Method and device for determining candidate cells

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for determining candidate cells, wherein the candidate cell determination method includes: sending auxiliary information to a network-side device, the auxiliary information being used to assist the network-side device in determining a candidate cell, wherein the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network-side device for the terminal. According to the present disclosure, the terminal can determine the auxiliary information to assist the network-side device in determining the candidate cell, and send the auxiliary information to the network-side device. Thus, the network-side device can refer to the auxiliary information to determine the candidate cell. Compared to the network-side device directly determining the candidate cell, the accuracy of the determined candidate cell can be improved, resource waste can be avoided, and terminal communication quality can be guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and apparatus for determining a candidate cell, an electronic device, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In traditional handover solutions, network-side equipment typically instructs terminals to switch to the target network. However, in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), satellites operate at high altitudes, resulting in significant transmission latency, sometimes orders of magnitude higher than that of terrestrial TN systems. Therefore, using traditional handover solutions in NTNs can lead to problems such as outdated measurements and delayed handovers, which can lead to handover failures.

[0003] In related technologies, to avoid the aforementioned issues and improve the robustness of handover in NTN systems, a CHO (Conditional Handover) solution can be adopted. For example, network-side equipment can configure one or more candidate cells and handover execution conditions for a terminal. The terminal then independently evaluates whether the handover execution conditions are met. If one or more of the handover execution conditions are met, the terminal can execute the handover.

[0004] In the CHO solution, network-side equipment generally determines CHO candidate cells based on measurement reports submitted by terminals. However, due to the high transmission latency in NTN networks and the low immediacy of measurement reports submitted by terminals, the candidate cells configured by network-side equipment for terminals are less accurate, affecting the terminal's communication quality. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure propose a method and apparatus for determining a candidate cell to solve the technical problems in related technologies.

[0006] According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for determining a candidate cell is proposed, which is executed by a terminal. The method includes:

[0007] Auxiliary information is sent to the network side device, where the auxiliary information is used to assist the network side device in determining a candidate cell, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

[0008] According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for determining a candidate cell is proposed, which is executed by a network-side device. The method includes:

[0009] receiving auxiliary information sent by the terminal;

[0010] A candidate cell is determined based on the auxiliary information, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

[0011] According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a device for determining a candidate cell is provided, which is applied to a terminal. The method includes:

[0012] The auxiliary information sending module is configured to send auxiliary information to the network side device, where the auxiliary information is used to assist the network side device in determining a candidate cell, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

[0013] According to a fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a device for determining a candidate cell is provided, which is applied to a network-side device. The method includes:

[0014] an auxiliary information receiving module, configured to receive auxiliary information sent by a terminal;

[0015] The candidate cell determination module is configured to determine a candidate cell based on the auxiliary information, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

[0016] According to a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided, including:

[0017] processor;

[0018] a memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

[0019] The processor is configured to implement the above-mentioned candidate cell determination method.

[0020] According to a sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is proposed, on which a computer program is stored. When the program is executed by a processor, the steps in the above-mentioned candidate cell determination method are implemented.

[0021] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a terminal can determine auxiliary information to assist a network device in determining candidate cells and send the auxiliary information to the network device. The network device can then use the auxiliary information to determine candidate cells. Compared to the network device directly determining candidate cells, this improves the accuracy of the determined candidate cells, avoids resource waste, and ensures terminal communication quality. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0023] Figure 1 It is a schematic flowchart of a method for determining a candidate cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 2 It is a schematic flowchart of another method for determining a candidate cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 3 It is a schematic flowchart of another method for determining a candidate cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 4 It is a schematic block diagram of a method for determining a candidate cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 5 It is a schematic block diagram showing another method for determining a candidate cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram showing an application scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 7 It is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for determining a candidate cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making any creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0031] NTN refers to a network that provides wireless resources to terminals via satellites and other equipment, rather than ground-based base stations. In NTN, the CHO solution can be used to implement terminal cell handover. Generally, network-side equipment configures one or more candidate cells for the terminal, along with the handover execution conditions corresponding to each candidate cell. This allows the terminal to evaluate whether the handover execution conditions are met and, if so, switch to the candidate cell corresponding to the conditions. The handover execution conditions for different candidate cells can be the same or different.

[0032] Here, the network side device may be a device in an access network, or may be a device in a core network, which is not limited in this embodiment.

[0033] Existing CHO candidate target cells are selected based on network configuration. However, due to the lack of near-far effect in NTN networks, where measurement results at the cell edge and cell center differ little, and the significant propagation delay in NTN networks, measurements can be outdated and inaccurate. Therefore, the network cannot configure appropriate CHO candidate target cells based on measurement reports. Furthermore, considering UE privacy and security, RAN2 has not yet agreed to allow UEs to report their location information to the network. Without knowing the UE's location, the network cannot determine which neighboring cells will subsequently provide coverage for the UE. Therefore, the network-configured candidate target cell set may include cells that will not subsequently provide coverage for the UE.

[0034] For example, in related technologies, network-side devices can usually determine candidate cells based on the measurement reports reported by the terminal. For example, the neighboring cells with better signal quality in the measurement reports can be used as candidate cells. However, this method may still have the following problems: (1) The near-far effect is not obvious in the NTN network, that is, the signal quality of the terminal at the cell center (such as reference signal received power RSRP, reference signal received quality RSRQ, etc.) is not much different from that at the cell edge. Therefore, the network-side device cannot determine the location of the terminal in the current serving cell based on the terminal's measurement report; (2) The transmission delay in the NTN network is large, resulting in outdated terminal measurements and inaccurate measurement reports; (3) The satellites in the NTN are in a mobile state, but in order to protect the privacy and security of users, the network-side device cannot obtain the specific location of the terminal, so the network-side device cannot predict which moving satellite cells can cover the terminal.

[0035] Since the above-mentioned method for determining candidate cells based on measurement reports by the above-mentioned network-side device has one or more of the above-mentioned problems, the determined candidate cells may be inaccurate. For example, the determined candidate cells include cells that are not suitable for terminal access, resulting in waste of resources; or the candidate cells do not include the cell that is most suitable for terminal access, thereby affecting the communication quality of the terminal.

[0036] In view of this, an embodiment of the present disclosure proposes a candidate cell determination method to improve the accuracy of candidate cells determined by a network-side device.

[0037] Figure 1This is a schematic flow chart illustrating a method for determining candidate cells according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method for determining candidate cells illustrated in this embodiment can be applied to terminals, including but not limited to electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices. The terminal can communicate with a network device as a user device. In one embodiment, the network device can be a network device to which the method for determining candidate cells described in any subsequent embodiment is applicable.

[0038] like Figure 1 As shown, the candidate cell determination method, executed by the terminal, may include the following steps:

[0039] In step S101, auxiliary information is sent to a network-side device.

[0040] The auxiliary information is used to assist the network side device in determining a candidate cell, and the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

[0041] In one embodiment, the terminal may send auxiliary information to the network side device to assist the network side device in determining the candidate cell.

[0042] In one example, a method for a terminal to send auxiliary information to a network-side device includes at least one of the following: sending candidate cell recommendation information to the network-side device according to a preset period; sending candidate cell recommendation information to the network-side device in response to a preset measurement event; and sending a measurement report to the network-side device, and including the candidate cell recommendation information in the measurement report. The preset measurement event may be an A1-A5 event, or other measurement event, which is not limited in this embodiment.

