WO2023130245A1

WO2023130245A1 - Communication methods, terminal devices and network devices

Info

Publication number: WO2023130245A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/070235
Authority: WO
Inventors: 于新磊; 李海涛; 胡奕
Original assignee: Oppo广东移动通信有限公司
Priority date: 2022-01-05
Filing date: 2022-01-05
Publication date: 2023-07-13

Abstract

Provided are communication methods, terminal devices and network devices. A communication method comprises: a terminal device sending first terminal device assistance information to a network device, wherein the first terminal device assistance information is used for determining whether to hand over the terminal device from a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell to a terrestrial network (TN) cell. In the embodiments of the present application, a terminal device can send first terminal device assistance information to a network device, so as to assist the network device with determining whether to allow handover of the terminal device from an NTN cell to a TN cell. The problem in a conventional handover mode of a terminal device having a relatively high moving speed needing to be frequently handed over between a plurality of TN cells after being handed over to a TN cell due to the fact that a network device determines, only on the basis of a measurement report, whether to allow the handover of the terminal device from an NTN cell to a TN cell is avoided.

Description

Communication method, terminal device and network device

technical field

The present application relates to the field of communication technologies, and more specifically, to a communication method, terminal equipment, and network equipment.

Background technique

Since satellite nodes can provide a relatively large coverage area, a cell (also referred to as an "NTN cell") in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system including satellite nodes covers a relatively large area. However, network equipment in a terrestrial network (terrestrial network, TN) system usually cannot provide a large coverage area, so the coverage area of a TN cell in the TN system is relatively small. After the terminal equipment is handed over from the NTN cell to the TN cell, due to the small coverage area of the TN cell, if the terminal equipment moves faster, the terminal equipment will frequently switch between multiple TN cells, resulting in The stability of the communication between the terminal device and the network device is low.

Contents of the invention

The present application provides a communication method, a terminal device and a network device, so as to improve the stability of communication between the terminal device and the network device.

In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, including: a terminal device sends first terminal device auxiliary information to a network device, and the first terminal device auxiliary information is used to determine whether to transfer the terminal device from a non-terrestrial communication network NTN The cell is handed over to the TN cell of the terrestrial communication network.

In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, including: a network device receives first terminal device auxiliary information sent by a terminal device, and the first terminal device auxiliary information is used to determine whether to remove the terminal device from a non-terrestrial communication network The NTN cell is handed over to the TN cell of the terrestrial communication network.

In a third aspect, a terminal device is provided, including: a sending unit, configured to send first terminal device auxiliary information to a network device, and the first terminal device auxiliary information is used to determine whether to use the terminal device for non-ground communication The network NTN cell is handed over to the terrestrial communication network TN cell.

In a fourth aspect, a network device is provided, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive first terminal device auxiliary information sent by a terminal device, and the first terminal device auxiliary information is used to determine whether to transfer the terminal device from a non-ground The communication network NTN cell is handed over to the terrestrial communication network TN cell.

In a fifth aspect, a terminal device is provided, including a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, the memory is used to store a program, and the processor is used to call the program in the memory, so as to execute the first method through the transceiver. method described in the aspect.

In a sixth aspect, a network device is provided, including a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, the memory is used to store a program, and the processor is used to call the program in the memory to execute the second aspect through the transceiver the method described.

In a seventh aspect, an apparatus is provided, including a processor, configured to call a program from a memory to execute the method described in the first aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an apparatus is provided, including a processor, configured to call a program from a memory to execute the method described in the second aspect.

A ninth aspect provides a chip, including a processor, configured to call a program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip executes the method described in the first aspect.

In a tenth aspect, a chip is provided, including a processor, configured to call a program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip executes the method described in the second aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a program is stored, and the program causes a computer to execute the method described in the first aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a program is stored, and the program causes a computer to execute the method described in the second aspect.

A thirteenth aspect provides a computer program product, including a program, the program causes a computer to execute the method described in the first aspect.

A fourteenth aspect provides a computer program product, including a program, the program causes a computer to execute the method described in the second aspect.

A fifteenth aspect provides a computer program, the computer program causes a computer to execute the method described in the first aspect.

A sixteenth aspect provides a computer program, the computer program causes a computer to execute the method described in the second aspect.

In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may send the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device, so as to assist the network device in judging whether to allow the terminal device to switch from the NTN cell to the TN cell. It avoids that in the traditional handover method, the network device only determines whether to allow the terminal equipment to switch from the NTN cell to the TN cell based on the measurement report, which leads to the fact that after the terminal equipment with a high moving speed is handed over to the TN cell, it needs to frequently switch between multiple TN cells switch between.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a system architecture diagram of a communication system to which an embodiment of the present application can be applied.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a satellite network architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of another satellite network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another satellite network architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

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

Detailed ways

Communication System Architecture

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: global system of mobile communication (global system of mobile communication, GSM) system, code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA) system, broadband code division multiple access (wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA) system, general packet radio service (general packet radio service, GPRS), long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, advanced long term evolution (advanced long term evolution, LTE-A) system , new radio (new radio, NR) system, evolution system of NR system, LTE (LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum, LTE-U) system on unlicensed spectrum, NR (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum) on unlicensed spectrum unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) system, non-terrestrial network (NTN) system, universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), wireless local area networks (WLAN), wireless fidelity ( wireless fidelity, WiFi), the fifth-generation communication (5th-generation, 5G) system or other communication systems, such as future communication systems, such as the sixth-generation mobile communication system, and satellite communication systems.

Generally speaking, traditional communication systems support a limited number of connections and are easy to implement. However, with the development of communication technology, the mobile communication system will not only support traditional communication, but also support, for example, device to device (device to device, D2D) communication, machine to machine (machine to machine, M2M) communication, machine type Communication (machine type communication, MTC), inter-vehicle (vehicle to vehicle, V2V) communication, or vehicle networking (vehicle to everything, V2X) communication, etc., the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to these communication systems.

The communication system in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a carrier aggregation (carrier aggregation, CA) scenario, may also be applied to a dual connectivity (dual connectivity, DC) scenario, and may also be applied to an independent (standalone, SA) network deployment scenario.

The communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the unlicensed spectrum can also be considered as a shared spectrum; or, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to a licensed spectrum, wherein the licensed spectrum can also be Considered a dedicated spectrum.

