WO2021121113A1

WO2021121113A1 - Electronic device and method for wireless communication, and computer readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2021121113A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/135117
Authority: WO
Inventors: 许晓东; 刘睿; 陈冠宇; 原英婷; 张书蒙; 崔焘
Original assignee: 索尼集团公司; 许晓东
Priority date: 2019-12-17
Filing date: 2020-12-10
Publication date: 2021-06-24
Also published as: CN114788346A; CN112996062A

Abstract

Provided are an electronic device and method for wireless communication, and a computer readable storage medium. The electronic device comprises: a processing circuit, which is configured to: generate a group switching request when a first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipments (UEs) can no longer service said group of UEs; and provide the group switching request to a second nomadic IAB node that serves as a switching target, the second nomadic IAB node responding to the group switching request by continuing to provide service to said group of UEs. The group switching comprises current resource configuration information and synchronization information of said group of UEs.

Description

Electronic device and method for wireless communication, and computer readable storage medium

This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application filed with the Chinese Patent Office on December 17, 2019, the application number is 201911302045.3, and the invention title is "electronic equipment and methods for wireless communication, computer-readable storage media", all of which The content is incorporated in this application by reference.

Technical field

This application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and specifically relates to handover technology in an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) network. More specifically, it relates to an electronic device and method for wireless communication and a computer-readable storage medium.

Background technique

In the IAB network, there are nomadic IAB nodes, which provide communication capabilities similar to relays, and their availability in time and space is uncertain. For example, nomadic IAB nodes may be unable to continue to provide communication services due to reasons such as moving away. Many devices, such as automobiles, can be used as nomadic IAB nodes, which can be applied to scenarios such as emergency communications, for example. By including nomadic IAB nodes, the network can be flexibly arranged according to factors such as traffic, business, and coverage requirements, so as to better meet various communication needs.

For example, when a nomadic IAB node moves away, its current user equipment (User Equipment, UE) needs to be handed over to another IAB node. Figure 1 shows an example of a scene that needs to be switched. Wherein, there are two nomadic IAB nodes 1 and 2 in the predetermined area defined by the small ellipse. At a certain moment, the nomadic IAB node 1 moves away, and the UE served by it will switch to the nomadic IAB node 2. When there are multiple hops in the IAB network, the time delay caused by the handover may be relatively large, thereby affecting the communication quality.

Summary of the invention

A brief summary of the present disclosure is given below in order to provide a basic understanding of certain aspects of the present disclosure. It should be understood that this summary is not an exhaustive overview of the present disclosure. It is not intended to determine the key or important part of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Its purpose is merely to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that will be discussed later.

According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided an electronic device for wireless communication, including: a processing circuit, configured to: the first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment can no longer serve the group of users In the case of a device, a group switching request is generated; and the group switching request is provided to the second nomadic IAB node as the switching target, and the second nomadic IAB node continues to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group switching request, wherein , The group switching request includes the current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment.

According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided a method for wireless communication, including: generating a group handover in the case that the first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment can no longer serve the group of user equipment Request; and providing the group switching request to the second nomadic IAB node as the switching target, and the second nomadic IAB node continues to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group switching request, wherein the group switching request includes the group Current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the user equipment.

According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided an electronic device for wireless communication, including: a processing circuit configured to: receive a group switching request from a first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment; A nomadic IAB node can no longer serve the group of user equipment; and it is determined that the second nomadic IAB node will continue to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group handover request, where the group handover request includes the group of user equipment Current resource configuration information and synchronization information.

According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided a method for wireless communication, including: receiving a group handover request from a first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment, and the first nomadic IAB node can no longer serve The group of user equipment; and determining that the second nomadic IAB node will continue to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group switching request, where the group switching request includes current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment .

The electronic device and method according to the present application can realize rapid handover of a group of user equipment between these nomadic IAB nodes through direct signaling interaction between different nomadic IAB nodes, thereby reducing the time delay caused by the handover.

According to other aspects of the present invention, computer program codes and computer program products for implementing the above-mentioned method for wireless communication and a computer on which the computer program codes for implementing the above-mentioned method for wireless communication are recorded are also provided. Readable storage medium.

These and other advantages of the present invention will be more apparent through the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Description of the drawings

In order to further illustrate the above and other advantages and features of the present invention, the specific embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings together with the following detailed description are included in this specification and form a part of this specification. Elements with the same function and structure are denoted by the same reference numerals. It should be understood that these drawings only describe typical examples of the present invention, and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present invention. In the attached picture:

Figure 1 shows an example of a scene that needs to be switched;

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of functional modules of an electronic device for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application;

Figure 3 shows examples of different wireless communication system parameters;

Fig. 4 shows a block diagram of functional modules of an electronic device for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 5 shows a block diagram of functional modules of an electronic device for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram of functional modules of an electronic device for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a handover procedure according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 8 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 9 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a first example of a schematic configuration of an eNB or gNB to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied;

Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing a second example of a schematic configuration of an eNB or gNB to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary structure of a general personal computer in which the method and/or apparatus and/or system according to the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the sake of clarity and conciseness, not all features of the actual implementation are described in the specification. However, it should be understood that many implementation-specific decisions must be made during the development of any such actual implementation in order to achieve the developer’s specific goals, for example, compliance with system and business-related constraints, and these Restrictions may vary with different implementation methods. In addition, it should also be understood that although the development work may be very complicated and time-consuming, for those skilled in the art who benefit from the present disclosure, such development work is only a routine task.