[0043] In one embodiment, the network-side device may receive auxiliary information sent by the terminal, and determine a candidate cell based on the auxiliary information.

[0044] In an example, the auxiliary information may indicate recommendation information of at least one neighboring cell, where the recommendation information may be at least one of the following: recommendation as a candidate cell, non-recommendation as a candidate cell, and recommendation degree of recommendation as a candidate cell.

[0045] In one example, the network-side device may determine whether to recommend a neighboring cell as a recommended cell based on the auxiliary information, i.e., the recommendation information of at least one neighboring cell. For example, if a neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell, the network-side device may determine it as a candidate cell, or the network-side device may prioritize it as a candidate cell. If a neighboring cell is not recommended as a candidate cell, the network-side device may exclude the neighboring cell when determining candidate cells, i.e., not determine the neighboring cell as a candidate cell. Alternatively, the network-side device may determine whether to consider the neighboring cell as a candidate cell based on the degree of recommendation.

[0046] According to the above embodiment, the terminal can determine auxiliary information to assist the network device in determining candidate cells and send this auxiliary information to the network device. The network device can then use this auxiliary information to determine candidate cells. Compared to the network device directly determining candidate cells, this can improve the accuracy of the determined candidate cells, avoid resource waste, and ensure terminal communication quality.

[0047] In one embodiment, the auxiliary information may include one or more of the following information:

[0048] an identifier of at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell;

[0049] The identifier of at least one neighboring cell that is not recommended as a candidate cell.

[0050] The identifier of the neighboring cell may be at least one of a cell ID and a satellite identifier.

[0051] In one example, the terminal may report the identifier of at least one neighboring cell to the network device and recommend the neighboring cell to the network device as a candidate cell. For example, the terminal may report only one identifier, such as the identifier of the neighboring cell that is most suitable for the terminal to access; or the terminal may report multiple identifiers, such as a set of identifiers, such as the identifiers of multiple neighboring cells that the terminal can currently access or can access in the future.

[0052] According to the above embodiment, the terminal can determine neighboring cells that can serve as candidate cells. Since the terminal has a relatively comprehensive understanding of its own information, the accuracy of the neighboring cells recommended by the terminal is relatively high, thereby improving the accuracy of the network side device in determining the candidate cells and ensuring the terminal communication quality.

[0053] In one example, the terminal may report the identifier of at least one neighboring cell to the network device, and not recommend the network device to use the cell as a candidate cell, i.e., instruct the network device not to use the neighboring cell as a candidate cell. For example, the terminal may report only one identifier to indicate a neighboring cell that the terminal is not suitable for access; or the terminal may report multiple identifiers, such as a set of identifiers, for example, the multiple identifiers may be identifiers of multiple neighboring cells that the terminal cannot currently access and will not be able to access in the future.

[0054] According to the above embodiment, the terminal can determine neighboring cells that cannot be used as candidate cells. Since the terminal has a more comprehensive understanding of its own information, the neighboring cells that the terminal does not recommend are usually neighboring cells that are inaccessible or cannot be accessed for a long time, thereby improving the accuracy of the network-side device in determining candidate cells and avoiding resource waste.

[0055] In one example, the terminal may determine the auxiliary information based on an instruction from a network device. For example, if the network device instructs the terminal to report neighboring cells recommended as candidate cells, the terminal may include the identifier of at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell in the auxiliary information; if the network device instructs the terminal to report neighboring cells not recommended as candidate cells, the terminal may include the identifier of at least one neighboring cell not recommended as a candidate cell in the auxiliary information.

[0056] In one embodiment, the terminal can independently determine which neighboring cells require recommendation information. For example, recommendation information can be determined for each neighboring cell of the current serving cell; or, recommendation information can be determined for each neighboring cell selected from the neighboring cells of the current serving cell. Thus, the terminal can determine auxiliary information based on the recommendation information. For example, the terminal can include the identifier of at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell in the auxiliary information; or, the terminal can include the identifier of at least one neighboring cell not recommended as a candidate cell in the auxiliary information; or, the terminal can include both identifiers in the auxiliary information and use the identifiers to distinguish between cells recommended as candidate cells and cells not recommended as candidate cells.

[0057] In one embodiment, the terminal can determine the recommended information of the neighboring cell according to the indication of the network side device. For example, the network side device can carry a designated identifier in the measurement configuration to indicate one or more designated neighboring cells, which can be carried in the RRCReconfiguration message, for example. In one example, the terminal can receive the designated identifier sent by the network side device, wherein the designated identifier sent by the network side device can be the identifier of one or more neighboring cells specified by the network side device, and the terminal can determine one or more neighboring cells according to the designated identifier, and determine the recommended information of each neighboring cell, and carry it in the auxiliary information. Thus, the auxiliary information may include at least one of the following: whether the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier is recommended as a candidate cell, and the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier as a candidate cell.

[0058] According to the above embodiment, the network device can send the identifier of a neighboring cell whose suitability as a candidate cell is difficult to assess to the terminal, allowing the terminal to evaluate the neighboring cell and determine the recommended information for the neighboring cell. This allows the network device to more accurately determine the candidate cell, avoid wasting resources, and ensure terminal communication quality.

[0059] In one embodiment, for each neighboring cell for which recommended information needs to be determined, such as a neighboring cell designated by a network side device, or a neighboring cell of a current serving cell, the recommended information of the neighboring cell can be determined based on the reference information of the neighboring cell. Figure 2 An embodiment is introduced.

[0060] Figure 2 is a schematic flow chart of another candidate cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is executed by a terminal, such as Figure 2 As shown, the method further includes:

[0061] Step S201: Determine at least one of the following reference information: first time information that a neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal, second time information that the current serving cell of the terminal can provide services to the terminal, distance information between the first reference point corresponding to the neighboring cell and the terminal, a first distance threshold for indicating the coverage range of the neighboring cell, distance information between the second reference point corresponding to the current serving cell of the terminal and the terminal, and a second distance threshold for indicating the coverage range of the serving cell.

[0062] In one embodiment, with respect to the first distance threshold and the second distance threshold in the above-mentioned reference information: in one example, the terminal may obtain the reference information from a network side device, for example, the network side device may broadcast or send the reference information through dedicated signaling, so that the terminal may receive the reference information; in another example, the reference information may be preset in the terminal.

[0063] In one embodiment, the first time information, the second time information, the distance information between the first reference point corresponding to the neighboring cell and the terminal, and the distance information between the second reference point corresponding to the serving cell and the terminal in the reference information can be predicted by the terminal using cell change information and the terminal location. The cell change information may include cell coverage change information or position change information of a reference point in the cell. The terminal can obtain the cell change information from the ephemeris or from a network-side device.

[0064] In one example, the terminal can determine the coverage of the cell based on the ephemeris or instructions from the network-side device, and in combination with the terminal's location, the terminal can predict the first time information and the second time information. In another example, the terminal can determine the position change information of a reference point in the cell (including the first reference point corresponding to the neighboring cell or the second reference point corresponding to the serving cell) based on the ephemeris or instructions from the network-side device, and in combination with the terminal's location, predict the distance information.

[0065] In one embodiment, the location of the terminal may be fixed or variable.

[0066] In one embodiment, the first reference point is a position in a neighboring cell, and the position changes as the coverage of the neighboring cell changes. For example, the first reference point may be the cell center of the neighboring cell.