The embodiments of the present application may be applied to an NTN system, and may also be applied to a terrestrial communication network (terrestrial networks, TN) system. By way of example and not limitation, the NTN system includes an NR-based NTN system and an IoT-based NTN system.

Embodiments of the present application describe various embodiments in conjunction with network equipment and terminal equipment, wherein the terminal equipment may also be called user equipment (user equipment, UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (mobile station, MS), mobile terminal (mobile Terminal, MT), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, etc.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a station (STATION, ST) in the WLAN, and may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) stations, personal digital assistant (PDA) devices, handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, next-generation communication systems such as NR networks The terminal equipment in the network, or the terminal equipment in the public land mobile network (public land mobile network, PLMN) network that will evolve in the future, etc.

In this embodiment of the present application, a terminal device may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to users, and may be used to connect people, things and machines, such as handheld devices with wireless connection functions, vehicle-mounted devices, and the like. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application can be mobile phone (mobile phone), tablet computer (Pad), notebook computer, palmtop computer, mobile internet device (mobile internet device, MID), wearable device, virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) equipment, augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) equipment, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, smart Wireless terminals in smart grid, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart city, wireless terminals in smart home, etc. Optionally, a terminal device can be used to act as a base station. For example, a terminal device may act as a scheduling entity, which provides sidelink signals between terminal devices in V2X or D2D, etc. For example, a cell phone and an automobile communicate with each other using sidelink signals. Communication between cellular phones and smart home devices without relaying communication signals through base stations.

In the embodiment of this application, the terminal device can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.); it can also be deployed in the air (such as aircraft, balloons and satellites) superior).

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (virtual reality, VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal Equipment, wireless terminal equipment in industrial control, wireless terminal equipment in self driving, wireless terminal equipment in remote medical, wireless terminal equipment in smart grid , wireless terminal equipment in transportation safety, wireless terminal equipment in smart city, or wireless terminal equipment in smart home. The terminal equipment involved in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as terminal, user equipment (UE), access terminal equipment, vehicle-mounted terminal, industrial control terminal, UE unit, UE station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station , remote terminal equipment, mobile equipment, UE terminal equipment, wireless communication equipment, UE agent or UE device, etc. Terminal equipment can also be fixed or mobile.

As an example but not a limitation, in this embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices, which is a general term for the application of wearable technology to intelligently design daily wear and develop wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothing or accessories. Wearable devices are not only a hardware device, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. Generalized wearable smart devices include full-featured, large-sized, complete or partial functions without relying on smart phones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, etc., and only focus on a certain type of application functions, and need to cooperate with other devices such as smart phones Use, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for physical sign monitoring.

The network device in this embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, and the network device may also be called an access network device or a wireless access network device, for example, the network device may be a base station. The network device in this embodiment of the present application may refer to a radio access network (radio access network, RAN) node (or device) that connects a terminal device to a wireless network. The base station can broadly cover various names in the following, or replace with the following names, such as: Node B (NodeB), evolved base station (evolved NodeB, eNB), next generation base station (next generation NodeB, gNB), relay station, Access point, transmission point (transmitting and receiving point, TRP), transmission point (transmitting point, TP), primary station MeNB, secondary station SeNB, multi-standard radio (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node , wireless node, access point (access piont, AP), transmission node, transceiver node, base band unit (base band unit, BBU), remote radio unit (remote radio unit, RRU), active antenna unit (active antenna unit) , AAU), radio head (remote radio head, RRH), central unit (central unit, CU), distributed unit (distributed unit, DU), positioning nodes, etc. A base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or the like, or a combination thereof. A base station may also refer to a communication module, modem or chip used to be set in the aforementioned equipment or device. The base station can also be a mobile switching center, a device that undertakes the function of a base station in D2D, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, and a device in a 6G network. Network-side equipment, equipment that assumes base station functions in future communication systems, etc. Base stations can support networks of the same or different access technologies. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.

Base stations can be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone can be configured to act as a mobile base station, and one or more cells can move according to the location of the mobile base station. In other examples, a helicopter or drone may be configured to serve as a device in communication with another base station.

In some deployments, the network device in this embodiment of the present application may refer to a CU or a DU, or, the network device includes a CU and a DU. A gNB may also include an AAU.

Network equipment and terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; they can also be deployed on aircraft, balloons and satellites in the air. In the embodiment of the present application, the scenarios where the network device and the terminal device are located are not limited.

As an example but not a limitation, in this embodiment of the present application, the network device may have a mobile feature, for example, the network device may be a mobile device. In some embodiments of the present application, the network device may be a satellite or a balloon station. For example, the satellite can be a low earth orbit (low earth orbit, LEO) satellite, a medium earth orbit (medium earth orbit, MEO) satellite, a geosynchronous earth orbit (geosynchronous earth orbit, GEO) satellite, a high elliptical orbit (High Elliptical Orbit, HEO) satellite. ) Satellite etc. In some embodiments of the present application, the network device may also be a base station installed on land, in water, and other locations.

In this embodiment of the present application, the network device may provide services for a cell, and the terminal device communicates with the network device through the transmission resources (for example, frequency domain resources, or spectrum resources) used by the cell, and the cell may be a network device ( For example, a cell corresponding to a base station), the cell may belong to a macro base station, or may belong to a base station corresponding to a small cell, where the small cell may include: a metro cell, a micro cell, a pico cell ( pico cell), femto cell, etc. These small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

Exemplarily, FIG. 1A is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1A , a communication system 100 may include a network device 110, and the network device 110 may be a device for communicating with a terminal device 120 (or called a communication terminal, terminal). The network device 110 can provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area, and can communicate with terminal devices located in the coverage area.

FIG. 1A exemplarily shows one network device and two terminal devices. In some embodiments of the present application, the communication system 100 may include multiple network devices and each network device may include other numbers of terminals within the coverage area. The device is not limited in the embodiment of this application.

