WO2023051046A1

WO2023051046A1 - Access method and apparatus thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2023051046A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/111459
Authority: WO
Inventors: 郝博; 铁晓磊; 杨骞; 花梦
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-09-30
Filing date: 2022-08-10
Publication date: 2023-04-06
Also published as: CN115915201A

Abstract

Disclosed in embodiments of the present application are an access method and an apparatus thereof. The method comprises: a reduced capability terminal device camping on a wireless network, and receiving first information, the first information being used for determining whether a first cell supports access of the reduced capability terminal device; the reduced capability terminal device detecting a synchronization signal of the first cell, and determining, according to the first information, whether the first cell supports the access of the reduced capability terminal device; if the first cell does not support the access of the reduced capability terminal device, determining not to read a master information block (MIB) or a system information block (SIB) of the first cell; and if the first cell supports the access of the reduced capability terminal device, determining to read the MIB or the SIB of the first cell. Compared with a method that uses the MIB or the SIB to determine whether the first cell supports the access of the reduced capability terminal device, using the first information to determine whether the first cell supports the access of the reduced capability terminal device can be more timely, thereby reducing the power consumption of the reduced capability terminal device.

Description

An access method and device thereof

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202111168944.6 and the application title "An access method and its device" submitted to the China Patent Office on September 30, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application middle.

technical field

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and in particular to an access method and device thereof.

Background technique

The main function of the base station is to provide wireless coverage, that is, to realize wireless signal transmission between the wired communication network and the wireless terminal. After the terminal device accesses the base station (that is, establishes a connection with the base station), it can obtain information from the Internet through the base station. However, in some cases, the base station does not support terminal device access. For example, for the reduced capability (reduced capability, RedCap) terminal equipment in the fifth generation communication ( ^5th generation, 5G) new radio (new radio, NR) system, some base stations support the access of the RedCap terminal equipment, while some base stations do not Support the access of the RedCap terminal equipment.

At present, the RedCap terminal device can determine whether the base station supports the access of the RedCap terminal device through the master information block (master information block, MIB) or system information block (system information block, SIB) from the base station. Even if the base station does not support the access of the RedCap terminal device, the RedCap terminal device can only know that the base station does not support the RedCap terminal device after receiving and demodulating the MIB or SIB during the process of trying to access the base station access. The process of trying to access the base station will cause the RedCap terminal device to generate more power consumption.

Contents of the invention

The embodiment of the present application provides an access method and its device. Compared with the method of knowing whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capability through the MIB or SIB, the first information can be used to know in a more timely manner whether the first cell supports Capability reduces terminal device access, which is beneficial to save capacity and reduce power consumption of terminal devices.

In the first aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides an access method, and the execution body of the method may be a terminal device with reduced capabilities, or may be a chip applied to the terminal device with reduced capabilities. The method includes: staying in a wireless network, and receiving first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports the terminal device with reduced capability to access; detecting the synchronization signal of the first cell, and according to the first cell A piece of information to determine whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capabilities; the synchronization signal is at least one of the primary synchronization signal PSS and the secondary synchronization signal SSS; if the first cell does not support terminal equipment access with reduced capabilities, it is determined not to Read the master information block MIB or system information block SIB of the first cell; if the first cell supports the access of the capability-reduced terminal device, determine to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell.

In this technical solution, the capability-reduced terminal device does not need to read the MIB, and can also know whether the first cell supports the access of the capability-reduced terminal device. Compared with not knowing that the cell cannot be accessed until the MIB or SIB is received, in this way, before reading the MIB or SIB, the terminal device with reduced capability already knows whether the first cell supports the reduced capability according to the first information. Terminal equipment access. Therefore, by adopting this solution, the terminal device with reduced capability can identify whether the first cell supports its own access as early as possible, so as to save capability and reduce power consumption of the terminal device.

In an implementation manner, the specific implementation manner of determining whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capability according to the first information may be as follows: if the first information does not include the identification information of the first cell, then determine the first cell Capability reduction terminal device access is not supported.

In this technical solution, by judging whether the first information includes the identification information of the first cell, it can be quickly determined whether the first cell supports access of terminal equipment with reduced capabilities.

In an implementation manner, the first information includes a characteristic sequence, and the characteristic sequence occupies N bits; the specific implementation manner of determining whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capability according to the first information may be: determining the first cell The corresponding K bits of identification information in the feature sequence; N and K are both positive integers, and K<=N; if the value of the K bits does not match the identification information of the first cell, then determine the The first cell does not support terminal equipment access with reduced capabilities.

In this technical solution, direct transmission of the identification information of the first cell can be avoided, thereby improving system security; in addition, signaling overhead can also be saved by transmitting the signature sequence.

In an implementation manner, the identification information of the first cell includes a physical cell identity PCI, a network identifier one NID1 corresponding to the SSS, or a network identifier two NID2 corresponding to the PSS.

In an implementation manner, the specific implementation manner of receiving the first information may be: receiving the first information from the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability; or receiving the first information from the access network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability first information.

In an implementation manner, a specific implementation manner of receiving the first information may be: receiving configuration information from a second cell, where the configuration information carries the first information; and the first cell is a neighboring cell of the second cell.

In an implementation manner, a specific implementation manner of receiving the first information may be: receiving non-access stratum signaling from a mobility management network element serving the terminal device with reduced capabilities, where the non-access stratum signaling carries the first information.

In the second aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides another access method. The execution subject of the method may be the access network device corresponding to the second cell, or a chip applied to the access network device corresponding to the second cell. . The method includes: determining first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capability; the first cell is a neighboring cell of the second cell; The terminal device sends configuration information, where the configuration information carries the first information.

In this technical solution, the access network device corresponding to the second cell can send the first information to the terminal device with reduced capability through the configuration information of the adjacent cell, so that the terminal device with reduced capability can read the MIB or SIB according to the first information Knowing whether the first cell supports the access of the capability-reduced terminal equipment, compared with the way that the capability-reduced terminal equipment can not know the cell that cannot be accessed until after receiving the MIB or SIB, adopting this solution is beneficial to save the function of the capability-reduced terminal equipment. consumption.

In an implementation manner, if the first cell does not support access by a terminal device with reduced capability, the first information does not include the identification information of the first cell.

In an implementation manner, the first information includes a characteristic sequence, and the characteristic sequence occupies N bits; if the first cell does not support terminal equipment access with reduced capability, the identification information of the first cell corresponds to The values of the K bits of , do not match the identity information of the first cell; wherein, N and K are both positive integers, and K<=N.

In an implementation manner, the method may further include: determining one or more cells that support terminal equipment with reduced capability to access; and obtaining a preset sequence, where the preset sequence occupies N bits; for each cell, the The value of K bits corresponding to the identification information of the cell in the preset sequence is modified to obtain the characteristic sequence; wherein, the value of the K bits corresponding to the identification information of the cell in the preset sequence is the same as the identification information of the cell No match, the values of the K bits corresponding to the identity information of the cell in the signature sequence match the identity information of the cell.

In an implementation manner, the identification information of different cells among the multiple cells has different K bits corresponding to them in the preset sequence.

In this technical solution, it is beneficial to improve the accuracy of determining whether a certain cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capability through the characteristic sequence.

In an implementation manner, the identification information includes a physical cell identity PCI, a network identifier one NID1 or a network identifier two NID2.

In the third aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides yet another access method. The execution body of the method may be a core network device serving terminal devices with reduced capabilities, or it may be applied to a core network device serving terminal devices with reduced capabilities chip. The method includes: determining first information, where the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access by a terminal device with reduced capability; and sending the first information to the terminal device with reduced capability residing in the wireless network.

In this technical solution, the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability sends first information to the terminal device with reduced capability, so that the terminal device with reduced capability can know whether the first cell is based on the first information before reading the MIB or SIB. Supporting this ability to reduce the access of terminal equipment, compared with the way that the terminal equipment with reduced capability cannot know that it cannot access the cell until it receives the MIB or SIB, the adoption of this solution is beneficial to save capacity and reduce the power consumption of terminal equipment.

In an implementation manner, the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability is a mobility management network element; the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability sends the first information to the terminal device with reduced capability residing in the wireless network A specific implementation manner may be as follows: the mobility management network element sends non-access stratum signaling to the terminal device with reduced capability residing in the wireless network, where the non-access stratum signaling carries the first information.

