Electronic device and communication method

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a communication method and an electronic device for implementing the communication method. The electronic device includes: a processing circuit configured to select one or more available access points from a plurality of available access points as one or more cooperative access points and select one available access point as a data distribution center, send information about the one or more cooperative access points to the data distribution center, such that the data distribution center, in response to receiving data destined for the electronic device from a serving gateway, sends the data destined for the electronic device to the one or more cooperative access points, and receive the data destined for the electronic device through cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the one or more cooperative access points when receiving the data destined for the electronic device.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with the Chinese application number 201610040661.6, the application date of January 21, 2016, and the title of "Electronic Device and Communication Method". Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to an electronic device and a communication method. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an electronic device and a communication method for a cooperative transmission system. Background Art

[0003] Driven by new services, applications, and devices, the data traffic in future wireless communications is growing explosively. A user equipment-centric network has been disclosed, which includes user equipment, a plurality of access points, and a serving gateway. Among them, the user equipment does not belong to any of the access points in the communication system and will autonomously select an access point to provide services for it. For example, see the academic paper "Routing in user-centric networks", X. Xing, T. Jing, W. Zhou, X. Cheng, Y. Huo, and H. Liu, IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 52, no. 9, pp. 44-51, Sep. 2014. This academic paper considers the situation of "not always having a complete and stable path from the information source to its destination" and attempts to find a suitable relay and form a suitable routing path. In fact, the core idea of this academic paper is that the user equipment can be regarded as a relay to construct a transmission path. However, a plurality of algorithms proposed in this academic paper, such as "utilizing human social characteristics", are actually not feasible in the current network.

[0004] In addition, in a traditional cellular cell, in order to improve the service quality of user equipment at the cell edge, a coordinated multiple points transmission / reception (CoMP) technology has been proposed. In the CoMP technology, for user equipment at the cell edge, multiple base stations can simultaneously serve the edge user equipment through joint transmission (JT). When performing CoMP on this user equipment, it is determined by the access point to which the user equipment belongs whether to perform CoMP on it. If it is determined to perform CoMP on this user equipment, the access point reports to the serving gateway and notifies adjacent access points to perform joint transmission. During the transmission process, the serving gateway sends the data destined for this user equipment to each access point, and the access points cooperate to transmit the data to the user equipment. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In the user-centric network of the prior art, it is desired to improve the communication quality of user equipment, while in the CoMP technology of the prior art, it is desired to improve the communication efficiency of user equipment.

[0006] In view of the above, it is desired to provide a technical solution for improving the communication quality and communication efficiency of user equipment.

[0007] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to an electronic device, including: a processing circuit configured to: select one or more available access points from a plurality of available access points as one or more cooperative access points and select one available access point as a data distribution center, send information about the one or more cooperative access points to the data distribution center, such that the data distribution center, in response to receiving data destined for the electronic device from a serving gateway, sends the data destined for the electronic device to the one or more cooperative access points, and when receiving the data destined for the electronic device, receive the data destined for the electronic device through cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the one or more cooperative access points.

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to an electronic device including a processing circuit configured to: in a case where the electronic device is selected by a user equipment as a data distribution center, send information about the user equipment and the data distribution center to a serving gateway, receive information about a cooperative access point from the user equipment, and in response to receiving data destined for the user equipment from the serving gateway, send the data destined for the user equipment to the user equipment and the cooperative access point, such that the data destined for the user equipment is sent to the user equipment through cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access point; and in a case where the electronic device is selected by the user equipment as a cooperative access point, in response to receiving the data destined for the user equipment, send the data destined for the user equipment to the user equipment, such that the data destined for the user equipment is sent to the user equipment through cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access point.

[0009] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a communication method, including: selecting, by a user equipment, one or more available access points from a plurality of available access points as one or more cooperative access points and selecting one available access point as a data distribution center, sending, by the user equipment, information about the one or more cooperative access points to the data distribution center, such that the data distribution center, in response to receiving data destined for the user equipment from a serving gateway, sends the data destined for the user equipment to the one or more cooperative access points, and when the user equipment receives the data destined for the user equipment, receiving the data destined for the user equipment through cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the one or more cooperative access points.

[0010] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a communication method, including: when an access point is selected by a user equipment as a data distribution center, sending, by the data distribution center, information about the user equipment and the data distribution center to a serving gateway, receiving, by the data distribution center, information about a cooperative access point from the user equipment, and in response to the data destined for the user equipment received by the data distribution center from the serving gateway, sending, by the data distribution center, the data destined for the user equipment to the user equipment and the cooperative access point, so that the data destined for the user equipment is sent to the user equipment through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access point; and when an access point is selected by the user equipment as a cooperative access point, in response to the data destined for the user equipment received by the cooperative access point, sending, by the cooperative access point, the data destined for the user equipment to the user equipment, so that the data destined for the user equipment is sent to the user equipment through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access point.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user equipment determines the cooperative transmission architecture of the access point providing services for it, thereby being able to improve the communication quality of the user equipment. In addition, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the serving gateway only needs to transmit the data of the user equipment to the data distribution center, and the data distribution center distributes the data to other cooperative access points. Therefore, the serving gateway does not need to repeatedly transmit the data to other cooperative access points, improving the communication efficiency of the user equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 is an example of a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 4 is an example of a processing flow of a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 5 is an example of a processing flow of a user equipment in a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 6 is an example of a processing flow of a user equipment selecting a data distribution center and a cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the processing flow for a user equipment to release a cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the processing flow for a user equipment to add a cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram of updating a cooperative access point when a user equipment moves according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 10 It is a schematic diagram of the processing flow for a user equipment to switch the data distribution center according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 11 It is a schematic diagram of switching the data distribution center when a user equipment moves according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 12 It is an example of the processing flow of an access point in a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 13 It is a schematic diagram of the processing flow performed by a released cooperative access point in the case of releasing a cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 14 It is a schematic diagram of the processing flow performed by a data distribution center in the case of releasing a cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 15 It is a schematic diagram of the processing flow performed by an original data distribution center in the case of switching the data distribution center according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 16 It is an example of the signaling transmission process in a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 17 It is an example of the signaling transmission process for updating a cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 18 It is an example of the signaling transmission process for switching the data distribution center according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 19 It is a simulation diagram of the transmission delay between a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system and a traditional CoMP technology according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 20 It is a simulation diagram of the number of access point handovers between a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure and the prior art.

[0032] Figure 21 It is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of a smart phone according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 22 It is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of an in-vehicle navigation device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 23 It is a block diagram showing a first example of the schematic configuration of an eNB according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 24 It is a block diagram showing a second example of the schematic configuration of an eNB according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Specific embodiments

[0036] Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a communication method according to each embodiment of the present disclosure and an electronic device for implementing the communication method will be described in the following order.

[0037] 1. Schematic configuration of a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the present disclosure

[0038] Figure 1 It is an example of a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] As Figure 1 shown, the communication system of the present disclosure may include, for example, a user equipment (UE) 100, a plurality of access points 200 (200A - 200G), and a serving gateway 300. Among them, the serving gateway 300 can communicate with the access point 200 and control the operation of the access point 200. In addition, the access point 200 can provide services to the UE 100 and perform wireless communication with the UE 100, thereby providing communication between the user equipment 100 and the serving gateway 300. In addition, the access points 200 can communicate with each other, so that the access points 200 can cooperate with each other to provide services to the UE 100.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE 100 may be implemented as, for example, a radio device, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a tablet computer, a communication terminal, a personal digital assistant, a global positioning device, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a television, a vehicle communication device, an embedded communication processor, or any other communication device that performs a wireless network connection with the access point 200 and / or a device that works together with these devices. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the access point 200 may be implemented as, for example, a macro base station (a base station in a macro cell), a micro base station (a base station in a micro cell), a pico cell, a femto cell (covering a home network), a remote radio head (RRH), or any other type of communication device that provides a wireless network connection for the UE, etc. In addition, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality of access points 200A-200G may be different types of access points.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user equipment 100 and each access point 200 may be connected by, for example, a wireless communication method. For example, the wireless communication standard thereof may be code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplex (FDD), time division duplex (TDD), long term evolution (LTE), long term evolution-advanced (LTE-A), global system for mobile communications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), or a similar communication standard, etc. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the access points 200A-200G may be connected by, for example, various wired and wireless communication methods. For example, the access points may perform wired communication by using an optical fiber through an X2 interface, or perform wireless communication by using a millimeter wave band, etc. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the access point 200 and the serving gateway 300 may communicate through a wireless backhaul by using an S1 interface.

[0042] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE 100 selects one access point from the surrounding available access points (200A-200G in this embodiment) as a data distribution center (200A in this embodiment) and selects a plurality of access points as cooperative access points (200B, 200C, and 200D in this embodiment), and establishes an architecture for cooperative transmission to the UE 100. When sending data from the serving gateway 300 to the UE 100, the serving gateway 300 first sends the data to the data distribution center 200A. Thereafter, the data distribution center 200A sends the data to the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D. Finally, the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D, under the coordination of the data distribution center 200A, cooperate with the data distribution center 200A to transmit the data to the UE 100.

[0043] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a cooperative transmission system established by a user equipment is proposed. In this system, it is no longer the traditional access point that determines the cooperation mode, but the user equipment that determines the cooperation mode of the access points providing services for it. Therefore, CoMP technology can be applied to a user equipment-centric network.

[0044] In addition, in the user equipment-centric cooperative transmission system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE 100 selects a data distribution center and cooperative access points for cooperative transmission for it to establish a cooperative transmission system. Compared with the situation in traditional CoMP where the access point of the cell to which the user equipment belongs decides whether and how to jointly transmit data to the user equipment, the UE 100 does not need to send measurement reports on the status of surrounding access points to the access point or the serving gateway. Therefore, the processing flow is simplified, the processing time is shortened, and communication resources are saved.

[0045] In addition, the user equipment-centric cooperative transmission system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure utilizes the communication between access points 200. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the UE 100 selects one of the access points as the data distribution center 200A. The serving gateway 300 only needs to transmit the data of this user equipment to the data distribution center 200A. The data distribution center 200A distributes the data to the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D. Then, the data distribution center 200A and the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D transmit data to the user equipment 100 together. Therefore, the serving gateway 300 does not need to repeatedly transmit data to the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D. In a user equipment-centric network, wired communication or wireless communication using a large amount of available spectrum such as the millimeter wave band can be used to implement the communication between access points 200. Therefore, compared with the communication implemented by the serving gateway 300 and the access points 200 through the S1 interface using wireless backhaul, the data transmission speed between access points 200 is faster. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the serving gateway 300 only transmits the data of the user equipment 100 to the data distribution center 200A and the data distribution center 200A distributes the data to the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D. This can save the wireless communication resources between the serving gateway 300 and the access points 200, increase the transmission efficiency, and reduce the data delay compared with the situation where the serving gateway 300 repeatedly transmits the data of the user equipment 100 to each cooperative access point.

