Load balancing method, apparatus, device, and storage medium

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a load balancing method, device and equipment and readable storage medium, relating to the technical field of communication. The method comprises: if a current cell is in a high load state, determining a first UE to be balanced from a candidate user equipment list according to a load type of the current cell and a configured first selection strategy; determining a candidate cell set from a neighbor cell list according to a configured first load balancing strategy, the neighbor cell list being generated according to a neighbor cell relationship and operator information of the current cell; configuring load balancing measurement of a first cell frequency for the first UE; determining a cell satisfying a first preset condition in a second cell reporting measurement results as a target cell; and switching the first UE from the current cell to the target cell. The load balancing method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be used in a 5G co-construction and sharing base station, various high load scenarios can be covered by configuring multiple load balancing strategies, and the demand of increasingly complex 5G application scenarios can be met.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to a load balancing method, apparatus, device, and computer-readable storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] Upgrading 5G base stations is expensive, so operators are using a co-construction and sharing base station solution to reduce costs. Existing base station load balancing strategies only handle users of the same operator, while co-constructed and shared base stations can accommodate users from different operators. When migrating users for load balancing, users need to be moved to cells that can accommodate users from the corresponding operator. Therefore, existing base station load balancing strategies are insufficient to handle the current demands of co-constructed and shared base stations.

[0003] In addition, existing base station load balancing schemes usually only consider one strategy or indicator for the load balancing process, and a single strategy cannot meet the application needs of increasingly complex 5G application scenarios. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a load balancing method, apparatus, device, and computer-readable storage medium that can solve at least one technical problem in the prior art.

[0005] Firstly, a load balancing method is provided, which includes:

[0006] If the current cell is under high load, the first user equipment (UE) to be balanced is determined from the candidate user equipment list according to the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy;

[0007] According to the configured first load balancing strategy, a candidate cell set is determined from the neighbor cell list, wherein the neighbor cell list is generated based on the neighbor cell relationships and operator information of the current cell;

[0008] Configure load balancing measurement for the first cell frequency point for the first UE, where the first cell is a cell in the candidate cell set;

[0009] The cells in the second cell that report measurement results and meet the first preset condition are identified as target cells. The second cell includes the first cell and cells with the same frequency as the first cell.

[0010] The first UE is switched from the current cell to the target cell.

[0011] Secondly, a load balancing method is provided, which includes:

[0012] Receive a handover request message sent by the base station to which the current cell belongs, the handover request message being used to request the first UE to be handed over from the current cell to the target cell;

[0013] Based on the configured admission policy, determine whether to admit the first UE.

[0014] Thirdly, a load balancing device is provided for use in base station equipment, the device comprising:

[0015] The determination module is used to determine the first user equipment (UE) to be balanced from the candidate user equipment list if the current cell is in a high-load state, based on the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy;

[0016] The determining module is further configured to determine a candidate cell set from the neighbor cell list according to the configured first load balancing strategy, wherein the neighbor cell list is generated based on the neighbor cell relationships and operator information of the current cell;

[0017] The configuration module is used to configure load balancing measurement for the first cell frequency point for the first UE, wherein the first cell is a cell in the candidate cell set;

[0018] The determining module is further configured to determine the cell that meets the first preset condition in the second cell that reports the measurement results as the target cell, wherein the second cell includes the first cell and a cell with the same frequency as the first cell;

[0019] An execution module is used to switch the first UE from the current cell to the target cell.

[0020] Fourthly, a base station device is provided, the device comprising:

[0021] Memory, used to store computer programs;

[0022] Transceiver, used to send and receive data under the control of the processor;

[0023] A processor is configured to read and execute a computer program from the memory to implement the load balancing method shown in the first or second aspect of this application.

[0024] Fifthly, a processor-readable storage medium is provided, the processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program being used to cause a processor to execute and implement the load balancing method shown in the first or second aspect of this application.

[0025] The beneficial effects of the technical solution provided in this application are:

[0026] The load balancing method provided in this application can be used for 5G co-construction and sharing base stations. For example, it can meet the situation where a cell is configured with multiple operators, while existing base station load balancing methods can only be used for a single operator's base station. In addition, by configuring multiple load balancing strategies to cover various high-load scenarios, it can meet the increasingly complex needs of 5G application scenarios and improve the user experience. Attached Figure Description

[0027] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments of this application will be briefly introduced below.

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall process of a load balancing method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0029] Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating a load balancing method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0030] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating the process of determining cell load status using a load balancing strategy based on the number of user equipment in a load balancing method provided in this application embodiment;

[0031] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating the process of selecting a target cell based on a configured balancing strategy in a load balancing method provided in this application embodiment;

[0032] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating the process of accepting a UE to be balanced based on a configuration-based admission strategy in a load balancing method provided in this application embodiment;

[0033] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of selecting inter-site neighbor cells by an operator in a load balancing method provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0034] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the process of obtaining inter-station neighboring cell load information in a load balancing method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0035] Figure 8 A flowchart illustrating a load balancing method provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0036] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a base station device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0037] The embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Examples of these embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain this application, and should not be construed as limiting the invention.

[0038] Those skilled in the art will understand that, unless specifically stated otherwise, the singular forms “a,” “an,” “the,” and “the” used herein may also include the plural forms. It should be further understood that the term “comprising” as used in this application means the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. It should be understood that when we say an element is “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element, or there may be intermediate elements. Furthermore, “connected” or “coupled” as used herein can include wireless connections or wireless coupling. The term “and / or” as used herein includes all or any units and all combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0039] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the embodiments of this application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0040] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various systems, especially 5G systems. For example, applicable systems may include Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and 5G New Radio (NR). All of these systems include terminal equipment and network-side equipment. The systems may also include a core network component, such as Evolved Packet System (EPS) and 5G systems (5GS).