[0067] In one embodiment, the first distance threshold may indicate the coverage range of the neighboring cell, for example, the maximum distance from the first reference point within the coverage range of the neighboring cell. If the first reference point is the cell center of the neighboring cell, the first distance threshold may be the cell radius of the neighboring cell.

[0068] In one embodiment, the second reference point is a position in the serving cell, and the position changes as the coverage of the serving cell changes. For example, the first reference point may be the cell center of the serving cell.

[0069] In one embodiment, the second distance threshold may indicate the coverage of the serving cell, for example, the maximum distance from the second reference point within the coverage of the serving cell. If the second reference point is the cell center of the serving cell, the second distance may be the cell radius of the serving cell.

[0070] In one embodiment, the first time information and the second time information may be at least one of a start time, an end time, and a duration.

[0071] In one embodiment, the first time information and the second time information may be directly determined by the terminal. For example, the terminal may record cells that have provided services, and then determine the first time information and the second time information based on the historical records. For example, the terminal may determine the first time information based on the current position of the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell, the time information of the service that the satellite can provide when it is at the current position as recorded in the historical records, and the terminal's position information; or the terminal may determine the second time information based on the current position of the satellite corresponding to the serving cell, the time information of the service that the satellite can provide when it is at the current position as recorded in the historical records, and the terminal's position information.

[0072] In one embodiment, the first time information is the time information when the terminal is within the coverage of the neighboring cell; the second time information is the time information when the terminal is within the coverage of the serving cell.

[0073] Based on this, in an example, the first time information may be determined based on the coverage change information of the neighboring cell, and the second time information may be determined based on the coverage change information of the serving cell.

[0074] In an example, the terminal may determine whether the terminal is within the coverage of a cell according to its own location and coverage change information of a cell (which may be a neighboring cell or a serving cell).

[0075] In one embodiment, the coverage change information of a cell may be indicated in various ways. For example, the coverage change information may include location change information of a reference point; or the coverage change information may include location change information of one or more points in the cell. Examples of each are provided below.

[0076] In one embodiment, the coverage change information may include location change information of a reference point. The coverage change information of a neighboring cell may include location change information of a first reference point, and the coverage change information of a serving cell may include location change information of a second reference point.

[0077] In one example, the position change information of the first reference point and / or the second reference point may be the current position coordinates, moving direction, and moving speed of the first reference point and / or the second reference point, so that the terminal can estimate the position coordinates of the first reference point and / or the second reference point at a future moment.

[0078] In one example, the terminal may predict the change in distance between the terminal and the first reference point based on the position change information of the first reference point. When the distance is less than a first distance threshold, the neighboring cell can provide services; when the distance is not less than the first distance threshold, the neighboring cell cannot provide services. Based on this, in one example, the terminal may determine that the first time information is the time information when the distance between the terminal and the first reference point is less than the first distance threshold, for example, it may be at least one of the start and end times and the duration of the time when the distance is less than the first distance threshold.

[0079] In one example, the terminal may predict the change in distance between the terminal and the second reference point based on the position change information of the second reference point. When the distance is less than a second distance threshold, the serving cell can provide service; when the distance is not less than the second distance threshold, the serving cell cannot provide service. Based on this, in one example, the terminal may determine that the second time information is the time information when the distance between the terminal and the second reference point is less than the second distance threshold, for example, it may be at least one of the start and end times and the duration of the time when the distance is less than the second distance threshold.

[0080] In one embodiment, the coverage change information may include location change information of multiple points in a cell (which may be a neighboring cell or a serving cell), for example, location change information of multiple points at the cell edge. The coverage change information of a neighboring cell may include location change information of multiple points in the neighboring cell, and the coverage change information of a serving cell may include location change information of multiple points in the serving cell.

[0081] In one example, the location change information of multiple points in a cell may include the current location coordinates, moving direction, and moving speed of the multiple points, so that the terminal can estimate the location coordinates of the multiple points at a future time, thereby determining the cell coverage at a future time.

[0082] In one example, the terminal may estimate the coverage of a neighboring cell based on multiple points in the neighboring cell and determine first time information when the terminal is within the coverage of the neighboring cell. Based on the same method, the terminal may estimate the coverage of a serving cell based on multiple points in the serving cell and determine second time information when the terminal is within the coverage of the serving cell.

[0083] In one embodiment, the first reference point may be a satellite corresponding to a neighboring cell, and the second reference point may be a satellite corresponding to a serving cell. The satellites move along specific motion trajectories. The terminal may determine the satellite's motion trajectory using ephemeris, or the terminal may obtain the satellite's motion trajectory from a network-side device.

[0084] In one embodiment, the first distance threshold may indicate the coverage range of the neighboring cell, for example, it may be the farthest distance between the neighboring cell coverage range and the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell; in one embodiment, the second distance threshold may indicate the coverage range of the serving cell, for example, it may be the farthest distance between the serving cell coverage range and the satellite corresponding to the serving cell.

[0085] Based on this, when the distance between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell is less than the first distance threshold, the neighboring cell can provide services; when the distance between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell is not less than the first distance threshold, the neighboring cell cannot provide services; when the distance between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the serving cell is less than the second distance threshold, the serving cell can provide services; when the distance between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the serving cell is not less than the second distance threshold, the serving cell cannot provide services.

[0086] In one embodiment, the first time information may be determined based on the distance between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell, and the second time information may be determined based on the distance between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the serving cell. Thus, the terminal can predict the distance information between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell, and the distance information between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the serving cell, respectively, based on its own location and the motion trajectory of the satellite.

[0087] In one example, the terminal can determine: the first time information is the time information when the distance between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the neighboring cell is less than the first distance threshold; the second time information is the time information when the distance between the terminal and the satellite corresponding to the serving cell is less than the second threshold.

[0088] Step S202: Determine recommendation information of a neighboring cell according to the at least one reference information, where the recommendation information includes at least one of the following: whether the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell, and a recommendation degree of the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0089] In one embodiment, the terminal may determine the recommendation information of the neighboring cell according to the at least one reference information in step S201.

[0090] In one embodiment, the terminal may determine recommendation information for a neighboring cell based on the first time information and the second time information. In response to the absence of an intersection between the first time information and the second time information, the terminal may determine not to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell; or, in response to the presence of an intersection between the first time information and the second time information, the terminal may determine to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0091] In an example, the first time information may include a start time when the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal, and the second time information may include an end time when the serving cell can provide services to the terminal.

[0092] In one example, if the first time information and the second time information have an intersection, the terminal can switch from the serving cell to the neighboring cell. Therefore, the neighboring cell is suitable for the terminal to access, that is, the terminal can recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0093] In one example, if the first time information and the second time information do not intersect, the terminal cannot directly switch from the serving cell to the neighboring cell. Therefore, the neighboring cell is not suitable for the terminal to access, that is, the terminal may not recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0094] In one embodiment, the terminal may determine recommendation information for a neighboring cell based on the first time information. For example, the terminal may determine, based on the first time information, a first duration during which the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal; determine not to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell in response to the first duration being no greater than a preset duration threshold; or determine to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell in response to the first duration being greater than a preset duration threshold.

[0095] The duration threshold may be preset in the terminal, for example, specified in a protocol; or may be configured by a network device for the terminal, for example, configured by the network device in a measurement configuration, for example, carried in an RRCReconfiguration message.

[0096] In one example, the first time information may include the first duration that the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal, and the terminal can directly obtain the first duration; or, the first time information may include the start time and end time that the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal, and the terminal can determine the first duration based on the difference between the end time and the start time.