[0046] Next, a schematic configuration of the user equipment 100 and the access point 200 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be introduced. In addition, the serving gateway 300 in the embodiment of the present disclosure is basically the same as the serving gateway in the prior art, and the introduction of its specific configuration is omitted in this specification.

[0047] 1-1. Schematic configuration of user equipment 100

[0048] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of UE 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0049] UE 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include, for example, a processing circuit 110, a communication unit 120, and a memory 130.

[0050] The processing circuit 110 of UE 100 provides various functions of UE 100. For example, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 may include a selection unit 111, a transmission unit 112, and a reception unit 113. The selection unit 111 may be configured to select one or more available access points from a plurality of available access points 200 as one or more cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D and select one available access point as a data distribution center 200A. The transmission unit 112 may be configured to send information about one or more cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D to the data distribution center 200A, thereby notifying the data distribution center 200A which one or more cooperative access points have been selected by the user equipment. The reception unit 113 may be configured to receive data destined for the electronic device from the data distribution center 200A and the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access points.

[0051] The communication unit 120 of UE 100 is configured to perform communication with each access point 200 under the control of the processing circuit 110. The communication unit 120 sends the information sent by the processing circuit 110 to the access point 200 and provides the information received from each access point 200 to the processing circuit 110.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for example, the communication unit 120 may be implemented as an antenna device, and the transmission unit 112 and the reception unit 113 may be implemented as communication interface components such as radio frequency circuits and baseband processors.

[0053] The memory 130 may store the information generated by the processing circuit 110, the information received from the access point 200 through the communication unit 120, as well as programs and data for the operation of UE 100. The memory 130 may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. For example, the memory 130 may include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), and flash memory.

[0054] 1-2. Schematic Configuration of Access Point 200

[0055] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of access point 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0056] The access point 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include, for example, a processing circuit 210, a communication unit 220, and a memory 230.

[0057] The processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 provides various functions of the access point 200. For example, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 may include a transmitting unit 211 and a receiving unit 212. The processing circuit 210 may be configured to operate according to whether the access point 200 itself is selected by the UE 100 as a data distribution center or a cooperative access point.

[0058] In the case where the access point 200 is selected by the UE 100 as a data distribution center (for example, the access point 200A as Figure 1 shown), the processing circuit 210 may be configured to send information about the UE 100 and information about the access point 200A as the data distribution center of the UE 100 to the serving gateway 300 through the transmitting unit 211, thereby notifying the serving gateway 300 that when sending information to the UE 100, the information of the UE 100 is sent to the access point 200A. In addition, the processing circuit 210 may receive information about other cooperative access points (for example, the access points 200B, 200C, and 200D as Figure 1 shown) from the UE 100 through the receiving unit 212. Thus, the access point 200A as the data distribution center and the access points 200B, 200C, and 200D as cooperative access points establish a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system with the UE 100. When the processing circuit 210 receives data destined for the UE 100 from the serving gateway 300, the processing circuit 210 sends the data destined for the UE 100 to the UE 100 and the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D through the transmitting unit 211, so that the data destined for the UE 100 can be sent to the UE 100 through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center 200A and the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D.

[0059] In addition, in the case where the access point 200 is selected by the UE 100 as a cooperative access point (for example, as Figure 1For the access points 200B, 200C, and 200D shown, when the processing circuit 210 receives data destined for the UE 100 from the access point 200A serving as a data distribution center, the processing circuit 210 is configured to send the data destined for the UE 100 to the UE 100 via the transmission unit 211 through cooperative transmission with the data distribution center 200A and other cooperative access points.

[0060] The communication unit 220 of the access point 200 may be configured to, for example, be capable of communicating with each UE 100, other access points 200, and the serving gateway 300 under the control of the processing circuit 210. Specifically, the communication unit 220 may send the information sent by the transmission unit 211 of the processing circuit 210 to each UE 100, other access points 200, or the serving gateway 300 to the corresponding destination, and provide the information received from each UE 100, other access points 200, or the serving gateway 300 to the receiving unit 212 of the processing circuit 210.

[0061] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for example, the communication unit 220 may be implemented as an antenna device, and the transmission unit 211 and the receiving unit 212 may be implemented as communication interface components such as radio frequency circuits and baseband processors.

[0062] The memory 230 may store the information generated by the processing circuit 210, the information received through the communication unit 220 from each UE 100, other access points 200, or the serving gateway 300, and the programs and data for the operation of the access point 200. The memory 230 may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. For example, the memory 230 may include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), and flash memory.

[0063] 2. Processing flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure

[0064] Figure 4 is an example of the processing flow of a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0065] In step 402, the UE 100 selects one or more of the surrounding available access points 200 (e.g., access points 200B, 200C, and 200D) as cooperative access points (hereinafter referred to as cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D), and selects one of the surrounding available access points 200 (e.g., access point 200A) as a data distribution center (hereinafter referred to as data distribution center 200A). More specifically, the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100 selects one or more cooperative access points and a data distribution center from the surrounding available access points 200.

[0066] In step 404, the UE 100 sends information about the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D to the data distribution center 200A. More specifically, the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100 sends, through the communication unit 120, information about the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D to the communication unit 220 of the data distribution center 200A, and the communication unit 220 further provides the information to the processing circuit 210 of the data distribution center 200A.

[0067] In step 406, the data distribution center 200A sends information about the UE 100 and the data distribution center 200A to the serving gateway 300. More specifically, the processing circuit 210 of the data distribution center 200A sends, through the communication unit 220, information about the UE 100 and the data distribution center 200A to the serving gateway 300, thereby notifying the serving gateway 300 that when sending data to the UE 100, the data destined for the UE 100 should be sent to the data distribution center 200A.

[0068] In step 408, the data distribution center 200A receives information about the cooperative access points 200A and 200B from the UE 100. More specifically, the processing circuit 210 of the data distribution center 200A receives, through the communication unit 220 and the communication unit 120 of the UE 100, information about the cooperative access points 200A and 200B from the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100.

[0069] In step 410, when the data distribution center 200A receives data destined for the UE 100 from the service gateway 300, the data distribution center 200A sends the data to the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D, and sends the data destined for the UE 100 to the UE 100 through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center 200A and the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D. More specifically, when the processing circuit 210 of the data distribution center 200A receives data destined for the UE 100 from the service gateway 300 through the communication unit 220, the processing circuit 210 of the data distribution center 200A sends the data destined for the UE 100 to the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D through the communication unit 220, and sends the data destined for the UE 100 to the UE 100 through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center 200A and the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D.

[0070] Hereinafter, the specific details of the above processing flow will be explained from the perspectives of the UE 100 and the access point 200, respectively.

[0071] 2-1. Operation Example of User Equipment According to Embodiment of the Present Disclosure

[0072] Hereinafter, a specific example according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided from the perspective of the UE 100.

[0073] 2-1-1. Operation Example of User Equipment Establishing a User Equipment-Centered Cooperative Transmission System

[0074] Figure 5 is an example of the processing flow of the user equipment of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This processing flow is performed by the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100.

[0075] In step 502, the selection unit 111 of the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100 selects one or more access points (e.g., access points 200B, 200C, and 200D) among the surrounding available access points 200 as the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D, and selects one access point (e.g., access point 200A) among the surrounding available access points 200 as the data distribution center 200A.

[0076] In step 504, the sending unit 112 of the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100 sends information about the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D to the communication unit of the data distribution center 200A through the communication unit 120 for providing to the processing circuit 210 of the data distribution center 200A.

[0077] In step 506, when the receiving unit 113 of the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100 receives data destined for the UE 100 from the serving gateway 300 via the communication unit 120 through the access point 200, the data destined for the UE 100 is received through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center 200A and the cooperative access points 200B, 200C, and 200D.

[0078] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, before starting the above process, it may further include the step of identifying available surrounding access points 200. For example, similar to a traditional cellular network, a traditional base station sends base station information through synchronization signals, reference signals, and broadcast channels (Broadcast channel, BCH), etc. The broadcast control channel (Broadcastcontrol channel, BCCH) in the broadcast channel BCH is used for the base station to broadcast common information to all user equipments, including various operation parameter information of the cell, and the reference signals and synchronization signals are used for the user equipment to measure channel quality, channel direction, and other channel states and identify the cell identifier. Therefore, the UE 100 can discover available surrounding access points 200 by receiving the cell identification signals broadcast by the access point 200 through the communication unit 120. In addition, the UE 100 can use other means well-known in the technical field of the present disclosure to discover available surrounding access points 200.

[0079] 2-1-2. Operation Example of User Equipment Selecting Data Distribution Center and Cooperative Access Points

[0080] Figure 6 is an example of a processing flow for a user equipment to select a data distribution center and cooperative access points according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This processing flow corresponds to Figure 5 step 502 in, and is performed by the selection unit 111 of the UE 100.

[0081] In step 602, the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100 obtains the expected quality of service of each available access point 200. In step 604, the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100 selects one or more access points as cooperative access points and selects one access point as the data distribution center from the available access points according to the expected quality of service of each access point.

[0082] The expected quality of service of the access point 200 is an indication representing the quality of service expected to be provided by the access point 200 in the case of selecting the access point 200 as the access point serving the UE 100. It can be understood that, as listed below as an example, the expected quality of service can be determined based on multiple parameters and can include multiple aspects representing the quality of service to be provided by the access point.

[0083] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the expected quality of service can be determined based on at least one of, for example, the channel quality between the access point and the UE 100, the inherent parameters of the access point, the current status information of the access point, and the resources that the access point expects to allocate to the UE 100.

[0084] The channel quality between the access point and the UE 100 is obtained by measurement by the UE 100, and includes, for example, the strength of the signal received by the UE 100, such as the reference signal received power (RSRP) measured by the UE 100, and parameters indicating the interference situation of the channel between the access point and the UE 100, such as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), channel quality indicator (CQI), packet loss rate, and bit error rate.

[0085] The inherent parameters of the access point include the basic parameters of the access point that can be determined after the establishment of the access point, which are determined by the basic configuration of the hardware and software of the access point and remain fixed during the operation of the access point. For example, they include the type of the access point, the coverage range, the working ability, etc. More specifically, the type of the access point includes, for example, a macro base station (macro cell, the base station in a macro cell), a micro base station (micro cell, the base station in a micro cell), a pico base station (pico cell, a pico cell), a home base station (femto cell, covering a home network), a remote radio head (RRH), or any other type of communication device that provides a wireless network connection for the UE. However, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, if some small access points are subordinate to certain large access points and cannot directly communicate with the serving gateway, they do not have the ability to become a data distribution center. For example, some access points are directly controlled by a macro base station and can only communicate with the serving gateway through the macro base station, so they cannot become a data distribution center. In addition, the working ability of the access point can include, for example, the efficiency of the access point in processing data, whether it supports carrier aggregation, whether it supports transmission in an unlicensed band, the MIMO antenna configuration, etc. The basic parameters of the access point are broadcast by the access point through, for example, a broadcast channel (BCH) and can be obtained by the UE 100.

