RU2789853C1 - Method for updating satellite tracking and corresponding device - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: satellite communication.

SUBSTANCE: user equipment receives at least one TAC, which is broadcasted using a network device, where TAC includes information about a geographical location, and information about a geographical location is used to indicate a geographical location of a set location point in TA, corresponding to TAC. User equipment determines, based on TAC and a tracking area list (hereinafter – TAL), whether it is necessary to update TAL. If it is determined that TAL is to be updated, user equipment transmits a request for updating a tracking area to the network device, and user equipment receives a response message to the request for updating the tracking area, returned with the network device.

EFFECT: provision of efficient avoidance of unnecessary tracking area update (TAU) and radio resource saving.

15 cl, 19 dwg

Description

The technical field to which the invention belongs

The present invention relates generally to the field of satellite communications, and in particular to a method for updating a satellite tracking area and an apparatus associated therewith.

State of the art

Satellite communication has significant advantages such as global coverage, long distance transmission, flexible networking, convenient deployment and no geographic restrictions, and is widely applied in numerous fields of technology, such as maritime communications, positioning navigation, disaster relief, scientific experiments, video broadcasting and earth observation. In addition, the future 5G terrestrial mobile network will have a complete industry chain, a huge user base, a flexible and efficient application service mode, and the like. The satellite communication system and the 5G network are combined and complement each other, thereby together constituting an integrated sea-land-air-space communication network with seamless global coverage to meet the multiple and diverse service needs of users. This is an important direction for the development of communications in the future.

In a satellite communications system, the coverage area of a Non-Geostationary Earth Orbit (NGEO) satellite (for example, a satellite in low Earth orbit or a satellite in medium Earth orbit) is a geographical area that is on the surface of the earth and is in coverage satellite signal. When using a beamforming satellite antenna, the coverage area is usually divided into "satellite cells". More specifically, each beam may correspond to one satellite cell, and each satellite cell covers a geographic area of a certain range. Depending on the direction of the beam, the satellite cells of the same or different satellites may partially overlap. If the user equipment (User Equipment, UE) is in the coverage area of the satellite, the satellite can send a signal to the UE and receive a signal from the UE.

Due to the movement of the satellite or the UE, the relative locations of the UE and the satellite cell may change dynamically. Thus, the network needs to track the location of the UE in real time to ensure that the called UE can timely and efficiently paging after receiving the service to avoid blocking the communication. Location management in the existing 5G network is designed mainly based on the concept of a Tracking Area (TA). A TA is defined as a free roaming area in which the UE does not need to update the service. TA is a cell level configuration that is hardwired to a satellite cell. One TA may include multiple satellite cells, but one satellite cell may belong to only one TA. A TA is identified by a Tracking Area Code (TAC). The TAC is usually managed and allocated by the network operator, and the TAC determines the operator's unique tracking area code. One satellite cell always broadcasts the same TAC.

In order to simplify network location management and prevent ping-pong effects, the core network uses the TAC of the TA set to generate a Tracking Area List (TAL) and allocates a tracking area list to the UE. When the TAC received by the UE is in TAL, a Tracking Area Update (TAU) is not required. If the TAC received by the UE is not in the TAL, a TAU needs to be performed.

In order to solve the overhead problem caused by frequent TAU in the satellite scenario in the conventional technology in which the tracking area is hard-coded to the cell, the conventional technology proposes a solution in which the tracking area is hard-coded to the geographic location. In particular, the Earth can be divided into uniform small squares based on longitude and latitude locations, and each square corresponds to one particular TA. When different satellite cells cover a TA, the satellite cells broadcast the TAC corresponding to the TA. Thus, when the UE is at a fixed location, the TAC received by the UE is relatively fixed.

However, practice shows that when the UE is at a fixed location, since different TAs may overlap, the broadcast propagation range is relatively wide, etc., the UE may still receive TACs from a plurality of other TAs, and may even receive TACs from some TAs at a relatively large distance. This results in an unnecessary TAU.

Disclosure of the essence of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a satellite tracking area update method and associated device to effectively avoid unnecessary TAU and save radio resources.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for updating a satellite tracking area. The method includes: a user equipment receives at least one tracking area code (TAC) that is broadcast by a network device, where the TAC includes geographic location information, and the geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location points in the tracking area (TA) corresponding to the TAC; the user equipment determines, based on the TAC and the tracking area list (TAL), whether to update the TAL; if it is determined that the TAL needs to be updated, the user equipment sends a tracking area update request to the network device; and the user equipment receives a response message to the tracking area update request returned by the network device.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the TACs and TALs are designed such that the broadcast TAC and each TAC in the TAL implicitly include the geographic location range information of the respective TAs. The UE may obtain, through parsing based on the TAC, location information of the TA corresponding to the TAC. The UE may determine, based on the information in the TAC and TAL, whether to perform the TAU. This improves TAU reliability, reduces unnecessary TAU, and saves radio resources.

In a particular implementation, the TAC includes not only geographic location information but also extent indication information, and the extent indication information is used to indicate the extent in the longitude direction and/or in the latitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC.

It can be recognized that in this embodiment of the present invention, the TACs and TALs are designed such that the broadcast TAC and each TAC in the TAL implicitly include the geographic location range information of the respective TAs. The length indication information is introduced so that this embodiment of the present invention can support non-uniform construction of the tracking area to adapt to the features of the unbalanced load of the satellite network service and unequal terrestrial latitude distances. The UE may determine, based on the information in the TAC and TAL, whether to perform the TAU. This improves TA design flexibility and TAU reliability, reduces the number of unnecessary TAUs, and saves radio resources.

Based on the first aspect, in an exemplary embodiment, determining by the user equipment whether to update the TAL based on TAC and TAL includes: the user equipment queries the TAL to determine whether the TAC is recorded in the TAL; the user equipment determines if the TAC is not recorded in the TAL, then whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC; and if it is determined that the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, the user equipment determines that the TAL needs to be updated; or if it is determined that the user equipment has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, the user equipment determines that the TAL does not need to be updated.

It can be recognized that, when determining based on the information in the TAC and TAL whether to perform the TAU, the UE performs the TAU only when it is determined that the UE has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC. Otherwise, TAU is not performed. This avoids unnecessary TAU and saves radio resources.

Based on the first aspect, in a specific embodiment, various user equipments can be classified into user equipments with a GNSS function and user equipments without a GNSS function. The GNSS user equipment includes a GNSS device, and the GNSS device is configured to obtain position information of the user equipment using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

GNSS can be, for example, one of: Global Positioning System (GPS), BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and Galileo satellite navigation system ) or combinations of more than one of these systems.

If the TAC is not recorded in the TAL, the user equipment determines, based on the positioning information of the user equipment, the extension indication information, and the geographic location information in the TAC, whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC.

Specifically, the UE determines the actual location of the UE based on the positioning information of the UE, and the UE also determines, based on the received TAC, the geographic range of the TAs corresponding to the TACs. The UE may then determine if the UE's actual location is within the geographic range of the TA. If the actual location of the UE is within the geographic range of the TA, this indicates that the UE has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC. Otherwise, it indicates that the UE has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC.

It can be learned that if the newly received TAC does not belong to the TAL, the GNSS function UE can determine, by analyzing the positioning information of the UE and the TAC, whether the UE has moved to the corresponding TA. The UE performs TAU only when it is determined that the UE has moved to the corresponding TA. Otherwise, TAU is not performed. This avoids unnecessary TAU and saves radio resources.

Based on the first aspect, in an exemplary embodiment, when the user equipment does not include a GNSS device, if the TAC is not recorded in the TAL, the user equipment determines, based on the length indication information and the geographic location information in the TAC and TAL, whether it has A TA corresponding to a TAC, an adjacency relationship with a TA corresponding to any TAC recorded in the TAL, where a plurality of different TACs are recorded in the TAL, and each TAC includes corresponding length indication information and geographic location information.

In a particular implementation, an adjacency relationship may indicate that two TAs are TA adjacent (geometrically adjacent). It should be noted that in other embodiments, the adjacency relationship may alternatively be defined as that the center-to-center distance between two TAs is less than a predetermined threshold, or may be another type of adjacency relationship.

If the TA corresponding to the TAC does not have an adjacency relationship with the TA corresponding to any TAC recorded in the TAL, the user equipment determines that the user equipment has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC.

If the TA corresponding to the TAC has an adjacency relationship with the TA corresponding to any TAC recorded in the TAL, the user equipment determines, based on the reception frequency of the TAC, whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC.

For example, when the TA corresponding to the newly received TAC is an adjacent TA, the UE may determine whether the TAC reception frequency exceeds a predetermined threshold, or whether the TAC reception frequency satisfies another predetermined condition. If the TAC reception rate exceeds a predetermined threshold or satisfies another predetermined condition, the UE may be considered to have moved to a TA corresponding to the TAC.

It can be known that the UE without the GNSS function analyzes whether the TA corresponding to the newly received TAC is adjacent to the TA, and needs to further determine, if it is determined that the TA is adjacent to the TA, whether the reception frequency of the TAC satisfies the predetermined condition. The UE only determines what to execute the TAU when the condition is satisfied. Otherwise, TA is not executed. This can significantly reduce the number of unnecessary TAUs and save radio resources.

