WO2022042139A1

WO2022042139A1 - Multimedia broadcast multicast service mbms service transmission area processing method

Info

Publication number: WO2022042139A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/107454
Authority: WO
Inventors: 张大钧; 彦楠
Original assignee: 大唐移动通信设备有限公司
Priority date: 2020-08-24
Filing date: 2021-07-20
Publication date: 2022-03-03
Also published as: CN114095875B; CN114095875A

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of wireless communication, and disclose a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS service transmission area processing method, the method applied to the network side comprising: acquiring related information of at least one user equipment UE, the at least one UE being a UE in the same cell that intends to receive a predetermined MBMS service, and the related information comprising the number of UE and/or the network topology of the cell in which the UE is located; on the basis of a predetermined policy and according to the related information of the at least one UE, determining an edge area of a transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service, the transmission area being an area in which there are UE actually implementing data transmission, and the edge area being an area adjacent to the transmission area and capable of implementing data transmission. A 5G RAN target node can thereby flexibly execute edge area configuration for certain specific MBMS services, ensuring the service continuity of a UE receiving a group call service in an idle state.

Description

Transmission Area Processing Method for Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service MBMS Service

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 2020108593104 filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on August 24, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

technical field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, the present application relates to a method for processing a transmission area of a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS service.

Background technique

The existing 4G MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) technology allows MBMS receiving UE (User Equipment, user equipment) to receive MBSFN (Multimedia Broadcast Single Frequency Network, Multimedia Broadcast Single Frequency Network) in the idle (idle) state network) transmission, and this transmission technology is not implemented in the 5G network. If the traditional SC-PTM (Single Cell Point to Multipoint, single cell point to multipoint) technology is used in the 5G network, it will inevitably lead to some idle state reception. The UE of the MBMS service experiences service interruption when moving across cells, and the interruption delay will be very large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the embodiment of the present application is to at least solve one of the above-mentioned technical defects, and the following technical solutions are specially proposed:

In one aspect, a method for processing a transmission area of a multimedia broadcast and multicast service (MBMS) service is provided, applied to a network device, including:

Obtain relevant information of at least one user equipment UE, at least one UE is a UE that intends to receive a predetermined MBMS service in the same cell, and the relevant information includes the number of UEs and/or the network topology of the cell where the UE is located;

Based on a predetermined strategy, according to the relevant information of at least one UE, determine the edge area of the transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service, the transmission area is the area where the UE actually performing data transmission exists, and the edge area is adjacent to the transmission area and can carry out data transmission. area for data transfer.

In one aspect, a method for processing a transmission area of a multimedia broadcast and multicast service (MBMS) service is provided, which is applied to a user equipment UE, including:

Receive first indication information broadcast and sent by the network device, the first indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the first indication information is used to indicate the MBMS service currently in the edge area in the MBMS service list. The area is an edge area of the transmission area used for transmitting MBMS services, the transmission area is an area where UEs actually transmit data, and the edge area is an area adjacent to the transmission area and capable of data transmission;

The MBMS service information is sent to the network device, so that the network device determines the edge area, and the MBMS service information is used to indicate the MBMS service that the UE intends to receive currently.

In one aspect, a network device is provided, comprising:

an acquisition module, configured to acquire relevant information of at least one user equipment UE, where the at least one UE is a UE that intends to receive a predetermined MBMS service in the same cell, and the relevant information includes the number of UEs and/or the network topology of the cell where the UE is located;

The determining module is configured to determine, based on a predetermined strategy and relevant information of at least one UE, an edge area of a transmission area used for transmitting MBMS services, where the transmission area is an area where UEs that actually perform data transmission exist, and the edge area is an area corresponding to the transmission area. An area that is adjacent and capable of data transmission.

In one aspect, a user equipment is provided, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive first indication information broadcast and sent by a network device, where the first indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the MBMS service list is currently in an edge area The MBMS service, the edge area is the edge area of the transmission area used to transmit the MBMS service, the transmission area is the area where the UE that actually performs data transmission exists, and the edge area is adjacent to the transmission area and can perform data transmission.

The sending module is configured to send MBMS service information to the network device, so that the network device can determine the edge area, and the MBMS service information is used to indicate the MBMS service that the UE intends to receive at present.

In one aspect, an electronic device is provided, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, and the processor implements the above method when executing the program.

In one aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, and a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the program is executed by a processor, the above-mentioned method is implemented.