Here, it should be noted that, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention due to unnecessary details, only the device structure and/or processing steps closely related to the solution according to the present invention are shown in the drawings, and are omitted. Other details that are not relevant to the present invention are described.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of functional modules of an electronic device 100 for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic device 100 includes: a generating unit 101 configured to currently serve a group In the case that the first nomadic IAB node of the user equipment can no longer serve the group of user equipment, a group switching request is generated; and the providing unit 102 is configured to provide the group switching request to the second nomadic IAB node as the switching target The second nomadic IAB node continues to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group switching request, where the group switching request includes current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment.

Wherein, the generating unit 101 and the providing unit 102 may be implemented by one or more processing circuits, and the processing circuit may be implemented as a chip, for example. In addition, it should be understood that each functional unit in the device shown in FIG. 2 is only a logical module divided according to the specific function implemented by it, and is not used to limit the specific implementation manner.

The electronic device 100 may be set on a first nomadic IAB node (base station), for example. For example, the electronic device 100 may be set on the side of the IAB base station or be communicably connected to the IAB base station. Here, it should also be pointed out that the electronic device 100 may be implemented at the chip level, or may also be implemented at the device level. For example, the electronic device 100 may work as an IAB base station itself, and may also include external devices such as a memory, a transceiver (not shown), and the like. The memory can be used to store programs and related data information that the base station needs to execute to implement various functions. The transceiver may include one or more communication interfaces to support communication with different devices (for example, user equipment, other IAB base stations, core network equipment, etc.), and the implementation form of the transceiver is not specifically limited here.

For example, when the first nomadic IAB node leaves the current service range due to movement, a group of UEs currently served by it need to be switched to other nomadic IAB nodes or switched to other IAB nodes to continue communication. In this embodiment, the entire group of UEs will be handed over to the second nomadic IAB node. Note that the group of UEs described here also includes the case where there is only one UE.

The first nomadic IAB node directly sends a group switching request to the second nomadic IAB node to initiate a group switching process. In order to enable the second nomadic IAB node to normally serve the group of UEs, the group handover request includes the current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of UEs. Among them, the first nomadic IAB node is also called the source node, and the second nomadic IAB node is also called the target node. The second nomadic IAB node may be a newly enabled IAB node.

The second nomadic IAB node will continue to provide communication services for the group of UEs at the timing obtained based on the synchronization information, where the group of UEs continue to use the resources indicated in the resource configuration information. Therefore, in this embodiment, the UE undergoing handover does not need to perform measurement and random access procedures for the new nomadic IAB node (ie, the second nomadic IAB node), which reduces signaling overhead and time delay. In addition, the handover UE continues to use the previously allocated resources for communication, and the new nomadic IAB node does not need to reconfigure resources for it. In other words, the target node completely copies the configuration of the source node, and the switching process from the source node to the target node is transparent to the UE, and the UE can continue to communicate without noticing it.

In an example, the resource configuration information may include the capability information of the UE and the complete radio resource configuration of the UE, and the synchronization information includes the sending timestamp and the time offset between the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node. For example, the resource configuration information can be expressed as the field Nomadic-source-totarget-tranparentContainer, which includes the UE capability information field UE-CapbilityRAT-Container and the complete radio resource configuration field as-config. The synchronization information may include the source-time field of the transmission timestamp and the source-target-offset of the time offset field.

The second nomadic IAB node copies the wireless resource configuration of the UE, and sets the wireless resource to be used by the UE next based on the wireless resource configuration. In addition, the second nomadic IAB node compares the timing of the second nomadic IAB node with the time delay between the time when the resource configuration information is received and the time stamp sent and the time offset between the two nomadic IAB nodes. The timing of the first nomadic IAB node is aligned, so that the timing of the second nomadic IAB node is aligned with the timing of the group of UEs, so as to maintain synchronization between the UE and the base station. For example, the second nomadic IAB node may determine the downlink timing as follows:

among them,

The time delay between the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node determined based on the transmission timestamp Source-Timer and the frame boundary determined by detecting the synchronization signal block SSB of the first nomadic IAB node are jointly determined (where , The frame boundary determines the base point, and the delay determines the offset). T _offset represents the time offset field Source-target-offset, the default value is 0, and when the node's capabilities allow, various algorithms such as artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to more accurately know that the target node is compared to the source The time offset between the node and the UE and the value of Source-target-offset is set. The finally obtained T _down can be used to characterize the starting time point of the node's uplink and downlink.

In addition, the group switching request may also include one or more of the following: an identifier of a group of user equipment, an identifier of a second nomadic IAB node, an indicator indicating that the switching type is group switching, and information about the content to be transmitted of the user equipment .

The identities of a group of user equipments are, for example, represented as the Package-UE-IDs field, which includes, for example, the index of each UE in the group at the core network. The identifier of the second nomadic IAB node may be expressed as a Target-ID field, which is used to verify the second nomadic IAB node. The indicator that indicates the HO-type is a group handover, such as group-nomadic-handover, which represents a new type of handover. The information of the content to be transferred of the user equipment is, for example, represented as the SN status transfer field, which is used to notify the second nomadic IAB node of the information of the content that has not yet been transferred to the UE, so as to ensure service continuity.