Exemplarily, FIG. 1B is a schematic structural diagram of another communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 1B , a terminal device 1101 and a satellite 1102 are included, and wireless communication can be performed between the terminal device 1101 and the satellite 1102 . The network formed between the terminal device 1101 and the satellite 1102 may also be referred to as NTN. In the architecture of the communication system shown in FIG. 1B , the satellite 1102 may function as a base station, and the terminal device 1101 and the satellite 1102 may communicate directly. Under the system architecture, the satellite 1102 can be referred to as a network device. In some embodiments of the present application, the communication system may include multiple network devices 1102, and the coverage of each network device 1102 may include other numbers of terminal devices, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Exemplarily, FIG. 1C is a schematic structural diagram of another communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. Referring to FIG. 1C , it includes a terminal device 1201 , a satellite 1202 and a base station 1203 , wireless communication can be performed between the terminal device 1201 and the satellite 1202 , and communication can be performed between the satellite 1202 and the base station 1203 . The network formed among the terminal equipment 1201, the satellite 1202 and the base station 1203 may also be referred to as NTN. In the architecture of the communication system shown in FIG. 1C , the satellite 1202 may not have the function of a base station, and the communication between the terminal device 1201 and the base station 1203 needs to be relayed through the satellite 1202 . Under this system architecture, the base station 1203 may be called a network device. In some embodiments of the present application, the communication system may include multiple network devices 1203, and the coverage of each network device 1203 may include other numbers of terminal devices, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that Fig. 1A-Fig. 1C are only illustrations of the systems to which this application is applicable. Of course, the methods shown in the embodiments of this application can also be applied to other systems, for example, 5G communication systems, LTE communication systems, etc. , which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In some embodiments of the present application, the wireless communication system shown in FIG. 1A-FIG. 1C may further include a mobility management entity (mobility management entity, MME), an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) and other network entities, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be understood that a device with a communication function in the network/system in the embodiment of the present application may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1A as an example, the communication equipment may include a network equipment 110 and a terminal equipment 120 with communication functions, and the network equipment 110 and the terminal equipment 120 may be the specific equipment described above, which will not be repeated here. The communication device may also include other devices in the communication system 100, such as network controllers, mobility management entities and other network entities, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a direct indication, may also be an indirect indication, and may also mean that there is an association relationship. For example, A indicates B, which can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can be obtained through A; it can also indicate that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained through C; it can also indicate that there is an association between A and B relation.

In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" may indicate that there is a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or that there is an association between the two, or that it indicates and is indicated, configuration and is configuration etc.

The "configuration" in this embodiment of the present application may include configuring by at least one of system messages, radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) signaling, and media access control element (MAC CE) .

In some embodiments of the present application, "predefined" or "preset" may be pre-saved in devices (for example, including terminal devices and network devices) with corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate related information implementation, and the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner. For example, the predefined ones may refer to those defined in the protocol.

In some embodiments of the present application, the "protocol" may refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, it may include the LTE protocol, the NR protocol, and related protocols applied to future communication systems, which is not limited in the present application.

For ease of understanding, some relevant technical knowledge involved in the embodiments of the present application is introduced first. The following related technologies may be optionally combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and all of them belong to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiment of the present application includes at least part of the following contents.

NTN

Currently, the 3rd generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP) is researching NTN technology. NTN generally adopts satellite communication to provide communication services to ground users. Compared with terrestrial communication networks (eg, terrestrial cellular network communication), satellite communication has many unique advantages.

First of all, satellite communication is not restricted by user's geography. For example, general ground communication networks cannot cover areas where network equipment cannot be set up, such as oceans, mountains, and deserts. Alternatively, terrestrial communication networks do not cover certain sparsely populated areas. As for satellite communication, since a satellite can cover a large ground area, and the satellite can orbit around the earth, theoretically speaking, every corner of the earth can be covered by a satellite communication network.

Secondly, satellite communication has great social value. Satellite communication can cover remote mountainous areas, poor and backward countries or regions at a lower cost, so that people in these regions can enjoy advanced voice communication and mobile Internet technologies. From this point of view, satellite communication is conducive to narrowing the digital gap with developed regions and promoting the development of these regions.

Thirdly, satellite communication has the advantage of long distance, and the increase of communication distance does not significantly increase the cost of communication.

Finally, satellite communication has high stability and is not affected by natural disasters.

Communication satellites are divided into low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites, geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites, high elliptical orbit (high elliptical orbit, HEO) satellite, etc. At present, the main researches are LEO satellites and GEO satellites.

The height range of LEO satellites is generally between 500km and 1500km. Correspondingly, the orbit period of the LEO satellite is about 1.5 hours to 2 hours. For LEO satellites, the signal propagation delay of single-hop communication between users is generally less than 20ms. The maximum satellite visibility time of LEO satellites is about 20 minutes. LEO satellites have the advantages of short signal propagation distance, less link loss, and low requirements on the transmission power of user terminal equipment.

The orbit height of GEO satellite is 35786km. GEO satellites orbit the Earth every 24 hours. For GEO satellites, the signal propagation delay of single-hop communication between users is generally about 250ms.

In order to ensure satellite coverage and improve the system capacity of the entire satellite communication system, satellites usually use multiple beams to cover the ground area. Therefore, a single satellite can form dozens or even hundreds of beams to cover a ground area. A beam of a satellite can cover a ground area with a diameter of tens to hundreds of kilometers.

Currently, the NTN system includes the NR-NTN system and the Internet of things (IoT)-NTN system.

Satellite Network Architecture

At present, there are two types of satellites considered by 3GPP, one is a satellite with transparent payload, and the other is a satellite with regenerative payload. The network architecture of satellites including transparent forwarding and the network architecture of satellites including regenerative forwarding are introduced below with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 respectively.

In the satellite network architecture shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 , the satellite network architecture may include a terminal device 210 , a satellite node 221 and a ground receiving station 222 ("ground station" for short). There is wireless communication between the terminal device 210 and the satellite node 221 , and the terminal device 210 can send data to the satellite node 221 through the link between the terminal device 210 and the satellite node 221 . For example, it may be sent to the satellite node 221 through a service link. Correspondingly, after receiving the data, the satellite node 221 may send the data to the ground receiving station 222 through the link between the satellite node 221 and the ground receiving station 222 . For example, it may be delivered to the ground receiving station 222 via a wireless link (such as a feeder link). Correspondingly, after receiving the data from the satellite node 221, the ground receiving station 222 transmits the data to the core network (data network), and then processes the data through the core network, such as performing data interaction with other terminals and so on. It can be understood that the service link here refers to the link between the terminal device 210 and the satellite node 221, and the feeder link refers to the link between the satellite node 221 and the ground receiving station 222. In other possible implementations In an example, the link between the terminal device and the satellite node, and/or the link between the satellite node and the ground receiving station may also be represented by other terms, which are not limited in this application.