In the fourth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which has the ability to realize some or all functions of the terminal device with reduced capabilities in the method example described in the first aspect above, for example, the function of the communication device may have the The functions of some or all of the embodiments may also have the functions of implementing any one embodiment of the present application independently. The functions described above may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software on the hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

In an implementation manner, the structure of the communication device may include a processing unit and a communication unit, and the processing unit is configured to support the communication device to perform corresponding functions in the foregoing method. The communication unit is used to support communication between the communication device and other devices. The communication device may further include a storage unit, which is used to be coupled with the processing unit and the sending unit, and stores necessary computer programs and data of the communication device.

In an implementation manner, the communication device includes: a communication unit configured to reside in a wireless network and receive first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports the terminal device with reduced capability to access a processing unit, configured to detect a synchronization signal of the first cell, and determine whether the first cell supports terminal device access with reduced capabilities according to the first information; the synchronization signal is at least one of the primary synchronization signal PSS and the secondary synchronization signal SSS One: if the first cell does not support the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability, then determine not to read the master information block MIB or system information block SIB of the first cell; if the first cell supports the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability, then Determine to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell.

As an example, the processing unit may be a processor, the communication unit may be a transceiver or a communication interface, and the storage unit may be a memory.

In an implementation manner, the communication device includes: a transceiver configured to reside in a wireless network and receive first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports the ability to reduce terminal equipment access ; a processor, configured to detect a synchronization signal of the first cell, and determine according to the first information whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capabilities; the synchronization signal is at least one of the primary synchronization signal PSS and the secondary synchronization signal SSS One: if the first cell does not support the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability, then determine not to read the master information block MIB or system information block SIB of the first cell; if the first cell supports the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability, then Determine to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell.

In the fifth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides another communication device, the communication device has some or all functions of the access network equipment corresponding to the second cell in the method example described in the second aspect above, for example, the communication device's The functions may have the functions of some or all of the embodiments of the present application, or may have the functions of implementing any one embodiment of the present application alone. The functions described above may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software on the hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

In an implementation manner, the structure of the communication device may include a processing unit and a communication unit, and the processing unit is configured to support the communication device to perform corresponding functions in the foregoing method. The communication unit is used to support communication between the communication device and other equipment. The communication device may further include a storage unit, which is used to be coupled with the processing unit and the sending unit, and stores necessary computer programs and data of the communication device.

In an implementation manner, the communication apparatus includes: a processing unit, configured to determine first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capabilities; the first cell is the second cell a neighboring cell; a communication unit, configured to send configuration information to a terminal device with reduced capabilities residing in the wireless network, where the configuration information carries the first information.

In an implementation manner, the communication apparatus includes: a processor, configured to determine first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capabilities; the first cell is the second cell a neighboring cell; a transceiver configured to send configuration information to a terminal device with reduced capabilities residing in the wireless network, where the configuration information carries the first information.

In the sixth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides yet another communication device, which has some or all of the functions of the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capabilities in the method example described in the third aspect above, such as the communication device The functions may have the functions of some or all of the embodiments in this application, and may also have the functions of implementing any one of the embodiments in this application alone. The functions described above may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by executing corresponding software on the hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

In an implementation manner, the structure of the communication device may include a processing unit and a communication unit, and the processing unit is configured to support the communication device to perform corresponding functions in the foregoing method. The communication unit is used to support communication between the communication device and other equipment. The communication device may also include a storage unit for coupling with the processing unit and the sending unit, which stores necessary computer programs and data of the communication device.

In an implementation manner, the communication device includes: a processing unit, configured to determine first information, and the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access of terminal equipment with reduced capabilities; The capability of the terminal device in the wireless network is reduced to send the first information.

In an implementation manner, the communication apparatus includes: a processor, configured to determine first information, and the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access of terminal equipment with reduced capability; The capability of the terminal device in the wireless network is reduced to send the first information.

In the seventh aspect, the embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed by the communication device, the communication device Execute the method of the first aspect above.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed by the communication device, the communication device Execute the method of the second aspect above.

In the ninth aspect, the embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed by the communication device, the communication device Execute the method of the third aspect above.

In a tenth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product including a computer program, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method described in the first aspect above.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product including a computer program, which when run on a computer causes the computer to execute the method described in the second aspect above.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product including a computer program, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method described in the third aspect above.

In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor and an interface, configured to support a terminal device with reduced capabilities to implement the functions involved in the first aspect, for example, determine or process the At least one of the data and information involved. In a possible design, the system-on-a-chip further includes a memory, and the memory is configured to store computer programs and data necessary for the terminal device with reduced capabilities. The system-on-a-chip may consist of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor and an interface, configured to support the access network equipment corresponding to the second cell to implement the functions involved in the second aspect, for example, determine or Processing at least one of the data and information involved in the above methods. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, and the memory is configured to store necessary computer programs and data of the access network equipment corresponding to the second cell. The system-on-a-chip may consist of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

In a fifteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, which includes at least one processor and an interface, configured to support core network devices serving terminal devices with reduced capabilities to implement the functions involved in the third aspect, for example, to determine Or process at least one of the data and information involved in the above methods. In a possible design, the system-on-a-chip further includes a memory, and the memory is configured to store computer programs and data necessary for core network devices serving terminal devices with reduced capabilities. The system-on-a-chip may consist of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

Description of drawings

Figure 1a is a schematic diagram of a SSB;

Fig. 1b is a schematic flow chart of a cell search;

FIG. 1c is a schematic diagram of a communication system disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of an access method disclosed in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of another access method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of another access method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of another access method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application;

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

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

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

In order to better understand the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, technical terms involved in the embodiments of the present application are firstly introduced.

1. Synchronization Signal Block (SSB)

In the new radio (NR) system, SSB consists of but not limited to: primary synchronization signal (primary synchronization signal, PSS), secondary synchronization signal (secondary synchronization signal, SSS) and physical broadcast channel (physical broadcast channel, PBCH ).

As shown in Figure 1a, it is a schematic diagram of SSB. In the NR system, SSB occupies 4 orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, OFDM) symbols (symbols) (0~4). PSS and SSS occupy one symbol in the time domain, and occupy 127 resource elements (resource element, RE) or subcarriers (56-182) in the frequency domain. Among them, PSS occupies symbol 0 in SSB, and SSS occupies symbol 2 in SSB.

2. Physical cell identity (PCI)

PCI is used to identify cells at the physical layer. The terminal device can determine the PCI through network identifier one (network identity1, NID1) and network identifier two (network identity2, NID2). In an implementation manner, PCI=3NID1+NID2, for details, refer to the description in standard 38.211. Among them, NID1 can be obtained from SSS, and NID2 can be obtained from PSS.

It should be noted that the names and forms of the information mentioned in the following embodiments of the present application are just examples, and other names or forms may also be used in specific implementations, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application. Wherein, the network identifier may also be referred to as a network identification code. PCI can be expressed as

NID1 can be expressed as

NID2 can be expressed as

3. Cell search process

Please refer to FIG. 1 b , which is a schematic flow diagram of cell search, which may include but not limited to step S101 to step S106 .

Step S101: the terminal device searches for PSS and SSS.

The terminal device searches the PSS on several center frequency points where cells may exist, judges whether there may be cells around the frequency point based on the received signal strength, obtains NID2 from the PSS, and obtains time slot synchronization.

After the time slot is synchronized, the terminal device searches the SSS, obtains NID1 from the SSS, and obtains frame synchronization. The terminal device determines the PCI of the current cell according to NID1 and NID2. After time slot synchronization and frame synchronization are obtained, it can be considered that the terminal device has obtained downlink synchronization with the current cell.

Step S102: Demodulate the reference signal.

After the PCI is determined, the terminal device demodulates the reference signal to obtain accurate time slot and frequency synchronization, and at the same time can perform channel estimation for demodulating the PBCH.

Step S103: Demodulate the PBCH.

After frame synchronization, the terminal equipment demodulates the PBCH. By demodulating the PBCH, the system frame number, bandwidth information, and antenna configuration can be obtained.