It should be noted that the description of the fields in this embodiment is only exemplary and not restrictive. Moreover, the group switching request may also be included in more than one piece of signaling, and not necessarily sent through a single piece of signaling.

The second nomadic IAB node as the successor can be determined through the interaction between the first nomadic IAB node and the core network. As an example, a specific description will be given below.

In the case that the first nomadic IAB node can no longer serve the group of UEs, the providing unit 102 is configured to provide the core network side with request information that the first nomadic IAB node cannot continue to provide services, and the generating unit 101 is configured To obtain information about candidate nodes that can replace the first nomadic IAB node from the core network side and determine the second nomadic IAB node from the candidate nodes. The core network side here may refer to a home (donor) IAB node or a core network, for example.

For example, the above request information may include an indicator indicating that the handover type (for example, HO-type) is a group handover and an identifier of the first nomadic IAB node. In this way, after receiving the request information, the core network side determines that the first nomadic IAB node needs to perform group switching, and the core network side needs to provide information about possible successors.

For example, the core network side may select a nomadic IAB node that is spatially close to the first nomadic IAB node as a candidate node, and provide its information to the first nomadic IAB node. In this case, the first nomadic IAB node (specifically, the generating unit 102) may determine the second nomadic IAB node as the switching target from the candidate nodes according to factors such as distance, signal quality, etc., or in a random manner.

In addition, the core network side may also perform the determination of the second nomadic IAB node and provide the determined information of the second nomadic IAB node to the first nomadic IAB node.

The candidate node or the second nomadic IAB node determined by the core network side needs to be able to replace the first nomadic IAB node to provide services for a group of UEs. Since the group of UEs does not perform random access during the handover process, and the second nomadic IAB node synchronizes with the group of UEs by timing alignment with the first nomadic IAB node, therefore, in order to ensure that the UE and the second For synchronization of nomadic IAB nodes, the second nomadic IAB node should be within a predetermined range around the first nomadic IAB node. The size of the predetermined range may be determined by, for example, wireless communication system parameters. For example, the parameters of the wireless communication system include subcarrier spacing, parameter set (numerology), cyclic prefix (Cyclic Prefix, CP) duration, and so on.

Figure 3 shows examples of different wireless communication system parameters. If all possible wireless communication system parameters are taken into account, it can be seen that the minimum CP duration is 0.29μs, which means that the synchronization of nodes within 80m can be guaranteed, that is, the second nomadic IAB node and the first The distance of a nomadic IAB node should not exceed a predetermined threshold of 80m.

It should be noted that the wireless communication system parameters used to determine the size of the predetermined range can be set. For example, in order to expand the selection range of candidate nodes, it can be set to be calculated based on a larger CP duration, such as 0.57 μs.

Correspondingly, this embodiment discloses an electronic device on the core network side, including: a processing circuit configured to determine a candidate node that can replace the first nomadic IAB node based on the set wireless communication system parameters. For example, the processing circuit may determine the size of the range from which candidate nodes can be selected based on the set wireless communication system parameters, and determine the nomadic IAB nodes in the range as candidate nodes.

In an example, the core network side stores all the nomadic IAB nodes within the aforementioned determined range as a node group. That is, the core network side maintains the information of the node group, where each nomadic IAB node in the node group can replace other nomadic IAB nodes to provide services for the same group of UEs. For example, the distance between each nomadic IAB node in the node group does not exceed a predetermined threshold, and the predetermined threshold is determined based on wireless communication system parameters such as subcarrier spacing.

The information of the node group includes, for example, one or more of the following: the identifier of the node group, such as the group identifier Group ID, is used to distinguish different node groups; the member identifier of each node in the node group, such as the member number, is used to distinguish a group The information of the currently active node, such as the active member ID, is used to identify which nodes are working; the candidate member is used to identify which nodes can be used for handover.

In this example, the request information sent by the first nomadic IAB node may include an indicator indicating that the handover type is group handover (for example, group-nomadic-handover) and the identifier of the node group where the first nomadic IAB node is located ( That is, the group identifier (Group ID). In addition, the request information may also include a member identification such as a member number indicating that the first nomadic IAB node is in the node group.

In response to the request information, the core network side provides the information of one or more nomadic IAB nodes in the node group indicated by the group identifier except the first nomadic IAB node as the information of the candidate nodes.

After the first nomadic IAB node receives the information of the candidate node, it determines the second nomadic IAB node and sends a group switching request to it. At this time, the group switching request may include the second nomadic IAB node in the node group. The member identification, such as the member number, is used to verify the second nomadic IAB node.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the electronic device 100 further includes an obtaining unit 103 configured to obtain a group switching request confirmation from the second nomadic IAB node to confirm that the group of UEs is handed over to the second nomadic IAB node. Similarly, the acquiring unit 103 may also be implemented by one or more processing circuits, and the processing circuit may be implemented as a chip, for example.

In other words, after the second nomadic IAB node successfully receives the group switching request, it sends a confirmation message to the first nomadic node.