The method provided in the embodiment of the present application enables the 5G RAN target node to flexibly execute the edge area for some specific MBMS services based on a predetermined strategy and according to the acquired number of UEs and/or the network topology of the cell where the UE is located. This ensures that the user equipment receiving the group call service in the idle state can minimize the interruption delay of MBMS data while maintaining the continuity of service reception when moving across cells.

Additional aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present application will be set forth in part in the following description, which will become apparent from the following description, or may be learned by practice of the present application.

Description of drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the embodiments of the present application will become apparent and readily understood from the following description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method for processing a transmission area of an MBMS service according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a transmission area of an MBMS service according to an embodiment of the application;

4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for processing a transmission area of an MBMS service according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a basic structure of a user equipment according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a basic structure of a network device according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to another embodiment of the present application.

detailed description

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present application, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present application, but not to be construed as a limitation on the present application.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the singular forms "a", "an", "the" and "the" as used herein can include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It should be further understood that the word "comprising" used in the specification of this application refers to the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, Integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

The term "and/or" in the embodiments of the present application describes the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and/or B can indicate that A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone these three situations. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated objects are an "or" relationship. In the embodiments of the present application, the term "plurality" refers to two or more than two, and other quantifiers are similar.

5G NR (New Radio, new wireless technology), as a new generation of wireless access technology network, also has requirements for multicast/broadcast services. During the specific implementation process, the inventor of the present application found that in order to make the 5G multicast technology architecture more concise and efficient, currently only the traditional SC-PTM transmission technology is considered to be supported in the 5G RAN (Radio Access Network) node. , if the UE is allowed to receive in the Idle state, when this type of UE moves across cells, service interruption will inevitably occur, and this interruption will cause the interruption time to be too long due to numerous signaling messages. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a new service transmission area management mechanism to improve transmission performance and reduce interruption and delay of MBMS services.

In order to make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments It is only a part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various systems, especially 5G systems. For example, the applicable system may be a global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) general packet Wireless service (general packet radio service, GPRS) system, long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD) system, Long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) system, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) system, 5G New Radio (New Radio, NR) system, etc. These various systems include user equipment and network equipment. The system may also include a core network part, such as an evolved packet system (Evloved Packet System, EPS), a 5G system (5GS), and the like.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system. As shown in FIG. 1 , the wireless communication system may include several user equipments 110 and several network devices 120 .

The user equipment 110 may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (RAN). User equipment 110 may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, or the like. In different systems, the name of the user equipment may be different. For example, in the 5G system, the user equipment may be called a wireless user equipment (User Equipment, UE). Wireless user equipment can communicate with one or more core networks (Core Network, CN) via a radio access network (Radio Access Network, RAN). "phone) and computers with mobile user equipment, eg, portable, pocket-sized, hand-held, computer built-in or vehicle mounted mobile devices, which exchange language and/or data with the radio access network. For example, Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (Personal Digital Assistants), PDA) and other devices. Wireless user equipment may also be referred to as system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, access point , remote user equipment (remote terminal), access user equipment (access terminal), user equipment (user terminal), user agent (user agent), and user device (user device), which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

The network device 120 may be a base station, and the base station may include a plurality of cells serving the terminal. Depending on the specific application, the base station may also be called an access point, or may be a device in the access network that communicates with the wireless user equipment through one or more sectors on the air interface, or other names. The network equipment can be used to exchange received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets, and act as a router between the wireless user equipment and the rest of the access network, which can include the Internet. Protocol (IP) communication network. The network devices may also coordinate attribute management for the air interface. For example, the network device involved in the embodiments of the present application may be a network device (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA). ), it can also be a network device (NodeB) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), or it can be an evolved network device in a long term evolution (LTE) system (evolutional Node B, eNB or e-NodeB), 5G base station (gNB) in 5G network architecture (next generation system), or Home evolved Node B (HeNB), relay node (relay node) , a home base station (femto), a pico base station (pico), etc., which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In some network structures, a network device may include a centralized unit (CU) node and a distributed unit (DU) node, and the centralized unit and the distributed unit may also be geographically separated.

One or more antennas may be used between the network device 120 and the user equipment 110 to perform multiple input multiple output (Multi Input Multi Output, MIMO) transmission, and the MIMO transmission may be Single User MIMO (Single User MIMO, SU-MIMO) or Multi-User MIMO (Multiple User MIMO, MU-MIMO). According to the form and number of root antenna combinations, MIMO transmission can be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO, or diversity transmission, precoding transmission, or beamforming transmission.