The above satellite nodes 221 can be divided into three types. The first type of satellite nodes is only used for forwarding, that is, only has a transparent forwarding function. In some implementations, such satellite nodes may only provide one or more of radio frequency filtering functions, frequency conversion functions, and power amplification functions. For this kind of satellite node, the received terminal equipment signal is amplified, and then sent to the ground receiving station without any processing on the satellite node, as shown in Figure 2; among them, the terminal equipment and the satellite node can be connected through NR-Uu interface for communication, satellite nodes and ground receiving stations (such as NTN radio remote unit (Remote Radio Unit, RRU) and gNB) can communicate through NR-Uu interface, ground receiving station and 5G core network (5G CN) can communicate through the N1/2/3 interface, and between 5G CN and the data network can communicate through the N6 interface.

The second type of satellite node has a complete base station processing function. The satellite node is a base station for the terminal equipment on the ground. The communication between the satellite node and the terminal equipment is basically the same as the normal 5G communication, as shown in Figure 3. In some implementations, such satellite nodes may also provide one or more of the following functions: demodulation function, decoding function, routing function, conversion function, encoding function, modulation function. Among them, the terminal device and the satellite node can communicate through the NR-Uu interface, and the satellite node and the ground receiving station can communicate through the satellite radio interface (Satellite Radio Interface, SRI). The SRI interface can be used to send the satellite node For interface messages with 5G CN (such as N2/N3 interface messages), the ground receiving station and 5G CN can communicate through the N1/2/3 interface, and the 5G CN and the data network can communicate through the N6 interface.

The third type of satellite node has the processing function of DU. The satellite node is a DU for the terminal equipment on the ground. The communication between the satellite node and the terminal equipment is basically the same as the communication between the terminal equipment and the DU in the normal 5G land communication system. ,As shown in Figure 4. Among them, the terminal device and the satellite node can communicate through the NR-Uu interface, and the satellite node and the ground receiving station (such as gNB-CU) can communicate through the SRI interface. The SRI interface can transmit the satellite and the ground receiving station. For F1 interface messages between stations, the ground receiving station and 5G CN can communicate through the N1/2/3 interface, and the 5G CN and the data network can communicate through the N6 interface.

NR measurement

The NR measurement mainly refers to the mobility measurement of the terminal equipment in the connected state. After the network device sends the measurement configuration to the terminal device, the terminal device detects the signal quality status of the neighboring cell according to the measurement object indicated in the measurement configuration, the reporting configuration and other parameters, and feeds back the measurement report information to the network device for the network device to help the terminal The device performs cell handover or completes the neighbor cell relationship list. For ease of understanding, the following describes measurement configuration and measurement reporting respectively.

1. Measurement configuration

In NR, the network device sends measurement configuration information to the connected terminal device through RRC signaling, and the terminal device performs measurement (same frequency, different frequency, different technology) according to the content of the measurement configuration information, and then reports the measurement result to the network device . The network device uses RRC connection reconfiguration to perform measurement configuration, and the measurement configuration information includes the following content:

1) Measurement object (measurement object)

For intra-frequency measurement and inter-frequency measurement, each measurement object indicates the time-frequency position to be measured and the subcarrier spacing of the reference signal. For the cells related to the measurement object, the network device may configure a cell offset (Offset) list, a black list of cells and a white list of cells.

For different technology measurement, each measurement object corresponds to a separate E-UTRA frequency point, and the cell related to the E-UTRA frequency point, the network device may configure the cell offset (Offset) list, blacklist cell list and whitelist District list.

Correspondingly, the terminal device may not perform any operation on the blacklisted cells in the event evaluation and measurement report, but needs to report the event evaluation and measurement report to the cells in the white list.

For each measurement frequency point, the network device configures a radio resource management (Radio Resource Management, RRM) measurement time configuration (SSB-based measurement timing) based on a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB). configuration, SMTC), which is used to indicate the time when the terminal device receives the SSB on the adjacent cell corresponding to the frequency point, the SMTC configuration can include the SMTC cycle, the start time offset of SMTC within a cycle, the duration of SMTC, etc. .

2) Reporting configuration (reporting configuration)

Each measurement object can correspond to one or more reporting configurations. In some implementation manners, the reporting configuration may include a reporting criterion, a reference signal (reference signal, RS) type, and a reporting format.

Wherein, the reporting criterion may include a trigger condition for the terminal device to perform measurement reporting. For example, reporting may be triggered periodically. Another example may be that an event triggers a report.

The RS type is used to indicate the RS used by the terminal equipment for beam and cell measurement. For example, it may be an SS/PBCH block or a channel state information-reference signal (channel state information-reference signal, CSI-RS).

The reporting format is used to indicate the amount of measurement reported by the terminal device for each cell and each beam (for example, reference signal receiving power (reference signal receiving power, RSRP)).

In some implementation manners, the above-mentioned reporting configuration may also include other related information. For example, the maximum number of cells reported by the terminal device and the maximum number of beams reported for each cell.

3) Measurement identity (measurement identity)

In some implementation manners, the foregoing measurement identifier may be a separate ID, which is used to associate the measurement object with the reporting configuration. It should be understood that one measurement object can be associated with multiple reporting configurations at the same time, and one reporting configuration can also be associated with multiple measurement objects at the same time, and the association relationships can be distinguished by measurement identifiers.

4) Measurement interval (measurement gap)

It is used to indicate the time for the terminal device to perform inter-frequency/different-system measurement, that is, the terminal device can perform inter-frequency/different-system measurement during the measurement interval. In some implementations, the measurement interval configuration includes a cycle of the measurement interval, a start time offset of the measurement interval within a cycle, a duration of the measurement interval, and the like.

2. Measurement report

The terminal device can perform measurement according to the measurement configuration delivered by the network device, and perform measurement report evaluation when a certain trigger condition is met. If the reporting condition is met, the terminal device may send the measurement result to the network device through a measurement report.

In some implementation manners, the triggers for measurement reporting can be classified into three categories: event triggering, periodic reporting, and event-triggered periodic reporting.