[0041] First, let's introduce and explain several terms used in this application:

[0042] The terminal devices involved in the embodiments of this application can be devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to users, handheld devices with wireless connectivity, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The names of the terminal devices may differ in different systems; for example, in a 5G system, a terminal device can be called User Equipment (UE). Wireless terminal devices can communicate with one or more core networks (CNs) via a Radio Access Network (RAN). Wireless terminal devices can be mobile terminal devices, such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, for example, portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. Examples include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Wireless terminal equipment can also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, access point, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, or user device, but is not limited to these terms in the embodiments of this application.

[0043] The network-side equipment involved in this application embodiment can be a base station, which may include multiple cells providing services to terminals. Depending on the specific application, a base station may also be called an access point, or a device in the access network that communicates with wireless terminal devices through one or more sectors on the air interface, or other names. The network-side equipment can be used to exchange received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets, acting as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network-side equipment can also coordinate the attribute management of the air interface.

[0044] For example, the network-side equipment involved in the embodiments of this application can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a network-side device (NodeB) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), an evolved network-side device (eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a next generation system, a Home evolved Node B (HeNB), a relay node, a femto, a pico, etc., and is not limited in the embodiments of this application. In some network structures, the network-side equipment may include centralized unit (CU) nodes and distributed unit (DU) nodes, and the centralized unit and distributed unit may also be geographically separated.

[0045] Network-side equipment and terminal equipment can each use one or more antennas for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission. MIMO transmission can be single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) or multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). Depending on the configuration and number of antenna combinations, MIMO transmission can be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO, and can also be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, or beamforming transmission, etc.

[0046] Existing base station load balancing strategies typically determine whether a base station is under high load by judging whether a certain indicator (such as the number of user devices) has reached a preset threshold, and thus decide whether to trigger load balancing processing.

[0047] Specifically, the main process of a load balancing strategy based on the number of user devices is as follows:

[0048] (1) Load condition assessment:

[0049] After the cell load balancing policy is enabled, a periodic timer for load balancing detection is started. After the periodic timer expires, it checks whether the number of user devices in the cell exceeds a threshold. If the number of user devices exceeds the threshold for a consecutive specified period, the cell enters a high-load state. If the number of user devices is less than the threshold for a consecutive specified period, the cell enters a normal state.

[0050] (2) Neighboring cell load information maintenance:

[0051] Once cell load balancing is enabled, the cell begins maintaining load information for neighboring cells to migrate its users to suitable neighboring cells during periods of high cell load. The maintained neighboring cells are divided into intra-cell neighboring cells and inter-cell neighboring cells. Intra-cell neighboring cell load information can be updated promptly through the intra-cell cell resource table. Inter-cell neighboring cells update their load information through the Xn interface; neighboring base stations periodically report the load information of neighboring cells that have a neighboring relationship with this base station, as requested by this base station.

[0052] (3) Handling high load in the community:

[0053] When a cell is overloaded, it is necessary to select users and neighboring cells, and migrate the selected users to the selected neighboring cells so that the cell load returns to a normal state.

[0054] 1. Candidate User Equipment Selection Strategy

[0055] First, filter the following user equipment according to the cell configuration: central user equipment, user equipment with 5QI prohibited from being balanced, user equipment within the load balancing suppression timer period, and user equipment configured with secondary cells, etc.

[0056] After filtering out the above user equipment, the selection process begins. After each selection, it is determined whether migrating the currently selected user equipment will bring the cell to a normal state. If the cell can reach a normal state, the selection stops; otherwise, the selection continues until the cell can reach a normal state, or until the maximum number of user equipment that can be selected in a single cycle is reached. If the cell is still under high load in the next cycle, user equipment selection continues. After selecting user equipment, load balancing measurements for the maintained neighboring cell frequencies are configured for the selected user equipment.

[0057] 2. Community Selection Strategy

[0058] After the load balancing measurement of the selected user equipment is reported, a suitable neighbor cell is selected from the reported neighbor cells, and a handover request is sent to the selected neighbor cell to transfer the user equipment. First, the reported cells are sorted from low to high according to their Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization. Then, cells that the current UE does not support the corresponding frequency band, cells in energy-saving mode, cells that are in the shutdown process for intra-site neighbor cells, and cells in abnormal normal operation are removed. After removal, the cell with the lowest PRB utilization that meets the conditions is selected as the handover target cell, and a handover request is sent to the target cell.

[0059] (4) Target Cell Admission Strategy

[0060] After receiving a handover request with the handover reason being load balancing, the target cell assesses whether the cell will reach a high load state after the current UE hands over. If it will reach a high load, the UE will be rejected directly. If the cell load is still normal, the UE will be accepted.

[0061] However, existing base station load balancing strategies only handle users of the same operator, while co-built and shared base stations can access users from different operators. When migrating users for load balancing, users need to be moved to cells that can accommodate users from the corresponding operator. Therefore, existing base station load balancing strategies are insufficient to handle the current needs of co-built and shared base stations. Moreover, existing base station load balancing schemes typically consider only one strategy or indicator for the load balancing process, and a single strategy cannot meet the application requirements of increasingly complex 5G application scenarios.