[0086] The current state of the access point includes information indicating the current operating state of the access point, such as the load condition of the access point, operating stability, etc. In addition to the above-mentioned broadcast channel, the current state of the access point can also be sent to the UE 100, for example, using radio resource control signaling as a carrier and through the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), or using downlink control information (DCI) as a carrier and through the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0087] The resources expected to be allocated to the user equipment indicate how many resources the access point is prepared to provide to the user equipment. For example, it can include the computing and processing resources of the access point, as well as the communication transmission resources of the access point. For example, how many resource blocks (RBs) can be provided to the user equipment within a time slot, etc. Information about the resources expected to be allocated to the user equipment can be sent to the UE 100, for example, using downlink control information (DCI) as a carrier and through the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0088] Therefore, in addition to the parameters listed above, those skilled in the art can think of many other parameters representing the quality of service provided by the access point, and these parameters are all included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0089] When the expected quality of service includes multiple parameters representing multiple aspects of the quality of service provided by the access point, when selecting the cooperative access point and the data distribution center in step 604, various parameters of the expected quality of service can be comprehensively considered to determine whether to select the access point as the cooperative access point or the data distribution center. For example, different priorities can be assigned to each parameter, so as to give priority to the parameters with higher priorities.

[0090] In an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, different priorities can be assigned to each parameter, so that when selecting the cooperative access point and the data distribution center in step 604, the parameters with higher priorities are considered prior to the parameters with lower priorities. For a parameter with a certain priority, the UE 100 can pre-determine the criteria for this parameter and select the access point that meets the criteria, or rank the access points from best to worst according to this parameter and select the access points in order.

[0091] For example, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, when selecting the cooperative access point, the channel quality between the access point and the UE can be used as the parameter with the highest priority to be considered first, the resources expected to be allocated by the access point to the user equipment can be used as the parameter with the second priority, and the inherent parameters and current state information of the access point can be used as the parameter with the third priority.

[0092] In this case, the UE 100 can pre-determine the criteria for the channel quality of the access points and select all the access points that meet the criteria as cooperative access points. Alternatively, the UE 100 can rank the access points according to the channel quality between the access points and the UE from good to bad and select the access points in order as cooperative access points. For access points with substantially the same channel quality, the expected allocated resources of the second priority and the inherent parameters and current status of the access points of the third priority can be further considered.

[0093] Specifically, in an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) of each access point measured by the UE 100 can be used to represent the channel quality between the access point and the UE. The RSRP can be divided into six coverage strength levels, and the lower the level, the greater its strength. For example, the UE 100 can pre-determine the criteria for the RSRP of the access point as having an RSRP of levels 1 and 2, and select all the access points with the RSRP at level 1 (RSRP > -65 dBm) and level 2 (-75 dBm < RSRP ≤ -65 dBm) as cooperative access points. Alternatively, for example, the UE 100 can rank the access points according to the RSRP level from low to high and select the access points in order as cooperative access points. For access points with substantially the same signal receiving strength or channel quality, the expected allocated resources of the second priority and the inherent parameters and current status of the access points of the third priority can be further considered.

[0094] In addition, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the two methods of selecting the access points that meet the preset criteria and selecting the access points according to the ranking of the parameters are not mutually exclusive and can be used in combination. For example, when the number of access points that meet the preset criteria exceeds the predetermined number of cooperative access points, the predetermined number of cooperative access points can be selected according to the ranking of the parameters. For example, when the access points ranked later among the cooperative access points selected according to the ranking of the parameters can no longer meet the preset criteria, only those access points that meet the preset criteria can be selected as cooperative access points according to the preset criteria.

[0095] The method of selecting the data distribution center according to the priority of the parameters is similar to the method of selecting the cooperative access points, and the same parts will not be described in detail here. The biggest difference between selecting the cooperative access points and the data distribution center according to the priority of the parameters is that the number of selected data distribution centers is one, rather than one or more of the cooperative access points. In addition, for each parameter, the preset criteria for the cooperative access points and the data distribution center can be different. For example, the preset criteria for the data distribution center can be higher than the preset criteria for the cooperative access points.

[0096] In addition, it should be understood that the means of selecting the cooperative access point and the data distribution center by comprehensively considering the various parameters of the expected service quality as described above is merely exemplary and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can conceive of many other means of selecting the cooperative access point and the data distribution center according to the various parameters of the expected service quality, and these means are also included in the specific embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0097] In addition, in the above embodiment, in step 604, the selection of the cooperative access point and the data distribution center is performed independently of each other. That is, when the user equipment initially accesses the network, the user equipment can select the cooperative access point and the data distribution center through independent processing flows.

[0098] However, in an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, in step 604, the selection of the cooperative access point and the data distribution center can be performed sequentially. For example, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, when the user equipment initially accesses the network, the user equipment can first select the cooperative access point, and then further select the data distribution center from the cooperative access points. For example, when the user equipment expects the data distribution center to be as stable as possible, the inherent parameters of the data distribution center (such as access point type, coverage range, and working ability) may be more important. Therefore, the user equipment can select the data distribution center from the selected cooperative access points according to the inherent parameters of the access points. Or, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the user equipment can first select the data distribution center, and then select the cooperative access point from the remaining access points.

[0099] In addition, in the above embodiment, for each parameter, the same priority is adopted when selecting the cooperative access point and the data distribution center.

[0100] However, in an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, for each parameter, different priorities can also be adopted when selecting the cooperative access point and the data distribution center according to the differences between the performance requirements for the cooperative access point and the data distribution center, so as to select an access point that is more suitable as the cooperative access point or the data distribution center. For example, when the user equipment expects the data distribution center to be as stable as possible, the inherent parameters of the data distribution center (such as access point type, coverage range, and working ability) may be more important than the expected allocated resources. Therefore, when selecting the data distribution center, the priority of the inherent parameters of the access point can be increased relative to the expected allocated resources.

[0101] 2-1-3. Operation Example of User Equipment Updating Cooperative Access Point

[0102] The update of the cooperative access point includes the release and addition of the cooperative access point by the user equipment. After establishing a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system, when UE 100 discovers that the current quality of service of one or more of the cooperative access points is lower than a preset standard or discovers that the expected quality of service of an access point among the available access points is higher than the current quality of service of the current cooperative access point, the user equipment begins to release the original access point. Additionally, after releasing the original access point or when the user equipment determines that it is necessary to increase the cooperative access point, UE 100 performs the process of adding an access point.

[0103] The current quality of service of the cooperative access point is an indication representing the quality of the service currently provided by the cooperative access point to the user equipment. It can be understood that similar to the expected quality of service, the current quality of service can also be determined based on multiple parameters and can include multiple aspects representing the quality of the service currently provided by the cooperative access point, and details thereof will not be elaborated herein.

[0104] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the processing flow for the user equipment to select and release a cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This processing flow is performed by UE 100.

[0105] In step 702, the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 obtains the current quality of service of the current cooperative access point and determines whether to release the cooperative access point according to the current quality of service of the access point. In step 704, the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 sends the information about the released cooperative access point to the data distribution center through the communication unit 120.

[0106] In step 702, after the current quality of service of the cooperative access point is lower than a preset threshold for a certain period of time, the processing circuit 110 of UE100 decides to release the cooperative access point. For example, when UE 100 discovers that the channel quality (e.g., RSRP) between the current cooperative access point and UE 100 is lower than the preset threshold for a certain period of time, it decides to release the cooperative access point.

[0107] Additionally, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, step 702 further includes the step of obtaining the expected quality of service of each available access point 200. Thereafter, if the expected quality of service of the available access point 200 is higher than the current quality of service of the current cooperative access point, the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 decides to release the current cooperative access point and adds the available access point 200 as a cooperative access point. For example, if the expected quality of service of the available access point 200 is higher than the current quality of service of the current cooperative access point by a predetermined threshold and still remains higher than the current quality of service of the current cooperative access point within a predetermined time period, the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 decides to release the current cooperative access point and adds the available access point 200 as a cooperative access point.

[0108] After that, at step 704, the UE 100 sends the information of the current cooperative access point to the data distribution center 300, and notifies the data distribution center 300 to remove the cooperative access point from the user equipment-centric cooperative transmission system, so that when the data distribution center 300 receives the data destined for the UE 100 again, it does not send the data to the released cooperative access point.

[0109] After that, when the UE 100 decides to replace the original access point with a new access point or decides to add a new access point to the original set of cooperative access points, a cooperative access point addition operation is performed.

[0110] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of a processing flow for a user equipment to select and add a cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This processing flow is performed by the UE 100.

[0111] In step 802, the UE 100 selects one of the surrounding available access points 200 as the newly added cooperative access point. In step 804, the UE 100 sends the information about the newly added cooperative access point to the data distribution center 200A. In step 806, when the UE 100 receives the data destined for the UE 100 from the serving gateway 300, the data destined for the UE 100 is received through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access points including the newly added cooperative access point.

[0112] The operation performed by the UE 100 in step 802 is similar to the process of the UE 100 selecting a cooperative access point with reference to Figure 5 step 502 and Figure 6 described above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0113] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to limit the number of cooperative access points, the UE100 may perform the operation of adding a cooperative access point only when replacing the original cooperative access point with a new access point, or may set an upper limit on the number of cooperative access points according to specific circumstances. After the number of cooperative access points reaches the upper limit, no more cooperative access points are added.

[0114] A typical example of the above situation is in a scenario where the user equipment is constantly moving, and the user equipment leaves the current cooperative access point and approaches another access point. Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram of updating a cooperative access point in the case of user equipment movement according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0115] In Figure 9In A, for the UE 100, the access point 200A serves as the data distribution center, the access points 200B and 200C serve as cooperative access points, while the access point 200D is far from the user equipment and is not selected as the cooperative access point for this user equipment.

[0116] As Figure 9 Shown in B, when the UE 100 moves to another location, its distance from the current cooperative access point 200B increases while its distance from the available access point 200D decreases. At this time, the UE 100 can obtain the current quality of service of the cooperative access point 200B and the expected quality of service of the available access point 200D. When the current quality of service of the access point 200B is less than the expected quality of service of the access point 200D for a predetermined period of time, the UE 100 can decide to release the cooperative access point 200B and add the access point 200D as a new cooperative access point.

[0117] After that, as Figure 9 Shown in C, the UE 100 notifies the data distribution center 200A to release the cooperative access point 200B and add the cooperative access point 200D, thereby establishing a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system as shown in Figure 9 C.

[0118] The access point dynamic update mechanism of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can effectively enable multi-point cooperation to adapt to the transmission scenario of the continuously moving user equipment in real time.