NR switching

The mobility management of terminal equipment in the connected state is mainly realized through the handover process controlled by network equipment. The NR system inherits the handover process of the LTE system, which mainly includes three stages: handover preparation, handover execution, and handover completion.

In the handover preparation phase, the source network device (for example, the original base station) will make a handover decision and initiate a handover request to the target network device after receiving the measurement report sent by the terminal device. Correspondingly, if the target cell agrees to the handover request, it will send a handover response message (also called "handover command") to the source network device through the interface between network devices, and the handover response message includes the configuration information of the target cell.

In the handover execution phase, the source network device sends a handover command to the terminal device. After receiving the handover command, the terminal device disconnects from the source cell of the source network device, establishes downlink synchronization with the target cell of the target network device, and then uses the random access resources configured in the handover command to initiate random access to the target cell process, and report a handover completion message when the random access is completed. During the process of the terminal device accessing the target cell, the source network device forwards the data packet transmitted by the user plane function (UPF) to the target network device, and transmits and receives the uplink and downlink data packets in the source cell before forwarding The information is sent to the target network device.

In the handover completion phase, the target network device sends a path switching request to the authentication management function (AMF), requesting the AMF to switch the data packet transmission path from the UPF to the access network to the target network device. Once the AMF responds to the request, it indicates that the path switching is successful, and the target network device can instruct the source network device to release the context information of the terminal device. So far, the connection of the entire terminal equipment is handed over to the target cell.

As mentioned above, compared with the LTE system, the handover process described above has not undergone many changes and enhancements. Among them, the difference from the LTE system handover is that the handover in the NR system does not mean that the update of the security key will be accompanied, which is mainly for the deployment scenario of the network equipment in the NR system where the CU and DU are separated. If the switching process occurs between different DUs under the same CU, the network device can instruct the terminal device not to change the security key during the switching process, that is, using the same security key before and after the switching will not cause security problems. Hidden danger. When there is no need to update the security key, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) entity does not need to be rebuilt. Therefore, the operation of reestablishing PDCP during handover in the NR system is also controlled by the network device, which is different from that in the LTE system. Differently, the handover in the LTE system must perform the steps of key update and PDCP entity re-establishment.

As introduced above, since the satellite nodes can provide a relatively large coverage area, the cells (also called "NTN cells") in the NTN system cover a relatively large area. However, the network equipment in the TN system usually cannot provide a large coverage area, therefore, the coverage area of the TN cell in the TN system is small. If the network device only allows the terminal device to switch from the NTN cell to the TN cell based on the measurement report, because the coverage area of the TN cell is small, at this time, if the mobile speed of the terminal device is fast, the terminal device will be in multiple TN cells. Frequent switching between devices leads to low stability of communication between terminal devices and network devices.

In order to avoid the above-mentioned problems, this application provides a communication method. The terminal device can send terminal device auxiliary information (hereinafter referred to as "first terminal device auxiliary information") to the network device to assist the network device in judging whether the terminal device is allowed to transfer from the NTN cell. Switch to a TN cell. The following describes the communication method in the embodiment of the present application with reference to FIG. 5 . The communication method shown in FIG. 5 includes step S510.

In step S510, the terminal device sends first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device.

The first terminal device auxiliary information is used to determine whether to hand over the terminal device from the NTN cell to the TN cell. In some implementations, the first terminal device auxiliary information includes one or more of the following information: NTN/TN preference (NTN/TN preference) of the terminal device; mobile speed of the terminal device; and indicating that the terminal device has a high Mobility indication information (high mobility indication).

The foregoing NTN/TN preference is used to indicate that the terminal device prefers to camp on an NTN cell or a TN cell.

The foregoing moving speed of the terminal device may be the current moving speed of the terminal device. The moving speed of the terminal device may also be the average moving speed of the terminal device within a period of time. Of course, the moving speed of the terminal device may also be the maximum and/or minimum value of the moving speed of the terminal device within a period of time. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit it. Wherein, the aforementioned period of time may be a period of time preconfigured by the network device, or may be a period of time predefined based on a protocol.

It should be noted that the terminal device may acquire the moving speed of the terminal device through a global navigation satellite system (global navigation satellite system, GNSS) system. Certainly, the terminal device may also determine the moving speed of the terminal device independently. For example, when the terminal device is a vehicle, the terminal device may determine the moving speed independently. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit it.

The above high mobility indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device has high mobility, for example, it may indicate that the terminal device has a high moving speed.

In some implementation manners, the first terminal device auxiliary information may be carried in a measurement report of the terminal device. In some other implementation manners, the foregoing first terminal device auxiliary information may also be transmitted separately through dedicated information, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Correspondingly, the method in the embodiment of the present application may further include step S520. In step S520, the network device determines whether the terminal device performs cell handover based on the first terminal device auxiliary information.

In some implementation manners, the network device may determine whether the terminal device is handed over to the TN cell based on the first terminal device assistance information.

For example, in the case that the first terminal device auxiliary information includes NTN/TN preference, if the NTN/TN preference indicates that the terminal device prefers to camp on a TN cell, the network device may allow the terminal device to switch to the TN cell. On the contrary, if the NTN/TN preference indicates that the terminal device prefers to camp on the NTN cell, the network device may not allow the terminal device to switch to the TN cell.

For another example, in the case where the first terminal device auxiliary information includes the moving speed of the terminal device, if the moving speed of the terminal device is higher than a preset moving speed threshold, the network device may not allow the terminal device to switch to a TN cell. On the contrary, if the moving speed of the terminal device is less than or equal to the preset moving speed threshold, the network device may allow the terminal device to switch to the TN cell.

For another example, in a case where the first terminal device assistance information includes high mobility indication information of the terminal device, the network device may not allow the terminal device to switch to the TN cell. On the contrary, in the case that the first terminal equipment assistance information does not contain the high mobility indication information of the terminal equipment, the network device may allow the terminal equipment to switch to the TN cell.

It should be noted that, the above only uses an example in which the first terminal equipment auxiliary information respectively includes the above three types of information, and introduces the determination of whether the network equipment allows the terminal equipment to switch to the TN cell. In this embodiment of the application, the network device can also combine any two or all of the above three types of information to determine whether the terminal device is allowed to switch to the TN cell. For the sake of brevity, the manner of judging the auxiliary information of the first terminal device for such information will not be repeated here.

