WO2020224408A1

WO2020224408A1 - Cell merging method and device under cu-du architecture

Info

Publication number: WO2020224408A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/085077
Authority: WO
Inventors: 晋英豪; 杨晨晨; 谭巍; 杨水根
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2019-05-07
Filing date: 2020-04-16
Publication date: 2020-11-12
Also published as: CN111918297A; CN111918297B

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application is a cell merging method under central unit (CU)-distributed unit (DU) architecture, comprising: a CU obtains configuration information of each of N DUs, each DU corresponding to at least one first cell, the configuration information of each DU being used for merging configuration of the at least one first cell, the first cell being a cell meeting a merging condition, and N being an integer greater than 0; the CU sends the configuration information to each DU so that the N DUs merge a plurality of first cells into a logical cell, the logical cell having a first physical cell identity. The embodiments of the present invention also provide a corresponding device and a storage medium. In the technical solution of the present invention, the configuration information for cell merging is determined by the CU, and the DUs configure corresponding cells according to the configuration information allocated by the CU, thereby solving the problem of inability to dynamically change the cell merging mode, and implementing the flexible configuration of cell merging by a base station.

Description

A method and device for combining cells under CU-DU architecture

This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application filed with the Chinese Patent Office, the application number is 201910376890.9, and the invention title is "a method and device for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture" on May 7, 2019. The entire content of the application is approved The reference is incorporated in this application.

Technical field

This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and device for cell merging under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture.

Background technique

In a communication network, usually, a cell has a set of cell parameters and uses one carrier. Due to limited carrier resources, multiple cells usually use carriers of the same frequency. When the frequency of the carrier used by multiple cells is the same, terminal users at the edge of the cell suffer from interference from neighboring cells, especially in special scenarios such as dense urban areas and high-speed railways. Frequent handovers caused by user rapid movement and dense base stations Problems such as neighboring cell interference are more serious, and the overall communication quality of terminals in the cell is affected. In order to improve the overall communication quality of the terminals in a cell, multiple cells are usually combined, that is, multiple cells with overlapping coverage covered by radio frequency modules working on the same frequency band in a geographic area are combined into a logical cell , Each cell before merging is configured with its own physical cell identity (PCI), and each cell in the merged logical cell uses the same PCI, so that the original terminal at the edge of each cell Some terminals are no longer at the edge of a logical cell, thereby reducing the number of terminals at the edge of a cell, eliminating inter-cell interference, improving wireless network coverage, and improving the overall communication quality of the terminal. The cell merging method provided in the prior art is: when a base station is initially established for cell layout, multiple cells corresponding to carriers of the same frequency are merged into one logical cell. In the subsequent communication process, the merged logical cell will always serve as a communication cell to provide communication services for the terminal.

The cell consolidation in the prior art has certain limitations: the cell consolidation scheme based on the LTE flat base station is formed during the initial cell layout, and the base station cannot determine the cell consolidation method according to the network conditions, because the cell consolidation technology is based on serving At the expense of fewer users, we can improve the throughput of edge users and reduce the number of handovers. Gain gains through joint transmission and reception. After cell merging, the total capacity of the merged logical cell will be much smaller than the total capacity of multiple cells without merging. The overall throughput of the system decreases. In some special scenarios, for example, the increase of user data in the logical cell causes the capacity of the logical cell to be limited, the cell access quality of users decreases, and even some users cannot access the network. Make changes, but the base station cannot change the combination of cells, which brings a bad user experience.

Summary of the invention

The embodiment of the present application provides a method for cell merging under the central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture, which can solve the problem that the cell merging mode cannot be changed, and realize the flexible configuration of the cell merging by the base station.

To solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application provide the following technical solutions:

The first aspect of the present application provides a method for cell merging under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture, including: CU obtains configuration information of each DU of N DUs, and the configuration information of each DU is determined by the CU, Each DU corresponds to at least one first cell, and the configuration information of each DU is used for the combined configuration of at least one first cell. The first cell is a cell that meets the combining conditions, that is, the first cell refers to one or more corresponding DUs For each cell in the cell that meets the merging condition, N is an integer greater than 0, and N DUs are part or all of the one or more DUs connected to the CU; the CU sends configuration information to each DU, so that N DUs Multiple first cells are merged into a logical cell. The logical cell has a first physical cell identifier. The logical cell may be a single frequency network (SFN) logical cell. Each first cell before the merger has a first physical cell identifier. Second, the physical cell identity. The logical cell after merging has only one first physical cell identity. The first physical cell identity and the second physical cell identity can be physical cell identity (PCI) and global cell identity (cell global identity, CGI) ) At least one of.

It can be seen from the above first aspect that the configuration information of each DU is determined by the CU, and the DU configures the corresponding first cell according to the configuration information allocated by the CU, so that multiple first cells are merged into logical cells, which can solve cell merger The problem that the method cannot be changed dynamically, realizes the flexible configuration of the cell combination by the base station.

In a possible implementation, the CU obtains the configuration information of each DU in the N DUs, including: the CU screens out the multiple cells according to the cell quality of the multiple cells corresponding to some or all of the DUs connected to the CU Multiple first cells that meet the combination conditions, N DUs correspond to multiple first cells, and each DU corresponds to at least one first cell. The cell quality can be the channel condition information of the cell, the load information of the cell, and the number of terminals in the cell Or the mobile rate of the terminal and other information that can reflect the communication situation in the cell. The channel condition information of the cell may include the reference signal received power of multiple terminals in the cell compared to the radio frequency module in the cell. At least one of receiving power (RSRP) and signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), where the channel condition information of the cell, the number of terminals in the cell, or the moving speed of the terminal may be determined by the terminal Report to the CU, the load of the cell can be reported by the corresponding DU to the CU; the CU determines the configuration information of each DU according to multiple first cells, and the configuration information of each DU includes at least one first cell in each first cell. The second physical cell identity of a cell and the indication information of the logical cell, the indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first physical cell identity, and the second physical cell identity is used to indicate the multiple first physical cell identity that meets the merging condition before being merged into the logical cell A first cell in a cell, that is, the second physical cell identity is the cell identity used by the first cell before merging. After multiple first cells are merged into a logical cell, the same cell identity will be used, and the same cell identity is The first physical cell identity of the logical cell, and the indication information of the logical cell may be the same cell identity or other information indicating the same cell identity.

From the above possible implementations, it can be seen that the CU can determine the configuration information of each DU according to the cell quality of multiple cells, and the DU configures the corresponding first cell according to the configuration information allocated by the CU, so that the multiple first cells are combined into Logical cells can not only solve the problem that the cell combination mode cannot be dynamically changed, realize the flexible configuration of the cell combination by the base station, but also improve the user's communication experience well according to the actual network status.

In a possible implementation manner, the CU sends corresponding configuration information to each DU, so that after N DUs merge multiple first cells into one logical cell, the method further includes: the CU receives the first information sent by the target DU , The target DU can be any of the N DUs or a DU selected according to certain rules, for example, the first DU to complete the corresponding first cell configuration, and the first information includes the identification of the target terminal located in the logical cell , The target DU is one of the N DUs, the first information is used by the CU to send the target DU the channel quality of the target terminal relative to each first cell in the logical cell, and the channel quality of each first cell may be RSRP At least one of and SINR may also be other information that can be used to indicate the channel quality of the first cell; the CU sends second information to the target DU according to the first information, and the second information includes the corresponding information of the target terminal relative to the target DU. The channel quality of each first cell in at least one first cell, and the target DU can allocate a serving cell that provides communication services to the target terminal according to the channel quality of each first cell in all the first cells corresponding to the target DU. The second information is used for the target DU to determine a serving cell for the target terminal to provide communication services, and the serving cell is at least one of the first cells corresponding to the target DU.

It can be seen from the above possible implementations that the base station can allocate a serving cell that provides communication services to the target terminal according to the channel quality of the target terminal relative to each of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU based on the actual network state, Thereby ensuring a good communication experience for users to a certain extent.

In a possible implementation, the configuration information also includes a decision threshold, the decision threshold may be determined by the CU according to the cell quality of multiple cells, and the decision threshold is used by the target DU to determine the serving cell for the target terminal to provide communication services. The serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.

From the above possible implementations, it can be seen that by adding a decision threshold to the configuration information, the target DU can determine the serving cell that provides communication services for the target terminal in the logical cell based on the decision threshold, thereby improving system performance to a certain extent. And to a certain extent, ensure a good communication experience for users.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information further includes a load threshold, and the load threshold is used for the target DU to determine the corresponding decision threshold according to the cell load of the logical cell.

From the above possible implementations, it can be seen that the configuration information sent by the CU to each DU can also include a load threshold, so that the target DU can determine the decision threshold corresponding to the load threshold met by the actual cell load, and then determine the user according to the decision threshold. Determine the service cell that provides communication services, so as to ensure the user's communication experience.

In a possible implementation, the configuration information also includes a decision threshold or a load threshold. There is a corresponding relationship between the decision threshold and the load threshold. The corresponding relationship may be stipulated in the agreement or preset. The target DU is determined for the target terminal according to the decision threshold. The serving cell that provides communication services; or, the target DU determines the decision threshold based on the relationship between the cell load of the logical cell and the load threshold, and the target DU determines the serving cell that provides communication services for the target terminal according to the decision threshold, and the serving cell is the channel quality that satisfies the decision At least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU of the threshold.

In a possible implementation manner, the multiple first cells include a primary cell and at least one secondary cell. The secondary cells share the capacity resources of the primary cell and use the same PCI or CGI as the primary cell. The same wireless signal as the primary cell is transmitted on the frequency, and the indication information of the logical cell is the indication information of the primary cell, for example, it may be the PCI or CGI of the primary cell.

In a possible implementation manner, after the CU sends the corresponding configuration information to each DU, it further includes: the CU receives the response information sent by each DU, and the response information may include the first successfully completed configuration corresponding to each DU. The second physical cell identifier of the cell and the indication information of the logical cell. The response information sent by each DU is used to indicate that each DU completes the combined configuration of at least one first cell.