[0097] In one example, the terminal may preset a duration threshold. If the first duration is not greater than the preset duration threshold, it indicates that the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal for a short time. To ensure stable communication, the terminal generally avoids frequent handovers. Therefore, the neighboring cell is not suitable for terminal access, that is, the terminal may not recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell. If the first duration is greater than the preset duration threshold, it indicates that the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal for a long time. The terminal does not need to frequently handover to access the neighboring cell. Therefore, the neighboring cell is suitable for terminal access, that is, the terminal may recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0098] In one example, the terminal may not need to preset a duration threshold, but may directly determine the recommendation information of the neighboring cell based on the first duration. For example, the terminal may determine the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell as a candidate cell based on the first duration; wherein the recommendation degree is positively correlated with the first duration. In other words, the longer the first duration, the higher the recommendation degree. It should be noted that the specific method for determining the recommendation degree and the first duration can be determined according to actual conditions, for example, the two can be proportional, etc., and this embodiment does not limit this.

[0099] In one embodiment, the terminal may determine whether a neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell based on the first duration and whether there is an intersection between the first time information and the second time information.

[0100] In one example, in response to the intersection of the first time information and the second time information and the first duration being greater than a preset duration threshold, the terminal determines to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell. The terminal can either switch directly from the serving cell to the neighboring cell or access the neighboring cell for a longer period of time, ensuring stable communication.

[0101] In one embodiment, a terminal may determine neighboring cell recommendation information based on distance information between a first reference point corresponding to a neighboring cell and the terminal, and a first distance threshold used to indicate the coverage range of the neighboring cell. For example, the terminal may determine a minimum distance between the first reference point corresponding to the neighboring cell and the terminal based on the distance information between the first reference point and the terminal, and in response to the minimum distance being not less than the first distance threshold, determine not to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell; or, in response to the minimum distance being less than the first distance threshold, determine to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0102] In an example, the minimum distance here refers to the minimum distance that may exist between the first reference point and the terminal in the future.

[0103] In an example, if the minimum distance is less than the first distance threshold, the terminal can enter the coverage of the neighboring cell, and therefore, the terminal can recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0104] In one example, if the minimum distance is not less than the first distance threshold, the terminal cannot enter the coverage of the neighboring cell. That is, even if the neighboring cell is selected as a candidate cell, the terminal will not access the neighboring cell. In order to save resources, the neighboring cell may not be recommended as a candidate cell.

[0105] In one embodiment, the terminal can determine the recommended information of the neighboring cell based on the distance information between the first reference point corresponding to the neighboring cell and the terminal, the first distance threshold used to indicate the coverage range of the neighboring cell, the distance information between the second reference point corresponding to the current service cell of the terminal and the terminal, and the second distance threshold used to indicate the coverage range of the service cell.

[0106] In one example, the terminal can determine the time information when the distance between the second reference point corresponding to the terminal's current serving cell and the terminal is less than the second distance threshold. If there is at least one moment when the distance between the first reference point corresponding to the neighboring cell and the terminal is also less than the first distance threshold, it means that the terminal can switch from the serving cell to the neighboring cell. Therefore, the neighboring cell is suitable for terminal access, that is, the terminal can recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0107] In one embodiment, a terminal may determine neighboring cell recommendation information based on distance information between a first reference point corresponding to the neighboring cell and the terminal. For example, the terminal may determine a minimum distance between the first reference point corresponding to the neighboring cell and the terminal based on the distance information between the first reference point and the terminal, and then determine a recommendation degree for recommending the neighboring cell as a candidate cell based on the minimum distance; the recommendation degree is negatively correlated with the minimum distance.

[0108] In one example, the recommendation degree may be inversely proportional to the minimum distance. Since the coverage of different neighboring cells varies greatly, in order to unify the measurement standard of the recommendation degree, the recommendation degree may be determined as the ratio of the first distance threshold to the minimum distance.

[0109] According to the above embodiment, the smaller the minimum distance between the first reference point corresponding to the neighboring cell and the terminal, the higher the recommendation degree; the larger the minimum distance, the lower the recommendation degree. Taking the coverage range of the neighboring cell as a circle and the first reference point as the center of the circle as an example, the smaller the minimum distance, the closer the terminal is to the center of the circle within the cell coverage range, and thus the longer the time the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal, so the neighboring cell is more suitable for terminal access and has a high recommendation degree; conversely, the smaller the minimum distance, the closer the terminal is to the edge of the cell coverage range, and thus the shorter the time the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal, so the neighboring cell is not very suitable for terminal access and has a low recommendation degree.

[0110] In one example, when the terminal determines the recommendation degree based on the above-mentioned first duration and / or the above-mentioned minimum distance, it can first determine whether the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell according to the method in the above-mentioned embodiment. If the neighboring cell is not recommended as a candidate cell, the recommendation degree is determined to be a specified value (such as k); or, if the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell, the recommendation degree can be determined based on at least one of the first duration and the minimum distance.

[0111] Figure 3 This is a schematic flow chart of another candidate cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The candidate cell determination method shown in this embodiment can be executed by a network-side device. In one embodiment, the network-side device can be a device in an access network or a device in a core network. The network-side device can communicate with a terminal as a user device, and the terminal includes but is not limited to electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and Internet of Things devices. In one embodiment, the terminal can be a terminal to which the candidate cell determination method described in any of the above embodiments is applicable.

[0112] like Figure 3 As shown, the candidate cell determination method may include the following steps:

[0113] In step S301, auxiliary information sent by a terminal is received.

[0114] In step S302, candidate cells are determined based on the auxiliary information.

[0115] The candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

[0116] In one embodiment, the terminal may send auxiliary information to the network-side device, so that the network-side device may determine the candidate cell based on the auxiliary information.

[0117] According to the above embodiment, the terminal can determine auxiliary information that can be used to assist the network device in determining candidate cells and send this auxiliary information to the network device. The network device can then use this auxiliary information to determine candidate cells. Compared to the network device directly determining candidate cells, this can improve the accuracy of the determined candidate cells, avoid resource waste, and ensure terminal communication quality.

[0118] In one embodiment, the network device may also obtain recommendation information of a designated neighboring cell from the terminal. For example, the network device may send a designated identifier to the terminal, the designated identifier being used to instruct the terminal to include at least one of the following in the auxiliary information: whether the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier is recommended as a candidate cell, and the degree of recommendation of the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier as a candidate cell.

[0119] In one example, based on the designated identifier, the terminal can determine the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier, and then determine the recommendation information of the neighboring cell, that is, at least one of the following: whether the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell and the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0120] In one embodiment, the auxiliary information sent by the terminal may indicate recommendation information of at least one neighboring cell, wherein the recommendation information may be at least one of the following: recommendation as a candidate cell, non-recommendation as a candidate cell, and recommendation degree of the candidate cell.

[0121] In one embodiment, determining a candidate cell based on the auxiliary information includes:

[0122] In response to the auxiliary information including an identifier of a neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell, the neighboring cell is determined as a candidate cell; or, in response to the auxiliary information including an identifier of a neighboring cell not recommended as a candidate cell, the neighboring cell is excluded from being determined as a candidate cell.

[0123] In one example, the network-side device may not directly determine the neighboring cell recommended by the terminal as a candidate cell, but may instead increase the priority of the neighboring cell as a candidate cell. If the neighboring cell has a higher priority than other neighboring cells, the neighboring cell is determined as a candidate cell. The specific implementation method of the network-side device can be determined according to actual conditions and is not limited in this embodiment.

