Cell determination, support indication method and apparatus, communication apparatus, and storage medium

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a cell determination method and apparatus, a communication device, and a storage medium. The method includes: determining a target slice to be accessed, and at least one frequency associated with the target slice; and determining candidate cells supporting the target slice among cells corresponding to at least one frequency. According to this disclosure, a terminal can determine cells supporting the target slice as candidate cells among cells corresponding to the frequency associated with the target slice for subsequent use, such as cell reselection. This ensures that the candidate cells support the target slice, and after reselection to the target cell, the terminal can access the target slice and receive its services, ensuring good communication performance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to cell determination methods, support indication methods, cell determination apparatus, support indication apparatus, communication apparatus, and computer-readable storage media. Background Technology

[0002] Network slicing can provide a complete end-to-end virtual network for a specific user. By dividing network resources into multiple 5G network slices, 5G network slices can provide differentiated services to users with different service requirements (e.g., latency, reliability, capacity, isolation, and other functions). Operator networks will be able to serve not only information consumption services characterized by "best-effort" transmission, but also production control services characterized by "deterministic" transmission, allocating logically or physically isolated network resources to services with vastly different communication needs. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of the above, embodiments of this disclosure provide a cell determination method, a support indication method, a cell determination apparatus, a support indication apparatus, a communication apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium to solve the technical problems in the related art.

[0004] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a cell determination method is proposed, applicable to a terminal, the method comprising: determining a target slice to be accessed, and at least one frequency associated with the target slice; and determining candidate cells supporting the target slice among cells corresponding to at least one frequency.

[0005] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a support indication method is proposed, applicable to a network-side device. The method includes: sending indication information to a terminal, wherein the indication information is used for the terminal to determine, among at least one frequency-corresponding cell associated with the target slice to be accessed, a candidate cell supporting the target slice.

[0006] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a cell determination apparatus is provided, applicable to a terminal, the apparatus comprising one or more processors configured to determine a target slice to be accessed, and at least one frequency associated with the target slice; and to determine candidate cells supporting the target slice among cells corresponding to at least one of the frequencies.

[0007] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a support indication device is provided, applicable to a network-side device, the device comprising one or more processors configured to send indication information to a terminal, wherein the indication information is used for the terminal to determine, among at least one frequency-corresponding cell associated with the target slice to be accessed, a candidate cell supporting the target slice.

[0008] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, the above-described cell determination method is implemented.

[0009] According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, the above-described support instruction method is implemented.

[0010] According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the cell determination method described above.

[0011] According to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the above-described support instruction method.

[0012] According to embodiments of this disclosure, a terminal can identify cells that support the target slice as candidate cells among the cells corresponding to the frequency associated with the target slice for subsequent use, such as cell reselection. This ensures that the candidate cells support the target slice. After reselecting the target cell, the terminal can access the target slice and receive the relevant services of the target slice, thus ensuring good communication performance for the terminal. Attached Figure Description

[0013] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of this disclosure. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0014] Figure 1 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a cell reselection scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 8 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating an indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 9 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus for cell determination according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0023] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this disclosure, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

[0024] The terminology used in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. The singular forms “a” and “the” as used in this disclosure and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term “and / or” as used herein refers to and includes any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0025] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used to describe various information in embodiments of this disclosure, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish information of the same type from one another. For example, first information may also be referred to as second information without departing from the scope of embodiments of this disclosure, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "when," "when," or "in response to a determination."

[0026] For the sake of brevity and ease of understanding, this document uses the terms "greater than" or "less than", "higher than" or "lower than" to describe size relationships. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the term "greater than" also includes the meaning of "greater than or equal to", and "less than" also includes the meaning of "less than or equal to"; the term "higher than" also includes the meaning of "higher than or equal to", and "lower than" also includes the meaning of "lower than or equal to".

[0027] Figure 1 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a cell determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The cell determination method shown in this embodiment can be applied to terminals, including but not limited to communication devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices. The terminal can communicate with network-side devices as user equipment, including but not limited to network-side devices in 4G, 5G, and 6G communication systems, such as base stations and core networks.

[0028] It should be noted that the slices in all embodiments of this disclosure specifically refer to network slices, such as 5G network slices or network slices in other communication systems.

[0029] like Figure 1 As shown, the cell determination method may include the following steps:

[0030] In step S101, the target slice to be accessed and at least one frequency associated with the target slice are determined.

[0031] In step S102, candidate cells supporting the target slice are determined in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency.

[0032] In one embodiment, when a terminal is in an idle or inactive state, it can perform cell reselection to camp on a cell with higher frequency priority or better signal quality. For example, the network-side equipment can directly indicate the priority of each frequency, and the terminal can determine the priority of each frequency based on the network-side equipment's indication, and then select a cell with better signal quality from the cells corresponding to the highest possible priority frequency for cell reselection. However, this cell reselection method has some problems.

[0033] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a cell reselection scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] When a terminal considers cell reselection based on cell slices, different slices can be associated with different frequencies, and one frequency can correspond to multiple cells. For example... Figure 2As shown, for tracking areas TA1 and TA2, cells C1 and C2 are located in TA1, and cells C3 and C4 are located in TA2. Slice 1 is associated with frequencies f1 and f2, and slice 2 is associated with frequencies f2 and f3. f1 corresponds to cell C1, f2 corresponds to cells C2 and C4, and f3 corresponds to cell C3. That is, cells C1 and C2 support slice 1, and cells C3 and C4 support slice 2.

[0035] The terminal is located between TA1 and TA2, specifically between C2 and C4. The terminal's intended slice is slice 1. The intended slice can refer to the slice that the terminal expects to access, including but not limited to at least one of the following: requested NSSAI (slice to be registered), allowed NSSAI (slice allowed by the network), configured NSSAI (slice used by the UE in network configuration), or S-NSSAI corresponding to the service traffic (slice corresponding to the service transmission). If cell reselection is performed according to the frequency priority indicated by the network-side equipment, the terminal may reselect to cell C4. However, cell C4 does not support slice 1. This will cause the terminal to camp on a cell that does not support the intended slice based on the cell reselection result, thus preventing the terminal from obtaining the relevant services provided by the intended slice and affecting the terminal's communication performance.

[0036] In one embodiment, the terminal may determine the target slice to be accessed, wherein the target slice is at least one slice in the terminal’s expected slices. For example, each slice in the expected slices has a different priority, and the target slice may be the highest priority slice, or it may be all or some of the expected slices.

[0037] In one embodiment, a target slice can be associated with multiple frequencies. For example, if the target slice is a single slice, then this single slice can be associated with multiple frequencies. Alternatively, if the target slice includes multiple slices, then each of the multiple slices can be associated with multiple frequencies.

[0038] In one embodiment, the priority among multiple target slices and the specific target slice can be determined by the terminal's Non-Access (NAS) layer and provided to the AS (Access) layer. The target slice can be determined through S-NSSAI (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information), SST (Slice / Service type), slice / slice group ID, operator-defined access type, or any other slice information that can uniquely identify the slice.

[0039] According to embodiments of this disclosure, a terminal can identify cells that support the target slice as candidate cells among the cells corresponding to the frequency associated with the target slice for subsequent use, such as cell reselection. This ensures that the candidate cells support the target slice. After reselecting the target cell, the terminal can access the target slice and receive the relevant services of the target slice, thus ensuring good communication performance for the terminal.