[0119] 2-1-4. Operation Example of User Equipment Switching Data Distribution Center

[0120] The switching of the data distribution center refers to the user equipment selecting a new data distribution center from the cooperative access points to replace the original data distribution center. It can be understood that the replacement of the data distribution center requires re-establishing the entire cooperation architecture. Therefore, when the current quality of service of the current data distribution center can meet the requirements, even if there is an available access point with a higher expected quality of service, it may still not be switched. For example, the user equipment can release the current data distribution center only when it cannot meet the service requirements, and then select one from the remaining cooperative access points to become the new data distribution center. Specifically, after establishing a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system, when the UE 100 finds that the current quality of service of the data distribution center deteriorates and cannot meet the service requirements, the user equipment starts to replace the data distribution center.

[0121] The current quality of service of the data distribution center is an indication of the quality of the service currently provided by the data distribution center to user equipment. It can be understood that, similar to the expected quality of service, the current quality of service can also be determined based on multiple parameters and can include multiple aspects representing the quality of the service currently provided by the collaborative access points, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0122] Figure 10 FIG. is a schematic diagram of a process for a user equipment to select a data distribution center to switch according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. This process is performed by UE 100.

[0123] In step 1002, the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 obtains the current quality of service of the current data distribution center and decides whether to switch the data distribution center based on the current quality of service of the access point. Specifically, after the current quality of service of the current data distribution center is lower than a preset threshold for a certain period of time, the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 decides to switch the data distribution center. For example, when UE 100 finds that the channel quality (e.g., RSRP) between the current data distribution center and UE 100 is lower than the preset threshold for a certain period of time, it decides to switch the data distribution center.

[0124] In step 1004, the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 selects one of the current collaborative access points as the new data distribution center in response to the decision to replace the data distribution center. Specifically, in step 1004, when the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 decides to switch the data distribution center, it obtains the current quality of service of each collaborative access point and selects the data distribution center based on the current quality of service.

[0125] The operation performed by UE 100 in step 1004 is similar to the process of UE 100 selecting a data distribution center with reference to Figure 5 step 502 and Figure 6 described, and will not be elaborated herein. However, the difference between the two is that when UE 100 switches the data distribution center, it only selects the data distribution center from the current collaborative access points, rather than from all available access points. In addition, when switching the data distribution center, since the collaborative access points are already serving the user equipment, UE 100 selects the new data distribution center based on the current quality of service of the collaborative access points, rather than based on the expected quality of service of the access points.

[0126] In step 1006, the processing circuit 110 of UE 100 sends information about each collaborative access point to the new data distribution center through the communication unit 120, so that when the new data distribution center receives data destined for the electronic device, it sends the data to each collaborative access point.

[0127] In step 1010, the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100 releases the original data distribution center. Specifically, the processing circuit 110 of the UE 100 notifies the original data distribution center to stop serving the user equipment through the communication unit 120 and reports the relevant information to the serving gateway 300.

[0128] A typical example of the above situation is in a scenario where the user equipment is constantly moving and the user equipment leaves the current data distribution center. Figure 11 It is a schematic diagram of switching the data distribution center in the case of user equipment movement according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0129] In Figure 11 A of, for the UE 100, the access point 200B serves as the data distribution center, the access points 200A and 200C serve as cooperative access points, while the access point 200D is far from the user equipment and is not selected as the cooperative access point or data distribution center for this user equipment.

[0130] As Figure 11 shown in B of, when the UE 100 moves to another location, the distance between it and the current data distribution center 200B increases. At this time, the UE 100 may find that the current service quality of the data distribution center 200B drops below the threshold and thus decides to switch the data distribution center. After that, the UE 100 selects one of the cooperative access points 200A and 200C as the data distribution center.

[0131] As Figure 11 shown in C of, the UE 100 selects the cooperative access point 200A as the data distribution center and sends the information about the cooperative access point to the new data distribution center, so that the new data distribution center establishes a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system as shown in Figure 11 C of.

[0132] In addition, in an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, after switching the data distribution center, the UE 100 can also perform an operation of adding cooperative access points. For example, as Figure 11 shown in D of, the UE 100 can newly add the access point 200D as a cooperative access point.

[0133] In the prior art, the user equipment will select the access point with the optimal channel quality as its serving access point and will immediately switch the access point if a better access point is found. In this case, a change in the home access point of the user equipment is considered a switch.

[0134] In contrast, in the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the cooperative access point of the user equipment is updated, the impact on the quality of service of the user equipment is very small, and the update cost is also very low. Only when the data distribution center connected to the serving gateway is switched, a new connection between the data distribution center and the serving gateway needs to be established. In this case, only the switching of the data distribution center is considered a handover.

[0135] In addition, in the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, since the data distribution center and multiple cooperative access points serve the user simultaneously, a relatively large tolerance can be provided for the degradation of the quality of service of the data distribution center. For example, even if the quality of service of the data distribution center begins to deteriorate, because multiple cooperative access points can still provide good quality of service for the user, there is no need to switch the data distribution center. In addition, the cooperative access point dynamic update mechanism according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can also ensure that a cooperative access point with a higher quality of service serves the user, thereby reducing the switching frequency of the data distribution center. In addition, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the user equipment can start replacing the data distribution center only when the quality of service of the data distribution center deteriorates to the point where it cannot meet the service requirements, thereby reducing the switching frequency of the data distribution center.

[0136] Therefore, the internal handover mechanism of the data distribution center of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can effectively cope with the scenario of user equipment movement, can greatly reduce the number of handovers of the data distribution center, and can greatly reduce the latency problem caused by the handover of the data distribution center.

[0137] 2-2. Operational example of the access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure

[0138] In the following, a specific example according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided from the perspective of the access point 200.

[0139] 2-2-1. Operational example of the access point during the establishment of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system

[0140] Figure 12 This is an example of the processing flow of the access point of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0141] In step 1202, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 first determines whether the access point 200 is selected by the UE 100 as a cooperative access point or a data distribution center. Specifically, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 determines whether the access point 200 is selected by the UE 100 as a cooperative access point or a data distribution center according to the request received from the UE 110 through the communication unit 220.

[0142] In the case where the access point 200 is selected by the UE 100 as the data distribution center, in step 1204, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 sends information about the UE 100 and the access point 200 as the data distribution center to the serving gateway 300, so as to notify the serving gateway 300 to send the data destined for the UE 100 to the access point 200. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the data distribution center only feeds back information about the served user equipment and its own information to the serving gateway 300, without providing the serving gateway 300 with information about the cooperative access points serving the user equipment. Therefore, for the serving gateway 300, its operation is similar to that of the prior art user equipment-centered network, that is, the serving gateway 300 sends the data destined for the user equipment to an access point selected by the user equipment, and the operations performed by the data distribution center and the cooperative access points are transparent to the serving gateway 300 and do not need to be known.

[0143] After that, in step 1206, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 receives information about the cooperative access points from the user equipment. According to the information about the cooperative access points, the access point 200 as the data distribution center can communicate with the cooperative access points to confirm the resource scheduling for cooperative transmission to the UE 100. Specifically, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the data distribution center and the cooperative access points may be traditional base stations, and in a traditional cellular network, the base stations communicate and exchange signaling through the X2 interface to implement functions such as mobile support for user equipment, load management, and inter-cell interference coordination for the user equipment. Therefore, through, for example, the X2 interface, information interaction about cooperative transmission can be carried out between the data distribution center and the cooperative access points, mutual identities can be confirmed, and the data distribution center can uniformly arrange and schedule the resource allocation for the user equipment, so as to enable multiple cooperative access points and the data distribution center to perform cooperative transmission to the user equipment using the same resource block.

[0144] After that, in step 1208, when the access point 200 receives the data destined for the UE 100 from the serving gateway 300, it sends the data to the cooperative access points, so that the data is sent to the UE 100 through the cooperative transmission of the access point 200 as the data distribution center and the cooperative access points.

[0145] In the case where the access point 200 is selected by the UE 100 as the cooperative access point, in step 1210, when the access point 200 receives the data destined for the user equipment from the data distribution center, under the resource scheduling of the data distribution center, it sends the data to the UE 100 through cooperative transmission with the data distribution center.

[0146] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, before step 1202, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 may further broadcast an identification signal of the access point 200 to the UE 100 through the communication unit 220 for the user equipment to identify the access point 200. Additionally, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 may further broadcast the inherent parameters of the access point 200 to the UE 100 through the communication unit 220. The inherent parameters of the access point 200 include one or more of the type of the access point, the coverage range, and the working ability.

[0147] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, before step 1202, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 may further generate and send, through the communication unit 220, the current status information of the access point 200 in response to receiving a request from the user equipment for the status information of the access point 200. Additionally, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, before step 1202, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 may further generate and notify, through the communication unit 220, the user equipment of the resources that the access point 200 expects to allocate to the user equipment in response to receiving a request from the user equipment for the resources that the access point 200 expects to allocate to the user equipment.

[0148] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the identity of the access point as a data distribution center or a cooperative access point may be determined for one user equipment. That is to say, the access point may simultaneously become a cooperative access point or a data distribution center for multiple user equipments, or the access point may be a cooperative access point for some user equipments and a data distribution center for other user equipments at the same time.

[0149] 2-2-2. Operational example of the cooperative access point and the data distribution center when updating the cooperative access point

[0150] In the case of adding a new cooperative access point, the operations performed by the newly added cooperative access point are similar to Figure 12 step 1210 therein, and the description thereof is omitted here. Additionally, in the case of adding a new cooperative access point, the operations performed by the data distribution center are similar to Figure 12 steps 1204-1208 therein, and the description thereof is also omitted here.

[0151] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of the processing flow performed by the released cooperative access point in the case of releasing the cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0152] In step 1302, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 receives a release request from the UE 100 through the communication unit 220. In step 1304, the processing circuit 210 of the access point 200 sends release confirmation information to the UE 100 through the communication unit 220 and disconnects the connection with the UE 100.

[0153] Figure 14 It is a schematic diagram of a processing flow performed by a data distribution center in the case of releasing a cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0154] In step 1402, the processing circuit 210 of the data distribution center 200 receives information about the released cooperative access point from the UE 100 through the communication unit 210. In step 1404, the processing circuit 210 of the data distribution center 200 removes the released cooperative access point from the cooperative access points.

[0155] According to the access point dynamic update mechanism of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the present disclosure described in the above various embodiments of the present disclosure, it can effectively enable multi-point cooperation to adapt to the transmission scenario where the user equipment is constantly moving in real time.

[0156] 2-2-3. Operation example of the data distribution center when switching the data distribution center

[0157] When switching the data distribution center, the operation of the new data distribution center is similar to the operation described in steps 1202-1208 with reference to Figure 12 and the description thereof is omitted herein.

[0158] Figure 15 It is a schematic diagram of a processing flow performed by the original data distribution center in the case of switching the data distribution center according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0159] In step 1502, the processing circuit 210 of the original data distribution center 200 receives a request to release the data distribution center from the UE 100 through the communication unit 210. In step 1504, the processing circuit 210 of the original data distribution center 200 sends release confirmation information to the serving gateway 300 and the UE 100 through the communication unit 210 and disconnects the connection with the user equipment.