Based on the first aspect, in a specific embodiment, a set of TAs can be obtained by dividing based on an area within a given geographic range, where each TA includes N grid cells, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. Various TAs may include a different number of grid cells, that is, different TAs may be different in size. The sizes of various TAs may be designed in a targeted or differentiated manner based on geographic factors, service factors, and the like. within the TA ranges.

When building a TA, a grid cell is a geographic area divided into minimum dimensions. For example, in a particular implementation, the minimum grid cell may be designed as at least a rectangle, circle, ellipse, triangle, diamond, or regular hexagon, or a combination of more than one of these shapes.

The area that is within a given geographical range and that is divided into a plurality of TAs based on the above method may be, for example, one or more municipal areas, one or more provincial areas, one or more regional areas, one or more national areas, one or several continental zones or even a global zone.

Accordingly, the extension indication information in the TAC is used, in particular, to indicate the number of grid cells in the longitude direction and/or the number of grid cells in the latitude direction of the tracking area (TA) corresponding to the TAC.

It can be recognized that in this embodiment of the present invention, TACs, TAs, and TALs are designed in a coordinated manner to support non-uniform TA construction, and the broadcast TAC and each TAC in the TAL implicitly include information about the geographic location range of the respective TAs. This makes it possible to adapt not only to the characteristics of unbalanced load of satellite network services and unequal terrestrial latitude distances and improve the correctness and flexibility of service and radio resource allocation, but also to avoid unnecessary TAU and save radio resources.

Based on the first aspect, in an exemplary embodiment, if a satellite cell beam covers only one TA, at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, the at least one TAC specifically includes the TACs of each of the two or more TAs. Thus, in this embodiment of the present invention, the TAC that is broadcast by the satellite cell may dynamically change based on the coverage area of the satellite cell.

Based on the first aspect, in an exemplary embodiment, if a satellite cell beam covers only one TA, at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, at least one TAC is a TAC of a tracking area combination that includes two or more TAs. Even when the beam covers a large number of TAs, only the TAC corresponding to the tracking area combination in which the TAs are combined should be broadcast. Since the coding solution can support non-uniform TA construction, there is no overhead associated with the transmission of additional information bits.

It can be recognized that, in this embodiment of the present invention, the TAC that is broadcast by the satellite cell can dynamically change based on the coverage area of the satellite cell, or the satellite cell dynamically adjusts, at different times, the size of the tracking area for broadcast, and no overhead occurs. associated with the transmission of additional information bits.

Based on the first aspect, in some non-uniform TA scenarios, the length indication information in the TAC occupies a data length of X bits, the geographic location information in the TAC occupies a data length of Y bits, and the sum of X and Y is 16.

For example, the length indication information occupies a data length of three bits (bit), and the geographical location information occupies a data length of 13 bits (bit).

Based on the first aspect, in some non-uniform TA scenarios, the length indication information in the TAC occupies a data length of X bits (bits), the geographical location information in the TAC occupies a data length of Y bits (bits), and the sum of X and Y is 24.

For example, the length indication information occupies a data length of eight bits (bit), and the geographical location information occupies a data length of 16 bits (bit).

Based on the first aspect, in some uniform TA scenarios, the TAC includes geographic location information, the geographic location information includes longitude information and latitude information, the longitude information is used to indicate the longitude of a given location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC, and the latitude information is used to indicate the latitude of the target location in the TA corresponding to the TAC. The longitude information can be designed to take up a data length of X bits, the latitude information takes up a data length of Y bits, and the sum of X and Y is 16.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides another method for updating a satellite tracking area. The method includes: a network device broadcasting at least one tracking area code (TAC) to a user equipment, where the TAC includes geographic location information, and the geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a predetermined location point in the tracking area. (TA) corresponding to TAC; the network device receives a tracking area update request from the user equipment, where the tracking area update request is determined by the user equipment based on the TAC and the tracking area list (TAL) of the user equipment; and the network device returns a tracking area update request response message to the user equipment.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the TACs and TALs are designed such that the TAC that is broadcast by the network device and each TAC in the TAL sent by the network device to the UE implicitly includes the geographical location range information of the respective TAs. Thus, the UE can obtain, through parsing based on the TAC, location information of the TA corresponding to the TAC, and determine, based on the information in the TAC and TAL, whether to perform the TAU. This improves the reliability of TAUs, reduces the number of unnecessary TAUs, and saves radio resources.

The network device may be a satellite node or a base station device. When the network device is a satellite node, one or more TACs may originate from a core network device (eg, AMF). If the TAC generation function has already been delivered from the core network device to the satellite node, one or more TACs may alternatively be generated by the satellite node based on the satellite node's trajectory. When the network device is a base station device (eg, a cellular base station), one or more TACs may originate from a satellite node.

In a particular implementation, the TAC includes not only geographic location information but also extent indication information, and the extent indication information is used to indicate extent in the longitude direction and/or in the latitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC.

Accordingly, a plurality of different TACs are recorded in the TAL, and each TAC includes respective length indication information and geographic location information.

It can be recognized that in this embodiment of the present invention, the TACs and TALs are designed such that the TAC that is broadcast by the network device and each TAC in the TAL sent by the network device to the UE implicitly includes information about the geographic location range of the respective TAs. The length indication information is introduced so that this embodiment of the present invention can support non-uniform construction of the tracking area to adapt to the features of the unbalanced load of the satellite network service and unequal terrestrial latitude distances. Thus, the UE can determine, based on the information in the TAC and TAL delivered by the network device, whether to perform the TAU. This improves TA design flexibility and TAU reliability, reduces the number of unnecessary TAUs, and saves radio resources.

Based on the second aspect, in a specific embodiment, a plurality of TAs can be obtained by partitioning based on an area within a given geographic range, where each TA includes N grid cells, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. Various TAs may include a different number of grid cells, that is, different TAs may be different in size. The sizes of various TAs may be designed in a targeted or differentiated manner based on geographic factors, service factors, and the like. within the TA ranges.

When building a TA, a grid cell is a geographic area divided into minimum dimensions. For example, in a particular implementation, the minimum grid cell may be designed as at least a rectangle, circle, ellipse, triangle, diamond, or regular hexagon, or a combination of more than one of these shapes.

Accordingly, the extension indication information in the TAC is used, in particular, to indicate the number of grid cells in the longitude direction and/or the number of grid cells in the latitude direction of the tracking area (TA) corresponding to the TAC.

It can be recognized that in this embodiment of the present invention, TACs, TAs, and TALs are designed in a coordinated manner to support non-uniform TA construction, and the broadcast TAC and each TAC in the TAL implicitly include information about the geographic location range of the respective TAs. This makes it possible to adapt not only to the characteristics of unbalanced load of satellite network services and unequal terrestrial latitude distances and improve the correctness and flexibility of service and radio resource allocation, but also to avoid unnecessary TAU and save radio resources.

Based on the second aspect, in an exemplary embodiment, before the network device broadcasts the TAC to the user equipment using the satellite cell, the network device determines the beam coverage area of the satellite cell. If the satellite cell beam covers only one TA, the network device determines that at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA. If a satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, the network device determines that at least one TAC specifically includes the TACs of each of the two or more TAs. Thus, in this embodiment of the present invention, the TAC that is broadcast by the satellite cell may dynamically change based on the coverage area of the satellite cell.

Based on the second aspect, in an exemplary embodiment, before the network device broadcasts the TAC to the user equipment using the satellite cell, the network device determines the beam coverage area of the satellite cell. If the satellite cell beam covers only one TA, the network device determines that at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA. If a satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, the network device determines that at least one TAC is a TAC of a tracking area combination that includes two or more TAs. Even when the beam covers a large number of TAs, only the TAC corresponding to the tracking area combination in which the TAs are combined should be broadcast. Since the coding solution can support non-uniform TA construction, there is no overhead associated with the transmission of additional information bits.

It can be recognized that in this embodiment of the present invention, the TAC that is broadcast by the satellite cell can dynamically change based on the coverage area of the satellite cell, or the satellite cell dynamically adjusts, at different times, the size of the tracking area for broadcast, and no cost occurs, associated with the transmission of additional information bits.

Based on the second aspect, in some non-uniform TA scenarios, the length indication information in the TAC occupies a data length of X bits, the geographic location information in the TAC occupies a data length of Y bits, and the sum of X and Y is 16.

Based on the second aspect, in some non-uniform TA scenarios, the length indication information in the TAC occupies a data length of X bits, the geographic location information in the TAC occupies a data length of Y bits, and the sum of X and Y is 24.

Based on the second aspect, in some uniform TA scenarios, the TAC includes geographic location information, the geographic location information includes longitude information and latitude information, the longitude information is used to indicate the longitude of a given location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC, and the latitude information is used to indicate the latitude of the target location in the TA corresponding to the TAC. The longitude information can be designed to take up a data length of X bits, the latitude information takes up a data length of Y bits, and the sum of X and Y is 16.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment. The user equipment includes: a receiving module configured to receive at least one tracking area code (TAC) that is broadcast by a network device, where the TAC includes geographic location information, and the geographic location information is used to indicate geographic location a given location point in the tracking area (TA) corresponding to the TAC; a determination module, configured to determine, based on the TAC and the tracking area list (TAL), whether to update the TAL; and a transmission module, configured to: if it is determined that the TAL needs to be updated, transmitting a tracking area update request to the network device. The receiving module is further configured to receive a response message to the tracking area update request returned by the network device.