[0124] In one example, the network-side device may not directly exclude neighboring cells not recommended by the terminal from being determined as candidate cells. For example, if the network-side device determines that other neighboring cells are also not suitable as candidate cells, the network-side device may still determine the neighboring cell not recommended by the terminal as a candidate cell. The specific implementation method of the network-side device can be determined according to actual conditions and is not limited in this embodiment.

[0125] In one embodiment, the network side device may also determine the candidate cell according to the recommendation degree of the candidate cell, and determine the candidate cell based on the recommendation degree in response to the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell included in the auxiliary information as the candidate cell.

[0126] In one example, the network-side device may preset a recommendation degree threshold, and determine neighboring cells with a recommendation degree higher than the preset threshold as candidate cells.

[0127] In one example, the network side device may also determine a handover execution condition corresponding to the candidate cell based on the recommendation degree. Here, the handover execution condition is used to instruct the terminal to evaluate whether the handover execution condition is met and, if the handover execution condition is met, to switch to the candidate cell corresponding to the handover execution condition.

[0128] In one example, in response to the recommendation degree indicating that the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell, the network side device can determine the switching execution condition corresponding to the candidate cell based on the recommendation degree; wherein the difficulty of the switching execution condition being satisfied by the terminal is negatively correlated with the recommendation degree.

[0129] In one example, the network side device may first determine whether the terminal recommends the neighboring cell as a candidate cell based on the recommendation degree. For example, the network side and the terminal may negotiate in advance. When the recommendation degree is greater than a certain threshold (such as k), it indicates that the terminal recommends the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0130] For neighboring cells recommended as candidate cells, the network device determines the corresponding handover execution conditions based on the recommendation degree. For example, the network device may determine handover execution conditions that are easier to meet for neighboring cells with high recommendation degrees, and determine handover execution conditions that are more difficult to meet for neighboring cells with low recommendation degrees.

[0131] Since the terminal generally switches to a candidate cell that first meets the switching execution condition, according to the method of this embodiment, the terminal has a higher probability of accessing a neighboring cell with a high recommendation degree.

[0132] Corresponding to the aforementioned embodiments of the method for determining a candidate cell, the present disclosure also provides embodiments of an apparatus for determining a candidate cell.

[0133] Figure 4 This is a schematic flow chart illustrating a candidate cell determination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The candidate cell determination apparatus illustrated in this embodiment can be applicable to a terminal, including but not limited to electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices. The terminal can function as a user equipment (UE) and communicate with a network-side device. In one embodiment, the network-side device can be a network-side device to which the candidate cell determination apparatus described in any subsequent embodiment is applicable.

[0134] like Figure 4 As shown, the candidate cell determination device, configured on the terminal side, may include:

[0135] The auxiliary information sending module 401 is configured to send auxiliary information to the network side device, where the auxiliary information is used to assist the network side device in determining a candidate cell, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

[0136] In one embodiment, the auxiliary information includes one or more of the following information: an identifier of at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell; and an identifier of at least one neighboring cell not recommended as a candidate cell.

[0137] In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

[0138] The identifier receiving module 402 is configured to receive a designated identifier sent by the network side device; the auxiliary information includes at least one of the following: whether the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier is recommended as a candidate cell, and the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier as a candidate cell.

[0139] In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

[0140] The reference information determination module 403 is configured to determine at least one of the following reference information:

[0141] First time information at which a neighboring cell can provide services for the terminal, second time information at which the terminal's current serving cell can provide services for the terminal, distance information between a first reference point corresponding to a neighboring cell and the terminal, a first distance threshold for indicating coverage of a neighboring cell, distance information between a second reference point corresponding to the terminal's current serving cell and the terminal, and a second distance threshold for indicating coverage of a serving cell;

[0142] The recommendation information determination module 404 is configured to determine the recommendation information of the neighboring cell according to the at least one reference information, wherein the recommendation information includes at least one of the following: whether the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell and the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0143] In one embodiment, the first time information is determined based on the coverage change information of the neighboring cell, and the second time information is determined based on the coverage change information of the serving cell.

[0144] In one embodiment, the first time information is the time information when the distance between the terminal and the first reference point is less than the first distance threshold; the second time information is the time information when the distance between the terminal and the second reference point corresponding to the serving cell is less than the second threshold.

[0145] In one embodiment, the recommendation information determination module 404 is specifically configured to:

[0146] In response to the first time information and the second time information not having an intersection, determining not to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell; or, in response to the first time information and the second time information having an intersection, determining to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0147] In one embodiment, the recommendation information determination module 404 is further configured to:

[0148] Determine, based on the first time information, a first duration during which the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal;

[0149] In response to the first duration being not greater than a preset duration threshold, it is determined not to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell; or, in response to the first duration being greater than a preset duration threshold, it is determined to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0150] In one embodiment, the recommendation information determination module 404 is specifically configured to:

[0151] Determine, based on the first time information, a first duration during which the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal;

[0152] Based on the first duration, a recommendation degree of the neighboring cell as a candidate cell is determined; wherein the recommendation degree is positively correlated with the first duration.

[0153] In one embodiment, the recommendation information determination module 404 is specifically configured to:

[0154] Determine, based on distance information between a first reference point corresponding to a neighboring cell and the terminal, a minimum distance between the first reference point and the terminal;

[0155] In response to the minimum distance being not less than the first distance threshold, determining not to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell; or in response to the minimum distance being less than the first distance threshold, determining to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

[0156] In one embodiment, the recommendation information determination module 404 is specifically configured to:

[0157] Determine, based on distance information between a first reference point corresponding to a neighboring cell and the terminal, a minimum distance between the first reference point and the terminal;

[0158] Based on the minimum distance, a recommendation degree of recommending the neighboring cell as a candidate cell is determined; the recommendation degree is negatively correlated with the minimum distance.

[0159] In one embodiment, the recommendation degree is a ratio of the first distance threshold to the minimum distance.

[0160] Figure 5This is a schematic flow chart of another candidate cell determination device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The candidate cell determination device shown in this embodiment can be applicable to network-side devices. In one embodiment, the network-side device can be a device in an access network or a device in a core network. The network-side device can communicate with a terminal serving as a user device, including but not limited to electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, wearable devices, sensors, and Internet of Things devices. In one embodiment, the terminal can be a terminal to which the candidate cell determination device described in any of the above embodiments is applicable.

[0161] The auxiliary information receiving module 501 is configured to receive auxiliary information sent by the terminal;

[0162] The candidate cell determining module 502 is configured to determine a candidate cell based on the auxiliary information, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

[0163] In one embodiment, the candidate cell determination module 502 is specifically configured to:

[0164] In response to the auxiliary information including an identifier of a neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell, the neighboring cell is determined as a candidate cell; or, in response to the auxiliary information including an identifier of a neighboring cell not recommended as a candidate cell, the neighboring cell is excluded from being determined as a candidate cell.

[0165] In one embodiment, the candidate cell determination module 502 is specifically configured to:

[0166] In response to the auxiliary information including a recommendation degree of a neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell, a candidate cell is determined based on the recommendation degree.

[0167] In one embodiment, the candidate cell determination module 502 is specifically configured to:

[0168] The neighboring cells whose recommendation degrees are higher than a preset recommendation degree threshold are determined as candidate cells.

