WO2022001857A1

WO2022001857A1 - Cell management method and communication apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2022001857A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/102301
Authority: WO
Inventors: 耿婷婷; 严乐
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2020-06-30
Filing date: 2021-06-25
Publication date: 2022-01-06
Also published as: CN113873543A

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are a cell management method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: a first network device receiving a first message from a terminal device, wherein the first message comprises information of a neighboring cell, and the neighboring cell comprises a first cell under a second network device; and the first network device sending, according to the first message, first request information to the second network device by means of a core network device, wherein the first request information is used for requesting the management of the first cell. The effect of cell management can thus be improved.

Description

Cell management method and communication device

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202010622094.1 and the application title "a cell management method and communication device" filed with the China Patent Office on June 30, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated into this application by reference middle.

technical field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a cell management method and a communication device.

Background technique

In a network energy saving scenario, it involves network equipment's management of cells, such as cell handover, cell activation, or cell shutdown.

The network device needs to obtain cell information, and manage the cell according to the cell information. A direct interface such as an Xn or X2 interface may exist between network devices, and the network device may acquire cell information under the other network device through the direct interface with other network devices. However, some network devices may not have interfaces that can communicate directly, so that the network devices cannot obtain cell information under other network devices that do not have direct communication interfaces, and thus cannot accurately implement cell management.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present application provide a cell management method and a communication device, so as to improve the effect of cell management.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a cell management method, including: a first network device receiving a first message from a terminal device, where the first message includes information of a neighboring cell, and the neighboring cell includes a second network device The first cell under the network; the first network device sends first request information to the second network device through the core network device according to the first message, where the first request information is used to request community management. The method of reporting neighboring cell information by terminal equipment does not require the exchange of cell information between network equipment, which can be adapted to the scenario of cell management under network equipment that does not have a direct interface. For example, there is no direct interface between the first network equipment and the second network equipment. , the first network device can manage the cell under the second network device through the core network device, which can improve the effect of cell management.

In an optional implementation manner, the information of the neighboring cell includes any one or more of the following information: the identification, bandwidth, load, number of beams, maximum transmit power or period of the reference signal of the neighboring cell.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information is used to request activation of the first cell.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information includes activation information, and the activation information indicates one or more of the following information: an activation reason, load information of the first network device, the terminal Load information of the serving cell of the device or target load information of the first cell. By carrying the activation information, the second network device flexibly activates the cell according to the requirements of the first network device, avoiding waste or insufficient resource allocation caused by configuring fixed activation parameters, and helping to improve network resource utilization.

In an optional implementation manner, the method further includes: determining, by the first network device, that the target cell to be handed over by the terminal device is the first cell; determining, by the first network device, the first cell in a deactivated state. When determining that the terminal device needs to perform handover to the first cell under the second network device, the first network device first determines that the first cell is in a deactivated state, and then sends a first request information request to activate the first cell, which can avoid direct handover The resulting handover fails, thereby improving the effect of cell management.

In an optional implementation manner, the determining, by the first network device, that the first cell is in a deactivated state includes: the first network device sending the state to the second network device through the core network device request information, where the state request information is used to request a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device; the first network device receives the state indication information from the second network device through the core network device, The state indication information is used to indicate a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device; if the first cell is included in the cells indicated by the state indication information, the first network device determines the The first cell is in a deactivated state.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information is further used to request handover to the first cell.

In an optional implementation manner, the determining, by the first network device, that the first cell is in a deactivated state includes: the first network device sending the first network device to the second network device through the core network device Second request information, where the second request information is used to request handover to the first cell; the first network device receives, through the core network device, a message from the second network device for indicating the first cell Information that the cell is in the deactivated state.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information is used to request handover to the first cell or the first request information is used to request to shut down the first cell, and the first cell is in active state.

In an optional implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network device sends a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to obtain the information of the neighboring cell. information.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a cell management method, including: a second network device receives, through a core network device, first request information from a first terminal device, where the first request information is used to request A cell is managed, and the first request information is determined by the first network device according to a first message sent by a terminal device; wherein the first message includes information about a neighboring cell, and the neighboring cell includes the first message. The first cell under the second network device; the second network device manages the first cell according to the first request information.

The embodiments of the present application use the method of reporting neighboring cell information by terminal devices, without the need to exchange cell information between network devices, and can be adapted to cell management scenarios under network devices that do not have direct interfaces, such as between a first network device and a second network device. Without a direct interface, the first network device can manage the cell under the second network device through the core network device, which can improve the effect of cell management.

In an optional implementation manner, the information of the neighboring cell may include any one or more of the following information: the identification, bandwidth, load, number of beams, maximum transmit power or period of the reference signal of the neighboring cell.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information includes activation information, and the activation information indicates one or more of the following information: an activation reason, load information of the first network device, the terminal Load information of the serving cell of the device or target load information of the first cell;

The second network device managing the first cell according to the first request information includes: the second network device activating the first cell according to the activation information.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information is used to request handover to the first cell or the first request information is used to request to shut down the first cell, and the first cell is in connected state.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including a communication module, configured to receive a first message from a terminal device, where the first message includes information about a neighboring cell, and the neighboring cell includes a second network device the first cell; the processing module is configured to determine first request information according to the first message, where the first request information is used to request the management of the first cell; the communication module is further configured to pass The core network device sends the first request information to the second network device.

