WO2022140943A1

WO2022140943A1 - Information transmission method, communication device, communication system, and computer storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2022140943A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/140267
Authority: WO
Inventors: 吴烨丹; 耿婷婷; 奥鲁佛松亨里克
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2020-12-28
Filing date: 2020-12-28
Publication date: 2022-07-07
Also published as: CN116636254A

Abstract

The present application provides an information transmission method, a communication device, a computer storage medium, and a communication system. The method is used for a communication network comprising a first network device and a second network device; the first network device supports one or more first slices; the second network device supports one or more second slices; the one or more first slices correspond to at least one first handover trigger threshold; the one or more second slices correspond to at least one second handover trigger threshold; and the first network device requests the second network device to adjust a handover threshold of slice granularity, thereby achieving more accurate handover threshold adjustment, facilitating improvement of accuracy of a terminal handover decision of the second network device, and balancing the load between adjacent network devices.

Description

Information transmission method, communication device, communication system, and computer storage medium

technical field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to an information transmission method, a communication device, a communication system, and a computer storage medium.

Background technique

In order to achieve load balancing between base stations, the base station can request the neighbor station to change the handover trigger change threshold of the neighbor station through the mobility parameter change process. At the same time, the base station can also change the handover trigger threshold of each cell under the station. Neighbors are notified in the mobility parameter change procedure. For example, when the base station finds that the neighbor station is idle, it sends a mobility change request message to make the neighbor station raise the handover trigger threshold, so that more terminals can camp in the neighbor station's cell instead of switching to the base station. , to achieve the purpose of balancing the load between adjacent base stations.

However, the existing mobility parameters are based on cell granularity. Therefore, the cell handover trigger threshold adjusted through the above mobility parameter change process is aimed at handover of the terminal between neighboring cells. In other words, the adjustment result is not accurate enough, which affects the accuracy of the handover decision made by the base station.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present application provide an information transmission method, a communication device, a communication system, and a computer storage medium, which can improve the accuracy of adjusting the handover trigger threshold.

In a first aspect, the present application provides an information transmission method for a communication network including a first network device and a second network device, the first network device supports one or more first slices, the second network device The network device supports one or more second slices, the one or more first slices correspond to at least one first handover trigger threshold, and the one or more second slices correspond to at least one second handover trigger threshold, and the method include:

The first network device sends a first message to the second network device, where the first message includes an identifier of at least one of the second slices and a suggested second handover trigger corresponding to at least one of the second slices the change value of the threshold, and/or the request message includes the identifier of at least one of the first slices, and the change value of the first handover trigger threshold corresponding to at least one of the first slices; the first network The device receives a response message to the first message from the second network device, where the response message includes at least one identifier of the first slice, and/or at least one identifier of the second slice; wherein, The first handover trigger threshold is used for the first network device to determine to switch the terminal that uses the first slice; the second handover trigger threshold is used for the second network device to determine to switch the terminal to use the second slice.

In a second aspect, the present application provides an information transmission method for a communication network including a first network device and a second network device, the first network device supports one or more first slices, the second network device The network device supports one or more second slices, the one or more first slices correspond to at least one first handover trigger threshold, and the one or more second slices correspond to at least one second handover trigger threshold, and the method include:

The second network device receives a first message from the first network device, where the first message includes an identifier of at least one of the second slices and a suggested second slice corresponding to at least one of the second slices The change value of the handover trigger threshold, and/or, the request message includes the identifier of at least one of the first slices, and the change value of the first handover trigger threshold corresponding to at least one of the first slices; the first slice 2. The network device sends a response message to the first message to the first network device, where the response message includes at least one identifier of the first slice, and/or at least one identifier of the second slice; wherein, The first handover trigger threshold is used for the first network device to determine to switch the terminal that uses the first slice; the second handover trigger threshold is used for the second network device to determine to switch the terminal to use the second slice.

By using the information transmission method provided by the present application, the first network device requests the second network device to adjust the handover threshold of the slice granularity, which realizes more accurate handover threshold adjustment, helps to improve the accuracy of the second network device's decision on terminal handover, and balances the The load between adjacent network devices, in addition, the handover threshold of the slice granularity and the cell handover threshold can be used in coordination, which further improves the accuracy of the handover decision made by the second network device.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, when the first message includes the identifier of the first slice, the request message further includes the identifier of the cell to which the first slice belongs and/or, when the first message includes the identifier of the second slice, the first message further includes the identifier of the cell to which the second slice belongs.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the response message further includes at least one change value of the first handover trigger threshold, and/or at least one change value of the second handover trigger threshold Change the value. Optionally, the response message further includes a change range of at least one of the second handover trigger thresholds, and the response message may be a mobility change failure message.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, each first slice corresponds to one or more first handover trigger thresholds; and/or, each second slice corresponds to one or more The second handover trigger threshold. That is to say, each slice corresponds to a switching threshold. In this embodiment, the method of the first aspect further includes: the first network device sends a handover request message to the second network device, where the handover request message includes transferring the terminal from the first network device The identifier of the first slice corresponding to the first handover trigger threshold on which the cell of the second network device is handed over to the cell of the second network device. Correspondingly, the second network device receives a handover request message from the first network device. By receiving the handover request message, the second network device can know which handover threshold the handover decision made by the first network device originates from, and then the second network device can specifically initiate an adjustment request for the handover threshold to the first network device .

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first network device supports two or more first slices, and the two or more first slices belong to at least A first slice group, each of the first slice groups corresponds to one of the first switching trigger thresholds.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the second network device supports two or more second slices, and the two or more second slices belong to at least one Second slice groups, each of the second slice groups corresponds to one of the second switching trigger thresholds.

Since a terminal will use resources of multiple slices at the same time, the slice thresholds of multiple combinations can be respectively applied to terminals using different combinations of slice resources in one cell; and the second network device can obtain the first slice used by the terminal according to the The identifier is used to determine the first handover trigger threshold on which the handover decision of the first network device is based, without changing the existing handover request process and saving signaling overhead.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first message further indicates the priority of at least one of the first slices.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first message further indicates the priority of at least one of the second slices.

Optionally, the first message includes a priority identifier of the first slice or the second slice; or, the first slice or the second slice indicated by the first message is sorted in priority order.

By acquiring the priority information of the first slice, the second network device can determine that the handover decision made by the first network device is based on the handover threshold corresponding to the first slice with the highest priority, without the need for the first network device to make a handover request The additional indication information is carried in the message, and the existing handover request flow does not need to be changed while improving the accuracy of the adjustment of the mobility parameters.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first message further includes a moving speed of the terminal to which the first handover trigger threshold applies.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the second aspect, the first message further includes a moving speed of the terminal to which the second handover trigger threshold applies.

The speed information of the terminal is included in the mobility change request message. Considering the influence of the moving speed of the terminal on the handover timing, the network side can accurately control the terminal with different speeds to trigger the handover at the appropriate time, and the second network device can trigger the handover at the appropriate time. The speed information of the terminal determines the first handover trigger threshold on which the handover decision of the first network device is based, without changing the existing handover request process and saving signaling overhead.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, the device having the ability to implement the behavior of the first network device in the information transmission method shown in the first aspect above or the behavior of the second network device in the information transmission method shown in the second aspect. function of behavior. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or means corresponding to the above-mentioned functions.

In a possible design, the apparatus includes a processor configured to support the apparatus to perform the corresponding functions of the core network node in the time synchronization method shown above. The apparatus may also include a memory, which may be coupled to the processor, which holds program instructions and data necessary for the apparatus. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a transceiver, where the transceiver is configured to support communication between the apparatus and a network device, such as a terminal, an access network device, or a core network node thereof. Wherein, the transceiver may be an independent receiver, an independent transmitter, or a transceiver with integrated transceiver functions.

In one possible implementation, the communication apparatus may be a network device, or a component usable in a network device, such as a chip or a system of chips or a circuit.

The network device may be a base station or a component of the base station, such as a central unit (central unit, CU) or a distributed unit (distributed unit, DU).