[0062] Therefore, this application proposes a load balancing method that can be flexibly configured with multiple load balancing strategies for 5G co-construction and sharing base stations, including: maintaining the load information of the current cell (the cell where the UE to be balanced is located), generating a neighbor cell list based on operator information, maintaining neighbor cell information, maintaining load balancing user equipment information and selecting user equipment, maintaining load balancing candidate cell information, configuring load balancing measurement, selecting the target cell for load balancing and accepting the handover target side, etc.

[0063] like Figure 1 The following is a basic load balancing process:

[0064] First, the cell is activated. A neighboring cell list is generated based on neighbor cell relationships and configured operator information, and a load balancing periodic detection timer is started simultaneously. Each time the timer expires, the load status of the current cell and neighboring cells is updated. If the current cell is under high load after the load status update, user equipment (UE) and neighboring cells are selected. Load balancing measurements are configured for the selected UE on the selected neighboring cell frequencies. Once the load balancing measurements are reported, a target cell is selected, and the selected UE is switched to the selected target cell. During the handover process, the target cell determines whether to accept the UE based on its own load status and load balancing strategy.

[0065] The technical solution of this application and how the technical solution of this application solves the above-mentioned technical problems are described in detail below with specific embodiments. These specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described again in some embodiments. The embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0066] This application provides a load balancing method in its embodiments, such as... Figure 2 As shown, the method includes:

[0067] S101. If the current cell is under high load, determine the first user equipment (UE) to be balanced from the candidate user equipment list according to the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy.

[0068] S102. Based on the configured first load balancing strategy, determine a candidate cell set from the neighbor cell list, wherein the neighbor cell list is generated based on the neighbor cell relationships and operator information of the current cell;

[0069] S103. Configure load balancing measurement for the first cell frequency point for the first UE, wherein the first cell is a cell in the candidate cell set;

[0070] S104. The cell in the second cell that reports the measurement results and meets the first preset condition is determined as the target cell. The second cell includes the first cell and the cell with the same frequency as the first cell.

[0071] S105. Switch the first UE from the current cell to the target cell.

[0072] In this embodiment, based on the configured load balancing strategy, it can be determined whether the current cell is in a high-load state and the load type when it is in a high-load state. Then, based on the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy, the first UE to be load balanced is determined from the candidate user equipment list, and the candidate cell set is determined from the neighbor cell list generated based on the neighbor cell relationship and operator information of the current cell, according to the configured first load balancing strategy. Load balancing measurements are then performed on the selected neighbor cell frequencies for the first UE. After the load balancing measurements are reported, a target cell is selected, and the first UE is switched to the selected target cell.

[0073] The configured load balancing strategy can be a combination of different strategies based on the number of user equipment, the uplink PRB utilization rate of the cell, and the downlink PRB utilization rate of the cell. The configured first selection strategy can be a combination of different strategies based on prohibiting load balancing 5QI, the location of user equipment, user level, and user PRB utilization rate. When the first selection strategy is a combination of multiple strategies, the configured first selection strategy also includes the priority of each strategy.

[0074] The first load balancing strategy configured can be a balancing strategy based on different combinations of user equipment number, cell uplink PRB utilization, and cell downlink PRB utilization.

[0075] Therefore, to meet the load balancing needs of various high-load scenarios that may occur in 5G co-construction and sharing base station scenarios, this application provides a load balancing method that can flexibly configure multiple balancing strategies. When the base station load is too high, the shared resources of user equipment located on the same base station cause the user equipment's services to be unable to run smoothly, resulting in a deterioration in user experience. Therefore, some user equipment determined according to the balancing strategy can be migrated to neighboring base stations with lower loads, reducing the load on the current base station and improving the user experience. At the same time, it can also improve the resource utilization of the original base station with lower load, thereby achieving a dual improvement in resource utilization and user experience.

[0076] In some embodiments, the process of determining whether a cell is currently under high load and the load type when it is under high load, based on the configured load balancing strategy, includes: starting a load detection periodic timer, the periodic timer being configurable for an appropriate duration as needed. The cell can configure load balancing strategies based on different combinations of user equipment count, uplink PRB utilization, and downlink PRB utilization. The cell maintains different load information according to the configured load balancing strategy. If the cell configures all three strategies simultaneously—user equipment count, uplink PRB utilization, and downlink PRB utilization—then the cell needs to maintain all three load status information.

[0077] Specifically, if the configured load balancing strategy is the first load balancing strategy based on the number of user devices, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the first load balancing strategy includes: periodically determining whether the number of connected user devices in the current cell exceeds a preset first high load threshold during the load detection period; if yes, incrementing the first counter by one; if the first counter reaches the first threshold, determining that the load type of the current cell is high load in terms of the number of user devices; if no, and the current cell is in a high load state, decrementing the second counter by one; if the second counter reaches the second threshold, determining that the current cell has switched to a normal state.

[0078] If the configured load balancing strategy is a second load balancing strategy based on cell uplink PRB utilization, the second load balancing strategy includes: periodically determining whether the cell uplink PRB utilization of the current cell exceeds a preset second high load threshold during the load detection period; if yes, incrementing a third counter by one; if the third counter reaches a third threshold, determining that the load type of the current cell is high load with high cell uplink PRB utilization; if no, and the current cell is in a high load state, decrementing a fourth counter by one; if the fourth counter reaches a fourth threshold, determining that the current cell has switched to a normal state.