In summary, the electronic device 100 according to this embodiment enables a group of UEs to quickly switch between these nomadic IAB nodes through direct signaling interaction between different nomadic IAB nodes, thereby reducing handovers. The delay caused. In addition, the handover process is invisible to the group of UEs, and the group of UEs does not need to perform measurement and random access procedures repeatedly.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of functional modules of an electronic device 200 according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. A nomadic IAB node receives a group switching request, and the first nomadic IAB node can no longer serve the group of user equipment; and the determining unit 202 is configured to determine that the second nomadic IAB node will respond to the group switching request for the group switching request. The group user equipment continues to provide services, where the group switching request includes the current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment.

Wherein, the receiving unit 201 and the determining unit 202 may be implemented by one or more processing circuits, and the processing circuit may be implemented as a chip, for example. In addition, it should be understood that each functional unit in the device shown in FIG. 5 is only a logical module divided according to the specific function implemented by it, and is not used to limit the specific implementation manner.

The electronic device 200 may be set on a second nomadic IAB node (base station), for example. For example, the electronic device 200 may be set on the side of the IAB base station or be communicably connected to the IAB base station. Here, it should also be pointed out that the electronic device 200 may be implemented at the chip level, or may also be implemented at the device level. For example, the electronic device 200 may work as an IAB base station itself, and may also include external devices such as a memory, a transceiver (not shown), and the like. The memory can be used to store programs and related data information that the base station needs to execute to implement various functions. The transceiver may include one or more communication interfaces to support communication with different devices (for example, user equipment, other IAB base stations, core network equipment, etc.), and the implementation form of the transceiver is not specifically limited here.

In this embodiment, the second nomadic IAB node can replace the first nomadic IAB node to provide communication services for the group of UEs. The second nomadic IAB node is determined by the core network side or by the core network side and the first nomadic IAB node, for example, as described in the first embodiment.

Similar to the first embodiment, the group handover request may also include one or more of the following: the identity of the group of UEs, the identity of the second nomadic IAB node, and an indicator indicating that the handover type is group handover, Information about the content to be transmitted by the UE.

Among them, in the case of keeping the information of the node group on the core network side, where each nomadic IAB node in the node group can replace other nomadic IAB nodes to provide services for the UE, the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node If the IAB nodes are in the same node group, the identifier of the second nomadic IAB node may be a member identifier, such as a member number, of the second nomadic IAB node in the node group. The detailed description of the group switching request and the information of the node group has been given in the first embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

The determining unit 202 is further configured to implement time alignment with the first nomadic IAB node based on the synchronization information so as to maintain synchronization with the group of UEs, and continue to be the group on the radio resources indicated by the resource configuration information. UE provides services. Therefore, the group of UEs does not need to access the second nomadic IAB node through a random access process, and the second nomadic IAB node does not need to reconfigure radio resources for the group of UEs. The second nomadic IAB node obtains all the information required by the switched service by receiving the group switching request.

The resource configuration information may include, for example, the capability information of the UE and the complete radio resource configuration of the UE, and the synchronization information includes the sending timestamp and the time offset between the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node. For example, the determining unit 202 may determine the time delay between the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node based on the sending timestamp in the synchronization information, and based on the time delay and by detecting the time delay of the first nomadic IAB node The frame boundary determined by the synchronization signal block (SSB) is used to adjust the downlink time of the second nomadic IAB node. For specific details, please refer to formula (1) and its description in the first embodiment.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the electronic device 200 further includes a sending unit 203 configured to send a group switching request confirmation to the first nomadic IAB node to confirm that the group of UEs are switched to the second nomadic IAB node.

The sending unit 203 may also be configured to send a notification to the core network side, where the notification is used to update the node information stored on the core network side. In the case that the core network side maintains the information of the node group as described above, the notification is used to update the information of the node group, such as updating the node group members, the activation status of each member, or the candidate members. The notification includes, for example, the group identifier of the group in which the second nomadic IAB node is located and the member identification, such as the member number, of the second nomadic IAB node in the group.

In summary, the electronic device 200 according to this embodiment enables a group of UEs to quickly switch between these nomadic IAB nodes through direct signaling interaction between different nomadic IAB nodes, thereby reducing handovers. The delay caused. In addition, the handover process is invisible to the group of UEs, and the group of UEs does not need to perform measurement and random access procedures repeatedly.

For ease of understanding, FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a handover process according to an embodiment of the present application.

First, the first nomadic IAB node serves a group of UEs, and user data is transmitted between the two. Next, for example, because the first nomadic IAB node is about to move away and cannot continue to provide services to the group of UEs, the first nomadic IAB node sends to the core network side a request message that the first nomadic IAB node cannot continue to provide services. It can be seen that in the case of multiple hops, the request information is sent to the core network side via the parent node. In response to the request information, the core network side sends candidate node information to the first nomadic IAB node. The candidate node is, for example, one or more other nomadic IAB nodes in the node group. The first nomadic IAB node determines a second nomadic IAB node from the candidate nodes to perform handover. Wherein, the first nomadic IAB node generates a group handover request including the current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of UEs, and sends it to the second nomadic IAB node. The second nomadic IAB node performs synchronization with the group of UEs and copies the radio resource configuration of the group of UEs based on the information in the group handover request, thereby completing the handover. Next, the second nomadic IAB node sends a group handover request confirmation to the first nomadic IAB node to confirm that the group of UEs are handed over to the second nomadic IAB node. Then, the second nomadic IAB node sends a notification to the core network side for, for example, updating information such as the node status in the node group.