All user equipment modules are particularly capable of implementing the method according to the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network device. The network device includes: a transmission module configured to broadcast at least one tracking area code (TAC) to a user equipment, where the TAC includes geographic location information, and the geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given point locations in the tracking area (TA) corresponding to the TAC; and a receiving module, configured to receive a tracking area update request from the user equipment, where the tracking area update request is determined by the user equipment based on the TAC and the tracking area list (TAL) of the user equipment. The transmission module is further configured to return a response message to the tracking area update request to the user equipment.

All modules of the network device are in particular configured to implement the method according to the second aspect.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides another device. The device includes a processor, memory, and a transceiver. The processor, memory, and transceiver may be connected to each other via a bus, or may be integrated with each other. The processor is configured to read the program code stored in the memory to execute the method according to any embodiment of the first or second aspect.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides another device. The device has the function of implementing the behavior of the user equipment or network device in the above aspects of the method, and includes corresponding components configured to perform the steps or functions described in the above aspects of the method. The steps or functions may be implemented in software, hardware (such as a circuit), or a combination of hardware and software.

According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides another device. In a particular implementation, the device may be a microchip. The device includes a processor and a memory coupled to or integrated with the processor. The memory is configured to store instructions for computer programs. The processor is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory to implement the method described in any embodiment of the first or second aspect.

According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a satellite communication system. The satellite communication system includes the above user equipment and a network device.

According to a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium is configured to store an implementation code for any method according to the first or second aspect.

According to a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer program (computer product). A computer program (computer product) includes program instructions. When executed, the computer program product is used to perform any method according to the first or second aspect.

It can be understood that any of the above aspects may be implemented in conjunction with any other aspect or aspects, or may be implemented independently.

It can be recognized that, in the embodiments of the present invention, the TAC, TA, and TAL are designed such that the broadcast TAC and each TAC in the TAL implicitly include information about the geographic location range of the respective TAs, and uneven tracking area construction is supported to adapt to unbalanced load characteristics. satellite network service and unequal terrestrial distances in latitude. The UE may determine, based on the information in the TAC and TAL, whether to perform the TAU. In addition, in embodiments of the present invention, the location management requirements of different types of users (i.e., with/without GNSS support) may be different from each other in order to provide differentiated TAU services for users with a GNSS function and for users without a GNSS function.

If the newly received TAC does not belong to a TAL, the GNSS UE can determine, by analyzing the positioning information of the UE and the TAC, whether the UE has moved to the corresponding TA. The UE performs TAU only when it is determined that the UE has moved to the corresponding TA. Otherwise, TAU is not executed. This avoids unnecessary TAU and saves radio resources.

The UE without the GNSS function analyzes whether the TA corresponding to the newly received TAC is adjacent to the TA, and the UE needs to further determine, if it is determined that the TA is adjacent to the TA, whether the reception frequency of the TAC satisfies the predetermined condition. The UE only determines what to execute the TAU when the condition is satisfied. Otherwise, TAU is not performed. This can significantly reduce the number of unnecessary TAUs and save radio resources.

Brief description of the drawings

In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or in the prior art, the following is a brief description of the accompanying drawings necessary to describe the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art.

fig. 1 is a schematic representation of the architecture of a satellite communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic representation of a scenario for a satellite cell and tracking area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic representation of a list of tracking zones according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic representation of the architecture of another satellite communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic representation of non-uniform tracking areas according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic representation of uniform tracking areas according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic representation of a tracking zone scenario according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic representation of a tracking area code scenario according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9a is a schematic representation of another tracking area code scenario according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9b is a schematic representation of another tracking area code scenario according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a method for updating a satellite tracking area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a tracking area code broadcast scenario according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of another tracking area code broadcast scenario according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a flowchart of another satellite tracking area update method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic representation of a scenario for determining an adjacency relationship between tracking areas according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 16 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention; And

fig. 18 is a schematic block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Implementation of the invention

The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. The terms used in the embodiments of the present invention are only intended to explain specific embodiments of the present invention, but are not intended to limit the present invention.

You should refer to Fig.1. The satellite communication system used in the embodiments of the present invention is described below. The satellite communication system includes user equipment (UE) and network devices. Network devices may include one or more satellite nodes (only one satellite is shown in the drawing for ease of description, and this satellite may be, for example, an NGEO satellite) and a core network device. The UE may be in wireless communication with a satellite node, and the satellite node may be in wireless communication with a core network device.

The satellite node may include an orbital receiver or relay capable of relaying information. The satellite node may perform communication interaction with the core network device and provide communication services for the UE.

A core network device is, for example, a device residing in a core network (CN) of a future mobile communication architecture (such as a 3GPP 5G access architecture). As an information delivery network, the core network provides an interface for a data network, provides a communication connection, authentication, policy management and control for a user equipment (UE), delivers data services, and the like. The CN may further include network elements such as Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) network element, Session Management Function (SMF) network element, Authentication Server Function (AUSF) network element , a Policy Control Function (PCF), and a User Plane Function (UPF) NE. The AMF network element is configured to manage UE access and mobility, and is mainly responsible for functions such as UE authentication, UE mobility management, and UE paging.

The UE can be any of a Terminal Device, a Communication Device, or an Internet of Things (IoT) device. The terminal device may be a smart phone, a cellular phone, a smart watch, a smart tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a laptop computer, or the like. The communication device may be a server, a gateway (Gateway, GW), a controller, a wireless modem, and the like. The IoT device can be a sensor, a mobile device (eg, a bicycle/car/vehicle), or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, in a satellite communication system, a satellite's coverage area is a geographic area that is on the surface of the Earth and is within the signal range of the satellite. The coverage area is usually divided into "satellite cells" using the beamforming antenna of the satellite. Each beam can correspond to one satellite cell, and each satellite cell covers a geographic area of a certain range. If the UE is in the coverage area of a satellite cell, the satellite may send a signal to the UE and receive a signal from the UE using the satellite cell, for example, may send a paging signal to the UE using the satellite cell. In UE position control, one satellite cell belongs to only one tracking area (TA), and one TA may include a plurality of satellite cells.

After the UE registers with the core network, the core network device may allocate a tracking area list (TAL) to the UE. A TAL may include multiple TACs, and different TACs correspond to different TAs, respectively. For example, in the scenario shown in FIG. 2, when the UE is in the TA6 area, an example of the configured TAL is shown in FIG. 3. TAL includes, for example, TAC4, TAC5 and TAC6. Different TACs respectively correspond to different TAs (eg, correspond to TA4, TA5, and TA6). When it is necessary to paging a UE in the idle mode, paging may be performed on satellite cells of all TAs corresponding to TALs, or paging may be performed on a satellite cell of some of the TAs in the TAL according to some optimization algorithms. The UE only needs to perform a tracking area update (TAU) process after the UE leaves each TA in the current TAL, in which case the core network device re-allocates the TAL to the UE.

It should be noted that in this embodiment of the present invention, in order to simplify the description of the functions of the objects, for purposes of description, an example is used in which the core network device and the satellite exist independently of each other. However, in some cases, some or all of the functions of the core network device may be directly integrated and deployed on the satellite. This case is not limited to the present invention.

You should refer to Fig.4. The following describes another satellite communication system used in embodiments of the present invention. The satellite communication system includes user equipment (UE) and network devices. The network devices may include one or more satellite nodes (only one satellite is shown in the drawing for ease of description, and the satellite may be, for example, an NGEO satellite), a core network device, and a base station device. The UE may be in wireless communication with a satellite node. The UE may also communicate wirelessly with the base station device. The satellite node may communicate wirelessly with the core network device. The satellite node may also communicate wirelessly with the base station device.

The satellite node may include an orbital receiver or relay capable of relaying information. The satellite node may perform communication interaction with the core network device and provide communication services for the UE.

The base station device may be, for example, a cellular base station or a gateway. The base station device is a ground station with an antenna configured to transmit a signal to a communication satellite and receive a signal from the communication satellite. The base station device uses a satellite to provide a link used to connect a UE to another UE or core network device.

A core network device is, for example, a device residing in a core network (CN) of a future mobile communication architecture (such as a 3GPP 5G access architecture). As an information delivery network, the core network provides an interface for a data network, provides a communication connection, authentication, policy management and control for a user equipment (UE), delivers data services, and the like. The CN may further include an AMF network element, an SMF network element, an AUSF network element, a PCF network element, a UPF network element, and the like. The AMF network element is configured to manage UE access and mobility, and is mainly responsible for functions such as UE authentication, UE mobility management, and UE paging.

The UE may be any of a terminal device, a communication device, or an IoT device. The terminal device may be a smartphone, a cellular phone, a smart watch, a smart tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, a laptop computer, or the like. The communications device may be a server, gateway, controller, wireless modem, or the like. The IoT device can be a sensor, a mobile device (eg, a bicycle/car/vehicle), or the like.