[0040] For example, the target slice is slice 1, and the frequencies associated with slice 1 can be f1 and f2. Each frequency can also correspond to a cell, for example, a cell operates on that frequency; f1 corresponds to cell C1, and f2 corresponds to cells C2 and C4. Each cell can support slices, and the slices supported can be different. Here, a cell supporting a slice means that terminals residing in that cell can access that slice; for example, C1 and C2 support slice 1, and C4 supports slice 2.

[0041] According to embodiments of this disclosure, the terminal determines the target slice as slice 1, and the frequencies associated with slice 1 are f1 and f2. f1 corresponds to cell C1, and f2 corresponds to cells C2 and C4. C1 and C2 support slice 1, so C1 and C2 can be used as candidate cells. Accordingly, regardless of whether the subsequent cell reselection reselects to C1 or C2, since both C1 and C2 support slice 1, it can be ensured that the terminal camps on the reselected cell and can receive the relevant services provided by slice 1, thus ensuring good communication performance for the terminal.

[0042] It should be noted that each slice can be associated with one or more frequencies, each frequency can correspond to one or more cells, and each cell can support one or more slices; these can be configured as needed. Furthermore, candidate cells can be used for cell reselection or other purposes as needed, and this disclosure does not impose any restrictions.

[0043] Figure 3 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating another cell determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 3 As shown, the method further includes:

[0044] In step S301, the priority relationship among multiple frequencies associated with the target slice is determined;

[0045] In step S302, cell reselection is performed in the candidate cells according to the priority of the frequency.

[0046] In one embodiment, after determining at least one frequency associated with the target slice, if the target slice is associated with multiple frequencies, the priority relationship between the multiple frequencies can be further determined. For example, the slice 1 mentioned above is associated with frequencies f1 and f2, and the priority relationship between f1 and f2 is f2 > f1, that is, f2 has a higher priority than f1.

[0047] In one embodiment, the slice-related frequency priority can be provided by the base station via broadcast system messages and / or proprietary signaling. If the frequency priority is provided by proprietary signaling, it overrides the frequency priority provided by the broadcast system messages.

[0048] Slice-related frequency priorities can include all adjacent frequencies (e.g., frequencies corresponding to neighboring cells of the current serving cell), or only frequencies supporting the highest priority slice. If only the highest priority related frequencies are included, the priorities of other frequencies can be provided by broadcast system messages or proprietary signaling, and their priorities are lower than those of the slice-related frequencies.

[0049] Furthermore, cell reselection can be performed among candidate cells based on frequency priority. For example, the signal quality of candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency can be considered first. If the signal quality meets the requirements, the cell corresponding to the highest priority frequency is ranked as the target cell. If the signal quality does not meet the requirements, the signal quality of candidate cells corresponding to the next lower priority frequency is considered, and so on, until a candidate cell that meets the requirements is determined, or if a candidate cell that meets the requirements is not determined for all frequency-corresponding candidate cells.

[0050] For example, if f2 has a higher priority than f1, candidate cell C2 corresponding to f2 can be considered first.

[0051] If the signal quality of C2 meets the requirements, C2 can be sorted. Since C2 is just one cell, it can be directly reselected to C2. If C2 consists of multiple cells, such as two cells C21 and C22, then C21 and C22 can be sorted according to the R criterion. The cell with the higher ranking is preferred for reselection. For example, if C21 is ranked before C22, then C21 will be reselected.

[0052] If the signal quality of C2 does not meet the requirements, then cell C1 corresponding to f1 can be considered. If the signal quality of C1 meets the requirements, then C1 can be sorted. Since C2 is only one cell, it can be directly reselected to C1. If C1 is multiple cells, then the situation is similar to the case where C2 is multiple cells, and will not be elaborated here.

[0053] It should be noted that in related technologies, network-side devices can directly indicate frequency priority to the terminal. However, this priority relationship between multiple frequencies associated with a slice may be different. In the embodiments of this disclosure, when performing cell reselection, priority is given to the priority relationship between multiple frequencies associated with a slice. If cell reselection fails based on the priority of multiple frequencies, it can fall back to the mechanism in related technologies, such as performing cell reselection based on the frequency priority indicated by the network-side device.

[0054] The following examples illustrate the case where the target slice includes the highest priority slice among the expected slices.

[0055] In one embodiment, determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes:

[0056] Based on the indication information from the network-side device, determine whether at least one cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice;

[0057] If at least one cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice, then at least one cell corresponding to the frequency is determined as the candidate cell.

[0058] In one embodiment, whether a cell corresponding to a frequency supports the highest priority slice can be determined based on indication information sent by the network-side device. For example, the network-side device can use indication information (e.g., occupying 1 bit) to indicate whether all cells corresponding to a frequency support the highest priority slice. If all support it, then each cell corresponding to a frequency can be identified as a candidate cell.

[0059] In one embodiment, determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes:

[0060] Based on the indication information from the network-side equipment, determine at least one slice supported by the cell corresponding to the frequency;

[0061] Among at least one cell corresponding to the frequency, the cell that supports the highest priority slice is identified as the candidate cell.

[0062] In one embodiment, the network-side device can indicate the slices supported by the cell corresponding to the frequency through indication information (the number of bits occupied is related to the number of slices), and the terminal can determine the cell that supports the highest priority slice as a candidate cell based on the indication information.

[0063] In one embodiment, determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes:

[0064] Based on the indication information from the network-side device, determine a list of cells that support the highest priority slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency;

[0065] The cells in the cell list are identified as candidate cells.

[0066] In one embodiment, the network-side device can determine the cells that support the highest priority slice and generate a cell list to send to the terminal. Then the terminal can determine that all cells in the cell list are candidate cells.

[0067] Figure 4 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another cell determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 4 As shown, the cell reselection in the candidate cells according to the frequency priority includes:

[0068] In step S401, the candidate cell corresponding to the highest priority frequency associated with the highest priority slice is determined;

[0069] In step S402, the target cell is determined based on signal quality among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency.

[0070] In step S403, if the target cell is not determined among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the following steps are repeated: in the candidate cells corresponding to the lower priority frequency, the target cell is determined based on the signal quality; until the target cell is determined or the target cell is not determined among the candidate cells corresponding to all priority frequencies.

[0071] In step S404, the identified target cells are sorted according to signal quality;

[0072] In step S405, cell reselection is performed in the sorted target cells according to the order of the target cells.

[0073] In one embodiment, for the highest priority slice, the highest priority frequency can be determined from the associated frequencies, and then the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency can be determined. Then, among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the target cell is determined based on signal quality. The method for determining the target cell based on signal quality can be based on the S criterion.

[0074] If no target cell is identified among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency (e.g., no cell meets the S criterion), then the target cell can be determined from the candidate cells corresponding to the next lower priority frequency based on signal quality. This process is repeated, also from highest to lowest priority, to determine the target cell among the cells corresponding to each priority frequency. This ensures that the signal quality of the identified target cell meets the requirements, and that the priority of the corresponding frequency is as high as possible.

[0075] After determining the target cell, if only one target cell is determined, the cell can be directly reselected to the target cell. If multiple target cells are determined, the determined target cells can be sorted according to the signal quality, for example, according to the R criterion. Then, cell reselection can be performed among the sorted target cells according to the sorting, for example, reselecting to the cell with the higher sorting.

[0076] It should be noted that the S-criterion and R-criterion have already been explained in related technologies, and this disclosure follows the meanings of the S-criterion and R-criterion in related technologies, and will not repeat them here.

[0077] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0078] If the target cell cannot be determined among all the cells corresponding to the highest priority slice, cell reselection is performed according to the frequency priority indicated by the network-side equipment.