[0079] If the configured load balancing strategy is a third load balancing strategy based on cell downlink PRB utilization, the third load balancing strategy includes: periodically determining whether the cell downlink PRB utilization of the current cell exceeds a preset third high load threshold within the load detection period; if yes, incrementing the fifth counter by one; if the fifth counter reaches the fifth threshold, determining that the load type of the current cell is high load with high cell downlink PRB utilization; if no, and the current cell is in a high load state, decrementing the sixth counter by one; if the sixth counter reaches the sixth threshold, determining that the current cell has switched to a normal state.

[0080] Since the balancing strategy configured in this embodiment can be one or a combination of the first balancing strategy, the second balancing strategy, and the third balancing strategy, if the balancing strategy configured is a combination of any two of the first balancing strategy, the second balancing strategy, and the third balancing strategy, or if the balancing strategy configured is a combination of the first balancing strategy, the second balancing strategy, and the third balancing strategy, then when the high load counter corresponding to any balancing strategy meets the condition, the current cell is a high load cell, and when all the low load counters meet the condition, it is a normal cell.

[0081] For example: if the configured load balancing strategy is the first load balancing strategy and the second load balancing strategy, then when the first counter reaches the first threshold and / or the third counter reaches the third threshold, it is determined that the current cell load type is high user equipment number load and / or high uplink PRB utilization rate load; when the second counter reaches the second threshold and the fourth counter reaches the fourth threshold, it is determined that the current cell has switched to normal state.

[0082] It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the application, in order to adapt to the load balancing needs of various high-load scenarios, the load information of the number of user equipment in the cell and the uplink and downlink PRB utilization load information of the cell are maintained separately so that they can be used in combination for the load balancing needs of the corresponding high-load scenarios.

[0083] In other embodiments, S101 may specifically include:

[0084] Based on the load type of the current cell and the priority of the configured first selection strategy, the corresponding candidate user equipment list is determined.

[0085] UEs are selected sequentially from a determined list of candidate users as the first UE, wherein the list of candidate user equipment includes at least one of the following:

[0086] The first candidate user equipment list (LBUeListDlPrbPriorGrade) is composed of UEs sorted by downlink PRB utilization rate, and UEs with the same downlink PRB utilization rate are sorted by user level.

[0087] The second candidate user equipment list (LBUeListUlPrbPriorGrade) is composed of UEs sorted by uplink PRB utilization rate, and UEs with the same uplink PRB utilization rate are sorted by user level.

[0088] The third candidate user equipment list (LBUeListGradePriorDlPrb) includes UEs sorted by user level, and UEs with the same user level are sorted by downlink PRB utilization.

[0089] The fourth candidate user equipment list (LBUeListGradePriorUlPrb) is composed of UEs sorted by user level, and UEs with the same user level are sorted by user uplink PRB utilization.

[0090] The fifth candidate user equipment list (LBUeListGradeAndDlPrb) is formed by sorting the UEs in the fifth candidate user equipment list according to their user level, and then sorting the UEs with the same user level according to their downlink PRB utilization rate, and the downlink PRB utilization rate is greater than the preset downlink PRB utilization rate threshold.

[0091] The sixth candidate user equipment list (LBUeListGradeAndUlPrb) is formed by sorting the UEs in the sixth candidate user equipment list according to their user level, and then sorting the UEs with the same user level according to their uplink PRB utilization rate, provided that the uplink PRB utilization rate is greater than a preset uplink PRB utilization rate threshold.

[0092] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the information of each candidate user device in the candidate user device list includes one or more of the following:

[0093] Index, user downlink PRB utilization, user uplink PRB utilization, priority parameters (highest ARP priority, highest 5QI priority), load balancing user filtering information, and user load balancing status information. Among them, the load balancing user filtering information includes UE location information, 5QI prohibited flag, and flag indicating that it is in the load balancing ping-pong handover suppression timer.

[0094] Specifically, in this embodiment, the configured first selection strategy can be a selection strategy based on different combinations of factors such as prohibiting balanced 5QI, user equipment location, user level, and user PRB utilization.

[0095] The policy based on prohibiting load balancing of 5QIs includes: the operator setting 5QIs that will not be load balanced, and not selecting user equipment with a prohibited load balancing 5QI identifier. For example, if 5QI1 is configured as a prohibited load balancing 5QI, and user equipment 1 has established a 5QI1 service, then user equipment 1 cannot be selected. In other words, when selecting a user equipment, it checks whether any of the 5QIs established by the current user equipment exist in the prohibited load balancing 5QI list; if so, it cannot be selected; otherwise, it can be selected.

[0096] Policy b, based on the location of user equipment, includes classifying user equipment into edge users and central users based on whether A2 reports. Generally, an A2 report indicates that the current user has detected poor signal in their environment, classifying them as an edge user. The configuration can determine which type of user to balance or balance all of them. For example, it can be configured to balance only edge users, or balance both edge and central users. If configured to balance only edge users, the selection process checks whether the user equipment is an edge user; if so, it is selected; otherwise, it is not.

[0097] The user-level-based strategy c includes: selecting low-priority user equipment for migration, taking into account the priority parameters of ARP and 5QI, which are configured by the base station.

[0098] The strategy based on user PRB utilization includes: filtering user equipment by user-level PRB utilization, filtering out user equipment with PRB utilization rates lower than the set PRB utilization threshold, and ensuring that user equipment with high PRB utilization rates is given priority for load balancing. Operators can configure user-level PRB utilization rates.

[0099] When the cell load type is CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD, user equipment with downlink PRB utilization exceeding this threshold is selected; when the cell load type is CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD, user equipment with uplink PRB utilization exceeding this threshold is selected; if both uplink and downlink PRBs are at high load, user equipment with either uplink or downlink PRB utilization exceeding the threshold is selected.