In a satellite communication system, if a base station device is located in the coverage area of a satellite cell, a satellite can send a signal to and receive a signal from the base station device using the satellite cell. The base station device communicates with a UE located in a cell (eg, cell of a cellular network) of the base station device. For example, a satellite may use a base station device to paging a UE using a satellite cell. Thus, communication can be enhanced by using a base station device, so that a UE in an environment (eg, indoor environment) in which satellite signal reception is not suitable can also communicate with the satellite based on the redirection of the base station device. .

It should be noted that in this embodiment of the present invention, in order to simplify the description of the functions of the objects, for purposes of description, an example is used in which a core network device, a base station, and a satellite exist independently of each other. However, in some cases, some or all of the functions of a core network device may be directly integrated and deployed on a satellite, or integrated and deployed on a base station. This case is not limited to the present invention.

It should also be noted that, for the sake of brevity, the technical solutions described herein are mainly based on the satellite communication system shown in FIG. Based on the technical idea, a person skilled in the art can perform a similar implementation of technical solutions based on the satellite communication system shown in Fig.4. Details are not described in the present description.

Some design methods for a tracking area (TA) according to embodiments of the present invention are described below.

In embodiments of the present invention, a plurality of TAs may be obtained by dividing into zones within a given geographic range, where each TA includes N grid cells, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1. Different TAs may include different the number of grid cells, i.e. different TAs can be different in size. The sizes of various TAs may be designed in a targeted or differentiated manner based on geographic factors, service factors, and the like. within the TA ranges.

When building a TA, a grid cell is a geographic area divided into minimum dimensions. For example, in a particular implementation, the minimum grid cell may be designed as at least a rectangle, circle, ellipse, triangle, diamond, or regular hexagon, or a combination of more than one of these shapes.

The area that is within a given geographical range and that is divided into a plurality of TAs based on the above method may be, for example, one or more municipal areas, one or more provincial areas, one or more regional areas, one or more national areas, one or several continental zones or even a global zone. Of course, an area within a given geographic range may alternatively be an area defined in a different way. This case is not limited to embodiments of the present invention.

For example, an example of building a TA is shown in Fig.5. A grid cell may be a rectangular area of a certain size, and an area within a given geographic range may be divided into a plurality of uneven sizes TA. Peculiarities of non-uniformity of distances along terrestrial latitudes and non-uniform distribution of services are considered. More specifically, at different lines of the earth's latitude, the distances for changing by 1 degree of longitude are different, and such a difference is obvious. In addition, most services on Earth are distributed in mid- and low-latitude regions, while service traffic in high latitudes and polar regions is extremely low or even 0. Thus, TAs at lower latitudes may be denser, while TAs at latitudes - more rarefied. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, a low latitude TA may include K grid cells, a mid latitude TA may include 2K grid cells, and a high latitude TA may include 4K grid cells. grid cells, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 1. It should be noted that the above example is only for explanation and not limitation of the technical solutions of the present invention.

On figv, as another example, shows another example of building a TA. A grid cell may be a rectangular area of a certain size, and an area within a given geographic range may be divided into a plurality of TAs of the same size. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 6, each uniform-sized TA may include a fixed number of grid cells, and the fixed number is an integer greater than or equal to 1. It should be noted that the above example is for explanation only, and not to limit the technical solutions of the present invention.

The following describes a tracking area code (TAC) encoding method according to embodiments of the present invention.

In embodiments of the present invention, in order to simplify TAC design and scheduling, the reference location of the fiducial point, that is, the reference location for encoding, may be predetermined and may be designed as any location in longitude and latitude (x0, y0), where x0 denotes longitude, and y0 denotes the latitude. The default value can be, for example, (0, 0).

In embodiments of the present invention, for the case of non-uniform TA construction, the TAC corresponding to the TA may be designed to include at least length indication information and geographic location information. The length indication information is used to indicate the length in the longitude direction and/or in the latitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC. The geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC. The geographic location of a given location point may be, for example, the longitude and latitude information of the center point of the geographic location of the TA, or may be, for example, the longitude and latitude information of the boundary point of the TA location, or may be, for example, the longitude and latitude information of the starting point location of the TA or may be, for example, information about the longitude and latitude of the end point of the location of the TA. This case is not limited to the present invention.

Accordingly, the extension indication information in the TAC is used, in particular, to indicate the number of grid cells in the longitude direction and/or the number of grid cells in the latitude direction of the tracking area (TA) corresponding to the TAC.

For example, a specific implementation is shown in Fig.7. One TA may be designed to include eight grid cells, the geographic position of a given location point in the TA is the longitude and latitude information of the geometric center point of the TA location, and the extent of the TA may include four grid cells in the direction latitude and may include two grid cells in the direction of longitude. In this case, the TAC corresponding to the TA may be designed to include the longitude and latitude information of the geometric center point of the location and the extent values in the longitude direction and in the latitude direction.

In another example, in another particular implementation, the TA extent is designed to include N grid cells in the latitude direction and include only one grid cell in the longitude direction (i.e., the default length value in the longitude direction is 1 ), and the geographic location of the given location point in the TA is, for example, the longitude and latitude information of the geometric center location point (or other location point) of the TA. In this case, the TAC corresponding to the TA may be designed to include the longitude and latitude information of the geometric center location point (or other location point) and the extent value in the latitude direction.

In another example, in another particular implementation, the TA extent is designed to include N grid cells in the longitude direction and includes only one grid cell in the latitude direction (i.e., the default value for the latitude extent is 1 ), and the geographic location of the given location point in the TA is, for example, longitude and latitude information of the geometric center location point (or other location point) of the TA. In this case, the TAC corresponding to the TA may be designed to include longitude and latitude information of the geometric center point of the location (or other location point) and extent values in the direction of longitude.

In embodiments of the present invention, for the case of uniform TA construction, the TAC corresponding to the TA may be designed to include at least geographic location information. The geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC. The geographic location of the given location point may be, for example, longitude and latitude information of the center point of the geographic location of the TA, or may be, for example, longitude and latitude information of the edge point of the location of the TA. This case is not limited to the present invention. In this case, the range in the direction of longitude and/or in the direction of latitude TA may be set to a default value.

In embodiments of the present invention, for the case of uniform TA construction, the TAC corresponding to the TA may alternatively be designed to include at least length indication information and geographic location information. The length indication information is used to indicate the length in the longitude direction and/or in the latitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC. The geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC.

Some specific TAC data structures in embodiments of the present invention are further described below.

In a particular embodiment, the TAC includes both length indication information and geographic location information. The TAC may be designed to include a data length of N bits (bits), where the length indication information occupies a data length of X bits (bits), the geographical location information occupies a data length of Y bits (bits), and the sum of X and Y is N. X and Y are non-negative integers.

In particular, the length indication information can be decomposed into longitude indication information and latitude indication information. The longitude indication information is used to indicate the extent in the longitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC. The latitude indication information is used to indicate the extent of the latitude and direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC. The geographic location information can be decomposed into longitude information and latitude information. The longitude information is used to indicate the longitude of a given location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC. The latitude information is used to indicate the latitude of the given location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC. In this case, the longitude indication information and the longitude information may also be collectively referred to as the first information, and the latitude indication information and the latitude information may also be collectively referred to as the second information.

For example, FIG. 8 shows a TAC data structure specifically including N1-bit first information and N2-bit second information. The first information includes longitude indication information and longitude information, and the second information includes latitude indication information and latitude information. The sum of N1 and N2 is N, and N can be 16 or 24, for example.

It should be noted that the above data structure is only for explanation and not limitation of the technical solutions of the present invention. The specific location locations and sequence of the longitude indication information, the longitude information, the latitude indication information, and the latitude information within the TAC coding are not limited.

Below is a reusable existing 16-bit long TAC coding solution. The solution may support non-uniform TA construction.

In particular, the TAC includes both length indication information and geographic location information. The TAC may be designed to include a data length of 16 bits (bits), where the length indication information occupies a data length of X bits (bits), the geographic location information occupies a data length of Y bits (bits), and the sum of X and Y equals 16.

For example, a grid cell may be designed as a "5° longitude by 5° latitude" square area. In this case, the TAC data structure can be designed as follows: the first information occupies nine bits, including 2-bit longitude indication information (00, 01, 10 and 11 represent, respectively, the extent of one cell in longitude, two cells in longitude, three cells in longitude and four cells in longitude, where one cell in longitude is 5 degrees) and 7-bit information about the longitude of the location of the TA endpoint (Earth's longitude is 360 degrees, and is divided into cells of 5 degrees, that is, corresponds to a maximum of 72 split cells , each of which can be represented by seven bits); and the second information occupies seven bits, including 1-bit latitude indication information and 6-bit TA endpoint location latitude information (the latitude of the Earth is 180 degrees and is divided into 5-degree cells, that is, corresponds to a maximum of 36 partition cells, each of which can be represented by six bits). It should be noted that since the latitude is uniform, the number of bits of the latitude indication information may alternatively be set to 0, and the saved one bit may alternatively be used as a spare bit. It can be recognized that in this case, the length indication information (including the longitude indication information and the latitude indication information) in the TAC occupies three bits, that is, X = 3, and the geographic location information (including the longitude information and the latitude information ) in TAC occupies 13 bits, i.e. Y = 13.