The PBCH carries some limited system information, and more detailed system information is carried by the system information block (SIB), which is carried on the broadcast control channel (MAC) at the medium access control (MAC) layer. broadcast control channel (BCCH) and mapped to the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) at the physical layer.

Step S104: Determine the number of symbols occupied by the PDCCH.

Taking the 5G system as an example, the terminal device can receive high-level parameters from the network, and the high-level parameters can indicate the number of symbols occupied by the PDCCH for subsequent demodulation of the PDCCH. Wherein, the high-layer information may be carried in RRC signaling.

Step S105: blindly detect the PDCCH.

Search the candidate PDCCH in the public search space of the PDCCH channel domain, if a candidate PDCCH is found and passes the cyclic redundancy check (cyclic redundancy check, CRC) check, it means that there is an SIB message.

Step S106: Demodulate the PDSCH.

The terminal device receives and demodulates the PDSCH, and reports the SIB obtained after demodulation to a high layer protocol stack, such as a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) layer. The terminal device continuously receives the SIB, and the terminal device judges whether the current cell can camp on according to the search measurement result, the S criterion and the R criterion by analyzing the SIB. If the current cell can be camped on, the terminal device can camp on the current cell. Further, the terminal device can obtain uplink synchronization with the current cell through a random access procedure.

Currently, a master information block (master information block, MIB) carried in the PBCH can indicate whether the current cell supports terminal device access. If the current cell does not support the access of the terminal device, it can be seen from the cell search process shown in Figure 1a that the terminal device will not know that it cannot access the cell until it receives the MIB, so that the terminal device will generate unnecessary power consumption.

4. Stay

After the terminal equipment obtains downlink synchronization with a certain cell, it can judge whether the cell meets the camping condition. If the camping condition is met, it can camp in the cell; if the camping condition is not met, it will not camp in the cell. Wherein, whether the cell satisfies the camping condition can be judged by the S criterion or the R criterion.

In the embodiment of the present application, the fact that the terminal device resides in a certain cell means that the terminal device has obtained the PCI of the cell and has achieved downlink synchronization with the cell. The terminal equipment resides in a certain network, which means that the terminal equipment resides in a certain cell in the network.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the state of the terminal device after camping in the cell. For example, the terminal device may be in an idle state (RRC-idle), an activated state (RRC-connected) or an inactive state (RRC-inactive). However, when the terminal equipment receives the first information from the cell where it resides, the terminal equipment is in the activated state; when it receives the first information from the core network equipment, the terminal equipment can be in the activated state or the deactivated state. active state.

In order to better understand an access method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application, the communication system to which the embodiment of the present application applies is firstly described below.

Please refer to FIG. 1c. FIG. 1c is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system disclosed in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1c, the communication system includes: a capability-reduced terminal device 101 and an access network device 102 corresponding to the first cell.

Wherein, the terminal device 101 with reduced capability may be configured to reside in the wireless network and receive first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access of the terminal device 101 with reduced capability. It should be noted that the meaning of the first cell supporting the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability is: the first cell has the function of supporting the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability; or, the first cell has the function of supporting the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability , and the first cell allows terminal equipment with reduced capabilities to access (or the first cell enables the function of supporting terminal equipment with reduced capabilities to access). It can be understood that the meaning that the first cell does not support the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability means that: the first cell does not have the function of supporting access of terminal equipment with reduced capability; or, the first cell supports the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability. function, but the first cell does not allow terminal equipment with reduced capability to access (or the first cell disables the function supporting terminal equipment with reduced capability to access).

The access network device 102 may be configured to send a synchronization signal of the first cell. Correspondingly, the capability-reduced terminal device 101 may also be used to detect the synchronization signal of the first cell, and determine whether the first cell supports the access of the capability-reduced terminal device 101 according to the first information. If the first cell does not support the access of the terminal device 101 with reduced capability, determine not to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell; if the first cell supports the access of the terminal device 101 with reduced capability, determine to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell .

In this manner, the terminal device 101 with reduced capabilities can learn whether the first cell supports access by the terminal device 101 with reduced capabilities without reading the MIB. Compared with not knowing the inaccessible cell until it receives the MIB or SIB, in this way, before reading the MIB or SIB, the terminal device 101 with reduced capability already knows whether the cell supports the reduced capability according to the first information The terminal device 101 accesses. Therefore, by adopting this solution, the capability-reducing terminal device 101 can identify whether the first cell supports its own access as early as possible, thereby saving the power consumption of the capability-reducing terminal device. It should be noted that, before reading the MIB or SIB, the terminal device 101 with reduced capabilities already knows whether the cell supports the access of the terminal device 101 with reduced capabilities according to the first information, where "before reading the MIB or SIB" is used At the time point of explaining "according to the first information, it is known whether the cell supports the access of the terminal device 101 with reduced capabilities", compared to the traditional "according to the MIB or SIB, it is known whether the cell supports the access of the terminal device 101 with reduced capabilities". The time point is earlier, so by adopting this solution, the terminal device with reduced capability 101 can identify whether the first cell supports its own access as early as possible, instead of limiting the terminal device with reduced capability to read the MIB or SIB in this embodiment of the application. In this embodiment of the present application, if it is determined according to the first information that the first cell does not support access by a terminal device with reduced capabilities, the terminal device with reduced capabilities may not read the MIB or SIB of the first cell.

Wherein, the capability-reduced terminal device 101 may be an entity on the user side for receiving or transmitting signals. Specifically, the capability reduction terminal device 101 may include but not limited to: NR RedCap terminal device, machine-type communication (machine-type communication, MTC) terminal device, low-power consumption terminal device, bandwidth-limited terminal device, or Internet of Things (Internet of Things) terminal device. things, terminal devices in the IoT system, etc. Wherein, the MTC terminal equipment may include: enhanced machine type communication (enhance MTC, eMTC) and narrowband (narrow band, NB) terminal equipment. The capability reduction terminal device 101 may also be a user equipment (user equipment, UE), a remote terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless communication device, a user device, etc., wherein the user equipment may be a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a notebook computer, or other wearable devices, etc. .

The access network device 102 may be an entity on the network side for transmitting or receiving signals. The access network device 102 may provide functions such as radio resource management, service quality management, data encryption and compression for the terminal device 101 with reduced capabilities. The access network device 102 may be a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) device. The access network device may include a base station (base station, BS), which may be a device deployed in a wireless access network and capable of performing wireless communication with a terminal device. Among them, the base station may have various forms, such as a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay station, and an access point.

Optionally, the communication system shown in FIG. 1c may further include core network equipment (not shown in FIG. 1c). The core network equipment can have the following functions: provide broadband access services, realize the aggregation and forwarding of various services, meet the requirements of different users for transmission capacity and bandwidth utilization, and be used to terminate and manage the point-to-point protocol (Point-to-Point Protocol) on the Ethernet of users. -to-Point Protocol Over Ethernet, PPPoE)/IPoE session, providing authentication service, authorization service or billing service. The capability-reduced terminal device 101 can access the wireless network through the access network device 102, and register in the core network through the core network device.

Wherein, the core network equipment may include: a mobility management network element, a session management network element, a user plane network element, and the like. In the NR system, the mobile management network element can be an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element, and the session management network element can be a session management function (session management function, SMF) network element. The plane network element may be a user plane function (user plane function, UPF) network element. Among them, the mobility management network element is the termination point of non-access stratum (non-access stratum, NAS) signaling, and is mainly responsible for user access authentication and mobility management. The UE and the AMF can communicate through the N1NAS message, and the communication message between the UE and the AMF can also be transferred through the N2 message of the RAN. RAN and AMF communicate through N2 messages. The session management network element is responsible for session management, such as user session establishment and deletion, maintenance of protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session context and user plane forwarding pipeline information, etc. The user plane network element is used to process user packets, such as forwarding and charging.

The technology described in the embodiments of the present application can be used in various communication systems, such as a fifth generation communication (5 ^th generation, 5G) system, a system in which multiple communication systems are integrated, or a communication system that evolves in the future, such as a 6G communication system. It should be noted that the network element names and message names mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used as examples. They are applied in different communication systems, and the network element and message names may be different, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

It can be understood that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present application is to illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application more clearly, and does not constitute a limitation to the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art know that with the system For the evolution of architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

The access method and communication device provided by the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to Figure 2, Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of an access method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the method includes but is not limited to the following steps:

Step S201: A terminal device with a reduced capability resides in a wireless network, and receives first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access of the terminal device with a reduced capability.