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including a first network device for executing the method according to the first aspect, and a second network device for executing the method according to the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is made to execute any one of the above-mentioned aspects. time synchronization method.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when the instructions are executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the time synchronization method described in any one of the foregoing aspects.

Description of drawings

In order to illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application more clearly, the following briefly introduces the drawings that are used in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can also be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 provided by the present application;

2 is a schematic flowchart of a method for information transmission provided by the present application;

3 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by the present application;

4 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 500 provided by the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 600 provided by the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station 700 provided by the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal 800 provided by the present application.

specific implementation

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a schematic diagram of a communication network according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the communication network 100 includes a network device 1 and a network device 2, wherein direct communication can be performed between the network device 1 and the network device 2, such as having a direct communication interface; or indirect communication through other network devices communication. Each network device manages one or more cells, and the coverage of each cell may include one or more terminals. The terminals access the network device through the cell and obtain communication services. In FIG. 1 , network equipment 1 manages cell 1, and terminal 1 is located in cell 1; network equipment 2 manages cell 2, and terminal 2 is located in cell 2 for illustration.

The communication network in this application may be a radio access network, for example, a long term evolution (LTE) wireless communication system, or a fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) system such as a new radio (NR) system. The mobile communication system may also be another next generation (next generation, NG) communication system or a new type of communication system, which is not limited in this application.

In this application, a terminal refers to a variety of devices that can provide voice and/or data connectivity to a user, such as a handheld device with wireless connectivity, or a processing device connected to a wireless modem. The terminals may communicate with the core network via an access network, such as a radio access network (RAN), exchanging voice and/or data with the RAN. The terminal may also be referred to as terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), mobile station (mobile station), mobile station (mobile), remote station (remote station), access point (AP), remote terminal Device (remote terminal), access terminal device (access terminal), user terminal device (user terminal), or user equipment (user device), etc. For example, may include mobile phones (or "cellular" phones), computers with mobile terminal equipment, portable, pocket-sized, hand-held, computer-built or vehicle-mounted mobile devices, smart wearable devices, drone devices, etc. . In this embodiment of the present application, the chip applied in the above-mentioned device may also be referred to as a terminal.

The network device described in this application may be a device in a wireless network, such as an access network device, which may be used to connect a terminal to an access network such as a RAN. The network device 110 may be a base station defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), for example, may be a base station device in an LTE system, that is, an evolved NodeB (evolved NodeB, eNB/eNodeB); and It can be an access network side device in the NR system, including a gNB, a transmission reception point (TRP), or it can be a CU or a DU, where the CU can also be called a control unit, using CU- The structure of the DU splits the protocol layers of the base station. The functions of some protocol layers are centrally controlled by the CU, and the functions of the remaining part or all of the protocol layers are distributed in the DU, and the CU centrally controls the DU. In addition, when the eNB is connected to the 5G Core Network (CN), the LTE eNB can also be referred to as an eLTE eNB. Specifically, the eLTE eNB is an LTE base station equipment evolved on the basis of the LTE eNB, which can be directly connected to the 5G CN, and the eLTE eNB also belongs to the base station equipment in the NR. The network device may also be an access point (AP) or an access controller (AC), or other network devices capable of communicating with terminals and the core network, such as relay devices, vehicle-mounted devices, A smart wearable device, etc., the embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the network device.

Taking the network device 1 as the base station 1 and the network device 2 as the base station 2 as an example, the communication network shown in FIG. 1 will be described. In Figure 1, base station 1 and base station 2 are adjacent to each other, and base station 1 and base station 2 have a direct communication interface. Base station 1 and base station 2 can exchange information through this communication interface, such as sending their own resource usage to each other. . Cell handover may occur during the movement of terminal 1 or terminal 2, for example, terminal 1 is handed over from cell 1 to cell 2, or terminal 2 is handed over from cell 2 to cell 1. The base station 1 and the base station 2 can be connected to the same core network, or can be connected to different core networks and can communicate with each other.

The handover of the terminal is controlled by the network equipment it is currently accessing (referred to as "source station" for short). The handover process includes: the source station can instruct the terminal to perform cell measurement, and determine whether to switch the cell where the terminal resides according to the measurement report reported by the terminal. , if it is determined to be handed over, the target network device to be handed over (referred to as "target station") sends a handover request message, and if the target station allows the terminal to access, it sends a handover confirmation message to the source station. One of the basis for the source station to determine whether to switch the cell where the terminal resides is the cell handover trigger threshold. If the signal quality of the neighboring cell reported by the terminal reaches or exceeds the cell switch trigger threshold, the source station determines that the terminal can switch to the neighboring cell. Area.

Frequent terminal handovers may lead to load imbalance among base stations. For example, when multiple terminals accessing cell 2 detect that the signal quality of cell 1 is higher than that of cell 2 and exceeds the handover trigger threshold of cell 2, base station 2 will decide to let these terminals switch from cell 2 to cell 1, resulting in The load of base station 1 is too high. In order to solve this problem, using the mobility parameter change process, the base stations negotiate the cell handover trigger threshold, including requesting the neighbor station to increase or decrease the cell handover trigger threshold of the neighbor station; The result after the change is notified to the neighboring station, and the neighboring station decides whether it needs to change the cell handover trigger threshold of the neighboring station. In this application, "handover trigger threshold" may also be referred to as "handover threshold". The handover trigger threshold may be related to cell signal quality.

Taking base station 1 initiating this process to base station 2 as an example, base station 1 may send a mobility change request message to base station 2, and the request message may include the identification information of the cell whose handover threshold has been adjusted under base station 1, The identification information of the cell for which the base station 2 is requested to adjust the handover threshold. Further, the request message may also include one or more of the change value of the handover threshold of base station 1, the change value of the handover threshold that base station 2 is recommended to adjust, and the reason value for recommending base station 2 to adjust the handover threshold. If base station 2 accepts the mobility change request of base station 1, it can send a mobility change acknowledgement (mobility change acknowledgement) message; if it does not accept, base station 2 can send a mobility change failure (mobility change failure) message to base station 1, the failure message can include the reason value for not accepting the above mobility change request, and the change range of the handover threshold that the base station 2 can achieve.

In order to provide more flexible communication services and meet the needs of different services, end-to-end network slicing can be used to virtualize multiple physical facilities such as base stations and/or core network elements that support different Business and mutually isolated logical subnets (or slices). Different slices are identified and distinguished by single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI). Each S-NSSAI may include the following information: slice/service type (SST), which points to the characteristics and service type of the slice; slice differential (Slice Differentiator, SD), which is used to distinguish different slice instances that satisfy the same SST . A base station can support multiple slices, and each cell under the base station can support one or more of the multiple slices, that is to say, the slices supported by different cells under a base station may or may not be exactly the same or completely different.

The terminal can use the slice supported by the cell or the access slice to obtain the business services provided by the slice. A terminal can use one or more slices at the same time. When the terminal is handed over from one cell to another, the slices may remain the same or may be different. Suppose base station 1 in Fig. 1 supports slice A and slice B, and cell 1 supports slice A; base station 2 supports slice A, slice B, and slice C, and cell 2 supports slice A and slice C, and terminal 1 uses slice A, if When terminal 1 switches from cell 1 to cell 2, the terminal can switch to slice A of cell 2. If the terminal needs to obtain the services of slice C, it can also switch to slice C. Each slice may have a corresponding handover trigger threshold (hereinafter referred to as a handover threshold).

Taking the network device as a base station as an example, the handover threshold for slices under a base station can have two granularities: one is the handover threshold of the slice at the site level (for example, the base station level), specifically, the same type of slice in each cell of the same base station. The slices (with the same slice identifier) correspond to the same handover threshold; the second is the handover threshold of cell-level slices. Specifically, a slice in a specific cell of the base station corresponds to a handover threshold. Cell support, the slice can correspond to another handover threshold in another cell.

The terminal can switch between the same or different slices supported by different base stations. Adjacent base stations can request each other to adjust the handover threshold based on slice granularity to balance the load between base stations.

The apparatuses in the following embodiments of the present application may be located in different devices according to their implemented functions.