According to the information flow shown in Figure 7, only the signaling interaction between the source node and the target node is required during the handover process, that is, the group handover request and the group handover request confirmation two kinds of signaling, without the need for the node and the core network side. The interaction reduces the delay and signaling overhead, and the UE side does not need to perform any additional operations, and the handover process is transparent to the UE.

It should be noted that the above information flow is only illustrative and not restrictive.

In the process of describing the electronic device for wireless communication in the above embodiments, some processing or methods are obviously disclosed. Hereinafter, without repeating some of the details that have been discussed above, an outline of these methods is given, but it should be noted that although these methods are disclosed in the process of describing electronic devices for wireless communication, these methods do not necessarily adopt Those components described may not necessarily be executed by those components. For example, the implementation of an electronic device for wireless communication may be partially or completely implemented using hardware and/or firmware, while the method for wireless communication discussed below may be fully implemented by a computer-executable program, although these The method may also employ hardware and/or firmware of an electronic device for wireless communication.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes: the first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment can no longer serve the group of user equipment In the case of generating a group switching request (S13); and providing the group switching request to the second nomadic IAB node as the switching target (S14), the second nomadic IAB node responds to the group switching request for the group of users The device continues to provide services, where the group switching request includes current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment. This method may be executed on the side of the first nomadic IAB node, for example.

For example, the group switching request may further include one or more of the following: the identifier of the group of user equipment, the identifier of the second nomadic IAB node, the indicator indicating that the switching type is group switching, and the content to be transmitted by the user equipment Information. The resource configuration information may include, for example, the capability information of the user equipment and the complete wireless resource configuration of the user equipment, and the synchronization information includes the sending timestamp and the time offset between the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node.

In addition, as shown by the dashed box in FIG. 8, the above method may further include the following steps: provide the core network side with request information that the first nomadic IAB node cannot continue to provide services (S11); obtain alternative information from the core network side Information of candidate nodes of the first nomadic IAB node, and the second nomadic IAB node is determined from the candidate nodes (S12).

Among them, the core network side can maintain the information of the node group, and each nomadic IAB node in the node group can replace other nomadic IAB nodes to provide services for the user equipment, where the candidate node is at the same node as the first nomadic IAB node Group. The request information may include an indicator indicating that the switching type is group switching and an identifier of the node group where the first nomadic IAB node is located. In this case, the group switching request may include the member identification of the second nomadic IAB node in the node group.

The distance between each nomadic IAB node in the node group does not exceed a predetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold is determined based on, for example, wireless communication system parameters such as subcarrier spacing.

The above method may further include step S15: obtaining a group switching request confirmation from the second nomadic IAB node to confirm that the group of user equipment is switched to the second nomadic IAB node.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a method for wireless communication according to another embodiment of the present application. The method includes: receiving a group handover request from a first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment, first The nomadic IAB node can no longer serve the group of user equipment (S21); and it is determined that the second nomadic IAB node will continue to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group switching request (S22), where the group switching The request includes current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment. This method may be executed on the side of the second nomadic IAB node, for example.

Similarly, the group switching request further includes one or more of the following: the identifier of the group of user equipment, the identifier of the second nomadic IAB node, an indicator indicating that the switching type is group switching, and the content to be transmitted by the user equipment Information. The resource configuration information may include the capability information of the user equipment and the complete wireless resource configuration of the user equipment, and the synchronization information includes the sending timestamp and the time offset between the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node.

The second nomadic IAB node may realize time alignment with the first nomadic IAB node based on the synchronization information so as to maintain synchronization with the group of user equipment, and continue to be the one on the radio resources indicated by the resource configuration information. Group user devices provide services. For example, the second nomadic IAB node determines the time delay between the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node based on the sending timestamp in the synchronization information, and detects the first nomadic IAB based on the time delay and passing The SSB of the node determines the frame boundary to adjust the downlink time of the second nomadic IAB node.

In addition, as shown by the dashed box in FIG. 9, the above method further includes step S23: sending a group switching request confirmation to the first nomadic IAB node to confirm that the group of user equipment is switched to the second nomadic IAB node.

The above method may further include step S24: sending a notification to the core network side, wherein the core network side maintains the information of the node group, and each nomadic IAB node in the node group can replace other nomadic IAB nodes to provide services for the user equipment, Wherein, the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node are in the same node group, and the notification is used to update the information of the node group. The information of the node group may include one or more of the following: the identifier of the node group, the member identifier of each node in the node group, the information of the currently active node, and the candidate member.

The above methods respectively correspond to the device 100 described in the first embodiment and the device 200 described in the second embodiment. For specific details, please refer to the description of the corresponding position above, and will not be repeated here. Note that each of the above methods can be used in combination or alone.

The technology of the present disclosure can be applied to various products.

