WO2024124888A1

WO2024124888A1 - Cell switching method and apparatus, and storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2024124888A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/105545
Authority: WO
Inventors: 杨海城; 周金星
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2022-12-16
Filing date: 2023-07-03
Publication date: 2024-06-20
Also published as: CN118215084A

Abstract

Provided are a cell switching method and apparatus, and a storage medium. The cell switching method is applied to a terminal, and the cell switching method comprises: monitoring network-side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell; according to the network slice configuration information of the at least one neighboring cell, selecting from the at least one neighboring cell a target cell which supports a target slice service, the target slice service being the slice service presently being used by the terminal in a source cell; and switching from the source cell to the target cell.

Description

Cell switching method, device and storage medium

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202211637346.3, filed on December 16, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a cell switching method, device and storage medium.

Background technique

The fifth generation (5G) mobile communication network will face rich and differentiated communication service needs between people, people and things, and things and things. These needs have very different requirements for the network. If different services are carried on the same infrastructure and network elements, the network may not be able to meet the different requirements of multiple services. Network slicing technology divides a physical network into multiple virtual logical networks through virtualization. Each virtual logical network corresponds to a different application scenario, thereby providing a highly energy-efficient and easy-to-deploy network solution. The terminal can access the corresponding network slice to use the corresponding slice service according to its own needs or configuration.

Summary of the invention

On the one hand, a cell switching method is provided, which is applied to a terminal. The cell switching method includes: monitoring network-side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell; selecting a target cell supporting a target slice service from the at least one neighboring cell according to the network slice configuration information of the at least one neighboring cell, wherein the target slice service is a slice service currently being used by the terminal in a source cell; and switching from the source cell to the target cell.

On the other hand, a cell switching method is provided, which is applied to a base station. The cell switching method includes: sending a network side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to a terminal.

On the other hand, a cell switching device is provided, comprising: a monitoring module, a cell selection module and a switching execution module. The monitoring module is used to monitor the network side signaling carrying the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell. The cell selection module is used to select a target cell supporting a target slice service from the at least one neighboring cell according to the network slice configuration information of the at least one neighboring cell, and the target slice service is a slice service currently being used by the terminal in the source cell. The switching execution module is used to switch from the source cell to the target cell.

In another aspect, a cell switching device is provided, comprising: a communication module and a processing module. The communication module is used to send a network side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to a terminal.

In another aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a memory and a processor. The memory is used to store computer program instructions executable by the processor; when the processor executes the computer program instructions, the cell switching method is implemented.

On the other hand, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which computer program instructions are stored. When the computer program instructions are executed on a computer (eg, a communication device or a cell switching device), the above-mentioned cell switching method is implemented.

On the other hand, a computer program product is provided, which includes computer program instructions, and when the computer program instructions are executed, the above-mentioned cell switching method is implemented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present disclosure, the drawings required for use in some embodiments of the present disclosure will be briefly introduced below. However, the drawings described below are only drawings of some embodiments of the present disclosure, and a person skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings.

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a structure of single network slice selection auxiliary information according to some embodiments;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system according to some embodiments;

FIG3 is a flow chart of a cell switching method according to some embodiments;

FIG4 is another flow chart of a cell switching method according to some embodiments;

FIG5 is another flow chart of a cell switching method according to some embodiments;

FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a cell switching device according to some embodiments;

FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of another cell switching device according to some embodiments;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to some embodiments.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions in the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the present disclosure. However, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that in the present disclosure, the terms "example" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "example" or "for example" in the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being better or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of terms such as "example" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way.

In the following, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. A feature of "two" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of these features.

In the description of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, "/" means "or", for example, A/B can mean A or B. "And/or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and/or B can mean: only A, only B, and the combination of A and B. In addition, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more.

To facilitate understanding of the solutions of some embodiments of the present disclosure, a brief introduction of related concepts is as follows:

(1) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, which is used to support data packet exchange services between the terminal and the data network. The terminal can establish one or more PDU sessions with the network side to connect to the same data network or different data networks. For example, the terminal can establish, modify or release a PDU session through signaling interaction with a group of core network elements. The group of core network elements can be Session Management Function (SMF) network elements, Policy Control Function (PCF) network elements and User Plane Function (UPF) network elements.