In addition, the above wireless communication system may further include a network management device 130 . Several network devices 120 are respectively connected to the network management device 130 . The network management device 130 may be a core network device in a wireless communication system, for example, the network management device 130 may be a mobility management entity (Mobility Management Entity, MME) in an evolved packet core network (Evolved Packet Core, EPC). . Certainly, the network management device may also be other core network devices, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

An embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing a transmission area of an MBMS service. The method is applied to the wireless communication system shown in FIG. 1 and executed by the network device 120 shown in FIG. 1 . As shown in Figure 2, the method includes the following steps:

Step S210, obtain relevant information of at least one user equipment UE, at least one UE is a UE in the same cell that intends to receive a predetermined MBMS service, and the relevant information includes the number of UEs and/or the network topology of the cell where the UE is located; Step S220, based on the predetermined Strategy, according to the relevant information of at least one UE, determine the edge area of the transmission area used for transmitting MBMS services, the transmission area is the area where the UE that actually performs data transmission exists, and the edge area is adjacent to the transmission area and capable of data transmission Area.

The network device may, according to a certain strategy (that is, the above-mentioned predetermined strategy), according to the UE statistical information (that is, the above-mentioned relevant information) from receiving the predetermined MBMS service, such as the acquired interest in receiving (that is, the intention to receive) the predetermined MBMS service in certain cells. The number of UEs for MBMS services, such as whether the number is greater than 0 or equal to 0 or a non-zero value, or whether the number of UEs exceeds a certain threshold, etc., and, for example, the acquired network topology of some cells, etc., It is determined whether the certain cells belong to the normal receiving area of the MBMS service (ie, the transmission area for transmitting the MBMS service), or are in the edge area (ie, the edge area) of the normal receiving area of the MBMS service.

The transmission area may be one cell or multiple cells covered by one network device, or may be multiple cells respectively covered by multiple network devices, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application. Usually, there are real UEs (such as resident UEs) in the transmission area, and the real UEs actually receive data or send data, that is, there are (or resident) real transmission data requirements in the transmission area. the UE. The edge area is an area set up to ensure service continuity when the UE moves across small areas. This area is adjacent to the transmission area and is capable of data transmission. That is, data can be sent and transmitted normally in the edge area. Receiving, in general, there are no UEs resident in the edge area.

In an example, the above-mentioned predetermined policy may be an RRM (Radio Resource Management, radio resource management) policy configured by an operator.

The methods in the embodiments of the present application will be specifically introduced below.

In a possible implementation manner, in the transmission area and/or the edge area, the network device keeps transmitting the predetermined MBMS service with at least one UE.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

Broadcast and send first indication information to at least one UE, where the first indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the first indication information is used to indicate an MBMS service currently in an edge area in the MBMS service list.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

Receive service information of the MBMS service currently intended to be received by at least one UE; and

The transmission area for transmitting the MBMS service and/or the edge area of the transmission area of the MBMS service is updated according to the predetermined policy and service information.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

Send second indication information to at least one UE, where the second indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the second indication information is used to instruct at least one UE to send the MBMS service it intends to receive to the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the second indication information further includes a sending period, and the second indication is used to instruct at least one UE to periodically send the MBMS service it intends to receive to the network device according to the sending period.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

Receive the MBMS service it intends to receive periodically sent by at least one UE, and update the edge area of the transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service according to the received MBMS service periodically sent by the at least one UE and intend to receive.

In a possible implementation manner, after updating the edge area of the transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service, the method further includes:

Send third indication information to at least one UE, where the third indication information is used to indicate the updated edge area.

The above possible implementations are described in detail below:

The edge area can be composed of a series of logical cells or a series of sending and receiving units, such as a series of TRPs (Transport and Receive Point). FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a transmission area (ie, a normal reception area) and an edge area for transmitting MBMS services.

In the edge area, the network equipment and the user equipment keep at least the transmission for the predetermined MBMS service, for example, using SC-PTM or MC-PTM (Multiple Cell Point to Multipoint) or MBSFN and other transmission methods for transmission . In the transmission area for transmitting MBMS services, the network equipment and the user equipment normally maintain transmission for the predetermined MBMS service, so it is equivalent to being in the transmission area for transmitting MBMS services and/or at the edge of the transmission area In the area, the network equipment can maintain the transmission of the predetermined MBMS service with each UE.

In areas other than the edge area, there is no transmission for the predetermined MBMS service, that is, in the transmission area for transmitting MBMS services and/or other areas outside the edge area of the transmission area, the network equipment does not communicate with each UE The transmission of the scheduled MBMS service is performed.