A reduced capability terminal device resides in a wireless network and receives first information from the wireless network. Specifically, the capability-reduced terminal device may receive the first information from an access network device in the wireless network, the access network device serves the capability-reduced terminal device, and the access network device may reside for the capability-reduced terminal device An access network device corresponding to a serving cell in a wireless network.

In the first implementation manner, the access network device may be the access network device corresponding to the second cell, and the foregoing capability-reduced terminal device camping on the wireless network may refer to the capability-reduced terminal device camping in the second cell, That is, the aforementioned serving cell is the second cell. The first cell may be a neighboring cell of the second cell. In this case, the first information may be carried in neighboring cell configuration information, and the neighboring cell configuration information may be carried in SIB information. It should be noted that, in this case, the meaning of the capability-reduced terminal device camping on the second cell and receiving the first information may be: the capability-reduced terminal device resides on the second cell and is in an active state, so that it can receive the first information from The second cell receives the first information. It should also be noted that after camping on the second cell, the terminal device with reduced capability may be in an idle state, and then turn into an active state, and receive the first information in the active state. For a specific description about the first implementation manner, refer to the description in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 3 .

In the second implementation manner, the access network device may be the access network device corresponding to the first cell, and the aforementioned capability-reduced terminal device camping on the wireless network may refer to the capability-reduced terminal device camping in the first cell, That is, the aforementioned serving cell is the first cell. In this case, the access network device corresponding to the first cell may send the first information through a control channel or a data channel. For example, the first information is carried through the SIB in the PDSCH, or the first information is carried through the MIB in the PBCH. It should be noted that, in this case, the meaning of the capability-reduced terminal device camping in the first cell and receiving the first information may be: the capability-reduced terminal device resides in the first cell and is in an active state, so that it can receive the first information from The first cell receives first information. It should also be noted that after camping on the first cell, the terminal device with reduced capabilities may be in an idle state, and then turn into an active state, and receive the first information in the active state. For a specific description about the second implementation manner, refer to the description in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 4 .

In a third implementation manner, the capability-reduced terminal device may receive the first information from a core network device in the wireless network, and the core network device serves the capability-reduced terminal device. In this case, the core network device may send the first information through a plane or data-oriented capability reduction terminal device. For example, the first information is carried through NAS signaling. It should be noted that, in this case, the meaning of the capability-reduced terminal device residing in the wireless network and receiving the first information may be: the capability-reduced terminal device resides in the network corresponding to the access network device served by the core network device. In a certain cell, and in a connected state or in an inactive state, the first information can be received from the core network device. For a specific description of the third implementation manner, refer to the description in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 5 .

Wherein, the first information may explicitly carry identification information of a cell that supports access by a terminal device with a reduced capability, or may implicitly carry identification information of a cell that supports access by a terminal device with a reduced capability. The explicit carrying means that the first information includes the identification information of the cell that supports the access of the terminal device with reduced capability. Implicit carrying means that the first information includes: information that has a corresponding relationship with the identification information of the cell that supports the access of the terminal device with reduced capability, and the identity of the cell that supports the access of the terminal device with reduced capability can be determined through this information and the corresponding relationship Alternatively, it may be determined whether a certain cell (such as the first cell) supports access of terminal equipment with reduced capabilities. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the first information explicitly carrying or implicitly carrying the identification information of the cell that supports the access of the terminal device with reduced capability is used as an example and does not constitute a limitation. In a specific implementation, the first information may also explicitly or implicitly carry identification information of cells that do not support access by the terminal device with reduced capabilities.

In an implementation manner, the first information may include identification information of a cell that supports access by a terminal device with a reduced capability. For example, the first information includes an identity set, where the identity set includes identity information of one or more cells, and each cell identified by the identity information in the identity set supports access of a terminal device with reduced capability. The first information may be determined by a sender of the first information, and the sender may be an access network device or a core network device serving the reduced capability terminal device. Taking the sender as an access network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability as an example, the generation method of the first information is described: the access network device determines the cell that supports the access of the terminal device with reduced capability, and carries the reduced support capability in the first information. Identification information of the cell accessed by the terminal device. That is, if the first cell does not support terminal equipment with reduced capability to access, the first information does not include the identification information of the first cell; if the first cell supports terminal equipment with reduced capability to access, the first information includes the first cell. The identification information of the cell. By judging whether the first information includes the identification information of the first cell, it can be quickly determined whether the first cell supports access of terminal equipment with reduced capability.

In another implementation manner, the first information may include a feature sequence, and the identification information of a cell that supports access by a terminal device with reduced capabilities matches the feature sequence; and the identification information of a cell that does not support access by a terminal device with reduced capabilities matches the feature sequence. Sequence mismatch. Wherein, the characteristic sequence may occupy N bits, and the identification information of each cell may correspond to K bits in the N bits. The matching of the identification information of the cell that supports the access of the terminal device with reduced capability and the feature sequence may refer to: the identification information of the cell that supports the access of the terminal device with reduced capability, the value of the K bits corresponding to the N bits, Match with the identification information of the cell. Similarly, the aforementioned mismatch between the identification information of the cell that supports the terminal device with reduced support capability and the characteristic sequence may refer to: the identification information of the cell that supports the terminal device with reduced capability to access, the corresponding K bits in the N bits The value of the bit does not match the identification information of the cell. Wherein, N and K are both positive integers, and K<=N. By adopting the way of reducing the ability of the terminal equipment to receive the characteristic sequence from the network, it is possible to avoid the transmission of identification information of the cell, thereby improving system security; in addition, by transmitting the characteristic sequence, the signaling overhead can also be saved.

The characteristic sequence may be determined by the sender of the first information. For the sender of the first information, if the first cell does not support the access of terminal equipment with reduced capabilities, the identity information of the first cell corresponds to the The value of the K bits does not match the identification information of the first cell; if the first cell’s ability to support terminal equipment access is reduced, the value of the K bits corresponding to the identification information of the first cell in the feature sequence is the same as the value of the first cell The identification information of the first cell matches. Taking the sender as an access network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability as an example to illustrate the generation method of the characteristic sequence: the access network device determines one or more cells that support the access of the terminal device with reduced capability; and obtains the preset sequence, The preset sequence occupies N bits; for each of the one or more cells, modify the value of K bits corresponding to the identity information of the cell in the preset sequence to obtain the aforementioned features sequence. It should be noted that the signature sequence is obtained after performing the above operations on each of the one or more cells. Wherein, the value of the K bits corresponding to the identity information of the cell in the preset sequence does not match the identity information of the cell; after modification, the value of the K bits corresponding to the identity information of the cell in the characteristic sequence and The identification information of the cell matches. The K bits corresponding to the preset sequence and the characteristic sequence of the same cell are the same.

Optionally, the value of each bit in the N bits occupied by the preset sequence may be the first preset value, the identification information of the cell that supports the ability to reduce the access of the terminal device, and the corresponding K in the feature sequence The value of each bit may be a second preset value. In other words, the access network device modifies the value of the corresponding K bits in the preset sequence of the identification information of the cell that supports the terminal device with reduced capability to access from the first preset value to the second preset value. Wherein, the first preset value may be not set, such as 0 or null. The second preset value may be 1. Optionally, the K bits corresponding to the cell in the N bits (of the preset sequence or the signature sequence) can be determined in the following manner: Input the identification information of the cell into the preset function to obtain an output result; the output result indicates K bits out of N bits. It should be noted that both the device that generates the signature sequence and the device that uses the signature sequence (that is, the capability-reduced terminal device) are aware of the preset function, so that the capability-reduced terminal device can obtain the identity information of the first cell, according to the first cell. The identification information of a cell and the preset function perform the same operation (i.e. input the identification information of the first cell into the preset function to determine the K bits corresponding to the identification information in the feature sequence) to determine whether the first cell The support capability reduces terminal device access. Optionally, the preset function, the first preset value, and the second preset value may be stipulated in a protocol, or the network may indicate the preset function, the first preset value, and the second preset value to the terminal device with reduced capabilities value, which is not limited in the embodiments of this application. The preset function may be a hash function or other functions.