(2) Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) is used to identify a specific type of network slice. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of S-NSSAI according to some embodiments. As shown in Figure 1, S-NSSAI consists of a slice/service type (Slice/Service Type, SST) and a slice differentiator (Slice Differentiator, SD). SST includes standardized and operator-defined types; SD is optional information that supplements SST to distinguish multiple network slices of the same SST. The length of SST is 1 byte. The value of SST can take a standard value, for example, SST can take an integer in the range [0,127]; or, the value of SST can also take a non-standard value, for example, SST can take an integer in the range [128,255]. The length of SD is 3 bytes.

(3) The fifth generation Quality of Service identifier (5QI) is used to index the 5G Quality of Service (QoS) characteristics corresponding to the network slice. At present, the network side mainly performs differentiated resource allocation and scheduling services for network slices based on the 5QI of the network slice. For example, 5G QoS characteristics include one or more of the following: resource type, default priority level, packet delay budget (PDB), packet error rate (PER), default maximum data burst volume (Default Maximum Data Burst Volume), and default averaging window (Default Averaging Window).

For example, Table 1 shows a correspondence between 5QI and 5G QoS characteristics.

Table 1

At present, when the terminal switches from the source cell to the target cell, the target cell is selected mainly based on the signal quality. For example, the terminal can select the neighboring cell with the best signal quality as the target cell. However, a network slice may not be supported by all cells, which means that the target cell selected by the terminal based on the signal quality may not support the network slice (such as network slice A) of the slice service being used by the terminal. In this way, after the terminal switches to the target cell, since the target cell does not support network slice A, the terminal cannot access network slice A in the target cell, and thus cannot use the corresponding slice service on network slice A. It can be seen that the current cell switching method cannot guarantee the continuity of slice services.

In this regard, some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a cell switching method, which screens out a target cell that supports the slice service currently being used by the terminal from at least one neighboring cell of the terminal, so that the terminal can still perform the slice service in the target cell after switching to the target cell, thereby enhancing the continuity of the slice service in the cell switching scenario and improving the user experience of the slice service.

The cell switching method provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure is not only applicable to cell switching scenarios, but also applicable to cell reselection scenarios or cell redirection scenarios, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

The cell switching method provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to communication systems based on various communication technologies. For example, the communication systems to which the cell switching method provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied include but are not limited to: Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, various versions of LTE-based systems, In the next generation communication systems such as 5G system, 5G system and New Radio (NR) system. In addition, the cell switching method provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure can also be applied to future-oriented communication technologies.

To facilitate explanation of the solutions in some embodiments of the present disclosure, FIG2 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system. The cell switching method provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure may be applicable to the communication system shown in FIG2 .

2 , the communication system 100 includes: a plurality of base stations (eg, a first base station 101, a second base station 102, and a third base station 103) and a terminal 104. Of course, the structure of the communication system 100 is not limited thereto.

The base station can be a wireless access point (Access Point, AP), an evolved base station (evolved Node Base Station, eNB), or a base station in a 5G network, and the present disclosure does not make any specific limitations on this.

Terminal 104 is also called User Equipment (UE). Terminal 104 can be a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a computer, a smart home device or a smart office device with various communication functions, and the present disclosure does not impose any limitation on this. For example, the handheld device can be a smart phone. The vehicle-mounted device can be a vehicle-mounted navigation system. The wearable device can be a smart bracelet, a phone watch, etc. The computer can be a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer and a laptop computer. Smart home devices can be smart curtains and smart water meters. Smart office equipment can be a smart printer. The present disclosure does not specifically limit the form of the terminal.

In some embodiments, one base station may manage one or more cells. For example, the first base station 101 may manage a first cell, the second base station 102 may manage a second cell, and the third base station 103 may manage a third cell.

In some embodiments, when the terminal moves or is interfered, the terminal can switch from the currently connected cell (i.e., the source cell) to another cell (i.e., the target cell). For example, the terminal can first access the first cell; then, after the terminal moves out of the coverage of the first cell and moves into the coverage of the second cell, the terminal can switch from the first cell to the second cell.