It can be seen from the above possible implementations that after the CU sends configuration information to each DU, each DU will also send response information to the CU after completing the merge configuration of the corresponding knowledge and a first cell, so that the CU can ensure cell merge To ensure a good user experience after the completion of the subsequent cell merger.

The second aspect of the present application provides a method for cell merging under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture, including: each of the N DUs receives configuration information of each DU sent by the CU, and configuration information of each DU It is determined by the CU. Each DU corresponds to at least one first cell. The configuration information of each DU is used for the combined configuration of the at least one first cell. The first cell is a cell that meets the combined conditions, that is, the first cell refers to Among the one or more cells corresponding to the DU that meet the merging conditions and will be merged, a CU can be connected to at least one DU, N is an integer greater than 0, and N DUs are among the one or more DUs connected to the CU Part or all of the DUs; each DU performs the combined configuration of the at least one first cell according to the configuration information, so that N DUs combine multiple first cells into one logical cell, and the logical cell has a first physical cell identifier, The logical cell has a first physical cell identity, and the logical cell can be an SFN logical cell. Each first cell before merging has a second physical cell identity, and the logical cell after merging has only one first physical cell identity. The one physical cell identifier and the second physical cell identifier may be at least one of PCI and CGI.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information corresponding to each DU includes at least one second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the first cell and indication information of the logical cell, and the indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate The first physical cell identity, the second physical cell identity is used to indicate a first cell among the multiple first cells that meet the merging conditions before being merged into a logical cell, that is, the second physical cell identity is used by the first cell before the merge Cell ID. After multiple first cells are merged into a logical cell, the same cell ID will be adopted. The same cell ID is the first cell ID of the logical cell. The indication information of the logical cell can be the same cell ID or It is other information indicating the same cell identity. After each DU performs the combined configuration of the at least one first cell according to the configuration information, it also includes: the target DU sends the first information to the CU, and the target DU may be one of the N DUs A DU selected arbitrarily or according to certain rules, for example, the first DU that completes the corresponding first cell configuration, the first information includes the identification of the target terminal located in the logical cell, and the target DU is one of the N DUs One; the target DU receives the second information sent by the CU, the second information is determined by the CU according to the first information, and the second information includes the channel of each first cell in at least one first cell corresponding to the target terminal relative to the target DU Quality, the channel quality of each first cell can be at least one of RSRP and SINR, or other information that can be used to indicate the channel quality of the first cell; the target DU is determined to provide communication for the target terminal according to the second information The serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU.

In a possible implementation manner, the configuration information also includes a decision threshold, the decision threshold is determined by the CU based on the cell quality of multiple cells, and the decision threshold is used by the target DU to determine the serving cell for the target terminal to provide communication services. The serving cell is at least one of the first cells corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.

In a possible implementation, the configuration information also includes a decision threshold or a load threshold. The decision threshold and the load threshold have a corresponding relationship. The corresponding relationship is stipulated by the agreement or preset. The target DU is determined to be provided for the target terminal according to the decision threshold. The serving cell of the communication service; or, the target DU determines the decision threshold according to the relationship between the cell load of the logical cell and the load threshold, and the target DU determines the serving cell for the target terminal to provide communication services according to the decision threshold, and the serving cell has a channel quality that meets the decision threshold At least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU.

In a possible implementation manner, the multiple first cells include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell, and the indication information of the logical cell is the indication information of the primary cell.

In a possible implementation manner, after each DU performs the combined configuration of the at least one first cell according to the configuration information, it further includes: each DU sends response information to the CU, and the response information sent by each DU is used to indicate each A DU completes the merge configuration of the at least one first cell.

The third aspect of the present application provides a cell merging device under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture. The cell merging device has the function of implementing the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect. This function can be realized by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions.

The fourth aspect of the present application provides a cell merging device under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture. The cell merging device has the function of implementing the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect. This function can be realized by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions.

A fifth aspect of the present application provides a network device, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer execution instructions, and when the network device is running, the processor executes the computer execution instructions stored in the memory to enable the The network device executes the cell merging method as in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

A sixth aspect of the present application provides a network device, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer execution instructions, and when the network device is running, the processor executes the computer execution instructions stored in the memory to enable the The network device executes the cell merging method as described in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

The seventh aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions in the computer-readable storage medium, and when it runs on a computer, the computer can execute the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. The method of cell consolidation.

The eighth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions in the computer-readable storage medium, and when it runs on a computer, the computer can execute the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. The method of cell consolidation.

The ninth aspect of the present application provides a computer program product containing instructions, which when running on a computer, enables the computer to execute the cell merging method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

The tenth aspect of the present application provides a computer program product containing instructions, which when running on a computer, enables the computer to execute the cell merging method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect.

The eleventh aspect of the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor, and is configured to support a network device to implement the above-mentioned first aspect or the functions involved in any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect. In a possible design, the chip system also includes a memory, and the memory is used to store the necessary program instructions and data of the network device. The chip system can be composed of chips, or include chips and other discrete devices.

A twelfth aspect of the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor, and is configured to support a network device to implement the foregoing second aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect. In a possible design, the chip system also includes a memory, and the memory is used to store the necessary program instructions and data of the network device. The chip system can be composed of chips, or include chips and other discrete devices.

Among them, the technical effects brought by any one of the third aspect, fifth aspect, seventh aspect, ninth aspect, and eleventh aspect can refer to the technical effects brought about by different implementation manners in the first aspect. I won't repeat them here.

Among them, the technical effects brought about by any one of the fourth aspect, sixth aspect, eighth aspect, tenth aspect, and twelfth aspect can be found in the technical effects brought about by different implementation manners in the second aspect. I won't repeat them here.

The embodiment of the present invention adopts a method of cell merging under the central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture. The configuration information of the cell merging is determined by the CU, and the DU configures the corresponding cells according to the configuration information allocated by the CU, thereby solving the problem of cell merging. The problem of dynamic change realizes the flexible configuration of the base station for cell consolidation.

Description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in an embodiment of the present application;

4 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a network device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell merging device under the CU-DU architecture provided by an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another cell merging apparatus under the CU-DU architecture provided by an embodiment of the application.

Detailed ways

The following describes the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Those of ordinary skill in the art know that with the emergence of new application scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a cell merging method under the CU-DU architecture. The configuration information of the cell merging is determined by the CU, and the DU configures the corresponding cell according to the configuration information allocated by the CU, thereby solving the problem that the cell merging method cannot be changed. Flexible configuration of cell merging by the base station. The embodiments of the present invention also provide corresponding devices. The detailed description will be given below.

The terms "first", "second", etc. in the description and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific sequence or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in an order other than the content illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations of them are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or modules is not necessarily limited to the clearly listed Those steps or modules may include other steps or modules that are not clearly listed or are inherent to these processes, methods, products, or equipment. The naming or numbering of steps appearing in this application does not mean that the steps in the method flow must be executed in the time/logical order indicated by the naming or numbering. The named or numbered process steps can be implemented according to the The technical purpose changes the execution order, as long as the same or similar technical effects can be achieved. The division of modules presented in this application is a logical division. In actual applications, there may be other divisions. For example, multiple modules can be combined or integrated in another system, or some features can be ignored , Or not to execute, in addition, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between modules may be electrical or other similar forms. There are no restrictions in the application. Moreover, the modules or sub-modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, may or may not be physical modules, or may be distributed to multiple circuit modules, and some or all of them may be selected according to actual needs Module to achieve the purpose of this application program.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a network side architecture of a 5G communication system provided by an embodiment of this application. The architecture not only supports the wireless technology defined by the 3GPP standard group to access the core network side, but also supports non-3GPP access technology through non-3GPP conversion Function (non-3GPP interworking function, N3IWF) or next generation packet data gateway (ngPDG) or fixed network access gateway or trusted non-3GPP access gateway to access the core network side.

Access network (access network, AN) can also be called radio access network (radio access network, RAN) in specific applications. The RAN is composed of access network equipment and is responsible for the access of user equipment. The RAN equipment of the 5G network may be a next generation (NG) RAN equipment. In the embodiment of the present application, the RAN may be a next generation NodeB (gNB) or a next generation-evolved NodeB (ng-eNB). Among them, gNB provides UE with new radio (NR) user plane functions and control plane functions, ng-eNB provides UE with evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) user plane Functions and control plane functions. It should be noted that gNB and ng-eNB are only a name used to indicate a base station supporting a 5G network system, and do not have a restrictive meaning.

The 5G communication system shown in Figure 1 includes the next generation core (NGC) and the radio access network (RAN) connected to NGC. The RAN connected to NGC includes gNB and ng-eNB. For convenience Note that only one gNB and one ng-eNB are shown in FIG. 1.

Specifically, in the CU-DU architecture shown in FIG. 1, a gNB or ng-eNB can be composed of a centralized unit (CU) and one or more distributed units (DU), and a CU Can be connected to one or more DUs. For example, one gNB or ng-eNB as shown in Fig. 1 is composed of one CU and two DUs. The cell merging method provided in the embodiments of the application can be applied to the CU-DU architecture shown in FIG. 1. The cell merging is a method to solve the frequent handover of the terminal in the mobile communication system when the terminal is moving at high speed, by combining multiple independent The cells are merged into one logical cell to expand the coverage of one cell, so that the terminal does not need to pass through multiple cells when moving at a high speed, so as to reduce the number of handovers between cells. Optionally, as shown in Figure 1, in the CU-DU architecture, a CU may also consist of a control plane (CU-control plane function, CU-CP) and one or more user planes (CU-user plane functions, CU-UP) structure, that is, a CU-separated architecture. One DU can be connected to one or more CU-UPs. It should be noted that this CU separation architecture is also applicable to the cell merging method provided in the embodiment of this application. In the case of CU separation, the control plane CU-CP and DU can implement the CU in the embodiment of this application. -The method of cell merging under the DU structure.

CU and DU are connected through F1 interface, CU-CP and CU-UP are connected through E1 interface, CU-CP and DU are connected through F1 control plane interface (F1-C), CU-UP The F1 user plane interface (F1-U) is connected to the DU, as shown in Figure 1, where the solid line represents the control plane transmission, and the dashed line represents the user plane transmission.