[0160] For the reasons discussed in Section 2-1-4 of this specification, according to the data distribution center internal switching mechanism of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the present disclosure described in the above various embodiments of the present disclosure, it can effectively cope with the scenario where the user equipment moves, can greatly reduce the number of switches of the data distribution center, and can greatly reduce the latency problem caused by the data distribution center switch.

[0161] 3. Signaling transmission process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure

[0162] Figure 16 It is an example of the signaling transmission process of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The specific signaling process is as follows:

[0163] (1). The access points broadcast their respective identification signals and inherent parameters: The access points broadcast the cell identification signals so that the UEs can discover the access points and determine the channel quality with the access points; and the access points also broadcast the inherent parameters of the access points, enabling the UEs to obtain the inherent parameters of the access points, such as the type, coverage range, working capabilities, etc. of the access points. For example, the access points can send synchronization signals as identification signals and use the broadcast channel (BCH) to broadcast their respective inherent parameters.

[0164] (2). The user equipment identifies the access points existing around by detecting the identification signals of the access points: The user equipment discovers the available access points around it by receiving and detecting the cell identification signals.

[0165] (3). The user equipment sends a connection request to the identified access point: The user equipment sends a connection request to the identified available access point, such as sending a random access request, and then the access point starts to allocate service resources for the user equipment and establish a data communication connection with the user equipment. For example, the user equipment can establish an RRC (radio resource control) connection with the access point through the random access process, enter the RRC connection state, and thus establish a data connection with the access point.

[0166] (4). The access point generates the current state information of the access point and determines the resources expected to be allocated for the user equipment.

[0167] (5). The access point sends the current state information of the access point to the user equipment and notifies the user equipment of the resources expected to be allocated for the user equipment. For example, in addition to the above-mentioned broadcast channel, the access point can use, for example, radio resource control signaling as a carrier and send the current state information of the access point and the information about the resources expected to be allocated for the user equipment to the user equipment through the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), or can use the downlink control information (DCI) as a carrier and send them through the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0168] (6). The user equipment determines whether to use the access point as a cooperative access point.

[0169] (7). The user equipment sends a cooperative access point request to the access point. For example, after the user equipment decides that the access point is a cooperative access point, it can send the cooperative access point request to the access point through the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

[0170] (8). The access point confirms the request to be the cooperative access point of the user equipment: The access point feeds back the confirmation information to the requesting user equipment and becomes its cooperative access point. For example, the access point can feed back the confirmation information to the requesting user equipment through the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0171] (9). The user equipment decides whether to use this access point as the data distribution center.

[0172] (10). The user equipment sends a data distribution center request to this access point. For example, after the user equipment decides that this access point is the data distribution center, it can send the data distribution center request to this access point through the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

[0173] (11). The access point confirms the request to be the data distribution center of the user equipment. For example, the access point can feed back the confirmation information to the requesting user equipment through the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and become its data distribution center.

[0174] (12). The user equipment sends the information of the cooperative access point serving it to the data distribution center. For example, after the user equipment confirms the data distribution center, it can report the information of the cooperative access point serving it to the data distribution center through the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

[0175] (13). The data distribution center generates a cooperative transmission system centered on this user equipment: After the data distribution center obtains the remaining cooperative access point information of this user equipment, it generates a cooperative transmission structure centered on this user equipment locally.

[0176] (14). The data distribution center notifies the remaining cooperative access points of this user equipment of relevant cooperation information. For example, the data distribution center can notify the cooperative access points of this user equipment through, for example, the X2 interface to confirm the resource scheduling of cooperative transmission.

[0177] (15). The cooperation point sends confirmation information to the data distribution center. For example, the cooperative access point of this user equipment can feed back the confirmation information to the data distribution center of this user equipment through, for example, the X2 interface.

[0178] (16). The data distribution center reports the user equipment and data distribution center information to the serving gateway. For example, after the data distribution center completes the cooperative transmission system centered on this user equipment, it can report the information of the user equipment and the data distribution center to the serving gateway through, for example, the S1-U interface.

[0179] (17). The gateway sends a confirmation message to the data distribution center. For example, after the serving gateway receives the report from the data distribution center, it confirms the structure of the user equipment and the data distribution center, and can feedback the confirmation message through, for example, the S1-U interface.

[0180] So far, a user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been established. After that, when the serving gateway sends data to the user equipment, the data is sent to the data distribution center and then sent by the data distribution center to each cooperative access point, so as to send data to the user equipment through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access points.

[0181] Figure 17 It is an example of the signaling transmission process for updating the cooperative access point according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0182] The specific signaling process for the user equipment to add a new cooperative access point is as follows:

[0183] (1)-(8). The user equipment identifies the new access point and joins the existing set of cooperative access points. This part of the process is similar to (1)-(8) of the signaling transmission process for establishing the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system as shown in Figure 16 and will not be elaborated here.

[0184] (9). Report the updated cooperative access point information: When the user equipment adds a new cooperative access point, it reports the information of the newly added cooperative access point to the data distribution center. For example, the user equipment can report the information of the newly added cooperative access point to the data distribution center through the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

[0185] (10). Update the cooperative structure of the user equipment: After the data distribution center receives the information of the cooperative access point reported by the user equipment, it will update the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission structure.

[0186] (11). Notify the newly added cooperative access point: The data distribution center will notify the cooperative access point updated by the user equipment to confirm the resource scheduling of the cooperative transmission. For example, the data distribution center can notify the cooperative access point of the user equipment through, for example, the X2 interface to confirm the resource scheduling of the cooperative transmission.

[0187] (12). The cooperative access point confirms to the data distribution center: The cooperative access point will feedback a confirmation message to the data distribution center of the user equipment. For example, the cooperative access point can feedback the confirmation message to the data distribution center through, for example, the X2 interface.

[0188] Still referring to Figure 17 , the specific signaling process for the user equipment to release the cooperative access point is as follows:

[0189] (13). Determine whether to release the cooperative access point: For the cooperative access point that has been serving the user equipment, the user equipment will determine whether to release the cooperative access point based on its quality of service.

[0190] (14). Send a request to release the cooperative access point: After the user equipment determines to release the cooperative access point, it will send a release request to the cooperative access point. For example, after the user equipment determines to release the cooperative access point, it can send the release request to the access point through the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

[0191] (15). Release confirmation: After receiving the release request from the user equipment, the cooperative access point will terminate serving the user equipment and feedback release confirmation information. For example, the cooperative access point can feedback the release confirmation information to the user equipment through the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0192] (9). Report updated cooperative access point information: When the user equipment releases the existing cooperative access point, it will report the information of the released cooperative access point to the data distribution center. For example, the user equipment can report the information of the released cooperative access point to the data distribution center through the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

[0193] (10). Update the cooperative structure of the user equipment: After the data distribution center receives the cooperative access point information reported by the user equipment, it will update the cooperative structure of the user equipment.

[0194] Through Figure 17 the signaling process shown, the cooperative access point can be dynamically updated.

[0195] Figure 18 is an example of the signaling transmission process for switching the data distribution center according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The specific signaling process is as follows:

[0196] (1). Determine whether to switch the data distribution center: The user equipment determines whether to switch the data distribution center by monitoring the quality of service of the data distribution center.

[0197] (2). Re-select the data distribution center: The user equipment selects a new data distribution center from the cooperative access points according to the current quality of service of the cooperative access point.

[0198] (3)-(6). The user equipment requests the cooperative access point to be the new data distribution center and sends the information of other cooperative access points to the new data distribution center. The new data distribution center generates a cooperative transmission structure centered on the user equipment, notifies the cooperative access point and reports to the serving gateway. This part of the process is similar to (10)-(17) of the signaling transmission process as shown in Figure 16 and will not be elaborated here.

[0199] (7). Data distribution center release request: The user equipment will send a release request to the original data distribution center. For example, the user equipment can send a release request to the original data distribution center through the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH).

[0200] (8). The original data distribution center stops serving: The original data distribution center will stop serving the user equipment and report the relevant information to the serving gateway.

[0201] (9). Release confirmation: The original data distribution center sends release confirmation information to the user equipment. For example, the original data distribution center can feedback the release confirmation to the user equipment through the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH).

[0202] Through Figure 18 the signaling process shown in, the data distribution center can be dynamically switched.

[0203] 4. Simulation of the user equipment - centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure

[0204] Figure 19 The transmission delays of the user equipment - centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure and the traditional CoMP technology are compared. Here, it is assumed that there are 3 access points for cooperative transmission. Among them, the traditional CoMP is provided by three eNBs for cooperative transmission, and the user equipment - centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure is provided by one data distribution center and two cooperative access points for cooperative transmission. In a 1000m * 1000m square area, it is assumed that there are a total of 10 randomly distributed user equipments. The delays for multiple data transmissions from the serving gateway to the 10 users are calculated through simulation, and the probability distribution function graph of the transmission delays is obtained. Then, the transmission delays of the user equipment - centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure and the traditional CoMP technology are compared by comparing the probability distribution functions.

[0205] It is assumed that each user equipment needs to receive a data packet with a size of 20Mb. It is assumed that the serving gateway has a transmission bandwidth of 20MHz and a transmission rate of 5bps / Hz for sending data to the access point. Therefore, when transmitting 20Mb of data from the serving gateway to an access point, the data transmission delay is: 20Mb / (5bps / Hz * 20MHz), where 20Mb is the data packet size, 5bps / Hz is the rate from the serving gateway to the access point, and 20MHz is the serving gateway transmission bandwidth. Then, the transmission delay from the access point to the user equipment is 20Mb / (rbps / Hz * 5MHz), where r bps / Hz represents the transmission rate from the access point to the user equipment, and 5MHz represents the transmission bandwidth.

[0206] In traditional CoMP technology, it is necessary to transmit a 20-Mb data packet from the serving gateway to three access points. Therefore, the data transmission delay from the serving gateway to the three access points is approximately three times that from the serving gateway to one access point, that is, 3 * 20 Mb / (5 bps / Hz * 20 MHz).

[0207] In the user equipment-centric cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the serving gateway only needs to transmit the 20-Mb data packet to the data distribution center, and does not need to transmit the data packet to other cooperative access points. Therefore, the data transmission delay from the serving gateway to the data distribution center is only: 20 Mb / (5 bps / Hz * 20 MHz).