[0100] Specifically, in this embodiment, the process of determining the first UE to be balanced from the candidate user equipment list according to the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy includes the following cases:

[0101] The first scenario: If the configured first selection policy includes policy d based on user equipment PRB utilization and policy c based on user equipment level, then it includes the following two scenarios:

[0102] 1. Strategy d has a higher priority than strategy c:

[0103] Select the candidate user equipment list based on the cell load type:

[0104] 1) When the cell load type has CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD but does not have CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD:

[0105] Select user devices sequentially from the first candidate user device list LBUeListDlPrbPriorGrade.

[0106] 2) When the cell load type has CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD but does not have CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD:

[0107] Select user devices sequentially from the second candidate user device list LBUeListUlPrbPriorGrade.

[0108] 3) When both cell load types CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD and CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD exist:

[0109] Alternately select user devices from the first candidate user device list LBUeListDlPrbPriorGrade and the second candidate user device list LBUeListUlPrbPriorGrade in sequence. If a device is already selected, do not select it again and continue to select the next one.

[0110] 4) When neither the cell load types CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD nor CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD exist:

[0111] To determine whether the base station's configured strategy for selecting load-balanced users is effective, specifically: whether the load-balanced low-PRB user equipment selection strategy is in effect.

[0112] If configured not to work: alternately select user devices from the third candidate user device list LBUeListGradePriorDlPrb and the fourth candidate user device list LBUeListGradePriorUlPrb. If a device is already selected, it will not be selected again, and the next device will be selected.

[0113] If configured to be active: User devices are selected sequentially from the first candidate user device list LBUeListDlPrbPriorGrade and the second candidate user device list LBUeListUlPrbPriorGrade. If a device is already selected, it will not be selected again, and the next device will be selected.

[0114] 2. Strategy d has a lower priority than strategy c.

[0115] Select the list of candidate user equipment for load balancing based on the load balancing trigger type:

[0116] 1) When the cell load type has CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD but does not have CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD:

[0117] Select user devices sequentially from the candidate user device list LBUeListGradeAndDlPrb.

[0118] 2) When the cell load type has CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD but does not have CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD:

[0119] Select user devices sequentially from the candidate user device list LBUeListGradeAndUlPrb.

[0120] 3) When both cell load types CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD and CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD exist:

[0121] Alternately select user devices from the fifth candidate user device list LBUeListGradeAndDlPrb and the sixth candidate user device list LBUeListGradeAndUlPrb. If a device is already selected, do not select it again and continue to select the next one.

[0122] 4) When neither the cell load types CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD nor CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD exist:

[0123] Then determine whether the load balancing low PRB user equipment selection strategy configured on the base station is effective:

[0124] If ineffective: Select user devices sequentially from the candidate user device lists LBUeListGradePriorDlPrb and LBUeListGradePriorUlPrb in turn. If a device is already selected, do not select it again and continue to select the next one.

[0125] If effective: alternately select user devices from the candidate user device lists LBUeListGradeAndDlPrb and LBUeListGradeAndUlPrb sequentially. If a device is already selected, it will not be selected again, and the next device will be selected.

[0126] The second scenario: If the configured first selection strategy includes strategy d but does not include strategy c, then the method for selecting the list of candidate user equipment based on the cell load type is the same as in scenario 1 of the first scenario. For the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0127] The third scenario: If the configured first-choice strategy includes strategy c but excludes strategy d, or if the configured first-choice strategy excludes both strategy d and strategy c:

[0128] Select the load balancing candidate user list based on the load balancing trigger type:

[0129] 1) When the cell load type has CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD but does not have CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD:

[0130] Users are selected sequentially from the balanced candidate user list LBUeListGradePriorDlPrb.

[0131] 2) When the cell load type has CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD but does not have CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD:

[0132] Users are selected sequentially from the balanced candidate user list LBUeListGradePriorUlPrb.

[0133] 3) When both cell load types CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD and CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD exist:

[0134] Users are selected sequentially from the balanced candidate user lists LBUeListGradePriorDlPrb and LBUeListGradePriorUlPrb. If a user is already selected, the user is not selected again, and the next user is selected.

[0135] 4) When neither the cell load types CELL_DLPRBUSAGE_LOAD nor CELL_ULPRBUSAGE_LOAD exist:

[0136] Users are selected sequentially from the balanced candidate user lists LBUeListGradePriorDlPrb and LBUeListGradePriorUlPrb. If a user is already selected, the user is not selected again, and the process continues to select the next user.

[0137] The fourth scenario: If the first selection strategy configured includes strategy a and strategy b, then both strategies must be satisfied before selection can be made.

[0138] It should be noted that the fourth scenario can be combined with any of the three scenarios mentioned above.

[0139] In one possible implementation, since cells can be configured with different load balancing strategies, a candidate cell list needs to be maintained to quickly select a target cell when the current cell reaches high load. Because the cell load balancing strategy can be selected from one or more strategies based on the number of user equipment, uplink PRB utilization, and downlink PRB utilization, three candidate cell lists need to be maintained simultaneously.

[0140] The first candidate cell list is obtained by sorting the neighboring cells in the neighboring cell list from smallest to largest based on the number of user devices;

[0141] The second candidate cell list is obtained by sorting the neighboring cells in the neighboring cell list from smallest to largest based on the cell uplink PRB utilization rate.

[0142] The third candidate cell list is obtained by sorting the neighboring cells in the neighboring cell list from smallest to largest based on the cell downlink PRB utilization rate.