The function division of CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol stack. One possible way is to deploy radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer in the CU. The radio link layer control protocol (radioLink control, RLC), media access control (media access control, MAC), and physical layer (physical layer, PHY) are deployed in the DU. Correspondingly, the CU has the processing capabilities of RRC, PDCP and SDAP. DU has the processing capabilities of RLC, MAC, and PHY. It should be noted that the above functional segmentation is just an example, and there may be other segmentation methods. For example, the CU includes processing capabilities of RRC, PDCP, RLC, and SDAP, and the DU has processing capabilities of MAC and PHY. For another example, the CU includes the processing capabilities of RRC, PDCP, RLC, SDAP, and part of the MAC (for example, adding a MAC header), and the DU has the processing capability of PHY and part of the MAC (for example, scheduling). Under the CU separation architecture, corresponding to the possible segmentation method that the CU has the processing capabilities of RRC, PDCP and SDAP, the control plane function and data plane function of the CU can also be further segmented. Specifically, it can be CU- The CP includes the RRC function and the PDCP control plane function, which is used to process the data carried by the signaling radio; the CU-UP includes the data plane part of the SDAP and PDCP, which is used to process the data carried by the data radio. It should be noted that the above function segmentation is just an example, and there may be other segmentation methods. The names of CU, DU, CU-CP, and CU-UP may change. As long as the access network node that can realize the above functions can be regarded as CU, DU, CU-CP, and CU-UP in this application.

The terminal involved in this application can be connected to the core network through the RAN. The terminal in the embodiment of this application can represent any applicable terminal user equipment, and can include (or can represent) such as a wireless transmit/receive unit (wireless transmit/receive unit). , WTRU), mobile stations, mobile nodes, mobile devices, fixed or mobile subscription units, pagers, mobile phones, handheld devices, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, handheld computers (personal digital assistant, PDA), smart phones, notebook computers , Computers, touch screen devices, wireless sensors, or consumer electronics devices. The "mobile" station/node/device here means a station/node/device connected to a wireless (or mobile) network, and is not necessarily related to the actual mobility of the station/node/device.

Next, based on the foregoing system architecture, the method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture provided in the embodiment of the present application will be specifically introduced. It should be noted that one CU can be connected to at least one DU, and one DU can correspond to at least one cell. Therefore, one CU corresponds to at least one cell. In the case that one CU corresponds to multiple cells, for example, one CU is connected to multiple DUs, or one CU is connected to one DU and the DU corresponds to multiple cells, the one or more DUs correspond to multiple At least two cells in the cells can be merged to form a logical cell, each cell before the merge has a physical cell identity, and the logical cell formed by the merge has only one physical cell identity. Each cell merged into the logical cell is called the first cell, and there are N DUs corresponding to the first cell, where N is an integer greater than zero. It is worth noting that in this article, the physical cell identity is sometimes also referred to as the cell identity. The physical cell identity and the cell identity can be used interchangeably in this article. The first physical cell identity is a physical cell identity of the merged logical cell. The second physical cell identifier is a physical cell identifier of the first cell before the merger. First, the method of cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in the embodiment of the present application will be introduced from the CU side, please refer to Figure 2-Figure 4.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in an embodiment of the application.

Referring to FIG. 2, an embodiment of the method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in the embodiment of the present application may include:

201. The CU obtains the configuration information of each of the N DUs, each DU corresponds to at least one first cell, and the configuration information of each DU is used for the combined configuration of the at least one first cell, and the first cell satisfies the combined condition Of the cell.

In the embodiment of this application, the CU is connected to one or more DUs, and each DU can correspond to one or more cells. Each cell has a physical cell identity (PCI) and a global cell identity (cell global identifier, CGI). ) At least one of. The N DUs in the embodiment of this application correspond to some or all of the DUs connected to the CU. A cell in the embodiment of the application may refer to a wireless communication area covered by a radio frequency module. Specifically, a radio frequency module may refer to a remote radio unit (RRU). In addition, it may also be A radio frequency unit (RFC) or active antenna unit (AAU), etc., which is not limited in this application. It should be noted that the first cell in the embodiment of the present application refers to each cell that meets the merging condition among the one or more cells corresponding to the DU, and multiple first cells are merged to form a logical cell.

The logical cell in the embodiment of the present application may be a single frequency network (single frequency network, SFN) logical cell. SFN means that the same time-frequency resources of multiple cells provide services to the same user at the same time, thereby forming a de facto logical cell whose coverage is the collection of coverage of multiple cells. Specifically, the SFN technology is a multiple RRU merging technology. The SFN mode merges multiple RRUs into one SFN logical cell, and the multiple RRUs correspond to different cells. The key technology of SFN is downlink joint transmission, that is, on the downlink physical channel, multiple RRUs of the SFN logical cell send the same data on the same time-frequency resource. Compared with the individual data transmission of each cell, each of the SFN logical cells sends the same data. The downlink control channel and traffic channel between the RRUs have no interference, and gain can be obtained through downlink joint transmission; in the uplink direction, all RRUs will use the same physical random access channel (PRACH) and control channel. After combining multiple RRUs into one SFN logical cell through SFN technology, multiple RRUs use the same PCI, PRACH and control channels, and the cell-level parameter configuration of each RRU, such as carrier frequency, frequency, channel configuration, CGI, etc. The same, so as to expand the area of the cell center area, reduce the area of the cell edge area, and reduce the cell edge interference. Multiple first cells are configured through SFN technology, so that multiple first cells are combined into one SFN logical cell. After the SFN logical cell configuration is completed, multiple RRUs corresponding to the original multiple first cells will be at the same time. Transmit the same wireless signal on the same frequency.

In the embodiment of the present application, for each of the N DUs, the corresponding first cell may be one or multiple, for example, N=3, where a first cell is configured in the cell corresponding to DU1 11. Two first cells cell 21 and cell 22 are configured in the cell corresponding to DU2, and one first cell cell 31 is configured in the cell corresponding to DU3. That is, the four first cells corresponding to DU1, DU2, and DU3 will be Combine to form a logical cell. In the embodiment of this application, multiple first cells forming a logical cell may correspond to the same DU, that is, N=1. For example, cell 11, cell 12, and cell 13 will be combined to form a logical cell; multiple logical cells are formed. The first cells may also correspond to different DUs, that is, N>1. For example, cell 11, cell 21, cell 22, and cell 31 will be combined to form a logical cell.

In the embodiment of this application, the configuration information of each DU is determined by the CU. Each DU will combine and configure the corresponding one or more first cells according to the corresponding configuration information, so that the N DUs correspond to multiple first cells. A cell is merged to form a logical cell. Taking the logical cell as an SFN logical cell as an example, before multiple first cells are merged to form an SFN logical cell, each first cell has its own PCI. After merging, each first cell in the SFN logical cell will use one For the same PCI, the CU determines the configuration information of each DU. After each DU receives the corresponding configuration information, it will configure the corresponding first cell according to the received configuration information. After the configuration is completed, each first cell will be configured. Use the same PCI. Specifically, in the embodiment of the present application, each DU configures the corresponding first cell according to the corresponding configuration information. When the PCI originally configured in the first cell conflicts with the PCI uniformly used by the SFN logical cell, the original configuration is changed. The configured PCI is the PCI uniformly used by SFN logical cells. Each DU can also reconfigure a unified PRACH and control channel for each first cell according to the corresponding configuration information, so that multiple first cells can be combined to form an SFN logical cell. , Using the same PCI, sharing the capacity resources of a cell, and multiple radio frequency modules corresponding to multiple first cells sending the same data on the same time-frequency resource. For example, in the embodiment of this application, N=3, and the N DUs are DU1, DU2, and DU3. The cell corresponding to DU1 is configured with two first cells, cell 11 and cell 12, and the cell corresponding to DU2 is configured with a first cell. Cell 21, a first cell cell 32 is configured in the cell corresponding to DU3. These four first cells will be combined into one SFN logical cell. The CU determines the configuration information of U1, DU2, and DU3, U1, DU2, and DU3. The configuration information will be used for DU1, DU2, and DU3 to configure the corresponding first cell respectively. Cell 11, cell 12, cell 21, and cell 32 will be configured with unified PCI, PRACH and control channels, so that cell 11, Cell 12, cell 21, and cell 32 are finally combined into one SFN logical cell, and multiple radio frequency modules corresponding to cell 11, cell 12, cell 21, and cell 32 will send the same data on the same time-frequency resource.

The configuration information of each DU in the embodiment of this application may include the second physical cell identifier of at least one first cell corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell. The indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first Physical cell identifier, the same physical cell identifier used by multiple first cells after merging may be determined by the CU. In the embodiment of the present application, the same cell identifier used by multiple first cells after merging is the first physical cell identifier of the logical cell, and the first physical cell identifier may be the second physical cell originally used by the multiple first cells One of the identities, optionally, may also be different from the second physical cell identities originally used by multiple first cells, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. Each DU can determine the first cell from all the cells corresponding to each DU according to the second physical cell identifier of the first cell and the indication information of the logical cell in the configuration information, and perform the corresponding logical cell identification on the first cell. For the combined configuration, reference may be made to the embodiment in FIG. 3 for understanding.

202. The CU sends configuration information to each of the N DUs, so that the N DUs merge multiple first cells into one logical cell, and the logical cell has a first physical cell identifier.

In the embodiment of this application, after obtaining the configuration information of each of the N DUs, the CU sends the corresponding configuration information to each DU, so that each DU can correspond to one or more DUs according to its corresponding configuration information. First cells are configured so that multiple first cells are merged into logical cells. Before the merge, the multiple first cells have their original second physical cell identity. After the multiple first cells are merged to form a logical cell , Multiple first cells will use the same physical cell identifier, that is, a first physical cell identifier possessed by the logical cell. The first physical cell identifier and the second physical cell identifier in the embodiment of the present application may be at least one of PCI and CGI.