On a logical cell or a sending and receiving unit, the network device (also referred to as a network entity) can use the broadcast method, for example, in a system message or MCCH (Multicast Control Channel, Multicast Control Channel) message, the display indicates the UE in the marginal area. For example, network entities (such as gNB, gNB-CU (Centralized Unit, centralized unit), other RAN nodes, etc.), system messages in the corresponding cell (such as MBMS specific SIB (System Information Block, System Information Block), MCCH messages, etc. ) carries indication information (denoted as the first indication information), the indication information is composed of an MBMS service list, and the indication information is used to indicate that the corresponding MBMS service in the MBMS service list is in the edge area of the cell, that is, the indication information is used for Indicates the MBMS service currently in the edge area in the MBMS service list. Correspondingly, each UE receives the indication information (that is, the first indication information) broadcast and sent by the network device, and then each UE can actively trigger the location update process for the predetermined MBMS service according to the indication information. The UE may report the MBMS service currently interested in receiving through an RRC (Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control) message.

In one example, the network device may receive service information of the MBMS service currently intended to be received by each UE, and update the MBMS service used for transmitting MBMS according to a predetermined policy and the received service information of the MBMS service currently intended to be received by each UE For the service transmission area and/or the edge area of the MBMS service transmission area, for example, the logical cells and/or sending and receiving units currently in the edge area are included in the normal receiving area, and for example, the edge area is further expanded.

Network equipment (such as gNB, gNB-CU, other RAN nodes, etc.) can carry indication information (denoted as second indication information) in system messages (such as MBMS specific SIB, MCCH messages) of the corresponding cell, and the indication information can be used by a It is composed of an MBMS service list, and the indication information is used to indicate that each UE interested in the corresponding MBMS service needs to report statistics in its own cell, such as reporting the MBMS service that each UE is interested in (that is, intended to receive), that is, the second The indication information is used to instruct each UE to send the MBMS service it intends to receive to the network device.

The network device can configure the reporting period (referred to as a transmission period) of each UE interested in the corresponding MBMS service, that is, the network device is allowed to configure the measurement reporting period for the interested UEs. Equivalently, the second indication information also includes the sending period. At this time, each UE can periodically report the MBMS service that it is interested in. That is, the second indication is used to instruct each UE to periodically report to the network device according to the sending period. Send the MBMS service it intends to receive. Correspondingly, the network device receives the MBMS service that the UE intends to receive periodically sent by the UE.

After receiving the MBMS service it intends to receive periodically sent by each UE, the network device may update the edge of the transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service according to the received MBMS service periodically sent by each UE and intended to receive In the area, for example, the logical cells and/or the sending and receiving units currently in the edge area are included in the normal receiving area, and for example, the edge area is further expanded.

After updating the edge area of the transmission area used to transmit the MBMS service, the network device can broadcast explicit indication information (denoted as the third indication information) in the new edge area (that is, the updated edge area). In order to indicate the updated edge area to each UE, each UE will be notified of the updated edge area. Equivalently, the network device sends third indication information to each UE, where the third indication information is used to indicate the updated edge area.

Yet another embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing a transmission area of an MBMS service. The method is applied to the wireless communication system shown in FIG. 1 and executed by the user equipment 110 shown in FIG. 1 . As shown in Figure 4, the method includes the following steps:

Step S410: Receive first indication information broadcast and sent by the network device, where the first indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the first indication information is used to indicate the MBMS currently in the edge area in the MBMS service list service, the edge area is the edge area of the transmission area used to transmit the MBMS service, the transmission area is the area where the UE that actually performs data transmission exists, and the edge area is the area adjacent to the transmission area and capable of data transmission; Step S420, The MBMS service information is sent to the network device, so that the network device determines the edge area, and the MBMS service information is used to indicate the MBMS service that the UE intends to receive currently.

The UE receives the indication information (ie, the first indication information) broadcasted and sent by the network device. The indication information consists of an MBMS service list, and the indication information is used to indicate that the corresponding MBMS service in the MBMS service list is in the edge area of the cell. Subsequently, the UE may actively trigger the location update process for the predetermined MBMS service according to the indication information. Specifically, the UE may report the MBMS service that is currently interested in receiving to the network device, so that the network device is interested in receiving the MBMS service according to the current MBMS service reported by the UE. Service, determine the edge area of the transmission area used for transmitting MBMS service.

In a possible implementation manner, before sending the MBMS service information to the network device, the method includes:

The UE establishes a radio resource control RRC connection with its current cell.

Send MBMS service information to network devices, including:

Send an RRC message to the network device, where the RRC message includes MBMS service information.

Send MBMS service information to network devices, including:

Send a non-access stratum NAS message to the network device, where the NAS message includes MBMS service information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information further includes a sending period. Send MBMS service information to network devices, including:

According to the sending period, the MBMS service information is periodically sent to the network device.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

Second indication information sent by the network device is received, where the second indication information is used to indicate the updated edge area.

