiver. Wherein the transmitter and receiver may be collectively referred to as a transceiver.

The processing means in the above eleventh aspect may be one or more chips. The processor in the processing device may be implemented by hardware or may be implemented by software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated in the processor, or may reside outside the processor, and exist separately.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, where the transceiver is configured to receive and transmit data, the memory is configured to store code instructions, the processor is configured to execute the code instructions, and the processor is configured to instruct the terminal device to perform the method described in any one of the foregoing first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect when the code instructions stored in the memory are executed.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a first network device, including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, where the transceiver is configured to receive and transmit data, the memory is configured to store code instructions, the processor is configured to execute the code instructions, and the processor is configured to instruct, when executing the code instructions stored in the memory, the terminal device to perform the method described in any one of the foregoing second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a second network device, including a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, where the transceiver is configured to receive and transmit data, the memory is configured to store code instructions, the processor is configured to execute the code instructions, and the processor is configured to instruct, when executing the code instructions stored in the memory, the terminal device to perform the method described in any one of the foregoing third aspect and any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

In a fifteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method described in the first to third aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to third aspects.

In a sixteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip or chip system comprising at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the at least one processor being interconnected by wires, the at least one processor being adapted to execute a computer program or instructions to perform the method described in the first to third aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to third aspects. The communication interface in the chip can be an input/output interface, a pin, a circuit or the like.

In a seventeenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method described in the first to third aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to third aspects.

In one possible implementation, the chip or chip system described above in the present application further includes at least one memory, where the at least one memory has instructions stored therein. The memory may be a memory unit within the chip, such as a register, a cache, etc., or may be a memory unit of the chip (e.g., a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.).

It should be understood that the fourth, seventh and twelfth aspects of the present application correspond to the technical solutions of the first aspect of the present application, the fifth, eighth and thirteenth aspects of the present application correspond to the technical solutions of the second aspect of the present application, the sixth, ninth and fourteenth aspects of the present application correspond to the technical solutions of the second aspect of the present application, the tenth, eleventh and fifteenth to seventeenth aspects of the present application correspond to the technical solutions of the first to third aspects of the present application, and the advantages obtained by each aspect and the corresponding possible implementation manner are similar and are not repeated.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system 1000 to which embodiments of the present application apply;

fig. 1a is a diagram exemplarily illustrating signaling interactions between a terminal device and network devices in an LTM handover procedure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a timing advance management method 200 provided by an embodiment of the present application, shown from a device interaction perspective;

fig. 3 is a signaling interaction diagram between a terminal device and each network device when obtaining a candidate cell TA according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a signaling interaction diagram between a terminal device and each network device when a timing advance is managed by the terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a signaling interaction diagram between a terminal device and each network device when a first network device manages a timing advance according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a signaling interaction diagram between a terminal device and each network device when a timing advance is managed by a second network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a timing advance management apparatus 70 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a terminal device 8000 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of one possible architecture of a network device 9000 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to facilitate understanding of the timing advance management method, the apparatus, the storage medium and the product provided in the embodiments of the present application, the timing advance management method, the system architecture and the application scenario thereof provided in the embodiments of the present application will be described below. It may be understood that the system architecture and the application scenario described in the embodiments of the present application are for more clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the application can be applied to communication scenes under various communication systems, for example: long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (Frequency Division Duplex, FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (Time Division Duplex, TDD), universal mobile telecommunications system (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, wiMAX) telecommunications system, future fifth generation (5th Generation,5G) telecommunications system or new radio access technology (new radio Access Technology, NR), vehicle-to-other devices (Vehicle-to-X V X), where V2X may include Vehicle-to-internet (Vehicle to network, V2N), vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (Vehicle to infrastructure, V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (Vehicle to pedestrian, V2P), etc., workshop communication long term evolution technology (Long Term Evolution-Vehicle, LTE-V), vehicle networking, machine-type communications (Machine type communication, MTC), internet of things (Internet of Things, ioT), inter-Machine communication long term evolution technology (Long Term Evolution-Machine, LTE-M), machine-to-Machine (Machine to Machine, M2M), etc.

Further, the present application may be applied to a specific communication scenario having an uplink synchronization procedure for a candidate cell when performing cell handover, for example, may be a cell handover communication scenario of an LTM mechanism, may also be a cell handover communication scenario of a conditional LTM mechanism, may also be a cell handover communication scenario of a CHO/CPC mechanism, or may be a cell handover communication scenario triggered under dual connectivity.

To facilitate an understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a communication system 1000 suitable for use with the embodiments of the present application is first described in detail in connection with fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system 1000 to which embodiments of the present application apply. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 1000 may include at least one terminal device, such as terminal device 1001 shown in fig. 1; a first network device, such as source cell network device 1002 shown in fig. 1, may also be included; at least one second network device, such as candidate cell network device 1003 shown in fig. 1, may also be included. Wherein the terminal device 1001 may be mobile or stationary. The first network device 1002 and the second network device 1003 are devices such as a base station or a base station controller, etc. that can communicate with the terminal device 1001 through a wireless link. The first network device 1002 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and may communicate with terminal devices located within that coverage area (cell).

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary terminal device, a first network device, and a second network device, alternatively, the communication system 1000 may include a plurality of second network devices, and coverage areas of the first network device and the second network device may include other numbers of terminal devices, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Each of the above-described communication apparatuses, such as the terminal apparatus 1001, the first network apparatus 1002, or the second network apparatus 1003 in fig. 1, may be configured with a plurality of antennas. The plurality of antennas may include at least one transmitting antenna for transmitting signals and at least one receiving antenna for receiving signals. In addition, each communication device may additionally include a transmitter chain and a receiver chain, each of which may include a plurality of components (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators, demultiplexers, antennas, etc.) associated with the transmission and reception of signals, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. Thus, communication between the first network device 1002 or the second network device 1003 and the terminal device 1001 is possible by the multi-antenna technique.

Optionally, the wireless communication system 1000 may further include a network controller, a mobility management entity, and other network entities, and the embodiments are not limited thereto.

In this embodiment of the present application, the network device may be any device having a wireless transceiver function. The apparatus includes, but is not limited to: an evolved Node B (eNB), a radio network controller (Radio Network Controller, RNC), a Node B (Node B, NB), a base station controller (Base Station Controller, BSC), a base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS), a Home base station (Home evolved NodeB, or a Home Node B, HNB, for example), a Base Band Unit (BBU), an Access Point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, WIFI) system, a wireless relay Node, a wireless backhaul Node, a transmission Point (transmission Point, TP), or a transmission receiving Point (transmission and reception Point, TRP), etc., may also be 5G, e.g., NR, a gNB in a system, or a transmission Point (TRP or TP), one or a group (including multiple antenna panels) of base stations in a 5G system, or may also be a network Node constituting a gNB or a transmission Point, such as a BaseBand Unit (BBU), or a Distributed Unit (DU), etc.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and DUs. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (active antenna unit, AAU). The CU implements part of the functionality of the gNB and the DU implements part of the functionality of the gNB, e.g. the CU is responsible for handling non-real time protocols and services, implementing radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC), packet data convergence layer protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer functions. The DUs are responsible for handling physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (radio link control, RLC), medium access control (media access control, MAC) and Physical (PHY) layers. The AAU realizes part of physical layer processing function, radio frequency processing and related functions of the active antenna. Since the information of the RRC layer may eventually become information of the PHY layer or be converted from the information of the PHY layer, under this architecture, higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or by the du+aau. It is understood that the primary cell network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which is not limited in this application.

The network device provides services for the cell, and the terminal device communicates with the cell through transmission resources (e.g., frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources) allocated by the network device, where the cell may belong to a macro base station (e.g., macro eNB or macro gNB, etc.), or may belong to a base station corresponding to a small cell (small cell), where the small cell may include: urban cells (metro cells), micro cells (micro cells), pico cells (pico cells), femto cells (femto cells) and the like, and the small cells have the characteristics of small coverage area and low transmitting power and are suitable for providing high-rate data transmission services.

In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in an industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in an unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in a remote medical (remote medium), a wireless terminal in a smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in a transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in a smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in a smart home (smart home), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), a handheld device with a wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal in a smart city (smart city) or an evolved-from-to-land (PLMN) network, a public network (PLMN) or the like.

The wearable device can also be called as a wearable intelligent device, and is a generic name for intelligently designing daily wearing and developing wearable devices by applying a wearable technology, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothes, shoes and the like. The wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the clothing or accessories of the user. The wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also can realize a powerful function through software support, data interaction and cloud interaction. The generalized wearable intelligent device includes full functionality, large size, and may not rely on the smart phone to implement complete or partial functionality, such as: smart watches or smart glasses, etc., and focus on only certain types of application functions, and need to be used in combination with other devices, such as smart phones, for example, various smart bracelets, smart jewelry, etc. for physical sign monitoring.

Furthermore, the terminal device may also be a terminal device in an internet of things (internet of things, ioT) system. IoT is an important component of future information technology development, and its main technical feature is to connect an item with a network through a communication technology, so as to implement man-machine interconnection and an intelligent network for object interconnection.

The specific form of the terminal device is not limited in this application.

To facilitate an understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the terms referred to in this application are first briefly described.

1. Cell: the cells are described by a higher layer from the point of view of resource management or mobility management or service units. The coverage area of each network device may be divided into one or more cells, and each cell may correspond to one or more frequency points, or each cell may be considered as an area formed by the coverage area of one or more frequency points.

It should be noted that a cell may be an area within a coverage area of a wireless network of a network device. In the embodiments of the present application, different cells may correspond to the same or different network devices. For example, the network device to which the cell #1 belongs and the network device to which the cell #2 belongs may be different network devices, such as a base station. That is, cell #1 and cell #2 may be managed by different base stations. Alternatively, for another example, the network device managing the cell #1 and the network device managing the cell #2 may also be different radio frequency processing units of the same base station, for example, remote radio units (radio remote unit, RRU), that is, the cell #1 and the cell #2 may be managed by the same base station, have the same baseband processing unit and intermediate frequency processing unit, but have different radio frequency processing units. Alternatively, for another example, the network device to which the cell #1 belongs and the network device to which the cell #2 belongs may be the same network device, such as a base station. That is, cell #1 and cell #2 may be managed by the same base station, in which case, it may be referred to as cell #1 and cell #2 co-sited. The present application is not particularly limited thereto.

In some possible deployments, a base station may include CUs and DUs. In this deployment, cell #1 and cell #2 may be managed by the same CU and the same DU, i.e., co-CU and co-DU; cell #1 and cell #2 may be managed by the same CU and different DUs, i.e. co-CU but not co-DU; cell #1 and cell #2 may also be managed by different CUs and different DUs, i.e. not co-CU and not co-DU.

2. And (3) switching: in a wireless communication system, when a terminal device moves/approaches from one cell to another, a handover is required in order to keep communication of the terminal device uninterrupted. In the embodiment of the application, the source cell represents a cell for providing service for the terminal equipment before switching, the candidate cell represents a potential cell for providing service for the terminal equipment after switching, and the target cell represents a cell for finally providing service for the terminal equipment in the candidate cell.

The related information of the candidate cell (such as physical cell identity, frequency information, random access resource information required for switching to the candidate cell, etc.) may be indicated by a switching message, where the switching message is sent to the terminal device by the network device to which the source cell belongs (i.e. the source network device) through an RRC reconfiguration signaling message.

The handoff may be an intra-station handoff or an inter-station handoff. Intra-station handover may refer to a source cell and a candidate cell belonging to the same network device (e.g., a base station), where the source cell and the candidate cell may be the same cell or different cells; inter-station handover refers to a source cell belonging to a different network device (e.g., base station) than a candidate cell. The present application is not limited in this regard.

It should be understood that a cell is a coverage area of a network device, a source cell corresponds to a source network device (e.g., a source base station), and a candidate cell corresponds to a candidate network device (e.g., a candidate base station).

It should also be appreciated that the source cell and the candidate cell may belong to the same network device, or alternatively, the source cell and the candidate cell may be co-sited. At this time, for a certain terminal device, the TA corresponding to the candidate cell may be equal to the TA corresponding to the source cell. The candidate cell may also be a small cell, and in this case, for a certain terminal device, the timing advance TA of the candidate cell may be 0.

In the conventional handover procedure, mobility management of the terminal device is controlled by the network device. I.e. the network device instructs the terminal device which cell to switch to and how to switch by sending a handover message. For example, the source network device sends a handover message to the terminal device to control the terminal device to handover from the source cell to the target cell. The handover message may be an RRC message.