The embodiment of the application adopts a method of cell merging under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture. The configuration information of each DU is determined by the CU, and the DU configures the corresponding first cell according to the configuration information allocated by the CU, so that Multiple first cells are merged into logical cells, thereby solving the problem that the cell merge mode cannot be dynamically changed, and realizing the flexible configuration of the cell merge by the base station.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in an embodiment of the application. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is applied to scenarios such as indoor distribution, high-speed railway private network, and high-interference areas. Referring to FIG. 3, another embodiment of the method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in the embodiment of the present application may include:

301. The CU selects multiple first cells from multiple cells that meet the combination condition according to the cell quality of multiple cells. Wherein, the N DUs connected to the CU correspond to multiple first cells.

In the embodiment of the present application, a CU may be connected to one or more DUs, and one DU may correspond to one or more cells, and each cell has at least one of PCI and CGI. The N DUs in the embodiment of this application correspond to some or all of the DUs connected to the CU. A cell in the embodiment of the present application may refer to a wireless communication area covered by a radio frequency module. Specifically, a radio frequency module may be an RRU, RFC, or AAU. In the embodiment of this application, one or more first cells that meet the merging conditions need to be selected from multiple cells. The first cell in the embodiment of this application refers to the one or more cells corresponding to the DU that will be merged Part or all of the cell.

In the embodiment of the present application, there are at least two first cells that meet the merge condition. For each of the N DUs, the configured first cell may be one or multiple; multiple first cells may correspond to the same DU, that is, N=1, or they may correspond to different DU, that is, N>1, which is not limited in the embodiments of this application. For example: when N=1, the three first cells cell 11, cell 12, and cell 13 meet the merging conditions, and these three first cells all belong to DU1; when N=3, the four cells cell 11, cell 21, and cell 22 And cell 31 meet the merging conditions, where the first cell cell 11 corresponds to DU1, cell 21 and cell 22 correspond to DU2, and cell 31 corresponds to DU3.

In the embodiment of the present application, the cell quality may be the channel condition information of the cell, the load information of the cell, the number of terminals in the cell or the mobile speed of the terminals, and other information that can reflect the communication situation in the cell. Exemplarily, the channel condition information of the cell in the embodiment of the present application may include the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) and the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) of the multiple terminals in the cell obtained through testing with respect to the radio frequency module in the cell. At least one of the signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR). The CU can determine the number of edge users in the cell based on the RSRP and/or SINR of multiple terminals in the cell, and then based on the edge of each cell The number of users determines multiple first cells from multiple cells. In the embodiment of the present application, the channel condition information of the cell, the number of terminals in the cell, or the moving speed of the terminal may be reported by the terminal to the CU, and the load of the cell may be reported by the corresponding DU to the CU.

In the embodiment of the present application, the CU selects multiple first cells that meet the merging condition from multiple cells according to the cell quality of multiple cells corresponding to some or all of the DUs connected to it, and the multiple first cells correspond to N DUs, that is, each of the N DUs corresponds to at least one first cell, which can be the CU receiving information such as cell channel conditions reported by terminals in multiple cells and multiple cells sent by multiple DUs After the cell load, the CU analyzes the received information, so as to determine the multiple first cells that meet the combination condition from the multiple cells.

302. The CU separately determines the configuration information of each DU according to the multiple first cells, each DU corresponds to at least one first cell, and the configuration information of each DU is used for the combined configuration of the at least one first cell, so that multiple The first cells are combined to form a logical cell, the logical cell has a first physical cell identifier, and the configuration information of each DU includes the second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell and an indication of the logical cell Information, the indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first physical cell identity, and the second physical cell identity is used to indicate a first cell among a plurality of first cells that meet the merging condition before being merged into the logical cell.

In the embodiment of the present application, the configuration information of each DU is used for each DU to configure at least one corresponding first cell, so that multiple first cells are combined to form a logical cell, and the logical cell includes multiple first cells. It should be understood that a logical cell may be formed by combining and configuring the corresponding first cells by one or more DUs.

In the embodiment of the present application, after the CU determines at least one first cell corresponding to each of the N DUs according to the cell quality of multiple cells, the CU will determine the at least one first cell corresponding to each DU according to Each DU determines configuration information.

In the embodiment of the present application, the configuration information of each DU includes the second physical cell identifier of at least one first cell corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell. The indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the second physical cell of the logical cell. A physical cell identity. In the embodiments of the present application, the second physical cell identity of the first cell refers to the physical cell identity originally used before the first cell is merged. After multiple first cells are merged into logical cells, multiple first cells will use the same physical cell identity. Cell ID, the logical cell has a first physical cell ID, the same physical cell ID used by the multiple cells is the first physical cell ID of the logical cell, and the indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first physical cell of the logical cell Logo. In the embodiment of the present application, the first physical cell identity and the second physical cell identity may be at least one of PCI and CGI. Take the logical cell as an SFN logical cell as an example: the second physical cell identity of the first cell can be at least one of the PCI and CGI of the first cell before the merger, or it can be another type of cell identity; after the merger, the SFN logical cell All the first cells in SFN adopt the same PCI or CGI, and the indication information of the SFN logical cell may be the identifier of the same PCI or CGI, or alternatively, it may be another one used to indicate the same PCI or CGI. This is not limited in the embodiment of this application.

Optionally, the multiple first cells forming the logical cell in the embodiment of the present application may include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell. The CU can select one of the multiple first cells arbitrarily or according to certain rules as the primary cell. After the primary cell is determined, the remaining first cells are all secondary cells; the primary cell can also be the first to complete For the configured first cell, the first cell to be configured first will be the primary cell by default, and the first cell to be configured subsequently are all secondary cells. Take the logical cell as the SFN logical cell as an example: all the first cells in the logical cell in the embodiment of the application share the capacity resources of the primary cell, and each secondary cell uses the same PCI or CGI as the primary cell, at the same time The same radio signal as the primary cell is transmitted on the same frequency. Therefore, the indication information of the logical cell in the embodiment of the present application may be the indication information of the primary cell, specifically, the PCI or CGI corresponding to the primary cell, or other indication information The second physical cell identifier of the primary cell, such as the character number corresponding to the primary cell, etc., is not limited in this application. According to the second physical cell identifier and the indication information of the primary cell in the configuration information, each DU configures the corresponding first cell to form a logical cell, and all the first cells in the formed SFN logical cell adopt the primary cell PCI or CGI, that is, multiple radio frequency modules in the SFN logical cell will transmit the same data on the same time-frequency resources. For example: CU determines cell 11 and cell 12 corresponding to DU1, cell 21 corresponding to DU2, and cell 32 corresponding to DU3 according to the cell quality of multiple cells as the first cell that satisfies the combination condition, and cell 21 corresponding to DU2 is the logical cell The primary cell in DU1 and the other three first cells are secondary cells; the CU determines the configuration information of DU1, DU2, and DU3 respectively based on these four cells. Among them, the configuration information of DU1 includes cell 11 and cell corresponding to DU1. The second physical cell identifier of 12 and the indication information of cell 21 are used to instruct DU1 to configure its corresponding cell 11 and cell 12, and make cell 11 and cell 12 use the same physical cell identifier as cell 21, configuration of DU2 The information contains the second physical cell identifier of cell 21 corresponding to DU2 and the indication information of cell 21, which is used to instruct DU2 to configure cell 21 and configure cell 21 as the primary cell. The configuration information of DU3 includes the second physical cell of cell 32. 2. The physical cell identifier and the indication information of cell 21 are used to instruct DU3 to configure cell 32 and make cell 32 use the same second physical cell identifier as cell 21. Cell 21 is the primary cell, so the second physical of cell 21 The cell identity is the first physical cell identity of the logical cell. It should be understood that the CU may also configure a PCI or CGI for the primary cell and the secondary cell, and the PCI or CGI is not the PCI or CGI originally used by the primary cell or the secondary cell.

In the embodiment of the present application, the configuration information of each DU may be presented in the form of a list. The list lists the second physical cell identifier of at least one first cell corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell. After receiving the corresponding configuration information, each DU can directly configure the corresponding first cell according to the second physical cell identifier and the indication information of the logical cell in the list to form a logical cell. For example, the indication information of the logical cell in the embodiment of this application is the indication information of the primary cell. In the embodiment of this application, there are 3 DUs corresponding to the first cell, that is, N=3, which are DU1, DU2, and DU3, respectively. DU1 corresponds to The first cells are cell 11 and cell 12, the first cells corresponding to DU2 are cell 21 and cell 22, and the first cell corresponding to DU3 is cell 31, where cell 21 corresponding to DU2 is the primary cell. Taking the configuration information of DU1 as an example, the configuration information of DU1 is presented in the form of the cell list (1) in Table 1. The cell list (1) lists the second physical cell identifier PCI of cell 11 and cell 12 respectively. 11 and PCI 12, and the indication information PCI 21 of the cell 21 corresponding to DU2 as the primary cell. After DU1 receives the configuration information sent by the CU, it uses the second physical cell identifier PCI 11 and PCI 12 in the cell list (1) Determine cell 11 and cell 12 as the first cell from one or more cells corresponding to DU1. According to the second physical cell identifier of the primary cell in the cell list (1), that is, PCI 21 corresponding to cell 21, add cell 11 The original PCI 11 and PCI 12 of cell 12 are changed to the same PCI identifier as cell 21, namely PCI 21, so that the radio frequency modules corresponding to cell 11 and cell 12 and cell 21 transmit the same data on the same time-frequency resource; Optionally, the indication information of the primary cell cell 21 in the list may also be other types of information used to indicate that the primary cell is cell 21, for example, it may be the unique number 21 of cell 21, as shown in the cell list ( 2) As shown in the figure, DU1 can determine that the primary cell is cell 21 corresponding to DU2 according to the number 21, and determine the PCI ID of cell 21 as PCI 21, and then change the original PCI 11 and PCI 12 of cell 11 and cell 12 to PCI 21, the successfully configured cells 11 and 12 use the same PCI identifier as cell 21; optionally, in addition to the second physical cell identifier of cell 11 and cell 12 and the indication information of cell 21, the list may also include The information of the secondary cells corresponding to the other DUs forming the logical cell is shown in the cell list (3) of Table 3. The cell 22 corresponding to DU2 and the cell 31 corresponding to DU3 are the information of the remaining two secondary cells in the logical cell. PCI identifies PCI 22 and PCI 31.