The communication device in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the first network device, and the terminal device reports the information of neighboring cells without exchanging cell information between network devices, and is suitable for the scenario of cell management under the network device without direct interface, If there is no direct interface between the first network device and the second network device, the first network device can manage the cells under the second network device through the core network device, which can improve the effect of cell management.

In an optional implementation manner, the processing module is further configured to: determine that the target cell handed over by the terminal device is the first cell; and determine that the first cell is in a deactivated state. When the first network device determines that the terminal device needs to perform handover to the first cell under the second network device, it first determines that the first cell is in a deactivated state and sends the first request information to request activation of the first cell, which can avoid direct handover. The handover fails, thereby improving the effect of cell management.

In an optional implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to send status request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the status request information is used to request the second network device a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device; receiving state indication information from the second network device through the core network device, where the state indication information is used to indicate a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device; The processing module is further configured to determine that the first cell is in a deactivated state when the first cell is included in the cells indicated by the status indication information.

In an optional implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to: send second request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the second request information is used to request the The first cell performs handover; and the information indicating that the first cell is in a deactivated state is received from the second network device through the core network device.

In an optional implementation manner, the communication module is further configured to send a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire the information of the neighboring cell.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: a communication module configured to receive, through a core network device, first request information from a first terminal device, where the first request information is used to request a A cell is managed, and the first request information is determined by the first network device according to a first message sent by a terminal device; wherein the first message includes information about a neighboring cell, and the neighboring cell includes the first message. 2. A first cell under the network device; a processing module configured to manage the first cell according to the first request information.

The communication apparatus of the embodiment of the present application is applied to a second network device, receives a request from the first network device to manage a subordinate cell of the second network device through the core network device, and manages the cell under the second network device according to the request. Wherein, the first network device determines the information of the cells under the second network device by reporting the neighbor cell information by the terminal device, without exchanging cell information between the second network device and the first network device, and the first network device and the second network device do not need to exchange cell information between the first network device and the second network device. When there is no direct interface between network devices, accurate management of neighboring cells can be achieved through core network devices, which can improve the effect of cell management.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information includes activation information, and the activation information indicates one or more of the following information: an activation reason, load information of the first network device, the terminal Load information of the serving cell of the device or target load information of the first cell; the processing module is further configured to activate the first cell by the second network device according to the activation information.

This embodiment of the present application introduces the consideration of the relevant current load on the side of the first network device and the required target load, that is, according to the requirements of the first network device, the cell activation is flexibly performed, so as to avoid the waste of resource allocation caused by the configuration of fixed activation parameters Or insufficiency occurs, which helps to improve the utilization of network resources.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store a computer program; the processor is used to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that The communication apparatus performs the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, including: a processor and an interface circuit; the interface circuit is configured to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor; the processor is configured to run the code instructions to execute the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where an instruction is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instruction is executed, the method in any possible implementation manner of the first aspect is executed. accomplish.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, the computer program product includes: computer program code, when the computer program code is executed, the method in any possible implementation manner of the above first aspect is executed .

For the technical effects that can be achieved by the fourth aspect to the eighth aspect, please refer to the description of the technical effects that can be brought about by the corresponding technical solutions in the first aspect to the third aspect, which will not be repeated here.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

3a is one of the schematic flowcharts of a cell management method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

3b is the second schematic flowchart of a cell management method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a third schematic flowchart of a cell management method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a fourth schematic flowchart of a cell management method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is one of the schematic structural diagrams of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is the second schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a third schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

detailed description

The embodiments of the present application may be applied to a 4G system, a 5G system, a non-terrestrial network (non-terrestrial network, NTN) system, or a future mobile communication system.

As shown in FIG. 1 , which is a communication system architecture to which the embodiments of the present application can be adapted, the system includes at least two network devices, a core network device, and a terminal device. Figure 1 illustrates two network devices, which can be represented by a first network device and a second network device. The terminal device is located in the coverage area of the first network device.

The terminal device is a device with a wireless transceiver function, and the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors. The terminal device can be a handheld device or a vehicle-mounted device; it can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as planes, balloons and satellites, etc.). The terminal device may specifically be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, an industrial control (industrial) terminal device. Wireless terminal equipment in control), wireless terminal equipment in self-driving, wireless terminal equipment in remote medical, wireless terminal equipment in smart grid, transportation safety ), wireless terminal equipment in a smart city (smart city), wireless terminals in a smart home (smart home), and may also include user equipment (user equipment, UE) and the like. The terminal device may also be a device serving as a terminal function in device to device (device to device, D2D) communication.

A network device is a device in a wireless network, such as a radio access network (RAN) node that connects a terminal device to the wireless network. At present, some examples of RAN nodes are: base station equipment (generation NodeB, gNB), transmission reception point (TRP), evolved Node B (evolved Node B, eNB), radio network controller ( radio network controller, RNC), Node B (Node B, NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), home base station (for example, home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), base band unit (BBU), or wireless fidelity (Wifi) access point (AP), integrated access and backhaul (IAB), etc. . The network device may also be a device that functions as a base station in D2D communication.

A network device may also be an architecture including a centralized unit (CU) and/or a distributed unit (DU). FIG. 2 illustrates a structure of a network device with CU-DU separation, the network device may include a CU node and a DU node.