In some embodiments, the source cell and the target cell may be cells managed by the same base station or may be cells managed by different base stations.

It can be understood that the structure of the communication system and the business scenarios described in some embodiments of the present disclosure are for the purpose of clearly illustrating the technical solutions of some embodiments of the present disclosure, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure. A person of ordinary skill in the art can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure are also applicable to similar technical problems.

FIG3 is a flow chart of a cell switching method according to some embodiments. The switching method includes steps 101 to 103 .

In step 101, the base station sends network side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal; correspondingly, the terminal listens to the network side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell.

It can be understood that the neighboring cell is a neighboring cell of the source cell accessed by the terminal.

In some embodiments, the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell includes identification information of the network slices supported by the neighboring cell and/or identification information of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice.

Here, the target network slice is a network slice that provides the target slice service. In some examples, the identification information of the network slice may be the S-NSSAI of the network slice.

The target slice service is the slice service that the terminal is using in the source cell. The following takes an application on the terminal using the slice service provided by network slice A as an example to introduce a method for the terminal to use network slice A:

The terminal may determine the identification information of the network slice A that matches the network slice parameters from the terminal route selection policy (URSP) rule list based on the network slice parameters of the network slice A. The terminal may search whether there is a PDU session related to the network slice A from the established PDU sessions based on the identification information of the network slice A. In the case where there is no PDU session related to the network slice A in the established PDU sessions, the terminal may initiate the establishment process of the PDU session related to the network slice A based on the identification information of the network slice A to establish the PDU session related to the network slice A. In this way, the terminal may transmit data of the slice service related to the network slice A with the network side based on the PDU session related to the network slice A, thereby using the slice service related to the network slice A.

In some embodiments, the network slicing parameters include at least one of the following: a data network name (Data Network Name, DNN), an application identity (Application Identity, APP ID), and a fully qualified domain name (Fully Qualified Domain Name, FQDN).

In some embodiments, the terminal can initiate a process of establishing a PDU session related to network slice A based on the identification information of network slice A, which may include: the terminal sends a PDU session establishment request message carrying the identification information of network slice A to the network side.

In some embodiments, the URSP rule list may include: a URSP rule list preset when the terminal leaves the factory, and/or a URSP rule list configured on the network side. In some examples, for the terminal, the URSP rule list configured on the network side has a higher priority than the URSP rule list preset when the terminal leaves the factory.

In some embodiments, the equivalent network slice of the target network slice refers to a network slice that can provide services for the target slice. It is understandable that since the service provided by the equivalent network slice of the target network slice for the target slice service is the same or similar to the service provided by the target network slice for the target slice service, the terminal can also get a similar usage experience by using the target slice service through the equivalent network slice of the target network slice.

In some embodiments, the quality of service identifier of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice is the same as the quality of service identifier of the target network slice. For example, in a 5G network, the quality of service identifier of the network slice may be 5QI. In this way, the terminal or the network side can determine whether the two network slices can be equivalent network slices to each other by determining whether the quality of service identifiers of the two network slices are the same.

In some embodiments, there may be multiple equivalent network slices of the target network slice in a neighboring cell. For example, in the case of judging whether two network slices can be equivalent network slices to each other based on 5QI, there may be multiple network slices in a neighboring cell whose 5QI is the same as the 5QI of the target network slice. In other words, there may be multiple equivalent network slices of the target network slice in a neighboring cell. It can be understood that in the case where there are multiple equivalent network slices of the target network slice in a neighboring cell, the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell includes: an identification information list of equivalent network slices or an identification information group of equivalent network slices composed of identification information of multiple equivalent network slices of the target network slice.

It should be noted that the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell may include the identification information of all network slices supported by the neighboring cell, or may only include the identification information of some network slices supported by the neighboring cell. In some examples, the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell may include the identification information of the network slices supported by the neighboring cell and whose load is less than or equal to the preset load threshold, but does not include the identification information of the network slices supported by the neighboring cell and whose load is greater than the preset load threshold. This can avoid selecting a neighboring cell that supports the target network slice but has a large load as the target cell, thereby avoiding the situation where the terminal cannot continue to use the target slice service in the target cell.