Table 1 DU1 cell list (1)

第二物理小区标识Second physical cell identity	PCI 11PCI 11
第二物理小区标识Second physical cell identity	PCI 12PCI 12
主小区的指示信息Indication information of the primary cell	PCI 21PCI 21

Table 2 List of DU1 cells (2)

第二物理小区标识Second physical cell identity	PCI 11PCI 11
第二物理小区标识Second physical cell identity	PCI 12PCI 12
主小区的指示信息Indication information of the primary cell	21twenty one

Table 3 List of DU1 cells (3)

第二物理小区标识Second physical cell identity	PCI 11PCI 11
第二物理小区标识Second physical cell identity	PCI 12PCI 12
主小区的指示信息Indication information of the primary cell	21twenty one
其他小区的第二物理小区标识The second physical cell identity of other cells	PCI 22PCI 22
其他小区的第二物理小区标识The second physical cell identity of other cells	PCI 31PCI 31

Optionally, the configuration information of each DU in the embodiment of the present application may not only include the second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell, but also The decision threshold. The decision threshold may be determined by the CU according to the cell quality of multiple cells. It should be noted that the decision threshold in the embodiment of this application is just an example of a name and should not be construed as a limitation of this application. Taking the logical cell as the SFN logical cell as an example, after completing the configuration of the SFN logical cell according to the configuration information, each DU can select the first suitable cell in the SFN logical cell to provide communication services for the target terminal according to the decision threshold in the configuration information. The target terminal is a terminal located in the SFN logical cell. Specifically, for example, the SFN logical cell includes three first cells, cell 11, cell 12, and cell 21. The three first cells correspond to RRU1, RRU2, and RRU3, respectively. When the channel quality from the target terminal to the RRU is higher than the decision At the threshold, the RRU is scheduled by one or more DUs corresponding to the SFN logical cell to provide communication services for the target terminal. Exemplarily, according to the channel conditions of the target terminal relative to the three first cells, that is, the RSRP and/or SINR measurement results of the three cells, if only the channel quality of RRU1 and RRU2 is higher than the decision threshold, then RRU1 and RRU2 correspond to One or more DUs will jointly schedule RRU1 and RRU2 to provide communication services for the target terminal. It should be noted that since the corresponding antenna ports in different radio frequency modules are different, the target terminal can implement the measurement of the channel conditions of the three first cells based on the physical layer.

Optionally, the configuration information in the embodiment of the present application may include the load threshold in addition to the second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell. There is a corresponding relationship between the load threshold and the decision threshold in the embodiment of the application. Different load thresholds can correspond to different decision thresholds. For example, when the load threshold is A, the corresponding decision threshold is a, and when the load threshold is B , The corresponding decision threshold is b. In a possible implementation manner, in addition to the decision threshold, the configuration information in the embodiment of the present application also includes a load threshold. In another possible implementation manner, the corresponding relationship between the decision threshold and the load threshold is stipulated in the agreement or preset. In this case, the configuration information may only include the decision threshold or the load threshold, that is, this application If the configuration information in the embodiment includes any one of the load threshold and the decision threshold, the other can be determined according to the agreement or the preset correspondence relationship. For example, if the configuration information includes the load threshold, the DU can The load threshold determines the corresponding decision threshold. Conversely, if the configuration information contains the decision threshold, the DU can determine the corresponding load threshold according to the decision threshold. Specifically, after each DU in the embodiment of the present application completes the configuration of the logical cell according to the configuration information, the decision threshold of the logical cell can be determined according to the load threshold satisfied by the cell load of the current logical cell. It should be understood that the cell load meeting a load threshold means that the cell load is greater than or equal to the load threshold. For example, when the cell load of the logical cell meets the load threshold A, one or more DUs corresponding to the logical cell will select the first suitable cell in the logical cell to provide communication services for the target terminal according to the decision threshold a corresponding to the load threshold A. When the cell load of the logical cell meets the load threshold B, one or more DUs corresponding to the logical cell will select a suitable first cell to provide communication services for the target terminal according to the decision threshold b corresponding to the load threshold B. In the embodiment of the present application, the corresponding relationship between the load threshold and the decision threshold may be a positive correlation, that is, a higher load threshold corresponds to a larger decision threshold, and a lower load threshold corresponds to a smaller decision threshold. Specifically, when the load threshold satisfied by the cell load of the logical cell is low, it means that the number of terminals served in the logical cell is small. In order to increase the number of edge users and ensure better user mobility, a smaller one can be configured. The decision threshold increases the possibility that the terminal is in joint scheduling, that is, multiple first cells allocate the same time-frequency resources to the same terminal; as the load threshold increases, the decision threshold increases accordingly. When the logical cell When the cell load meets the high load threshold, it means that the number of terminals served in the logical cell is large. At this time, if the joint scheduling method is adopted, although the communication service quality of a single terminal can be improved, the performance of the entire system is reduced. Therefore, in order to be able to perform space division multiplexing and meet the requirements of the total cell capacity, a larger decision threshold can be configured to enable the DU to independently schedule the first cell to provide communication services for the target terminal under high load conditions. One cell provides communication services for one terminal, and multiple different first cells in the logical cell can allocate the same time-frequency resources to different terminals, respectively receive data sent by each terminal, thereby ensuring the performance of the entire system. Meet the total cell capacity under high load conditions.

In addition, the configuration information in the embodiment of the present application may also include other types of information, such as load information of different cells, and the moving speed of the user, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

303. The CU sends configuration information to each DU.

In the embodiment of this application, after determining the configuration information of each DU, the CU sends the corresponding configuration information to each DU, so that each DU can be based on the second physical cell identity and logical cell of the first cell in the configuration information. To configure the corresponding first cell to form the logical cell.

304. Each DU completes the merge configuration of at least one corresponding first cell according to the configuration information.

In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the configuration information sent by the CU, each DU performs a combined configuration on its corresponding first cell according to the second physical cell identifier of the first cell and the indication information of the logical cell in the configuration information.

305. The CU receives response information sent by each DU, where the response information sent by each DU is used to instruct each DU to complete the combined configuration of the at least one first cell.

In the embodiment of the present application, after each DU completes the configuration of the corresponding first cell according to the configuration information sent by the CU, the DU sends a response message indicating that the configuration is successful to the CU. Optionally, the response information sent by each DU to the CU may include the second physical cell identifier of the first cell that successfully completes the configuration corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell.

306. The CU receives the first information sent by the target DU, where the first information includes an identifier of the target terminal located in the logical cell, and the target DU is one of N DUs.

In the embodiment of the present application, each of the N DUs completes the configuration of the corresponding first cell according to the configuration information sent by the CU, and after forming a logical cell, the target DU among the N DUs will send the first information to the CU , The first information includes the identifier of the target terminal, and the first information is used by the CU to send the target terminal's channel quality relative to each first cell in the logical cell to the target DU. The channel quality of each first cell may be RSRP At least one of and SINR, optionally, may also be other information that can be used to indicate the channel quality of the first cell, which is not limited here.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the application, the target DU can be any of the N DUs or a DU selected according to certain rules. For example, it can be the first DU that completes the corresponding configuration of the first cell. Optionally, when the multiple first cells forming a logical cell include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell, the target DU may be a DU corresponding to the primary cell.

307. The CU sends second information to the target DU according to the first information. The second information includes the channel quality of each first cell in the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU by the target terminal, and the second information is used for the target DU. A serving cell that provides a communication service is determined for the target terminal, where the serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU.

In this embodiment of the application, after receiving the first information sent by the target DU, the CU parses the first information, and then sends the second information to the target DU. The second information contains the corresponding information of the target terminal relative to the target DU. The channel quality of each first cell in all the first cells, the target DU can allocate a serving cell that provides communication services to the target terminal according to the channel quality of each first cell in all the first cells corresponding to the target DU . Exemplarily, the channel quality of each first cell corresponding to the target terminal with respect to the target DU is reported by the target terminal to the CU through the target DU. In other words, only the CU has the channel quality of the target terminal. In the embodiment of the present application, the serving cell is at least one first cell among all the first cells corresponding to the target DU. It should be noted that in this embodiment of the application, each first cell corresponds to a radio frequency module. Therefore, the target DU determines the serving cell for the target terminal to provide communication services, which may specifically refer to the radio frequency corresponding to the target DU scheduling serving cell. The module provides communication services for the target terminal.

It should be noted that steps 305 to 307 in the embodiment of this application are optional steps, and the embodiment of this application does not specifically limit the sequence of steps 306 to 307 and step 305.

The embodiment of this application adopts a method of cell merging under the central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture. The CU determines the multiple first cells to be merged according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and then sends the configuration information to each corresponding DU, each DU directly completes the configuration of the corresponding first cell according to the configuration information, so that the base station can flexibly configure the cell according to the network condition, and solve the problem that the cell combination mode cannot be changed.

The above has introduced the cell merging method under the CU-DU architecture in the embodiment of the application from the CU side. Next, the cell merging method under the CU-DU architecture in the embodiment of the application will be introduced from the DU side. Please refer to FIG. 4 and Figure 5.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in an embodiment of the application.

Referring to FIG. 4, another embodiment of the method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in the embodiment of the present application may include:

401. Each of the N DUs receives configuration information sent by the CU, each DU corresponds to at least one first cell, and the configuration information of each DU is used for the combined configuration of the at least one first cell, and the first cell is Combine the conditions of the cell.

In the embodiment of the present application, a CU may be connected to one or more DUs, and one DU may correspond to one or more cells, and each cell has at least one of PCI and CGI. The N DUs in the embodiment of this application correspond to some or all of the DUs connected to the CU. A cell in the embodiment of the present application may refer to a wireless communication area covered by a radio frequency module. Specifically, a radio frequency module may be an RRU, RFC, or AAU. The first cell in the embodiment of the present application refers to each cell that meets the combination condition among one or more cells corresponding to the DU. In the embodiment of the present application, there are at least two first cells that meet the merge condition. For each of the N DUs, the corresponding first cell may be one or multiple; multiple first cells may correspond to the same DU, that is, N=1, or they may correspond to different DU, that is, N>1, which is not limited in the embodiments of this application. The logical cell in the embodiment of the present application may be an SFN logical cell. In the embodiment of the present application, for each of the N DUs, the corresponding first cell may be one or multiple.