Exemplarily, N=6, K=2, the first preset value is 0, the second preset value is 1, the preset sequence is 000000, and the set of cells that support terminal equipment with reduced capability to access includes cell a and cell b . If the identity information of cell a corresponds to the first and third bits in the preset sequence, and the identity information of cell b corresponds to the second and fifth bits in the preset sequence, then the preset The sequence is modified, and the obtained feature sequence is 111010.

In an implementation manner, for multiple cells that support terminal equipment access with reduced capabilities, the identification information of different cells in the multiple cells has different K bits in the preset sequence. It can be understood that the multiple The K bits corresponding to the identification information of different cells in the feature sequence among the cells are also different. In this way, it is beneficial to improve the accuracy of determining whether a certain cell supports terminal device access with reduced capability through the characteristic sequence.

Wherein, the identity information of the cell may include the cell identity (such as PCI), NID1 or NID2 of the cell.

Step S202: The access network device corresponding to the first cell sends a synchronization signal of the first cell, and the synchronization signal is at least one of PSS and SSS; correspondingly, the capability-reduced terminal device detects the synchronization signal of the first cell.

The access network device corresponding to the first cell broadcasts the synchronization signal of the first cell, and the terminal device with reduced capability detects the synchronization signal of the first cell, and may obtain the identification information of the first cell according to the synchronization signal. Specifically, if the synchronization signal is a PSS, the identification information acquired by the capability-reduced terminal device according to the PSS is the NID2 of the first cell. If the synchronization signal is the SSS, the identification information acquired by the capability-reduced terminal device according to the SSS is the NID1 of the first cell. If the synchronization signal is PSS and SSS, the identification information acquired by the capability-reduced terminal device according to the PSS and SSS is the NID1 and NID2 of the first cell. Further, the capability-reduced terminal device can determine the NID1 and NID2 of the first cell according to the PCI of the first cell.

Step S203: The terminal device with reduced capability detects the synchronization signal of the first cell, and determines whether the first cell supports access of the terminal device with reduced capability according to the first information.

In an implementation manner, if the first information does not include the identification information of the first cell, the terminal device with reduced capabilities may determine that the first cell does not support access of the terminal device with reduced capabilities. If the first information includes the identification information of the first cell, the terminal device with reduced capabilities may determine that the first cell supports access of the terminal device with reduced capabilities. Exemplarily, if the first information includes an identity set, and the identity set includes NID2 of one or more cells, the one or more cells support terminal device access with reduced capability. After detecting the PSS of the first cell and obtaining the NID2 of the first cell according to the PSS, the terminal device with reduced capability can judge whether the NID2 of the first cell is included in the identity set; if the identity set includes the first cell If the NID2 of the first cell is not included in the identification set, it indicates that the first cell supports access of terminal equipment with reduced capability; if the NID2 of the first cell is not included in the identity set, it indicates that the first cell does not support access of terminal equipment with reduced capability. Exemplarily, if the first information includes an identification set, and the identification set includes PCIs of one or more cells, the one or more cells support terminal device access with reduced capability. Then the capability-reduced terminal device detects the PSS and SSS of the first cell, obtains the NID2 and NID1 of the first cell according to the PSS and SSS, and determines the PCI of the first cell according to the NID2 and NID1 of the first cell. Whether the PCI of the first cell is included in the identification set; if the PCI of the first cell is included in the identification set, it indicates that the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capability; if the PCI of the first cell is not included in the identification set , it indicates that the first cell does not support access of terminal equipment with reduced capabilities.

In another implementation manner, the first information includes the aforementioned characteristic sequence, and the capability-reduced terminal device detects the synchronization signal of the first cell, and may determine K bits corresponding to the identification information of the first cell in the characteristic sequence; If the values of the K bits do not match the identification information of the first cell, it may be determined that the first cell does not support access of the capability-reduced terminal device. If the values of the K bits match the identification information of the first cell, it may be determined that the first cell does not support access of the capability-reduced terminal device.

Step S204: If the first cell does not support access by a terminal device with reduced capability, then the terminal device with reduced capability determines not to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell; if the first cell supports access by a terminal device with reduced capability, then The capability reduction terminal device determines to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell.

The first cell does not support the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability. The terminal device with reduced capability determines not to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell, which can save power consumption and try to access other cells as soon as possible, which is conducive to shortening the reduction in capability. The length of time the terminal device is connected to the network. If the first cell supports access by a terminal device with reduced capability, then the terminal device with reduced capability can continue to read the MIB and/or SIB of the first cell according to the flow shown in Figure 1b, and initiate random access to the first cell.

Compared with knowing whether the capability-reduced terminal device accesses the first cell through the MIB or SIB, by implementing the embodiment of the present application, the capability-reduced terminal device can identify as early as possible whether the first cell supports the capability-reduced terminal device access, thereby saving capacity. Reducing the power consumption of the terminal equipment is also beneficial to shorten the time for the terminal equipment to access the network.

Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of another access method provided by the embodiment of the present application. The method describes in detail that the sender of the first information is the access network device corresponding to the second cell, and the first cell In the case of a neighboring cell of the second cell, how the terminal device obtains the first information is reduced in capability. The method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

Step S301: The access network device corresponding to the second cell determines first information, and the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access of a terminal device with reduced capabilities; the first cell is a neighboring cell of the second cell.

In an implementation manner, the first information may be generated by an access network device corresponding to the second cell. Optionally, the access network device corresponding to the second cell may determine whether each neighboring cell of the second cell (including the first cell) supports access by a terminal device with reduced capabilities, and then generate the first information. For the execution process of the access network device corresponding to the second cell to generate the first information, refer to the detailed description of the generation of the first information by the access network device serving the reduced capability terminal device in step S201 in FIG. 2 , which will not be repeated here.

In another implementation manner, the first information may be generated by a core network device serving the capability-reduced terminal device, and the core network device may send the first information to the access network device corresponding to the second cell, and correspondingly, The access network device corresponding to the second cell receives the first information. The execution process of the core network device to generate the first information is similar to the process of generating the first information by the access network device serving the reduced capability terminal device in step S201 in FIG. 2 , and will not be repeated here.

Step S302: The access network device corresponding to the second cell sends configuration information, where the configuration information carries the first information. Correspondingly, the capability-reduced terminal device resides in the wireless network, and receives the configuration information from the second cell.

Wherein, the capability-reduced terminal device camping on the wireless network refers to: the capability-reduced terminal device camping on the second cell. The configuration information may be neighboring cell configuration information. Exemplarily, the neighbor cell configuration information of the second cell may be as shown in Table 1. Wherein, the first cell may be neighboring cell a or neighboring cell b.

Table 1 Neighboring cell configuration information of the second cell

第二小区的邻区Neighborhood of the second cell	邻区是否支持能力降低终端设备接入Whether the adjacent cell supports capacity-reducing terminal equipment access
邻区aNeighborhood a	支持support
邻区bNeighborhood b	不支持not support

It should be noted that the access network device corresponding to the second cell may be the same as or different from the access network device corresponding to the first cell, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Step S303: The access network device corresponding to the first cell sends a synchronization signal of the first cell, and the synchronization signal is at least one of PSS and SSS; correspondingly, the capability-reduced terminal device detects the synchronization signal of the first cell.

It should be noted that, for the execution process of step S303, reference may be made to the specific description of step S202 in FIG. 2 , which will not be repeated here.

Step S304: The capability-reduced terminal device detects the synchronization signal of the first cell, and determines whether the first cell supports the access of the capability-reduced terminal device according to the first information.

The capability-reduced terminal device camps in the second cell, and after receiving configuration information from the second cell, it may try to access a neighboring cell of the second cell (such as the first cell) according to the configuration information.

In an implementation manner, the terminal device with reduced capabilities may try to access the first cell during the cell handover process, that is, the terminal device with reduced capabilities performs step S304 (that is, detects the synchronization signal of the first cell, and When determining whether the first cell supports access by the terminal device with reduced capability through the information, it may still reside in the second cell.

In another implementation manner, after leaving the second cell, the terminal device with reduced capability may try to access the first cell, that is, the terminal with reduced capability When the device executes step S304, it may not camp on the second cell. In other words, when performing step S304, the terminal device with reduced capability may camp on a certain cell (such as the second cell or the third cell), or may not camp on any cell (that is, not camp on the wireless network).