In an optional implementation manner, the centralized unit CU node may be divided into a control plane (CU-CP) and a user plane (CU-UP), and the network device may specifically include at least one of the CU-CP, CU-UP, and DU nodes. A sort of. Among them, CU-CP is responsible for the control plane function, mainly including radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) and packet data convergence protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP)-C. PDCP-C is mainly responsible for encryption and decryption of control plane data, integrity protection, and data transmission. CU-UP is responsible for user plane functions, mainly including service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) and PDCP-U. SDAP is mainly responsible for processing the data of the core network and mapping the flow to the bearer. PDCP-U is mainly responsible for data plane encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, serial number maintenance, data transmission, etc. CU-CP and CU-UP are connected through E1 interface; CU-CP is connected with DU through F1-C (control plane), and CU-UP is connected with DU through F1-U (user plane). In addition, the CU-CP can also be connected to the core network through the Ng interface on behalf of the CU. Optionally, the PDCP-C may also be deployed in the CU-UP, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The DU node includes a radio link control layer (radio link control, RLC), a medium access control layer (media access control, MAC) and a physical layer (physical layer protocol, PHY).

In another optional implementation manner, the network device may specifically include RAN devices of the CU node and the DU node. The CU and RAN equipment are connected through the F1 interface, and the RAN equipment includes RLC, MAC and PHY.

Core network equipment is mainly responsible for access management and mobility management of terminal equipment, such as registration management, connection management, mobility management, and accessibility management. For example, in the LTE system, the core network equipment may include the mobility management function and the access management function, the session management function (SMF), the user plane management function ( At least one core network device of user plane function, UPF); in the 5G network, the core network device may include access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF), session management function (session management function, SMF), At least one core network device of a user plane function (UPF).

With reference to the communication system architecture shown in FIG. 1 , in this embodiment of the present application, the first network device reports the information of the neighboring cells through the terminal device, obtains the information of the cells in the neighboring cells that belong to the second network device, and then uses the core network device to report the information of the neighboring cells. The cell under the second network device is managed without the need to exchange cell information between network devices, which is suitable for the scenario of cell management under the network device without a direct interface, such as when the first network device and the second network device do not have a direct interface. , the first network device can manage the cell under the second network device through the core network device, which can improve the effect of cell management.

In an optional implementation manner, the first network device and the second network device may be network devices of the same type in different network systems. Taking the network device as a base station device as an example, the base station devices of the same type in different network systems belong to Inter-system intra-RAT (inter-system intra-RAT), the inter-system is defined by different network systems to which the core network equipment belongs, and the same system is defined by the same type of base station equipment. For example, one of them can be an LTE base station connected to 4G core network equipment, and the other can be an LTE base station connected to 5G core network equipment. In another optional implementation manner, the first network device and the second network device may be different network devices in the same network system. Taking the network device as a base station device as an example, the different base station devices in the same network system belong to Intra-system inter-RAT, the same system is defined by the same network system to which the core network equipment belongs, and the inter-system is defined by the different types of base station equipment. For example, one of them can be an LTE base station connected to 5G core network equipment, and the other can be an NR base station connected to 5G core network equipment.

There may be one or more core network devices between the first network device and the second network device. Figure 1 illustrates a core network device, but it is not limited that the messages between the first network device and the second network device pass through a Core network equipment transmission.

Embodiments of the present application provide a cell management method and a communication device, which can be applied to the communication system illustrated in FIG. 1 . The network device obtains the information of the cells belonging to other network devices in the neighboring cells based on the neighboring cell information reported by the terminal device, so as to avoid the failure to exchange cell information with the base station without a direct interface and cause errors in the management of the cell. The method and the device solve the problem. Therefore, the method part and the device part of the embodiments can be referred to each other, and the repeated parts will not be repeated.

It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal device, the first network device, the second network device, and/or the core network device may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples. The application embodiments may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, various steps may be performed in different orders presented in the embodiments of the present application, and may not be required to perform all the operations in the embodiments of the present application.

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The plural referred to in this application refers to two or more. "And/or", which describes the association relationship of the associated objects, means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean that A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated objects are an "or" relationship. In addition, it should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various data in the embodiments of the present invention, these data should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the various data from each other.

As shown in FIG. 3a, an embodiment of the present application provides a cell management method, and the method is as follows.

S300, the first network device determines the neighboring cells of the serving cell where the terminal device is located.

The first network device may determine the neighbor cell of the serving cell where the terminal device is located by using the identifier of the neighbor cell reported by the terminal device. Wherein, the identifier of the neighboring cell may include cell global identifier (CGI), physical cell identifier (PCI), frequency: absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN), cell identifier ( One or more of the cell identifiers), which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In addition, it should be noted that this step S300 is an optional step, which may be omitted as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 3a, that is, S301 may be directly executed without executing S300, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S301, the first network device sends a second message to the terminal device, and the terminal device receives the second message from the first network device.

Wherein, the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire information of neighboring cells. Optionally, the second message includes the information about the aforementioned neighboring cells, and the terminal device, in response to the second message, obtains the information about the neighboring cells included in the second message, and carries the obtained information about the neighboring cells in the first message. sent to the first network device. Optionally, the second message does not include the information of the aforementioned neighboring cells, and the terminal device acquires the information of the neighboring cells by itself, and carries the acquired information of the neighboring cells in the first message and sends it to the first network device.