For example, the

electronic devices

100 and 200 may be implemented as various base stations. The base station can be implemented as any type of evolved Node B (eNB) or gNB (5G base station). eNBs include, for example, macro eNBs and small eNBs. A small eNB may be an eNB that covers a cell smaller than a macro cell, such as a pico eNB, a micro eNB, and a home (femto) eNB. A similar situation can also be used for gNB. Instead, the base station may be implemented as any other type of base station, such as NodeB and base transceiver station (BTS). The base station may include: a main body (also referred to as a base station device) configured to control wireless communication; and one or more remote radio heads (RRH) arranged in a place different from the main body.

In addition, various types of user equipment can work as a base station by temporarily or semi-persistently performing base station functions. The user equipment may be implemented as a mobile terminal (such as a smart phone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a portable/dongle type mobile router, and a digital camera) or a vehicle-mounted terminal (such as a car navigation device). The user equipment may also be implemented as a terminal (also referred to as a machine type communication (MTC) terminal) that performs machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. In addition, the user equipment may be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip) installed on each of the aforementioned terminals. In this case, the functions of the

electronic devices

100 and 200 are implemented by the processing circuit of the user equipment, for example.

[About the application example of the base station]

(First application example)

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a first example of a schematic configuration of an eNB or gNB to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. Note that the following description takes eNB as an example, but it can also be applied to gNB. The eNB 800 includes one or more antennas 810 and a base station device 820. The base station device 820 and each antenna 810 may be connected to each other via an RF cable.

Each of the antennas 810 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna), and is used for the base station device 820 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in FIG. 10, the eNB 800 may include multiple antennas 810. For example, multiple antennas 810 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by eNB 800. Although FIG. 10 shows an example in which the eNB 800 includes multiple antennas 810, the eNB 800 may also include a single antenna 810.

The base station device 820 includes a controller 821, a memory 822, a network interface 823, and a wireless communication interface 825.

The controller 821 may be, for example, a CPU or a DSP, and operates various functions of a higher layer of the base station device 820. For example, the controller 821 generates a data packet based on the data in the signal processed by the wireless communication interface 825, and transmits the generated packet via the network interface 823. The controller 821 may bundle data from multiple baseband processors to generate a bundled packet, and deliver the generated bundled packet. The controller 821 may have a logic function to perform control such as radio resource control, radio bearer control, mobility management, admission control, and scheduling. This control can be performed in conjunction with nearby eNBs or core network nodes. The memory 822 includes RAM and ROM, and stores programs executed by the controller 821 and various types of control data (such as a terminal list, transmission power data, and scheduling data).

The network interface 823 is a communication interface for connecting the base station device 820 to the core network 824. The controller 821 may communicate with the core network node or another eNB via the network interface 823. In this case, the eNB 800 and the core network node or other eNBs may be connected to each other through a logical interface (such as an S1 interface and an X2 interface). The network interface 823 may also be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface for a wireless backhaul line. If the network interface 823 is a wireless communication interface, the network interface 823 can use a higher frequency band for wireless communication than the frequency band used by the wireless communication interface 825.

The wireless communication interface 825 supports any cellular communication scheme, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced, and provides a wireless connection to a terminal located in a cell of the eNB 800 via an antenna 810. The wireless communication interface 825 may generally include, for example, a baseband (BB) processor 826 and an RF circuit 827. The BB processor 826 can perform, for example, encoding/decoding, modulation/demodulation, and multiplexing/demultiplexing, and perform layers (such as L1, medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), and packet data convergence protocol ( PDCP)) various types of signal processing. Instead of the controller 821, the BB processor 826 may have a part or all of the above-mentioned logical functions. The BB processor 826 may be a memory storing a communication control program, or a module including a processor and related circuits configured to execute the program. The update program can change the function of the BB processor 826. The module may be a card or a blade inserted into the slot of the base station device 820. Alternatively, the module can also be a chip mounted on a card or blade. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 827 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via the antenna 810.

As shown in FIG. 10, the wireless communication interface 825 may include a plurality of BB processors 826. For example, multiple BB processors 826 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by eNB 800. As shown in FIG. 10, the wireless communication interface 825 may include a plurality of RF circuits 827. For example, multiple RF circuits 827 may be compatible with multiple antenna elements. Although FIG. 10 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 825 includes a plurality of BB processors 826 and a plurality of RF circuits 827, the wireless communication interface 825 may also include a single BB processor 826 or a single RF circuit 827.

In the eNB 800 shown in FIG. 10, the providing unit 102, the acquiring unit 103, the receiving unit 201, the sending unit 203, and the transceiver of the

electronic devices

100 and 200 may be implemented by a wireless communication interface 825. At least part of the functions may also be implemented by the controller 821. For example, the controller 821 can implement the functions of the generating unit 101, the providing unit 102, and the acquiring unit 103 to realize a group of UEs switching between different nomadic IAB nodes without re-performing the measurement and random access procedures. Function; or by executing the functions of the receiving unit 201, the determining unit 202, and the sending unit 203, a group of UEs can switch between different nomadic IAB nodes without re-performing measurement and random access procedures.

(Second application example)

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a second example of a schematic configuration of an eNB or gNB to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. Note that similarly, the following description takes eNB as an example, but it can also be applied to gNB. The eNB 830 includes one or more antennas 840, base station equipment 850, and RRH 860. The RRH 860 and each antenna 840 may be connected to each other via an RF cable. The base station device 850 and the RRH 860 may be connected to each other via a high-speed line such as an optical fiber cable.