As shown in FIG. 9a, in an application scenario, a non-uniform TA design can be performed in an area within a given geographic range, and a grid cell is designed as a "5° longitude times 5° latitude" square area. As shown in the drawing, zone TA1 includes one grid cell, zone TA2 includes two grid cells, and zone TA3 includes three grid cells. Three TAs of different sizes, respectively, correspond to TAC1, TAC2 and TAC3. The specific encoding results of the respective TACs are as follows:

TAC1: 000000001 0100001

TAC2: 011000100 0100010

TAC3: 111000100 0000100

TAC3 is used as an example. The first two bits (ie, 11) of the first information indicate that TA3 covers four cells in longitude (ie, covers four grid cells in the direction of longitude). The last seven bits (i.e., 1000100) of the first information indicate the longitude of the location of the end point of TA3 (the location in the lower right corner of TA3 in the drawing), where 1 represents the east direction from the reference location of the fiducial point (0, 0), and 000100 represents the longitude of the location of the end point points TA3. The first bit (ie, 0) of the second information indicates that TA3 covers one cell in latitude (ie, covers one grid cell in the direction of latitude). The last six bits (ie 000100) of the second information indicate the latitude of the location of the TA3 endpoint.

Length indication information (including longitude indication information and TA3 latitude indication information) in TAC3 occupies three bits, and geographic location information (including longitude information and latitude information of TA3 endpoint location) in TAC3 occupies a total of 13 bits. That is, X = 3, and Y = 13.

It should be noted that the above respective descriptions of Fig. 9a are intended to be illustrative only and not to limit the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention. The specific values of X and Y need only be negotiated by the transmitting side and the receiving side.

It can be recognized that this embodiment provides a TAC encoding method that has a length of 16 bits in a non-uniform TA scenario, so that the UE can obtain, by parsing based on the received 16-bit TAC, location information of the TA corresponding to the TAC to help the process TAU UE. This allows better reuse of an existing coding solution and improves coding efficiency and technical feasibility.

In addition, in embodiments of the present invention, TAC design may alternatively be performed based on different data lengths and different accuracy depending on actual requirements. The following is a solution for TAC encoding with a length of 24 bits. The solution may support non-uniform TA construction.

In particular, the TAC includes both length indication information and geographic location information. The TAC may be designed to include a data length of 24 bits (bits), where the length indication information occupies a data length of X bits (bits), the geographic location information occupies a data length of Y bits (bits), and the sum of X and Y equals 24.

For example, a grid cell may be designed as a rectangular area of "2° longitude by 1° latitude". In this case, the TAC data structure can be designed as follows: the first information occupies 12 bits, including 4-bit longitude indication information (indicating a maximum of 16 longitude ranges) and 8-bit longitude information of the TA endpoint location (Earth's longitude is 360 degrees and is divided into cells of 2 degrees, that is, corresponds to a maximum of 180 partition cells, each of which can be represented by eight bits); and the second information occupies 12 bits, including 4-bit latitude indication information (indicating the latitude extent of a maximum of 16 split cells) and 8-bit latitude information of the location of the TA endpoint (the latitude of the Earth is 180 degrees and is divided into 1 degree cells, then is corresponds to a maximum of 180 partition cells, each of which can be represented by eight bits).

It can be recognized that in this case, the length indication information (including the longitude indication information and the latitude indication information) in the TAC occupies eight bits, that is, X = 8, and the geographic location information (including the longitude information and the latitude information ) in TAC occupies 16 bits, i.e. Y = 16.

According to the above encoding rule, using the TA3 corresponding to Fig. 9a as an example, the location information of the end point of TA3 is (20, -20), the longitude extent of TA3 is 20/2 = 10 cells in longitude (that is, TA3 covers 10 cells grid in longitude direction) and the latitudinal extent of TA3 is 5/1 = 5 latitude cells (i.e. TA3 covers five grid cells in latitude direction). In this case, the specific result of TAC3 encoding corresponding to TA3 is as follows:

TAC3: 101010001010 100100001010

It should be noted that the relevant descriptions of the above example are intended to be illustrative only and not to limit the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention. The specific values of X and Y need only be negotiated by the transmitting side and the receiving side.

It can be recognized that this embodiment provides a TAC encoding method that has a length of 24 bits in a non-uniform TA scenario, so that the UE can obtain, by parsing based on the received 24-bit TAC, location information of the TA corresponding to the TAC to facilitate the process TAU UE. The positioning accuracy and range of the tracking area exceed those of the 16-bit TAC. According to embodiments of the present invention, the TAC encoding method can be adjusted to adapt to constructing TAs with different lengths and different precisions. This improves coding accuracy and technical feasibility.

Below is a reusable existing 16-bit long TAC coding solution. The solution may support uniform TA construction.

Specifically, the TAC includes geographic location information, the geographic location information includes longitude and latitude information, the longitude information is used to indicate the longitude of a specified location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC, and the latitude information is used to indicate the latitude of a specified location points in the TA corresponding to the TAC. The TAC may be designed to include a data length of 16 bits (bits), where the longitude information occupies X bits (bits) data length, the latitude information occupies Y bits (bits) data length, and the sum of X and Y is 16.

As shown in FIG. 9b, in an application scenario, a uniform TA design can be performed in an area within a given geographic range, and a grid cell is designed as a "2° longitude by 1° latitude" rectangular area. One TA may include one or more grid cells, and each TA includes the same number of grid cells. Fig. 9b shows a case in which TA includes one grid cell and is used as an example for description. In this case, the TAC data structure can be designed as follows: the longitude information occupies eight bits (Earth's longitude is 360 degrees and is divided into cells of 2 degrees, that is, corresponds to a maximum of 180 partition cells, each of which can be represented by eight bits); and the latitude information occupies eight bits (the latitude of the Earth is 180 degrees and is divided into cells of 1 degree, that is, corresponds to a maximum of 180 partition cells, each of which can be represented by eight bits).

This case can be understood as follows: the geographical location information (including longitude and latitude information) in TAC occupies 16 bits, i.e. Y = 16, and the length indication information in TAC occupies zero bit, i.e. X = 0. Each longitude and latitude information in geographic location information occupies eight bits.

Zone TA1 and zone TA2 shown in the drawing correspond to TAC1 and TAC2, respectively. The specific encoding results of the respective TACs are as follows:

TAC1: 00000001 10000001

TAC2: 10000010 10000011

TAC1 is used as an example. The first eight bits (i.e. 00000001) indicate the longitude of the location of the end point TA1 (location in the upper left corner of TA1 in the drawing), where 0 represents the direction west of the reference location of the fiducial point (0, 0), and 0000001 represents the longitude of the end point location TA1. The last eight bits (ie 10000001) indicate the latitude of the location of the TA1 endpoint, where 1 represents the north direction from the reference location of the fiducial point (0, 0) and 0000001 is the longitude of the location of the TA1 endpoint.

It should be noted that the above respective descriptions of Fig. 9b are intended to be illustrative only and not to limit the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present invention. The specific values of X and Y need only be negotiated by the transmitting side and the receiving side.

It can be recognized that this embodiment provides a TAC encoding method that has a length of 16 bits in a uniform TA scenario, so that the UE can obtain, by parsing based on the received 16-bit TAC, location information of the TA corresponding to the TAC to facilitate the process TAU UE. This allows better reuse of an existing coding solution and improves coding efficiency and technical feasibility.

Based on the above respective descriptions, the satellite tracking area update method provided in the embodiments of the present invention is described below. FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a method for updating a satellite tracking area according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps.

S101: Configure a tracking area list (TAL) for the UE.

For example, after registering with the network or after updating the UE's local tracking area list, the UE may obtain a tracking area list (TAL). A TAL includes a plurality of TACs, and different TACs correspond to different TAs. The design method of the TAC in this embodiment of the present invention is also described above, and the details are not re-described here.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the network side performs division into TAs according to a certain rule (eg, based on area or service). A non-uniform or uniform TA build can be performed. The method for constructing a TA in this embodiment of the present invention has been described above, and the details are not re-described here.

S102: The network device receives one or more tracking area codes (TACs).

In this embodiment of the present invention, the network device may be a satellite node or a base station device. When the network device is a satellite node, one or more TACs may originate from a core network device (eg, AMF). If the TAC generation function has already been delivered from the core network device to the satellite node, one or more TACs may alternatively be generated by the satellite node based on the satellite node's trajectory. When the network device is a base station device (eg, a cellular base station), one or more TACs may originate from a satellite node.

In some embodiments, for the case of non-uniform TA construction, the TAC corresponding to the TA may be designed to include at least length indication information and geographic location information. The length indication information is used to indicate the length in the longitude direction and/or in the latitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC. The geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC.

In some other embodiments, for the case of uniform TA construction, the TAC corresponding to the TA may be designed to include at least geographic location information. The geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location point in the TA corresponding to the TAC.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the length of the TAC data may be 16 bits, 24 bits, or other length. Some specific examples of TAC encoding methods are described in detail above. For the sake of brevity, the details are not described again in this document.

S103: The network device broadcasts one or more TACs.