In a possible implementation manner, in the transmission area and/or the edge area, the UE keeps transmitting the predetermined MBMS service with the network device.

Suppose a UE in idle or in-active state is receiving a certain MBMS service in a certain cell through a multicast channel (such as MRB), when the UE moves to a new logical cell or When the receiving and sending unit is within the range, continue to perform the receiving operation of the predetermined MBMS service in a conventional manner; when the UE receives the indication information (referred to as the first indication information) sent by broadcast from the network device, and the indication information indicates that the UE is in a certain state. When the edge area of some MBMS services is reached, the UE will initiate a location update procedure. The location update process is as follows:

The UE establishes an RRC connection with the current cell, and then reports the list of MBMS services that it is currently interested in through an RRC message; the RRC message can be a newly defined RRC message, such as MBMS counting report (MBMS counting report), or it can reuse an existing RRC message , such as UE assistance information (UE assistance information).

Optionally, the UE establishes an RRC connection with the current cell, and then reports the current list of MBMS services of interest through a NAS (Non-Access Stratum, non-access stratum) message; then AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function, access and mobility) The NAS message can be the UE associated message that reuses the NG interface, such as the UE context setup message, etc. Newly defined MBMS related messages, such as MBMS session update or MBMS information notification, etc. The NG interface is a general term for the communication protocol between the 5G base station and the core network.

Correspondingly, the network device decides to change the transmission area of the corresponding MBMS service according to the predetermined strategy and the above-mentioned information, for example, the logical cell currently in the edge area is included in the normal receiving area, and the edge area will be further expanded, wherein the edge area is The inclusion of the transmission area (ie, the normal reception area) enables dynamic adjustment of the transmission area, increasing the flexibility of setting the transmission area. At the same time, since the UE is mobile, the continuity of the UE's MBMS service is guaranteed.

Next, the network device may broadcast explicit indication information in the new edge area (ie, the updated edge area).

The methods at the UE side and the network device side are described in detail below with reference to specific feasible embodiments:

Embodiment 1: The process of location update (service update) performed by UE in idle state

Step B1: A UE in an idle or in-active state is receiving a certain MBMS service in a certain cell through a multicast channel (eg, MRB).

Step B2: When the UE moves to a new logical cell or is within the range of the receiving and transmitting unit, continue to perform the receiving operation of the specific MBMS service in a conventional manner.

Step B3: When the UE receives broadcast information from the network equipment, the broadcast information indicates that the UE is in the edge area of some MBMS services, the UE will decide to initiate a location update process.

Step B4: The UE establishes an RRC connection with the current cell, and then reports the current list of MBMS services of interest through an RRC message; this RRC message can be a newly defined RRC message, such as an MBMS counting report, or reuse an existing RRC message, Such as UE assistance information, etc.

Step B4_1: Optionally, the UE establishes an RRC connection with the current cell, and then reports the current list of MBMS services of interest through a NAS message; then the AMF transmits the list of MBMS services that the UE is currently interested in to through the signaling process of the NG interface. Corresponding NG-RAN node; wherein, the NAS message can be a UE associated message that reuses the NG interface, such as a UE context setup message, etc., or define a new MBMS-related message, such as: MBMS session update or MBMS information notification, etc.

Step B5: The network device decides to change the transmission area of the corresponding MBMS service according to the predetermined strategy and the above information, for example, the logical cell currently in the edge area is included in the normal reception area, and the edge area will be further expanded. Subsequently, the network device may broadcast explicit indication information to the UE in the new edge area. Since the transmission area is an area where UEs that actually transmit data exist, and the edge area is an area adjacent to the transmission area and there is no UE that actually transmits data, when the UE moves to the edge area, it is equivalent to the fact that there is actual transmission in the edge area. At this time, the UE with data does not meet the definition of the edge area, but meets the definition of the transmission area. Therefore, the edge area of the UE that actually transmits data needs to be incorporated into the transmission area to obtain a new transmission area. The new edge area is re-divided in the adjacent area of the new transmission area, thereby realizing the flexibility of the setting of the transmission area and the edge area.

Embodiment 2: The network sets the edge area of the MBMS service

Step C1: A network entity (ie, a network device), such as a gNB or gNB-CU, or other RAN nodes, etc., according to a predetermined strategy, as well as some statistics and measurement information (for example, some cells that are known to be interested in accepting a predetermined MBMS) Whether the number of UEs in the service is greater than 0 or a non-zero value, etc.), and the network topology of the cells (for example, whether there is an adjacency relationship), determine whether these cells belong to the normal MBMS reception area, or are at the edge of the normal MBMS reception area area.