Further, the first network device may also specifically instruct the terminal device to acquire information of some or all of the neighboring cells, that is, optionally, the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire the information of some or all of the neighboring cells. In an optional implementation manner, the first network device may carry the identifiers of one or more neighboring cells in the second message, and the second terminal device receives the second message and obtains the identifiers that belong to the identifiers carried by the second message. information about neighboring cells. In another optional implementation manner, the first network device may carry the identifiers of one or more neighboring cells and one or more acquisition flags in the second message, and the identifiers of the neighboring cells correspond to the acquisition flags one-to-one, and the acquisition flags It is used to indicate whether to acquire the information of the neighbor cell corresponding to the acquired flag. Specifically, the acquisition flag can be set as a bit "0", which is used to instruct the terminal device not to acquire the information of the neighboring cell corresponding to the acquisition flag; Obtain the information of the neighbor cell corresponding to the tag.

Based on this, the first network device may determine a neighbor cell among the neighbor cells that satisfies the condition that the network device to which the neighbor cell belongs does not have a direct interface with the first network device. By carrying the identifiers of the neighbor cells that meet the conditions in the second message; or by carrying the identifiers of the neighbor cells reported by the terminal equipment in the second message, and the acquisition flag corresponding to the identifier of each neighbor cell, the neighbor cells that meet the conditions are included in the second message. The acquisition flag corresponding to the identifier of the terminal device is set to bit "1" to instruct the terminal device to acquire the information of the neighboring cell whose network device does not have a direct interface with the first network device. Then, according to the second message, the terminal device acquires the information of the neighboring cell whose network device does not have a direct interface with the first network device, and reports it to the network device.

In addition, it should be noted that this step S301 is an optional step, which may be omitted as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 3a, that is, S302 may be directly executed without executing S301, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S302, the terminal device sends a first message to the first network device, and the first network device receives the first message from the terminal device.

The first message includes information of neighboring cells, and the neighboring cells include the first cell under the second network device.

Wherein, the information of the neighboring cells may include any one or more of the following information: identification, bandwidth, load, number of beams (beams), maximum transmit power or period of reference signals of the neighboring cells. The reference signal includes: physical broadcast channel block (PBCH Block), synchronization signal block (synchronization signal block, SSB) or synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block, SS/PBCH Block) Wait. The load can be at the network slice level, at the public land mobile network (PLMN) level, at the private network level (non-public network, NPN), or at the service type level.

Optionally, in the case where the foregoing S301 to S302 are not performed, the terminal device acquires the information of the neighboring cell by itself, and carries the acquired information of the neighboring cell in the first message and sends it to the first network device.

S304, the first network device sends the first request information to the second network device through the core network device according to the first message, and the second network device receives the first request information from the first network device through the core network device.

The first request information is used to request management of the first cell. Specifically, the first network device sends the first request information to the core network device, and the core network device then sends the received first request information to the second network device.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first network device reports the information of the neighboring cells through the terminal device, obtains the information of the cells belonging to the second network device in the neighboring cells, and then manages the cells under the second network device through the core network device, There is no need to exchange cell information between network devices, and it is suitable for the scenario of cell management under network devices without direct interfaces. For example, when there is no direct interface between the first network device and the second network device, the first network device can pass the core network. The device manages the cells under the second network device, which can improve the effect of cell management.

Hereinafter, the manner in which the first request information is used to request the management of the first cell and the management of the first cell will be described by way of example.

In an optional implementation manner, the first cell is in a deactivated state, and the first request information sent by the first network device in S304 is used to request to activate the first cell. The second network device activates the first cell when receiving the first request information. When the first request information is an activation request corresponding to the first cell, the second network device performs an activation operation for the first cell when receiving the first request information.

Among them, the deactivated state of the cell can be understood as the cell is completely closed, the cell closes part of the public channels, the cell only opens part of the public channels, the cell does not support the service for the terminal equipment in the non-connected state, and the cell does not support the terminal equipment in the connected state. service etc. The active state of the cell can be understood as normal transmission of all common channels of the cell or that the cell supports services for terminal equipment in the non-connected state.

Optionally, the first request information includes activation information, and the activation information indicates one or more of the following information: activation reason, load information of the first network device, load information of the serving cell of the terminal device, or target load of the first cell information. The activation reason can be "load", the target load information of the first cell indicates the load information to be adjusted to the first cell, and the load information includes resource occupancy rate, guaranteed downlink bit rate (GBR)/non-guaranteed rate (Non-GBR) at least one of information such as usage percentage, cell capacity level, and available capacity percentage. After receiving the first request information, the second network device can activate the first cell according to the activation information contained therein. By carrying the activation information, the second network device flexibly activates the cell according to the requirements of the first network device, avoiding waste or insufficient resource allocation caused by configuring fixed activation parameters, and helping to improve network resource utilization.

In an optional implementation manner, the first network device may send the first request information to request activation of the first cell based on cell management requirements such as load balancing or cell handover; it may also adjust the status of neighboring cells, The first request information is sent to request to activate a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device, for example, the first cell.

Take the example that the first network device determines that the neighbor needs to share the load and requests to activate the first cell. Optionally, the first network device sends the first request information to the second network device through the core network device according to the first message, and the foregoing method further includes: the first network device determines that the target cell for load sharing is the first cell ; The first network device determines that the first cell is in a deactivated state.