3. LTM switching flow: i.e. Layer1/2 triggered mobility switching procedure, the base station makes decision switching on the basis of reporting measurement report by the terminal equipment. Fig. 1a is a signaling interaction diagram exemplarily illustrating a procedure of LTM handover between a terminal device and each network device, and in conjunction with fig. 1a, the procedure of LTM handover is briefly described below. The LTM switching procedure may specifically include S101 to S110 below.

S101, the terminal equipment in a connection state reports a measurement result to the source cell network equipment.

S102, the source cell network equipment sends an LTM switching request to candidate cell network equipment after determining to execute the LTM according to the supporting capability of the terminal to the LTM, wherein the candidate cells comprise target cells and potential target cells, and one or more candidate cells are selected.

S103, the candidate cell network equipment sends LTM switching response to the source cell network equipment, wherein the LTM switching response comprises candidate cell configuration information.

And S104, the source cell network equipment sends the candidate cell configuration information to the terminal equipment through an RRC reconfiguration message.

S105, the terminal equipment performs downlink synchronization on each candidate cell according to the candidate cell configuration information.

S106, the terminal equipment executes uplink synchronization on each candidate cell according to the candidate cell configuration information.

When uplink synchronization is executed, the management of the timing advance TA of the candidate cell in the uplink synchronization is involved, and one way is that the source cell network equipment acquires the timing advance TA of the candidate cell by triggering a non-contention random access procedure through PDCCH order, and manages the validity of the timing advance TA of the candidate cell.

And S107, the terminal equipment executes L1 measurement for the source cell and the candidate cell and reports the measurement result to the source cell network equipment.

S108, the source cell network equipment determines a target cell according to the measurement result and issues an LTM switching command, wherein the LTM switching command comprises an MAC CE.

And S109, disconnecting the terminal equipment from the source cell network equipment when the MAC CE comprises the timing advance TA.

S110, the terminal equipment initiates a switching instruction to the target cell so as to complete LTM switching.

4. Timing advance: that is, TA, the time for the terminal device to transmit uplink data when uplink synchronization is performed is advanced with respect to the time required for downlink. The terminal device generally performs the following two methods when acquiring the TA. One is that the source cell network equipment provides CFRA resources to the terminal equipment through PDCCH order, so that the terminal equipment triggers CFRA requests according to the CFRA resources to obtain TA. And secondly, the source cell network equipment indicates the terminal to automatically measure TA, so that the terminal equipment automatically measures TA according to the indication.

It should be understood that the above-mentioned two ways of acquiring the TA by the terminal device are only examples, and should not be construed as limiting the present application.

5. TA validity management: when the switching is executed, the TA effective party acquired by the terminal equipment is ensured to directly initiate the switching to the target cell, and the process of ensuring the TA effective party acquired by the terminal equipment is TA effective management.

6. Non-contention random access procedure: i.e. CFRA, the terminal device starts to send a random access preamble index (preamble index) to the network device attempting to access, and establishes a connection between the terminal device and the network device. Specifically, the terminal device sends a random access preamble index (or random access preamble sequence) to the network device through the PRACH. In the non-contention random access procedure, the random access preamble index is assigned to the terminal device in advance by the network device. In other words, the random access preamble index is dedicated. The network device sends a random access response to the terminal device. The random access response may include the TA of the response.

7. CFRA including RAR: and the terminal equipment initiates a process of acquiring the RAR simultaneously when initiating CFRA to the network equipment. Specifically, the terminal device sends to the network device based on the need to acquire the RAR along with a CFRA request. The network device sends the RAR protocol including the TA to the terminal device.

8. MAC CE signaling message: the terminal device performs the message required for handover. The MAC CE signaling message may specifically include a timing advance TA, a transmission configuration indication, CFRA resource information, and a candidate cell configuration information identification. Wherein the timing advance TA is only included in the MAC CE signaling message when the source cell network device determines valid.

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

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following description is first made:

first, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first", "second", and the like are used to distinguish identical items or similar items having substantially identical functions and actions. For example, the first reservation indication information and the second reservation indication information are merely for distinguishing different reservation indication information, and the order thereof is not limited. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the words "first," "second," and the like do not limit the amount and order of execution, and that the words "first," "second," and the like do not necessarily differ.

Second, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "such as" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete fashion.

Third, in the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

Fourth, in the embodiments of the present application, "when …", "if" and "if" all refer to that the device will perform the corresponding process under some objective condition, and are not limited in time, nor do they require that the device be implemented with a judging action, nor are they meant to be limited.

Fifth, the term "simultaneously" in the embodiments of the present application may be understood as at the same time point, may be understood as within a period of time, may also be understood as within the same period, and may be specifically understood in conjunction with the context.

Sixth, in the embodiments of the present application, "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a. "B is performed according to A" does not mean that B is performed according to A only, but B may also be performed according to A and/or other information.

Seventh, "predefined" or "preconfiguration" may be implemented by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables, or other manners in devices (e.g., including terminal devices and network devices) that may be used to indicate relevant information, and the specific implementation of the present application is not limited. Where "save" may refer to saving in one or more memories. The one or more memories may be provided separately or may be integrated in the encoder or decoder, the processor, or the timing advance management device. The one or more memories may also be provided in part separately, and in part integrated in the decoder, processor, or timing advance management device. The type of memory may be any form of storage medium, and this application is not limited in this regard.

Predefined in this application may be understood as defining, predefining, storing, pre-negotiating, pre-configuring, curing, or pre-firing.

Eighth, the "protocol" referred to in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, and may include, for example, an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and related protocols applied in a future communication system, which is not limited in this application.

Ninth, in the embodiment of the present application, "for indicating" may include for direct indication and for indirect indication, and may also include explicit indication and implicit indication. In the specific implementation process, the manner of indicating the information to be indicated is various, for example, but not limited to, the information to be indicated may be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or an index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indicated indirectly by indicating other information, wherein the other information and the information to be indicated have an association relation. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. The indication of the information to be indicated may also be achieved by means of a pre-agreement (e.g. protocol specification) whether a certain cell is present, for example, thereby reducing the indication overhead to some extent.

Tenth, the various embodiments are described in detail below in connection with the various flowcharts, but it should be understood that the relevant descriptions of these flowcharts and their corresponding embodiments are for ease of understanding only and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way. Each step in the flowcharts is not necessarily performed, and some steps may be skipped, for example. Moreover, the order of execution of the steps is not fixed nor limited to that shown in the drawings, and should be determined by its functions and inherent logic.

The terminal equipment may trigger the cell change due to the poor current network in the network connection state, which involves the uplink synchronization process between the terminal equipment and the candidate cell. In order to ensure that the information can be synchronously transmitted in the changing process, the terminal equipment is triggered to acquire the Timing Advance (TA) of the candidate cell, and the acquired TA of the candidate cell needs to be effectively managed. In this regard, one way to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is to directly perform management by the network device, which makes the validity management on the TA of the candidate cell less flexible. In this regard, the embodiment of the present application provides a method for managing timing advance, which has the following main inventive concept:

In order to improve the flexibility of validity management of the TA of the candidate cell, instead of just carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell by the network equipment, an implementation manner of validity management on the TA of the candidate cell by the terminal equipment is added on the basis, so that when the validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is required, the terminal equipment can directly carry out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the specific equipment indicated when the terminal equipment is determined, inform the source cell network equipment of the result of acquiring the TA of the candidate cell when the source cell network equipment is determined, inform the source cell network equipment of validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, inform the candidate cell network equipment of the result of acquiring the TA of the candidate cell when the candidate cell network equipment is determined, and carry out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell by the candidate cell network equipment. Therefore, the terminal equipment and the network equipment can manage the timing advance, and the flexibility of the timing advance management is improved.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the following details of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application are given only for easy understanding and explanation, taking the interaction between the terminal device and the network device as an example. This should not be construed as limiting the subject matter of the methods provided herein. For example, the terminal device shown in the following embodiments may be replaced with a component (such as a chip or a circuit) or the like configured in the terminal device. The network device shown in the following embodiments may also be replaced with a component (such as a chip or a circuit) or the like configured in the network device.

The embodiments shown below are not particularly limited to the specific structure of the execution body of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, as long as the communication can be performed by the method provided in the embodiments of the present application by running the program recorded with the code of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, and for example, the execution body of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application may be a terminal device or a network device, or a functional module in the terminal device or the network device that can call the program and execute the program.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a timing advance management method 200 provided by an embodiment of the present application, shown from a device interaction perspective. As shown in fig. 2, the method 200 may include steps 201 through 204. The steps in method 200 are described in detail below.

In step 201, the first network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is used to indicate a device for performing validity management on a timing advance TA of a candidate cell, where the device for performing validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is the terminal device or the first network device or the second network device, and the candidate cell is one or more.

It should be understood that the specific application scenario for validity management of the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is that cell handover is currently being performed, which involves three devices, namely a terminal device, a first network device characterizing the source cell network device and a second network device characterizing the candidate cell network device. Therefore, the apparatus for performing validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell can be selectively instructed in the first instruction information, and a specific instruction manner in the first instruction information will be described below.

In one example, the first indication information may include device information corresponding to a device that effectively manages the timing advance TA of the candidate cell. And when the first indication information comprises equipment information corresponding to the terminal equipment, the terminal equipment is indicated to carry out validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell. Similarly, when the first indication information includes the device information corresponding to the first network device, the first network device is indicated to perform validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell. Similarly, when the first indication information includes the device information corresponding to the second network device, the second network device is indicated to perform validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell.

In another example, the first indication information may include device information corresponding to a device that does not perform validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell. When the first indication information comprises the equipment information corresponding to the first network equipment and the second network equipment, the terminal equipment is indicated to carry out validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell. Similarly, when the first indication information includes the terminal device and the device information corresponding to the second network device, the first network device is indicated to perform validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell. Similarly, when the first indication information includes the terminal device and the device information corresponding to the first network device, the second network device is indicated to perform validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell.

In order to further save transmission resources, the first indication information may also replace the device information with an identifier or number corresponding to the device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell, which is not limited in this application.

In yet another example, the first indication information may include three predefined fields in a fixed order, and the device for performing validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is determined based on the values of the predefined fields. For example, the fixed order is respectively a predefined field corresponding to the terminal device, a predefined field corresponding to the first network device, and a predefined field corresponding to the second network device. And when the value of the predefined field is a first numerical value, the device corresponding to the predefined field is a device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell. And when the value of the predefined field is a second value, the device corresponding to the predefined field is not a device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell. An exemplary first value may be 1 and the second value may be 0. Or the first value may be 0, the second value may be 1, etc., and specific values of the first value and the second value are not limited in this embodiment.

In yet another example, the first indication information may include a fixed predefined field, and the device for performing validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is determined based on the value of the predefined field. The device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is a terminal device when the value of the predefined field is a third value, the device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is a first network device when the value of the predefined field is a fourth value, and the device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is a second network device when the value of the predefined field is a fifth value. Illustratively, the third value may be 1, the fourth value may be 2, and the fifth value 3. It should be understood that the third value, the fourth value or the fifth value may be any other specific value, which is not limited in this embodiment.

It should be understood that the specific indication manner in the first indication information listed above is only an example, and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The specific manner how the first network device indicates the device that manages the validity of the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is not limited in this application.

In step 202, if the device for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is a terminal device, the terminal device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information.

In other words, the terminal device may determine, according to the content included in the first indication information, a device that is to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell. If the terminal equipment is determined, the terminal equipment carries out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the acquired TA of the candidate cell. The process of acquiring the TA of the candidate cell will be described in detail in the next embodiment.

In step 203, if the device for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the first network device, the terminal device sends third indication information to the first network device, and the first network device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information. The third indication information is used for indicating that the TA or TA value of the corresponding candidate cell is acquired.

In other words, when the terminal device determines that the device for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the first network device, third indication information is formed according to the acquired TA of the candidate cell, the third indication information is sent to the first network device, and the first network device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information.

Then in forming the third indication information, the following two implementations may be specifically included:

one possible implementation manner is to form the third indication information according to the acquired TA value of the candidate cell, specifically, associate the TA value of the candidate cell with the candidate cell identifier, for example, establish a mapping relationship between the TA value of the candidate cell and the corresponding candidate cell identifier, so as to form the third indication information according to the association result.

Another possible implementation is to form the third indication information as a result of having acquired the TA of the candidate cell. Specifically, a specific field is formed according to the result of the TA of the candidate cell having been obtained, the specific field corresponding to the candidate cell is associated with the candidate cell identifier, for example, a mapping relationship between the specific field corresponding to the candidate cell and the corresponding candidate cell identifier is established, so as to form third indication information according to the association result. Wherein the specific field indicates that the TA of the candidate cell has been acquired.

It is to be understood that the representation of the mapping relationship may be in the form of a mapping table or other forms, which is not limited in this embodiment.