[0079] If the target cell cannot be determined among all cells corresponding to the priority frequencies associated with the highest priority slice, cell reselection can be performed according to the frequency priority indicated by the network-side equipment. This means reverting to the cell reselection mechanism in related technologies to ensure that the terminal can at least complete cell reselection.

[0080] Corresponding to this embodiment, the following Figure 5 In the illustrated embodiment, considering other slices in the expected slice, if the target cell is not determined among all the cells corresponding to the frequencies associated with the highest priority slice, it can be further determined whether the target cell exists among the candidate cells corresponding to the frequencies associated with other slices. If the target cell is not determined among the candidate cells corresponding to the frequencies associated with other slices, cell reselection can be performed according to the frequency priority indicated by the network-side device.

[0081] In one embodiment, the cell reselection in the sorted target cells according to the target cell ranking includes:

[0082] If the target cell with the highest ranking (also known as the first-ranked cell) is a suitable cell, then reselect the target cell with the highest ranking.

[0083] If the target cell with the highest ranking is not a suitable cell, cell reselection will not be performed on the target cell with the highest ranking or its co-frequency cells within a preset time period.

[0084] In one embodiment, it can be determined whether the highest-ranked target cell corresponding to the frequency associated with the highest priority slice is a suitable cell, wherein a suitable cell meets at least one of the following conditions: it is not prohibited, it does not belong to a prohibited tracking area, and its PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) meets the requirements, etc.

[0085] If the highest-ranked target cell is a suitable cell, cell reselection can be performed on the highest-ranked target cell. Since the highest-ranked target cell is the most likely suitable cell at its corresponding frequency, if the highest-ranked target cell is not a suitable cell, then all cells at the corresponding frequency of the highest-ranked target cell will also be unsuitable. Therefore, cell reselection can be performed on the highest-ranked target cell and its co-frequency cells for a preset time period (which can be set as needed, for example, 5 minutes) to avoid wasting resources.

[0086] The following examples illustrate the case where the target slice includes the highest priority slice in the expected slice as well as other slices, such as the case where all slices in the expected slice are included.

[0087] In one embodiment, the target slice also includes other slices in the expected slice. That is, the target slice includes all or some slices in the expected slice (at least one slice other than the highest priority slice), thereby allowing the target cell to be determined for frequencies associated with all or some slices.

[0088] Figure 5 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another cell determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 5 As shown, the step of performing cell reselection in the candidate cells according to the frequency priority further includes:

[0089] In step S501, if the target cell is not determined in any of the cells corresponding to the frequencies associated with the highest priority slice, the following steps are repeated: a lower priority slice is determined in the other slices, and the target cell is determined based on signal quality in the candidate cells corresponding to the frequencies associated with the lower priority slice; until the target cell is determined or the target cell is not determined in any of the cells corresponding to the frequencies associated with the target slices of all priorities.

[0090] In one embodiment, if the target cell is not identified in any of the frequency-corresponding cells associated with the highest priority slice, then candidate cells associated with frequencies associated with other slices can be considered. For example, the target cell can be identified slice by slice according to its priority. First, the target cell can be identified based on signal quality in the candidate cells associated with frequencies associated with the next lower priority slice. If it is not identified, the target cell can be identified based on signal quality in the candidate cells associated with frequencies associated with the next lower priority slice, and so on, until the target cell is identified. Alternatively, if the target cell is not identified in any of the frequency-corresponding cells associated with all target slices, cell reselection can be performed based on the frequency priority indicated by the network-side device.

[0091] In one embodiment, determining the target cell based on signal quality among candidate cells corresponding to frequencies associated with lower-priority slices includes:

[0092] Determine the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency associated with the slice of lower priority.

[0093] Among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the target cell is determined based on signal quality;

[0094] If the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the following steps are repeated: in the candidate cells corresponding to the next lower priority frequency, the target cell is identified based on signal quality; until the target cell is identified or the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to all priority frequencies.

[0095] In one embodiment, for a slice with a lower priority level, the highest priority frequency can be determined from the associated frequencies, and then the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency can be determined. Then, among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the target cell is determined based on signal quality. The method for determining the target cell based on signal quality can be based on the S criterion.

[0096] If no target cell is identified among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency (e.g., no cell meets the S criterion), then the target cell can be determined from the candidate cells corresponding to the next lower priority frequency based on signal quality. This process is repeated, also from highest to lowest priority, to determine the target cell among the cells corresponding to each priority frequency. This ensures that the signal quality of the identified target cell meets the requirements, and that the priority of the corresponding frequency is as high as possible.

[0097] It should be noted that the steps in this embodiment can be described above. Figure 4Before step S404 of the illustrated embodiment is executed, after the steps in this embodiment are completed, steps S404 and S405 are executed. That is, when the target cell is determined in the cells corresponding to the frequency associated with other slices, the target cells can also be sorted by signal quality, and cell reselection can be performed in the sorted target cells according to the sorting of the target cells.

[0098] In one embodiment, when the target cell is determined from the candidate cells corresponding to the frequency associated with a lower-priority slice, the cell reselection in the sorted target cells according to the ranking of the target cells includes:

[0099] If the target cell with the highest ranking corresponding to the frequency associated with the slice of the next lower priority is a suitable cell, then reselect the target cell with the highest ranking.

[0100] If the highest-ranked target cell associated with the frequency of a lower-priority slice is not a suitable cell, and the highest-ranked target cell associated with the frequency of a lower-priority slice and its co-frequency cells only support the lower-priority slice, then cell reselection will not be performed in the highest-ranked target cell associated with the frequency of a lower-priority slice and its co-frequency cells within a preset time period.

[0101] In one embodiment, it can be determined whether the highest-ranked target cell corresponding to the frequency associated with a lower-priority slice is a suitable cell, wherein a suitable cell meets at least one of the following conditions: it is not prohibited, it does not belong to a prohibited tracking area, and its PLMN meets the requirements.

[0102] If the highest-ranked target cell in the frequency associated with a lower-priority slice is a suitable cell, cell reselection can be performed on the highest-ranked target cell. Since the highest-ranked target cell is the most likely suitable cell at its corresponding frequency, if the highest-ranked target cell is not a suitable cell, then all cells at the corresponding frequency of the highest-ranked target cell will also be unsuitable. Therefore, cell reselection can be performed on the highest-ranked target cell and its co-frequency cells in the frequency associated with a lower-priority slice for a preset time period (which can be set as needed, for example, 5 minutes) to avoid wasting resources.

[0103] In one embodiment, determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes:

[0104] A list of target slices supported by the frequency is determined; the terminal can determine this list based on the correspondence between frequencies and slices issued by the base station.

[0105] Determine whether the list applies to all cells corresponding to the frequency based on the instruction information from the network-side equipment;

[0106] If the list applies to all cells corresponding to the frequency, all cells corresponding to the frequency are determined as candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency.

[0107] In one embodiment, whether a cell corresponding to a frequency supports the highest priority slice can be determined based on the indication information sent by the network-side device.

[0108] When considering multiple target slices, a frequency can be associated with multiple slices. Therefore, a list of target slices supported by the frequency can be determined. Then, based on the indication information of the network-side device (e.g., occupying 1 bit), it can be determined whether the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency. If the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency, then all cells corresponding to the frequency support the slices in the list. Thus, all cells corresponding to the frequency can be determined as candidate cells corresponding to the target slices associated with the frequency.