In some other implementation manners, the network device may also select a suitable target cell for the terminal device based on the first terminal device assistance information, so that the terminal device switches to the target cell.

For example, in the case that the first terminal device auxiliary information includes NTN/TN preference, if the NTN/TN preference indicates that the terminal device prefers to camp on a TN cell, the network device may select the TN cell as the target cell. On the contrary, if the NTN/TN preference indicates that the terminal device prefers to camp on an NTN cell, the network device may select another NTN cell as the target cell for the terminal device.

For another example, when the first terminal device auxiliary information includes the moving speed of the terminal device, if the moving speed of the terminal device is higher than a preset moving speed threshold, the network device may select another NTN cell as the target cell for the terminal device. On the contrary, if the moving speed of the terminal device is less than or equal to the preset moving speed threshold, the network device may select a TN cell as the target cell for the terminal device.

For another example, in a case where the first terminal device auxiliary information includes high mobility indication information of the terminal device, the network device may select another NTN cell as the target cell for the terminal device. On the contrary, in the case that the first terminal equipment assistance information does not include the high mobility indication information of the terminal equipment, the network equipment may select the TN cell as the target cell for the terminal equipment.

It should be noted that, the above only introduces the method for the network device to select a target cell for the terminal device by taking the first terminal device auxiliary information respectively including the above three kinds of information as an example. In this embodiment of the application, the network device can also combine any two or all of the above three types of information to select a target cell for the terminal device. For the specific judgment method, please refer to the network device above. For the sake of brevity, the manner of judging the auxiliary information of the first terminal device will not be repeated here.

As described above, the terminal device may send the first terminal device assistance information to the network device to assist the network device in determining whether to hand over the terminal device from the NTN cell to the TN cell. If all terminal devices in the communication system send auxiliary information of terminal devices no matter what the situation is, the resources occupied by transmitting auxiliary information of terminal devices in the communication system will be relatively large, and correspondingly, the resources for transmitting effective data in the communication system will be reduced. The rationality of resource utilization in the communication system is reduced.

In order to avoid the above problems, two methods are provided in the embodiment of the present application to help the terminal device determine whether to send terminal device auxiliary information, and the two methods will be described in detail below.

In manner one, the network device may indicate whether to allow the terminal device to send the first terminal device auxiliary information.

In some implementation manners, the network device may indicate whether the terminal device is allowed to send the first terminal device auxiliary information by sending configuration information to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device may determine whether to send the first terminal device auxiliary information based on the configuration information sent by the network device.

In the second manner, the terminal device may autonomously determine whether to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.

In some implementation manners, the terminal device may determine whether to send the first terminal device auxiliary information based on a condition for sending the first terminal device auxiliary information. In other words, the terminal device may determine whether to send the first terminal device auxiliary information based on a trigger condition for sending the first terminal device auxiliary information. Correspondingly, if the trigger condition is met, the terminal device may send the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device. On the contrary, if the trigger condition is not satisfied, the terminal device may send the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device.

In some implementation manners, the foregoing conditions may include that the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than a moving speed threshold. In this way, if the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than the moving speed threshold, the terminal device may send the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device. Conversely, if the moving speed of the terminal device is less than or equal to the moving speed threshold, the terminal device may not send the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device.

In this embodiment of the application, the above conditions are set to include that the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than the moving speed threshold, so that the terminal device with a higher moving speed will send the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device to assist the network device in determining whether to allow The terminal equipment performs TN cell handover. This prevents the terminal equipment from frequently performing TN cell switching after the terminal equipment with a relatively high moving speed is handed over to the TN cell.

In some other implementation manners, setting the foregoing condition includes that the terminal device does not send the first terminal device auxiliary information within a preset time period. In this way, if the terminal device does not send the first terminal device auxiliary information within the preset time period, the terminal device may send the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device. Conversely, if the terminal device sends the first terminal device auxiliary information within the preset time period, the terminal device may no longer send the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device.

It should be noted that the aforementioned preset time period may be counted by a timer in the terminal device. Certainly, the aforementioned preset time period may also be timed in other ways, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In this embodiment of the present application, by configuring the above condition that the terminal device does not send the first terminal device assistance information within a preset time period, the terminal device will send the first terminal device assistance information to the network device at intervals of a preset time period. information, so as to ensure the timeliness of the auxiliary information of the first terminal device. It is avoided that the terminal device does not send the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device within a long period of time (for example, exceeding a preset time period), resulting in poor timeliness of the terminal device auxiliary information referred to by the network device.

It should be noted that the above conditions for sending the auxiliary information of the first terminal device may be configured by the network device for the terminal device. For example, the network device may send configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information indicates a condition for sending the auxiliary information of the first terminal device. Of course, the above-mentioned conditions for sending the auxiliary information of the first terminal device may also be predefined by a protocol. This embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit it.

In the

above manners

1 and 2, the configuration information may be sent from the network device to the terminal device as separate information. Of course, the above configuration information may also be carried in the measurement configuration of the terminal device. In some implementation manners, the foregoing measurement configuration may include a measurement object and the foregoing configuration information. The measurement object may include frequency points, information of adjacent satellite cells or terrestrial cells (for example, ephemeris information and/or physical cell identifier (physical cell identifier, PCI)). In some other implementation manners, the above measurement configuration may be carried in radio resource control (Radio Resource Control, RRC) signaling.

In this embodiment of the present application, in order for the network device to determine in a timely manner whether the terminal device is switching from an NTN cell to a TN cell based on the auxiliary information of the first terminal device, in the following two cases, the terminal device may send the first terminal Device auxiliary information.

In case one, if the terminal device does not send the NTN/TN preference to the network device before sending the first terminal device auxiliary information, then the terminal device may send the first terminal device auxiliary information.

That is, if the terminal device has NTN/TN preference, if the second terminal device auxiliary information transmitted before the first terminal device auxiliary information does not carry the NTN/TN preference, the terminal device sends the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device .

In the second case, if the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device changes, for example, the moving speed of the terminal device slows down from fast or changes from slow to fast, then the terminal device may send the first terminal device auxiliary information.