The resources described in the embodiments of this application may also be referred to as transmission resources, including one or more of time domain resources, frequency domain resources, and code channel resources, and may be used to carry data in an uplink communication process or a downlink communication process or signaling.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" in this document is only an association relationship to describe associated objects, indicating that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean that A exists alone, and A and B exist at the same time , there are three cases of B alone. In addition, the character "/" in this text indicates that the related objects are an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that, in this embodiment of the present application, "B corresponding to A" means that B is associated with A, and B can be determined according to A. However, it should also be understood that determining B according to A does not mean that B is only determined according to A, and B may also be determined according to A and/or other information.

The "plurality" in the embodiments of the present application refers to two or more.

The descriptions of the first, second, etc. appearing in the embodiments of the present application are only used for illustration and distinguishing the description objects, and have no order. any limitations of the examples.

The "connection" in the embodiments of the present application refers to various connection modes such as direct connection or indirect connection, so as to realize communication between devices, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

Unless otherwise specified, "transmit" (transmit/transmission) in the embodiments of the present application refers to bidirectional transmission, including the actions of sending and/or receiving. Specifically, "transmission" in the embodiments of the present application includes information transmission, information reception, or information transmission and data reception. In other words, the information transmission here includes uplink and/or downlink information transmission. Data information may include data, channels or signals, uplink information transmission includes uplink data, uplink channel or uplink signal transmission, and downlink information transmission includes downlink data, downlink channel or downlink signal transmission.

The service (service) in the embodiments of the present application refers to the communication service obtained by the terminal from the network side, including control plane services and/or data plane services, such as voice services, data traffic services, and the like. The transmission or reception of the service includes the transmission or reception of service-related data (data) or signaling (signaling).

"Network" and "system" appearing in the embodiments of this application express the same concept, and a communication system is a communication network.

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by the present application. The information transmission method is used in a communication network including a first network device and a second network device, such as the communication network 100 shown in FIG. 1 . The first network device supports one or more first slices, the second network device supports one or more second slices, and the one or more first slices correspond to at least one first handover threshold , the one or more second slices correspond to at least one second switching threshold.

Wherein, the first handover threshold is used for the first network device to determine to switch the terminal that uses the first slice; the second handover threshold is used for the second network device to determine to switch the terminal to use the second slice.

The first switching threshold and the second switching threshold mentioned in this application are the switching thresholds of slice granularity. Specifically, the switching threshold of the slice granularity is the signal threshold that the network device determines to switch the terminal from the currently used slice to the slice supported by other network devices, or, in other words, means that the terminal is disconnected from the currently accessed slice Signal threshold to be reached. The initial value of the threshold value can be an operation, administration and maintenance (Operation, Administration and Maintenance, OAM) device or other network management device configuration. It can be understood that the higher the handover threshold, the more likely the terminal will continue to camp in the cell to which the currently used slice belongs and continue to use the slice; the lower the handover threshold, the easier the terminal is to switch to the slice supported by other network devices.

Optionally, in one embodiment, one type of slice supported by one network device corresponds to one or more handover thresholds, respectively. Specifically, if the handover threshold of site-level slicing is adopted, one first slice/second slice supported by the first network device/second network device corresponds to one handover threshold respectively; if the handover threshold of cell-level slicing is adopted, the first The same first slice/second slice supported by multiple cells deployed under a network device/second network device correspond to multiple first handover thresholds/second slice thresholds, respectively.

Assuming that the first network device is base station 1, base station 1 supports 4 slices, namely slice A, slice B, slice C, slice D, and slice A-slice D have identifiers A and identifiers D respectively. At the same time, three cells are deployed under base station 1, namely cell 1, cell 2, and cell 3. The slices supported by each cell are as follows: cell 1 supports slice A, slice B; cell 2 supports slice A, slice B, slice C; cell 3 supports slice B, slice C and slice D.

According to the handover threshold of the base station-level slice, the base station 1 has the handover threshold of 4 slices, including the handover thresholds of slice A, slice B, slice C, and slice D respectively. According to the handover threshold of cell-level slices, there will be handover thresholds of 8 slices under base station 1, including: slice A under cell 1, slice B under cell 1, slice A under cell 2, slice B under cell 2 , the respective handover thresholds of slice C under cell 2, slice B under cell 3, slice C under cell 3, and slice D under cell 3.

Optionally, in one embodiment, one slice group under one network device corresponds to one handover threshold, and the slice group includes one or more slices. Specifically, the first network device supports two or more first slices, the two or more first slices belong to at least one first slice group, and each of the first slices A slice group corresponds to one of the first switching trigger thresholds; and/or, the second network device supports two or more second slices, and the two or more than two second slices belong to at least one second slice respectively Slice groups, each of the second slice groups corresponds to one of the second switching trigger thresholds. In this application, a switching threshold corresponding to a slice group may be referred to as a slice combination switching threshold.

Since a terminal may use resources of multiple slices at the same time, the slice thresholds of multiple combinations may be applicable to terminals using different combinations of slice resources in one cell. Still taking the first network device (base station 1) supporting slice A-slice D, and deploying cell 1-cell 3 under base station 1 as an example, it is assumed that the slices supported by each cell are as follows: cell 1 supports slice A, slice B; cell 2 Support slice A, slice B, slice C; cell 3 supports slice B and slice C. If the slice grouping method is adopted, the following slice combination switching thresholds can be set: the switching threshold corresponding to slice A is 5; the switching threshold corresponding to slice B is 6; the switching threshold corresponding to slice C is 7; the combination of slice A and slice B The corresponding switching threshold is 10; the switching threshold corresponding to the combination of slice A and slice C is 8; the switching threshold corresponding to the combination of slice A, slice B and slice C is 12. It can be understood that, regardless of whether it is a site-level slice or a cell-level slice, the above-mentioned slice combination switching threshold can be applied.

In this application, the slice supported by the first network device is called the first slice, and the slice supported by the second network device is called the second slice, but the type of the first slice or the second slice is not limited, that is to say , the first network device can support multiple different types of first slices, the second network device can support multiple different types of second slices, and the type of the first slice and the type of the second slice can be the same, or different. Taking the network device as the base station as an example, the slices supported by the base station are based on the Tracking Area (TA) granularity, that is, if different cells of different base stations or different cells of the same base station belong to the same TA, then these cells support The slices are the same. If they belong to different TAs, the network slices supported by these cells can be the same or different. Each type of slice has fixed identification information that has been replicated in a public land mobile network (PLMN), such as S-NSSAI, that is, slices of the same type supported by different base stations The identification information is the same. For example, the first slice supported by the first network device includes slice A, slice B, and slice C, and the second slice supported by the second network device includes slice A, slice B, and slice D. Slice A uses identifier 1, and slice B uses Flag 2, use flag 3 for slice C, and flag 4 for slice D.

The method includes:

S201: A first network device sends a first message to a second network device, where the first message includes an identifier of at least one second slice and a suggested change value of a second handover threshold corresponding to at least one second slice, and/ Or, the request message includes an identifier of at least one first slice and a change value of the first handover threshold corresponding to at least one first slice.

Correspondingly, the second network device receives the first message.

It can be understood that the first network device or the second network device may be an access network device such as a base station, and the standards of the first network device and the second network device may be the same or different. is a gNB; or, the first network device is a gNB, and the second network device is an eNB. The first network device and the second network device are adjacent network devices, and each manage one or more cells, and each cell may support one or more slices. Optionally, the first network device may be a CU, and the second network device may be a DU managed by the CU.

The first message may be used to request the second network device to change the handover threshold corresponding to the second slice, for example, it may be a mobility change request message. Correspondingly, the second network device may determine whether to change the handover threshold corresponding to the second slice according to the content of the first message.

Optionally, in one implementation manner, the first network device may obtain the resource usage of the second slice from the resource information interaction process with the second network device, so as to determine whether to recommend the second network device to adjust the second handover threshold. .