[0169] In one embodiment, the candidate cell determination module 502 is specifically configured to:

[0170] In response to the recommendation degree indication, the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell, and a handover execution condition corresponding to the candidate cell is determined based on the recommendation degree; wherein the difficulty of the handover execution condition being satisfied by the terminal is negatively correlated with the recommendation degree.

[0171] In one embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

[0172] The designated identifier sending module 503 is configured to send a designated identifier to the terminal, and the designated identifier is used to instruct the terminal to carry at least one of the following items in the auxiliary information: whether the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier is recommended as a candidate cell, and the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier as a candidate cell.

[0173] Regarding the apparatus in the above embodiments, the specific manner in which each module performs operations has been described in detail in the embodiments of the relevant methods and will not be elaborated on here.

[0174] For the device embodiment, since it basically corresponds to the method embodiment, the relevant parts can be referred to the partial description of the method embodiment. The device embodiment described above is merely illustrative, wherein the modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed on multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the scheme of this embodiment. Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without paying any creative work.

[0175] The following is an exemplary introduction to an embodiment of the candidate cell determination method according to the present disclosure in combination with specific technical details, as follows:

[0176] by Figure 6 For example, Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram showing an application scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0177] like Figure 6 As shown, the direction of satellite movement is indicated by the arrow in the figure. The figure includes two terminals UE1 and UE2. The current serving cell of the two terminals is cell 4, and the cell 4 includes 6 neighboring cells, namely cells 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7.

[0178] In related technologies, if the satellite's moving direction is not considered, the CHO candidate target cell set configured by the network side device for the terminals UE1 and UE2 is {1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7}. If the satellite's moving direction is considered, the CHO candidate target cell set is {3, 5, 6, 7}.

[0179] For UE1, neighboring cells 5 and 6 will not subsequently provide services to UE1, and neighboring cells 3 and 5 will not subsequently provide services to UE2. Configuring neighboring cells 5 and 6 as candidate target cells for UE1 and 3 and 5 as candidate target cells for UE2 will cause gNB resources in neighboring cells 5 and 6 and 3 and 5, respectively, wasting resources. For the UEs, UE1 and UE2 need to evaluate the CHO execution conditions for neighboring cells 5 and 6 and 3 and 5, respectively, impacting UE performance.

[0180] Because satellites orbit in fixed orbits, satellite cell coverage information is known. A UE can determine whether a neighboring cell will subsequently provide coverage based on its own location information and satellite ephemeris / cell coverage information. In this disclosure, a UE uses its own location and satellite ephemeris / cell coverage information to determine whether a neighboring cell will subsequently provide coverage for the UE. This information is then reported to the network as auxiliary information. The network then uses the auxiliary information reported by the UE to determine the set of valid candidate target cells for the UE and the corresponding CHO configuration. This solution effectively prevents the network from configuring invalid candidate target cells for the UE, reducing gNB resource waste.

[0181] In the present disclosure, the UE reports auxiliary information to assist the network in determining a candidate target cell for CHO.

[0182] The auxiliary information may be one or more of the following:

[0183] The neighboring cell ID recommended for configuration as a candidate target cell, the neighboring cell ID not recommended for configuration as a candidate target cell, an indication of whether a neighboring cell is recommended for configuration as a candidate target cell, and the recommendation degree of a neighboring cell as a candidate target cell.

[0184] In one embodiment, the auxiliary information may further include satellite identifiers corresponding to neighboring cells.

[0185] The UE may determine whether a neighboring cell is a recommended candidate target cell or its corresponding recommendation degree through service time information or service distance information.

[0186] The service time information includes: the service duration and service time range of the serving cell / neighboring cell; the service distance information includes: the distance and distance change between the UE and the reference point of the serving cell / neighboring cell.

[0187] A candidate target cell is recommended if its service time information meets the following conditions; otherwise, it is not recommended: the service time of this neighboring cell is greater than the threshold value of the service time of the candidate target cell; the service time range of this neighboring cell overlaps with the service time range of the serving cell.

[0188] The candidate target cell is recommended if its service distance information meets the following conditions; otherwise, it is not recommended: the minimum distance between the UE and the reference point of this neighboring cell is less than the reference distance corresponding to this neighboring cell; when the distance between the UE and the reference point of the serving cell is less than the reference distance of the serving cell, the distance between the UE and the reference point of this neighboring cell is less than the reference distance corresponding to this neighboring cell.

[0189] The reference point may be the cell center, and the reference distance may be the cell radius.

[0190] In one embodiment, the recommendation degree corresponding to the neighboring cell can be obtained according to the service duration or the ratio between the minimum distance between the UE and the reference point of the neighboring cell and the reference distance, and the recommendation degree of a non-recommended candidate target cell is 0.

[0191] In one embodiment, the UE can obtain the service time information of the serving cell / neighboring cell based on its own location information and the coverage information of the serving cell / neighboring cell: the UE can determine the time when its location enters the coverage of this neighboring cell and the time when it leaves the coverage of the serving cell / neighboring cell based on its own location, the coverage range of the serving cell / neighboring cell and the moving direction, and obtain the service time range; the UE can determine the start and end times when the distance between its location and the reference point is less than the reference distance based on its own location, the reference point of the serving cell / neighboring cell and the moving direction and speed of the reference point, and obtain the service time range. The reference point can be the cell center and the reference distance can be the cell radius. The service duration can be obtained through the service time range.

[0192] In one embodiment, the auxiliary information may be reported periodically, may be reported by triggering a measurement event, or may be included in a measurement report.

[0193] In one embodiment, the UE may determine whether to report auxiliary information based on network instructions. The content of the auxiliary information reported by the UE may be specified by the protocol or configured by the network. For example, if the network instructs the UE to report auxiliary information including: whether a neighboring cell is recommended for configuration as a candidate target cell or the degree of recommendation for configuring a neighboring cell as a candidate target cell, the network needs to indicate the neighboring cell ID that the UE needs to determine and the satellite identifier corresponding to the neighboring cell.

[0194] In one embodiment, the coverage information of the serving cell / neighboring cell, including reference point and reference distance information, can be obtained through ephemeris information or sent to the UE through the network. The network can send the cell coverage information through broadcast or dedicated signaling.

[0195] In one embodiment, the threshold value and the network indication may be configured by the network, included in a measurement configuration, and sent to the UE via an RRCReconfiguration message. Alternatively, the threshold value may also be specified in a protocol.

[0196] In one embodiment, the network configures a suitable CHO candidate target cell for the UE based on the auxiliary information reported by the UE. Specifically, the network may configure the CHO candidate target cell based on the recommended neighboring cell ID in the auxiliary information, and the network may preferentially configure cells in the recommended neighboring cells as candidate target cells;

[0197] Alternatively, the network can configure CHO candidate target cells based on the non-recommended neighbor cell ID in the auxiliary information. The network can exclude non-recommended neighbor cells when configuring candidate target cells.

[0198] Alternatively, the network may configure candidate target cells based on the indication in the auxiliary information as to whether a neighboring cell is recommended for configuration as a candidate target cell. For recommended cells, the network may prioritize configuring them as candidate cells, and for unrecommended cells, the network may not select them as candidate cells;

[0199] Alternatively, the network can configure candidate target cells based on the recommendation degree of neighboring cells. The network can select neighboring cells with a recommendation degree greater than a threshold as candidate target cells and configure appropriate CHO execution conditions based on different recommendation degrees, making it more likely that the UE will access cells with high recommendation degrees.