It should be noted that, for the execution process of step S304, reference may be made to the specific description of step S203 in FIG. 2 , which will not be repeated here.

Step S305: If the first cell does not support access by a terminal device with reduced capability, then the terminal device with reduced capability determines not to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell; if the first cell supports access by a terminal device with reduced capability, then The capability reduction terminal device determines to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell.

It should be noted that, for the execution process of step S305, reference may be made to the specific description of step S204 in FIG. 2 , which will not be repeated here.

Please refer to Fig. 4, Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of another access method provided by the embodiment of the present application. This method elaborates on the capability Reduce how the terminal device obtains the first information. The method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

Step S401: The access network device corresponding to the first cell determines first information, and the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access by a terminal device with reduced capabilities.

In an implementation manner, the first information may be generated by an access network device corresponding to the first cell. For the execution process of the access network device corresponding to the first cell to generate the first information, refer to the specific description of the generation of the first information by the access network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability in step S201 in FIG. 2 , which will not be repeated here.

In another implementation manner, the first information may be generated by a core network device serving the capability-reduced terminal device, and the core network device may send the first information to the access network device corresponding to the first cell, and correspondingly, The access network device corresponding to the first cell receives the first information. The execution process of the core network device generating the first information is similar to the process of generating the first information by the access network device serving the reduced capability terminal device in step S201 in FIG. 2 , and details are not repeated here.

Step S402: the access network device corresponding to the first cell sends the first information. Correspondingly, the capability-reduced terminal device resides in the wireless network, and receives the first information from the first cell.

Wherein, the capability-reduced terminal device camping on the wireless network refers to: the capability-reduced terminal device camping on the first cell. The access network device corresponding to the first cell may broadcast the first information, and all terminal devices with reduced capabilities residing in the first cell may receive the first information. Optionally, the first information may be carried in a control channel or a data channel. For example, the access network device corresponding to the first cell sends a PDSCH to the terminal device, and the SIB carried by the PDSCH carries the first information. Alternatively, the access network device corresponding to the first cell sends a PBCH to the terminal device, and the MIB carried by the PBCH carries the first information. Alternatively, the first information is carried in a synchronization signal (such as PSS and SSS) of the first cell. It should be noted that in this case, the synchronization signal is sent at a different time from the synchronization signal of the first cell in step S403, Not the same signal.

Step S403: The access network device corresponding to the first cell sends a synchronization signal of the first cell, and the synchronization signal is at least one of PSS and SSS; correspondingly, the capability-reduced terminal device detects the synchronization signal of the first cell.

Step S404: The terminal device with reduced capability detects the synchronization signal of the first cell, and determines whether the first cell supports access of the terminal device with reduced capability according to the first information.

In an implementation manner, the capability-reduced terminal device camps in the first cell, and after receiving the first information from the first cell, may lose synchronization with the first cell. After out of synchronization, during the cell search process for the first cell by the reduced capability terminal device, step S404 may be performed (that is, to detect the synchronization signal of the first cell, and determine whether the first cell supports the reduced capability according to the first information) terminal equipment access). Optionally, the terminal equipment with reduced capability after out of synchronization may camp on other cells or not camp on any cell. The terminal device with reduced capability may lose synchronization with the first cell due to restart.

In another implementation manner, the capability-reduced terminal device resides in the first cell, and may handover from the first cell to the fourth cell after receiving the first information from the first cell. Then, step S404 may be performed during the handover process of the capability-reduced terminal device from the fourth cell to the first cell. Alternatively, after leaving the fourth cell, the terminal device with reduced capabilities camps on other cells except the fourth cell and the first cell or does not camp on any cell, step S404 may be executed. In other words, the terminal device with reduced capability may reside in the first cell when receiving the first information, detects the synchronization signal of the first cell, and determines whether the first cell supports the access of the terminal device with reduced capability according to the first information (step S404), does not reside in the first cell.

It should be noted that, for the execution process of step S404, reference may be made to the specific description of step S203 in FIG. 2 , which will not be repeated here.

Step S405: If the first cell does not support access by a terminal device with reduced capability, then the terminal device with reduced capability determines not to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell; if the first cell supports access by a terminal device with reduced capability, then The capability reduction terminal device determines to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell.

It should be noted that, the execution process of step S405 may refer to the specific description of step S204 in FIG. 2 , which will not be repeated here.

Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of another access method provided by an embodiment of the present application. This method elaborates in detail that when the sender of the first information is a core network device serving a terminal device with reduced capabilities, How to reduce the ability of the terminal device to obtain the first information. The method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps:

Step S501: A core network device serving a terminal device with reduced capability determines first information, where the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access of the terminal device with reduced capability.

In an implementation manner, the first information may be generated by a core network device serving a terminal device with reduced capabilities. The execution process of generating the first information by the core network device serving the reduced-capability terminal device is similar to the process of generating the first information by the access network device serving the reduced-capability terminal device in step S201 in FIG. 2 , and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the core network device in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 5 may be a mobility management network element, and the first information may be generated by the mobility management network element, or the first information may be generated by other core network elements, such as Generated by the data management network element. The network element of the core network may send the first information to the mobility management network element serving the terminal device with reduced capability, and correspondingly, the mobility management network element serving the terminal device with reduced capability receives the first information. The execution process of the core network element to generate the first information is similar to the process of generating the first information by the access network device serving the reduced capability terminal device in step S201 in FIG. 2 , and will not be repeated here. In the NR system, the data management network element may be a unified data management (unified data management, UDM) network element.

Step S502: the core network device sends the first information to the terminal device with reduced capability. Correspondingly, the capability-reduced terminal device resides in the wireless network and receives the first information.

The core network device may send the first information through a control plane or a data-oriented capability reduction terminal device. Taking the control plane as an example, the core network device may send the first information to the capability-reduced terminal device through a mobility management network element. Taking the data plane as an example, the core network device may send the first information to the capability-reduced terminal device through a user plane network element.

The mobility management network element may send the first information to the capability-reduced terminal device through the NAS layer, that is, the mobility management network element sends NAS signaling to the capability-reduced terminal device, and the NAS signaling carries the first information. Correspondingly, the capability-reduced terminal device resides in the wireless network and receives the NAS signaling. Wherein, the capability-reduced terminal device resides in the wireless network refers to: the capability-reduced terminal device resides in the cell (such as the first cell, the second cell or other cells) corresponding to the access network device served by the mobility management network element middle. One mobility management network element can serve one or more access network devices, and one access network device can correspond to one or more cells. It should be noted that the capability-reduced terminal device may reside in a certain cell corresponding to the access network device served by the core network device, and is in the connected state or inactive state, and successfully registered with the core network, receive NAS signaling from the mobility management network element. Wherein, the capability-reduced terminal device is successfully registered in the core network, which may be understood as the capability-reduced terminal device is attached to the core network device.

In an implementation manner, the mobility management network element may send the NAS signaling to the terminal device with reduced capability after establishing a NAS connection with the terminal device with reduced capability. In an implementation manner, the mobility management network element may send the NAS signaling to the terminal device with reduced capability during the registration process of the terminal device with reduced capability. At this time, the NAS signaling may be a NAS registration acceptance message, and the NAS registration acceptance message is used to indicate that the capability-reduced terminal device successfully accesses the core network. In another implementation manner, the mobility management network element may send the NAS signaling to the terminal device with reduced capability after the registration process of the terminal device with reduced capability ends.

It should be noted that the mobility management network element may directly send the NAS signaling to the capability-reduced terminal device, or the mobility management network element may send the NAS signaling to the capability-reduced terminal device through the access network device serving the capability-reduced terminal device. The NAS signaling.

Step S503: The access network device corresponding to the first cell sends a synchronization signal of the first cell, and the synchronization signal is at least one of PSS and SSS; correspondingly, the capability-reduced terminal device detects the synchronization signal of the first cell.

Step S504: The terminal device with reduced capability detects the synchronization signal of the first cell, and determines whether the first cell supports access of the terminal device with reduced capability according to the first information.

Step S505: If the first cell does not support access by a terminal device with reduced capability, then the terminal device with reduced capability determines not to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell; if the first cell supports access by a terminal device with reduced capability, then The capability reduction terminal device determines to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell.