Optionally, in one embodiment, the decision to suggest that the second network device adjust the second handover threshold is made by other network devices, such as OAM. The OAM may send an indication of the decision to the first network device, thereby triggering the first network device to send the first message to the second network device.

Optionally, the change value of the first handover threshold is an offset value (offset) of the cell handover threshold of the first cell corresponding to the first handover threshold. For example, it is assumed that the first network device supports the handover of slice A. The threshold is the cell handover threshold of the cell to which slice A belongs minus 10, and the offset value of 10 can be carried in the first message as a changed value; or, the changed value is the adjusted first handover threshold, such as slice A. The corresponding first switching threshold is 8 before adjustment, and is 2 after adjustment, and the adjusted switching threshold 2 may be carried in the first message as a changed value; or, the changed value is the first switching threshold If the first switching threshold corresponding to slice A is 8 before adjustment and 2 after adjustment, which is 6 less than before adjustment, the reduced difference of 6 can be carried as a change value in the in a message. Generally, if an offset value or a change difference value is used as the change value, the value range is in the interval [-20, 20].

Optionally, the handover threshold corresponding to the slice is preset or dynamically configured by the system. If the handover threshold of some slices is not specified, the cell-level handover threshold may be used by default.

Optionally, the identifier of the first slice or the second slice may be an identifier such as NSSAI indicating a slice; it may also be an identifier or an index of a slice group, and slices in a slice group use the same group identifier or index.

If the first network device/the second network device uses the handover threshold of the site-level slice, the first message may only contain the slice identifier but not the cell identifier; if the first network device/the second network device uses the cell identifier The handover threshold of the level slice, and the first message may include the slice identifier and the cell identifier. Optionally, the cell identifier may be a cell global identifier (cell global identifier, CGI). Specifically, if the first network device or the second network device uses a cell-level slice handover threshold, when the first message includes the identifier of the first slice, the request message also includes the first The identifier of the cell to which the slice belongs; when the first message includes the identifier of the second slice, the first message also includes the identifier of the cell to which the second slice belongs.

Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first message includes an identifier of at least one of the first slices and a change value of the first handover trigger threshold corresponding to at least one of the first slices, the The first message also indicates the priority of at least one of the first slices. Specifically, the priority of the first slice may be indicated by display. For example, the first message includes priority information of at least one of the first slices. Alternatively, the priority of the first slice may be indicated implicitly, eg, the at least one first slice indicated by the first message is ordered in priority order. The priority information may be a priority identifier.

Still taking the first network device (base station 1) supporting slice A-slice D, and deploying cell 1-cell 3 under base station 1 as an example, the slices supported by each cell are as follows: cell 1 supports slice A, slice B; cell 2 supports Slice A, Slice B, Slice C; Cell 3 supports Slice B and Slice C. Assuming that the priorities of slice A-slice D are identified as priority 1 (highest)-priority 4 (lowest) from high to low, if base station 1 adjusts the handover thresholds corresponding to slice A, slice B, and slice C, then the first A message may include the identification of slices A-C, the change value of the switching threshold corresponding to slices A-C, and the priority identifiers of slices A-C; or, the slices A-C indicated by the first message are sorted by priority from high to low or from low to high .

Generally, the higher the priority is, the more important the service provided by the slice is, and the higher the transmission quality is required. Therefore, the network device decides the terminal handover based on the handover threshold with the highest priority among all the slices used by the terminal. For example, when the terminal uses the above slices A and B, the handover decision is based on the handover threshold corresponding to the slice A; when the terminal uses the slices B and C, the handover decision is based on the handover threshold corresponding to the slice B. It should be noted that the priority of the slice is not necessarily related to the size of the switching threshold. For example, the above-mentioned slice A has the highest priority, but the switching threshold corresponding to the slice A can be smaller than any one or more slices in the slice B-slice D. corresponding switching threshold.

Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first message includes an identifier of at least one of the second slices and a suggested change value of the second handover trigger threshold corresponding to at least one of the second slices, the The first message also indicates the priority of at least one of the second slices. For a detailed description of the priority of the second slice, reference may be made to the foregoing description of the priority of the first slice, which will not be repeated.

Optionally, in one embodiment, the priority corresponding to the first slice and/or the priority corresponding to the first slice may be indicated by a message other than the first message, for example, the first network The device indicates the priority to the second network device through a message in the interface establishment process with the second network device.

Optionally, in an embodiment, the first message is further used to indicate the movement speed of the terminal to which the first handover threshold applies; and/or the movement speed of the terminal to which the second handover threshold applies.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the first handover threshold or the second handover threshold is used for the first network device or the second network device to determine the handover of the terminal whose moving speed is v, where v>0. That is to say, when the first network device or the second network device determines whether to switch the terminal from the currently accessed slice to the slice of another cell, the current moving speed of the terminal needs to be additionally considered.

The first network device may acquire the movement speed of the terminal according to the historical information reported by the terminal. The history information includes the identifiers of one or more cells where the terminal resides and the time spent in these cells respectively. The first network device may also acquire the moving speed of the terminal according to the positioning technology, which is not limited in this application.

S202: The second network device sends a response message to the first message to the first network device, where the response message includes an identifier of at least one first slice and/or an identifier of at least one second slice.

Correspondingly, the first network device receives the response message.

Optionally, the response message is a mobility change response message.

Optionally, in an implementation manner, the first network device may notify the second network device of the adjustment of some or all of the first handover thresholds through a first message. Specifically, the first message may only include an identifier of at least one first slice and a change value of the first handover threshold corresponding to at least one first slice; correspondingly, the response message includes at least The identifier of some or all of the first slices in a first slice indicates that the second network device has successfully received some or all of the first slices in the first slices indicated by the first network device. It can be understood that the first slice indicated by the first message refers to the first slice for which the corresponding first switching threshold is adjusted.

Optionally, in one implementation manner, the first network device may request the second network device to adjust part or all of the second handover threshold through the first message. Specifically, the first message includes an identifier of at least one second slice and a suggested change value of the second handover threshold corresponding to at least one of the second slices; correspondingly, the response message includes the first message The identifier of some or all of the second slices in the indicated at least one second slice indicates that the second network device agrees to adjust the second handover threshold corresponding to some or all of the second slices indicated by the first message. It can be understood that the second slice indicated by the first message refers to the second slice corresponding to the second handover threshold recommended to be adjusted by the second network device.

Optionally, in one embodiment, the first network device may notify the second network device of the adjustment of the first handover threshold through a first message, and then request the second network device to adjust part or all of the second handover threshold. . Specifically, the first message includes an identifier of at least one second slice, a suggested change value of a second handover threshold corresponding to at least one second slice, an identifier of at least one first slice, and an identifier of at least one first slice. The change value of the first handover threshold corresponding to one slice; accordingly, the response message includes the identifiers of some or all of the first slices in the at least one first slice indicated by the first message, and the first Identification of some or all of the second slices in the at least one second slice indicated by the message.

Optionally, in an embodiment, the response message further includes at least one change value of the first handover threshold, and/or at least one change value of the second handover threshold. Specifically, when the response message further includes at least one change value of the first handover threshold, it indicates that the second network device recommends the first network device to adjust the change of the first handover threshold corresponding to some or all of the first slices value, the part or all of the first slices are not limited to the first slices indicated by the first network device to the second network device through the first message, and may be part of all the first slices supported by the first network device or All first slices. In addition, when the response message includes at least one change value of the second handover threshold, these second handover thresholds are not limited to the second handover thresholds corresponding to the second slice indicated by the first network device through the first message, and may be the first The second network device corresponding to any second slice supported by the two network devices, that is, if the second network device agrees with the first network device's suggestion to adjust the second handover thresholds corresponding to some second slices, the second network device The first network device may be notified of the adjustment result; in addition, the second network device may also adjust the second handover threshold corresponding to the second slice other than the first network device's suggestion, and notify the first network device.

Optionally, in one implementation manner, the second network device does not agree with some or all of the change values of the second handover threshold proposed to be adjusted by the first network device, and the response message further includes the second network device to the proposed adjustment of the proposed adjustment value. 2. The change range of the switching trigger threshold. The change range refers to an adjustable range acceptable to the second network device for the change value of the second handover threshold. In this embodiment, the response message may be a mobility change failure message.