Wherein, the first network device may determine the target cell for load sharing according to the information of the neighboring cells in the first message. Specifically, the target cell may be determined according to the bandwidth and/or other information of neighboring cells, for example, considering network energy saving, a cell with a small bandwidth under the second network device is determined as the target cell for load sharing. In another example, a target cell that can be used for load sharing is determined by taking into account factors such as the load to be transferred.

It is taken as an example that the first network device determines that cell handover needs to be performed and requests to activate the first cell. Optionally, before the first network device sends the first request information to the second network device through the core network device, the method may further include: the first network device determines that the target cell to be switched by the terminal device is the first cell; the first network device determines The first cell is in a deactivated state.

The first network device may store the information of the neighboring cells in the first message, and then determine the target cell to be handed over by the terminal device according to the information of the neighboring cells. Specifically, the target cell may be determined according to the load of the neighboring cells and/or other information, for example, a cell with a low load under the second network device is determined as the target cell for handover.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3b, based on the cell management method shown in FIG. 3a, the embodiment of the present application shows that before S304, "S303: the first network device determines that the first cell is in a deactivated state" is executed. It means that step S303 is performed before S304 when the first request information is used to request activation of the first cell.

Optionally, the first network device may determine that the first cell is in a deactivated state by referring to the following manner (1) or manner (2).

Manner (1): The first network device may determine that the first cell is in a deactivated state through the following steps A1 to A3.

A1, the first network device sends state request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the state request information is used to request a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device.

Specifically, the first network device sends the state request information to the core network device, and the core network device then sends the received state request information to the second network device.

A2: The first network device receives state indication information from the second network device through the core network device, where the state indication information is used to indicate a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device.

Specifically, the second network device sends the state indication information to the core network device, and the core network device then sends the received state indication information to the first network device.

A3: If the cells indicated by the status indication information include the first cell, the first network device determines that the first cell is in a deactivated state.

In this embodiment of the present application, when determining that the terminal device needs to switch to the first cell under the second network device, the first network device first sends first request information to the second network device through the core network device, requesting to activate its subordinates in the second network device. The first cell in the deactivated state can avoid handover failure caused by direct handover, thereby improving the cell management effect. In addition, it should be noted that this embodiment of the present application does not limit that only the cells in the deactivated state under the second network device can be known through the status request information/status indication information. For example, the aforementioned status request information can also be used to request the status of neighboring cells belonging to the second network device, and correspondingly, the aforementioned status indication information can also be used to indicate the status of neighboring cells belonging to the second network device; Based on the received state indication information, it is determined whether the first cell is in a deactivated state.

Manner (2): The first network device may also determine that the first cell is in a deactivated state through the following steps B1 and B2.

B1, the first network device sends second request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the second request information is used to request handover to the first cell.

Specifically, the first network device sends the second request information to the core network device, and the core network device then sends the received second request information to the second network device.

B2: The first network device receives, through the core network device, information used to indicate that the first cell is in a deactivated state from the second network device.

Specifically, the second network device sends information indicating that the first cell is in a deactivated state to the core network device, and the core network device sends the received information indicating that the first cell is in a deactivated state to the first cell Internet equipment.

Further, optionally, the second network device can also send the information of the first cell to the first network device through the core network device, and the first network device determines whether to switch the terminal device to the first cell according to the received information of the first cell. A district.

Specifically, the second network device may send a handover failure (HANDOVER FAILURE) message to the core network device, where the handover failure message carries information used to indicate that the first cell is in a deactivated state and/or information about the first cell. The core network device sends a HANDOVER PREARATION FAILURE message to the first network device, where the HANDOVER PREARATION FAILURE message carries information used to indicate that the first cell is in a deactivated state and/or information about the first cell.

In this embodiment of the present application, when the second network device receives a handover request for the first cell, if the first cell is in a deactivated state, the second network device sends a message indicating the first cell to the first network device through the core network device. The information that the cell is in the deactivated state, so that the first network device can obtain the information of the deactivated state of the first cell and/or the information of the first cell, so as to avoid handover of the terminal device to the first cell; or when the first network device determines the handover When the terminal device adjusts/transfers the load to the first cell, the first network device initiates the first request information requesting to activate the first cell, so as to avoid handover failure.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information is used to request activation of the first cell and handover to the first cell. Optionally, the first request information includes an activation request and a handover request corresponding to the first cell.

In an optional implementation manner, the first network device may also perform energy saving processing on neighboring cells in an active state under the second network device, such as load balancing, switching cells, and closing/deactivating cells that may not be opened. Then, the first request information is used to request handover to the first cell or the first request information is used to request to close the first cell, and the first cell is in an active state.

Optionally, the first network device may send the status request information for requesting the status of the neighboring cells belonging to the second network device according to the method in the above-mentioned embodiment, and receive the status request information indicating the neighboring cells belonging to the second network device. Status indication information for the state. The first network device determines, according to the state indication information, a neighboring cell that is in an active state under the second network device.

Optionally, before the first network device sends the first request information to the second network device through the core network device, the foregoing method further includes: the first network device determines, according to the acquired information of the neighboring cell, that the second network device is to be shut down. or the first network device determines, according to the first message, that the target cell for handover is the first cell under the second network device.