The candidate cell identifier is an identifier indicating the identity of the candidate cell, for example, may be the name of the candidate cell, or may be a number, letter or other information that characterizes the identity of the candidate cell, which is not limited in this application.

It should be understood that, when the candidate cells are plural, the third indication information may be formed according to the TA values of all the candidate cells that have been acquired when the third indication information is formed. Alternatively, the third indication information may be formed as a result of having acquired TAs of all candidate cells. Alternatively, the third indication information may be formed according to the TA value of a part of the candidate cells that have been acquired and the result of the TA of another part of the candidate cells that have been acquired. The specific form of the third indication information is not limited herein.

In step 204, if the device for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the second network device, the terminal device sends third indication information to the second network device, and the second network device performs validity management on the TA of the corresponding candidate cell according to the third indication information.

If the terminal device determines that the device for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the second network device, forming third indication information according to the acquired TA of the candidate cell, sending the third indication information to the second network device, and performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell by the second network device according to the third indication information.

It should be understood that the manner of forming the third indication information is similar to that of forming the third indication information in step 203, and will not be repeated here.

Therefore, the timing advance management method provided by the embodiment of the application provides three ways of effectively managing the TAs of one or more candidate cells, namely, effectively managing the TAs based on the terminal device or the first network device or the second network device. The terminal equipment can carry out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell by the terminal equipment when the terminal equipment determines that the first indication information indicates the terminal equipment by receiving the first indication information sent by the first network equipment, the first network equipment carries out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell when the first indication information indicates the first network equipment, and the second network equipment carries out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell when the first indication information indicates the second network equipment. Therefore, the management is not limited to the network equipment, and the flexibility of TA management is improved.

In the method of the present application, the precondition for validity management of the TA of the candidate cell is that the terminal device has acquired the TA of at least one candidate cell. A manner of acquiring the TA of at least one candidate cell will be described.

One possible implementation manner is that, as shown in fig. 3, when the first network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, in step 301, the first network device may further send second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate whether the contention-free random access CFRA procedure includes a random access response RAR. In step 302, the terminal device sends a CFRA request to the second network device according to the second indication information, where the CFRA request is used to instruct the second network device to acquire a TA of the corresponding candidate cell. In step 303, the second network device determines, based on the CFRA request, whether the CFRA procedure includes an RAR, and if so, in step 304, the second network device sends the RAR to the terminal device, where the RAR includes the TA of the corresponding candidate cell.

It should be understood that the terminal device may send a CFRA request to the second network device according to the content included in the second indication information, where the second indication information includes: whether or not to include RAR in the CFRA procedure.

The second indication information may carry in some predefined field it contains, when indicating whether the CFRA procedure includes RAR, indication information of whether the RAR is included in the CFRA procedure. For example, the predefined field is a sixth value or a seventh value. The sixth value or the seventh value may be other information such as a predefined number, letter, or symbol, which is not limited in this application.

The sixth value may be indication information including RAR in the CFRA procedure, and the seventh value is indication information not including RAR in the CFRA procedure. Alternatively, the seventh value may be indication information including RAR in the CFRA procedure, and the sixth value may be indication information not including RAR in the CFRA procedure. The present application is not limited in this regard.

Illustratively, a value of 1 for a predefined field in the second indication information represents indication information that includes RAR in the CFRA procedure, and a value of 0 for the predefined field represents indication information that does not include RAR in the CFRA procedure.

In addition, the second indication information may also implicitly express indication information of whether the RAR is included in the CFRA procedure. For example, the second indication information may be information such as a field including RAR, an identification including RAR, an index including RAR, or the like, and the RAR may be included in the CFRA procedure by the indication information expression described above. However, if the second indication information is not information such as a field including RAR, an identifier including RAR, an index including RAR, or the like, but information unrelated to the information including RAR, for example, a NULL or a field not including RAR, an identifier not including RAR, an index not including RAR, or the like, the second indication information may represent indication information not including RAR in the CFRA procedure.

Based on this, the terminal device initiates the CFRA request to the second network device in two alternative ways. One of which initiates a CFRA procedure to the second network device that does not include an RAR and the second of which initiates a CFRA procedure to the second network device that includes an RAR. Therefore, after the second network device receives the CFRA request sent by the terminal device, it needs to determine whether the CFRA procedure includes an RAR, and store the TA of the corresponding candidate cell in the RAR when it is determined to include the same, and send the RAR to the terminal device.

When the second network device determines whether the CFRA procedure includes RAR, it may proceed by:

in one example, when the terminal device initiates a CFRA procedure that does not include RAR, the terminal device does not include indication information related to "including RAR" in the CFRA request, e.g., includes indication information related to "not including RAR" or sets a blank value. When the terminal device initiates a CFRA procedure including RAR, the terminal device includes indication information related to "including RAR" in the CFRA request. Accordingly, when determining whether the CFRA procedure includes an RAR, the second network device may determine whether the CFRA procedure includes an RAR according to contents included in the received CFRA request.

In another example, when the terminal device initiates a CFRA procedure including RAR, the terminal device forms a separate signaling related to "including RAR" and sends the signaling to the second network device simultaneously with the CFRA request. When the terminal device initiates the CFRA procedure that does not include RAR, the terminal device forms an independent signaling related to "not including RAR" and sends the signaling to the second network device at the same time as the CFRA request, or the terminal device does not form any signaling and sends only the CFRA request to the second network device. Accordingly, the second network device determines whether the CFRA procedure includes an RAR according to the CFRA request or determines whether the CFRA procedure includes an RAR according to the CFRA request and signaling transmitted with the CFRA request when determining whether the CFRA procedure includes an RAR.

It should also be understood that the present application is not limited by the specific form of indication information related to "including RAR", indication information related to "not including RAR", independent signaling related to "including RAR", and independent signaling related to "not including RAR". And the above examples are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way.

It should also be understood that the content included in the second instruction information described above is only an example, and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way. Therefore, in the method for acquiring the TA of at least one candidate cell, the decision of whether the CFRA process includes the RAR by the terminal device is triggered by adopting the second instruction information, so that the terminal device can successfully acquire the TA returned by the second network device by using the RAR after initiating the CFRA process including the RAR, and compared with the method for acquiring the TA by sending a new instruction, the transmission resource is saved.

Another possible implementation manner is that the terminal device sends a CFRA request including an RAR to the second network device, where the CFRA request including an RAR is used to indicate that the CFRA procedure includes an RAR. The second network device sends a RAR to the terminal device, the RAR including the TA corresponding to the candidate cell.

It should be noted that, in this possible implementation manner, the terminal device triggers the CFRA procedure including the RAR by itself based on the first indication information, so as to obtain the RAR including the TA of the corresponding candidate cell sent by the second network device.

In other words, this implementation differs from the previous implementation in that in this implementation, the terminal device does not need to receive the second indication information sent by the first network device, and may spontaneously trigger the CFRA procedure including RAR after receiving the first indication information sent by the first network device. The manner in which the CFRA procedure including the RAR is spontaneously triggered is similar to that adopted in the previous implementation when the terminal device initiates the CFRA procedure including the RAR, and will not be described herein. Therefore, in the method for acquiring the TA of at least one candidate cell, the efficiency of acquiring the TA of the candidate cell is improved by triggering the terminal equipment to automatically send the execution action of the CFRA request comprising the RAR.

It should be appreciated that the present application may employ one of two ways to acquire the TA of the candidate cell, so that flexibility in acquiring the TA of the candidate cell is effectively improved.

Based on the two possible implementations, it is further explained that the terminal device sends the CFRA related request to the second network device if the terminal device has already acquired CFRA resources. This involves the terminal device sending a CFRA resource acquisition request to the first network device, the first network device storing the CFRA resource into a PDCCH order, and returning the PDCCH order to the terminal device to acquire the CFRA resource. The CFRA resource acquisition request is a request to acquire CFRA resources. The CFRA resource includes a random access occasion RACH occipision for indicating at which time point the terminal device initiates the CFRA, and a random access Preamble index for indicating on which Preamble the terminal device performs the CFRA.

It should be appreciated that CFRA related requests are a general expression for CFRA requests as well as CFRA requests comprising RAR, and when referring to CFRA related requests, CFRA requests or CFRA requests comprising RAR may be understood. Should not be construed separately from CFRA requests or CFRA requests that include RAR.

It should be further understood that, when the first network device sends the first indication information and the second indication information to the terminal device, the first network device may send the first indication information and the second indication information together or may send the first indication information and the second indication information separately, and the specific sending manner is not limited in this application. The transmission modes of the first instruction information and the second instruction information are described in detail below.

In one example, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried in a physical downlink control channel scheduling PDCCH order. Specifically, when the terminal device sends a CFRA resource acquisition request to the first network device, the first network device sends first indication information and second indication information together with a PDCCH order to the terminal device. In this case, the first indication information and the second indication information may be a certain predefined field in the PDCCH order, respectively. The method for simultaneously carrying the first indication information and the second indication information in the PDCCH instruction can avoid resource waste caused by extra transmission.

In another example, the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in an infinite resource control, RRC, reconfiguration signaling message. Specifically, when the first network device obtains candidate cell configuration information under a certain cell switching mechanism and forms an RRC reconfiguration signaling message based on the candidate cell configuration information, the first network device sends the first indication information and the second indication information together with the RRC reconfiguration signaling message to the terminal device. In this case, the first indication information and the second indication information may be a certain predefined field in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, respectively. The method for simultaneously carrying the first indication information and the second indication information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message can also avoid resource waste caused by additional transmission.

In yet another example, the first indication information is carried in a PDCCH order and the second indication information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message. Specifically, when the terminal device sends a CFRA resource acquisition request to the first network device, the first network device sends first indication information together with a PDCCH order to the terminal device. When the first network device obtains the candidate cell configuration information under a certain cell switching mechanism and forms an RRC reconfiguration signaling message based on the candidate cell configuration information, the first network device sends the second indication information together with the RRC reconfiguration signaling message to the terminal device. Because the PDCCH instruction and the RRC reconfiguration signaling message are both required for executing the validity management of the TA of the candidate cell, the method for carrying the first indication information in the PDCCH instruction and carrying the second indication information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message can also avoid the resource waste caused by extra transmission.

In yet another example, the first indication information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the second indication information is carried in a PDCCH order. Specifically, when the first network device obtains candidate cell configuration information under a certain cell switching mechanism and forms an RRC reconfiguration signaling message based on the candidate cell configuration information, the first network device sends the first indication information together with the RRC reconfiguration signaling message to the terminal device. When the terminal device sends a CFRA resource acquisition request to the first network device, the first network device sends second indication information together with a PDCCH order to the terminal device. Similarly, because the PDCCH order and the RRC reconfiguration signaling message are both required for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, the manner of carrying the first indication information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message and carrying the second indication information in the PDCCH order can also avoid resource waste caused by additional transmission.

It should be understood that, in the above-mentioned multiple ways of sending the first indication information and the second indication information, the first network device may send the first indication information and the second indication information according to different sending ways, so as to improve flexibility of sending the first indication information and the second indication information.

It should be understood that the first indication information and the second indication information may also be sent as one and the same independent signaling to the terminal device through the first network device. Or respectively as an independent signaling to be sent to the terminal device through the first network device, and the specific sending mode is not limited in this application.

It should also be understood that, when the first indication information and the second indication information are simultaneously carried in the PDCCH order or the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, the first indication information and the second indication information may also be carried as the same indication information in the PDCCH order or the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, and the specific form of the same indication information is not limited in this application.

After obtaining the TA of at least one candidate cell, if the terminal device determines that the terminal device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information, the terminal device performs validity management on the TA of the corresponding candidate cell according to the obtained TA of the at least one candidate cell. And if the first indication information determines that the first network equipment carries out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, forming third indication information based on the TA of at least one candidate cell, and sending the third indication information to the first network equipment. If the validity management of the TA of the candidate cell is determined by the second network device according to the first indication information, third indication information is formed based on the TA of at least one candidate cell, and the third indication information is sent to the second network device. The first network equipment and the second network equipment can carry out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information.

It should be further noted that, based on different bearer manners of the first indication information, when the terminal device triggers the CFRA procedure including the RAR by itself, if the first indication information is carried in the PDCCH order or the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, the terminal device may trigger the CFRA procedure including the RAR by itself based on the PDCCH order or may trigger the CFRA procedure including the RAR by itself based on the RRC reconfiguration signaling message. If the first indication information is an independent signaling, the terminal device can automatically trigger the CFRA process including the RAR based on the independent signaling, can also automatically trigger the CFRA process including the RAR based on the PDCCH instruction, and can also automatically trigger the CFRA process including the RAR based on the RRC reconfiguration signaling message. The present application is not limited in this regard.