In some embodiments, if a beam corresponding to a satellite cell of a satellite covers only one TA, at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the beam corresponding to the satellite cell of the satellite covers two or more TAs, the at least one TAC specifically includes the TACs of each of the two or more TAs.

As shown in FIG. 11, in an application scenario, during the movement of a satellite around the Earth, one or more beams are transmitted to the Earth using the beamforming antenna of the satellite. At time T1, when the satellite beam 1 covers the TA1 area (or when the center point of the satellite beam 1 is in the TA1 area), the satellite broadcasts TAC1 (i.e., the TAC corresponding to TA1) to the TA1 area using the satellite cell (beam 1). At time T2, when satellite beam 1 covers both TA3 and TA4 (or when the center point of satellite beam 1 is at the edge location or overlap location between TA3 and TA4), the satellite broadcasts TAC3 (i.e., TAC corresponding to TA3) and TAC4 (that is, TAC corresponding to TA4) using a satellite cell (beam 1).

In some embodiments, if a beam corresponding to a satellite cell of a satellite covers only one TA, at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the beam corresponding to the satellite cell of the satellite covers two or more TAs, at least one TAC is a TAC of a tracking area combination that includes two or more TAs.

As shown in FIG. 12, in an application scenario, during a satellite orbiting the Earth, one or more beams are transmitted to the Earth using the satellite's beamforming antenna. At time T1, when the satellite beam 1 covers the TA1 area (or when the center point of the satellite beam 1 is in the TA1 area), the satellite broadcasts TAC1 (that is, the TAC corresponding to TA1) to the TA1 area) using the satellite cell (beam 1) . At time T2, when satellite beam 1 covers both TA3 and TA4 (or when the center point of satellite beam 1 is at the edge location or overlap location between TA3 and TA4), if the area into which TA3 is combined and the TA4 area is defined as the TA2 area, the TAC corresponding to the TA aggregation area may be broadcast by the satellite cell (beam 1), that is, the satellite may broadcast TAC2 (TAC corresponding to TA2) using the satellite cell (beam 1).

It can be understood that even when a beam covers a large portion of a TA, only the TAC corresponding to the tracking area combination in which the TAs are combined should be broadcast. Since the coding decision can support non-uniform TA construction, no additional information bits occur.

S104: The UE determines, based on the received TAC and the local TAL, whether to perform a tracking area update (TAU).

In particular, the UE may periodically listen to the TAC, and after receiving one or more TACs from the network device, the UE determines, based on the received TAC and the local TAL, whether to perform the TAU.

In a particular embodiment, the UE may request the UE's local TAL based on the received TAC to determine if the TAC is recorded in the TAL. The user equipment determines if the TAC is not recorded in the TAL, then whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC. If it is determined that the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, the user equipment determines that the TAL needs to be updated (that is, steps S106 and S107 are then performed). If it is determined that the user equipment has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, the user equipment determines that the TAL does not need to be updated (ie, S105).

S105: If it is determined in S104 that TAU does not need to be performed, the TAU operation is skipped.

S106: If it is determined in step S104 that the TAU needs to be performed, the UE sends a tracking area update request to the network device.

In a specific embodiment, the UE may send a tracking area update request to the core network device (e.g., AMF) to notify the core network device that the UE has moved from the current TA and re-register, in the core network, the area in which the UE is located. at the current time.

S107: The UE receives a tracking area update request response message returned by the network device and updates the local TAL based on the response message.

In particular, the core network device (such as the AMF) re-allocates the TAL to the UE using a response message to update the UE's local TAL.

It can be recognized that, in this embodiment of the present invention, the TAC, TA, and TAL are designed such that the broadcast TAC and each TAC in the TAL implicitly include information about the geographic location range of the respective TAs, and uneven construction of the tracking area is supported to adapt to the features of the unbalanced satellite network service loads and uneven distances across terrestrial latitudes. Moreover, in this embodiment of the present invention, the TAC that is broadcast by the satellite cell can dynamically change based on the coverage area of the satellite cell, or the satellite cell dynamically adjusts, at different times, the size of the tracking area for broadcast, and no cost is incurred, associated with the transmission of additional information bits. The UE may determine, based on the information in the TAC and TAL, whether to perform the TAU. The UE performs TAU only when it is determined that the UE has moved to the corresponding TA. Otherwise, TAU is not executed. This avoids unnecessary TAU and saves radio resources.

In FIG. 13 is a flowchart of another satellite tracking area update method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps.

S201: Configure a tracking area list (TAL) for the UE.

For example, after registering with the network or after updating the UE's local tracking area list, the UE may obtain a tracking area list (TAL). A TAL includes a plurality of TACs, and different TACs correspond to different TAs. The design method of the TAC in this embodiment of the present invention is also described above, and the details are not re-described here.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the network side performs division into TAs according to a certain rule (eg, based on area or service). A non-uniform or uniform TA build can be performed. The method for constructing a TA in this embodiment of the present invention has been described above, and the details are not re-described here.

S202: The core network device obtains one or more tracking area codes (TACs).

In particular, the core network device can generate, in real time based on the satellite path, the TAC to be broadcast by the satellite beam at the current time.

In some embodiments, if the core network device determines, in real time based on the satellite's trajectory, that the beam corresponding to the satellite cell of the satellite covers only one TA, at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the beam corresponding to the satellite cell of the satellite covers two or more TAs, the at least one TAC specifically includes the TACs of each of the two or more TAs. Regarding the corresponding implementation, reference should be made to the previous description of the embodiment shown in FIG. Details are not re-described in this document.

In some embodiments, if the core network device determines, in real time based on the satellite's trajectory, that the beam corresponding to the satellite cell of the satellite covers only one TA, at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the beam corresponding to the satellite cell of the satellite covers two or more TAs, at least one TAC is a TAC of a tracking area combination that includes two or more TAs. For an appropriate implementation, reference should be made to the previous description of the embodiment shown in FIG. Details are not re-described in this document.

S203: The core network device transmits one or more TACs to the network device.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the network device may be a satellite node or a base station device.

When the network device is a satellite node, the core network device (such as an AMF) transmits one or more TACs to the satellite node.

When the network device is a base station device (eg, a cellular base station), the core network device (eg, AMF) transmits one or more TACs to the satellite node, and then the satellite node broadcasts the TAC to the base station device using the satellite cell.

S204: The network device broadcasts one or more TACs.

When the network device is a satellite node, the satellite node may broadcast one or more TACs using a satellite cell.

When the network device is a base station device (eg, a cellular base station), the base station device may broadcast one or more TACs using a cell of the base station.

Accordingly, on the UE side, the UE periodically listens to the TAC that is broadcast by the cell in order to obtain one or more TACs.

S205: The UE determines whether the received TAC is in the local TAL of the UE; and if the result of the determination is that the TAC is in the UE's local TAL, the UE then does not perform the TAU operation; or if the result of the determination is that the TAC is not in the local TAL of the UE, the UE continues to perform step S206.

S206: If the UE has a GNSS function, the UE continues to perform step S207; or if the UE does not have a GNSS function, the UE continues to perform step S209.

On the UE side, different types of UEs may determine, in different ways based on the TAL and the newly received TAC, whether to perform the TAU.

In a particular embodiment, different UEs may be classified into UEs with GNSS functionality and UEs without GNSS functionality. The GNSS function UE includes a GNSS device, and the GNSS device is configured to obtain positioning information of the UE using a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).

GNSS can be, for example, one of: Global Positioning System (GPS), BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), and Galileo satellite navigation system ) or combinations of more than one of these systems.

S207: The UE acquires the current location information of the UE, that is, the longitude and latitude of the current location of the UE, using the GNSS function.

S208: The UE determines, based on the positioning information of the UE and the TAL, whether the UE has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC; and if the result of the determination is that the UE has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, the UE then performs steps S211 and S212; or if the result of the determination is that the UE has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, the UE then does not perform the TAU operation.

In particular, the UE determines the actual location of the UE based on the positioning information of the UE, and the UE also determines, based on the received TAC, the geographic extent of the TA corresponding to the TAC. The UE may then determine if the UE's actual location is within the geographic range of the TA. If the actual location of the UE is within the geographical range of the TA, this indicates that the UE has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC. Otherwise, it indicates that the UE has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC.

In the example when the TA is a circular area, the UE with the GNSS function can determine whether the formula (1) is satisfied:

|(long_u, at_u)-(long_tac, at_tac)|<thresh(1)

In this document, long_u and lat_u respectively correspond to the longitude value and latitude value of the UE, long_TAC and lat_TAC respectively correspond to the longitude value and latitude value of the TA center location corresponding to the newly received TAC, and thresh represents the distance threshold value. For example, the threshold value may be a distance radius value of the TA zone.

If formula (1) is satisfied, the UE may then perform the TAU process. Otherwise, the UE does not perform TAU.

It should be noted that the above formula (1) is only for explanation and not limitation of the technical solutions of the present invention.

S209: The UE determines whether the TA corresponding to the TAC is adjacent to the TA; and if the result of the determination is that the TA corresponding to the TAC is an adjacent TA, the UE performs step S210; or if the result of the determination is that the TA corresponding to the TAC is not an adjacent TA, the UE then does not perform the TAU operation.