Optionally, the configuration information of each DU in the embodiment of the present application may be based on the cell quality of multiple cells corresponding to some or all of the DUs connected to the CU, firstly select the multiple cells that meet the combination condition. Multiple first cells, the multiple first cells corresponding to N DUs, and then determined according to the multiple first cells selected. In the embodiment of the present application, the cell quality may be the channel condition information of the cell, the load information of the cell, the number of terminals in the cell or the mobile speed of the terminals, and other information that can reflect the communication situation in the cell. Exemplarily, the channel condition information of the cell in the embodiment of the present application may include at least one of the RSRP and SINR of the multiple terminals with respect to the radio frequency module in the cell obtained through testing of multiple terminals in the cell. The RSRP and/or SINR of multiple terminals determine the number of edge users in a cell, and then determine multiple first cells from the multiple cells based on the number of edge users in each cell. In the embodiment of the present application, the channel condition information of the cell, the number of terminals in the cell, or the moving speed of the terminal may be reported by the terminal to the CU, and the load of the cell may be reported by the corresponding DU to the CU. The corresponding configuration information sent by the CU received by each DU may include the second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell of each DU and the indication information of the logical cell. The indication information of the logical cell is used for Indicate the first physical cell identifier of the logical cell, and the second physical cell identifier is used to indicate a first cell among the multiple first cells that meet the merge condition before being merged into the logical cell. Wherein, the first physical cell identity and the second physical cell identity may be at least one of PCI and CGI. The multiple first cells forming the logical cell in the embodiment of the present application may include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell. Taking the logical cell as the SFN logical cell as an example, all the secondary cells in the logical cell in the embodiment of the present application can share the capacity resources of the primary cell, and each secondary cell uses the same PCI or CGI as the primary cell, at the same time. The same radio signal as the primary cell is transmitted on the frequency. Therefore, the indication information of the logical cell in the embodiment of the present application may be the indication information of the primary cell. The configuration information of each DU may be presented in the form of a list. The list lists the second physical cell identifier of at least one first cell corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell.

Optionally, the configuration information of each DU in the embodiment of the present application may not only include the second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell, but also The decision threshold. The decision threshold can be determined by the CU according to the cell quality of multiple cells; in another possible implementation, the configuration information of each DU contains at least one first cell corresponding to each DU. The second physical cell identifier of the first cell and the indication information of the logical cell may also include a load threshold. There is a corresponding relationship between the load threshold and the decision threshold. Different load thresholds can correspond to different decision thresholds; in another In possible implementations, the configuration information in the embodiment of this application includes not only the decision threshold but also the load threshold; in another possible implementation, the correspondence between the decision threshold and the load threshold is stipulated in the agreement or Pre-set, in this case, the configuration information may only include the decision threshold or the load threshold.

It should be noted that the specific embodiment of the present application can also be understood by referring to the related content in step 201 in FIG. 2, step 301 and step 302 in FIG. 3, which will not be repeated here.

402. Each DU performs a combined configuration of at least one first cell according to the configuration information, so that N DUs combine multiple first cells into one logical cell, and the logical cell has a first physical cell identifier.

In the embodiment of this application, after each DU receives the corresponding configuration information sent by the CU, it configures at least one first cell according to the configuration information, so that multiple first cells corresponding to the N DUs are combined to form a logic Community. Before merging, multiple first cells each have their original second physical cell identity. After multiple first cells are merged to form a logical cell, multiple first cells will use the same physical cell identity, which is a logical cell Have a first physical cell identity. The first physical cell identifier and the second physical cell identifier in the embodiment of the present application may be at least one of PCI and CGI.

The embodiment of the application adopts a method of cell merging under the central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture. Each DU selects and configures the corresponding cell according to the configuration information allocated by the CU, thereby solving the problem that the cell merging method cannot be changed. Flexible configuration of cell merging by the base station.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in an embodiment of the application.

Referring to FIG. 5, another embodiment of the method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture in the embodiment of the present application may include:

501. Each of the N DUs receives configuration information sent by the CU. Each DU corresponds to at least one first cell. The configuration information of each DU is used for the combined configuration of the at least one first cell. Combine the conditions of the cell.

The embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to step 401 in FIG. 4, which will not be repeated here.

502. Each DU performs a combined configuration of the at least one first cell according to configuration information, so that N DUs combine multiple first cells into one logical cell, and the logical cell has a first physical cell identifier.

In the embodiment of this application, after each DU receives the corresponding configuration information sent by the CU, it configures the corresponding first cell according to the corresponding configuration information, so that the multiple first cells corresponding to the N DUs are combined to form A logical cell.

The embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to step 402 in FIG. 4, which will not be repeated here.

503. Each DU sends response information to the CU, where the response information is used to instruct each DU to complete the merge configuration of the at least one first cell.

In the embodiment of the present application, each DU will send a configuration completion response message to the CU after completing the corresponding first cell configuration according to the corresponding configuration information sent by the CU.

Optionally, the response information sent by each DU to the CU may include the second physical cell identifier of the first cell that successfully completes the configuration corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell. In the embodiment of the present application, if the multiple first cells forming the logical cell include a primary cell and at least one secondary cell, the indication information of the logical cell may be the indication information of the primary cell. The specific embodiment of the present application can also be understood by referring to step 305 in FIG. 3.

504. The target DU sends first information to the CU, where the first information includes an identifier of the target terminal located in the logical cell, and the target DU is one of the N DUs.

In the embodiment of the present application, each of the N DUs completes the configuration of the corresponding first cell according to the configuration information sent by the CU, and after forming a logical cell, the target DU among the N DUs will send the first information to the CU . The first information includes the identification of the target terminal, and the first information is used to request the channel quality of the target terminal relative to each cell in the logical cell from the CU. The channel quality of each cell may be at least one of RSRP or SINR, Optionally, it may also be other information that can be used to indicate the channel condition of the cell, which is not limited here.

The target DU in the embodiment of the present application may be any of the N DUs or a DU selected according to certain rules. For example, it may be the first DU that completes the configuration of the corresponding first cell. Optionally, when forming When the multiple first cells of the logical cell include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell, the target DU may be a DU corresponding to the primary cell.

505. The target DU receives second information sent by the CU according to the first information, where the second information includes the channel quality of each first cell of the target terminal relative to at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU.

In the embodiment of the present application, after receiving the first information sent by the target DU, the CU parses the first information, and determines the target terminal relative to all the first cells corresponding to the target DU according to the identifier of the target terminal in the first information In the channel quality of each first cell, the corresponding second information is generated and sent to the target DU. Exemplarily, the channel quality of each first cell corresponding to the target terminal with respect to the target DU is reported by the target terminal to the CU through the target DU. In other words, only the CU has the channel quality of the target terminal.

506. The target DU determines, according to the second information, a serving cell that provides a communication service for the target terminal, and the serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU.

In the embodiment of the present application, the serving cell is at least one first cell among all the first cells corresponding to the target DU. The second information in the embodiment of the present application includes the channel quality of the target terminal relative to each first cell of all the first cells corresponding to the target DU. The target DU determines the serving cell that provides communication services for the target terminal according to the second information. It may be that the target DU first sorts the channel quality of the target terminal relative to each first cell corresponding to the target DU according to the second information sent by the CU, such as information such as RSRP and/or SINR, for example, according to the channel quality from the highest Sort to the lowest order, and then screen the serving cells that provide communication services for the target terminal according to the sorting result.

Optionally, in step 501 of the embodiment of the present application, the configuration information sent by the CU to the DU includes the second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell corresponding to each DU and the indication of the logical cell. Information can also include decision thresholds. In other possible implementations, in addition to the second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell corresponding to each DU and the indication information of the logical cell, the configuration information may also include a decision threshold and a load threshold. In at least one of them, there is a corresponding relationship between the decision threshold and the load threshold, that is, if the configuration information includes the load threshold but not the decision threshold, the DU can also determine the corresponding decision threshold according to the load threshold. Among the various possible implementations of the above configuration information, the DU can rank the target terminal with respect to the channel quality of the radio frequency modules in each first cell, and then determine the set of radio frequency modules that meet the decision threshold, and the corresponding The set of first cells can be used as serving cells for providing communication services for the target terminal. It should be noted that in this embodiment of the application, each first cell corresponds to a radio frequency module. Therefore, the target DU determines the serving cell for the target terminal to provide communication services, specifically referring to the radio frequency module corresponding to the target DU scheduling serving cell Provide communication services for the target terminal.

It should be noted that steps 503 to step 506 in the embodiment of this application are optional steps, and the embodiment of this application does not specifically limit the sequence of steps 504 to 506 and step 503.

The foregoing describes the method of cell merging under the CU-DU architecture provided in the embodiments of the present application. It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, in order to realize the aforementioned functions, the CU and DU include hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to the respective functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that in combination with the modules and algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed by hardware or computer software-driven hardware depends on the specific application and design constraint conditions of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians can use different methods for each specific application to implement the described functions, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

Described in terms of hardware structure, the CU or each DU in Figures 1 to 5 can be implemented by one physical device, or can be implemented by multiple physical devices, or a logical function module in one physical device. This application implements The example does not specifically limit this.

For example, the CU or each DU may be realized by the network device in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a network device provided by an embodiment of the application. The network device includes at least one processor 601, a communication line 602, a memory 603, and at least one communication interface 604.

The processor 601 can be a general-purpose central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more programs for controlling the execution of the program of this application. integrated circuit.

The communication line 602 may include a path to transmit information between the aforementioned components.

Communication interface 604, which uses any device such as a transceiver to communicate with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), etc. .