[0143] The first load balancing strategy includes at least one of the following:

[0144] Select cells from the first candidate cell list whose number of connected user devices is less than a first set threshold as the first candidate cells;

[0145] Select cells from the second candidate cell list whose uplink physical resource block (PRB) utilization rate is less than a second set threshold as the second candidate cells;

[0146] Cells whose downlink PRB utilization rate is less than the third set threshold are selected from the third candidate cell list as third candidate cells.

[0147] It should be noted that the list of candidate cells for load balancing is updated each time the load detection timer expires.

[0148] In this embodiment, in S102, according to the configured first load balancing strategy, the candidate cell set determined from the neighbor cell list may include at least one of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell.

[0149] If the candidate cell set includes any one of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell, then the first cell is a cell among the corresponding candidate cells. For example, if the candidate cell set includes the first candidate cell, then the first cell is a cell among the first candidate cells.

[0150] If the candidate cell set includes any two of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell, then the first candidate cell is a cell included in both the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell. For example, if the candidate cell set includes the first candidate cell and the third candidate cell, then the first candidate cell is a cell included in both the first candidate cell and the third candidate cell.

[0151] If the candidate cell set includes the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell, then the first cell is a cell that is included simultaneously from the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell.

[0152] In another possible implementation, prior to S103, the method further includes:

[0153] S106. Screen out the candidate cells that meet the second preset condition to obtain the target candidate cells;

[0154] S107. Screen out cells in the target candidate cells that do not support the first UE operator to obtain the first cell.

[0155] Specifically, in this embodiment, the second preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0156] Cells corresponding to frequency bands not supported by the first UE;

[0157] Residential communities that are in an energy-saving state;

[0158] Cells that do not exist in the external neighbor table;

[0159] Cells that do not have neighboring cell relationships with the current cell;

[0160] The residential area within the station is currently being closed;

[0161] The residential area within the station is not in normal working condition.

[0162] In other words, in this embodiment, it is necessary to filter out cells corresponding to frequency bands that the first UE does not support from the candidate cell set, and / or cells in power-saving mode, and / or cells that do not exist in the external neighbor cell table, and / or cells that do not have a neighbor cell relationship with the current cell, and / or cells in the site that are in the shutdown process, and / or cells in the site that are not in normal working mode to obtain target candidate cells. Then, for each UE to be balanced, cells that do not support the operator of the UE are filtered out from the target candidate cells to obtain the first cell.

[0163] For example: if the candidate cell set includes the first candidate cell, then filter out the cells that meet the second preset condition from the first candidate cell to obtain the target candidate cell. Then, for each UE to be balanced, filter out the cells that do not support the operator of the UE from the target candidate cell to obtain the first cell.

[0164] If the candidate cell set includes a first candidate cell and a third candidate cell, then from the cells included in both the first and third candidate cells, cells that meet the second preset condition are filtered out to obtain the target candidate cell. Then, for each UE to be balanced, cells that do not support the UE's operator are filtered out from the target candidate cells to obtain the first cell.

[0165] If the candidate cell set includes a first candidate cell, a second candidate cell, and a third candidate cell, then from the cells included in the first, second, and third candidate cells, cells that meet the second preset condition are filtered out to obtain the target candidate cell. Then, for each UE to be balanced, cells that do not support the UE's operator are filtered out from the target candidate cells to obtain the first cell.

[0166] In this embodiment, after selecting the first cell from the candidate cell set in the above manner, load balancing measurement of the first cell frequency is configured for the first UE, and a cell that meets the first preset condition is selected from the second cell that reported the measurement results as the target cell. The second cell includes the first cell and a cell with the same frequency as the first cell.

[0167] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the external neighbor cell table stores cells of other base stations that have Xn connections with this station (the base station to which the current cell belongs). When determining whether a neighbor cell relationship exists with this cell (the current cell mentioned above):

[0168] For cells within a station, it is only necessary to determine whether the cells within the station have a neighbor relationship configured with the current cell in the neighbor relationship table; for cells between stations, in addition to checking the neighbor relationship table, it is also necessary to determine whether the cells between stations are in the external neighbor table.

[0169] In another possible implementation, S104 may specifically include:

[0170] According to the configured target cell selection strategy, a cell from the second cell group that meets the first preset condition is selected as the target cell. The first preset condition includes:

[0171] The community supports the carrier of the current user's equipment;

[0172] The community is operating normally; and,

[0173] The current cell has a neighboring cell relationship with the current cell.

[0174] Specifically, in this embodiment, the cell with the highest Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) among the second cells that meets the first preset condition is selected as the target cell.

[0175] In other words, in this embodiment, the target cell is the cell with the highest RSRP among the cells that support the current user equipment, are in normal working condition, and have a neighboring cell relationship with the current cell, which is selected from the second cell that reported the measurement results.

[0176] Specifically, in this embodiment, according to the selection strategy of the first cell, the second cell includes the following cases:

[0177] Case 1: The second cell includes any one of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell.

[0178] Case 2: The second cell includes any two of the candidate cells from the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell.

[0179] Case 3: The second cell includes cells that are simultaneously included in the first, second, and third candidate cells.

[0180] For scenario 1, if the second cell includes cells from the second candidate cells, the specific selection methods include the following two:

[0181] Method 1: If the target cell selection strategy is configured to prioritize RSRP, the second cells can be sorted from largest to smallest RSRP. Then, from the sorted second cells, the first cell that exists in the second candidate cells and meets the following conditions is selected:

[0182] a) Supports the operators of current user equipment;

[0183] b) It is in normal working condition;

[0184] c) It has a neighboring cell relationship with the current community.