Wherein, the first network device determines the target cell to be shut down under the second network device according to the acquired information of the neighboring cell, which may be implemented by referring to the following manner: the first network device determines the target cell according to the information of the neighboring cell contained in the first message or through the core network The information of the neighboring cells under the second access network device obtained by the device and/or the information of the serving cell of the terminal device determines the cell to be shut down. For example, a neighbor cell with more beams, a neighbor cell with a larger bandwidth, or a neighbor cell with less load that other cells can share the load may be preferentially determined as the target cell to be shut down, that is, the first cell. In another example, according to actual requirements, if the terminal equipment reports multiple pieces of information about neighboring cells, different weight coefficients can be set for the multiple pieces of information, and the target cell to be closed can be determined through the weight score. This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

The first network device determines, according to the first message, that the target cell to be handed over by the second network device is the first cell under the second network device. The cell with low load under the network device is determined as the target cell for handover, that is, the first cell.

In an optional embodiment, the aforementioned method further includes:

S305, the second network device sends the first indication information to the first network device through the core network device, and the first network device receives the first indication information from the second network device through the core network device.

Specifically, the second network device sends the first indication information to the core network device, and the core network device then sends the received first indication information to the first network device.

The first indication information is used as a response to the first request information. If the first request information is used to request activation of the first cell, the second network device sends the first indication information after activating the first cell, and the first indication information is used for to instruct the activation of the first cell; if the first request information is used to request activation of the first cell and handover to the first cell, the second network device activates the first cell, and determines whether to accept the cell handover and then sends the first indication information, The first indication information is used to indicate acceptance or rejection of the handover request corresponding to the first cell; if the first cell is in the active state, the first request information is used to request handover to the first cell, and the second network device determines Whether to send the first indication information after accepting the cell handover, the first indication information is used to instruct to accept or reject the handover request corresponding to the first cell; if the first cell is in the active state, the first request information is used to request the shutdown In the first cell, the second network device sends first indication information after determining whether to close the cell, where the first indication information is used to indicate whether to close or not to close the cell.

Exemplarily, Fig. 3a illustrates S305: the first indication information sent by the second network device. Figure 3b illustrates that the first request information sent by the first network device in S304 is specifically an activation request corresponding to the first cell; correspondingly, the second network device activates the first cell after receiving the first request information, and in S305 The first indication information sent by the second network device is specifically an activation indication corresponding to the first cell.

As shown in FIG. 4 , an embodiment of the present application provides another cell management method, and the method includes the following procedures.

S401 , the first network device sends a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire information of neighboring cells.

S402, the terminal device acquires information of neighboring cells according to the second message, where the neighboring cells include the first cell under the second network device.

S403: The terminal device sends a first message to the first network device, where the first message includes the acquired information of the neighboring cells; correspondingly, the first network device stores the information of the neighboring cells.

S404, the first network device sends a third message carrying first request information to the core network device, where the first request information is used to request activation of the first cell and handover to the first cell.

S405, the core network device sends a fourth message to the second network device, where the fourth message carries the first request information.

S406, the second network device sends a fifth message carrying first indication information to the core network device, where the first indication information is used to indicate acceptance or rejection of the handover request corresponding to the first cell.

S407: The core network device sends a sixth message to the first network device, where the sixth message carries the first indication information.

In this embodiment of the present application, the first network device sends an activation request and a handover request corresponding to the first cell to the second network device through the core network device, so as to avoid errors in directly requesting handover when the first cell is in a deactivated state.

Further, for the convenience of implementation, the embodiment of the present application provides another cell management method by taking the handover (HO) process based on the Ng interface as an example, as shown in FIG. 5 . The flow of the device (AMF1) initiating handover to the destination base station (T-gNB2) specifically includes the following steps.

S501, the S-gNB1 receives a measurement report (measurement report) reported by the UE under the S-gNB1, where the measurement report includes information of neighboring cells of the serving cell of the UE.

S502, the S-gNB1 sends a handover request (HO REQUIRED) message to the AMF1, where the handover request message is used to indicate the target cell of the UE handover in the neighboring cell. Optionally, if it is determined that the target cell is in a deactivated state, the handover request message also carries an activation request of the target cell. As another possible implementation manner, the handover request message may implicitly indicate an activation request for the target cell, such as pre-negotiation between the network device and the core network device. When the target cell corresponding to the received handover request message is in the In the deactivated state, an activation request corresponding to the target cell is implied.

S503, AMF1 sends a handover request (HO REQUEST) message to T-gNB2, where the handover request is used to request the target cell of the UE handover in neighboring cells. Optionally, if it is determined that the target cell is in a deactivated state, the handover request also carries an activation request of the target cell. As another possible implementation manner, the handover request message may implicitly indicate an activation request for the target cell. For example, it can be negotiated in advance between the network equipment and the core network equipment. When the target cell corresponding to the received handover request message is in a deactivated state, an activation request corresponding to the target cell is implied.

Optionally, T-gNB2 receives the HO REQUEST and determines whether to accept the handover request corresponding to the target cell. If yes, follow steps S504a, S505a and S506:

S504a, T-gNB2 accepts HO REQUEST (that is, HO success), and T-gNB2 sends a handover request acknowledgment (HO REQUEST ACK) message to AMF1.

Optionally, the T-gNB2 accepts the HO REQUEST, and can also implicitly indicate that the target cell has been activated, or implicitly indicate that it accepts the activation request for the target cell.

S505a, AMF1 sends a handover command (HO COMMAND) message to S-gNB1.