In some embodiments, the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell may also include one or more of the service type, service quality indicator, and load of the network slice supported by the neighboring cell, so that the terminal can clearly know the network slices supported by the neighboring cell, which is conducive to the terminal selecting a suitable target cell.

For example, when the network slice configuration information of a neighboring cell includes identification information and service quality identification of a network slice supported by the neighboring cell, but does not include identification information of an equivalent network slice of the target network slice, the terminal compares whether the service quality identification of the network slice supported by the neighboring cell and the service quality identification of the target network slice are the same to determine whether the network slice supported by the neighboring cell can be used as an equivalent network slice of the target network slice.

In some embodiments, the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell may be carried in system information or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. That is, the terminal may receive system information or RRC signaling carrying the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell from the network side. For example, step 101 includes: the base station sends system information or radio resource control signaling carrying the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal; correspondingly, the terminal monitors the system information or radio resource control signaling carrying the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell.

In some embodiments, the system information may be a system information block (SIB).

In some embodiments, the RRC signaling may be a newly added RRC dedicated signaling; or, the RRC signaling may reuse the RRC signaling in the existing process, for example, the RRC signaling is a radio resource control connection release signaling in the cell redirection process. Here, the radio resource control connection release signaling is used to trigger the terminal to release the RRC connection with the source cell.

In some examples, the base station sends system information carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal; correspondingly, the terminal can monitor the system information of each neighboring cell and parse the network slice configuration information of each neighboring cell from the system information of each neighboring cell.

In other examples, the base station sends system information carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal; correspondingly, the terminal can monitor the system information of the source cell and parse the network slice configuration information of each neighboring cell from the system information of the source cell.

In some other examples, the base station sends RRC signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal; correspondingly, the terminal can receive the RRC signaling of the source cell and parse the network slice configuration information of each neighboring cell from the RRC signaling of the source cell.

In some embodiments, before sending network side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal, the base station adds network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the network side signaling.

In some embodiments, when a trigger condition is met, the base station sends a network-side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal. Here, the trigger condition includes at least one of the following: the base station sends a measurement control instruction to the terminal; the base station receives a measurement report reported by the terminal; the base station detects that the terminal meets a switching decision condition, and the switching decision condition is used to determine whether the terminal needs to be redirected or switched to a cell; the base station detects that the terminal accesses a cell managed by the base station for the first time; the base station receives a switching request sent by the terminal; the base station detects that the cell selection assessment quality value and the reference signal reception quality of the source cell of the terminal At least one of the reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) or load does not meet the preset requirements.

In step 102, the terminal selects a target cell that supports the target slice service from at least one neighboring cell based on the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell.

The target cell supporting the target slice service may include: the target cell supporting the target network slice that provides the target slice service; and/or the target cell supporting the equivalent network slice of the target network slice. It can be understood that since the slice service depends on the network slice, the terminal can determine whether a cell supports the target slice service based on whether the cell supports the target network slice and/or the equivalent network slice of the target network slice.

In some embodiments, the target slice service may be one or more. In the case where there are multiple target slice services, the target cell supports all target slice services; or, the target cell supports some target slice services. For example, in the case where there are multiple target slice services, the terminal may determine the neighboring cell that supports all target slice services as the target cell. For another example, in the case where there are multiple target slice services, if all neighboring cells cannot support all target slice services, the terminal may use the neighboring cell that supports the largest number of target slice services as the target cell.

In some embodiments, during the selection process of the target cell, the priority of the target network slice is higher than the priority of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice. Alternatively, the priority of the neighboring cell supporting the target network slice is higher than the priority of the neighboring cell supporting the equivalent network slice of the target network slice. For example, assuming that neighboring cell 1 supports network slice A, neighboring cell 2 supports network slice B, and neighboring cell 3 supports network slice C, network slice B is an equivalent network slice of network slice A, and the terminal currently uses the slice service of network slice A, since the priority of neighboring cell 1 is higher than that of neighboring cell 2, the terminal can preferentially select neighboring cell 1 as the target cell.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4 , step 102 includes step 1021 and step 1022 .