Optionally, if the first network device and the second network device have a direct communication interface, the above-mentioned first message and the response message may be directly transmitted between the two. Optionally, the above-mentioned first message or response message is forwarded through the core network, and the first network device and the second network device may be connected to the same or different core networks, which are not limited in this application.

By using the information transmission method provided by the present application, the first network device requests the second network device to adjust the handover threshold of the slice granularity, which realizes more accurate handover threshold adjustment, helps to improve the accuracy of the second network device's decision on terminal handover, and balances the In addition, the handover threshold of the slice granularity and the cell handover threshold can be used together to further improve the accuracy of the handover decision made by the second network device.

The following embodiments shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 4 are further explanations and descriptions of the information transmission method provided by the present application on the basis of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , and the described content will not be repeated.

In the embodiments shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 4 , the first network device is gNB1, the second network device is gNB2, the terminal is UE, and gNB1 and gNB2 are adjacent stations to each other. If the UE is handed over from the cell of gNB1 to the cell of gNB2, gNB1 is the source base station and gNB2 is the target base station. Hereinafter, the slice supported by gNB1 is called slice#1, the switching threshold corresponding to slice#1 is called threshold#1; the slice supported by gNB2 is called slice#2, and the switching threshold corresponding to slice#2 is called threshold#2. For the corresponding relationship between #1 and threshold#1, and the corresponding relationship between slice#2 and threshold#2, reference may be made to the relevant content in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , which will not be repeated here. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the handover thresholds of the cell-level slices supported by gNB1 and gNB2 are taken as an example, that is, the same slice#1 supported by different cells of gNB1 corresponds to a threshold#1, and the same slice#2 supported by different cells of gNB2 Each corresponding to one threshold #2 will be described.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The method includes:

S301: gNB1 determines that the threshold#2 corresponding to at least one slice#2 is adjusted by gNB2.

Alternatively, S301 can be replaced by S301a-S301b, including:

S301a: The OAM determines that the threshold#2 corresponding to at least one slice#2 is adjusted by the gNB2.

S301b: The OAM sends the identifier of the at least one slice#2 to the gNB1.

Through S301a-S301b, gNB1 can send a message including the at least one slice#2 related information to gNB2 according to the instruction of OAM, and trigger gNB2 to adjust the handover threshold process.

Optionally, before step S301, step S300 is further included: gNB1 acquires the information of slice#2.

Specifically, gNB1 can obtain the information of slice#2 in the process of exchanging resource usage with gNB2, and can also obtain the information of slice#2 from OAM, including the slice identifier of slice#2, the identifier of the cell to which slice#2 belongs, etc. Information used to decide whether to trigger gNB2 to modify threshold#2.

The method also includes:

S302: gNB1 sends a mobility change request message to gNB2, requesting gNB2 to adjust the handover threshold of the at least one slice#2.

The mobile line request message may include various items of specific information included in the first message as listed in the embodiment of FIG. 2 , and details are not described herein.

S303: gNB2 sends a response message of the mobility request message to gNB1.

The response message may be a mobility request response message or a mobility failure message. When the mobility request message is used as the response message, the response message may include the identifier of the slice#2 corresponding to the threshold#2 that gNB1 agrees to adjust, and information such as the changed value of the adjusted threshold#2. When the mobility failure message is used as the response message, the response message may include an adjustment range of the change value of threshold#2 acceptable to gNB1. For a detailed description of the specific information included in the response message, reference may be made to the relevant content in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , and details are not described here.

S304: gNB1 sends a handover request (handover request) message to gNB2, where the handover request message includes the identifier of slice #1 corresponding to threshold #1 on which the terminal is handed over from the cell of gNB1 to the cell of gNB2.

The handover request message also includes the identifiers of one or more slice#1 used by the UE.

Specifically, gNB1 sends a handover request message to gNB2, which is used to request gNB2 to accept the decision result of handover UE made by gNB1. The handover request message includes the identifiers of one or more slice#1 on which the gNB1 makes the handover decision. Optionally, the handover request message may further include handover thresholds corresponding to the one or more slice#1. For example, the UE uses cell 1 of gNB1 as the serving cell, and the UE uses slice A and slice B at the same time. gNB1 receives the measurement report reported by the UE. The signal quality of cell 2 under gNB2 contained in the measurement report is 9 higher than that of cell 1, and the difference in signal quality exceeds the handover threshold 8 corresponding to slice A under gNB1. Then gNB1 can decide to handover the UE from cell 1 to cell 2. The decision of this handover is based on the handover threshold of slice A, and the handover request message includes the identifier of slice A. Optionally, the handover request further includes the handover threshold 8 of slice A.

S305: gNB2 determines the handover threshold on which the handover decision of gNB1 is based according to the handover request message.

Because in a specific network implementation, the gNB1 can make a handover decision based on one or more handover thresholds. For example, if gNB1 makes a handover decision based on the handover threshold corresponding to slice A, but the handover request message contains the identifiers of slice A and slice B used by the UE before handover, gNB2 cannot determine whether gNB1 is based on cell 1, slice A or slice B. The handover threshold corresponding to slice B initiates this handover. Therefore, through the above handover request message, gNB2 can know which handover threshold the handover decision made by gNB1 originates from. If gNB2 always receives unreasonable handover requests triggered by the handover threshold, then gNB2 can specifically initiate the handover request. For the adjustment request of the handover threshold, that is, the gNB2 may initiate a mobility change process to the gNB1, refer to the foregoing steps S301-S303, which will not be repeated.

S304-S305 and S301-S303 are not distinguished in the order of execution. S304-S305 can be executed before or after any of the steps in S301-S303, or can be executed simultaneously with any of the steps in S301-S303, which this application does not do limited.

Optionally, in another embodiment of the present application, the slice combination switching threshold used by gNB1 and/or gNB2 includes: multiple slice#1 supported by gNB1 belong to at least one slice group (group#1), each group #1 corresponds to a threshold #1 respectively; and/or, multiple slices #2 supported by gNB2 belong to at least one slice group (group #2), and each group #2 corresponds to a threshold #2 respectively. Since each slice#1 or slice#2 belongs to a specific slice group. Therefore, the above slice request message does not need to include the identifier of slice #1 corresponding to threshold #1 on which the terminal switches from the cell of gNB1 to the cell of gNB2, and gNB2 only needs to use the identifier of the slice used by the UE contained in the handover request message. , it can determine which handover threshold the gNB1 makes the handover decision based on. For example, the handover request message indicates that the UE uses the combination of slice A and slice B, then gNB2 can determine that the handover threshold corresponding to the combination of slice A and slice B is used. When the UE is handed over from gNB1 to gNB2. For a detailed introduction of the slice combination switching threshold, reference may be made to the relevant content in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , and details are not repeated.

Optionally, the method further includes S306: gNB1 sends the information contained in the response message received from gNB2 to the OAM.

Specifically, the gNB1 may directly forward the above-mentioned response message to the OAM, for example, encapsulate the response message in a container (container) and transparently transmit it to the OAM. The gNB1 may also parse the response message and send the information in the response message to the OAM. It can be understood that whether gNB1 or OAM decides to adjust threshold#2 by gNB2, gNB1 can send the information contained in the response message to OAM.

Using the information transmission method provided by the present application, the accuracy of the handover decision is improved by adjusting the handover threshold of the slice granularity, and the slice corresponding to the handover threshold based on the handover decision of the source base station is added to the handover request message, so that the target base station can be targeted. to adjust the switching thresholds of these slices.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of an information transmission method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the method shown in FIG. 4, the first message is a mobility change request message including speed information of the terminal. The method includes:

S401: gNB1 acquires the speed information of the UE.

The gNB1 may acquire the speed information based on the historical information reported by the UE or the positioning technology, which will not be repeated.

S402: gNB2 sends a mobility change request message to gNB2, where the mobility change request message includes the speed information of the UE.