In particular, a UE without a GNSS function can determine whether to perform a TAU by examining the adjacency between the TA corresponding to the newly received TAC and the TA corresponding to at least one TAC in the TAL. In a particular embodiment, an adjacency relationship may indicate that two TAs are adjacent TAs (geometrically adjacent). It should be noted that in other embodiments, the adjacency relationship may alternatively be defined as that the center-to-center distance between two TAs is less than a predetermined threshold, or may be another type of adjacency relationship.

For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the current TAL of the UE is {TAC1, TAC2, TAC3} respectively corresponding to TA1, TA2, and TA3.

If the newly received TAC is TAC4 (corresponding to TA4), TAC5 (corresponding to TA5), or TAC6 (corresponding to TA6), since TA4 has an adjacency relationship with TA3, TA5 has an adjacency relationship with TA2, and TA6 has an adjacency relationship with TA1, in these cases then step S210 is performed.

If the newly received TAC is TAC7 (corresponding to TA7) or TAC8 (corresponding to TA8), since TA7 has no adjacency with any of TA1, TA2, TA3 and TA8 has no adjacency with any of TA1, TA2 and TA3, in these cases, the UE then does not perform the TAU operation.

S210: The UE determines whether the TAC reception frequency satisfies the predetermined condition; and if the predetermined condition is met, the UE then performs steps S211 and S212; or if the predetermined condition is not met, the UE then does not perform the TAU operation.

In a specific embodiment, when the TA corresponding to the newly received TAC is an adjacent TA, the UE may determine whether the TAC reception frequency exceeds a predetermined threshold, or whether the TAC reception frequency satisfies another predetermined condition. If the reception frequency of the TAC exceeds a predetermined threshold or satisfies another predetermined condition, the UE may be considered to have moved to a TA corresponding to the TAC, in which case steps S211 and S212 are sequentially performed. Otherwise, the UE may be considered not to have moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, in which case the TAU operation is not performed further.

S211: The UE sends a tracking area update request to the core network device.

In a specific embodiment, the UE may send a tracking area update request to the core network device (eg, AMF) to notify the core network device that the UE has moved from the current TA and re-register, in the core network, the area in which it is located. UE at the current time.

S212: The UE receives a tracking area update request response message returned by the core network device and updates the local TAL based on the response message.

Specifically, the core network device re-allocates the TAL to the UE using the response message to update the local TAL to the UE.

It can be recognized that, in this embodiment of the present invention, the TAC, TA, and TAL are designed such that the broadcast TAC and each TAC in the TAL implicitly include information about the geographic location range of the respective TAs, and uneven construction of the tracking area is supported to adapt to the features of the unbalanced satellite network service loads and uneven distances across terrestrial latitudes. The UE may determine, based on the information in the TAC and TAL, whether to perform the TAU. Moreover, in this embodiment of the present invention, the location management requirements of different types of users (i.e., with/without GNSS support) may be different from each other in order to provide differentiated TAU services for users with a GNSS function and for users without a GNSS function.

If the newly received TAC does not belong to a TAL, the GNSS UE can determine, by analyzing the positioning information of the UE and the TAC, whether the UE has moved to the corresponding TA. The UE performs TAU only when it is determined that the UE has moved to the corresponding TA. Otherwise, TAU is not performed. This avoids unnecessary TAU and saves radio resources.

The UE without the GNSS function analyzes whether the TA corresponding to the newly received TAC is adjacent to the TA, and the UE needs to further determine, if it is determined that the TA is adjacent to the TA, whether the reception frequency of the TAC satisfies the predetermined condition. The UE only determines what to execute the TAU when the condition is satisfied. Otherwise, TAU is not performed. This can significantly reduce the number of unnecessary TAUs and save radio resources.

The method according to embodiments of the present invention has been described in detail above. Below is a corresponding device according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a user equipment 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The user equipment 50 may include a determination module 501, a transmission module 502, and a reception module 503. In a specific implementation, the data/programs of these functional modules may be stored in the memory 801 described below, the determination module 501 may be run in the processor 802 described below, and the functional implementation of the transmission module 502 and the reception module 503 depends on the transmission and reception of a signal by the transceiver 803 described below. uplink channel/downlink channel.

The receiving module 503 is configured to receive at least one tracking area code (TAC) that is broadcast by a network device, where the TAC includes geographic location information, and the geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location point in the tracking area. (TA) corresponding to TAC.

The determining unit 501 is configured to determine, based on the TAC and the tracking area list (TAL), whether or not to update the TAL.

The transmission module 502 is configured to: if it is determined that the TAL needs to be updated, transmitting a tracking area update request to the network device. The receiving module 503 is further configured to receive a response message to the tracking area update request returned by the network device.

In some exemplary embodiments, the TAC further includes length indication information, and the length indication information is used to indicate a length in the longitude direction and/or in the latitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC.

In some exemplary embodiments, the determination module 501 is specifically configured to: query the TAL to determine whether a TAC is recorded in the TAL; determining, if the TAC is not recorded in the TAL, whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC; and if it is determined that the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, determining that the TAL needs to be updated; or if it is determined that the user equipment has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, determining that the TAL does not need to be updated.

In some exemplary embodiments, the user equipment further includes a GNSS module, and the GNSS module is configured to obtain positioning information of the user equipment using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The determination unit 501 is specifically configured to determine, based on the positioning information of the user equipment, the distance indication information, and the geographical location information in the TAC, whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC.

In some exemplary embodiments, the user equipment does not include a GNSS module, and the determination module 501 is specifically configured to: determine, based on the distance indication information and geographic location information in the TAC and TAL, whether the TA has a corresponding TAC, an adjacency relationship with a TA corresponding to any TAC recorded in the TAL, where a plurality of different TACs are recorded in the TAL, and each TAC includes corresponding length indication information and geographic location information; and if the TA corresponding to the TAC has no adjacency relationship with the TA corresponding to any TAC recorded in the TAL, determining that the user equipment has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC.

In some exemplary embodiments, the determination module 501 is further configured to: if a TA corresponding to a TAC has an adjacency relationship with a TA corresponding to any TAC recorded in the TAL, determining, based on the frequency of receiving the TAC, whether the user equipment has actually moved to the TA corresponding to TAC.

In some possible embodiments, the TA corresponding to the TAC includes N grid cells, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and the length indication information is used, in particular, to indicate the number of grid cells in the direction of longitude and/ or the number of grid cells in the tracking area latitude (TA) direction corresponding to the TAC.

In some possible embodiments, if the satellite cell beam covers only one TA, at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, at least one TAC specifically includes the TACs of each of the two or more TAs.

In some possible embodiments, if the satellite cell beam covers only one TA, at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, at least one TAC is a TAC of a tracking area combination that includes two or more TAs.

In some exemplary embodiments, the length indication information occupies a data length of X bits (bits), the geographic location information occupies a data length of Y bits (bits), and the sum of X and Y is 16.

It should be noted that in a specific embodiment of the present invention, the user equipment 50 may be a UE in the embodiments shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. That is, in a specific implementation, to implement the function of each module of the user equipment 50, reference can be made to the corresponding descriptions of the method steps in the above embodiments. For the sake of brevity, the details are not described again in this document.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a network device 60 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network device 60 may include a transmit module 601 and a receive module 602, and may also include a determination module. In a specific implementation, the data/programs of these functional modules may be stored in the memory 901 described below, the determination module may be run in the processor 902 described below, and the functional implementation of the transmission module 601 and the reception module 602 depends on the transmission and reception of a signal by the transceiver 903 described below in the uplink link/channel downlink.

The transmission module 601 is configured to broadcast at least one tracking area code (TAC) to the user equipment, where the TAC includes geographic location information, and the geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location point in the tracking area. (TA) corresponding to TAC.

The receiving module 602 is configured to receive a tracking area update request from the user equipment, where the tracking area update request is determined by the user equipment based on the TAC and the tracking area list (TAL) of the user equipment.

The transmission module 601 is further configured to return a tracking area update request response message to the user equipment.

In some exemplary embodiments, the TAC further includes length indication information, and the length indication information is used to indicate a length in the longitude direction and/or in the latitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC.

In some possible embodiments, the TA corresponding to the TAC includes N grid cells, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and the length indication information is used, in particular, to indicate the number of grid cells in the direction of longitude and/ or the number of grid cells in the tracking area latitude (TA) direction corresponding to the TAC.

In some exemplary embodiments, a plurality of different TACs are recorded in the TAL, and each TAC includes respective length indication information and geographic location information.

In some possible embodiments, the network device further includes a determination module. The determination module is configured to: determine the beam coverage area of the satellite cell; and if the satellite cell beam covers only one TA, determining that at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, determining that at least one TAC specifically includes the TACs of each of the two or more TAs.

In some possible embodiments, network device 60 further includes a determination module. The determination module is configured to: determine the beam coverage area of the satellite cell; and if the satellite cell beam covers only one TA, determining that at least one TAC is the TAC of one TA; or if the satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, determining that at least one TAC is a TAC of a tracking area combination that includes two or more TAs.

In some exemplary embodiments, the length indication information occupies a data length of X bits (bits), the geographic location information occupies a data length of Y bits (bits), and the sum of X and Y is 16.