In step 1021, the terminal selects at least one candidate cell that meets the handover requirement from at least one neighboring cell.

The switching requirement includes one or more of the following:

Requirement 1: The cell selection evaluation quality value of the neighboring cell is greater than a preset threshold.

It should be noted that the terminal can measure the reference signal sent by the neighboring cell to obtain the reception level value of the neighboring cell; the terminal determines the cell selection evaluation quality value of the neighboring cell according to the reception level value, the compensation level value and the minimum reception level value of the neighboring cell. Here, the compensation level value is related to the maximum RF output power of the terminal.

Requirement 2: The reference signal reception quality of the neighboring cell is greater than the preset reception quality.

It should be noted that the terminal may measure the reference signal sent by the neighboring cell to obtain the reference signal reception quality of the neighboring cell.

Requirement 3: The signal-to-noise ratio of the neighboring cell is greater than the preset signal-to-noise ratio.

It should be noted that the terminal may measure the reference signal sent by the neighboring cell to obtain the signal-to-noise ratio of the neighboring cell.

Requirement 4: The load of the neighboring cell is less than the preset load threshold.

It should be noted that the terminal can obtain the load of each neighboring cell through signaling on the network side.

In addition, the above-mentioned requirements 1 to 4 are merely examples of switching requirements, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the base station may indicate the switching requirement by sending a signaling to the terminal; or the terminal may determine the switching requirement according to its own service requirements.

In step 1022, the terminal selects a candidate cell that supports the target slice service from at least one candidate cell as the target cell based on the network slice configuration information of at least one candidate cell.

In some embodiments, step 1022 may include: the terminal determines whether the candidate cell supports the target slice service based on the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell; the terminal selects the candidate cell with the highest priority as the target cell from all candidate cells supporting the target slice service.

In some embodiments, the terminal determines whether the candidate cell supports the target slice service in the following manner: when the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell includes identification information of the target network slice, the terminal determines that the candidate cell supports the target slice service; or, when the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell includes identification information of an equivalent network slice of the target network slice, the terminal determines that the candidate cell supports the target slice service; or, when the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell does not include identification information of an equivalent network slice of the target network slice, and the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell does not include identification information of the target network slice, the terminal determines that the candidate cell does not support the target slice service.

In some embodiments, the priority of the candidate cell is determined according to at least one of the cell selection assessment quality value, reference signal reception quality, signal-to-noise ratio, or load of the candidate cell. In some examples, the priority of the candidate cell may be positively correlated with the cell selection assessment quality value, reference signal reception quality, and/or signal-to-noise ratio of the candidate cell. In some examples, the priority of the candidate cell may be negatively correlated with the load of the candidate cell.

In this way, by first screening out candidate cells that meet the switching requirements, and then screening out target cells that support the target network slice and/or the equivalent network slice of the target network slice from the candidate cells, the target cell and the terminal can be connected. There is better communication quality between the terminals, thereby improving the continuity of the slice services being executed by the terminals.

In some embodiments, when the terminal monitors network side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell, step 102 is executed.

In some embodiments, when the terminal monitors network-side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell, the terminal determines whether the terminal needs to perform cell reselection, cell redirection or cell switching, and executes step 102 if cell reselection, cell redirection or cell switching is required.

In step 103, the terminal switches from the source cell to the target cell.

In some embodiments, after the terminal switches from the source cell to the target cell, the terminal may initiate a PDU session modification process so that the terminal can use the target slice service in the target cell. Here, the specific description of the PDU session modification process can refer to the relevant technology and will not be repeated here.

In the technical solutions provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure, since the selected target cell can support the slicing service currently being used by the terminal, the terminal can still perform the slicing service in the target cell after switching to the target cell, thereby enhancing the continuity of the slicing service in the cell switching scenario and improving the user experience of the slicing service.

The following uses some scenarios to illustrate how to implement signaling that carries network slice configuration information of neighboring cells.