S506, S-gNB1 sends a connection reconfiguration (RRC connection reconfiguration/RRC reconfiguration) message to the UE, so that the UE establishes a connection to the handover target cell.

Otherwise, execute S504b and S505b:

S504b, T-gNB2 rejects HO REQUEST (that is, HO failure), and T-gNB2 sends a handover failure (HANDOVER FAILURE) message to AMF1.

Optionally, the T-gNB2 may also carry information used to indicate whether the target cell is activated or not in a handover failure (HANDOVER FAILURE) message.

S505b, AMF1 sends a HANDOVER PREARATION FAILURE message to S-gNB1.

Optionally, AMF1 may also send information for indicating whether the target cell is activated to S-gNB1.

Based on the same technical concept, referring to FIG. 6 , an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus 600 . The communication apparatus 600 may be applied to a first network device. The specific communication apparatus 600 may be a first network device, or may be applied to a first network device. A network device capable of supporting an apparatus for the first network device to execute the above cell management method. The communication apparatus 600 includes: a communication module 601 for receiving a first message from a terminal device, where the first message includes information of neighboring cells, and the neighboring cells include a first cell under the second network device; a processing module 602 for receiving according to The first message determines the first request information, and the first request information is used to request the management of the first cell; the communication module 601 is further configured to send the first request information to the second network device through the core network device.

In the embodiment of the present application, the method of reporting neighboring cell information by the terminal device does not require the exchange of cell information between network devices, and can be adapted to the scenario of cell management under the network device without direct interface, such as the first network device and the second network device. There is no direct interface between devices, and the first network device can manage the cell under the second network device through the core network device, which can improve the effect of cell management.

In an optional implementation manner, the information of the neighboring cell includes any one or more of the following information: the identification of the neighboring cell, the bandwidth, the load, the number of beams, the maximum transmit power or the period of the reference signal.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information is used to request activation of the first cell. Correspondingly, the first request information includes activation information, and the activation information indicates one or more of the following information: activation reason, load information of the first network device, load information of the serving cell of the terminal device, or target load information of the first cell . By carrying the activation information, the second network device flexibly activates the cell according to the requirements of the first network device, avoiding waste or insufficient resource allocation caused by configuring fixed activation parameters, and helping to improve network resource utilization.

In an optional implementation manner, the processing module 602 is further configured to: determine that the target cell handed over by the terminal device is the first cell; and determine that the first cell is in a deactivated state. Correspondingly, when the first network device determines that the terminal device needs to perform handover to the first cell under the second network device, it first determines that the first cell is in a deactivated state and sends the first request information to request activation of the first cell, which can avoid direct handover. The resulting handover fails, thereby improving the effect of cell management.

In an optional implementation manner, the communication module 601 is further configured to send state request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the state request information is used to request a cell in the deactivated state under the second network device; The core network device receives state indication information from the second network device, where the state indication information is used to indicate a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device; the processing module is further configured to include the first cell in the cell indicated by the state indication information In the case of a cell, it is determined that the first cell is in a deactivated state.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information is further used to request handover to the first cell. Correspondingly, the communication module 601 is further configured to: send second request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the second request information is used to request handover to the first cell; receive information from the second network device through the core network device The information used to indicate that the first cell is in a deactivated state.

In an optional implementation manner, the first request information is used to request handover to the first cell or the first request information is used to request to shut down the first cell, and the first cell is in an active state.

In an optional implementation manner, the communication module 601 is further configured to send a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire information of neighboring cells.

Based on the same concept, as shown in FIG. 7 , another communication apparatus 700 is provided in this embodiment of the present application. Illustratively, the communication device 700 may be a chip or a system of chips. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

The communication apparatus 700 may include at least one processor 710, and the communication apparatus 700 may further include at least one memory 720 for storing computer programs, program instructions and/or data. Memory 720 is coupled to processor 710 .

The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units or modules. Processor 710 may cooperate with memory 720 . The memory 720 stores necessary computer programs, program instructions and/or data for implementing any of the above embodiments; the processor 710 may execute the computer programs stored in the memory 720 to complete the methods in any of the above embodiments. Optionally, at least one of the at least one memory 720 may be included in the processor 710 .

The communication apparatus 700 may further include a transceiver 730, and the communication apparatus 700 may exchange information with other devices, such as the aforementioned core network equipment or terminal equipment, through the transceiver 730. The transceiver 730 can be a circuit, a bus, a transceiver, or any other device that can be used for information exchange.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication apparatus 700 may be applied to the first network device, and the specific communication apparatus 700 may be the first network device, or may be capable of supporting the first network device to implement any of the above-mentioned embodiments means of the functionality of the first network device. The memory 720 holds the necessary computer programs, program instructions and/or data to implement the functions of the first network device in any of the above embodiments. The processor 710 can execute the computer program stored in the memory 720 to complete the method executed by the first network device in any of the foregoing embodiments.

The specific connection medium between the transceiver 730, the processor 710, and the memory 720 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 720, the processor 710, and the transceiver 730 are connected through a bus in FIG. 7. The bus is represented by a thick line in FIG. 7. The connection mode between other components is only for schematic illustration. It is not limited. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of presentation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 7, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

In this embodiment of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, which may implement or The methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application are executed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the methods disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as executed by a hardware processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

In this embodiment of the present application, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., or may also be a volatile memory (volatile memory), for example Random-access memory (RAM). The memory may also be, but is not limited to, any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory in this embodiment of the present application may also be a circuit or any other device capable of implementing a storage function, for storing computer programs, program instructions and/or data.