[0200] The following combination Figure 6 Introduce 3 specific embodiments to Figure 6 Take UE1 in the example for explanation.

[0201] Example 1:

[0202] The protocol stipulates that the auxiliary information reported by the UE is the ID of the neighboring cell recommended for configuration as a candidate target cell;

[0203] The network instructs the UE to report auxiliary information through the RRC reconfiguration message, assists the network in determining the CHO candidate target cell, and configures the threshold value to 0.

[0204] The UE receives the RRC reconfiguration message sent by the network and obtains its own location.

[0205] Based on the coverage information of the cells broadcast by the network, the UE calculates the start and end times of the service time range and corresponding service duration of neighboring cells 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 covering the UE's location, and the end time of the service cell 4 covering the UE's location.

[0206] For the UE location, the service duration of neighboring cells 3 and 7 is greater than 0, and the service time range of neighboring cells 3 and 7 overlaps with the service time of serving cell 4, so neighboring cells 3 and 7 are recommended to be configured as candidate neighboring cells.

[0207] The UE reports the cell IDs of neighboring cells 3 and 7 and the identifiers of the corresponding serving satellites.

[0208] The network configures a CHO command for the UE based on the IDs of neighboring cells 3 and 7 reported by the UE and the identifiers of the corresponding serving satellites, and its candidate target cells are neighboring cells 3 and 7.

[0209] Example 2:

[0210] The protocol stipulates that the auxiliary information reported by the UE is the ID of the neighboring cell that is not recommended to be configured as a candidate target cell;

[0211] The network instructs the UE to report auxiliary information through the RRC reconfiguration message, which assists the network in determining the candidate target cell for CHO.

[0212] The UE receives the RRC reconfiguration message sent by the network and obtains its own location.

[0213] The UE calculates the service distance information of neighboring cells 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and serving cell 4 in the figure based on the coverage information of the cell broadcast by the network, and the reference points corresponding to the serving cell and the neighboring cell are both the cell centers.

[0214] For the UE location, as the satellite moves, the distance between the UE location and the cell center of neighboring cells 1, 2, 5, and 6 will not be greater than the corresponding cell radius. Therefore, neighboring cells 1, 2, 5, and 6 are not recommended to be configured as candidate neighboring cells.

[0215] The UE reports the cell IDs of neighboring cells 1, 2, 5, and 6 and the identifiers of the corresponding serving satellites.

[0216] The network configures a CHO command for the UE based on the cell IDs of neighboring cells 1, 2, 5, and 6 reported by the UE and the identifiers of the corresponding serving satellites. Excluding neighboring cells 1, 2, 5, and 6, the candidate target cells are neighboring cells 3 and 7.

[0217] Example 3:

[0218] The network instructs the UE to report auxiliary information through the RRC reconfiguration message, assists the network in determining the candidate target cells for CHO, and configures the threshold value to 0. The auxiliary information instructs the UE to report is: the recommendation degree of neighboring cells 3, 5, 6, and 7 as candidate target cells.

[0219] The UE receives the RRC reconfiguration message sent by the network and obtains its own location.

[0220] Based on the cell coverage information broadcast by the network, the UE calculates the start and end times of the service time range and corresponding service duration of neighboring cells 3, 5, 6, and 7 covering the UE's location, and the end time of the service cell 4 covering the UE1's location.

[0221] For the UE location, there are:

[0222] The service duration of neighboring cells 5 and 6 is equal to 0, so the recommendation degree of neighboring cells 5 and 6 is 0.

[0223] The service durations of neighboring cells 3 and 7 are 4 and 10, respectively, and the service durations of neighboring cells 3 and 7 overlap with the service duration of serving cell 4. Based on UE implementation, the recommendation degrees of neighboring cells 3 and 7 are calculated to be 40% and 100%, respectively.

[0224] The UE reports the recommendation degrees of neighboring cells 3, 5, 6, and 7.

[0225] Based on the recommendation levels of neighboring cells 3, 5, 6, and 7 reported by the UE, the network configures a CHO command for the UE, with candidate target cells being neighboring cells 3 and 7. The CHO execution condition for neighboring cell 3 is that the signal strength of neighboring cell 3 is 3 dB higher than that of the serving cell. The CHO execution condition for neighboring cell 7 is that the signal strength of neighboring cell 7 is 1 dB higher than that of the serving cell.

[0226] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an electronic device, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor; wherein the processor is configured to implement the above-mentioned candidate cell determination method.

[0227] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which implements the above-mentioned steps in determining candidate cells when executed by a processor.

[0228] Figure 7 7 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 700 for determining candidate cells according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, apparatus 700 may be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, etc.

[0229] Reference Figure 7 The apparatus 700 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 702 , a memory 704 , a power component 706 , a multimedia component 708 , an audio component 710 , an input / output (I / O) interface 712 , a sensor component 714 , and a communication component 716 .

[0230] The processing component 702 generally controls the overall operation of the device 700, such as operations associated with display, phone calls, data communications, camera operation, and recording operations. The processing component 702 may include one or more processors 720 to execute instructions to perform all or part of the steps of the candidate cell determination method described above. In addition, the processing component 702 may include one or more modules to facilitate interaction between the processing component 702 and other components. For example, the processing component 702 may include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component 708 and the processing component 702.

[0231] The memory 704 is configured to store various types of data to support the operations of the device 700. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the device 700, contact data, phone book data, messages, pictures, videos, etc. The memory 704 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device, or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0232] The power supply component 706 provides power to the various components of the device 700. The power supply component 706 may include a power management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power to the device 700.

[0233] The multimedia component 708 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the device 700 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from the user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touches, slides, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensors can not only sense the boundaries of a touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide action. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 708 includes a front-facing camera and / or a rear-facing camera. When the device 700 is in an operating mode, such as a capture mode or a video mode, the front-facing camera and / or the rear-facing camera can receive external multimedia data. Each front-facing camera and the rear-facing camera can have a fixed optical lens system or have focal length and optical zoom capabilities.

[0234] The audio component 710 is configured to output and / or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 710 includes a microphone (MIC) that is configured to receive external audio signals when the device 700 is in an operating mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signals may be further stored in the memory 704 or transmitted via the communication component 716. In some embodiments, the audio component 710 also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

[0235] I / O interface 712 provides an interface between processing component 702 and peripheral interface modules, such as a keyboard, click wheel, buttons, etc. These buttons may include but are not limited to: a home button, volume buttons, a start button, and a lock button.

[0236] The sensor assembly 714 includes one or more sensors for providing various aspects of the status assessment of the device 700. For example, the sensor assembly 714 can detect the open / closed state of the device 700, the relative positioning of components, such as the display and keypad of the device 700. The sensor assembly 714 can also detect changes in the position of the device 700 or a component of the device 700, the presence or absence of user contact with the device 700, the orientation or acceleration / deceleration of the device 700, and temperature changes of the device 700. The sensor assembly 714 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. The sensor assembly 714 may also include an optical sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor assembly 714 may also include an accelerometer, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

[0237] The communication component 716 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the apparatus 700 and other devices. The apparatus 700 can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, 4G LTE, 5G NR, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 716 receives a broadcast signal or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 716 also includes a near field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module can be implemented based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

[0238] In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus 700 may be implemented by one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other electronic components to perform the above-described candidate cell determination method.