It should be noted that in a specific embodiment of the present invention, the network device 60 may be the network device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. That is, in a specific implementation, to implement the function of each module of the network device 60, reference can be made to the corresponding descriptions of the method steps in the above embodiments. For the sake of brevity, the details are not described again in this document.

17 shows another device 800 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device 800 is, for example, the user equipment described in the embodiments of the present invention. Device 800 includes a processor 802, a memory 801, and a transceiver 803. Two or all of the processor 802, memory 801, and transceiver 803 may be coupled to each other via bus 804, or may be integrated with each other.

Memory 801 includes, but is not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), or ROM. storage device on a CD (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory, CD-ROM). Memory 801 is used for associated instructions and data.

The transceiver 803 is configured to receive data (such as TAC, TAL, and response message) sent by the network device or transmit data (eg, transmit a TAU request) to the network device.

Processor 802 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs). If processor 802 is a single CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or may be a multi-core CPU. The processor 802 in the device 800 may in particular be configured to execute the corresponding method on the user equipment side in the embodiments shown in FIG. 10 and FIG.

FIG. 18 shows another device 900 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Device 900 is, for example, a network device described in embodiments of the present invention. The device 900 includes a processor 902, a memory 901, and a transceiver 903. Two or all of the processor 902, the memory 901, and the transceiver 903 may be coupled to each other via a bus 904 or may be integrated with each other.

Memory 901 includes, but is not limited to, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), or read-only memory on a CD (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory, CD-ROM). Memory 901 is used for associated instructions and data.

The transceiver 903 is configured to receive data (such as a TAU request) sent by the user equipment or transmit data (such as a TAC, TAL, and response message) to the user equipment.

Processor 902 may be one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs). If the processor 902 is a single CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or may be a multi-core CPU.

The processor 900 in the device 902 may in particular be configured to execute the corresponding method on the side of the network device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 10 and FIG.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides another device. In a particular implementation, the device may be a microchip. The apparatus includes a processor and a memory coupled to or integrated with the processor.

The memory is configured to store instructions for computer programs.

The processor is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory to receive at least one tracking area code (TAC) that is broadcast by a network device, where the TAC includes geographic location information, and the geographic location information is used to indicate a geographic location. the position of the given location point in the tracking area (TA) corresponding to the TAC; determining, based on the TAC and the list of tracking areas (TAL), whether to update the TAL; if it is determined that the TAL needs to be updated, sending a tracking area update request to the network device; and receiving a tracking area update request response message returned by the network device.

In a possible embodiment, the chip may be connected to a transceiver. The transceiver may be configured to transmit data to or receive data from the base station. For example, the transceiver is configured to receive at least one tracking area code (TAC) that is broadcast by the network device. In another example, the transceiver is configured to send a tracking area update request to the network device if it is determined that the TAL needs to be updated. In another example, the transceiver is configured to receive a tracking area update request response message returned by the network device.

In a possible embodiment, the chip may be applied in user equipment. To implement a specific function of the chip, further reference should be made to the description of the corresponding functions of the user equipment in the embodiments shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. Details are not re-described in this document.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention provides another device. In a particular implementation, the device may be a microchip. The apparatus includes a processor and a memory coupled to or integrated with the processor.

The memory is configured to store instructions for computer programs.

The processor is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory to broadcast at least one tracking area code (TAC) to the user equipment, where the TAC includes geographic location information, and the geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given a location point in the tracking area (TA) corresponding to the TAC; receiving a tracking area update request from the user equipment, where the tracking area update request is determined by the user equipment based on the TAC and the tracking area list (TAL) of the user equipment; and returning a tracking area update request response message to the user equipment.

In a possible embodiment, the chip may be connected to a transceiver. The transceiver may be configured to transmit data to or receive data from the terminal, such as to broadcast at least one tracking area code (TAC), to the user equipment, such as to receive a tracking area update request from the user equipment, and , for example, returning a tracking area update request response message to the user equipment.

In a possible embodiment, the chip may be used in a network device. To implement a specific function of the microcircuit, one should additionally refer to the description of the corresponding functions of the network device in the embodiments shown in Fig.10 and Fig.13. Details are not re-described in this document.

All or some of the above embodiments may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement the embodiments, the embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part as a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When computer program instructions are downloaded and executed on the computer, all or some of the procedures or functions according to embodiments of the present invention are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instruction may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, or may be transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, a computer instruction may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (for example, via coaxial cable, optical fiber, or digital subscriber line) or wirelessly (for example, via infrared, radio or microwave waves). A computer-readable medium can be any usable medium accessible to a computer or data storage devices, such as a server or data center, incorporating one or more usable media. The medium used may be a magnetic storage medium (eg, a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape), an optical storage medium (eg, a DVD), a semiconductor storage medium (eg, a solid state disk), or the like.

In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the embodiments have appropriate emphasis. For a part that is not described in detail in one embodiment, reference should be made to the corresponding descriptions in another embodiment.

Claims (38)

1. A method for updating a satellite tracking area, comprising the steps of: receiving, by the user equipment, at least one tracking area code (TAC) broadcast by the network device, wherein the TAC contains geographic location information, where the geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location point within the tracking area (TA) corresponding to TAC; determining, by the user equipment, based on the TAC and the tracking area list (TAL), whether the TAL needs to be updated; And transmitting, by the user equipment, upon determining that a TAL update is required, a tracking area update request to the network device, and receiving, by the user equipment, a tracking area update request response message returned by the network device; and the step of determining, by the user equipment, whether the TAL needs to be updated comprises sub-steps of: requesting, by the user equipment, the TAL to determine whether the TAC is recorded in the TAL; determining, with the user equipment, if the TAC is not recorded in the TAL, whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC; And determining, by the user equipment, when determining that the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, that the TAL needs to be updated; or it is determined, by the user equipment, when determining that the user equipment has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, that the TAL does not need to be updated. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the TAC further comprises length indication information, wherein the length indication information is used to indicate a length in the longitude direction and/or in the latitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC. 3. The method according to claim 2, in which the user equipment contains a GNSS device, and the GNSS device is configured to obtain information about the positioning of the user equipment using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS); wherein the step of determining, by the user equipment, when the TAC is not recorded in the TAL, whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, comprises a sub-step of: determining, with the user equipment, whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC based on the positioning information of the user equipment, the distance indication information, and the geographic location information in the TAC. 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the user equipment does not comprise a GNSS device, and determining, by the user equipment, if the TAC is not recorded in the TAL, whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC, comprises sub-steps of: determining, by the user equipment, based on the length indication information and geographic location information in the TAC and the TAL, whether the TA corresponding to the TAC has an adjacency relationship with the TA corresponding to any TAC recorded in the TAL, wherein a plurality of different TACs are recorded in the TAL, and each TAC contains corresponding length indication information and geographic location information; And it is determined, by the user equipment, if the TA corresponding to the TAC does not have an adjacency relationship with the TA corresponding to any TAC recorded in the TAL, that the user equipment has not moved to the TA corresponding to the TAC. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein if a TA corresponding to the TAC has an adjacency relationship with a TA corresponding to any TAC recorded in the TAL, the user equipment is configured to determine, based on the reception frequency of the TAC, whether the user equipment has moved to the TA corresponding to TAC. 6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the TA corresponding to the TAC contains N grid cells, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, and the length indication information is used, in particular, to indicate the number of cells grid in the longitude direction and/or the number of grid cells in the latitude direction of the tracking area (TA) corresponding to the TAC. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, in which, if the satellite cell beam covers only one TA, at least one TAC is a TAC of one of the TAs; or if the satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, at least one TAC contains the TACs of each of the two or more TAs. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1-6, in which, if the satellite cell beam covers only one TA, at least one TAC is a TAC of one of the TAs; or if a satellite cell beam covers two or more TAs, at least one TAC is a TAC of a tracking area combination that contains two or more TAs. 9. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein the length indication information occupies a data length of X bits, the geographical location information occupies a data length of Y bits, and the sum of X and Y is 16. 10. A method for updating a satellite tracking area, comprising the steps of: broadcasting at least one tracking area code (TAC) to the user equipment, with the help of a network device, wherein the TAC contains geographic location information, where the geographic location information is used to indicate the geographic location of a given location point in the tracking area (TA) , corresponding to TAC; receiving, by the network device, a tracking area update request from the user equipment, wherein the tracking area update request is determined by the user equipment based on determining the situation that the TAC is not recorded in the tracking area list (TAL) of the user equipment and moving the user equipment to a TA corresponding to the TAC ; And returning, via the network device, a response message to the tracking area update request to the user equipment. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the TAC further comprises length indication information, wherein the length indication information is used to indicate a length in the longitude direction and/or in the latitude direction of the TA corresponding to the TAC. 12. User equipment containing a processor and memory, and the processor is connected to the memory; the memory is configured to store a computer program; A the processor is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory, so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is implemented. 13. Network device containing a processor and memory, and the processor is connected to the memory; the memory is configured to store a computer program; A the processor is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory, such that the method of claim 10 or 11 is implemented. 14. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions causing, when the instructions are executed by the computer, the execution of the method according to any one of claims 1-9. 15. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions causing, when the instructions are executed by the computer, the execution of the method according to any one of claims 10-11.

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