The memory 603 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, random access memory (RAM), or other types that can store information and instructions The dynamic storage device can also be electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (electrically programmable read-only memory, EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, Optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can Any other medium accessed by the computer, but not limited to this. The memory may exist independently and is connected to the processor through the communication line 602. The memory can also be integrated with the processor.

Wherein, the memory 603 is used to store computer-executed instructions for executing the solutions of the present application, and the processor 601 controls the execution. The processor 601 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 603, so as to implement the method for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture provided in the following embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application program code, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 601 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 6.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the network device may include multiple processors, such as the processor 601 and the processor 607 in FIG. 6. Each of these processors can be a single-CPU (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. The processor here may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (for example, computer program instructions).

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the network device may further include an output device 605 and an input device 606. The output device 605 communicates with the processor 601, and can display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 605 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector (projector) Wait. The input device 606 communicates with the processor 601 and can receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 606 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, a sensor device, or the like.

The aforementioned network device may be a general-purpose device or a special-purpose device. In specific implementation, the network device can be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a PDA (personal digital assistant, PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure in Figure 6 . The embodiments of this application do not limit the type of network equipment.

The embodiment of the present application may divide the CU or each DU into functional modules according to the foregoing method examples. For example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation.

For example, in the case of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 respectively show the cell merging device under the CU-DU architecture provided by the embodiment of the present application.

Referring to FIG. 7, an embodiment of the present application provides a schematic structural diagram of a cell merging apparatus under a CU-DU architecture. The cell merging apparatus is a CU apparatus 700 and may include:

The obtaining module 701 is configured to obtain configuration information of each DU in N DUs, each DU corresponds to at least one first cell, and the configuration information of each DU is used for the combined configuration of the at least one first cell , The first cell is a cell that meets a combination condition, and the N is an integer greater than 0;

The sending module 702 is configured to send the configuration information acquired by the acquiring module 701 to each DU, so that the N DUs merge multiple first cells into one logical cell, and the logical cell has one The first physical cell identity.

In the embodiment of this application, the CU determines the configuration information of the cell merging and sends the corresponding cooperation information to each DU, so that each DU configures the corresponding first cell according to the configuration information, thereby solving the problem that the cell merging method cannot be changed , To realize the flexible configuration of the base station for cell consolidation.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the obtaining module 701 may include:

The selecting unit 7011 is configured to screen out the multiple first cells satisfying the merging condition from the multiple cells according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and the N DUs correspond to the multiple first cells ；

The determining unit 7012 is configured to determine the configuration information of each DU according to the multiple first cells screened by the selecting unit 7011, where the configuration information of each DU includes the at least one first cell The second physical cell identity of each first cell and the indication information of the logical cell, the indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first physical cell identity, and the second physical cell identity is used to indicate the combination into A first cell among the plurality of first cells that meet the merging condition before the logical cell.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the CU device 700 further includes:

The receiving module 703 is configured to receive first information sent by a target DU, where the first information includes an identifier of a target terminal located in the logical cell, and the target DU is one of the N DUs;

The sending module 702 is further configured to send second information to the target DU according to the first information received by the receiving module 703, where the second information includes that the target terminal corresponds to the target DU The channel quality of each first cell in the at least one first cell, the second information is used by the target DU to determine a serving cell that provides communication services for the target terminal, and the serving cell is the target At least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the DU.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the configuration information further includes a decision threshold, the decision threshold is determined by the CU according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and the decision threshold used for the target DU is The target terminal determines the serving cell that provides the communication service, and the serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the configuration information further includes a load threshold, and the load threshold is used by the target DU to determine a corresponding decision threshold according to the cell load of the logical cell.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the configuration information further includes a decision threshold or a load threshold, the decision threshold has a corresponding relationship with the load threshold, and the target DU determines to provide the target terminal according to the decision threshold The serving cell of the communication service; or, the target DU determines the decision threshold according to the relationship between the cell load of the logical cell and the load threshold, and the target DU is determined for the target terminal according to the decision threshold The serving cell that provides communication services. The serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the multiple first cells include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell, and the indication information of the logical cell is the indication information of the primary cell.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the receiving module 703 is further configured to receive response information sent by each DU after the sending module 702 sends corresponding configuration information to each DU. The response information sent by each DU is used to instruct each DU to complete the combined configuration of the at least one first cell.

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another cell merging device under the CU-DU architecture provided by an embodiment of the application. The cell merging device is a DU device 800, and the DU device 800 may correspond to each of the N DUs. Each DU corresponds to at least one first cell. Please refer to Figure 8 for details.

Referring to FIG. 8, an embodiment of the present application also provides a DU device 800 under the CU-DU architecture, which may include:

The first receiving module 801 is configured to receive corresponding configuration information sent by the CU, where the configuration information is used for the merging configuration of the at least one first cell, and the first cell is a cell that meets a merging condition. N is an integer greater than 0;

The processing module 802 is configured to perform a combined configuration of the at least one first cell according to the configuration information received by the first receiving module 801, so that the N DUs combine multiple first cells into one logical cell , The logical cell has a first physical cell identity.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the configuration information corresponding to each DU includes the second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell and the indication information of the logical cell. The indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first physical cell identity, and the second physical cell identity is used to indicate one of the multiple first cells that meet the merging condition before being merged into the logical cell In the first cell, the DU device 800 further includes:

The sending module 803 is configured to send first information to the CU after the processing module 802 performs the merge configuration of the at least one first cell, where the first information includes the target terminal located in the logical cell The logo;

The second receiving module 804 is configured to receive second information sent by the CU after the sending module 803 sends the first information to the CU, where the second information is the CU according to the first information Determined by the information, the second information includes the channel quality of the target terminal relative to each first cell in the at least one first cell;

The determining module 805 is configured to determine, according to the second information received by the second receiving module 804, a serving cell that provides communication services for the target terminal, where the serving cell is the first cell corresponding to the target DU at least one.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the configuration information further includes a decision threshold, the decision threshold is determined by the CU according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and the decision threshold used for the target DU is The target terminal determines a serving cell that provides a communication service, and the serving cell is at least one of the first cells corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the configuration information further includes a decision threshold or a load threshold, and the decision threshold has a corresponding relationship with the load threshold. The determination module 805 is further configured to set the target according to the decision threshold. The terminal determines the serving cell that provides the communication service; or, the determining module 805 is further configured to determine the decision threshold according to the relationship between the cell load of the logical cell and the load threshold, and the target DU is based on the decision threshold The serving cell that provides the communication service is determined for the target terminal, where the serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.

Optionally, as an embodiment, the sending module 803 is further configured to send response information to the CU after the processing module 802 performs the merge configuration of the at least one first cell, and the response information is Indicates that the merge configuration of the at least one first cell is completed.

It should be understood that the processing module 802 and the determining module 805 in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components, and the first receiving module 801, the sending module 803, and the second receiving module 804 can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver. Implementation of related circuit components.

In this embodiment, the CU device 700 or the DU device 800 is presented in the form of dividing various functional modules in an integrated manner. The "module" here can refer to application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) circuits, processors and memories that execute one or more software or firmware programs, integrated logic circuits, and/or other functions that can provide the above functions Device. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art can think that the CU and DU under the CU-DU architecture provided in the embodiment of the present application can both adopt the form shown in FIG. 6.

For example, the processor 601 in FIG. 6 may invoke the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory 603 to cause the CU and DU to execute the cell merging method in the foregoing method embodiment.

Specifically, the functions of the acquiring module 701, the sending module 702, and the receiving module 703 in FIG. 7 and the first receiving module 801, processing module 802, sending module 803, second receiving module 804, and determining module 805 in FIG. 8 The implementation process can be implemented by the processor 601 in FIG. 6 calling a computer execution instruction stored in the memory 603. Alternatively, the function/implementation process of the acquisition module 701 in FIG. 7 and the processing module 702 and the determination module 705 in FIG. 8 may be implemented by the processor 601 in FIG. 6 calling a computer execution instruction stored in the memory 603, in FIG. The functions/implementation processes of the sending module 702 and the receiving module 703, and the first receiving module 801, the sending module 803, and the second receiving module 804 in FIG. 8 can be implemented through the communication interface 604 in FIG.

Since the CU device 700 and the DU device 800 provided in the embodiment of the present application can be used to perform the above-mentioned cell merging method, the technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above-mentioned method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

In the foregoing embodiment, the CU and DU are presented in the form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. Of course, the embodiment of the present application may also divide each functional module of the CU and DU corresponding to each function, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, the chip system includes a processor, and is configured to support the central unit CU functional entity to implement the above-mentioned method for cell merging. In a possible design, the chip system also includes memory. This memory is used to store the necessary program instructions and data of the CU. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices, which are not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, the chip system includes a processor, and is configured to support the DU functional entity of the distributed unit to implement the above-mentioned method for cell merging. In a possible design, the chip system also includes memory. This memory is used to store the necessary program instructions and data of the DU. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices, which are not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, it can be implemented in the form of a computer program product in whole or in part.

The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center. Transmission to another website site, computer, server or data center via wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be stored by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center integrated with one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid state disk (SSD)).

A person of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the steps in the various methods of the above-mentioned embodiments can be completed by a program instructing relevant hardware. The program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the storage medium can include: ROM, RAM, magnetic disk or CD, etc.

The method and device for cell merging under the CU-DU architecture provided by the embodiments of this application are described in detail above. Specific examples are used in this article to illustrate the principles and implementation of this application. The description of the above embodiments is only for To help understand the methods and core ideas of this application; at the same time, for those skilled in the art, according to the ideas of this application, there will be changes in the specific implementation and scope of application. In summary, the content of this specification It should not be construed as a limitation on this application.