The mobile line request message also includes various specific information included in the first message as listed in the embodiment of FIG. 2 , and may also include priority information of slices, which will not be repeated here.

The speed information of the UE indicates the moving speed of the UE. Optionally, in one embodiment, the movement speed of the UE is classified, specifically, the UE with a movement speed within a certain numerical range can be determined as a class, for example, the UE is divided into a classification according to the movement speed from fast to slow. There are N levels, each level is marked as level-n, 1≤n≤N.

Optionally, the speed level of the UE is used to determine the handover threshold corresponding to the slice used by the UE, wherein the handover threshold corresponding to the slice may be the handover threshold of the base station-level slice or the handover threshold of the cell-level slice, and whether it is the base station-level slice. Slices or cell-level slices can use slice combination switching thresholds, which will not be described here. In this embodiment, the change value of threshold #1 included in the mobility change request message, or the suggested change value of threshold #2 corresponds to the speed class of the UE.

The relationship between the speed level of the UE and the handover threshold corresponding to the slice used by the UE is described by taking the slice combination handover threshold of the cell-level slice adopted by the gNB1 as an example. Assuming that gNB1 supports slice A-slice D, and cell 1-cell 3 is deployed under gNB1 as an example, the slices supported by each cell are as follows: cell 1 supports slice A, slice B; cell 2 supports slice A, slice B, slice C; Cell 3 supports slice B and slice C. UEs located in any cell from cell 1 to cell 3 are classified into level-1, level-2 and level-3 according to different moving speeds. According to the speed level of the UE and different combinations of slices, the following handover thresholds can be set: the handover threshold corresponding to slice A is 4; the handover threshold corresponding to slice A used by the level-1 UE is 5; the handover threshold used by the level-2 UE The handover threshold corresponding to slice A is 5; the handover threshold corresponding to slice B used by level-1 UE is 6; the handover threshold corresponding to the combination of slice A and slice B used by level-3 UE is 10; The handover threshold corresponding to the combination of slice A and slice C used by the UE of level-1 is 8; the handover threshold corresponding to the combination of slice A, slice B and slice C used by the UE of level-1 is 12. If no handover threshold is separately set for a certain slice or slice combination, the cell handover threshold can be used by default, that is, the slice corresponds to the cell handover threshold of the cell to which the slice belongs.

Optionally, in one embodiment, UEs under one base station or at the same speed in the same cell may use the same handover threshold. Optionally, the slice used by the UE may not be considered, as long as the UE with the same moving speed uses the same cell handover threshold. Optionally, UEs with the same speed and using the same slice use the same handover threshold corresponding to the slice.

S403: gNB2 sends a response message of the mobility request message to gNB1.

For a specific description of the response message, reference may be made to the related content of other embodiments of the present application, such as the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 3 , which will not be repeated here.

S401 is not distinguished from S402-S403 in the execution order, and S401 may be executed before or after S402 or S403, or may be executed simultaneously with S402 or S403, which is not limited in this application. S404: gNB1 sends a handover request message to gNB2, where the handover request message includes identification information of one or more slices used by the UE to be handed over.

Optionally, the handover request message may contain a UE speed class.

S405: gNB2 determines the handover threshold on which the handover decision of gNB1 is based according to the slice identification information and the speed level included in the handover request message.

S404-S405 and S402-S403 are not distinguished in order of execution. S404-S405 may be executed before or after S402 or S403, or may be executed simultaneously with S402 or S403, which is not limited in this application.

Optionally, in an embodiment, UEs using the same number of slices use the same handover threshold, and gNB2 can determine which handover threshold to use for handover based on the decision of gNB1 according to the number of slices. For example, UE1 using slice A and slice B and UE2 using slice B and slice C use the same handover threshold, and UE3 using slice A and UE4 using slice B use the same handover threshold.

Using the information transmission method provided by the present application, the mobility change request message includes the speed information of the UE, and considering the influence of the moving speed of the UE on the handover timing, the network side can accurately control the UE with different speeds to trigger the trigger at the appropriate time switch. At the same time, without the need for the source base station to carry additional indication information in the handover request message, the target base station can determine the handover threshold based on the handover decision made by the source base station according to the speed information. Existing handover request flow. Examples of the information transmission method provided by the present application are described in detail above. An example of a communication device that can be used to implement the above-described information transmission method will be described below.

It can be understood that, in order to realize the above-mentioned functions, the communication apparatus includes corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that the present application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is performed by hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality using different methods for each particular application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

The present application may divide the communication device into functional units according to the above method examples. For example, each function may be divided into each functional unit, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing unit. The above-mentioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware, or may be implemented in the form of software functional units. It should be noted that the division of units in this application is schematic, and is only a logical function division, and other division methods may be used in actual implementation.

The communication device 500 shown in FIG. 5 includes a sending unit 501 and a receiving unit 502 .

The communication apparatus 500 may be a network device or a device such as a chip used for the network device.

In an implementation manner of the present application, the communication apparatus 500 is configured to support a network device to implement the function of the first network device in the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application, where the first network device and the second network device are located in the same communication network , the first network device supports one or more first slices, the second network device supports one or more second slices, and the one or more first slices correspond to at least one first handover trigger threshold , the one or more second slices correspond to at least one second switching trigger threshold.

For example, the sending unit 501 may be configured to send a first message to the second network device, where the first message includes an identifier of at least one of the second slices and a suggested second slice corresponding to at least one of the second slices the change value of the handover trigger threshold, and/or the request message includes the identifier of at least one of the first slices and the change value of the first handover trigger threshold corresponding to at least one of the first slices; receiving unit 502 A response message for receiving a first message from the second network device, where the response message includes an identifier of at least one of the first slices, and/or an identifier of at least one of the second slices.

The communication apparatus 500 may further include a processing unit 503 for supporting the sending unit 501 to send the first message, and for processing the response message received by the receiving unit 502 .

Optionally, the sending unit 501 is further configured to send a handover request message to the second network device, where the handover request message includes handover of the terminal from the cell of the first network device to the second network The identifier of the first slice corresponding to the first handover trigger threshold on which the cell of the device is based.

For the detailed description of the handover request message, reference may be made to the foregoing method embodiments, for example, the relevant content in the embodiments of FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

In an implementation manner of the present application, the communication apparatus 500 is configured to support the network device to implement the function of the second network device in the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application.

For example, the receiving unit 502 is configured to receive a first message from the first network device, where the first message includes an identifier of at least one of the second slices and a suggested first message corresponding to at least one of the second slices 2. The change value of the handover trigger threshold, and/or the request message includes the identifier of at least one of the first slices and the change value of the first handover trigger threshold corresponding to at least one of the first slices; the sending unit 501 is used to send a response message of the first message to the first network device, where the response message includes at least one identifier of the first slice, and/or at least one identifier of the second slice; wherein, The first handover trigger threshold is used for the first network device to determine to switch the terminal that uses the first slice; the second handover trigger threshold is used for the second network device to determine to switch the terminal to use the second slice.

The processing unit 503 may be configured to support the sending unit 501 to send the response message and to process the first message received by the receiving unit 502 .

Optionally, the receiving unit 502 is further configured to receive a handover request message from the first network device, where the handover request message includes handover of the terminal from the cell of the first network device to the second network The identifier of the first slice corresponding to the first handover trigger threshold on which the cell of the device is based. The processing unit 503 may be configured to obtain, according to the handover request message, a first handover threshold on which the first network device makes a handover decision.

Optionally, when the first message includes the identifier of the first slice, the request message further includes the identifier of the cell to which the first slice belongs; and/or, when the first message includes the identifier of the first slice the identifier of the second slice, and the first message further includes the identifier of the cell to which the second slice belongs.

For a detailed description of the content included in the first message and the response message, reference may be made to the relevant content of the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not repeated.

Optionally, the first message further indicates the priority of at least one of the first slices and/or at least one of the second slices. The priority of the first slice and/or the second slice may be indicated explicitly or implicitly through the first message.

Optionally, the first message further indicates the movement speed of the terminal to which the first handover trigger threshold applies, and/or the movement speed of the terminal to which the second handover trigger threshold applies.