[0109] For example, for a certain frequency f0, if the frequency supports slice 1 and slice 2, then the list contains both slice 1 and slice 2. If the list applies to all cells under the frequency f0, it can be determined that all cells under the frequency f0 support slice 1 and slice 2. Therefore, it can be determined that all cells under the frequency are both candidate cells corresponding to slice 1 and candidate cells corresponding to slice 2.

[0110] In one embodiment, determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes:

[0111] Determine a list of target slices supported by the frequency;

[0112] The applicable cells for the list are determined based on the instructions from the network-side devices;

[0113] The cells to which the list applies are the candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency.

[0114] In one embodiment, when considering multiple target slices, a frequency can be associated with multiple slices. Therefore, a list of target slices supported by the frequency can be determined. Then, based on the indication information from the network-side device (the number of occupied bits is related to the number of cells applicable to the list), the cells applicable to the list can be determined. In this way, the cells applicable to the list can be determined as candidate cells corresponding to the target slices associated with the frequency.

[0115] For example, for a certain frequency f0, if the frequency supports slice 1 and slice 2, then the list contains slice 1 and slice 2. If the list applies to cells C1 and C2, it can be determined that C1 and C2 are both candidate cells corresponding to slice 1 and candidate cells corresponding to slice 2.

[0116] In one embodiment, determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes:

[0117] The slices supported by each cell corresponding to each frequency are determined based on the indication information from the network-side equipment;

[0118] In each cell corresponding to the frequency, cells that support the association of the target slice with the frequency are identified as candidate cells corresponding to the target slice with the frequency.

[0119] In one embodiment, when considering multiple target slices, the slices supported by each cell corresponding to the frequency can be determined according to the indication information of the network-side device, and then the cells supporting the target slice associated with the frequency can be determined as candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency in each cell.

[0120] For example, for a certain frequency f0, the slices associated with f0 are slice 1 and slice 2, corresponding to cells C1 and C3. C1 supports slice 1 and slice 2, and C3 supports slice 1 and slice 3. Therefore, it can be determined that the candidate cells corresponding to slice 1 are C1 and C3, and the candidate cell corresponding to slice 2 is C1.

[0121] The cell reselection process mainly includes several steps such as measuring cell signal quality, sorting cells, and cell reselection. The following examples illustrate the signal quality measurement and cell reselection steps in the cell reselection process.

[0122] Depending on the cell reselection method, the cell frequencies to be considered will differ. For example, inter-frequency (inter-freq) cell reselection and inter-RAT (inter-system-to-inter-rate) cell reselection generally include three methods: high-priority frequency cell reselection, same-priority frequency cell reselection, and low-priority frequency cell reselection. These three methods will consider different cell frequencies. However, for intra-frequency (intra-freq) cell reselection, only the frequency cell needs to be considered.

[0123] It should be noted that the cell reselection methods in the following embodiments can be selected one by one, or multiple cell reselection methods can be executed. The execution order is to execute the high-priority frequency cell reselection first, then execute the same-priority frequency cell reselection, and finally execute the low-priority frequency cell reselection.

[0124] In one embodiment, cell reselection can be performed using cells at the same priority frequency and / or a lower priority frequency, and the method further includes:

[0125] When the signal quality of the current serving cell is below a first quality threshold or does not support the target slice, the signal quality of cells with the same priority frequency and / or lower priority frequency of the current serving cell is measured in the candidate cells.

[0126] When performing cell reselection at the same priority frequency, the requirements of the terminal's current serving cell can be considered. For example, it can be determined whether the signal quality of the current serving cell is lower than the first quality threshold or whether the current serving cell supports the target slice. If the signal quality of the current serving cell is lower than the first quality threshold or the current serving cell does not support the target slice, it can be determined that the current serving cell does not meet the requirements. Thus, the signal quality of the current serving cell at the same priority frequency is determined from the candidate cells, and cell reselection at the same priority frequency is performed based on the measured signal quality.

[0127] Similarly, when performing low-priority frequency cell reselection, it can be considered whether the terminal's current serving cell meets the requirements. For example, it can be determined whether the signal quality of the current serving cell is lower than a first quality threshold, or whether the current serving cell supports the target slice. If the signal quality of the current serving cell is lower than the first quality threshold, or the current serving cell does not support the target slice, it can be determined that the current serving cell does not meet the requirements. Thus, the signal quality of the low-priority frequency cell of the current serving cell can be determined from the candidate cells, and the same-priority frequency cell reselection can be performed based on the measured signal quality.

[0128] It should be noted that in this embodiment and the following embodiments, when the target slice only includes the highest priority slice, the cell supporting the target slice means that the cell supports the highest priority slice. When the target slice also includes other slices, the cell supporting the target slice means that the cell supports the slice currently being considered. For example, when considering whether there is a target cell for the second highest priority slice after the highest priority slice, the cell supporting the target slice means that the cell supports the second highest priority slice.

[0129] Among them, a high-priority frequency cell refers to a cell with a higher priority frequency than the current serving cell, a cell with the same priority frequency refers to a cell with the same priority frequency as the current serving cell (which can be the same frequency or the same priority but different frequencies), and a low-priority frequency cell refers to a cell with a lower priority frequency than the current serving cell. The frequency priority is determined based on the priority relationship between the frequencies associated with the currently considered slice.

[0130] In one embodiment, when measuring the signal quality of cells at the same priority frequency as the current serving cell in the candidate cells, determining candidate cells supporting the target slice among at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes:

[0131] Among the cells of the same priority frequency in the current serving cell, candidate cells that support the target slice are determined, wherein the cell reselection method is cell reselection of the same priority frequency.

[0132] When performing cell reselection at the same priority frequency, determining candidate cells means identifying candidate cells that support the target slice among the current serving cell's cells at the same priority frequency. This ensures that the determined candidate cells both support the target slice and are cells at the same priority frequency. Furthermore, the determined candidate cells can also satisfy the S criterion.

[0133] In one embodiment, when measuring the signal quality of a low-priority frequency cell of the current serving cell among the candidate cells, the method further includes:

[0134] If the signal quality of the current serving cell is lower than the second quality threshold, a cell that supports the target slice and has a signal quality higher than the third quality threshold is identified as a candidate cell among the low-priority frequency cells of the current serving cell. The cell reselection method is low-priority frequency cell reselection.

[0135] When performing low-priority frequency cell reselection, determining candidate cells means identifying cells among the low-priority frequency cells of the current serving cell that support the target slice and have signal quality higher than the third quality threshold. This ensures that the determined candidate cells not only support the target slice and are low-priority frequency cells, but also meet the signal quality requirements. Furthermore, the determined candidate cells can also satisfy the S criterion.

[0136] In one embodiment, cell reselection is performed via high-priority frequency cell reselection, and the method further includes:

[0137] Determine whether there exists a high-priority frequency relative to the current serving cell, wherein the high-priority frequency is the frequency associated with the target slice;

[0138] If present, measure the signal quality of the high-priority frequency cell.

[0139] When performing high-priority frequency cell reselection, it is not necessary to consider whether the terminal's current serving cell meets the requirements. Instead, it is only necessary to consider whether there is a high-priority frequency relative to the current serving cell. This high-priority frequency is associated with the target slice currently being considered. If a high-priority frequency exists, the signal quality of the high-priority frequency cell can be measured, and cell reselection at the same priority frequency can be performed based on the measured signal quality.

[0140] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0141] Among the high-priority frequency cells of the current serving cell, cells that support the target slice and have signal quality higher than the fourth quality threshold are identified as candidate cells, wherein the cell reselection method is high-priority frequency cell reselection.