[0208] In addition, in the user equipment-centric cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, since the distance between the data distribution center and the cooperative access points is very close, communication can be carried out through relatively fast wired communication or short-distance millimeter wave bands. Therefore, the data transmission delay from the data distribution center to the cooperative access points is much smaller than the above data transmission delay and can be basically ignored when calculating the transmission delay from the serving gateway to the user equipment. For existing millimeter wave bands, common bands are, for example, the Ka band (26.5 GHz to 40 GHz), and the available bandwidth is huge (GHz-level bandwidth). Therefore, compared with the MHz-level bandwidth (5 MHz in the above simulation) in the traditional frequency points of 1 to 3 GHz used from the serving gateway to the access points and from the access points to the user equipment, it is undoubtedly huge. Therefore, there may be a nearly thousand-fold difference in data transmission rate. In addition, by the directional transmission technology in millimeter wave transmission technology, simultaneous transmission of the same frequency to cooperative access points in different directions by the data distribution center, that is, parallel transmission, can be realized, thereby further improving the data transmission rate from the data distribution center to the cooperative access points.

[0209] Therefore, generally speaking, in traditional CoMP technology, the transmission delay from the serving gateway to the user equipment is approximately 3 * 20 Mb / (5 bps / Hz * 20 MHz) + 20 Mb / (r bps / Hz * 5 MHz), while in the user equipment-centric cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the transmission delay from the serving gateway to the user equipment is approximately 20 Mb / (5 bps / Hz * 20 MHz) + 20 Mb / (r bps / Hz * 5 MHz). Obviously, the user equipment-centric cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can significantly reduce the transmission delay from the serving gateway to the user equipment.

[0210] From Figure 19 the simulation results can also be seen that the technical solution according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can greatly reduce the transmission delay from the serving gateway to the user equipment.

[0211] It can be seen that according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, by utilizing short-distance millimeter-wave transmission between access points to achieve multi-point cooperative data transmission, the transmission resources from the serving gateway to the access points are greatly saved.

[0212] Figure 20 The number of access point handovers of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure and that of the prior art are compared in the scenario where the user equipment moves through an area randomly distributed with N access points.

[0213] In the prior art, the user equipment will select the access point with the optimal channel quality as its serving access point, and if a better access point is found, it will immediately perform an access point handover. In this case, a change in the home access point of the user equipment is regarded as one handover.

[0214] In contrast, in the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, when the cooperative access point of the user equipment is updated, the impact on the service quality of the user equipment is very small, and the update cost is also very low. Only when the data distribution center connected to the serving gateway is switched, a new connection between the data distribution center and the serving gateway needs to be re-established. In this case, only the handover of the data distribution center is regarded as one handover.

[0215] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, in the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of handovers of the data distribution center is reduced. Therefore, in the case where the number of cooperative access points is M, since the time for the data distribution center to serve the user equipment will be correspondingly extended, the number of handovers of the data distribution center can be effectively reduced.

[0216] As Figure 20 shown, it can be found that in the setting of N = 40 and M = 3, in the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of handovers of the data distribution center is only half of that of the traditional scheme. At the same time, as the number M of cooperative access points increases, the number of handovers can be further reduced.

[0217] 5. Application Examples

[0218] The technology of the present disclosure can be applied to various products.

[0219] For example, the user equipment 100 may be implemented as a mobile terminal (such as a smart phone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a portable / dongle-type mobile router, and a digital camera device) or a vehicle-mounted terminal (such as an in-vehicle navigation device). The user equipment 100 may also be implemented as a terminal that performs machine-to-machine (M2M) communication (also referred to as a machine type communication (MTC) terminal). In addition, the user equipment 100 may be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip) installed on each of the above terminals.

[0220] For example, the access point 200 may be implemented as any type of evolved Node B (eNB), such as a macro eNB and a small eNB. A small eNB may be an eNB that covers a cell smaller than a macro cell, such as a pico eNB, a micro eNB, and a home (femto) eNB. Alternatively, the access point 200 may be implemented as any other type of base station, such as a Node B and a base transceiver station (BTS). The access point 200 may include: a main body configured to control wireless communication (also referred to as a base station device) and one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) provided in a place different from the main body. In addition, various types of terminals described below may operate as the access point 200 by temporarily or semi-persistently performing the access point function.

[0221] For example, the serving gateway 300 may be implemented as any type of server, such as a tower server, a rack server, and a blade server. The serving gateway 300 may be a control module installed on the server (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip, and a card or blade inserted into a slot of the blade server).

[0222] 5-1. Application Examples of User Equipment

[0223] (First Application Example)

[0224] Figure 21 FIG. is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a smart phone 900 to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The smart phone 900 includes a processor 901, a memory 902, a storage device 903, an external connection interface 904, a camera device 906, a sensor 907, a microphone 908, an input device 909, a display device 910, a speaker 911, a wireless communication interface 912, one or more antenna switches 915, one or more antennas 916, a bus 917, a battery 918, and an auxiliary controller 919.

[0225] The processor 901 can be, for example, a CPU or a system-on-chip (SoC), and controls the functions of the application layer and other layers of the smart phone 900. The memory 902 includes RAM and ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 901. The storage device 903 can include storage media such as semiconductor memories and hard disks. The external connection interface 904 is an interface for connecting external devices (such as memory cards and universal serial bus (USB) devices) to the smart phone 900.

[0226] The imaging device 906 includes image sensors (such as charge-coupled device (CCD) and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)), and generates captured images. The sensor 907 can include a set of sensors such as measurement sensors, gyro sensors, geomagnetic sensors, and acceleration sensors. The microphone 908 converts the sound input to the smart phone 900 into an audio signal. The input device 909 includes, for example, a touch sensor configured to detect touches on the screen of the display device 910, a keypad, a keyboard, buttons, or switches, and receives operations or information input from the user. The display device 910 includes a screen (such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display), and displays the output images of the smart phone 900. The speaker 911 converts the audio signal output from the smart phone 900 into sound.

[0227] The wireless communication interface 912 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced), and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 912 generally can include, for example, a BB processor 913 and an RF circuit 914. The BB processor 913 can perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and performs various types of signal processing for wireless communication. At the same time, the RF circuit 914 can include, for example, mixers, filters, and amplifiers, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 916. The wireless communication interface 912 can be a single chip module on which the BB processor 913 and the RF circuit 914 are integrated. As Figure 21 shown, the wireless communication interface 912 can include multiple BB processors 913 and multiple RF circuits 914. Although Figure 21 an example in which the wireless communication interface 912 includes multiple BB processors 913 and multiple RF circuits 914 is shown, the wireless communication interface 912 can also include a single BB processor 913 or a single RF circuit 914.

[0228] In addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 912 may support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as short-range wireless communication schemes, near-field communication schemes, and wireless local area network (LAN) schemes. In this case, the wireless communication interface 912 may include a BB processor 913 and an RF circuit 914 for each wireless communication scheme.

[0229] Each of the antenna switches 915 switches the connection destination of the antenna 916 among a plurality of circuits (e.g., circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 912.

[0230] Each of the antennas 916 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as the multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the wireless communication interface 912 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As Figure 21 shown, the smart phone 900 may include a plurality of antennas 916. Although Figure 21 an example in which the smart phone 900 includes a plurality of antennas 916 is shown, the smart phone 900 may also include a single antenna 916.

[0231] In addition, the smart phone 900 may include an antenna 916 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 915 may be omitted from the configuration of the smart phone 900.

[0232] The bus 917 connects the processor 901, the memory 902, the storage device 903, the external connection interface 904, the imaging device 906, the sensor 907, the microphone 908, the input device 909, the display device 910, the speaker 911, the wireless communication interface 912, and the auxiliary controller 919 to each other. The battery 918 supplies power to each block of the smart phone 900 shown via a feeder line, which is partially shown as a dotted line in the figure. The auxiliary controller 919 operates the minimum necessary functions of the smart phone 900, for example, in the sleep mode. Figure 21 shown, the smart phone 900 supplies power to each block of the smart phone 900 shown via a feeder line, which is partially shown as a dotted line in the figure. The auxiliary controller 919 operates the minimum necessary functions of the smart phone 900, for example, in the sleep mode.

[0233] In Figure 21 the smart phone 900 shown in, refer to Figure 2One or more components (selection unit 111, transmission unit 112, and / or reception unit 113) included in the described processing circuit 110 may be implemented in the wireless communication interface 912. Alternatively, at least a part of these components may be implemented in the processor 901 or the auxiliary controller 919. As an example, the smart phone 900 includes a part (e.g., the BB processor 913) or the whole of the wireless communication interface 912, and / or includes a module of the processor 901 and / or the auxiliary controller 919, and one or more components may be implemented in this module. In this case, the module may store a program that allows the processing to function as one or more components (in other words, a program for allowing the processor to execute the operations of one or more components), and may execute this program. As another example, a program for allowing the processor to function as one or more components may be installed in the smart phone 900, and the wireless communication interface 912 (e.g., the BB processor 913), the processor 901, and / or the auxiliary controller 919 may execute this program. As described above, as a device including one or more components, the smart phone 900 or the module may be provided, and a program for allowing the processor to function as one or more components may be provided. In addition, a readable medium in which the program is recorded may be provided.

[0234] In addition, in Figure 21 the smart phone 900 shown in, for example, referring to Figure 2 the communication unit 120 described may be implemented in the wireless communication interface 912 (e.g., the RF circuit 914).

[0235] (Second application example)

[0236] Figure 22 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an in-vehicle navigation device 920 to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The in-vehicle navigation device 920 includes a processor 921, a memory 922, a global positioning system (GPS) module 924, a sensor 925, a data interface 926, a content player 927, a storage medium interface 928, an input device 929, a display device 930, a speaker 931, a wireless communication interface 933, one or more antenna switches 936, one or more antennas 937, and a battery 938.

[0237] The processor 921 may be, for example, a CPU or an SoC, and controls the navigation function and other functions of the in-vehicle navigation device 920. The memory 922 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 921.

[0238] The GPS module 924 uses GPS signals received from GPS satellites to measure the position (such as latitude, longitude, and altitude) of the vehicle navigation device 920. The sensor 925 may include a set of sensors, such as a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an air pressure sensor. The data interface 926 is connected to, for example, the in-vehicle network 941 via a terminal (not shown) and acquires data generated by the vehicle (such as vehicle speed data).

[0239] The content player 927 reproduces content stored in a storage medium (such as a CD and a DVD) that is inserted into the storage medium interface 928. The input device 929 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a button, or a switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 930 and receives operations or information input from the user. The display device 930 includes a screen such as an LCD or an OLED display and displays an image of the navigation function or the reproduced content. The speaker 931 outputs the sound of the navigation function or the reproduced content.

[0240] The wireless communication interface 933 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 933 generally may include, for example, a BB processor 934 and an RF circuit 935. The BB processor 934 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. At the same time, the RF circuit 935 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 937. The wireless communication interface 933 may also be a single chip module on which the BB processor 934 and the RF circuit 935 are integrated. As Figure 22 shown, the wireless communication interface 933 may include a plurality of BB processors 934 and a plurality of RF circuits 935. Although Figure 22 an example in which the wireless communication interface 933 includes a plurality of BB processors 934 and a plurality of RF circuits 935 is shown, the wireless communication interface 933 may also include a single BB processor 934 or a single RF circuit 935.