Optionally, the response message further includes at least one change value of the first handover trigger threshold, and/or at least one change value of the second handover trigger threshold. Optionally, when the second network device does not agree with the change value of the second handover trigger threshold proposed by the first network device, the response message includes a change range of the second handover trigger threshold.

For a detailed description of the information contained in the first message and the response message, reference may be made to the foregoing method embodiments, for example, the relevant content in the embodiments of FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, each first slice corresponds to one or more first handover trigger thresholds respectively.

Optionally, each second slice corresponds to one or more second handover trigger thresholds respectively.

Specifically, if the first network device or the second network device supports base station-level slices, each first slice/second slice corresponds to a handover trigger threshold respectively. If the first network device or the second network device supports cell-level slices, the same first slice/second slice supported by multiple cells may correspond to multiple handover trigger thresholds. For a more detailed description, reference may be made to the foregoing method embodiments, for example, the relevant content in the embodiments of FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the first network device supports two or more first slices, the two or more first slices belong to at least one first slice group, and each of the first slices The slice group corresponds to one of the first switching trigger thresholds.

Optionally, the second network device supports two or more second slices, and the two or more than two second slices belong to at least one second slice group respectively, and each of the second slice groups corresponding to one of the second handover triggering thresholds.

For the detailed description of the grouping of slices and the handover triggering threshold corresponding to the slice group, reference may be made to the foregoing method embodiments, for example, the relevant content in the embodiments of FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

For the detailed description of the operations performed by each functional unit of the communication apparatus 500, for example, reference may be made to the operations performed by the first network device in the embodiments of the information transmission method provided by this application, for example, in the embodiments shown in FIG. 2-FIG. 4 . related information.

In another implementation manner of the present application, the above-mentioned sending unit 501 and receiving unit 502 may be combined into one transceiver unit. It can be understood that the transceiver unit may be composed of a plurality of transceiver units for communicating with different network devices, for example including a transceiver unit for communicating with a terminal, a transceiver unit for communicating with other access network devices, and a transceiver unit for communicating with A transceiver unit for core network device communication. These transceiver units may be set independently, or may be integrated into one unit, which is not particularly limited in this application. For example, the transceiver unit that communicates with the terminal may be implemented by a transceiver and an antenna, and the transceiver unit that communicates with other access network devices or core network devices may be implemented by different communication interfaces.

In another implementation manner of the present application, in terms of hardware implementation, the function of the processing unit 503 may be performed by one or more processors, and the sending unit 501 may be performed by a transceiver (transmitter/receiver) and/or a communication interface And the function of the receiving unit 502, wherein, the processing unit 503 can be embedded in or independent of the processor of the network device in the form of hardware, or can be stored in the memory of the network device in the form of software, so that the processor can call and execute each of the above. The operation corresponding to the functional unit.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus 600 provided by the present application. The communication apparatus 600 can be used to implement the information transmission method described in the above method embodiments. The communication apparatus 600 may be a chip, a network device, or the like.

The communication device 600 includes one or more processors 601, and the one or more processors 601 can support the communication device 600 to implement the information transmission method described in the embodiments of this application, for example, execute the embodiments shown in FIG. 2-FIG. 4 The method performed by the first network device/the second network device in FIG. 2 or the method performed by the terminal or the UE in the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 , for example.

The processor 601 may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor. For example, the processor 601 may include a central processing unit (CPU) and/or a baseband processor. The baseband processor may be used to process communication data (eg, the first message described above), and the CPU may be used to implement corresponding control and processing functions, execute software programs, and process data of software programs.

Further, the communication device 600 may further include a transceiving unit 604 to implement signal input (reception) and output (transmission).

For example, the communication apparatus 600 may be a chip, and the transceiver unit 604 may be an input and/or output circuit of the chip, or the transceiver unit 604 may be an interface circuit of the chip, and the chip may be used as a component of a base station or other wireless communication equipment .

For another example, the communication apparatus 600 may be a base station, or a part of the base station, such as a CU or DU. Transceiver unit 604 may include a transceiver or a radio frequency chip. Transceiver unit 604 may also include a communication interface.

Optionally, the communication apparatus 600 may further include an antenna 605 , which may be used to support the transceiver unit 604 to implement the transceiver function of the communication apparatus 600 .

Optionally, the communication apparatus 600 may include one or more memories 602 on which programs (or instructions or codes) 603 are stored, and the programs 603 may be executed by the processor 601, so that the processor 601 executes the foregoing method embodiments method described in . Optionally, data may also be stored in the memory 602 . Optionally, the processor 601 can also read data (for example, predefined information) stored in the memory 602, the data can be stored in the same storage address as the program 603, and the data can also be stored in a different address from the program 603 storage address.

The processor 601 and the memory 602 may be provided separately, or may be integrated together, for example, integrated on a single board or a system on chip (system on chip, SOC).

For the detailed description of the operations performed by the communication apparatus 600 in the above-mentioned various possible designs, reference may be made to the behavior of the terminal or network device in the embodiment of the time synchronization method provided by this application, for example, in the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 . The related content will not be repeated.

It should be understood that, the steps in the above method embodiments may be implemented by logic circuits in the form of hardware or instructions in the form of software in the processor 601 . The processor 601 may be a CPU, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices , for example, discrete gates, transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components.

The present application further provides a computer program product, which implements the information transmission method described in any method embodiment in the present application when the computer program product is executed by the processor 601 . The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be downloaded from a website site, computer, server, or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server, or data center is by wire (eg, coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (eg, infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that includes an integration of one or more available media.

The computer program product can be stored in the memory 602 , such as a program 603 , and the program 603 is finally converted into an executable object file that can be executed by the processor 601 through processing processes such as preprocessing, compilation, assembly, and linking.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, implements the information transmission method described in any method embodiment of the present application. The computer program can be a high-level language program or an executable object program.

The computer-readable storage medium is, for example, memory 602 . Memory 602 may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or memory 602 may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically programmable Erase programmable read-only memory (electrically EPROM, EEPROM) or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM), which acts as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM) ) and direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM).

In the case where the communication apparatus 600 is a base station, FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 7 , the base station can be applied to the system shown in FIG. 1 to perform the functions of the first network device or the second network device in the foregoing method embodiment. Base station 700 may include one or more DUs 701 and one or more CUs 702. The DU 701 may include at least one antenna 7011 , at least one radio frequency unit 7012 , at least one processor 7013 and at least one memory 707 . The DU 701 part is mainly used for the transceiver of radio frequency signals, the conversion of radio frequency signals and baseband signals, and part of baseband processing. The CU 702 may include at least one processor 7022 and at least one memory 7021 . The CU702 and the DU701 can communicate through interfaces, wherein the control plane interface can be Fs-C, such as F1-C, and the user plane interface can be Fs-U, such as F1-U.

The CU 702 part is mainly used to perform baseband processing, control the base station, and the like. The DU 701 and the CU 702 can be physically set together, or can be physically set separately, that is, a distributed base station. The CU 702 is the control center of the base station, which can also be called a processing unit, and is mainly used to complete the baseband processing function. For example, the CU 702 may be used to control the base station to perform the operation procedures related to the network device in the foregoing method embodiments.

Additionally, optionally, the base station 700 may include one or more radio frequency units (RUs), one or more DUs, and one or more CUs. The DU may include at least one processor 7013 and at least one memory 707 , the RU may include at least one antenna 7011 and at least one radio frequency unit 7012 , and the CU may include at least one processor 7022 and at least one memory 7021 . The DU or CU may be constituted by one or more single boards respectively.

The DU and the CU may jointly execute the functions of the processing unit 503 in the communication device 500 shown in FIG. 5 or the processor 601 in the communication device 600 shown in FIG. 6 ; the RU may execute the functions of the communication device 600 shown in FIG. The functions of the sending unit 501 and the receiving unit 502 or the transceiver unit 605 in the communication device 600 shown in FIG. 6 will not be described in detail.