The following describes in detail a scheme for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell when the device for performing validity management on the TA of the timing advance of the candidate cell is a terminal device, a first network device, or a second network device, respectively.

1. The device for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is a terminal device.

In the timing advance management method provided in the foregoing embodiment, in addition to receiving, by the terminal device, the first indication information sent by the first network device and obtaining the TA of the candidate cell, in order to enable the terminal device to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, related information for performing validity management is also obtained.

The related information for performing the validity management may include the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

So optionally, acquiring the first configuration information and the second configuration information may specifically include:

the first network device sends the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the terminal device.

The first configuration information is effective configuration information for representing the candidate cell TA, and includes: the TA public effective duration and the TA invalid information exceeding the public effective duration of the candidate cell, or the TA private effective duration and the TA invalid information exceeding the private effective duration of the corresponding candidate cell. The second configuration information is configuration information for representing that the candidate cell TA is updated in the validity period, and the second configuration information is a TA public update time length threshold value of the candidate cell or a TA private update time length threshold value of the corresponding candidate cell.

The information included in the first configuration information and the second configuration information will be described in detail below.

The common effective duration is a common duration set for TAs of all candidate cells, and the TAs of all candidate cells have validity in the common duration. The setting mode can reduce the occupied fields of the first configuration information and save transmission resources.

The private valid duration is a corresponding duration set for the TA of the corresponding candidate cell, and the TA of the corresponding candidate cell has validity within the private valid duration. The setting mode can enable the corresponding time length of each candidate cell TA to be more suitable for each candidate cell, and improves the setting accuracy.

The common update time length threshold is a common update time length threshold set for the TAs of all candidate cells on the basis that the TAs of all candidate cells set a common effective time length. The private update time length threshold is a corresponding update time length threshold set for the TA of each candidate cell on the basis that the TA of each candidate cell sets a corresponding private effective time length.

Further, the TA common update duration threshold of the candidate cell is a value smaller than the common effective duration or a value of a remaining common effective duration, where the remaining common effective duration is a difference between the common effective duration and the timing time when the TA timer is started. The TA private update time threshold value of the corresponding candidate cell is a value smaller than the private effective time or a value smaller than the remaining private effective time, and the remaining private effective time is a difference value between the private effective time and the timing time when the TA timer is started.

In order to more clearly describe the setting rule of the TA public update duration threshold of the candidate cell or the TA private update duration threshold of the candidate cell, a scenario is exemplified below for details.

In one scenario, it is necessary to trigger the TA update of the candidate cell 10 milliseconds before the TA of the candidate cell fails. Then there are two methods to set the common update duration threshold when the TA common active duration of the candidate cell is set to 50 milliseconds.

Firstly, setting the TA public updating time length threshold value of the candidate cell as a value smaller than the public effective time length. I.e. the TA common update duration threshold of the candidate cell is set to 40 ms, then the TA update of the candidate cell is triggered when the timing time reaches 40 ms.

Secondly, setting the TA public updating time length threshold value of the candidate cell as the value of the residual public effective time length.

It should be understood that in this scenario, the remaining common effective duration is the difference between the TA common effective duration of the candidate cell and the elapsed time of 40 ms, i.e., 10 ms. Thus, setting the TA common update duration threshold of the candidate cell to 10 ms triggers the TA update of the candidate cell when the timing time reaches 40 ms.

It should be understood that the first configuration information and the second configuration information exist at the same time, and the terminal device may perform validity management on the candidate cell TA according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information, and for different first configuration information and different second configuration information, the obtained collocation of the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be any one of the following two collocations:

(1) The first configuration information comprises the TA public effective duration of the candidate cell and the information exceeding the TA failure of the public effective duration, and the second configuration information comprises the TA public updated duration threshold of the candidate cell.

(2) The first configuration information comprises TA private effective duration corresponding to the candidate cell and TA failure information corresponding to the exceeding private effective duration, and the second configuration information comprises TA private update duration threshold corresponding to the candidate cell.

Then for different collocations, the specific meaning is as follows:

if the first configuration information comprises the TA public effective duration of the candidate cells and the information exceeding the TA failure of the public effective duration, and the second configuration information comprises the TA public updating duration threshold of the candidate cells, the TA of each candidate cell is indicated to have the same effective duration and the same updating duration threshold.

Similarly, if the first configuration information includes the TA private valid duration corresponding to the candidate cell and the TA invalid information exceeding the private valid duration, and the second configuration information includes the TA private update duration threshold corresponding to the candidate cell, it is indicated that the TAs of the candidate cells may have different valid durations and on the basis of the valid durations, the TA private update duration threshold may have different update duration thresholds. Therefore, the embodiment provides the first configuration information and the second configuration information, and provides the collocation of the plurality of types of the first configuration information and the second configuration information on the basis of the first configuration information and the second configuration information, so that the terminal equipment can effectively manage the TA of the candidate cell based on the collocation of the plurality of types of the first configuration information and the second configuration information, and the flexibility of terminal equipment management is improved.

It should also be understood that, when the first network device sends the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the terminal device, the first network device may send the first configuration information and the second configuration information together or may send the second configuration information separately, and the specific sending manner is not limited in this application. The transmission modes of the first configuration information and the second configuration information are described in detail below.

In one example, the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be carried in a physical downlink control channel scheduling PDCCH order. Specifically, when the terminal device sends a CFRA resource acquisition request to the first network device, the first network device sends the first configuration information and the second configuration information together with a PDCCH order to the terminal device. In this case, the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be a certain predefined field in the PDCCH order, respectively. The method for simultaneously carrying the first configuration information and the second configuration information in the PDCCH instruction can avoid resource waste caused by extra transmission.

In another example, the first configuration information and the second configuration information are carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message. Specifically, when the first network device obtains the candidate cell configuration information under a certain cell switching mechanism and forms an RRC reconfiguration signaling message based on the candidate cell configuration information, the first network device sends the first configuration information and the second configuration information together with the RRC reconfiguration signaling message to the terminal device. In this case, the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be a certain predefined field in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, respectively. The method for simultaneously carrying the first configuration information and the second configuration information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message can also avoid resource waste caused by additional transmission.

In yet another example, the first configuration information is carried in a PDCCH order and the second configuration information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message. Specifically, when the terminal device sends a CFRA resource acquisition request to the first network device, the first network device sends the first configuration information together with a PDCCH order to the terminal device. When the first network device obtains the candidate cell configuration information under a certain cell switching mechanism and forms an RRC reconfiguration signaling message based on the candidate cell configuration information, the first network device sends the second configuration information together with the RRC reconfiguration signaling message to the terminal device. Because the PDCCH instruction and the RRC reconfiguration signaling message are both interactive when the cell switching is executed, and the effective management of the TA of the candidate cell is also the content when the cell switching is executed, the method of carrying the first configuration information in the PDCCH instruction and carrying the second configuration information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message can also avoid the resource waste caused by extra transmission.

In yet another example, the first configuration information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the second configuration information is carried in a PDCCH order. Specifically, when the first network device obtains candidate cell configuration information under a certain cell switching mechanism and forms an RRC reconfiguration signaling message based on the candidate cell configuration information, the first network device sends the first configuration information together with the RRC reconfiguration signaling message to the terminal device. When the terminal device sends a CFRA resource acquisition request to the first network device, the first network device sends second configuration information together with a PDCCH order to the terminal device. Similarly, as the PDCCH order and the RRC reconfiguration signaling message are both required for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, the manner of carrying the first configuration information in the RRC reconfiguration signaling message and carrying the second configuration information in the PDCCH order can also avoid resource waste caused by additional transmission.

It should be understood that, in the above-mentioned multiple ways of sending the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the first network device may send the first configuration information and the second configuration information according to different sending manners, so as to improve flexibility of transmission of the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

It should also be understood that the first configuration information and the second configuration information may also be sent as one and the same independent signaling to the terminal device through the first network device. Or respectively as an independent signaling to be sent to the terminal device through the first network device, so that the efficiency of analyzing the first configuration information and the second configuration information is improved, and the specific sending mode is not limited in the application.

It should also be understood that, when the first configuration information and the second configuration information are simultaneously carried in the PDCCH order or the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, the first configuration information and the second configuration information may also be carried as the same indication information in the PDCCH order or the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, and the specific form of the same indication information is not limited in this application.

Based on this, the terminal device performs validity management of the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information, and specifically may include:

starting a TA timer of the candidate cell to count time, and triggering to update the TA of the corresponding candidate cell if the counted time reaches a TA public update time threshold or a TA private update time threshold.

Since the first configuration information and the second configuration information have different collocations, in order to more clearly explain that the terminal device performs the validity management of the TA of the candidate cell on the condition of the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the following describes in detail the performance of the validity management of the TA of the candidate cell taking the different collocations of the first configuration information and the second configuration information as an example.

When the first configuration information comprises the TA public effective duration of the candidate cell and the information exceeding the TA failure of the public effective duration, and the second configuration information comprises the TA public updating duration threshold of the candidate cell, the terminal equipment starts the TA timer of the candidate cell to count when the public effective duration is not exceeded, and triggers the updating of the TA of the corresponding candidate cell when the counted time reaches the TA public updating duration threshold. Similarly, when the first configuration information includes the effective time length of the TA private corresponding to the candidate cell and the information exceeding the effective time length of the TA private corresponding to the TA failure, and the second configuration information includes the threshold value of the effective time length of the TA private update corresponding to the candidate cell, the terminal device starts the TA timer of the candidate cell to count when the effective time length of the TA private corresponding to the candidate cell is not exceeded, and triggers the updating of the TA of the candidate cell when the counted time length reaches the threshold value of the effective time length of the TA private update corresponding to the candidate cell.

It can be appreciated that if the TA private valid duration and the TA private update duration threshold of each candidate cell are different, the time point at which the TA timer of each candidate cell is started may be different, and the time point at which the TA update of the corresponding candidate cell is triggered may also be different. Therefore, the present embodiment describes in detail the validity management of the TA of the candidate cell by the terminal device, and more specifically describes the step of validity management of the TA of the candidate cell by the terminal device. When the terminal device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, the terminal device can trigger updating of the TA of the candidate cell according to the two configuration information by sending the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the terminal device by the first network device, and the updating of the TA of the candidate cell is not required to be triggered when the TA of the candidate cell is about to be invalid, so that the timeliness of updating the TA of the candidate cell by the terminal device is improved.

In this embodiment, when triggering to update the corresponding candidate cell TA, the following implementation manner may be included:

one possible implementation is that the terminal device sends a CFRA request to the second network device, the CFRA request being used to instruct the second network device to acquire the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell. The second network device sends a CFRA response to the terminal device, the CFRA response including the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell. And the terminal equipment updates the corresponding candidate cell TA according to the current TA.

The current TA of the candidate cell is the latest acquired TA of the candidate cell by the terminal equipment.

It should be appreciated that in this implementation, the premise of the terminal device sending a CFRA request to the second network device is that the terminal device has acquired CFRA resources. The method for acquiring the CFRA resource is similar to the method for acquiring the CFRA resource, and will not be described herein. Based on the CFRA resource, the terminal equipment sends a CFRA request to the first network equipment, the second network equipment obtains the current TA of the candidate cell according to the CFRA request, and the current TA of the candidate cell is carried in the CFRA response so as to send the current TA of the candidate cell to the terminal equipment.

The terminal device may update the corresponding candidate cell TA according to the current TA based on the CFRA response, and the specific update manner may be implemented by replacing the corresponding candidate cell TA with the current TA, which is not limited in this application. Therefore, in the method for updating the corresponding candidate cell TA by triggering, the terminal device can acquire the latest current TA according to the CFRA request by sending the CFRA request to the second network device, and can update the corresponding candidate cell TA by adopting the current TA, so that the current TA returned by the second network device can be successfully obtained, and compared with the current TA acquired by sending a new instruction, the transmission resource is saved.

Another possible implementation manner is that the terminal device performs a current TA measurement procedure of the candidate cell and obtains a current TA of the candidate cell, so as to update the TA of the corresponding candidate cell according to the current TA.

When the terminal device executes the current TA measurement process of the candidate cell, the terminal device may specifically receive signals of the first network device and the second network device at the same time, record receiving times corresponding to the signals received from the first network device and the second network device, and determine a difference between the two receiving times as the current TA of the candidate cell.

Based on the above, the terminal equipment acquires the current TA of the candidate cell, and updates the corresponding TA of the candidate cell by adopting the current TA. Therefore, in the method for updating the corresponding candidate cell TA by triggering, the terminal equipment can update the corresponding candidate cell TA by adopting the current TA by self-measuring the latest current TA of the corresponding candidate cell, so that the efficiency of acquiring the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved.