Each of the antennas 840 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the RRH 860 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As shown in FIG. 11, the eNB 830 may include multiple antennas 840. For example, multiple antennas 840 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by eNB 830. Although FIG. 11 shows an example in which the eNB 830 includes multiple antennas 840, the eNB 830 may also include a single antenna 840.

The base station equipment 850 includes a controller 851, a memory 852, a network interface 853, a wireless communication interface 855, and a connection interface 857. The controller 851, the memory 852, and the network interface 853 are the same as the controller 821, the memory 822, and the network interface 823 described with reference to FIG. 10.

The wireless communication interface 855 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced), and provides wireless communication to a terminal located in a sector corresponding to the RRH 860 via the RRH 860 and the antenna 840. The wireless communication interface 855 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 856. The BB processor 856 is the same as the BB processor 826 described with reference to FIG. 10 except that the BB processor 856 is connected to the RF circuit 864 of the RRH 860 via the connection interface 857. As shown in FIG. 11, the wireless communication interface 855 may include a plurality of BB processors 856. For example, multiple BB processors 856 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by eNB 830. Although FIG. 11 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 855 includes a plurality of BB processors 856, the wireless communication interface 855 may also include a single BB processor 856.

The connection interface 857 is an interface for connecting the base station device 850 (wireless communication interface 855) to the RRH 860. The connection interface 857 may also be a communication module used to connect the base station device 850 (wireless communication interface 855) to the communication in the above-mentioned high-speed line of the RRH 860.

The RRH 860 includes a connection interface 861 and a wireless communication interface 863.

The connection interface 861 is an interface for connecting the RRH 860 (wireless communication interface 863) to the base station device 850. The connection interface 861 may also be a communication module used for communication in the above-mentioned high-speed line.

The wireless communication interface 863 transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 840. The wireless communication interface 863 may generally include, for example, an RF circuit 864. The RF circuit 864 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via the antenna 840. As shown in FIG. 11, the wireless communication interface 863 may include a plurality of RF circuits 864. For example, multiple RF circuits 864 can support multiple antenna elements. Although FIG. 11 shows an example in which the wireless communication interface 863 includes a plurality of RF circuits 864, the wireless communication interface 863 may also include a single RF circuit 864.

In the eNB 830 shown in FIG. 11, the providing unit 102, the acquiring unit 103, the receiving unit 201, the sending unit 203, and the transceiver of the

electronic devices

100 and 200 may be implemented by a wireless communication interface 855 and/or a wireless communication interface 863. At least a part of the functions may also be implemented by the controller 851. For example, the controller 851 can implement the functions of the generating unit 101, the providing unit 102, and the acquiring unit 103 to realize that a group of UEs can switch between different nomadic IAB nodes without re-performing measurement and random access procedures. Function; or by executing the functions of the receiving unit 201, the determining unit 202, and the sending unit 203, a group of UEs can switch between different nomadic IAB nodes without re-performing measurement and random access procedures.

The basic principles of the present invention have been described above in conjunction with specific embodiments. However, it should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, all or any steps or components of the method and device of the present invention can be understood by any computing device ( In a network including processors, storage media, etc.) or computing devices, it is implemented in the form of hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. This is the basic circuit design used by those skilled in the art after reading the description of the present invention. Knowledge or basic programming skills can be achieved.

Moreover, the present invention also proposes a program product storing machine-readable instruction codes. When the instruction code is read and executed by a machine, the above-mentioned method according to the embodiment of the present invention can be executed.

Correspondingly, a storage medium for carrying the above-mentioned program product storing machine-readable instruction codes is also included in the disclosure of the present invention. The storage medium includes, but is not limited to, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a memory card, a memory stick, and so on.

When the present invention is implemented by software or firmware, a computer with a dedicated hardware structure (such as the general-purpose computer 1200 shown in FIG. 12) is installed from a storage medium or a network to the program constituting the software, and the computer is installed with various programs. When, it can perform various functions and so on.

In FIG. 12, a central processing unit (CPU) 1201 performs various processes in accordance with a program stored in a read only memory (ROM) 1202 or a program loaded from a storage portion 1208 to a random access memory (RAM) 1203. In the RAM 1203, data required when the CPU 1201 executes various processing and the like is also stored as necessary. The CPU 1201, the ROM 1202, and the RAM 1203 are connected to each other via a bus 1204. The input/output interface 1205 is also connected to the bus 1204.

The following components are connected to the input/output interface 1205: input part 1206 (including keyboard, mouse, etc.), output part 1207 (including display, such as cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and speakers, etc.), Storage part 1208 (including hard disk, etc.), communication part 1209 (including network interface card such as LAN card, modem, etc.). The communication section 1209 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet. The driver 1210 can also be connected to the input/output interface 1205 according to needs. Removable media 1211 such as magnetic disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, semiconductor memory, etc. are installed on the drive 1210 as needed, so that the computer programs read out therefrom are installed into the storage portion 1208 as needed.

In the case of realizing the above-mentioned series of processing by software, a program constituting the software is installed from a network such as the Internet or a storage medium such as a removable medium 1211.