It should be noted that, for the execution process of step S503 to step S505, refer to the specific description of step S202 to step S204 in FIG. 2 , which will not be repeated here.

Corresponding to the methods provided in the foregoing method embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide corresponding apparatuses, including corresponding modules for executing the foregoing embodiments. The modules may be software, or hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

Please refer to FIG. 6 , which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in this application. The communication device 600 shown in FIG. 6 includes a processing unit 601 and a communication unit 602 .

In one design, apparatus 600 is a reduced capability terminal device:

Exemplarily, the communication unit 602 is configured to reside in a wireless network and receive first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access of the terminal device with reduced capabilities; the processing unit 601 is configured to detect Synchronization signal to the first cell, and determine according to the first information whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capabilities; the synchronization signal is at least one of the primary synchronization signal PSS and the secondary synchronization signal SSS; if the first cell If the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability is not supported, it is determined not to read the master information block MIB or system information block SIB of the first cell; if the first cell supports the access of terminal equipment with reduced capability, it is determined to read the first cell MIB or SIB.

In one implementation manner, when the processing unit 601 is configured to determine whether the first cell supports access by a terminal device with reduced capabilities according to the first information, it is specifically configured to: if the first information does not include the identification information of the first cell, determine The first cell does not support access of terminal equipment with reduced capabilities.

In an implementation manner, the first information includes a characteristic sequence, and the characteristic sequence occupies N bits; when the processing unit 601 is configured to determine whether the first cell supports access by a terminal device with reduced capability according to the first information, it is specifically configured to: Determine the K bits corresponding to the identification information of the first cell in the feature sequence; N and K are both positive integers, K<=N; if the value of the K bits does not match the identification information of the first cell , it is determined that the first cell does not support access of terminal equipment with reduced capabilities.

In an implementation manner, when the communication unit 602 is configured to receive the first information, it is specifically configured to: receive the first information from the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability; or receive the first information from the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability The network access device receives the first information.

In an implementation manner, when the communication unit 602 is configured to receive the first information, it is specifically configured to: receive configuration information from a second cell, where the configuration information carries the first information; and the first cell is a neighboring cell of the second cell.

In an implementation manner, when the communication unit 602 is configured to receive the first information, it is specifically configured to: receive non-access stratum signaling from a mobility management network element serving terminal devices with reduced capabilities, where the non-access stratum signaling carries first information.

When the device 600 is a capability-reduced terminal device, it is used to realize the functions of the capability-reduced terminal device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 5 .

In one design, the apparatus 600 is an access network device corresponding to the second cell:

Exemplarily, the processing unit 601 is configured to determine first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports terminal equipment access with reduced capability; the apparatus 600 is an access network device corresponding to the second cell, and the first The cell is a neighboring cell of the second cell; the communication unit 602 is configured to send configuration information to a terminal device with reduced capabilities residing in the wireless network, where the configuration information carries the first information.

In an implementation manner, the processing unit 601 may also be configured to determine one or more cells that support the access of terminal equipment with reduced capabilities; and obtain a preset sequence, which occupies N bits; for each cell, Modify the value of K bits corresponding to the identification information of the cell in the preset sequence to obtain the characteristic sequence; wherein, the value of the K bits corresponding to the identification information of the cell in the preset sequence is the same as the value of the K bits in the preset sequence of the cell The identification information does not match, and the values of the K bits corresponding to the identification information of the cell in the signature sequence match the identification information of the cell.

When the apparatus 600 is the access network device corresponding to the second cell, it is used to realize the function of the access network device corresponding to the second cell in the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 5 .

In one design, the apparatus 600 is a core network device serving terminal devices with reduced capabilities:

Exemplarily, the processing unit 601 is configured to determine first information, and the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access of a terminal device with reduced capability; the apparatus 600 serves the terminal device with reduced capability; the communication unit 602 uses The method is to send the first information to the terminal device with reduced capability residing in the wireless network.

In one implementation manner, the apparatus 600 is a mobility management network element; the communication unit 602 is configured to send the first information to a terminal device with reduced capability residing in the wireless network, specifically: to send the first information to the terminal device residing in the wireless network The capability reduction terminal device sends non-access stratum signaling, where the non-access stratum signaling carries the first information.

When the apparatus 600 is a core network device serving a reduced-capability terminal device, it is used to realize the functions of the core network device serving the reduced-capability terminal device in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 .

Please refer to FIG. 7 , which is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in this application. The communication device 700 shown in FIG. 7 includes at least one processor 701 , a memory 702 , and a transceiver 703 .

Memory 702 can be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (read-only memory, ROM), programmable read-only memory (programmable ROM, PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (erasable PROM, EPROM), electrically programmable Erases programmable read-only memory (electrically EPROM, EEPROM) or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (random access memory, RAM), static random access memory (static RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (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 connection dynamic random access memory (synchlink DRAM) , SLDRAM) or direct memory bus random access memory (direct rambus RAM, DR RAM). The memory 702 may be a combination of the above-mentioned memories.

The specific connection medium among the processor 701, the memory 702, and the transceiver 703 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver 703, the memory 702, and the processor 701 are connected through the bus 704 in the figure. The bus 704 is represented by a thick line in the figure, and the connection mode between other components is only for schematic illustration. It is not limited. The bus 704 can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus and so on. For ease of representation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 7 , but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

The processor 701 can have a data sending and receiving function, and can communicate with other devices. In the device as shown in FIG. During communication, data transmission can be performed through the transceiver 703 .

It should be noted that the dotted box in FIG. 7 indicates that the transceiver 703 can be set separately from the processor 701, or the transceiver 703 can also be integrated in the processor 701; the memory 702 can be set separately from the processor 701, or the memory 702 It can also be integrated in the processor 701.

In an example, when the capability-reduced terminal device adopts the form shown in FIG. 7 , the processor in FIG. 7 may invoke the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory 702, so that the capability-reduced terminal device executes any of the method embodiments described above. The ability to reduce the method implemented by the end device.

In one example, when the access network equipment corresponding to the second cell adopts the form shown in FIG. 7, the processor in FIG. The network device performs the method performed by the access network device corresponding to the second cell in any one of the above method embodiments.

In an example, when the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability adopts the form shown in FIG. 7, the processor in FIG. The core network device performs the method performed by the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capabilities in any one of the above method embodiments.

Specifically, the functions/implementation process of the processing unit and the communication unit in FIG. 6 can be realized by calling the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory 702 by the processor 701 in FIG. 7 . Alternatively, the function/implementation process of the processing unit in FIG. 6 can be realized by calling the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 702 by the processor 701 in FIG. 7, and the function/implementation process of the communication unit in FIG. 703 to achieve.

In an implementation manner, the communication device 700 may include a circuit, and the circuit may implement the function of sending or receiving or communicating in the foregoing method embodiments.

The communication device described in the above embodiments may be a reduced capability terminal device, an access network device corresponding to the second cell, an access network device corresponding to the first cell, or a core network device serving the reduced capability terminal device. However, the scope of the communication device described in this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited by FIG. 7 . A communication device may be a stand-alone device or may be part of a larger device. For example the communication device may be:

(1) Stand-alone integrated circuits ICs, or chips, or chip systems or subsystems;

(2) A set of one or more ICs, optionally, the set of ICs may also include storage components for storing data and computer programs;

(3) application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), such as modem (Modem);

(4) Modules that can be embedded in other devices;

(5) Receivers, terminals, smart terminals, cellular phones, wireless devices, handsets, mobile units, vehicle-mounted devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc.;

(6) Others and so on.

For the case where the communication device may be a chip or a chip system, refer to the schematic structural diagram of the chip shown in FIG. 8 . The chip shown in FIG. 8 includes an interface 801 and a processor 802 . Wherein, the number of interfaces 801 may be one or more, and the number of processors 802 may be more than one.

The chip may be used to realize the function of the capability-reducing terminal device in any of the above method embodiments: or, the chip may be used to realize the function of the access network device corresponding to the second cell in any of the above method embodiments; or, the chip may be used to Realize the function of the access network device corresponding to the first cell in any of the above method embodiments; or, the chip may be used to realize the function of the core network device serving the terminal device with reduced capability in any of the above method embodiments.