[0142] When performing high-priority frequency cell reselection, determining candidate cells means identifying cells among the high-priority frequency cells of the current serving cell that support the target slice and whose signal quality is higher than the third quality threshold. This ensures that the determined candidate cells not only support the target slice and are high-priority frequency cells, but also meet the signal quality requirements. Furthermore, the determined candidate cells can also satisfy the S criterion.

[0143] It should be noted that the criteria for high-priority frequency cell reselection, same-priority frequency cell reselection, and low-priority frequency cell reselection are not the main inventive points of this disclosure. Reference can be made to the criteria in related technologies. This disclosure does not limit them here.

[0144] In one embodiment, the method further includes:

[0145] If the signal quality of the current serving cell is lower than the second quality threshold or does not support the target slice, and there is a cell in the same frequency range of the current serving cell that supports the target slice, the signal quality of the cell in the same frequency range of the current serving cell is measured among the candidate cells.

[0146] When performing co-frequency cell reselection, it can be determined whether the current serving cell meets the requirements and whether there are co-frequency cells that meet the requirements. If the current serving cell does not meet the requirements, for example, if the signal quality is lower than the second quality threshold or does not support the target slice, and there are co-frequency cells of the current serving cell that meet the requirements, such as supporting the target slice, then the signal quality of the co-frequency cells of the current serving cell can be measured among the candidate cells.

[0147] In one embodiment, determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes:

[0148] Among the co-frequency cells of the current serving cell, cells that support the target slice are identified as candidate cells.

[0149] During intra-frequency cell reselection, determining candidate cells means identifying cells among the intra-frequency cells of the currently serving cell that support the target slice and have signal quality higher than a third quality threshold. This ensures that the determined candidate cells both support the target slice and are intra-frequency cells. Furthermore, the determined candidate cells can also satisfy the S criterion.

[0150] Figure 6 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another cell determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 6 As shown, the method further includes:

[0151] In step S601, the priority relationship among multiple frequencies associated with the target slice is determined;

[0152] In step S602, the cells corresponding to the frequency are sorted according to the frequency priority;

[0153] In step S603, the cell with the highest ranking and that supports the target slice is determined from the sorted cells as the target cell for cell reselection.

[0154] In one embodiment, after determining at least one frequency associated with the target slice, if the target slice is associated with multiple frequencies, the priority relationship between the multiple frequencies can be further determined. For example, the slice 1 mentioned above is associated with frequencies f1 and f2, and the priority relationship between f1 and f2 is f2 > f1, that is, f2 has a higher priority than f1.

[0155] In one embodiment, the slice-related frequency priority can be provided by the base station via broadcast system messages and / or proprietary signaling. If the frequency priority is provided by proprietary signaling, it overrides the frequency priority provided by the broadcast system messages.

[0156] Slice-related frequency priorities can include all adjacent frequencies (e.g., frequencies corresponding to neighboring cells of the current serving cell), or only frequencies supporting the highest priority slice. If only the highest priority related frequencies are included, the priorities of other frequencies can be provided by broadcast system messages or proprietary signaling, and their priorities are lower than those of the slice-related frequencies.

[0157] Then, the cells corresponding to the frequency can be sorted according to the frequency priority. For example, the cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency can be sorted first to determine the target cell. If no target cell is determined, the cells corresponding to the next lower priority frequency can be sorted to determine the target cell. The sorting of cells corresponding to frequencies can be based on the signal quality of the cells, for example, according to the R criterion.

[0158] Finally, the cell with the highest ranking among the sorted cells that supports the target slice can be selected as the target cell for cell reselection. This ensures that the reselected target cell supports the target slice and has the highest ranking, meaning it has relatively better signal quality and thus contributes to good communication performance.

[0159] and Figure 3 The difference between the embodiments shown is that, Figure 6 The illustrated embodiment considers whether the highest-ranked cell supports the target slice after cell sorting. Figure 3 In the illustrated embodiment, cells that support the target slice are first identified, and then the cells are sorted.

[0160] It should be noted that the target cell for cell reselection can also meet at least one of the following conditions: it is not prohibited, it does not belong to a prohibited tracking area, and the cell's PLMN meets the requirements.

[0161] In one embodiment, step S603 determines the target cell, specifically by determining whether the cell with the highest ranking is a suitable cell. If it is a suitable cell, it can be used as the target cell for cell reselection. In this embodiment, in addition to meeting the conditions required for a suitable cell in the relevant technical center, a suitable cell also needs to meet the additional condition of supporting the target slice.

[0162] In one embodiment, step S603 determines the target cell, specifically by determining whether the highest-ranked cell is a newly defined type cell. If it is a newly defined type cell, it can be used as the target cell for cell reselection. In addition to meeting the requirements for suitable cells in the relevant technology center, the newly defined type cell also needs to meet the following additional condition: it supports the target slice.

[0163] Figure 7 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating yet another cell determination method according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 7 As shown, determining the cell with the highest ranking and supporting the target slice from the sorted cells as the target cell for cell reselection includes:

[0164] In step S701, it is determined whether the highest-ranked cell supports the target slice;

[0165] In step S702, if supported, the cell with the highest ranking is determined as the target cell;

[0166] In step S703, if not supported, the following steps are repeated: determine whether the next lower order cell supports the target slice; until a cell that supports the target slice is determined, or it is determined that none of the cells support the target slice.

[0167] First, consider whether the highest-ranked cell supports the target slice. If it does, it can be identified as the target cell. If it does not, consider whether the next lower-ranked cell supports the target slice. If it does not, consider whether the next lower-ranked cell supports the target slice, and so on, until a cell that supports the target slice is identified, or until all cells are determined to be unsupported by the target slice.

[0168] In one embodiment, the target slice includes the highest priority slice among the terminal's expected slices. In this case, cell support for the target slice means that the cell supports the highest priority slice.

[0169] In one embodiment, the target slice includes a desired slice of the terminal, and the method includes:

[0170] Execute on the highest priority slice in the expected slices. Figure 7 The steps in the illustrated embodiment;

[0171] If the target cell is not identified, the following steps are repeated: Execute the slice with the lowest priority in the expected slice. Figure 7 The steps in the illustrated embodiment; until the target cell is determined, or the target cell is not determined for all slices in the expected slice.

[0172] If the target cell includes not only the highest priority slice in the expected slice, but also other slices in the expected slice, then according to Figure 7 The steps in the illustrated embodiment are for cases where the highest priority slice has not been assigned to a target cell; in such cases, they can be performed according to... Figure 7 The steps in the illustrated embodiment determine the target cell for slices with a lower priority. If no target cell is found, the following steps can be followed: Figure 7 The steps in the illustrated embodiment determine the target cell for slices with a lower priority, and so on, until a cell that supports the target slice is determined, or no target cell is determined for any slice.

[0173] It should be noted that for other slices in the expected slice, it is not necessary to execute them one by one. Figure 7 In the illustrated embodiment, the steps can, for example, determine which slices need to be considered or which do not need to be considered based on the indication information from the network-side device. In this case, the steps can be performed only on the slices that need to be considered. Figure 7 The steps in the illustrated embodiment.

[0174] Figure 8 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a support indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The support indication method shown in this embodiment can be applied to network-side devices, including but not limited to network-side devices in 4G, 5G, 6G, and other communication systems, such as base stations and core networks. The network-side devices can communicate with terminals, including but not limited to mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, IoT devices, and other communication devices.

[0175] like Figure 8 As shown, the support indication method may include the following steps:

[0176] In step S801, indication information is sent to the terminal, wherein the indication information is used for the terminal to determine, among at least one cell corresponding to the frequency associated with the target slice to be accessed, a candidate cell that supports the target slice.