Those skilled in the art should understand that this storage medium is not limited to the removable medium 1211 shown in FIG. 12 in which the program is stored and distributed separately from the device to provide the program to the user. Examples of removable media 1211 include magnetic disks (including floppy disks (registered trademarks)), optical disks (including compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) and digital versatile disks (DVD)), magneto-optical disks (including mini disks (MD) (registered Trademark)) and semiconductor memory. Alternatively, the storage medium may be a ROM 1202, a hard disk included in the storage portion 1208, etc., in which programs are stored and distributed to users together with the devices containing them.

It should also be pointed out that in the device, method, and system of the present invention, each component or each step can be decomposed and/or recombined. These decomposition and/or recombination should be regarded as equivalent solutions of the present invention. In addition, the steps of performing the above-mentioned series of processing can naturally be performed in chronological order in the order of description, but do not necessarily need to be performed in chronological order. Some steps can be performed in parallel or independently of each other.

Finally, it should be noted that the terms "include", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also It also includes other elements that are not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to the process, method, article, or equipment. In addition, if there are no more restrictions, the element defined by the sentence "including a..." does not exclude the existence of other same elements in the process, method, article, or equipment that includes the element.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, and do not constitute a limitation to the present invention. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and changes can be made to the above-mentioned embodiments without departing from the essence and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims and their equivalent meanings.

Claims

An electronic device for wireless communication, including:

The processing circuit is configured as:

In the case that the first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment can no longer serve the group of user equipment, generate a group switching request; and

Providing the group handover request to a second nomadic IAB node as a handover target, and the second nomadic IAB node continues to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group handover request,

Wherein, the group switching request includes current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment.
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the group switching request further comprises one or more of the following: an identifier of the group of user equipment, an identifier of the second nomadic IAB node, indicating the type of switching It is an indicator of group switching, and information about the content to be transmitted of the user equipment.
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the resource configuration information includes capability information of the user equipment and a complete wireless resource configuration of the user equipment, and the synchronization information includes a sending timestamp and the first nomadic IAB node Time offset from the second nomadic IAB node.
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

Providing the core network side with request information about the inability of the first nomadic IAB node to continue to provide services;

Acquiring information of candidate nodes that can replace the first nomadic IAB node from the core network side; and

The second nomadic IAB node is determined from the candidate nodes.
The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the core network side maintains the information of the node group, and each nomadic IAB node in the node group can replace other nomadic IAB nodes to provide services for the user equipment, wherein , The candidate node and the first nomadic IAB node are in the same node group.
The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the request information includes an indicator indicating that the switching type is group switching and an identifier of the node group in which the first nomadic IAB node is located.
The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the distance between each nomadic IAB node in the node group does not exceed a predetermined threshold.
The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined threshold value is determined based on a wireless communication system parameter, and the wireless communication system parameter includes a subcarrier interval.
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to obtain a group switching request confirmation from the second nomadic IAB node to confirm that the group of user equipment is switched to the second Nomadic IAB node.
The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the group switching request includes a member identifier of the second nomadic IAB node in a node group.
An electronic device for wireless communication, including:

The processing circuit is configured as:

Receiving a group handover request from a first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment, and the first nomadic IAB node can no longer serve the group of user equipment; and

It is determined that the second nomadic IAB node will continue to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group handover request,

Wherein, the group switching request includes current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment.
The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the group switching request further comprises one or more of the following: an identifier of the group of user equipment, an identifier of the second nomadic IAB node, indicating the type of switching It is an indicator of group switching, and information about the content to be transmitted of the user equipment.
The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the resource configuration information includes capability information of the user equipment and a complete wireless resource configuration of the user equipment, and the synchronization information includes a sending timestamp and the first nomadic IAB node Time offset from the second nomadic IAB node.
The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to send a group switching request confirmation to the first nomadic IAB node to confirm that the group of user equipment is switched to the second Nomadic IAB node.
The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to send a notification to the core network side, wherein the core network side maintains the information of the node group, and each nomadic type in the node group The IAB node can replace other nomadic IAB nodes to provide services for user equipment, where the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node are in the same node group, and the notification is used to update the node Group information.
The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein the information of the node group includes one or more of the following: the identifier of the node group, the member identifier of each node in the node group, and the information of the currently active node Information, candidate members.
The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is configured to implement time alignment with the first nomadic IAB node based on the synchronization information so as to maintain synchronization with the group of user equipment , And continue to provide services for the group of user equipment on the radio resources indicated by the resource configuration information.
The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine the relationship between the first nomadic IAB node and the second nomadic IAB node based on the transmission timestamp in the synchronization information And adjust the downlink time of the second nomadic IAB node based on the time delay and the frame boundary determined by detecting the synchronization signal block of the first nomadic IAB node.
A method for wireless communication, including:

In the case that the first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment can no longer serve the group of user equipment, generate a group switching request; and

Providing the group handover request to a second nomadic IAB node as a handover target, and the second nomadic IAB node continues to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group handover request,

Wherein, the group switching request includes current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment.
A method for wireless communication, including:

Receiving a group handover request from a first nomadic IAB node currently serving a group of user equipment, the first nomadic IAB node can no longer serve the group of user equipment; and

It is determined that the second nomadic IAB node will continue to provide services for the group of user equipment in response to the group handover request,

Wherein, the group switching request includes current resource configuration information and synchronization information of the group of user equipment.
A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed, the method for wireless communication according to claim 19 or 20 is executed.