It should be understood that the present application may trigger updating of the candidate cell TA in one of two ways, so that flexibility of updating the candidate cell TA when managed by the terminal device is effectively improved.

2. The device for performing validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is a first network device.

In the timing advance management method provided in the foregoing embodiment, in order to enable the first network device to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, in addition to knowing that the first network device has acquired the TA of the corresponding candidate cell or received the TA value of the candidate cell sent by the terminal device after receiving the third indication information sent by the terminal, the first network device needs to acquire related information for performing validity management.

the second network device sends the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the first network device.

It should be understood that the first configuration information and the second configuration information herein are similar to those adopted when the terminal device manages the TA of the corresponding candidate cell, and will not be described herein.

It should also be understood that, according to the foregoing method, since the first configuration information and the second configuration information have multiple configurations, the first network device may perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information of the multiple configurations, so that the flexibility of the management of the first network device may be improved.

It should also be appreciated that the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be carried in a single piece of independent signaling, thereby avoiding wasting resources by additional transmissions. Alternatively, the first configuration information is carried in one independent signaling and the second configuration information is carried in another independent signaling, thereby improving the efficiency of resolving the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

It should be further appreciated that the present application provides two ways of transmitting the first configuration information and the second configuration information, which can effectively improve flexibility of transmitting the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

Based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the first network device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information, which specifically may include:

In other words, when the first network device receives the third indication information sent by the terminal device, it determines to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell. Based on the above, the first network device starts the TA timer of the candidate cell to count when the public valid duration or the corresponding private valid duration indicated by the first configuration information is not exceeded according to the obtained first configuration information and the second configuration information, and triggers to update the TA of the corresponding candidate cell when the counted time reaches the TA public update duration threshold or the TA private update duration threshold indicated by the second configuration information. Therefore, the present embodiment describes in detail the validity management of the TA of the candidate cell by the first network device, and more specifically describes the step of the validity management of the TA of the candidate cell by the first network device. When the first network device manages the validity of the TA of the candidate cell, the first network device can trigger updating the TA of the candidate cell according to the two configuration information by sending the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the first network device by the second network device, and the first network device does not need to trigger updating the TA of the candidate cell when the TA of the candidate cell is about to fail, so that the timeliness of updating the TA of the candidate cell by the first network device is improved.

one possible implementation manner is that the first network device sends a PDCCH order to the terminal device, where the PDCCH order includes random access resource indication information, where the random access resource indication information is used to instruct the terminal device to obtain, through a CFRA request, a corresponding candidate cell current TA from the second network device. The terminal device sends fourth indication information to the first network device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the TA of the corresponding candidate cell has been updated or the TA value after updating.

The fourth indication information is related information indicating that the terminal equipment has completed updating the TA of the corresponding candidate cell.

It should be understood that, in this implementation manner, when the first network device decides to trigger to update the corresponding candidate cell TA, a PDCCH instruction including random access resource indication information is sent to the terminal device, so that after receiving the PDCCH instruction, the terminal device sends a CFRA request to the second network device according to the CFRA resource, thereby obtaining the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell and completing updating of the corresponding candidate cell TA by using the current TA. Based on the above, after finishing updating the corresponding candidate cell TA, the terminal device forms fourth indication information according to the updated candidate cell TA, and sends the fourth indication information to the first network device.

When the terminal device forms the fourth indication information, the corresponding fourth indication information may be formed according to the collocation of the first configuration information and the second configuration information:

if the collocation of the first configuration information and the second configuration information is that the first configuration information comprises the common effective time length of the TA of the candidate cell and the information exceeding the common effective time length TA failure, the second configuration information comprises the common updating time length threshold value of the TA of the candidate cell, and the TA values of the candidate cells after updating are the same, the fourth indication information is formed directly according to the TA values of the candidate cells after updating or the TA of the candidate cells after updating. If the collocation of the first configuration information and the second configuration information is that the first configuration information comprises the TA private effective duration corresponding to the candidate cell and the information exceeding the private effective duration and corresponding to the TA failure, and the second configuration information comprises the TA private update duration threshold value corresponding to the candidate cell, which indicates that different updated TA values of the candidate cell exist, fourth indication information is formed according to the TA values of the candidate cells after updating or the TA of the candidate cells after updating.

In an example, when the terminal device forms the fourth indication information according to the TA value of each updated candidate cell, the TA value of each updated candidate cell may be associated with the corresponding candidate cell identifier, for example, a mapping relationship between the TA value of the updated candidate cell and the corresponding candidate cell identifier is established, so as to form the fourth indication information according to the association result.

In another example, when the terminal device forms the fourth indication information according to the TA of each updated candidate cell, a string of specific fields may be formed according to the result of the TA of each updated candidate cell, and the specific field corresponding to the candidate cell is associated with the corresponding candidate cell identifier, for example, a mapping relationship between the specific field corresponding to the candidate cell and the corresponding candidate cell identifier thereof is established, so as to form the fourth indication information according to the association result. Wherein the specific field indicates that the TA of the candidate cell has been updated.

It should be understood that, when the candidate cells are plural, the fourth indication information may be formed according to the TA values of all updated candidate cells when the fourth indication information is formed according to the TA value of each updated candidate cell or the TA of each updated candidate cell. Alternatively, the fourth indication information may be formed according to the updated TA of all candidate cells. Alternatively, the fourth indication information may be formed according to the updated TA value of a part of the candidate cells and the updated TA value of another part of the candidate cells. The specific form of the fourth indication information is not limited herein. Therefore, in the method for triggering to update the corresponding candidate cell TA, the first network device sends the PDCCH instruction to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can send the CFRA request to the first network device based on the CFRA resource in the PDCCH instruction, and the terminal device can update the corresponding candidate cell TA by adopting the current TA after acquiring the latest current TA, so that the terminal device can send an update result to the first network device, and therefore, the first network device can successfully acquire the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal device acquires the current TA returned by the second network device, compared with the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal device sends the new instruction to acquire the current TA, transmission resources are saved, and timeliness of the first network device for acquiring the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved.

Another possible implementation manner is that the first network device sends a measurement instruction to the terminal device, where the measurement instruction is used to instruct the terminal device to perform a current TA measurement procedure of the candidate cell. The terminal device sends fourth indication information to the first network device.

It should be appreciated that in this implementation, when the first network device decides to trigger the update of the corresponding candidate cell TA, a measurement instruction is sent to the terminal device, so that the terminal device performs the current TA measurement procedure of the candidate cell according to the measurement instruction. Based on the above, the terminal device updates the candidate cell TA according to the measured current TA, and forms fourth indication information according to the updated candidate cell TA, so as to send the fourth indication information to the first network device.

It should be further understood that the manner of forming the fourth indication information is similar to that of forming the fourth indication information in the previous implementation, and will not be repeated here. Therefore, in the method for updating the corresponding candidate cell TA by triggering the above, the first network device sends the measurement instruction to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can automatically measure the latest current TA of the corresponding candidate cell, and the terminal device can update the corresponding candidate cell TA by adopting the current TA, thereby enabling the terminal device to send the update result to the first network device. Therefore, the first network equipment can acquire the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal equipment obtains the current TA by itself, and the efficiency of the first network equipment in acquiring the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved.

It should be appreciated that the present application may trigger updating of the candidate cell TA in one of two ways, so that flexibility in updating the candidate cell TA when managed by the first network device is effectively improved.

3. The device for performing validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is a second network device.

In the timing advance management method provided in the foregoing embodiment, in order to enable the second network device to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, the second network device acquires related information for performing validity management, in addition to knowing that the second network device has acquired the TA of the corresponding candidate cell or received the TA value of the candidate cell sent by the terminal device, after receiving the third indication information sent by the terminal.

Based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information of the corresponding candidate cell are obtained by the second network device.

It should be understood that the first configuration information and the second configuration information herein are similar to those adopted when the terminal device or the first network device manages the TA of the corresponding candidate cell, and will not be described herein.

It should be further understood that, in the foregoing method, the first configuration information and the second configuration information have multiple configurations, and the second network device may perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information of the multiple configurations, so that the flexibility of management of the second network device may be improved.

After that, the first network device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information based on the first configuration information and the second configuration information, which specifically may include:

starting a TA timer to count time, and triggering to update the TA of the corresponding candidate cell if the counted time reaches a TA public update time threshold or a TA private update time threshold.

In other words, when the second network device receives the third indication information sent by the terminal device, it determines to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell. Based on the above, the second network device obtains the first configuration information and the second configuration information of the corresponding candidate cell, starts the TA timer of the corresponding candidate cell to count when the public valid duration or the corresponding private valid duration indicated by the first configuration information is not exceeded, and triggers the TA updating of the corresponding candidate cell when the counted time reaches the TA public updating duration threshold or the TA private updating duration threshold indicated by the second configuration information. Therefore, the present embodiment describes in detail the validity management of the TA of the candidate cell by the second network device, and more specifically describes the step of the validity management of the TA of the candidate cell by the second network device. When the second network device manages the validity of the TA of the candidate cell, the second network device can trigger updating the TA of the candidate cell according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information by acquiring the first configuration information and the second configuration information, and the second network device does not need to trigger updating the TA of the candidate cell when the TA of the candidate cell is about to fail, so that the timeliness of updating the TA of the candidate cell by the second network device is improved.

one possible implementation manner is that the second network device sends a first message to the first network device, where the first message is used to instruct the first network device to send a PDCCH order to the terminal device. The terminal device sends a CFRA request to the second network device, where the CFRA request is used to instruct the second network device to acquire a current TA of the corresponding candidate cell. The second network device sends a CFRA response to the terminal device, the CFRA response including the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell. The terminal device sends fourth indication information to the second network device, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the TA of the corresponding candidate cell has been updated or the TA value after updating.

The first message is an indication message for indicating that the PDCCH instruction is sent to the terminal equipment. For example, the first message may be an indication message such as an identifier, an index, or a number that characterizes "send PDCCH order to terminal equipment", or may be a field of "send PDCCH order to terminal equipment", and the specific expression form of the first message is not limited in this application.

It should be understood that, in this implementation manner, when the second network device decides to trigger to update the corresponding candidate cell TA, a first message is sent to the first network device, so that the first network device sends a PDCCH instruction to the terminal device according to the content indicated by the first message, and further, the terminal device sends a CFRA request to the second network device according to the CFRA resource in the PDCCH instruction. The second network device, upon receiving the CFRA request, obtains the controlled current TA of the candidate cell and carries it in a CFRA response to send the current TA of the candidate cell to the terminal device.

Based on the above, the terminal device obtains the current TA of the candidate cell through the CFRA response, updates the TA of the corresponding candidate cell by adopting the current TA, forms fourth indication information according to the updated TA of the candidate cell, and sends the fourth indication information to the second network device. Therefore, in the method for updating the corresponding candidate cell TA by triggering the above, the second network device sends the first message to the first network device, so that the first network device can send the PDCCH instruction to the terminal device according to the first message, and the terminal device can send the CFRA request to the first network device based on the CFRA resource in the PDCCH instruction, so that the terminal device can update the corresponding candidate cell TA by using the current TA after acquiring the latest current TA, and further, the terminal device can send the updating result to the second network device, thereby the second network device can successfully acquire the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal device obtains the returned current TA, compared with the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal device sends the new instruction to obtain the current TA, transmission resources are saved, and timeliness of the second network device for acquiring the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved.

Another possible implementation manner is that the second network device sends a second message to the first network device, where the second message is used to instruct the first network device to send the measurement instruction to the terminal device. The terminal device sends fourth indication information to the second network device.

The second message is an indication message for indicating that the measurement instruction is sent to the terminal equipment. For example, the second message may be an indication message such as an identifier, an index, a number, etc. that characterizes "send measurement instruction to terminal device", or may be a field of "send measurement instruction to terminal device", and the specific expression form of the second message is not limited in this application.

It should be understood that, in this implementation manner, when the second network device decides to trigger to update the corresponding candidate cell TA, a second message is sent to the first network device, so that the first network device sends a measurement instruction to the terminal device according to the second message, and further, the terminal device performs the current TA measurement procedure of the candidate cell according to the measurement instruction. Based on the above, the terminal device updates the candidate cell TA according to the measured current TA, and forms fourth indication information according to the updated candidate cell TA, so as to send the fourth indication information to the first network device. Therefore, in the method for updating the corresponding candidate cell TA by triggering the above, the second network device sends the second message to the first network device, so that the first network device can send the measurement instruction to the terminal device according to the second message, and the terminal device can automatically measure the latest current TA of the corresponding candidate cell, so that the terminal device can update the corresponding candidate cell TA by adopting the current TA, and further the terminal device can send the update result to the second network device. Therefore, the second network equipment can acquire the latest TA of the candidate cell after the terminal equipment obtains the current TA by itself, and the efficiency of the second network equipment in acquiring the latest TA of the candidate cell is improved.