[0185] Method 2: If the target cell selection strategy is configured to prioritize load type, select cells from the second candidate cells that meet the above conditions a), b), and c) and exist in the second cell and add them to the candidate cell list. Then, select the cell with the largest RSRP from the candidate cell list as the target cell.

[0186] For scenario 2, if the second cell includes cells that are included in both the first and second candidate cells, the specific selection methods include the following two:

[0187] Method 1: If the target cell selection strategy is configured to prioritize RSRP, the second cells can be sorted from largest to smallest RSRP. Then, from the sorted second cells, the first cell that exists in both the first and second candidate cells and meets the following conditions can be selected:

[0188] a) Supports the operators of current user equipment;

[0189] b) It is in normal working condition;

[0190] c) It has a neighboring cell relationship with the current community.

[0191] Method 2: If the target cell selection strategy is configured to prioritize load type, take the intersection of the first candidate cell and the second candidate cell, and select the first cell that simultaneously exists in the intersection and meets the above conditions a), b), c) and is in the second cell from the first candidate cell and the second candidate cell respectively, and put it into the target candidate cell list. Then select the cell with the largest RSRP from the target candidate cell list as the target cell.

[0192] Regarding scenario 3, if the second cell includes cells that are simultaneously included in the first, second, and third candidate cells, such as... Figure 4 As shown, the specific selection methods include the following two:

[0193] Method 1: If the target cell selection strategy is configured to prioritize RSRP, the second cells can be sorted from largest to smallest RSRP. Then, from the sorted second cells, the first cell that exists in all three candidate cells and meets the following conditions is selected:

[0194] a) Supports the operators of current user equipment;

[0195] b) It is in normal working condition;

[0196] c) It has a neighboring cell relationship with the current community.

[0197] Method 2: If the target cell selection strategy is configured as load type priority, take the intersection of the three candidate cells, select the first cell that meets the above conditions a), b), c) in the intersection and is in the second cell, and add it to the target candidate cell list. Then select the cell with the largest RSRP from the target candidate cell list as the target cell.

[0198] For example: In the second cell reported by the measurement, the cells that meet the above conditions a), b), and c) include three neighboring cells c1 (RSRP=70), c2 (RSRP=80), and c3 (RSRP=90). The lists corresponding to the above three candidate cells are list1, list2, and list3, respectively.

[0199] Regarding the RSRP priority strategy:

[0200] First, sort c1, c2, and c3 in descending order of RSRP (Real-Time Percentage Representation) as c3, c2, c1. Iterate through c3, c2, and c1 in order. If c3 appears in all three lists (list1, list2, and list3), select c3. Otherwise, continue iterating and checking if c2 and c1 appear in all three lists. If no cell is selected after iterating through all three lists, the selection fails.

[0201] For load type priority strategies:

[0202] First, iterate through list1, select the first cell that is simultaneously in list2 and list3 and is one of the three neighboring cells c1, c2, and c3. Let's call the selected cell t1 and put it into the candidate cell list list0.

[0203] Iterate through list2 and select the first cell that is simultaneously in list1, list32, and is one of the three neighboring cells c1, c2, and c3. Assuming t2 is selected, add it to the candidate cell list list0.

[0204] Iterate through list3, select the first cell that is in list1, list2 and is one of the three neighboring cells c1, c2 and c3. Let's call the selected cell t3 and add it to the candidate cell list list0.

[0205] Select the cell with the highest RSRP from cells t1, t2, and t3 in the candidate cell list list 0.

[0206] It should be noted that t1, t2, and t3 may only have one or two of them; if none of them exist, the selection will fail.

[0207] In another possible implementation, after S105, the method further includes:

[0208] S108. If the current cell is under high load after the first UE is switched from the current cell to the target cell, a second UE to be balanced is determined from the candidate user equipment list according to the second selection strategy.

[0209] The second selection strategy does not include the low-priority selection strategy in the first selection strategy, and the number of the second UE is greater than the number of the first UE.

[0210] In this embodiment, if the first UE selected according to the first selection strategy is switched from the current cell to the target cell, and the current cell is still under high load, a fallback can be performed according to the configured strategy to relax the restrictions of certain strategies and select more user equipment. Strategy fallback is performed according to the priority of the configured strategies; lower-priority strategies are fallbacked first, i.e., the restrictions of lower-priority strategies are relaxed. That is, a second UE, more numerous than the first UE, can be selected according to the second selection strategy and switched to. The second selection strategy does not include the lower-priority selection strategies in the first selection strategy. For example, if the first selection strategy includes strategy d based on user equipment PRB utilization and strategy c based on user equipment level, and strategy d has a higher priority than strategy c, then the second selection strategy includes strategy d but does not include strategy c.

[0211] In another possible implementation, if the target cell is an intra-site neighbor cell of the current cell, after S105, the method further includes:

[0212] S109. Determine whether to admit the first UE according to the configured admission policy, wherein the configured admission policy includes at least one of the following:

[0213] First admission strategy based on the number of user devices;

[0214] A second admission strategy based on cell uplink PRB utilization;

[0215] A third admission strategy based on cell downlink PRB utilization.

[0216] In this embodiment, the configured admission policy can be a combination of a first admission policy based on the number of user equipment, a second admission policy based on the cell uplink PRB utilization, and a third admission policy based on the cell downlink PRB utilization. That is, it can be any one, any two, or all three of the three policies.

[0217] In some embodiments, S109 may specifically include:

[0218] If the first UE meets the preset conditions corresponding to the configured admission policy, the first UE is admitted; otherwise, the first UE is rejected.