[0239] In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions is further provided, such as a memory 704 including instructions. The instructions may be executed by the processor 720 of the apparatus 700 to implement the candidate cell determination method described above. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, a random access memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, or the like.

[0240] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and practicing the disclosure herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure that follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The description and examples are to be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

[0241] It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the exact structures that have been described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

[0242] It should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. The terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device that includes a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements that are not explicitly listed, or also includes elements that are inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "comprises a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device that includes the element.

[0243] The above is a detailed introduction to the methods and devices provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Specific examples are used herein to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present disclosure. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the methods and core ideas of the present disclosure. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, according to the ideas of the present disclosure, there may be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scopes. In summary, the contents of this specification should not be understood as limiting the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for determining a candidate cell, characterized in that: The method is executed by a terminal, and includes: Sending auxiliary information to the network side device, where the auxiliary information is used to assist the network side device in determining a candidate cell, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal; The auxiliary information includes an identifier of at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell and a recommendation degree of the at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The auxiliary information also includes: The identifier of at least one neighboring cell that is not recommended as a candidate cell.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a designated identifier sent by the network-side device; The auxiliary information includes: whether the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier is recommended as a candidate cell, and the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier as a candidate cell.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The method further comprises: Identify at least one of the following references: First time information at which a neighboring cell can provide services for the terminal, second time information at which the terminal's current serving cell can provide services for the terminal, distance information between a first reference point corresponding to a neighboring cell and the terminal, a first distance threshold for indicating coverage of a neighboring cell, distance information between a second reference point corresponding to the terminal's current serving cell and the terminal, and a second distance threshold for indicating coverage of a serving cell; Recommendation information of the neighboring cell is determined according to the at least one reference information, where the recommendation information includes: whether the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell and a recommendation degree of the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The first time information is determined based on the coverage change information of the neighboring cell, and the second time information is determined based on the coverage change information of the serving cell.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The first time information is time information at which the distance between the terminal and the first reference point is less than the first distance threshold; The second time information is time information when the distance between the terminal and a second reference point corresponding to the serving cell is less than a second threshold.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The determining, according to the at least one item of reference information, the recommended information of the neighboring cell includes: In response to the first time information and the second time information not having an intersection, determining not to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell; Alternatively, in response to an intersection between the first time information and the second time information, it is determined to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: Determine, based on the first time information, a first duration during which the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal; In response to the first duration being not greater than a preset duration threshold, determining not to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell; Alternatively, in response to the first duration being greater than a preset duration threshold, it is determined to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

9. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The determining, according to the at least one item of reference information, the recommended information of the neighboring cell includes: Determine, based on the first time information, a first duration during which the neighboring cell can provide services to the terminal; Based on the first duration, a recommendation degree of the neighboring cell as a candidate cell is determined; wherein the recommendation degree is positively correlated with the first duration.

10. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The determining, according to the at least one item of reference information, the recommended information of the neighboring cell includes: Determine, based on distance information between a first reference point corresponding to a neighboring cell and the terminal, a minimum distance between the first reference point and the terminal; In response to the minimum distance being not less than the first distance threshold, determining not to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell; Alternatively, in response to the minimum distance being less than the first distance threshold, it is determined to recommend the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

11. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The step of determining the recommended information of the neighboring cell according to the at least one reference information: Determine, based on distance information between a first reference point corresponding to a neighboring cell and the terminal, a minimum distance between the first reference point and the terminal; Based on the minimum distance, a recommendation degree of recommending the neighboring cell as a candidate cell is determined; the recommendation degree is negatively correlated with the minimum distance.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The recommendation degree is a ratio of the first distance threshold to the minimum distance.

13. A method for determining a candidate cell, characterized in that: Executed by a network-side device, the method includes: receiving auxiliary information sent by a terminal, wherein the auxiliary information includes an identifier of at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell and a recommendation degree of the at least one neighboring cell as a candidate cell; A candidate cell is determined based on the auxiliary information, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The determining a candidate cell based on the auxiliary information includes: In response to the auxiliary information including an identifier of a neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell and a recommendation degree of the neighboring cell being recommended as a candidate cell, a candidate cell is determined based on the recommendation degree.

15. The method according to any one of claims 13 or 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: A designated identifier is sent to the terminal, where the designated identifier is used to instruct the terminal to carry the following information in the auxiliary information: whether the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier is recommended as a candidate cell and the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier as a candidate cell.

16. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The determining of the candidate cell based on the recommendation degree includes: The neighboring cells whose recommendation degrees are higher than a preset recommendation degree threshold are determined as candidate cells.

17. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The determining of the candidate cell based on the recommendation degree includes: In response to the recommendation degree indication, the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell, and a handover execution condition corresponding to the candidate cell is determined based on the recommendation degree; wherein the difficulty of the handover execution condition being satisfied by the terminal is negatively correlated with the recommendation degree.

18. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The auxiliary information also includes at least one neighboring cell that is not recommended as a candidate cell; The determining a candidate cell based on the auxiliary information includes: In response to the auxiliary information including an identifier of a neighboring cell that is not recommended as a candidate cell, the neighboring cell is excluded from being determined as a candidate cell.

19. A device for determining a candidate cell, characterized in that: Applied to a terminal, the device includes: an auxiliary information sending module, configured to send auxiliary information to a network-side device, wherein the auxiliary information is used to assist the network-side device in determining a candidate cell, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network-side device for the terminal; The auxiliary information includes an identifier of at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell and a recommendation degree of the at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell.

20. The device according to claim 19, characterized in that The auxiliary information includes one or more of the following information: The identifier of at least one neighboring cell that is not recommended as a candidate cell.

21. The device according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that The device further comprises: an identification receiving module, configured to receive a designated identification sent by the network side device; The auxiliary information includes: whether the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier is recommended as a candidate cell, and the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell indicated by the designated identifier as a candidate cell.

22. The device according to claim 19, characterized in that The device further comprises: The reference information determination module is configured to determine at least one of the following reference information: First time information at which a neighboring cell can provide services for the terminal, second time information at which the terminal's current serving cell can provide services for the terminal, distance information between a first reference point corresponding to a neighboring cell and the terminal, a first distance threshold for indicating coverage of a neighboring cell, distance information between a second reference point corresponding to the terminal's current serving cell and the terminal, and a second distance threshold for indicating coverage of a serving cell; The recommendation information determination module is configured to determine the recommendation information of the neighboring cell according to the at least one reference information, wherein the recommendation information includes: whether the neighboring cell is recommended as a candidate cell and the recommendation degree of the neighboring cell as a candidate cell.

23. A candidate cell determination device, characterized in that: Applied to network-side equipment, the device includes: an auxiliary information receiving module, configured to receive auxiliary information sent by a terminal, wherein the auxiliary information includes an identifier of at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell and a recommendation degree of the at least one neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell; The candidate cell determination module is configured to determine a candidate cell based on the auxiliary information, where the candidate cell is a CHO candidate cell configured by the network side device for the terminal.

24. The device according to claim 23, characterized in that The candidate cell determination module is specifically configured to: In response to the auxiliary information including an identifier of a neighboring cell recommended as a candidate cell and a recommendation degree of the neighboring cell being recommended as a candidate cell, a candidate cell is determined based on the recommendation degree.

25. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: processor; a memory for storing processor-executable instructions; The processor is configured to implement the candidate cell determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

26. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the program is executed by a processor, the steps of the candidate cell determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 are implemented.

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