It should be appreciated that the present application may trigger the update of the candidate cell TA in one of two ways, so that the flexibility of updating the candidate cell TA when managed by the second network device is effectively improved.

In the method of the present application, the purpose of validity management of the TA of the candidate cell is to cause the terminal device to perform handover to the target cell according to the valid TA of the target cell. A manner of performing handover to a target cell according to the TA of the target cell that is valid will be described.

First, a third message is sent by the first network device to the second network device, the third message being used to indicate whether the target cell TA managed by the second network device is determined to be valid. And the second network equipment sends a fourth message to the first network equipment, wherein the fourth message comprises information about whether the target cell TA is valid or not, and the information about whether the target cell TA is valid or not is used for indicating whether the MAC CE signaling sent to the terminal equipment by the first network equipment comprises the TA value of the target cell or not.

Wherein the third message is an indication message characterizing whether the managed target cell TA is valid. The fourth message is indication information indicating whether the target cell TA is valid. For example, the third message may be an indication message indicating "determine whether the managed target cell TA is valid", an index, a number, or the like, or may be a field of "determine whether the managed target cell TA is valid". The fourth message may be indication information such as an identifier, an index, a number, etc. for indicating that "the target cell TA is valid" or "the target cell TA is invalid", or may be a field of "the target cell TA is valid" or "the target cell TA is invalid". The detailed forms of the third message and the fourth message are not limited in this application.

It should be understood that the precondition that the terminal device performs handover to the target cell according to the TA of the target cell that is valid is that the MAC CE signaling sent by the first network device is received. The first network device sends a third message to the second network device so that the second network device determines whether the TA of the controlled target cell is valid according to the third message, and forms a fourth message according to the result of whether the TA of the target cell is valid, so as to inform the first network device of the result of whether the TA of the target cell is valid. Therefore, the second network device receives the instruction sent by the first network device to determine the TA validity of the target cell, so that the second network device can timely acquire the TA validity of the target cell, and can timely inform the first network device of the result of the TA validity of the target cell.

Then the first network device, after determining from the fourth message if the information of the target cell TA is valid, has the following two cases:

a possible situation is that if the first network device determines that there is a valid target cell TA, the first network device carries a target cell TA value in a MAC CE signaling, and sends the MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, where the MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the terminal device to send a handover instruction to a second network device corresponding to the target cell.

It should be understood that when there is a valid target cell TA, the terminal device may perform handover directly to the target cell according to the valid target cell TA. Therefore, when the first network device determines that the effective target cell TA exists, the first network device carries the target cell TA value in the MAC CE signaling so as to instruct the terminal device to send a switching instruction to the second network device corresponding to the target cell.

Another possible case is that if the first network device determines that there is no valid target cell TA, the first network device does not carry the target cell TA value in the MAC CE signaling, and sends the MAC CE signaling to the terminal device, where the MAC CE signaling is used to instruct the second network device corresponding to the target cell to perform the uplink synchronization procedure.

It should be understood that when the terminal device determines that there is no valid target cell TA, the terminal device cannot perform handover and needs to determine the TA of the target cell again. Therefore, the first network device does not carry the target cell TA value in the MAC CE signaling when determining that there is no valid target cell TA, so as to instruct the second network device corresponding to the target cell to execute the uplink synchronization process, thereby determining the TA of the target cell again. Therefore, the first network device can carry the TA value of the target cell in the MAC CE signaling when determining to be valid by knowing the result of the TA validity of the target cell, thereby indicating the terminal device to initiate the handover. And the TA value of the target cell is not carried in the MAC CE signaling when the invalidation is determined, so that the terminal equipment and the target cell are instructed to execute the uplink synchronization process, and the instruction accuracy is improved.

Based on this, the terminal device determines the actions to be performed subsequently according to the MAC CE signaling.

It should be noted that, when the terminal device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, the terminal device may directly learn the result that the TA of the target cell is valid or invalid, and the time that the terminal device learns is after the time that the first network device learns. Therefore, if the current management situation is that the terminal device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, the terminal device determines the action to be performed subsequently according to the MAC CE signaling, which may specifically include:

if the terminal equipment determines that the effective target cell TA exists, the terminal equipment directly sends a switching instruction to second network equipment corresponding to the target cell, wherein the switching instruction is used for indicating switching to the target cell. If the terminal equipment determines that no effective target cell TA exists, further determining whether the MAC CE signaling comprises a target cell TA value, sending a switching instruction to second network equipment corresponding to the target cell when the MAC CE signaling comprises the target cell TA value, and executing an uplink synchronization process with the target cell according to a result that the target cell TA is invalid when the MAC CE signaling does not comprise the target cell TA value.

It should be noted that, the terminal device may determine whether a valid target cell TA exists according to the TA timer corresponding to the target cell. Specifically, when the TA timer corresponding to the target cell does not expire, it is determined that there is a valid target cell TA. And when the TA timer corresponding to the target cell is overtime, determining that no valid target cell TA exists.

It should be understood that the following two cases exist for the TA timer corresponding to the target cell, where the TA timer does not expire:

(1) The TA of the target cell is not updated and the timing duration does not exceed the TA public effective duration or the TA private effective duration of the target cell.

(2) The TA of the target cell is updated and the TA timer corresponding to the target cell is restarted, and the TA of the target cell is not updated after restarting and the timing duration exceeds the TA public effective duration or the TA private effective duration of the target cell.

It should also be understood that the above description of the case where the TA timer corresponding to the target cell has not expired is merely an example, and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way.

It should also be understood that when the terminal device instructs to switch to the target cell, indicating that the target cell TA is valid, an indication may be sent directly to the target cell to effect the switch. The indication may be an RRC reconfiguration signaling complete message, or may be any uplink data, and the specific content of the indication is not limited in this application. When the terminal device and the target cell execute the uplink synchronization process, which means that the target cell TA is invalid, the CFRA request may be sent to the second network device, so as to acquire the target cell TA again to realize the uplink synchronization process. The CFRA request may include a target cell identifier, where the target cell identifier may be any identifier that characterizes the identity of the target cell, such as a name, a number, etc. of the target cell, which is not limited in this application. Therefore, under the condition that the terminal equipment manages the candidate cell TA, the terminal equipment can directly initiate switching to the target cell by confirming whether the effective target cell TA exists currently or not, and can further confirm whether the target cell TA value is included in the MAC CE signaling or not when the existence is confirmed, thereby directly initiating switching to the target cell when the inclusion is confirmed, and executing an uplink synchronization process with the target cell when the inclusion is confirmed, and improving the success rate of switching.

If the current management situation is that the first network device or the second network device performs validity management on the TA of the candidate cell, the terminal device determines the action to be executed subsequently according to the MAC CE signaling, which specifically may include:

if the terminal equipment determines that the MAC CE signaling comprises the TA value of the target cell, the terminal equipment directly sends a switching instruction to second network equipment corresponding to the target cell. If the terminal equipment determines that the MAC CE signaling does not comprise the TA value of the target cell, executing an uplink synchronization process comprising CFRA with the target cell. Therefore, under the condition that the first network device or the second network device manages the candidate cell TA, the terminal device can directly initiate the switching to the target cell when the MAC CE signaling is determined to be included by determining whether the target cell TA value is included, and execute the uplink synchronization process with the target cell when the MAC CE signaling is determined to be not included, so that the success rate of the switching is further improved.

The following describes in detail a scheme for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell in a signaling interaction diagram manner when the device for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is a terminal device, a first network device, and a second network device, respectively.

Fig. 4 is a signaling interaction diagram between a terminal device and each network device when the terminal device manages a timing advance according to an embodiment of the present application. An embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 4.

Taking LTM handover as an example, first, a terminal device in a connected network state sends a measurement result to a first network device. And the first network equipment decides to execute LTM switching according to the measurement result and the supporting capability of the terminal equipment for the LTM switching, and sends an LTM switching request to the second network equipment, wherein the LTM switching request is used for indicating the second network equipment to acquire candidate cell configuration information. The second network device sends candidate cell configuration information to the first network device. The first network device carries candidate cell configuration information in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message, and sends the RRC reconfiguration signaling message to the terminal device. The method comprises the steps of,

s401, the first network equipment sends a PDCCH instruction to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDCCH instruction comprises CFRA resources.

It should be understood that, in addition to the RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the PDCCH order, the first network device needs to send first indication information, or the first indication information and the second indication information, to the terminal device.

It should be further understood that, according to the foregoing method, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried together in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message and sent to the terminal device, or may be carried together in a PDCCH order and sent to the terminal device, or may be sent together as a separate signaling to the terminal device, or may be carried respectively in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message, a PDCCH order, or a separate signaling to the terminal device, which is not limited in this application.

It should also be appreciated that the terminal device triggers a CFRA request with RAR by itself when the first network device sends only the first indication information to the terminal device. When the first network device sends the first indication information and the second indication information to the terminal device, the terminal device triggers a CFRA request with RAR according to the second indication information. For simplicity of explanation, the figure only shows a case that the first network device carries the first indication information and the second indication information together in a PDCCH instruction, and sends the PDCCH instruction to the terminal device, so that the terminal device triggers a CFRA request with RAR according to the second indication information.

S402, the terminal equipment sends a CFRA request with RAR to second network equipment, wherein the second network equipment is candidate cell network equipment, the candidate cells comprise target cells and potential target cells, and one or more candidate cells are selected.

S403, the second network device sends the CFRA response with RAR to the terminal device.

S404, before the TA of the candidate cell fails, the terminal equipment starts a TA timer of the candidate cell.

It should be appreciated that when instructing the terminal device to manage the timing advance, the first network device needs to send the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the terminal device before the terminal device starts the TA timer of the candidate cell, in addition to the RRC reconfiguration signaling message, the PDCCH order, the first indication information, and the second indication information.

It should be further understood that, according to the foregoing method, the transmission manner of the first configuration information and the second configuration information is similar to the transmission manner of the first indication information and the second indication information, which are not repeated herein. And for simplicity of explanation, only the case that the first configuration information and the second configuration information are carried together in the PDCCH order is shown in the figure.

And S405, the terminal equipment triggers updating of the candidate cell TA when the terminal equipment determines that the updating condition is met currently according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

S406, the terminal equipment sends an L1 measurement result to the first network equipment.

S407, the first network device sends an LTM switching command to the terminal device.

It should be appreciated that the LTM switch command includes MAC CE signaling.

S408, the terminal equipment disconnects the first network equipment.

S409, the terminal equipment determines to initiate an uplink synchronization process or direct handover of the CFRA according to whether an effective target cell TA exists.

It should be understood that when the target cell TA is in an active state, the terminal device initiates handover directly to the target cell. And when the TA of the target cell is in an invalid state, the terminal equipment initiates an uplink synchronization process with CFRA to the target cell, so that the TA of the target cell is acquired again, and handover is initiated to the target cell based on the TA.

S410, the terminal equipment completes LTM switching aiming at the target cell.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the specific implementation scheme of managing the timing advance by the terminal device is similar to the specific implementation scheme of effectively managing the TA of the candidate cell by the terminal device in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

Fig. 5 is a signaling interaction diagram between a terminal device and each network device when a timing advance is managed by a first network device according to an embodiment of the present application. An embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 5.

Taking LTM handover as an example, as before, a terminal device in a connected network state sends a measurement result to a first network device. And the first network equipment decides to execute LTM switching according to the measurement result and the supporting capability of the terminal equipment for the LTM switching, and sends an LTM switching request to the second network equipment, wherein the LTM switching request is used for indicating the second network equipment to acquire candidate cell configuration information. The second network device sends candidate cell configuration information to the first network device. The first network device carries candidate cell configuration information in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message, and sends the RRC reconfiguration signaling message to the terminal device. The method comprises the steps of,

S501, the first network equipment sends a PDCCH instruction to the terminal equipment, wherein the PDCCH instruction comprises CFRA resources.

As before, in addition to the RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the PDCCH order, the first network device needs to send first indication information, or the first indication information and the second indication information, to the terminal device.

As before, according to the foregoing method, the first indication information and the second indication information may be carried together in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message and sent to the terminal device, or may be carried together in a PDCCH order and sent to the terminal device, or may be sent together as a separate signaling to the terminal device, or may be carried respectively in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message, a PDCCH order, or a separate signaling to the terminal device, which is not limited in this application.