Based on the above embodiments, referring to FIG. 8 , an embodiment of the present application further provides another communication apparatus 800, including: an interface circuit 810 and a processor 820; the interface circuit 810 is configured to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor; A controller 820 is configured to execute the code instructions to execute the method executed by the communication apparatus in any of the foregoing embodiments.

Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, where the computer-readable storage medium stores instructions, when the instructions are executed, the method executed by the communication device in any of the above embodiments is executed. implement. The computer-readable storage medium may include: a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other media that can store program codes.

In order to realize the functions of the communication apparatus described in the foregoing FIG. 6 to FIG. 7 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, including a processor, for supporting the communication apparatus to realize the functions involved in the terminal or the network device in the foregoing method embodiment. . In a possible design, the chip is connected to a memory or the chip includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data of the communication device.

The embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product containing instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the above method embodiments.

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

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present application. It will be understood that each process and/or block in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of processes and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to the processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine such that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce Means for implementing the functions specified in one or more of the flowcharts and/or one or more blocks of the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory result in an article of manufacture comprising instruction means, the instructions An apparatus implements the functions specified in a flow or flow of the flowcharts and/or a block or blocks of the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process such that The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow or blocks of the flowcharts and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A cell management method, comprising:

The first network device receives a first message from the terminal device, where the first message includes information of neighboring cells, and the neighboring cells include the first cell under the second network device;

The first network device sends first request information to the second network device through the core network device according to the first message, where the first request information is used to request management of the first cell.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the information of the neighboring cell includes any one or more of the following information: the identification, bandwidth, load, number of beams, maximum transmit power or reference signal of the neighboring cell. cycle.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first request information is used to request activation of the first cell.
The method of claim 3, wherein the first request information includes activation information, and the activation information indicates one or more of the following information: an activation reason, load information of the first network device, Load information of the serving cell of the terminal device or target load information of the first cell.
The method of claim 3 or 4, wherein the method further comprises:

The first network device determines that the target cell handed over by the terminal device is the first cell;

The first network device determines that the first cell is in a deactivated state.
The method according to claim 5, wherein determining, by the first network device, that the first cell is in a deactivated state, comprising:

sending, by the first network device, state request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the state request information is used to request a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device;

receiving, by the first network device, state indication information from the second network device through the core network device, where the state indication information is used to indicate a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device;

If the cells indicated by the status indication information include the first cell, the first network device determines that the first cell is in a deactivated state.
The method of claim 6, wherein the first request information is further used to request handover to the first cell.
The method according to claim 5, wherein determining, by the first network device, that the first cell is in a deactivated state, comprising:

sending, by the first network device, second request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the second request information is used to request handover to the first cell;

The first network device receives, through the core network device, information indicating that the first cell is in a deactivated state from the second network device.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first request information is used to request handover to the first cell or the first request information is used to request to shut down the first cell, and the The first cell is in an active state.
The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the method further comprises:

The first network device sends a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to acquire the information of the neighboring cell.
A communication device, comprising:

a communication module, configured to receive a first message from a terminal device, where the first message includes information about a neighboring cell, and the neighboring cell includes a first cell under the second network device;

a processing module, configured to determine first request information according to the first message, where the first request information is used to request management of the first cell;

The communication module is further configured to send the first request information to the second network device through the core network device.
The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the information of the neighboring cell includes any one or more of the following information: the identification, bandwidth, load, number of beams, maximum transmit power or reference signal of the neighboring cell. cycle.
The apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the first request information is used to request activation of the first cell.
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first request information includes activation information, and the activation information indicates one or more of the following information: an activation reason, load information of the first network device, Load information of the serving cell of the terminal device or target load information of the first cell.
The device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the processing module is further configured to:

determining that the target cell handed over by the terminal device is the first cell;

It is determined that the first cell is in a deactivated state.
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein:

The communication module is further configured to send state request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the state request information is used to request a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device; receiving, by the core network device, state indication information from the second network device, where the state indication information is used to indicate a cell in a deactivated state under the second network device;

The processing module is further configured to determine that the first cell is in a deactivated state when the first cell is included in the cells indicated by the state indication information.
The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first request information is further used to request handover to the first cell.
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the communication module is further configured to:

Send second request information to the second network device through the core network device, where the second request information is used to request handover to the first cell;

The information indicating that the first cell is in a deactivated state from the second network device is received by the core network device.
The apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the first request information is used to request handover to the first cell or the first request information is used to request to shut down the first cell, and the The first cell is in an active state.
The apparatus according to any one of claims 11-19, wherein the communication module is further configured to send a second message to the terminal device, where the second message is used to instruct the terminal device to obtain the information information about neighboring cells.
A communication device, comprising: a processor and a memory;

the memory for storing computer programs;

the processor for executing a computer program stored in the memory, so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 is performed.
A communication device, comprising: a processor and an interface circuit;

the interface circuit for receiving code instructions and transmitting them to the processor;

The processor is adapted to execute the code instructions to cause the method of any of claims 1 to 10 to be performed.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer-readable storage medium stores instructions that, when executed, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 to be implemented.
A computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product comprises computer program code which, when executed, causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 to be performed.