[0177] In one embodiment, the target slice includes the highest priority slice among the terminal's expected slices.

[0178] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate whether the cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice.

[0179] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate whether at least one cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice.

[0180] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate at least one slice supported by the cell corresponding to the frequency.

[0181] In one embodiment, the target slice may also include other slices from the intended slice.

[0182] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate whether the list of target slices supported by the frequency is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency.

[0183] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate the cells to which the list of target slices supported by the frequency applies.

[0184] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate the slices supported by the cell corresponding to each frequency.

[0185] Corresponding to the aforementioned embodiments of the cell determination method, this disclosure also provides embodiments of the cell determination apparatus.

[0186] Embodiments of this disclosure also propose a cell determination device applicable to terminals, including but not limited to communication devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices. The terminal can communicate with network-side devices as user equipment, including but not limited to network-side devices in 4G, 5G, and 6G communication systems, such as base stations and core networks.

[0187] The apparatus includes one or more processors configured to determine a target slice to be accessed, and at least one frequency associated with the target slice; and to determine candidate cells supporting the target slice among cells corresponding to at least one of the frequencies.

[0188] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to determine a priority relationship among a plurality of frequencies associated with the target slice; and to perform cell reselection in the candidate cells according to the priority of the frequencies.

[0189] In one embodiment, the target slice is at least one of the expected slices of the terminal.

[0190] In one embodiment, the target slice includes the highest priority slice among the expected slices.

[0191] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine, based on indication information from a network-side device, whether at least one cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice; and if at least one cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice, to determine at least one cell corresponding to the frequency as a candidate cell.

[0192] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine, based on indication information from a network-side device, at least one slice supported by a cell corresponding to the frequency; and to determine, among the cells corresponding to the frequency, a cell supporting the highest priority slice as a candidate cell.

[0193] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine, based on indication information from a network-side device, a list of cells supporting the highest priority slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency; and to determine the cells in the cell list as candidate cells.

[0194] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency associated with the highest priority slice;

[0195] Among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the target cell is determined based on signal quality;

[0196] If the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the following steps are repeated: in the candidate cells corresponding to the next lower priority frequency, the target cell is identified based on signal quality; until the target cell is identified or the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to all priority frequencies.

[0197] The identified target cells are sorted according to signal quality;

[0198] Cell reselection is performed within the sorted target cells based on their ranking.

[0199] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to perform cell reselection based on the frequency priority indicated by the network-side device if the target cell is not determined in all cells corresponding to the highest priority slice.

[0200] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to reselect to the highest-ranked target cell if the highest-ranked target cell is a suitable cell; and not to perform cell reselection within a preset time period if the highest-ranked target cell is not a suitable cell.

[0201] In one embodiment, the target slice may also include other slices from the intended slice.

[0202] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to, if no target cell is determined in any of the frequency-corresponding cells associated with the highest priority slice, repeat the steps: determine a lower priority slice in the other slices, and determine the target cell based on signal quality among the candidate cells corresponding to the frequency associated with the lower priority slice; until a target cell is determined or no target cell is determined in any of the frequency-corresponding cells associated with the target slice of all priorities.

[0203] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency associated with a slice of lower priority.

[0204] Among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the target cell is determined based on signal quality;

[0205] If the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the following steps are repeated: in the candidate cells corresponding to the next lower priority frequency, the target cell is identified based on signal quality; until the target cell is identified or the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to all priority frequencies.

[0206] In one embodiment, if a target cell is determined from candidate cells corresponding to frequencies associated with a lower-priority slice, the processor is configured to reselect the highest-ranked target cell if the highest-ranked target cell corresponding to the frequency associated with a lower-priority slice is a suitable cell.

[0207] If the highest-ranked target cell associated with the frequency of a lower-priority slice is not a suitable cell, and the highest-ranked target cell associated with the frequency of a lower-priority slice and its co-frequency cells only support the lower-priority slice, then cell reselection will not be performed in the highest-ranked target cell associated with the frequency of a lower-priority slice and its co-frequency cells within a preset time period.

[0208] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine a list of target slices supported by the frequency;

[0209] Determine whether the list applies to all cells corresponding to the frequency based on the instruction information from the network-side equipment;

[0210] If the list applies to all cells corresponding to the frequency, all cells corresponding to the frequency are determined as candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency.

[0211] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine a list of target slices supported by the frequency;

[0212] The applicable cells for the list are determined based on the instructions from the network-side devices;

[0213] The cells to which the list applies are the candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency.

[0214] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine the slices supported by each cell corresponding to the frequency based on indication information from the network-side device; and to determine, within each cell corresponding to the frequency, a cell that supports the target slice associated with the frequency as a candidate cell for the target slice associated with the frequency.

[0215] In one embodiment, the cell reselection method includes cell reselection at the same priority frequency and / or a lower priority frequency, and the processor is further configured to measure the signal quality of the current serving cell at the same priority frequency and / or a lower priority frequency among the candidate cells when the signal quality of the current serving cell is below a first quality threshold or does not support the target slice.

[0216] In one embodiment, when measuring the signal quality of a frequency cell of the same priority as the current serving cell in the candidate cells, the processor is configured to determine a candidate cell supporting the target slice in the frequency cell of the same priority as the current serving cell, wherein the cell reselection is performed by frequency cell reselection of the same priority.

[0217] In one embodiment, when measuring the signal quality of a low-priority frequency cell of the current serving cell among the candidate cells, the processor is further configured to determine, if the signal quality of the current serving cell is lower than a second quality threshold, a cell among the low-priority frequency cells of the current serving cell that supports the target slice and has a signal quality higher than a third quality threshold as a candidate cell, wherein the cell reselection is performed by low-priority frequency cell reselection.

[0218] In one embodiment, the cell reselection method includes high-priority frequency cell reselection, and the processor is further configured to determine whether there is a high-priority frequency relative to the current serving cell, wherein the high-priority frequency is a frequency associated with the target slice;

[0219] If present, measure the signal quality of the high-priority frequency cell.

[0220] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to identify candidate cells among the high-priority frequency cells of the current serving cell that support the target slice and have signal quality higher than a fourth quality threshold, wherein the cell reselection is performed by high-priority frequency cell reselection.

[0221] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to measure the signal quality of co-frequency cells of the current serving cell among the candidate cells when the signal quality of the current serving cell is below a second quality threshold or does not support the target slice, and there are co-frequency cells of the current serving cell that support the target slice.

[0222] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to identify, among co-frequency cells of the currently serving cell, cells that support the target slice as candidate cells.

[0223] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to determine a priority relationship among a plurality of frequencies associated with the target slice;

[0224] The cells corresponding to the frequency are sorted according to the frequency priority;

[0225] Among the sorted cells, the cell with the highest ranking that supports the target slice is selected as the target cell for cell reselection.

[0226] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine whether the highest-ranked cell supports the target slice;

[0227] If supported, the cell with the highest ranking is determined as the target cell;

[0228] If not supported, repeat the following steps: determine whether the next lower order cell supports the target slice; until a cell that supports the target slice is determined, or all cells do not support the target slice.

[0229] In one embodiment, the target slice includes the highest priority slice among the terminal's expected slices.

[0230] In one embodiment, the target slice includes the terminal's expected slice, and the processor is further configured to perform the above-described target cell determination operation for the highest priority slice in the expected slice; if no target cell is determined, the following steps are repeated: the slice with the next lower priority in the expected slice performs the above-described target cell determination operation; until a target cell is determined, or no target cell is determined for any slice in the expected slice.