As before, when the first network device sends only the first indication information to the terminal device, the terminal device triggers a CFRA request with RAR by itself. When the first network device sends the first indication information and the second indication information to the terminal device, the terminal device triggers a CFRA request with RAR according to the second indication information. For simplicity of explanation, the figure only shows a case that the first network device carries the first indication information and the second indication information together in a PDCCH instruction, and sends the PDCCH instruction to the terminal device, so that the terminal device triggers a CFRA request with RAR according to the second indication information.

S502, the terminal equipment sends a CFRA request with RAR to second network equipment, wherein the second network equipment is candidate cell network equipment, the candidate cells comprise target cells and potential target cells, and one or more candidate cells are selected.

S503, the second network device sends CFRA response with RAR to the terminal device.

S504, the terminal equipment sends third indication information to the first network equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the TA of the candidate cell or the TA value of the candidate cell is acquired.

S505, before the TA of the candidate cell fails, the first network equipment starts a TA timer of the candidate cell.

It should be appreciated that when the first network device is instructed to manage the timing advance, the second network device also needs to send the first configuration information and the second configuration information to the first network device before the first network device starts the TA timer of the candidate cell.

It should be further understood that, according to the foregoing method, the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be sent to the first network device as one independent signaling, or may be sent to the first network device as one independent signaling respectively, which is not limited in this application. And for simplicity of illustration, only the case of having the first configuration information and the second configuration information as one independent signaling is shown in the figure.

S506, the first network device sends a PDCCH instruction to the terminal device when the first network device determines that the updating condition is met currently according to the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

S507, the terminal equipment triggers updating of the candidate cell TA.

S508, the terminal equipment sends the L1 measurement result to the first network equipment.

S509, the first network device sends an LTM switching command to the terminal device.

It should be appreciated that the LTM switch command includes MAC CE signaling.

S510, the terminal equipment disconnects with the first network equipment.

S511, the terminal equipment determines to initiate an uplink synchronization process or direct handover of the CFRA according to whether an effective target cell TA exists.

If the target cell TA is in the active state, the terminal device directly initiates handover to the target cell. And when the TA of the target cell is in an invalid state, the terminal equipment initiates an uplink synchronization process with CFRA to the target cell, so that the TA of the target cell is acquired again, and handover is initiated to the target cell based on the TA.

S512, the terminal equipment completes LTM switching aiming at the target cell.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the specific implementation scheme of the first network device for managing the timing advance is similar to the specific implementation scheme of the first network device for effectively managing the TA of the candidate cell in the foregoing embodiment, and is not repeated herein.

Fig. 6 is a signaling interaction diagram between a terminal device and each network device when a timing advance is managed by a second network device according to an embodiment of the present application. An embodiment of the present application will be described below with reference to fig. 6.

s601, a first network device sends a PDCCH instruction to a terminal device, wherein the PDCCH instruction comprises CFRA resources.

S602, the terminal equipment sends a CFRA request with RAR to second network equipment, wherein the second network equipment is candidate cell network equipment, the candidate cells comprise target cells and potential target cells, and one or more candidate cells are selected.

S603, the second network device sends a CFRA response with RAR to the terminal device.

S604, the terminal equipment sends third indication information to the second network equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the TA of the candidate cell or the TA value of the candidate cell is acquired.

And S605, before the TA of the candidate cell fails, the second network equipment starts a TA timer of the candidate cell.

It should be appreciated that when the first network device is instructed to manage the timing advance, the second network device also needs to acquire the first configuration information and the second configuration information before starting the TA timer of the candidate cell.

S606, the second network device sends random access flow indication information to the first network device when determining that the update condition is met currently.

S607, the first network device sends a PDCCH instruction to the terminal device according to the random access flow indication information.

And S608, the terminal equipment triggers updating of the candidate cell TA.

S609, the terminal equipment sends an L1 measurement result to the first network equipment.

S610, the first network device sends an LTM switching command to the terminal device.

It should be appreciated that the LTM switch command includes MAC CE signaling.

S611, the terminal equipment disconnects with the first network equipment.

S612, the terminal equipment determines to initiate an uplink synchronization process or direct handover of the CFRA according to whether an effective target cell TA exists.

S613, the terminal equipment completes LTM switching aiming at the target cell.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the specific implementation scheme of the second network device for managing the timing advance is similar to the specific implementation scheme of the second network device for effectively managing the TA of the candidate cell in the above embodiment, and is not repeated here.

The method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 2 to 6. The device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a timing advance management apparatus 70 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the timing advance management apparatus 70 may include a processing unit 71 and a transceiving unit 72.

In one possible design, the timing advance management apparatus 70 may implement the operations corresponding to the terminal device in the above method embodiment, for example, the timing advance management apparatus may be the terminal device, or a component such as a chip or a circuit configured in the terminal device.

The timing advance management apparatus 70 may implement the corresponding operations of the terminal devices in the method embodiments shown in fig. 2 to 6. For example, the transceiver unit 72 may be used to perform step 201 of the method 200, and the processing unit 71 may be used to perform steps 202 through 204 of the method 200. And, each unit in the timing advance management apparatus 70 and the other operations and/or functions described above are respectively for realizing the corresponding flow in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2.

Specifically, when the timing advance management apparatus 70 is configured to perform the method 200 in fig. 2, the transceiver unit 72 may be configured to receive first indication information sent by a first network device, where the first indication information is configured to indicate a device for performing validity management on a timing advance TA of a candidate cell, where the device for performing validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is a terminal device or a first network device or a second network device, and the candidate cell is one or more; the processing unit 71 may be configured to, if the device for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is a terminal device, perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information, and may be further configured to, if the device for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is a first network device, send third indication information to the first network device, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the TA or TA value of the corresponding candidate cell has been obtained, and may be further configured to, if the device for performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is a second network device, send third indication information to the second network device. The transceiver unit 72 may also be used to communicate with a first network device and a second network device. The first network device is a network device to which the source cell belongs, and the second network device is a network device to which the candidate cell belongs.

In another possible design, the timing advance management apparatus 70 may implement the operations corresponding to the first network device in the above method embodiment, for example, the timing advance management apparatus may be the first network device, or a component, such as a chip or a circuit, configured in the first network device.

The timing advance management apparatus 70 may implement the corresponding operation of the first network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2. For example, the transceiver unit 72 may be used to perform step 201 of the method 200, and the processing unit 71 may be used to perform step 203 of the method 200. And, each unit in the timing advance management apparatus 70 and the other operations and/or functions described above are respectively for realizing the corresponding flow in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2.

Specifically, when the timing advance management apparatus 70 is configured to perform the method 200 in fig. 2, the transceiver unit 72 may be configured to send first indication information to the terminal device, where the first indication information is configured to indicate a device for performing validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell, where the device for performing validity management on the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is the terminal device or the first network device or the second network device, and the candidate cell is one or more. The processing unit 71 may be configured to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information by using the first network device, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the TA or the TA value of the corresponding candidate cell has been acquired.

In yet another possible design, the timing advance management apparatus 70 may implement the operations corresponding to the second network device in the above method embodiment, for example, the timing advance management apparatus may be the second network device, or a component, such as a chip or a circuit, configured in the second network device.

The timing advance management apparatus 70 may implement the corresponding operation of the second network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2. For example, the processing unit 71 may be adapted to perform step 204 of the method 200. And, each unit in the timing advance management apparatus 70 and the other operations and/or functions described above are respectively for realizing the corresponding flow in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2.

Specifically, when the timing advance management apparatus 70 is configured to perform the method 200 in fig. 2, the processing unit 71 may be configured to perform validity management on the TA of the candidate cell by the second network device according to the third indication information, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the TA or the TA value of the corresponding candidate cell has been acquired.

It should be understood that the specific process of each unit performing the corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiments, and is not described herein for brevity.

It should be further understood that the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is merely illustrative, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation, and in addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processor, or may exist separately and physically, or two or more modules may be integrated in one module. The integrated modules may be implemented in hardware or in software functional modules.

It should be understood that the timing advance management apparatus 70 may correspond to the terminal device 1001 or the first network device 1002 or the second network device 1003 in the communication system 1000 shown in fig. 1. The terminal device 1001 may be an example of a terminal device, and the first network device 1002 may be an example of a first network device. The second network device 1003 may be an example of a second network device. The processing unit 71 in the timing advance management apparatus 70 may correspond to a processor in the terminal device 1001 or the first network device 1002 or the second network device 1003, and may call, by the processor in the terminal device 1001 or the first network device 1002 or the second network device 1003, an instruction stored in the memory to implement the above functions, such as network coding, acquiring an original packet, and the like; the transceiving unit 72 may correspond to an interface in the terminal device 1001 or the first network device 1002 or the second network device 1003, and may implement the above-described function of receiving and/or transmitting data in response to an instruction of the processor.

Specifically, the transceiver unit 72 in the timing advance management apparatus 70 may be implemented by a transceiver or a communication interface, and may correspond to, for example, the transceiver 8002 in the terminal device 8000 shown in fig. 8 and the transceiver 9002 in the network device 9000 shown in fig. 9. The processing unit 71 in the timing advance management apparatus 70 may be implemented by at least one processor, and may correspond to the processor 8001 in the terminal device 8000 shown in fig. 8 and the processor 9006 in the network device 9000 shown in fig. 9, for example. The network device may be a first network device or a second network device.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a terminal device 8000 according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device 8000 may be used in a system as shown in fig. 1 to perform the functions of the terminal device in the above-described method embodiment. As shown in fig. 8, the terminal device 8000 includes a processor 8001 and a transceiver 8002. Optionally, the terminal device 8000 also comprises a memory 8003. Wherein the processor 8001, the transceiver 8002 and the memory 8003 can communicate with each other via an internal connection path to transfer control and/or data signals, the memory 8003 is used for storing a computer program, and the processor 8001 is used for calling and running the computer program from the memory 8003 to control the transceiver 8002 to transmit and receive signals. Optionally, terminal device 8000 may further include an antenna 8004 for transmitting uplink data or uplink control signaling output by transceiver 8002 via a wireless signal.

The processor 8001 and the memory 8003 may be combined into one processing device, and the processor 8001 is configured to execute program codes stored in the memory 8003 to realize the functions described above. In particular implementations, the memory 8003 may also be integrated into the processor 8001 or independent of the processor 8001. The processor 8001 may correspond to the processing unit 71 in fig. 7.

The transceiver 8002 described above may correspond to the transceiver unit 72 in fig. 7. The transceiver 8002 may include a receiver (or receiver, receiving circuitry) and a transmitter (or transmitter, transmitting circuitry). Wherein the receiver is for receiving signals and the transmitter is for transmitting signals.

It will be appreciated that the terminal device 8000 shown in fig. 8 is capable of implementing the various processes involving the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in fig. 2-6. The operations and/or functions of the respective modules in the terminal device 8000 are respectively for implementing the respective flows in the above-described method embodiments. Reference is specifically made to the description in the above method embodiments, and detailed descriptions are omitted here as appropriate to avoid repetition.

The above-described processor 8001 may be used to perform the actions described in the foregoing method embodiments as being implemented internally by the terminal device, while the transceiver 8002 may be used to perform the actions described in the foregoing method embodiments as being transmitted to or received from the network device by the terminal device. Please refer to the description of the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not repeated herein.

Optionally, the terminal device 8000 may also include a power supply 8005 for providing power to various devices or circuits in the terminal device.

In addition, in order to make the functions of the terminal device more complete, the terminal device 8000 may further include one or more of an input unit 8006, a display unit 8007, an audio circuit 8008, a camera 8009, a sensor 8010, and the like, and the audio circuit may further include a speaker 8011, a microphone 8012, and the like.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of one possible structure of a network device 9000 provided in an embodiment of the present application, for example, may be a schematic diagram of a base station. The base station 9000 may be applied to a system as shown in fig. 1, and perform the functions of the network device in the method embodiment described above. As shown in fig. 9, the base station 9000 may comprise one or more radio frequency units, such as a remote radio frequency unit (remote radio unit, RRU) 9002 and one or more baseband units (BBU) (also referred to as Distributed Units (DUs)) 9001. The RRU 9002 may be referred to as a transceiving unit, corresponding to the transceiving unit 72 in fig. 7. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 9002 may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, or a transceiver, etc., which may comprise at least one antenna 9003 and a radio frequency unit 9004. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 9002 may include a receiving unit, which may correspond to a receiver (or receiver, receiving circuit), and a transmitting unit, which may correspond to a transmitter (or transmitter, transmitting circuit). The RRU 9002 is mainly configured to receive and transmit a radio frequency signal and convert the radio frequency signal to a baseband signal, for example, to send first indication information to a terminal device. The BBU 9001 is mainly used for baseband processing, control of a base station, and the like. The RRU 9002 and the BBU 9001 may be physically located together or may be physically located separately, i.e. a distributed base station.