Step C2: The network entity carries indication information in the system message of the corresponding cell (such as: MBMS specific SIB, or MCCH message), and the indication information is composed of an MBMS service list, which is used to indicate that the corresponding MBMS service is in the local area. The cell is in the marginal area.

Step C3: The network entity broadcasts the above-mentioned system information so that the UE in the idle state can receive it.

Step C4: If necessary, the network entity will update the corresponding system message to change the edge area of some MBMS services.

Embodiment 3: Service statistics are performed on the network device side

Step D1: The network entity (for example: gNB or gNB-CU, or other RAN node) carries indication information in the system message (for example: MBMS specific SIB, or MCCH message) of the corresponding cell, and the indication information is It consists of an MBMS service list, and is used to indicate that UEs interested in the corresponding MBMS service need to report statistics in this cell. Optionally, the network entity is allowed to configure the reporting period of the UE measurement reporting of interest.

Step D2: The UE reports the MBMS service that it is interested in. Optionally, the UE periodically reports the MBMS service that it is interested in.

Step D3: The network entity counts the measurement report information from the UE for subsequent MBMS-related operations, such as updating the transmission area and/or the edge area of the transmission area for transmitting the MBMS service.

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5 , the apparatus 500 may include an acquisition module 501 and a determination module 502 .

The obtaining module 501 is configured to obtain relevant information of at least one user equipment UE. At least one UE is a UE in the same cell that intends to receive a predetermined MBMS service, and the relevant information includes the number of UEs and/or the network topology of the cell where the UE is located.

The determining module 502 is configured to determine the edge area of the transmission area for transmitting the MBMS service according to the relevant information of at least one UE based on a predetermined strategy. The transmission area is an area where UEs that actually perform data transmission exist, and the edge area is an area adjacent to the transmission area and capable of data transmission.

In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a first sending module.

The first sending module is configured to broadcast and send the first indication information to at least one UE. The first indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the first indication information is used to indicate an MBMS service currently in an edge area in the MBMS service list.

In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a first processing module.

The first processing module is configured to: receive service information of an MBMS service currently intended to be received by at least one UE; and update a transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service and/or the edge of the transmission area of the MBMS service according to a predetermined policy and service information area.

In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a second sending module.

The second sending module is configured to send second indication information to at least one UE. The second indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the second indication information is used to instruct at least one UE to send the MBMS service it intends to receive to the network device.

In a possible implementation manner, the second indication information further includes a sending period. The second indication is used to instruct at least one UE to periodically send the MBMS service it intends to receive to the network device according to the sending period.

In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a second processing module.

The second processing module is configured to receive the MBMS service it intends to receive periodically sent by at least one UE, and update the transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service according to the received MBMS service periodically sent by the at least one UE and intend to receive it. edge area.

In a possible implementation manner, a third sending module is also included.

The third sending module is configured to send third indication information to at least one UE. The third indication information is used to indicate the updated edge area.

The device provided by the embodiments of the present application enables the 5G RAN target node to flexibly execute edge areas for some specific MBMS services based on a predetermined strategy and according to the acquired number of UEs and/or the network topology of the cell where the UEs are located. This ensures that the user equipment receiving the group call service in the idle state can minimize the interruption delay of MBMS data while maintaining the continuity of service reception when moving across cells.

It should be noted that this embodiment is an apparatus item embodiment corresponding to the foregoing method item embodiment on the network device side, and this embodiment may be implemented in cooperation with the foregoing method item embodiment on the network device side. The related technical details mentioned in the above-mentioned embodiment of the method item on the network device side are still valid in this embodiment, and are not repeated here in order to reduce repetition. Correspondingly, the relevant technical details mentioned in this embodiment can also be applied to the above-mentioned embodiment of the method item on the network device side.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a user equipment according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6 , the apparatus 600 may include a receiving module 601 and a sending module 602 .

The receiving module 601 is configured to receive the first indication information broadcast and sent by the network device. The first indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, the first indication information is used to indicate the MBMS service currently in the edge area in the MBMS service list, and the edge area is the edge of the transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service area, the transmission area is an area where UEs actually perform data transmission, and the edge area is an area adjacent to the transmission area and capable of data transmission;

The sending module 602 is configured to send MBMS service information to the network device, so that the network device can determine the edge area. The MBMS service information is used to indicate the MBMS service that the UE intends to receive currently.

In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a first establishing module.