For example, in a cell reselection scenario, the network side (e.g., base station) adds the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell in the SIB signaling. The network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell includes the identification information of the network slices supported by the neighboring cell. In the following signaling, the allowed_nssai field identifies the identification information of the network slices supported by the neighboring cell.

For another example, in a cell redirection or cell switching scenario, the network side (e.g., a base station) adds the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell in the RRC dedicated signaling.

For another example, in a cell reselection scenario, the network side (e.g., base station) adds the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell in the SIB signaling. The network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell includes the identification information of the network slice supported by the neighboring cell and the identification information of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice. In the following signaling, The equivalent_nssai field is used to indicate the identification information of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice.

For another example, in a cell reselection scenario, the network side (e.g., base station) adds the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell in the PDU session modification complete signaling. The network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell includes the identification information of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice.

For ease of understanding, an example of cell switching is introduced below.

5 , the cell switching method includes steps 501 to 505 .

In step 501, the application in the terminal applies for network slice A. It can be understood that network slice A is the target network slice.

The terminal can determine the identification information of network slice A that matches the network slice parameters from the URSP rule list based on the network slice parameters of network slice A.

In step 502, the terminal establishes a PDU session related to network slice A based on the identification information of network slice A. For example, the terminal searches the established PDU sessions for whether there is a PDU session related to network slice A; if there is no PDU session related to network slice A in the established PDU sessions, the terminal can initiate a process of establishing a PDU session related to network slice A based on the identification information of network slice A to establish a PDU session related to network slice A.

In step 503, the terminal monitors whether the network side signaling (for example, RRC signaling or system information) sent by the base station contains network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell.

If the network side signaling monitored by the terminal does not contain the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell, the terminal continues to monitor whether the network side signaling sent by the base station contains the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell; if the network side signaling monitored by the terminal contains the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell, step 504 is executed. It can be understood that if the network side signaling monitored by the terminal contains the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell, it can be considered that the terminal has monitored the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell. Network-side signaling of information.

In step 504, it is determined whether the terminal needs to perform cell handover, cell reselection or cell redirection.

If the terminal does not need to perform cell switching, cell reselection or cell redirection, it continues to determine whether the terminal needs to perform cell switching, cell reselection or cell redirection; if the terminal needs to perform cell switching, cell reselection or cell redirection, step 505 is executed.

In step 505, the terminal selects a target cell that supports the target slice service from at least one neighboring cell based on the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell; and accesses the target cell from the source cell.

It should be noted that some embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the order of steps described above, and those skilled in the art may change the order of steps described above according to actual needs, or may omit one or more of the steps described above, or may add one or more steps to the steps described above.

The above mainly introduces the schemes of some embodiments of the present disclosure by taking methods as examples. Some embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a cell switching device for executing the cell switching method in any of the above embodiments. It can be understood that, in order to implement the above cell switching method, the cell switching device includes hardware structures and/or software modules corresponding to the execution of various functions; those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithms and steps described in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the present disclosure can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present disclosure.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure may divide the cell switching device into functional modules according to the above method embodiments. For example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one functional module. The above integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software. It should be noted that the division of modules in some embodiments of the present disclosure is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The following is an example of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function.

FIG6 is a diagram of a cell switching device according to some embodiments. Referring to FIG6 , the cell switching device 200 includes: a monitoring module 201 , a cell selection module 202 and a switching execution module 203 .

The monitoring module 201 is used to monitor network side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell.

The cell selection module 202 is configured to select a cell from at least one neighboring cell according to the network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell. A target cell supporting a target slice service is selected from a neighboring cell. The target slice service is the slice service currently being used by the terminal in the source cell.

The handover execution module 203 is used to handover from a source cell to a target cell.

In some embodiments, the cell selection module 202 is configured to: screen out at least one candidate cell that meets the switching requirements from at least one neighboring cell; and select a candidate cell that supports the target slice service from at least one candidate cell as the target cell based on the network slice configuration information of the at least one candidate cell.