The BBU 9001 is a control center of the base station, and may also be referred to as a processing unit, and may correspond to the processing unit 71 in fig. 7, and is mainly configured to perform baseband processing functions, such as channel coding, multiplexing, modulation, spreading, and so on. For example, the BBU (processing unit) may be configured to control the base station to perform the operation procedure with respect to the network device in the above-described method embodiment, for example, to generate the above-described indication information, etc.

In one example, the BBU 9001 may be configured from one or more single boards, where the multiple single boards may support a single access system radio access network (such as an LTE network), or may support different access systems radio access networks (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks) respectively. The BBU 9001 further comprises a memory 9005 and a processor 9006. The memory 9005 is used to store necessary instructions and data. The processor 9006 is configured to control the base station to perform necessary actions, for example, to control the base station to perform the operation procedure of the above method embodiment with respect to the network device. Memory 9005 and processor 9006 may serve one or more boards. That is, the memory and the processor may be separately provided on each board. It is also possible that multiple boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, each single board can be provided with necessary circuits.

It should be appreciated that the base station 9000 shown in fig. 9 is capable of implementing various processes involving the target network device in the method embodiment shown in fig. 2. The operations and/or functions of the respective modules in the base station 9000 are respectively for implementing the respective flows in the above-described method embodiments. Reference is specifically made to the description in the above method embodiments, and detailed descriptions are omitted here as appropriate to avoid repetition.

The BBU 9001 described above may be used to perform the actions described in the method embodiments as being implemented internally by the network device, while the RRU 9002 may be used to perform the actions described in the method embodiments as being sent to or received from the terminal device by the network device. Please refer to the description of the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not repeated herein.

It should be understood that the base station 9000 shown in fig. 9 is only one possible architecture of a network device, and should not constitute any limitation to the present application. The method provided by the application can be applied to network devices of other architectures. For example, network devices containing CUs, DUs and active antenna units (active antenna unit, AAU), etc. The specific architecture of the network device is not limited in this application.

The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device, which comprises a processor and an interface; the processor is configured to perform the method of any of the method embodiments described above.

It should be understood that the processing means described above may be one or more chips. For example, the processing device may be a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA), an application specific integrated chip (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processing unit (central processor unit, CPU), a network processor (network processor, NP), a digital signal processing circuit (digital signal processor, DSP), a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), a programmable controller (programmable logic device, PLD) or other integrated chip.

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

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be implemented by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in software form. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, or discrete hardware components. The disclosed methods, steps, and logic blocks in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in hardware, in a decoded processor, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in a decoded processor. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the above method.

It will be appreciated that the memory in embodiments of the present application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, there is further provided a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which when executed by a processor, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the embodiments shown in fig. 2 to 6.

According to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the present application further provides a chip system, including at least one processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line, and the at least one processor is configured to execute a computer program or instructions, so that the computer performs the method of any of the embodiments shown in fig. 2 to 6.

According to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, there is also provided a computer program product comprising a computer program, which when executed, causes the computer to perform the method of any of the embodiments shown in fig. 2 to 6.

The network device in the above-mentioned respective apparatus embodiments corresponds entirely to the network device or the terminal device in the terminal device and method embodiments, the respective steps are performed by respective modules or units, for example, the steps of receiving or transmitting in the method embodiments are performed by the communication unit (transceiver), and other steps than transmitting and receiving may be performed by the processing unit (processor). Reference may be made to corresponding method embodiments for the function of a specific unit. Wherein the processor may be one or more.

As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between 2 or more computers. Furthermore, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with one another in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks (illustrative logical block) and steps (steps) described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

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

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

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

In the above-described embodiments, the functions of the respective functional units may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions (programs). When the computer program instructions (program) are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are fully or partially produced. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means from one website, computer, server, or data center. Computer readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer or data storage devices, such as servers, data centers, etc., that contain an integration of one or more available media. Usable media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (digital video disc, DVDs)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid State Disks (SSDs)), or the like.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods of 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.

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

Claims

1. A timing advance management method, comprising:

receiving first indication information sent by first network equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating equipment for effectively managing the timing advance TA of a candidate cell; the equipment for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is terminal equipment or first network equipment or second network equipment; the candidate cells are one or more;

and if the equipment for carrying out the validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the terminal equipment, carrying out the validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving second indication information sent by the first network equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether a contention-free random access (CFRA) process comprises a Random Access Response (RAR); sending a CFRA request to second network equipment, wherein the CFRA request is used for indicating the second network equipment to acquire TA of a corresponding candidate cell; if the second indication information indicates that the CFRA process comprises RAR, receiving RAR sent by the second network equipment, wherein the RAR comprises TA corresponding to the candidate cell;

Or alternatively;

transmitting a CFRA request including an RAR to a second network device, the CFRA request including an RAR for indicating that a CFRA procedure includes an RAR; and receiving the RAR sent by the second network equipment, wherein the RAR comprises the TA of the corresponding candidate cell.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, instruction;

or the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in an infinite resource control (RRC) reconfiguration signaling message;

or, the first indication information is carried in a PDCCH order and the second indication information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message;

alternatively, the first indication information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the second indication information is carried in a PDCCH order.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving first configuration information and second configuration information sent by first network equipment;

the first configuration information includes:

TA public effective duration of the candidate cell and information exceeding the public effective duration TA failure; or the TA private valid time length corresponding to the candidate cell and the information exceeding the private valid time length and corresponding to TA failure;

The second configuration information is a TA public update time length threshold value of the candidate cell or a TA private update time length threshold value of the corresponding candidate cell;

the TA public updating time length threshold value of the candidate cell is a value smaller than the public effective time length or a value of the residual public effective time length; the residual public effective duration is the difference value between the public effective duration and the timing time when the TA timer is started;

the TA private update time threshold value of the corresponding candidate cell is a value smaller than the private effective time or a value smaller than the residual private effective time, and the residual private effective time is a difference value between the private effective time and the timing time when the TA timer is started.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the first indication information comprises:

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the first configuration information and the second configuration information are carried in a downlink control channel scheduling PDCCH order;

Or, the first configuration information and the second configuration information are carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message;

or, the first configuration information is carried in a PDCCH order and the second configuration information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message;

alternatively, the first configuration information is carried in an RRC reconfiguration signaling message and the second configuration information is carried in a PDCCH order.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the triggering of the updating of the corresponding candidate cell TA comprises:

sending a CFRA request to the second network device, wherein the CFRA request is used for indicating the second network device to acquire the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell; receiving a CFRA response sent by the second network device, wherein the CFRA response comprises the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell; updating the corresponding candidate cell TA according to the current TA;

or alternatively;

executing the current TA measurement process of the candidate cell and acquiring the current TA of the candidate cell; and updating the corresponding candidate cell TA according to the current TA.

8. The method of any one of claims 1-7, further comprising:

receiving MAC CE signaling sent by the first network equipment;

If the effective target cell TA exists, or if the effective target cell TA does not exist and the MAC CE signaling comprises the target cell TA value, sending a switching instruction to second network equipment corresponding to the target cell, wherein the switching instruction is used for indicating switching to the target cell;

and if no effective target cell TA exists and the MAC CE signaling does not comprise the target cell TA value, executing an uplink synchronization process with the target cell.

9. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

if the equipment for carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is first network equipment, third indication information is sent to the first network equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the TA or the TA value of the corresponding candidate cell is acquired;

and if the equipment for carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is the second network equipment, sending third indication information to the second network equipment.

10. A timing advance management method, comprising:

transmitting first indication information to terminal equipment, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating equipment for effectively managing the timing advance TA of a candidate cell; the equipment for effectively managing the timing advance TA of the candidate cell is terminal equipment or first network equipment or second network equipment; the candidate cells are one or more;

If the equipment for carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is first network equipment, third indication information sent by the terminal equipment is received, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the TA or the TA value of the corresponding candidate cell is acquired;

and carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising:

and sending second indication information to the terminal equipment, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating whether the contention-free random access (CFRA) process comprises Random Access Response (RAR).

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first indication information and the second indication information are carried in a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, instruction;

13. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising:

receiving first configuration information and second configuration information sent by second network equipment;

the first configuration information includes:

the TA public updating time length threshold value of the candidate cell is a value smaller than the public effective time length or a value smaller than the residual public effective time length; the residual public effective duration is the difference value between the public effective duration and the timing time when the TA timer is started;

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information includes:

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the first configuration information and the second configuration information are carried in a single piece of independent signaling;

alternatively, the first configuration information is carried in one independent signaling and the second configuration information is carried in another independent signaling.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the triggering of the updating of the corresponding candidate cell TA comprises:

transmitting a PDCCH instruction to a terminal device, wherein the PDCCH instruction comprises random access resource indication information; the random access resource indication information is used for indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the corresponding candidate cell current TA from the second network equipment through a CFRA request; receiving fourth indication information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the updated TA of the corresponding candidate cell or the updated TA value;

or alternatively;

transmitting a measurement instruction to a terminal device, wherein the measurement instruction is used for instructing the terminal device to execute the current TA measurement process of the candidate cell; and receiving fourth indication information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating that the TA of the corresponding candidate cell is updated or the updated TA value.

17. The method according to any one of claims 10-16, further comprising:

if the effective target cell TA exists, carrying the target cell TA value in the MAC CE signaling;

transmitting the MAC CE signaling to the terminal equipment; the MAC CE signaling is used for indicating the terminal equipment to send a switching instruction to the second network equipment corresponding to the target cell;

if the effective target cell TA does not exist, the target cell TA value is not carried in the MAC CE signaling;

transmitting the MAC CE signaling to the terminal equipment; the MAC CE signaling is used for indicating the terminal equipment to execute the uplink synchronization process with the second network equipment corresponding to the target cell.

18. A timing advance management method, comprising:

if the equipment for carrying out validity management on the TA of the candidate cell is second network equipment, receiving third indication information sent by terminal equipment, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating that the TA or the TA value of the corresponding candidate cell is acquired;

and carrying out validity management on the TA of the corresponding candidate cell according to the third indication information.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

receiving a CFRA request sent by a terminal device, wherein the CFRA request is used for indicating a second network device to acquire a TA of a corresponding candidate cell, the CFRA request is sent to the second network device by a terminal after a first network device sends second indication information to the terminal, and the second indication information is used for indicating whether a contention-free random access CFRA process comprises a random access response RAR; if the second indication information indicates that the CFRA process comprises RAR, the RAR is sent to the terminal equipment, and the RAR comprises TA corresponding to the candidate cell;

Or alternatively;

receiving a CFRA request comprising RAR sent by terminal equipment, wherein the CFRA request comprising RAR is used for indicating that a CFRA process comprises RAR; and transmitting RAR to the terminal equipment, wherein the RAR comprises TA corresponding to the candidate cell.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the second indication information is carried in a physical downlink control channel scheduling PDCCH order;

alternatively, the second indication information is carried in a RRC reconfiguration signaling message.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein the performing validity management on the TA of the candidate cell according to the third indication information includes:

acquiring first configuration information and second configuration information of a corresponding candidate cell;

the first configuration information includes:

22. The method according to claim 18, wherein the performing validity management on the TA of the corresponding candidate cell according to the third indication information includes:

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the triggering of the updating of the corresponding candidate cell TA comprises:

sending a first message to a first network device, wherein the first message is used for indicating the first network device to send a PDCCH instruction to a terminal device; receiving a CFRA request sent by a terminal device, wherein the CFRA request is used for indicating the second network device to acquire the current TA of a corresponding candidate cell; transmitting a CFRA response to the terminal equipment, wherein the CFRA response comprises the current TA of the corresponding candidate cell; receiving fourth indication information sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the updated TA of the corresponding candidate cell or the updated TA value;

Or alternatively;

24. The method according to any one of claims 18-23, further comprising:

receiving a third message sent by the first network device; the third message is used for indicating whether the target cell TA managed by the second network equipment is valid or not;

transmitting a fourth message to the first network device, wherein the fourth message comprises information whether the target cell TA is valid or not; the target cell TA valid information is used to indicate whether the MAC CE signaling sent by the first network device to the terminal device includes the target cell TA value.

25. A terminal device, comprising: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions; the transceiver is used for receiving and transmitting data;

the processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9.

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

the processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory to cause the first network device to perform the method of any one of claims 10-17.

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

the processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory to cause the second network device to perform the method of any one of claims 18-24.

28. A computer readable storage medium storing a computer program, which when executed by a processor performs the method of any one of claims 1-24.

29. A system on a chip comprising at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the at least one processor being interconnected by a wire, the at least one processor being configured to execute a computer program or instructions to perform the method of any of claims 1-24.

30. A computer program product comprising a computer program which, when run, causes a computer to perform the method of any of claims 1-24.