The first establishing module is used for the UE to establish a radio resource control RRC connection with its current cell. The sending module is specifically configured to send an RRC message to the network device, where the RRC message includes MBMS service information.

In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes a second establishing module.

The second establishing module is used for the UE to establish a radio resource control RRC connection with its current cell. The sending module is specifically configured to send a non-access stratum NAS message to the network device, where the NAS message includes MBMS service information.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information further includes a sending period.

The sending module is specifically configured to periodically send the MBMS service information to the network device according to the sending period.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving module is further configured to receive the second indication information sent by the network device. The second indication information is used to indicate the updated edge area.

It should be noted that this embodiment is an apparatus item embodiment corresponding to the above-mentioned method item embodiment on the user equipment side, and this embodiment can be implemented in cooperation with the above-mentioned method item embodiment on the user equipment side. The related technical details mentioned in the above-mentioned embodiment of the method item on the user equipment side are still valid in this embodiment, and are not repeated here in order to reduce repetition. Correspondingly, the related technical details mentioned in this embodiment can also be applied to the above-mentioned embodiment of the method item on the user equipment side.

Another embodiment of the present application provides a user equipment, as shown in FIG. 7 , including a processor 700 , a memory 720 , a user interface 730 , and a transceiver 710 . The transceiver 710 is used to receive and transmit data under the control of the processor 700 .

In FIG. 7, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, in particular one or more processors, represented by processor 700, and various circuits of memory, represented by memory 720, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits, such as peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides the interface. Transceiver 710 may be a number of elements, ie, including a transmitter and a receiver, that provide a means for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium. These transmission media include transmission media such as wireless channels, wired channels, and optical cables. For different user equipments, the user interface 730 may also be an interface capable of externally connecting the required equipment. Connected devices include, but are not limited to, keypads, displays, speakers, microphones, joysticks, and the like.

The processor 700 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing. Memory 720 may store data used by processor 700 in performing operations.

Optionally, the processor 700 may be a CPU (central processor), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array, a field programmable gate array) or a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) , complex programmable logic devices). The processor may also employ a multi-core architecture.

The processor is configured to execute any one of the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application according to the obtained executable instructions by invoking the computer program stored in the memory. The processor and memory may also be physically separated.

The memory 720 is used to store the application code for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 701 . The processor 700 is configured to execute the application program code stored in the memory 720, so as to realize the action of the network device provided by the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 .

Another embodiment of the present application provides a user equipment, as shown in FIG. 8 , including a processor 800 , a memory 820 , and a transceiver 810 . The transceiver 810 is used to receive and transmit data under the control of the processor 800 .

In Figure 8, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, in particular one or more processors, represented by processor 800, and various circuits of memory, represented by memory 820, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits, such as peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides the interface. Transceiver 810 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, that provide a means for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium. These transmission media include transmission media such as wireless channels, wired channels, and optical cables. The processor 800 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing. Memory 820 may store data used by processor 800 in performing operations. The processor 800 is configured to execute the data stored in the memory 820 to implement the actions of the user equipment provided by the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 .

The processor 800 may be a central processor (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or a complex programmable logic device (Complex Programmable Logic Device). , CPLD). The processor may also employ a multi-core architecture.

Yet another embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product or computer program, where the computer program product or computer program includes computer instructions, and the computer instructions are stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device executes the methods provided in the various optional implementation manners of the user equipment aspect or the network device aspect, that is, The computer-readable storage medium provided by the embodiment of the present application is applicable to any embodiment of the foregoing method. A processor-readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by a processor, including but not limited to magnetic storage (eg, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disk (MO), etc.), optical storage (eg, CD, DVD, BD, HVD, etc.), and semiconductor memory (eg, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), solid-state disk (SSD)), etc.

It should be understood that although the various steps in the flowchart of the accompanying drawings are sequentially shown in the order indicated by the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in sequence in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless explicitly stated herein, the execution of these steps is not strictly limited to the order and may be performed in other orders. Moreover, at least a part of the steps in the flowchart of the accompanying drawings may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages, and these sub-steps or stages are not necessarily executed at the same time, but may be executed at different times, and the execution sequence is also It does not have to be performed sequentially, but may be performed alternately or alternately with other steps or at least a portion of sub-steps or stages of other steps.

The above are only part of the embodiments of the present application. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present application, several improvements and modifications can also be made. It should be regarded as the protection scope of this application.