That is, in the case that the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device changes, the terminal device sends the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device. Where the terminal device has a change in NTN/TN preference, it can be understood that the current NTN/TN preference of the terminal device is different from the previous NTN/TN preference. For example, the sending time of terminal device auxiliary information 1 is earlier than the sending time of terminal device auxiliary information 2. At this time, the change of the terminal device's NTN/TN preference can be understood as the NTN/TN preference carried in terminal device auxiliary information 1 indicating that the terminal The device prefers the NTN cell, and the NTN/TN preference carried in the terminal device auxiliary information 2 indicates that the terminal device prefers the TN cell.

It should be noted that the above two cases may be used alone, or may be used in combination with the above-mentioned conditions for sending the auxiliary information of the first terminal device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

As the communication system includes more and more types of terminal equipment, the capabilities of the terminal equipment are quite different. For some terminal devices with low capabilities, they do not have the ability to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device. At this time, if the network device sends configuration information to such terminal devices, it cannot be configured to send the first Terminal device auxiliary information. Therefore, in order to reduce the transmission of such unnecessary configuration information, the terminal device may send capability information to the network device to indicate whether the terminal device has the capability of sending the first terminal device auxiliary information.

The method embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 , and the device embodiment of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with FIG. 6 to FIG. 8 . It should be understood that the descriptions of the method embodiments correspond to the descriptions of the device embodiments, therefore, for parts not described in detail, reference may be made to the foregoing method embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device shown in FIG. 6 includes a sending unit 610 .

The sending unit 610 is configured to send first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device, where the first terminal device auxiliary information is used to determine whether to handover the terminal device from a non-terrestrial communication network NTN cell to a terrestrial communication network TN cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the first terminal device auxiliary information includes one or more of the following information: the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device; the moving speed of the terminal device; Indication information that the terminal device has high mobility.

In a possible implementation manner, the terminal device further includes: a receiving unit, configured to receive configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information indicates whether the terminal device is allowed to send the first terminal device auxiliary information , or, the configuration information indicates a condition for the terminal device to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to:

If the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the second terminal device auxiliary information transmitted before the first terminal device auxiliary information does not carry the NTN/TN preference, send the network device the Auxiliary information of the first terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to: in the case that the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device changes, send a message to the network device Send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the condition includes that the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than a moving speed threshold, or the terminal device has not sent the first terminal device auxiliary information within a preset time period.

In a possible implementation manner, the auxiliary information of the first terminal device is carried in a measurement report of the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to: send capability information to the network device, where the capability information is used to indicate whether the terminal device has the ability to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device. ability.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. The network device 700 shown in FIG. 7 includes a receiving unit 710 .

The receiving unit 710 is configured to receive first terminal equipment auxiliary information sent by the terminal equipment, and the first terminal equipment auxiliary information is used to determine whether to handover the terminal equipment from a non-terrestrial communication network NTN cell to a terrestrial communication network TN cell.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is configured to send configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information indicates whether the terminal device is allowed to send the first terminal device auxiliary information, or the configuration information A condition for instructing the terminal device to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to, if the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the second terminal device auxiliary information transmitted before the first terminal device auxiliary information does not carry the NTN/TN preference, and receives the auxiliary information of the first terminal device sent by the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to:

In the case that the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device changes, receiving the first terminal device auxiliary information sent by the terminal device.

In a possible implementation manner, the condition includes that the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than a moving speed threshold, or that the terminal device does not send the first terminal device auxiliary information within a preset time period.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to receive sending capability information of the terminal device, where the capability information is used to indicate whether the terminal device has the capability of sending the auxiliary information of the first terminal device .

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a device according to an embodiment of the present application. The dashed line in Figure 8 indicates that the unit or module is optional. The apparatus 800 may be used to implement the methods described in the foregoing method embodiments. Apparatus 800 may be a chip, a terminal device or a network device.

Apparatus 800 may include one or more processors 810 . The processor 810 may support the device 800 to implement the methods described in the foregoing method embodiments. The processor 810 may be a general purpose processor or a special purpose processor. For example, the processor may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU). Alternatively, the processor can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processors, DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuits, ASICs), off-the-shelf programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate arrays, FPGAs) Or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor, or the like.

Apparatus 800 may also include one or more memories 820 . A program is stored in the memory 820, and the program can be executed by the processor 810, so that the processor 810 executes the methods described in the foregoing method embodiments. The memory 820 may be independent from the processor 810 or may be integrated in the processor 810 .

The apparatus 800 may also include a transceiver 830 . The processor 810 can communicate with other devices or chips through the transceiver 830 . For example, the processor 810 may send and receive data with other devices or chips through the transceiver 830 .

The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing programs. The computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the terminal device or the network device provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the program enables the computer to execute the methods performed by the terminal device or the network device in the various embodiments of the present application.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes programs. The computer program product can be applied to the terminal device or the network device provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the program enables the computer to execute the methods performed by the terminal device or the network device in the various embodiments of the present application.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program. The computer program can be applied to the terminal device or the network device provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the methods performed by the terminal device or the network device in the various embodiments of the present application.

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

It should be understood that the term "and/or" in this article is only an association relationship describing associated objects, indicating that there may be three relationships, for example, A and/or B may mean: A exists alone, and A and B exist at the same time , there are three cases of B alone. In addition, the character "/" in this article generally indicates that the contextual objects are an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined by their functions and internal logic, and should not be used in the embodiments of the present application. The implementation process constitutes any limitation.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or May be integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored, or not implemented. In another point, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, each unit may exist separately physically, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

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 program 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 can 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, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be read by a computer, or a data storage device such as a server or a data center integrated with one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a digital versatile disc (digital video disc, DVD)) or a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid state disk (solid state disk, SSD) )wait.