[0241] In addition, in addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 933 may support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as short-range wireless communication schemes, near-field communication schemes, and wireless LAN schemes. In this case, for each wireless communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 933 may include a BB processor 934 and an RF circuit 935.

[0242] Each of the antenna switches 936 switches the connection destination of the antenna 937 among a plurality of circuits (such as circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 933.

[0243] Each of the antennas 937 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as the multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna), and is used for the wireless communication interface 933 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As Figure 22 shown, the vehicle navigation device 920 may include multiple antennas 937. Although Figure 22 an example where the vehicle navigation device 920 includes multiple antennas 937 is shown, the vehicle navigation device 920 may also include a single antenna 937.

[0244] In addition, the vehicle navigation device 920 may include an antenna 937 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 936 may be omitted from the configuration of the vehicle navigation device 920.

[0245] The battery 938 supplies power to each block of the Figure 22 shown vehicle navigation device 920 via a feeder line, which is partially shown as a dashed line in the figure. The battery 938 accumulates the power supplied from the vehicle.

[0246] In Figure 22 the vehicle navigation device 920 shown in Figure 2 one or more components (selection unit 111, transmission unit 112, and / or reception unit 113) included in the processing circuit 110 described with reference to Figure 2 can be implemented in the wireless communication interface 933. Alternatively, at least a part of these components can be implemented in the processor 921. As an example, the vehicle navigation device 920 includes a part (e.g., BB processor 934) or the whole of the wireless communication interface 933, and / or includes a module of the processor 921, and one or more components can be implemented in this module. In this case, the module can store a program that allows the processing to act as one or more components (in other words, a program that allows the processor to execute the operations of one or more components), and can execute this program. As another example, a program for allowing the processor to act as one or more components can be installed in the vehicle navigation device 920, and the wireless communication interface 933 (e.g., BB processor 934) and / or the processor 921 can execute this program. As described above, as a device including one or more components, the vehicle navigation device 920 or the module can be provided, and a program for allowing the processor to act as one or more components can be provided. In addition, a readable medium in which the program is recorded can be provided.

[0247] In addition, in Figure 22 the vehicle navigation device 920 shown in Figure 2 for example, the communication unit 120 described with reference to Figure 2 can be implemented in the wireless communication interface 933 (e.g., RF circuit 935).

[0248] The technology of the present disclosure can also be implemented as an in-vehicle system (or vehicle) 940 including one or more of an in-vehicle navigation device 920, an in-vehicle network 941, and a vehicle module 942. The vehicle module 942 generates vehicle data (such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and fault information) and outputs the generated data to the in-vehicle network 941.

[0249] 5-2. Application Examples Regarding Access Points

[0250] (First Application Example)

[0251] Figure 23 FIG. is a block diagram showing a first example of a schematic configuration of an access point to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. Among them, the access point is shown as an eNB 800. Among them, the eNB 800 includes one or more antennas 810 and a base station device 820. The base station device 820 and each antenna 810 can be connected to each other via an RF cable.

[0252] Each of the antennas 810 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna) and is used to transmit and receive wireless signals for the base station device 820. As Figure 23 shown, the eNB 800 may include multiple antennas 810. For example, the multiple antennas 810 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the eNB 800. Although Figure 23 an example in which the eNB 800 includes multiple antennas 810 is shown, the eNB 800 may also include a single antenna 810.

[0253] The base station device 820 includes a controller 821, a memory 822, a network interface 823, and a wireless communication interface 825.

[0254] The controller 821 can be, for example, a CPU or a DSP, and operates various functions of the higher layers of the base station device 820. For example, the controller 821 generates data packets based on the data in the signals processed by the wireless communication interface 825 and transmits the generated packets via the network interface 823. The controller 821 can bundle data from multiple baseband processors to generate bundled packets and transmit the generated bundled packets. The controller 821 may have a logical function for performing controls such as radio resource control, radio bearer control, mobility management, admission control, and scheduling. This control can be performed in combination with nearby eNBs or core network nodes. The memory 822 includes a RAM and a ROM and stores programs executed by the controller 821 and various types of control data (such as a terminal list, transmission power data, and scheduling data).

[0255] The network interface 823 is a communication interface for connecting the base station device 820 to the core network 824. The controller 821 can communicate with core network nodes or other eNBs via the network interface 823. In this case, the eNB 800 and the core network nodes or other eNBs can be connected to each other through logical interfaces (such as the S1 interface and the X2 interface). The network interface 823 can also be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface for a wireless backhaul line. If the network interface 823 is a wireless communication interface, compared with the frequency band used by the wireless communication interface 825, the network interface 823 can use a higher frequency band for wireless communication.

[0256] The wireless communication interface 825 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced), and provides a wireless connection to terminals in the cell located at the eNB 800 via the antenna 810. The wireless communication interface 825 generally can include, for example, a baseband (BB) processor 826 and an RF circuit 827. The BB processor 826 can perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing of layers (such as L1, Media Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)). Instead of the controller 821, the BB processor 826 can have a part or all of the above logical functions. The BB processor 826 can be a memory storing a communication control program, or a module including a processor configured to execute the program and related circuits. The update program can change the functions of the BB processor 826. The module can be a card or a blade inserted into a slot of the base station device 820. Alternatively, the module can also be a chip mounted on the card or the blade. At the same time, the RF circuit 827 can include, for example, mixers, filters, and amplifiers, and transmit and receive wireless signals via the antenna 810.

[0257] As Figure 23 shown, the wireless communication interface 825 can include multiple BB processors 826. For example, the multiple BB processors 826 can be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the eNB 800. As Figure 23 shown, the wireless communication interface 825 can include multiple RF circuits 827. For example, the multiple RF circuits 827 can be compatible with multiple antenna elements. Although Figure 23 illustrates an example in which the wireless communication interface 825 includes multiple BB processors 826 and multiple RF circuits 827, the wireless communication interface 825 can also include a single BB processor 826 or a single RF circuit 827.

[0258] In Figure 23 the eNB 800 shown, refer to Figure 3One or more components (a transmission unit 211 and a reception unit 212) included in the described processing circuit 21 may be implemented in the wireless communication interface 825. Alternatively, at least a part of these components may be implemented in the controller 821. For example, the eNB 800 includes a part (e.g., a BB processor 826) or the whole of the wireless communication interface 825, and / or includes a module of the controller 821, and one or more components may be implemented in the module. In this case, the module may store a program for allowing a processor to act as one or more components (in other words, a program for allowing a processor to execute operations of one or more components), and may execute the program. As another example, a program for allowing a processor to act as one or more components may be installed in the eNB 800, and the wireless communication interface 825 (e.g., a BB processor 826) and / or the controller 821 may execute the program. As described above, as a device including one or more components, the eNB 800, the base station device 820, or the module may be provided, and a program for allowing a processor to act as one or more components may be provided. In addition, a readable medium in which the program is recorded may be provided.

[0259] In addition, in Figure 23 the eNB 800 shown in, referring to Figure 3 the communication unit 120 described may be implemented in the wireless communication interface 825 (e.g., an RF circuit 827). In addition, the communication unit 120 may be implemented in the controller 821 and / or the network interface 823.

[0260] (Second application example)

[0261] Figure 24 is a block diagram showing a second example of a schematic configuration of an access point to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. Among them, the access point is shown as an eNB 830. The eNB 830 includes one or more antennas 840, a base station device 850, and an RRH 860. The RRH 860 and each antenna 840 may be connected to each other via an RF cable. The base station device 850 and the RRH 860 may be connected to each other via a high-speed line such as an optical fiber cable.

[0262] Each of the antennas 840 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the RRH 860 to transmit and receive wireless signals. As Figure 24 shown, the eNB 830 may include multiple antennas 840. For example, the multiple antennas 840 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the eNB 830. Although Figure 24 shows an example in which the eNB 830 includes multiple antennas 840, the eNB 830 may also include a single antenna 840.

[0263] The base station device 850 includes a controller 851, a memory 852, a network interface 853, a wireless communication interface 855, and a connection interface 857. The controller 851, the memory 852, and the network interface 853 are the same as the controller 821, the memory 822, and the network interface 823 described with reference to Figure 23 Figure 821, Figure 822, and Figure 823.

[0264] The wireless communication interface 855 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced), and provides wireless communication to terminals located in the sector corresponding to the RRH 860 via the RRH 860 and the antenna 840. The wireless communication interface 855 generally may include, for example, a BB processor 856. Except that the BB processor 856 is connected to the RF circuit 864 of the RRH 860 via the connection interface 857, the BB processor 856 is the same as the BB processor 826 described with reference to Figure 23 Figure 826. As Figure 24 shown, the wireless communication interface 855 may include a plurality of BB processors 856. For example, the plurality of BB processors 856 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the eNB 830. Although Figure 24 an example in which the wireless communication interface 855 includes a plurality of BB processors 856 is shown, the wireless communication interface 855 may also include a single BB processor 856.

[0265] The connection interface 857 is an interface for connecting the base station device 850 (wireless communication interface 855) to the RRH 860. The connection interface 857 may also be a communication module for communication in the above-mentioned high-speed line for connecting the base station device 850 (wireless communication interface 855) to the RRH 860.

[0266] The RRH 860 includes a connection interface 861 and a wireless communication interface 863.

[0267] The connection interface 861 is an interface for connecting the RRH 860 (wireless communication interface 863) to the base station device 850. The connection interface 861 may also be a communication module for communication in the above-mentioned high-speed line.

[0268] The wireless communication interface 863 transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 840. The wireless communication interface 863 generally may include, for example, an RF circuit 864. The RF circuit 864 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 840. As Figure 24 shown, the wireless communication interface 863 may include a plurality of RF circuits 864. For example, the plurality of RF circuits 864 may support multiple antenna elements. Although Figure 24An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 863 includes a plurality of RF circuits 864, but the wireless communication interface 863 may also include a single RF circuit 864.

[0269] In Figure 24 the eNB 800 shown in, with reference to Figure 3 one or more components (a transmission unit 211 and a reception unit 212) included in the processing circuit 21 described may be implemented in the wireless communication interface 825. Alternatively, at least a part of these components may be implemented in the controller 821. For example, the eNB 800 includes a part (e.g., a BB processor 826) or the whole of the wireless communication interface 825, and / or includes a module of the controller 821, and one or more components may be implemented in the module. In this case, the module may store a program for allowing a processor to act as one or more components (in other words, a program for allowing a processor to execute operations of one or more components), and may execute the program. As another example, a program for allowing a processor to act as one or more components may be installed in the eNB 800, and the wireless communication interface 825 (e.g., a BB processor 826) and / or the controller 821 may execute the program. As described above, as a device including one or more components, the eNB 800, the base station device 820, or the module may be provided, and a program for allowing a processor to act as one or more components may be provided. In addition, a readable medium in which the program is recorded may be provided.