In some embodiments, the cell selection module 202 is further configured to: determine whether the candidate cell supports the target slice service according to the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell; and select the candidate cell with the highest priority as the target cell from all candidate cells supporting the target slice service. The priority of the candidate cell is determined according to at least one of the cell selection evaluation quality value, reference signal reception quality, signal-to-noise ratio, or load of the candidate cell.

In some embodiments, the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell includes identification information of the network slices supported by the neighboring cell and/or identification information of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice. The target network slice is a network slice that provides the target slice service.

In some embodiments, the quality of service identifier of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice is the same as the quality of service identifier of the target network slice.

In some embodiments, the cell selection module 202 is further configured to: when the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell includes identification information of the target network slice, determine that the candidate cell supports the target slice service; or, when the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell includes identification information of an equivalent network slice of the target network slice, determine that the candidate cell supports the target slice service; or, when the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell does not include identification information of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice, and the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell does not include identification information of the target network slice, determine that the candidate cell does not support the target slice service.

In some embodiments, the monitoring module 201 is configured to: monitor system information or wireless resource control signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell.

In addition, although not shown in Figure 6, the cell switching device 200 may also include one or more of the following: a storage module, a slice management module, a PDU management module or a monitoring module.

The storage module is used to store the URSP rule list.

The slice management module is used to manage the target network slices in use, or to apply for the target network slices.

The PDU management module is used to manage or maintain PDU sessions.

The monitoring module is used to detect whether operations such as cell reselection, redirection, and cell switching need to be performed.

FIG7 is another cell switching device according to some embodiments. Some embodiments of the present disclosure also provide another cell switching device 300. Referring to FIG7 , the cell switching device 300 includes: a communication module 301 and a processing module 302.

The communication module 301 is used to send network-side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal.

Processing module 302 is used to add network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell in network side signaling.

In some embodiments, the communication module 301 is configured to: send system information or wireless resource control signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal.

In some embodiments, the communication module 301 is further configured to: send network-side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal when a trigger condition is met. Here, the trigger condition includes at least one of the following: the communication module 301 sends a measurement control instruction to the terminal; the communication module 301 receives a measurement report reported by the terminal; the communication module 301 detects that the terminal meets a switching decision condition, which is used to determine whether the terminal needs to be redirected or switched to a cell; the communication module 301 detects that the terminal first accesses a cell managed by a base station; the communication module 301 receives a switching request sent by the terminal; the communication module 301 detects that at least one of the cell selection assessment quality value, reference signal reception quality, signal-to-noise ratio, or load of the source cell of the terminal does not meet the preset requirements.

In the case of implementing the functions of the above-mentioned integrated modules in the form of hardware, some embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a communication device, which is used to execute the cell switching method provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 8, the communication device 400 includes: a communication interface 403, a processor 402, and a bus 404. Of course, in some embodiments, as shown in Figure 8, the communication device 400 may also include a memory 401.

The processor 402 may be a processor that implements or executes various logic blocks described in conjunction with some embodiments of the present disclosure. Modules and circuits. The processor 402 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. The processor 402 may also be a combination that implements a computing function, for example, the processor 402 is a combination including one or more microprocessors, or a combination of a digital signal processor (DSP) and a microprocessor, etc.

The communication interface 403 is used to connect with other devices through a communication network. The communication network can be Ethernet, wireless access network, wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Networks, WLAN), etc.

The memory 401 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the memory 401 may exist independently of the processor 402, and the memory 401 may be connected to the processor 402 via a bus 404 and used to store instructions or program codes. When the processor 402 calls and executes the instructions or program codes stored in the memory 401, the cell switching method provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

In other embodiments, the memory 401 may also be integrated with the processor 402 .

The bus 404 may be an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus 404 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, FIG8 only uses one thick line, but does not mean that there is only one bus 404 or one type of bus 404.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium), in which computer program instructions are stored. When the computer program instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes the cell switching method as described in any of the above embodiments.

In some embodiments, the computer may be the cell switching device described above, and the present disclosure does not limit the specific form of the computer.