The above is only a specific implementation of the application, but the scope of protection of the application is not limited thereto. Anyone familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the application. Should be covered within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A communication method, characterized by comprising:

The terminal device sends first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device, where the first terminal device auxiliary information is used to determine whether to hand over the terminal device from a non-terrestrial communication network NTN cell to a terrestrial communication network TN cell.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary information of the first terminal device includes one or more of the following information:

the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device;

the speed of movement of the terminal device; and

Indication information indicating that the terminal device has high mobility.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein before the terminal device sends the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device, the method further comprises:

The terminal device receives configuration information from the network device, the configuration information indicating whether the terminal device is allowed to send the first terminal device auxiliary information, or,

The configuration information indicates a condition for the terminal device to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the terminal device sends the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device, comprising:

In the case that the terminal device has NTN/TN preference, if the second terminal device auxiliary information transmitted before the first terminal device auxiliary information does not carry the NTN/TN preference, the terminal device sends the NTN/TN preference to the The network device sends the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the terminal device sends the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device, comprising:

In the case that the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device changes, the terminal device sends the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the condition includes that the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than a moving speed threshold, or the terminal device has not sent the first terminal device auxiliary information within a preset time period .
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the first terminal device auxiliary information is carried in a measurement report of the terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 1-7, further comprising:

The terminal device sends capability information to the network device, where the capability information is used to indicate whether the terminal device has the capability of sending the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
A communication method, characterized by comprising:

The network device receives the first terminal device auxiliary information sent by the terminal device, and the first terminal device auxiliary information is used to determine whether to hand over the terminal device from a non-terrestrial communication network NTN cell to a terrestrial communication network TN cell.
The method according to claim 9, wherein the auxiliary information of the first terminal device includes one or more of the following information:

the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device;

the speed of movement of the terminal device; and

Indication information indicating that the terminal device has high mobility.
The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein, before the network device receives the first terminal device auxiliary information sent by the terminal device, the method further comprises:

The network device sends configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information indicates whether the terminal device is allowed to send the first terminal device auxiliary information, or,

The configuration information indicates a condition for the terminal device to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the network device receives the first terminal device auxiliary information sent by the terminal device, comprising:

In the case that the terminal device has NTN/TN preference, if the second terminal device auxiliary information transmitted before the first terminal device auxiliary information does not carry the NTN/TN preference, the network device receives the The first terminal device auxiliary information sent by the terminal device.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the network device receives the first terminal device auxiliary information sent by the terminal device, comprising:

In the case that the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device changes, the network device receives the first terminal device auxiliary information sent by the terminal device.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the condition includes that the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than a moving speed threshold, or the terminal device has not sent the first terminal device auxiliary information within a preset time period .
The method according to any one of claims 9-14, wherein the first terminal device auxiliary information is carried in a measurement report of the terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 9-15, further comprising:

The network device receives the sending capability information of the terminal device, where the capability information is used to indicate whether the terminal device has the capability of sending the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
A terminal device, characterized in that it includes:

A sending unit, configured to send first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device, where the first terminal device auxiliary information is used to determine whether to handover the terminal device from a non-terrestrial communication network NTN cell to a terrestrial communication network TN cell.
The terminal device according to claim 17, wherein the auxiliary information of the first terminal device includes one or more of the following information:

the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device;

the speed of movement of the terminal device; and

Indication information indicating that the terminal device has high mobility.
The terminal device according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the terminal device further comprises:

A receiving unit, configured to receive configuration information from the network device, where the configuration information indicates whether the terminal device is allowed to send the first terminal device auxiliary information, or,

The configuration information indicates a condition for the terminal device to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
The terminal device according to claim 19, wherein the sending unit is further configured to:

If the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the second terminal device auxiliary information transmitted before the first terminal device auxiliary information does not carry the NTN/TN preference, send the network device the Auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
The terminal device according to claim 19, wherein the sending unit is further configured to:

In the case that the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device changes, sending the first terminal device auxiliary information to the network device.
The terminal device according to claim 19, wherein the condition includes that the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than a moving speed threshold, or that the terminal device does not send the first terminal device assistance within a preset time period. information.
The terminal device according to any one of claims 17-22, wherein the first terminal device auxiliary information is carried in a measurement report of the terminal device.
The terminal device according to any one of claims 17-23, wherein the sending unit is further configured to:

sending capability information to the network device, where the capability information is used to indicate whether the terminal device has the capability of sending the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
A network device, characterized in that it includes:

The receiving unit is configured to receive first terminal equipment auxiliary information sent by the terminal equipment, and the first terminal equipment auxiliary information is used to determine whether to handover the terminal equipment from a non-terrestrial communication network NTN cell to a terrestrial communication network TN cell.
The network device according to claim 25, wherein the auxiliary information of the first terminal device includes one or more of the following information:

the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device;

the speed of movement of the terminal device; and

Indication information indicating that the terminal device has high mobility.
The network device according to claim 25 or 26, characterized in that,

A sending unit, configured to send configuration information to the terminal device, where the configuration information indicates whether the terminal device is allowed to send the first terminal device auxiliary information, or,

The configuration information indicates a condition for the terminal device to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
The network device according to claim 27, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

If the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the second terminal device auxiliary information transmitted before the first terminal device auxiliary information does not carry the NTN/TN preference, receive the NTN/TN preference sent by the terminal device Auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
The network device according to claim 27, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

In the case that the terminal device has an NTN/TN preference, if the NTN/TN preference of the terminal device changes, receiving the first terminal device auxiliary information sent by the terminal device.
The network device according to claim 27, wherein the condition includes that the moving speed of the terminal device is greater than a moving speed threshold, or the terminal device has not sent the first terminal device assistance within a preset time period. information.
The network device according to any one of claims 25-30, wherein the first terminal device auxiliary information is carried in a measurement report of the terminal device.
The network device according to any one of claims 25-31, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

Receive capability information sent by the terminal device, where the capability information is used to indicate whether the terminal device has the capability to send the auxiliary information of the first terminal device.
A terminal device, characterized in that it includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, the memory is used to store programs, the processor is used to call the program in the memory, and the transceiver is used to execute claims 1- The method described in any one of 8.
A network device, characterized in that it includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor, the memory is used to store programs, the processor is used to call the programs in the memory, and the transceiver is used to execute claims 9- The method of any one of 16.
An apparatus, characterized by comprising a processor, configured to call a program from a memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8.
An apparatus, characterized by comprising a processor, configured to call a program from a memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 9-16.
A chip, characterized by comprising a processor, configured to call a program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 1-8.
A chip, characterized by comprising a processor, configured to call a program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip executes the method according to any one of claims 9-16.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a program is stored thereon, and the program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8.
A computer-readable storage medium, which is characterized in that a program is stored thereon, and the program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 9-16.
A computer program product, characterized by comprising a program, the program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8.
A computer program product, characterized in that it comprises a program, the program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 9-16.
A computer program, characterized in that the computer program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8.
A computer program, characterized in that the computer program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 9-16.