[0270] In addition, in Figure 24 the eNB 800 shown in, with reference to Figure 3 the communication unit 120 described may be implemented in the wireless communication interface 825 (e.g., an RF circuit 827). In addition, the communication unit 120 may be implemented in the controller 821 and / or the network interface 823.

[0271] 6. Conclusion

[0272] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, a cooperative transmission system established by a user equipment is proposed, in which the cooperative manner is no longer determined by a traditional access point, but is determined by the user equipment for the access point providing services to it. Therefore, CoMP technology can be applied to a user equipment-centered network.

[0273] In addition, in the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the user equipment selects a data distribution center and cooperative access points for cooperative transmission thereof, thereby establishing a cooperative transmission system. Compared with the situation in traditional CoMP where the access point or serving gateway of the cell to which the user equipment belongs decides whether and how to jointly transmit data to the user equipment, the user equipment does not need to send measurement reports on the status of surrounding access points to the access point or serving gateway. Therefore, the processing flow is simplified, the processing time is shortened, and communication resources are saved.

[0274] In addition, compared with the prior art, the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure utilizes communication between access points. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the user equipment selects one of the access points as the data distribution center. The serving gateway only needs to transmit the data of the user equipment to the data distribution center, and the data distribution center distributes the data to other cooperative access points, and then all the cooperative access points transmit the data to the user equipment together. Therefore, the serving gateway does not need to repeatedly transmit the data to other cooperative access points. In the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, wired communication or wireless communication using a large amount of available spectrum such as in the millimeter wave band can be used to implement communication between access points. Therefore, compared with the communication implemented by the serving gateway and the access point through the S1 interface using wireless backhaul, the data transmission speed between access points is usually faster. Therefore, compared with the serving gateway repeatedly transmitting the data of the user equipment to each cooperative access point, the embodiments of the present disclosure can save the wireless communication resources between the serving gateway and the access point, increase the transmission efficiency, and reduce the data delay.

[0275] In addition, the access point dynamic update mechanism of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can effectively enable multi-point cooperation to adapt to the transmission scenario where the user equipment is constantly moving in real time. In addition, the internal handover mechanism of the data distribution center of the user equipment-centered cooperative transmission system according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can effectively cope with the scenario where the user equipment moves, can greatly reduce the number of handovers of the data distribution center, and greatly reduce the delay problem caused by the handover of the data distribution center.

[0276] Examples have been described in which the communication system is a system compliant with LTE or LTE-A, but the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the related examples. For example, the communication system can be a system compliant with another communication standard. In this case, the UE can be another type of terminal device and the access point can be another type of base station.

[0277] References to "embodiments" or similar expressions in this specification mean that the specific features, structures, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiments are included in at least one specific embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in an embodiment of the present disclosure" and similar expressions in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

[0278] Those skilled in the art should understand that the present disclosure is implemented as a system, apparatus, method, or computer-readable medium as a computer program product. Thus, the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms, such as a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or also an implementation form of software and hardware, which will be referred to as "circuit", "module", or "system" hereinafter. In addition, the present disclosure can also be implemented as a computer program product in any tangible medium form, which has computer-usable program code stored thereon.

[0279] The following description of the present disclosure will be made with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the system, apparatus, method, and computer program product according to specific embodiments of the present disclosure. It can be understood that each block in each flowchart and / or block diagram, and any combination of blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, can be implemented using computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be executed by a machine composed of a general-purpose computer or a special computer's processor or other programmable data processing devices, and the instructions are processed by the computer or other programmable data processing devices to implement the functions or operations described in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams.

[0280] The flowcharts and block diagrams show the architectures, functions, and operations of the system, apparatus, method, and computer program product that can be implemented according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, each block in the flowchart or block diagram can represent a module, section, or part of program code, which includes one or more executable instructions to implement the specified logical function. Additionally, it should be noted that in some other embodiments, the functions described in the blocks may not be performed in the order shown in the figures. For example, two connected blocks in the figures can actually be executed simultaneously, or in some cases, depending on the functions involved, they can also be executed in the reverse order of the icons. Further, it should be noted that each block in each block diagram and / or flowchart, and the combination of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, can be implemented by a system based on dedicated hardware, or by a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions, to perform specific functions or operations.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising: A processing circuit, configured to: Select one or more available access points from multiple available access points as one or more cooperative access points and select one available access point as a data distribution center, Send information about the one or more cooperative access points to the data distribution center, such that the data distribution center, in response to receiving data destined for the electronic device from a serving gateway, sends the data destined for the electronic device to the one or more cooperative access points, and When receiving the data destined for the electronic device, receive the data destined for the electronic device through cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the one or more cooperative access points, Wherein, the processing circuit is further configured to: Select one or more of the available access points as new cooperative access points, Send information about the new cooperative access points to the data distribution center, such that the data distribution center, in response to receiving the data destined for the electronic device, also sends the data destined for the electronic device to the new cooperative access points, and When receiving the data destined for the electronic device, receive the data destined for the electronic device through cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access points including the new cooperative access points.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to obtain the expected quality of service of each of the multiple available access points and select the cooperative access points and the data distribution center according to the determined expected quality of service.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein, The expected quality of service is based on at least one of the following: The channel quality between the access point and the electronic device; The inherent parameters of the access point; The current status information of the access point; and The resources expected to be allocated to the electronic device by the access point.

4. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein, The channel quality between the access point and the electronic device includes the signal reception strength of the electronic device for the access point.

5. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein, The inherent parameters of the access point include one or more of the type, coverage range, and working ability of the access point.

6. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein, The current status information of the access point includes one or more of the load condition and working stability of the access point.

7. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to give priority to the channel quality between the access point and the electronic device when selecting the cooperative access points and the data distribution center.

8. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to secondly consider the resources expected to be allocated to the electronic device by the access point when selecting the cooperative access points.

9. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to secondly consider the inherent parameters of the access point when selecting the data distribution center.

10. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to select the data distribution center from the selected cooperative access points according to the inherent parameters of the access point.

11. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to receive an access point identification signal and identify the available access points according to the received access point identification signal.

12. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, The available access points include one or more of macro base stations, micro base stations, pico base stations, home base stations, and remote radio heads.

13. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to: Decide whether to release the cooperative access point according to the current quality of service of the cooperative access point, In response to a decision to release the cooperative access point, information about the released cooperative access point is sent to the data distribution center, so that the data distribution center does not send the data destined for the electronic device to the released cooperative access point in response to receiving the data destined for the electronic device.

14. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to not select a new cooperative access point when the number of cooperative access points reaches the upper limit.

15. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to: Determine whether to switch the data distribution center according to the current quality of service of the data distribution center, In response to a decision to switch the data distribution center, select one of the cooperative access points as the new data distribution center, Send information about the one or more cooperative access points to the new data distribution center, so that the new data distribution center sends the data destined for the electronic device to the one or more cooperative access points in response to receiving the data destined for the electronic device, and Release the original data distribution center.

16. The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein, The processing circuit is configured to switch the data distribution center only when the current quality of service of the data distribution center drops below a threshold.

17. An electronic device, comprising A processing circuit configured to: When the electronic device is selected by the user equipment as the data distribution center, Send information about the user equipment and the data distribution center to the service gateway, Receive information about the cooperative access point from the user equipment, In response to receiving the data destined for the user equipment from the service gateway, send the data destined for the user equipment to the user equipment and the cooperative access point, so that the data destined for the user equipment is sent to the user equipment through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access point; And When the electronic device is selected by the user equipment as the cooperative access point, In response to receiving the data destined for the user equipment, send the data destined for the user equipment to the user equipment, so that the data destined for the user equipment is sent to the user equipment through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access point, Among them, The processing circuit is further configured to: When the electronic device is selected as the data distribution center, receive information about the newly added cooperative access point from the user equipment, and When receiving the data destined for the user equipment, also send the data destined for the user equipment to the newly added cooperative access point, so that the data destined for the user equipment is sent to the user equipment through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access points including the newly added cooperative access point.

18. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to communicate with the cooperative access point to confirm the resource scheduling of the cooperative transmission when the electronic device is selected as the data distribution center.

19. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to broadcast the identification signal of the electronic device to the user equipment.

20. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to broadcast the inherent parameters of the electronic device to the user equipment.

21. The electronic device according to claim 20, wherein, The inherent parameters of the electronic device include one or more of the type, coverage range, and working ability of the electronic device.

22. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to generate and send the current status information of the electronic device in response to receiving a request from the user device for the status information of the electronic device.

23. The electronic device according to claim 22, wherein, The current status information of the electronic device includes one or more of the load condition and the operating stability of the electronic device.

24. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to determine and notify the user device of the resources expected to be allocated to the user device in response to receiving a request from the user device for the resources expected to be allocated to the user device.

25. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to, when the electronic device is selected as a data distribution center, send a release confirmation message to the service gateway and the user device and disconnect the connection with the user device in response to receiving a release request from the user device.

26. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein, The processing circuit is further configured to, when the electronic device is selected as a cooperative access point, send a release confirmation message to the user device and disconnect the connection with the user device in response to receiving a release request from the user device.

27. A communication method, comprising: selecting, by the user device, one or more available access points from multiple available access points as one or more cooperative access points and selecting one available access point as a data distribution center; sending, by the user device, information about the one or more cooperative access points to the data distribution center, such that the data distribution center, in response to receiving data destined for the user device from the service gateway, sends the data destined for the user device to the one or more cooperative access points; and when the user device receives the data destined for the user device, receiving the data destined for the user device through cooperative transmission by the data distribution center and the one or more cooperative access points; The method further comprises: selecting one or more of the available access points as new cooperative access points; sending information about the new cooperative access points to the data distribution center, such that the data distribution center, in response to receiving the data destined for the electronic device, also sends the data destined for the electronic device to the new cooperative access points; and when receiving the data destined for the electronic device, receiving the data destined for the electronic device through cooperative transmission by the data distribution center and the cooperative access points including the new cooperative access points.

28. A communication method, comprising: when an access point is selected by the user device as a data distribution center, sending, by the data distribution center, information about the user device and the data distribution center to the service gateway; receiving, by the data distribution center, information about the cooperative access points from the user device; in response to the data distribution center receiving data destined for the user device from the service gateway, sending, by the data distribution center, the data destined for the user device to the user device and the cooperative access points, such that the data destined for the user device is sent to the user device through cooperative transmission by the data distribution center and the cooperative access points; and when an access point is selected by the user device as a cooperative access point, In response to the data destined for the user equipment received by the cooperative access point, the cooperative access point sends the data destined for the user equipment to the user equipment, so that the data destined for the user equipment is sent to the user equipment through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access point. Wherein, the method further includes: When an electronic device is selected as the data distribution center, receiving information about a newly added cooperative access point from the user equipment, and When receiving the data destined for the user equipment, also sending the data destined for the user equipment to the newly added cooperative access point, so that the data destined for the user equipment is sent to the user equipment through the cooperative transmission of the data distribution center and the cooperative access points including the newly added cooperative access point.

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