Claims

A method for cell merging under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture is characterized in that it includes:

The CU obtains configuration information of each DU in the N DUs, each DU corresponds to at least one first cell, and the configuration information of each DU is used for the combined configuration of the at least one first cell, and The first cell is a cell that meets the merging condition, and the N is an integer greater than 0;

The CU sends the configuration information to each DU, so that the N DUs merge multiple first cells into one logical cell, and the logical cell has a first physical cell identifier.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the CU acquiring configuration information of each of the N DUs comprises:

The CU selects the multiple first cells that satisfy the merging condition from the multiple cells according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and the N DUs correspond to the multiple first cells;

The CU separately determines the configuration information of each DU according to the multiple first cells, where the configuration information of each DU includes the second physical cell of each first cell in the at least one first cell Identification and indication information of the logical cell, the indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first physical cell identity, and the second physical cell identity is used to indicate that the combination is satisfied before the logical cell is merged into A first cell of the plurality of first cells of the condition.
The method according to claim 2, wherein after the CU sends corresponding configuration information to each DU, so that the N DUs merge multiple first cells into one logical cell, the method further comprises :

Receiving, by the CU, first information sent by a target DU, where the first information includes an identifier of a target terminal located in the logical cell, and the target DU is one of the N DUs;

The CU sends second information to the target DU according to the first information, where the second information includes the target terminal relative to each first cell in the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU The second information is used by the target DU to determine a serving cell that provides communication services for the target terminal, and the serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU .
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the configuration information further includes a decision threshold, the decision threshold is determined by the CU according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and the decision threshold is The target DU determines the serving cell that provides the communication service for the target terminal, where the serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold .
The method according to claim 4, wherein the configuration information further includes a load threshold, and the load threshold is used for the target DU to determine the corresponding decision threshold according to the cell load of the logical cell.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the configuration information further includes a decision threshold or a load threshold, the decision threshold has a corresponding relationship with the load threshold, and the target DU is based on the decision threshold The target terminal determines the serving cell that provides the communication service; or, the target DU determines the decision threshold according to the relationship between the cell load of the logical cell and the load threshold, and the target DU is based on the decision threshold Determining the serving cell that provides the communication service for the target terminal. The serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.
The method according to any one of claims 2-6, wherein the multiple first cells include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell, and the indication information of the logical cell is the indication information of the primary cell .
The method according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein after the CU sends the configuration information to each DU, the method further comprises:

The CU receives response information sent by each DU, where the response information sent by each DU is used to instruct each DU to complete the combined configuration of the at least one first cell.
A method for cell merging under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture is characterized in that it includes:

Each of the N DUs receives the configuration information of each DU sent by the CU, each DU corresponds to at least one first cell, and the configuration information of each DU is used for the at least one first cell. A combination configuration of a cell, the first cell is a cell that meets a combination condition, and the N is an integer greater than 0;

Each DU performs a combined configuration of the at least one first cell according to the configuration information, so that the N DUs combine multiple first cells into one logical cell, and the logical cell has a first physical cell. Cell ID.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the configuration information of each DU includes a second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell and indication information of the logical cell The indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first physical cell identity, and the second physical cell identity is used to indicate the multiple first cells that meet the merging condition before being merged into the logical cell After each DU performs the combined configuration of the at least one first cell according to the configuration information, the method further includes:

The target DU sends first information to the CU, where the first information includes an identifier of a target terminal located in the logical cell, and the target DU is one of the N DUs;

The target DU receives second information sent by the CU, the second information is determined by the CU according to the first information, and the second information includes that the target terminal corresponds to the target DU The channel quality of each first cell in the at least one first cell;

The target DU determines a serving cell that provides a communication service for the target terminal according to the second information, and the serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU.
The method according to claim 10, wherein the configuration information further includes a decision threshold, the decision threshold is determined by the CU according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and the decision threshold is used for all The target DU is a serving cell determined by the target terminal to provide a communication service, and the serving cell is at least one of the first cells corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the configuration information further includes a load threshold, and the load threshold is used by the target DU to determine a corresponding decision threshold according to the cell load of the logical cell.
The method according to claim 10, wherein the configuration information further includes a decision threshold or a load threshold, the decision threshold has a corresponding relationship with the load threshold, and the target DU is the The target terminal determines the serving cell that provides the communication service; or, the target DU determines the decision threshold according to the relationship between the cell load of the logical cell and the load threshold, and the target DU is determined according to the decision threshold. The target terminal determines the serving cell that provides the communication service. The serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.
The method according to any one of claims 10-13, wherein the multiple first cells include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell, and the indication information of the logical cell is the indication information of the primary cell .
The method according to any one of claims 9-14, wherein after each DU performs the combined configuration of the at least one first cell according to the configuration information, the method further comprises:

Each DU sends response information to the CU, and the response information sent by each DU is used to instruct each DU to complete the combined configuration of the at least one first cell.
A cell merging device under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture, characterized in that the device includes:

The obtaining module is configured to obtain configuration information of each DU in N DUs, each DU corresponding to at least one first cell, and the configuration information of each DU is used for the combined configuration of the at least one first cell, The first cell is a cell that meets a combination condition, and the N is an integer greater than 0;

The sending module is configured to send the configuration information acquired by the acquiring module to each DU, so that the N DUs merge multiple first cells into one logical cell, and the logical cell has a first Physical cell identity.
The device according to claim 16, wherein the acquisition module comprises:

A selection unit, configured to screen out the multiple first cells satisfying the merging condition from the multiple cells according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and the N DUs correspond to the multiple first cells;

The determining unit is configured to determine the configuration information of each DU according to the multiple first cells screened by the selection unit, and the configuration information of each DU includes each of the at least one first cell The second physical cell identity of the first cell and the indication information of the logical cell, the indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first physical cell identity, and the second physical cell identity is used to indicate the merge into the A first cell among the multiple first cells that meet the merging condition before the logical cell.
The device according to claim 17, further comprising:

A receiving module, configured to receive first information sent by a target DU, where the first information includes an identifier of a target terminal located in the logical cell, and the target DU is one of the N DUs;

The sending module is further configured to send second information to the target DU according to the first information received by the receiving module, and the second information includes all information corresponding to the target terminal relative to the target DU. The channel quality of each first cell in the at least one first cell, the second information is used by the target DU to determine a serving cell that provides communication services for the target terminal, and the serving cell corresponds to the target DU At least one of the at least one first cell.
The apparatus according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the configuration information further includes a decision threshold, the decision threshold is determined by the CU according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and the decision threshold is The target DU determines the serving cell that provides the communication service for the target terminal, where the serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold .
The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the configuration information further includes a load threshold, and the load threshold is used by the target DU to determine a corresponding decision threshold according to the cell load of the logical cell.
The device according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the configuration information further includes a decision threshold or a load threshold, the decision threshold has a corresponding relationship with the load threshold, and the target DU is based on the decision threshold The target terminal determines the serving cell that provides the communication service; or, the target DU determines the decision threshold according to the relationship between the cell load of the logical cell and the load threshold, and the target DU is based on the decision threshold Determining the serving cell that provides the communication service for the target terminal. The serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 17-21, wherein the multiple first cells include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell, and the indication information of the logical cell is the indication information of the primary cell .
The device according to any one of claims 16-22, wherein:

The receiving module is further configured to receive response information sent by each DU after the sending module sends the configuration information to each DU, and the response information sent by each DU is used to indicate all Each DU completes the combined configuration of the at least one first cell.
A cell merging device under a central unit CU-distributed unit DU architecture, wherein the device corresponds to each of the N DUs, each DU corresponds to at least one first cell, and the device include:

The first receiving module is configured to receive configuration information sent by the CU, where the configuration information is used for the merge configuration of the at least one first cell, the first cell is a cell that meets the merge condition, and the N is greater than An integer of 0;

The processing module is configured to perform a combined configuration of the at least one first cell according to the configuration information received by the first receiving module, so that the N DUs combine multiple first cells into one logical cell, so The logical cell has a first physical cell identity.
The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the configuration information corresponding to each DU includes a second physical cell identifier of each first cell in the at least one first cell and an indication of the logical cell Information, the indication information of the logical cell is used to indicate the first physical cell identity, and the second physical cell identity is used to indicate the plurality of first physical cell identifications that meet the merging condition before being merged into the logical cell One of the first cells in the cells, the device further includes:

A sending module, configured to send first information to the CU after the processing module performs the merge configuration of the at least one first cell, where the first information includes the identifier of the target terminal located in the logical cell ；

The second receiving module is configured to receive second information sent by the CU after the sending module sends the first information to the CU, where the second information is determined by the CU according to the first information Yes, the second information includes the channel quality of the target terminal relative to each first cell in the at least one first cell;

The determining module is configured to determine a serving cell that provides a communication service for the target terminal according to the second information received by the second receiving module, where the serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell.
The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the configuration information further includes a decision threshold, the decision threshold is determined by the CU according to the cell quality of the multiple cells, and the decision threshold is used for all The target DU is a serving cell determined by the target terminal to provide a communication service, and the serving cell is at least one of the first cells corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.
The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the configuration information further includes a load threshold, and the load threshold is used by the target DU to determine a corresponding decision threshold according to the cell load of the logical cell.
The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the configuration information further comprises a decision threshold or a load threshold, and the decision threshold has a corresponding relationship with the load threshold,

The determining module is further configured to determine the serving cell that provides the communication service for the target terminal according to the decision threshold; or,

The determining module is further configured to determine the decision threshold according to the relationship between the cell load of the logical cell and the load threshold, and the target DU determines the communication service provider for the target terminal according to the decision threshold. Service area. The serving cell is at least one of the at least one first cell corresponding to the target DU whose channel quality meets the decision threshold.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 25-28, wherein the multiple first cells include one primary cell and at least one secondary cell, and the indication information of the logical cell is the indication information of the primary cell .
The device according to any one of claims 24-29, wherein:

The sending module is further configured to send response information to the CU after the processing module performs the merge configuration of the at least one first cell, where the response information is used to indicate the completion of the at least one first cell Merge configuration.
A network device, comprising a memory, a processor, and a program stored on the memory and capable of running on the processor, wherein the processor implements any of claims 1 to 8 when the program is executed. The method described in one item.
A network device, comprising a memory, a processor, and a program stored on the memory and capable of running on the processor, wherein the processor implements any of claims 9 to 15 when the program is executed. The method described in one item.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, when instructions are executed on a computer device, the computer device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, when instructions are executed on a computer device, the computer device executes the method according to any one of claims 9 to 15.