In the case where the communication apparatus 600 is a terminal, FIG. 8 shows a schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided by the present application. The terminal 800 can be applied to the system shown in FIG. 1 to implement the functions of the terminal in the foregoing method embodiments. For convenience of explanation, FIG. 8 only shows the main components of the terminal.

As shown in FIG. 8 , the terminal 800 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input and output device.

In this application, an antenna and a control circuit with a transceiving function can be regarded as the transceiving unit 801 of the terminal 800, which is used to support the receiving function in the method embodiment of the terminal, or is used to support the sending function in the method embodiment of the terminal. Function. The processor with processing function is regarded as the processing unit 802 of the terminal 800 . As shown in FIG. 8 , the terminal 800 includes a transceiver unit 801 and a processing unit 802 . The transceiving unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver, a transceiving device, or the like. Optionally, the device used for realizing the receiving function in the transceiver unit 801 can be regarded as a receiving unit, and the device used for realizing the sending function in the transceiver unit 801 can be regarded as a sending unit, that is, the transceiver unit 801 includes a receiving unit and a sending unit, The receiving unit may also be called a receiver, an input port, a receiving circuit, etc., and the sending unit may be called a transmitter, a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, and the like.

The processor 802 may be configured to execute a program stored in the memory, so as to control the transceiver unit 801 to receive and/or transmit signals, so as to complete the functions of the terminal in the foregoing method embodiments. As an implementation manner, the function of the transceiver unit 801 can be considered to be implemented by a transceiver circuit or a transceiver dedicated chip.

The present application further provides a communication system, including a first network device and a second network device, where the first network device can be used to perform the operations performed by the first network device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. The second network device may be configured to perform the operations performed by the second network device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 . The communication system may also include a terminal.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the descriptions of the embodiments provided in the present application can be referred to each other for convenience and brevity of the description, for example, regarding the functions and execution steps of the devices and devices provided in the embodiments of the present application Reference may be made to the relevant descriptions of the method embodiments of the present application, and mutual reference, combination or reference may also be made between the method embodiments and the device embodiments.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, the disclosed systems, devices and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, some features of the method embodiments described above may be omitted, or not implemented. The apparatus embodiments described above are only illustrative, and the division of units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, and multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system. In addition, the coupling between the various units or the coupling between the various components may be direct coupling or indirect coupling, and the above-mentioned coupling includes electrical, mechanical or other forms of connection.

It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence numbers of each process does not mean the sequence of execution, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its functions and inherent logic, rather than the embodiments of the present application. implementation constitutes any limitation. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal and/or the network device may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application 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.

Claims

An information transmission method, characterized in that it is used in a communication network including a first network device and a second network device, the first network device supports one or more first slices, and the second network device supports one or multiple second slices, the one or more first slices correspond to at least one first handover trigger threshold, the one or more second slices correspond to at least one second switch trigger threshold, and the method includes:

The first network device sends a first message to the second network device, where the first message includes an identifier of at least one of the second slices and a suggested second handover trigger corresponding to at least one of the second slices a change value of the threshold, and/or the request message includes an identifier of at least one of the first slices and a change value of the first handover trigger threshold corresponding to at least one of the first slices;

The first network device receives a response message to the first message from the second network device, where the response message includes at least one identifier of the first slice, and/or at least one second slice 's identification;

Wherein, the first handover trigger threshold is used for the first network device to determine to switch the terminal that uses the first slice; the second handover trigger threshold is used for the second network device to determine to switch the terminal to use the second slice .
The method of claim 1, wherein:

When the first message includes the identifier of the first slice, the request message further includes the identifier of the cell to which the first slice belongs; and/or,

When the first message includes the identifier of the second slice, the first message further includes the identifier of the cell to which the second slice belongs.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each first slice corresponds to one or more first handover trigger thresholds respectively.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each second slice corresponds to one or more second handover trigger thresholds respectively.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the method further comprises:

The first network device sends a handover request message to the second network device, where the handover request message includes a basis for handing over the terminal from the cell of the first network device to the cell of the second network device. The identifier of the first slice corresponding to the first handover trigger threshold.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the first network device supports two or more first slices, and the two or more first slices belong to at least A first slice group, each of the first slice groups corresponds to one of the first switching trigger thresholds.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4 or 6, wherein the second network device supports two or more second slices, and the two or more second slices belong to at least one second slice group, each of the second slice groups corresponds to one of the second switching trigger thresholds.
The method according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein the first message further indicates the priority of at least one of the first slices.
The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the first message further indicates the priority of at least one of the second slices.
The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the first message further includes the moving speed of the terminal to which the first handover triggering threshold applies.
The method according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the first message further includes a moving speed of the terminal to which the second handover triggering threshold applies.
The method according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein the response message further includes at least one change value of the first handover trigger threshold, and/or at least one change value of the second handover trigger threshold Change the value.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the response message further includes a change range of at least one of the second handover triggering thresholds.
An information transmission method, characterized in that it is used in a communication network including a first network device and a second network device, the first network device supports one or more first slices, and the second network device supports one or multiple second slices, the one or more first slices correspond to at least one first handover trigger threshold, the one or more second slices correspond to at least one second switch trigger threshold, and the method includes:

The second network device receives a first message from the first network device, where the first message includes an identifier of at least one of the second slices and a suggested second slice corresponding to at least one of the second slices a change value of the handover trigger threshold, and/or the request message includes an identifier of at least one of the first slices and a change value of the first handover trigger threshold corresponding to at least one of the first slices;

The second network device sends a response message to the first message to the first network device, where the response message includes at least one identifier of the first slice, and/or at least one identifier of the second slice ;

Wherein, the first handover trigger threshold is used for the first network device to determine to switch the terminal that uses the first slice; the second handover trigger threshold is used for the second network device to determine to switch the terminal to use the second slice .
The method of claim 14, wherein:

When the first message includes the identifier of the first slice, the request message further includes the identifier of the cell to which the first slice belongs; and/or,

When the first message includes the identifier of the second slice, the first message further includes the identifier of the cell to which the second slice belongs.
The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein each first slice corresponds to one or more first handover trigger thresholds respectively.
The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein each second slice corresponds to one or more second handover trigger thresholds respectively.
The method according to any one of claims 14-17, wherein the method further comprises:

The second network device receives a handover request message from the first network device, where the handover request message includes handover of the terminal from the cell of the first network device to the cell of the second network device. The identifier of the first slice corresponding to the first handover trigger threshold.
The method according to any one of claims 14-17, wherein the first network device supports two or more first slices, and the two or more first slices belong to at least A first slice group, each of the first slice groups corresponds to one of the first switching trigger thresholds.
The method according to any one of claims 14-17 or 19, wherein the second network device supports two or more second slices, and the two or more second slices belong to at least one second slice group, each of the second slice groups corresponds to one of the second switching trigger thresholds.
The method according to any one of claims 14-20, wherein the first message further indicates the priority of at least one of the first slices.
The method according to any one of claims 14-21, wherein the first message further indicates the priority of at least one of the second slices.
The method according to any one of claims 14-22, wherein the first message further indicates the moving speed of the terminal to which the first handover trigger threshold applies.
The method according to any one of claims 14-23, wherein the first message further indicates the moving speed of the terminal to which the second handover trigger threshold applies.
The method according to any one of claims 14-24, wherein the response message further includes at least one change value of the first handover trigger threshold, and/or at least one change value of the second handover trigger threshold Change the value.
The method of claim 25, wherein the response message further includes a change range of at least one of the second handover triggering thresholds.
A communication device comprising means or means for performing a method as claimed in any one of claims 1-13.
A communication device comprising means or means for performing a method as claimed in any one of claims 14-26.
A communication device comprising at least one processor for executing instructions stored in a memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1-13.
A communication device comprising at least one processor for executing instructions stored in a memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 14-26.
A computer storage medium having instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-26.
A computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of claims 1-19.
A communication system, comprising a first network device and a second network device, wherein the first network device is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-13, and the second network device is configured to execute the method as claimed in claim 1. The method of any of claims 14-26.