Claims

A method for processing a transmission area of a multimedia broadcast and multicast service MBMS service, applied to a network device, includes:

Acquire relevant information of at least one user equipment UE, the at least one UE is a UE in the same cell that intends to receive a predetermined MBMS service, and the relevant information includes the number of UEs and/or the network topology of the cell where the UE is located;

Based on a predetermined strategy, and according to the relevant information of the at least one UE, determine the edge area of the transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service, where the transmission area is an area where UEs that actually transmit data exist, and the edge area is an area with The transmission area is adjacent to an area capable of data transmission.
The method of claim 1, wherein in the transmission area and/or the edge area, the network device maintains transmission of the predetermined MBMS service with the at least one UE.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises:

Broadcast and send first indication information to the at least one UE, where the first indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the MBMS service list is in the MBMS service list. MBMS services currently in the edge area.
The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the method further comprises:

Receive the service information of the MBMS service that is currently intended to be received and sent by the at least one UE;

The transmission area for transmitting the MBMS service and/or the edge area of the transmission area of the MBMS service is updated according to the predetermined policy and the service information.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the method further comprises:

Send second indication information to the at least one UE, where the second indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the second indication information is used to instruct the at least one UE to The network device sends the MBMS service it intends to receive.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the second indication information further comprises a transmission period, and the second indication is used to instruct the at least one UE to periodically transmit to the network device according to the transmission period The MBMS service it intends to receive.
The method of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

Receive the MBMS service that the at least one UE intends to receive periodically sent by the at least one UE, and update the transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service according to the received MBMS service that the at least one UE intends to receive periodically. edge area.
The method according to claim 4 or 7, wherein after updating the edge area of the transmission area for transmitting the MBMS service, the method further comprises:

Send third indication information to the at least one UE, where the third indication information is used to indicate the updated edge area.
A method for processing a transmission area of an MBMS service, applied to a user equipment UE, includes:

Receive first indication information broadcast and sent by a network device, where the first indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the first indication information is used to indicate the current status in the MBMS service list MBMS services in an edge area, where the edge area is an edge area of a transmission area used to transmit the MBMS service, the transmission area is an area where UEs that actually transmit data exist, and the edge area is an area related to the transmission area. Areas that are adjacent to each other and capable of data transmission;

Sending MBMS service information to the network device, so that the network device determines the edge area, where the MBMS service information is used to indicate the MBMS service that the UE intends to receive currently.
The method according to claim 9, wherein before the sending the MBMS service information to the network device, the method further comprises:

establishing a radio resource control RRC connection between the UE and its current cell;

The sending MBMS service information to the network device includes:

Send an RRC message to the network device, where the RRC message includes the MBMS service information.
The method according to claim 9, wherein before the sending the MBMS service information to the network device, the method further comprises:

establishing a radio resource control RRC connection between the UE and its current cell;

The sending MBMS service information to the network device includes:

Send a non-access stratum NAS message to the network device, where the NAS message includes the MBMS service information.
The method according to any one of claims 9-11, wherein the first indication information further includes a transmission period;

The sending MBMS service information to the network device includes:

According to the sending period, the MBMS service information is periodically sent to the network device.
The method according to any one of claims 9-11, wherein the method further comprises:

Receive second indication information sent by the network device, where the second indication information is used to indicate the updated edge area.
The method according to any one of claims 9-11, wherein in the transmission area and/or the edge area, the UE keeps transmitting the predetermined MBMS service with the network device.
A network device comprising:

an acquisition module, configured to acquire relevant information of at least one user equipment UE, the at least one UE is a UE in the same cell that intends to receive a predetermined MBMS service, and the relevant information includes the number of UEs and/or the network topology of the cell where the UE is located ;

a determining module, configured to determine, based on a predetermined strategy and relevant information of the at least one UE, an edge area of a transmission area used for transmitting the MBMS service, where the transmission area is an area where a UE that actually performs data transmission exists, so The edge area is an area adjacent to the transmission area and capable of data transmission.
A user equipment comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive first indication information broadcast and sent by a network device, where the first indication information includes an MBMS service list, the MBMS service list includes at least one MBMS service, and the first indication information is used to indicate the The MBMS services currently in the edge area in the MBMS service list, the edge area is the edge area of the transmission area used to transmit the MBMS service, the transmission area is the area where the UEs that actually transmit data exist, the edge area is an area adjacent to the transmission area and capable of data transmission;

A sending module, configured to send MBMS service information to the network device, so that the network device determines the edge area, where the MBMS service information is used to indicate the MBMS service that the UE intends to receive currently.
An electronic device includes a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the method of any one of claims 1-14 when the processor executes the program.
A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program on the computer-readable storage medium, when the program is executed by a processor, implements the method of any one of claims 1-14.