In some examples, the computer-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to: a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk or tape, etc.), optical disk (e.g., Compact Disk (CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), etc.), smart card and flash memory device (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), card, stick or key drive, etc.). The various computer-readable storage media described in the present disclosure may represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable storage media for storing information. The term "machine-readable storage medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing and/or carrying instructions and/or data.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the cell switching method described in any of the above embodiments.

The above is only a specific implementation of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present disclosure should be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A cell switching method, applied to a terminal, wherein the method comprises:

Monitoring network-side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell;

According to the network slice configuration information of the at least one neighboring cell, a target cell supporting a target slice service is selected from the at least one neighboring cell; the target slice service is a slice service being used by the terminal in the source cell;

Handover from the source cell to the target cell.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting, according to the network slice configuration information of the at least one neighboring cell, the target cell supporting the target slice service from the at least one neighboring cell comprises:

Filtering at least one candidate cell that meets the handover requirement from the at least one neighboring cell;

According to the network slice configuration information of the at least one candidate cell, a candidate cell supporting the target slice service is selected from the at least one candidate cell as the target cell.
The method according to claim 2, wherein, according to the network slice configuration information of the at least one candidate cell, selecting a candidate cell supporting the target slice service from the at least one candidate cell as the target cell comprises:

Determine, according to the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell, whether the candidate cell supports the target slice service;

Select a candidate cell with the highest priority from all candidate cells supporting the target slice service as the target cell; the priority of the candidate cell is determined based on at least one of the cell selection evaluation quality value, reference signal reception quality, signal-to-noise ratio or load of the candidate cell.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell includes identification information of the network slice supported by the neighboring cell and/or identification information of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice, and the target network slice is the network slice that provides the target slice service.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the service quality identifier of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice is the same as the service quality identifier of the target network slice.
The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the determining, according to the network slice configuration information of the candidate cell, whether the candidate cell supports the target slice service comprises:

In a case where the configuration information of the network slice of the candidate cell includes the identification information of the target network slice, determining that the candidate cell supports the target slice service; or,

In a case where the configuration information of the network slice of the candidate cell includes identification information of an equivalent network slice of the target network slice, determining that the candidate cell supports the target slice service; or By,

When the configuration information of the network slice of the candidate cell does not include the identification information of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice, and the configuration information of the network slice of the candidate cell does not include the identification information of the target network slice, it is determined that the candidate cell does not support the target slice service.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring network side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of the at least one neighboring cell comprises:

Monitor system information or radio resource control signaling that carries network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell.
A cell switching method, applicable to a base station, comprising:

Send network-side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the sending the network side signaling carrying the network slice configuration information of the at least one neighboring cell to the terminal comprises:

Send system information or wireless resource control signaling carrying network slice configuration information of at least one neighboring cell to the terminal.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the network slice configuration information of the neighboring cell includes identification information of the network slice supported by the neighboring cell and/or identification information of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice, and the target network slice is the network slice that provides the target slice service being used by the terminal.
The method according to claim 10, wherein the service quality identifier of the equivalent network slice of the target network slice is the same as the service quality identifier of the target network slice.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the sending the network side signaling carrying the network slice configuration information of the at least one neighboring cell to the terminal comprises:

When a trigger condition is met, sending network side signaling carrying network slice configuration information of the at least one neighboring cell to the terminal;

The trigger condition includes at least one of the following:

The base station sends a measurement control instruction to the terminal;

Receiving a measurement report reported by the terminal;

detecting that the terminal satisfies a switching decision condition, where the switching decision condition is used to determine whether cell redirection or cell switching is required for the terminal;

Detecting that the terminal accesses the cell managed by the base station for the first time;

receiving a switching request sent by the terminal; and

It is detected that at least one of a cell selection evaluation quality value, a reference signal reception quality, a signal-to-noise ratio, or a load of a source cell of the terminal does not meet a preset requirement.
A communication device, comprising: a memory and a processor; wherein the memory and the processor are coupled; the memory is used to store instructions executable by the processor; when the processor executes the instructions, the communication device executes the cell switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.
A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores computer program instructions, and when the computer program instructions are executed on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the cell switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.
A computer program product, comprising computer program instructions, wherein the computer program instructions, when executed, implement the cell switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.