[0231] Regarding the apparatus in the above embodiments, the specific manner in which each module performs its operation has been described in detail in the embodiments of the relevant methods, and will not be elaborated upon here.

[0232] Embodiments of this disclosure also propose a support indication device, which can be applied to network-side devices, including but not limited to network-side devices in communication systems such as 4G, 5G, and 6G, such as base stations and core networks. The network-side devices can communicate with terminals, including but not limited to communication devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and IoT devices.

[0233] The apparatus includes one or more processors configured to send indication information to a terminal, wherein the indication information is used for the terminal to determine, among at least one frequency-corresponding cell associated with the target slice to be accessed, candidate cells supporting the target slice.

[0234] In one embodiment, the target slice includes the highest priority slice among the terminal's expected slices.

[0235] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate whether the cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice.

[0236] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate whether at least one cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice.

[0237] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate at least one slice supported by the cell corresponding to the frequency.

[0238] In one embodiment, the target slice may also include other slices from the intended slice.

[0239] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate whether the list of target slices supported by the frequency is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency.

[0240] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate the cells to which the list of target slices supported by the frequency applies.

[0241] In one embodiment, the indication information is used to indicate the slices supported by the cell corresponding to each frequency.

[0242] For the device embodiments, since they basically correspond to the method embodiments, the relevant parts can be referred to in the description of the method embodiments. The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement this without creative effort.

[0243] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a communication device, including: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the cell determination method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0244] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a communication device, comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the support instruction method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0245] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the support instruction method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0246] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, when the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the support instruction method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0247] Figure 9This is a schematic block diagram illustrating a cell determination device 900 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, device 900 may be a mobile phone, computer, digital broadcast terminal, messaging device, game console, tablet device, medical device, fitness equipment, personal digital assistant, etc.

[0248] Reference Figure 9 The device 900 may include one or more of the following components: a processing component 902, a memory 904, a power supply component 906, a multimedia component 908, an audio component 910, an input / output (I / O) interface 912, a sensor component 914, and a communication component 916.

[0249] Processing component 902 typically controls the overall operation of device 900, such as operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communication, camera operation, and recording. Processing component 902 may include one or more processors 920 to execute instructions to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described above. Furthermore, processing component 902 may include one or more modules to facilitate interaction between processing component 902 and other components. For example, processing component 902 may include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between multimedia component 908 and processing component 902.

[0250] Memory 904 is configured to store various types of data to support the operation of device 900. Examples of this data include instructions for any application or method operating on device 900, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, etc. Memory 904 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 storage, flash memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0251] Power supply component 906 provides power to various components of device 900. Power supply component 906 may include a power management system, one or more power sources, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power to device 900.

[0252] Multimedia component 908 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the device 900 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 touchscreen to receive input signals from the user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touches, swipes, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensors may sense not only the boundaries of the touch or swipe action but also the duration and pressure associated with the touch or swipe operation. In some embodiments, multimedia component 908 includes a front-facing camera and / or a rear-facing camera. When the device 900 is in an operating mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode, the front-facing camera and / or the rear-facing camera may receive external multimedia data. Each front-facing camera and rear-facing camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have focal length and optical zoom capabilities.

[0253] Audio component 910 is configured to output and / or input audio signals. For example, audio component 910 includes a microphone (MIC) configured to receive external audio signals when device 900 is in an operating mode, such as call mode, recording mode, and voice recognition mode. The received audio signals may be further stored in memory 904 or transmitted via communication component 916. In some embodiments, audio component 910 also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

[0254] I / O interface 912 provides an interface between processing component 902 and peripheral interface modules, such as keyboards, click wheels, buttons, etc. These buttons may include, but are not limited to, home buttons, volume buttons, power buttons, and lock buttons.

[0255] Sensor assembly 914 includes one or more sensors for providing status assessments of various aspects of device 900. For example, sensor assembly 914 may detect the on / off state of device 900, the relative positioning of components such as the display and keypad of device 900, changes in position of device 900 or a component of device 900, the presence or absence of user contact with device 900, orientation or acceleration / deceleration of device 900, and temperature changes of device 900. Sensor assembly 914 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. Sensor assembly 914 may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, sensor assembly 914 may also include an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure sensor, or temperature sensor.

[0256] Communication component 916 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between device 900 and other devices. Device 900 can access wireless networks based on communication standards, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, 4G LTE, 5G NR, or combinations thereof. In one exemplary embodiment, communication component 916 receives broadcast signals or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In one exemplary embodiment, communication component 916 also includes a near-field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) technology, ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

[0257] In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus 900 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 methods described above.

[0258] In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions is also provided, such as a memory 904 including instructions, which can be executed by a processor 920 of the device 900 to perform the above-described method. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, random access memory (RAM), CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, and optical data storage device, etc.

[0259] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the following claims.

[0260] It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the precise structures described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this disclosure is limited only by the appended claims.

[0261] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. The terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0262] The methods and apparatus provided in the embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above. Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this disclosure. The descriptions of the embodiments above are only for the purpose of helping to understand the methods and core ideas of this disclosure. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope based on the ideas of this disclosure. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for determining a cell, characterized in that, Applicable to a terminal, the method includes: Determine the target slice that needs to be accessed, and at least one frequency associated with the target slice; In at least one cell corresponding to the frequency, candidate cells supporting the target slice are determined, wherein the at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes cells supporting the target slice and cells not supporting the target slice; Determine the priority relationship among multiple frequencies associated with the target slice; Cell reselection is performed in the candidate cells according to the frequency priority; The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes: determining a list of target slices supported by the frequency; determining whether the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency based on indication information from the network-side device; and determining all cells corresponding to the frequency as candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency if the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The target slice is at least one of the expected slices of the terminal.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The target slice includes the highest priority slice among the expected slices.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes: Based on the indication information from the network-side device, determine whether at least one cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice; If at least one cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice, then at least one cell corresponding to the frequency is determined as the candidate cell.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes: Based on the indication information from the network-side equipment, determine at least one slice supported by the cell corresponding to the frequency; Among at least one cell corresponding to the frequency, the cell that supports the highest priority slice is identified as the candidate cell.

6. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes: Based on the indication information from the network-side device, determine a list of cells that support the highest priority slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency; The cells in the cell list are identified as candidate cells.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of performing cell reselection in the candidate cells according to the frequency priority includes: Determine the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency associated with the highest priority slice; Among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the target cell is determined based on signal quality; If the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the following steps are repeated: in the candidate cells corresponding to the next lower priority frequency, the target cell is identified based on signal quality; until the target cell is identified or the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to all priority frequencies. The identified target cells are sorted according to signal quality; Cell reselection is performed within the sorted target cells based on their ranking.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the target cell cannot be determined among all the cells corresponding to the highest priority slice, cell reselection is performed according to the frequency priority indicated by the network-side equipment.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The target slice also includes other slices in the expected slice.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The step of performing cell reselection in the candidate cells according to the frequency priority further includes: If the target cell is not identified in any of the cells corresponding to the frequencies associated with the highest priority slice, the following steps are repeated: a lower priority slice is identified in the other slices, and the target cell is identified based on signal quality in the candidate cells corresponding to the frequencies associated with the lower priority slice; this continues until the target cell is identified or the target cell is not identified in any of the cells corresponding to the frequencies associated with the target slices of all priorities.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The step of determining the target cell based on signal quality among candidate cells corresponding to frequencies associated with lower-priority slices includes: Determine the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency associated with the slice of lower priority; Among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the target cell is determined based on signal quality; If the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to the highest priority frequency, the following steps are repeated: among the candidate cells corresponding to the next lower priority frequency, the target cell is identified based on signal quality; until the target cell is identified or the target cell is not identified among the candidate cells corresponding to all priority frequencies.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, When a target cell is determined from candidate cells corresponding to frequencies associated with slices of lower priority, the step of performing cell reselection within the sorted target cells based on the target cell ranking includes: If the target cell with the highest ranking corresponding to the frequency associated with the slice of the next lower priority is a suitable cell, then reselect the target cell with the highest ranking. If the highest-ranked target cell associated with the frequency of a lower-priority slice is not a suitable cell, and the highest-ranked target cell associated with the frequency of a lower-priority slice and its co-frequency cells only support the lower-priority slice, then cell reselection will not be performed in the highest-ranked target cell associated with the frequency of a lower-priority slice and its co-frequency cells within a preset time period.

13. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes: Determine a list of target slices supported by the frequency; The applicable cells for the list are determined based on the instructions from the network-side devices; The cells to which the list applies are the candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency.

14. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes: The slices supported by each cell corresponding to each frequency are determined based on the indication information from the network-side equipment; In each cell corresponding to the frequency, cells that support the association of the target slice with the frequency are identified as candidate cells corresponding to the target slice with the frequency.

15. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 14, characterized in that, Cell reselection can be performed using methods including cell reselection at the same priority frequency and / or at a lower priority frequency. The method further includes: When the signal quality of the current serving cell is below a first quality threshold or does not support the target slice, the signal quality of cells with the same priority frequency and / or lower priority frequency of the current serving cell is measured in the candidate cells.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, When measuring the signal quality of cells at the same priority frequency as the current serving cell in the candidate cells, determining candidate cells supporting the target slice among at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes: Among the cells of the same priority frequency in the current serving cell, candidate cells that support the target slice are determined, wherein the cell reselection method is cell reselection of the same priority frequency.

17. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, When measuring the signal quality of a low-priority frequency cell of the current serving cell among the candidate cells, the method further includes: If the signal quality of the current serving cell is lower than the second quality threshold, a cell that supports the target slice and has a signal quality higher than the third quality threshold is identified as a candidate cell among the low-priority frequency cells of the current serving cell. The cell reselection method is low-priority frequency cell reselection.

18. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, Cell reselection can be performed using methods including high-priority frequency cell reselection, and the method further includes: Determine whether there exists a high-priority frequency relative to the current serving cell, wherein the high-priority frequency is the frequency associated with the target slice; If present, measure the signal quality of the high-priority frequency cell.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The method further includes: Among the high-priority frequency cells of the current serving cell, cells that support the target slice and have signal quality higher than the fourth quality threshold are identified as candidate cells, wherein the cell reselection method is high-priority frequency cell reselection.

20. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the signal quality of the current serving cell is lower than the second quality threshold or does not support the target slice, and there is a cell in the same frequency range of the current serving cell that supports the target slice, the signal quality of the cell in the same frequency range of the current serving cell is measured among the candidate cells.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes: Among the co-frequency cells of the current serving cell, cells that support the target slice are identified as candidate cells.

22. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Determine the priority relationship among multiple frequencies associated with the target slice; The cells corresponding to the frequency are sorted according to the frequency priority; Among the sorted cells, the cell with the highest ranking that supports the target slice is selected as the target cell for cell reselection.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The step of determining the cell with the highest ranking and supporting the target slice from the sorted cells as the target cell for cell reselection includes: Determine whether the highest-ranked cell supports the target slice; If supported, the cell with the highest ranking is determined as the target cell; If not supported, repeat the following steps: determine whether the next lower order cell supports the target slice; until a cell that supports the target slice is determined, or it is determined that none of the cells support the target slice.

24. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The target slice includes the highest priority slice among the terminal's expected slices.

25. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that, The target slice includes the expected slice of the terminal, and the method includes: Perform the steps of claim 24 on the highest priority slice in the expected slice; If the target cell is not determined, the following steps are repeated: slices with a lower priority in the expected slice are processed according to the steps in claim 24 until the target cell is determined, or until the target cell is not determined for any slice in the expected slice.

26. A method for supporting indication, characterized in that, Applicable to network-side devices, the method includes: Send indication information to the terminal, wherein the indication information is used for the terminal to determine, among the cells corresponding to at least one frequency associated with the target slice to be accessed, candidate cells that support the target slice, the at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes cells that support the target slice and cells that do not support the target slice, the target slice is associated with multiple frequencies, and the priority relationship between the multiple frequencies is used by the terminal to perform cell reselection in the candidate cells; The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice among at least one cell corresponding to the frequency associated with the target slice to be accessed includes: determining a list of target slices supported by the frequency; determining whether the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency based on indication information from the network-side device; and determining all cells corresponding to the frequency as candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency if the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency.

27. The method according to claim 26, characterized in that, The target slice includes the highest priority slice among the terminal's expected slices.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that, The indication information is used to indicate whether the cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice.

29. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that, The indication information is used to indicate whether at least one cell corresponding to the frequency supports the highest priority slice.

30. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that, The indication information is used to indicate at least one slice supported by the cell corresponding to the frequency.

31. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that, The target slice also includes other slices in the expected slice.

32. The method according to claim 31, characterized in that, The indication information is used to indicate whether the list of target slices supported by the frequency is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency.

33. The method according to claim 31, characterized in that, The indication information is used to indicate the cells to which the list of target slices supported by the frequency applies.

34. The method according to claim 31, characterized in that, The indication information is used to indicate the slices supported by each cell corresponding to the frequency.

35. A cell determination device, characterized in that, For use with a terminal, the apparatus includes one or more processors configured to: determine a target slice to be accessed, and at least one frequency associated with the target slice; determine candidate cells supporting the target slice among cells corresponding to at least one frequency, wherein the cells corresponding to at least one frequency include cells supporting the target slice and cells not supporting the target slice; determine a priority relationship among multiple frequencies associated with the target slice; and perform cell reselection among the candidate cells according to the priority of the frequencies. The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice in at least one cell corresponding to the frequency includes: determining a list of target slices supported by the frequency; determining whether the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency based on indication information from the network-side device; and determining all cells corresponding to the frequency as candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency if the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency.

36. A support indicator device, characterized in that, Applicable to network-side devices, the apparatus includes one or more processors configured to send indication information to a terminal, wherein the indication information is used for the terminal to determine, among at least one frequency-corresponding cells associated with a target slice to be accessed, candidate cells supporting the target slice, the at least one frequency-corresponding cell including cells supporting the target slice and cells not supporting the target slice; the target slice is associated with multiple frequencies, and the priority relationship between the multiple frequencies is used by the terminal to perform cell reselection in the candidate cells; The step of determining candidate cells supporting the target slice among at least one cell corresponding to the frequency associated with the target slice to be accessed includes: determining a list of target slices supported by the frequency; determining whether the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency based on indication information from the network-side device; and determining all cells corresponding to the frequency as candidate cells corresponding to the target slice associated with the frequency if the list is applicable to all cells corresponding to the frequency.

37. A communication device, characterized in that, include: processor; Memory used to store computer programs; When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the cell determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 25.

38. A communication device, characterized in that, include: processor; Memory used to store computer programs; When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the support instruction method according to any one of claims 26 to 34.

39. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the cell determination method according to any one of claims 1 to 25.

40. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the support instruction method according to any one of claims 26 to 34.

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