Optionally, the chip further includes a memory 803 for storing necessary computer programs and data. The memory 803 may be set independently, or may be integrated with the processor 802, as shown by a dashed box 803 in FIG. 8 .

Those skilled in the art can also understand that various illustrative logical blocks and steps listed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Whether such functions are implemented by hardware or software depends on the specific application and overall system design requirements. Those skilled in the art may use various methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be understood as exceeding the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by a computer, the functions of any one of the above method embodiments are realized.

The above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, flash memory, hard disk, and solid-state hard disk.

The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions of any one of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

Those skilled in the art can also understand that various illustrative logical blocks and steps listed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and overall system design requirements. For corresponding applications, those skilled in the art can use various methods to implement the described functions, but such implementation should not be understood as exceeding the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

The solutions described in this application can be implemented in various ways. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware. For hardware implementation, the processing unit for performing these techniques at a communication device (for example, an access network device, a reduced capability terminal device, a core network device, or a chip) may be implemented on one or more general-purpose processors, digital signal processing (digital signal processor, DSP), digital signal processing device, application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), programmable logic device, field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination of the foregoing. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, and optionally, the general-purpose processor may also be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. A processor may also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, such as a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration to accomplish.

In the above embodiments, all or part of them may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, the processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application will be generated in whole or in part. The computer may implement functions of the capability-reduced terminal device, the access network device corresponding to the second cell, the access network device corresponding to the first cell, and the core network device serving the capability-reduced terminal device in any of the above embodiments. installation. Exemplarily, the device may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored in, or transmitted from, one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium.

In this application, an element expressed in the singular is intended to mean "one or more" rather than "one and only one", unless otherwise specified. In the present application, unless otherwise specified, "at least one" is intended to mean "one or more", and "plurality" is intended to mean "two or more".

Additionally, the terms "system" and "network" are often used herein interchangeably. The term "and/or" in this article is just an association relationship describing associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and/or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and there exists alone The three cases of B, where A can be singular or plural, and B can be singular or plural.

The preset (such as preset sequence) in this application can be understood as definition, predefinition, storage, prestore, prenegotiation, preconfiguration, curing, or prefiring.

Those skilled in the art can understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working process of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

The same or similar parts among the various embodiments in this application can be referred to each other. In the various embodiments in this application, and the various implementation methods/implementation methods/implementation methods in each embodiment, if there is no special description and logical conflict, different embodiments, and each implementation method/implementation method in each embodiment The terms and/or descriptions between implementation methods/implementation methods are consistent and can be referred to each other. Different embodiments, and the technical features in each implementation manner/implementation method/implementation method in each embodiment are based on their inherent Logical relationships can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation modes, implementation methods, or implementation methods. The embodiments of the present application described above are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

An access method, characterized in that the method includes:

The capability-reduced terminal device resides in the wireless network and receives first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports the access of the capability-reduced terminal device;

The capability-reduced terminal device detects the synchronization signal of the first cell, and determines whether the first cell supports the access of the capability-reduced terminal device according to the first information; the synchronization signal is a primary synchronization signal PSS and at least one of the secondary synchronization signal SSS;

If the first cell does not support the access of the capability-reduced terminal device, the capability-reduced terminal device determines not to read the master information block MIB or system information block SIB of the first cell;

If the first cell supports access by the terminal device with reduced capabilities, the terminal device with reduced capabilities determines to read the MIB or SIB of the first cell.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining according to the first information whether the first cell supports the access of the terminal device with reduced capability comprises:

If the first information does not include the identity information of the first cell, it is determined that the first cell does not support access by the terminal device with reduced capabilities.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first information includes a signature sequence, and the signature sequence occupies N bits;

The determining whether the first cell supports access of the terminal device with reduced capabilities according to the first information includes:

Determine K bits corresponding to the identity information of the first cell in the feature sequence; N and K are both positive integers, and K<=N;

If the values of the K bits do not match the identification information of the first cell, it is determined that the first cell does not support access of the terminal device with reduced capability.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the identity information of the first cell includes a physical cell identity PCI, a network identifier one NID1 corresponding to the SSS, or a network identifier two NID2 corresponding to the PSS .
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the receiving the first information includes:

receiving first information from a core network device serving the reduced capability terminal device; or,

First information is received from an access network device serving the reduced capability terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the receiving the first information includes:

receiving configuration information from a second cell, where the configuration information carries first information; the first cell is a neighboring cell of the second cell.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the receiving the first information includes:

Receive non-access stratum signaling from a mobility management network element serving the terminal device with reduced capabilities, where the non-access stratum signaling carries first information.
An access method, characterized in that the method includes:

The access network device determines first information; the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports terminal device access with reduced capabilities; the access network device is the access network device corresponding to the second cell, and the first The cell is a neighboring cell of the second cell;

The access network device sends configuration information to the reduced capability terminal device residing in the wireless network, where the configuration information carries the first information.
The method according to claim 8, wherein if the first cell does not support the access of the terminal device with reduced capability, the first information does not include the identification information of the first cell.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the first information includes a characteristic sequence, and the characteristic sequence occupies N bits; if the first cell does not support the access of the terminal equipment with reduced capability, then Values of K bits corresponding to the identity information of the first cell in the feature sequence do not match the identity information of the first cell; wherein, N and K are both positive integers, and K<=N.
The method of claim 10, further comprising:

The access network device determines one or more cells that support the access of the terminal device with reduced capabilities;

The access network device acquires a preset sequence, and the preset sequence occupies N bits;

For each of the cells, the access network device modifies the values of K bits corresponding to the cell's identification information in the preset sequence to obtain the characteristic sequence; wherein, the cell's The values of the K bits corresponding to the identification information in the preset sequence do not match the identification information of the cell, and the values of the K bits corresponding to the identification information of the cell in the characteristic sequence do not match the values of the K bits in the characteristic sequence. The identity information of the cell matches.
The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the identification information of different cells among the multiple cells has different K bits corresponding to them in the preset sequence.
The method according to any one of claims 9-12, wherein the identification information includes a physical cell identification PCI, a network identifier one NID1 or a network identifier two NID2.
An access method, characterized in that the method includes:

The core network device determines first information, and the first information is used to determine whether the first cell supports access of terminal devices with reduced capabilities; the core network device serves the terminal devices with reduced capabilities;

The core network device sends the first information to the reduced capability terminal device residing in the wireless network.
The method according to claim 14, wherein if the first cell does not support the access of the terminal device with reduced capability, the first information does not include the identification information of the first cell.
The method according to claim 14, wherein the first information includes a characteristic sequence, and the characteristic sequence occupies N bits; if the first cell does not support the access of the terminal equipment with reduced capability, then Values of K bits corresponding to the identity information of the first cell in the feature sequence do not match the identity information of the first cell; wherein, N and K are both positive integers, and K<=N.
The method of claim 16, further comprising:

The core network device determines one or more cells that support the access of the capability-reduced terminal device;

The core network device acquires a preset sequence, and the preset sequence occupies N bits;

For each of the cells, the core network device modifies the value of K bits corresponding to the cell's identification information in the preset sequence to obtain the characteristic sequence; wherein, the cell's identification The value of the K bits corresponding to the information in the preset sequence does not match the identity information of the cell, and the value of the K bits corresponding to the identity information of the cell in the characteristic sequence is the same as that of the cell The identification information matches.
The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the identification information of different cells among the multiple cells has different K bits corresponding to them in the preset sequence.
The method according to any one of claims 15-18, wherein the identification information includes a physical cell identification PCI, a network identifier one NID1 or a network identifier two NID2.
The method according to any one of claims 14 to 19, wherein the core network device is a mobility management network element; the core network device sends the The above-mentioned first information, including:

The mobility management network element sends non-access stratum signaling to the terminal device with reduced capability residing in the wireless network, where the non-access stratum signaling carries the first information.
A communication device, characterized by comprising a unit for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-7.
A communication device, characterized by comprising a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 8-13 or 14-20.
A communication device, characterized in that the device includes a processor, and the processor executes the method according to any one of claims 1-7.
A communication device, characterized in that the device includes a processor, and the processor executes the method according to any one of claims 8-13 or 14-20.