[0219] The preset conditions corresponding to the first acceptance strategy are as follows:

[0220] The sum of the number of connected user devices in the target cell and the current number of UEs is less than or equal to the product of the maximum number of connected user devices allowed in the target cell and the target cell's connected user device admission threshold;

[0221] The preset conditions corresponding to the second acceptance strategy are:

[0222] Iterate through the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE and accept QoS flows that meet a first condition, wherein the first condition is:

[0223] The sum of the uplink PRB utilization of the target cell, the uplink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow, and the uplink PRB utilization of the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the uplink PRB utilization acceptance threshold of the target cell.

[0224] If the first QoS flow meets the first condition, the downlink PRB utilization of the first QoS flow is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow.

[0225] If the number of QoS flows that meet the first condition is zero, reject the current UE;

[0226] The preset conditions corresponding to the third acceptance strategy are:

[0227] Traverse the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE and accept QoS flows that satisfy the second condition, where the second condition is:

[0228] The sum of the downlink PRB utilization of the target cell, the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow, and the downlink PRB utilization of the second QoS flow is less than or equal to the downlink PRB utilization acceptance threshold of the target cell.

[0229] If the second QoS flow meets the second condition, the downlink PRB utilization of the second QoS flow is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow;

[0230] If the number of QoS flows that meet the second condition is zero, the current UE is rejected, wherein the current UE is the UE currently being handed over among the first UEs.

[0231] In this embodiment, the number of first UEs can be one or more, and the admission strategy is applied to each first UE. The UE currently performing a handover operation is referred to as the current UE. Depending on different combinations of admission strategies, the admission process includes the following scenarios:

[0232] In the first scenario, if the configured admission policy is the first admission policy, then if the number of connected UEs in the target cell + the number of current UEs is less than or equal to the maximum number of connected UEs allowed in the target cell * the target cell's connected UE admission threshold, then the current UE is admitted; otherwise, admission is rejected. Here, the number of current UEs is 1.

[0233] In the second scenario, if the configured admission policy is the second admission policy, the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE are sorted from highest to lowest according to ARP priority and 5QI priority. First, they are sorted by ARP priority. If the ARP priorities are the same, they are sorted by 5QI priority to obtain the priority-sorted QoS flows. Then, the QoS flow admission is determined from highest to lowest priority.

[0234] Iterate through the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE and accept QoS flows that meet the first condition, where the first condition is:

[0235] The sum of the uplink PRB utilization of the target cell, the uplink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow, and the uplink PRB utilization of the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the uplink PRB utilization acceptance threshold of the target cell.

[0236] If the first QoS flow meets the first condition, the downlink PRB utilization of the first QoS flow is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the already accepted QoS flows.

[0237] If the number of QoS flows that meet the first condition is zero, reject the current UE.

[0238] For example: If there are 10 QoSFlows corresponding to the current UE, the following processing is performed on each QoSFlow:

[0239] Determine if the current QoSFlow meets the following conditions:

[0240] The downlink PRB utilization rate of the target cell + the downlink PRB utilization rate of the currently admitted QoSFlow + the downlink PRB utilization rate of the current QoSFlow <= the downlink PRB utilization rate admission threshold of the target cell.

[0241] If the current QoSFlow satisfies the above formula, it is accepted, and its downlink PRB utilization is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the currently accepted QoSFlows. If the current QoSFlow does not meet the above conditions, the next QoSFlow is processed. If the number of QoSFlows accepted based on the second acceptance policy is 0, the current user is directly rejected. Otherwise, the current user can be accepted.

[0242] In the third scenario, if the configured admission policy is the third admission policy, the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE are sorted from highest to lowest according to ARP priority and 5QI priority. First, they are sorted by ARP priority. If the ARP priorities are the same, they are sorted by 5QI priority to obtain the priority-sorted QoS flows. Then, the QoS flow admission is determined from highest to lowest priority.

[0243] Iterate through the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE and accept QoS flows that meet the second condition, where the second condition is:

[0244] The sum of the downlink PRB utilization of the target cell, the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow, and the downlink PRB utilization of the second QoS flow is less than or equal to the downlink PRB utilization acceptance threshold of the target cell.

[0245] If the second QoS flow meets the second condition, the downlink PRB utilization of the second QoS flow is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the already accepted QoS flows;

[0246] If the number of QoS flows that meet the second condition is zero, reject the current UE.

[0247] For example: If there are 10 QoSFlows corresponding to the current UE, the following processing is performed on each QoSFlow:

[0248] Determine if the current QoSFlow meets the following conditions:

[0249] The uplink PRB utilization rate of the target cell + the uplink PRB utilization rate of the currently admitted QoSFlow + the uplink PRB utilization rate of the current QoSFlow <= the uplink PRB utilization rate admission threshold of the target cell.

[0250] If the current QoSFlow satisfies the above formula, it is accepted, and its uplink PRB utilization is added to the uplink PRB utilization of the currently accepted QoSFlows. If the current QoSFlow does not meet the above conditions, the next QoSFlow is processed. If the number of QoSFlows accepted based on the third acceptance strategy is 0, the current user is directly rejected. Otherwise, the current user can be accepted.

[0251] In the fourth case, if the configured admission policy is the first admission policy and the second admission policy, or the configured admission policy is the first admission policy and the third admission policy, then: if the number of connected user devices in the target cell + the number of current UEs is less than or equal to the maximum number of connected user devices allowed in the target cell * the number of connected user devices in the target cell admission threshold, then the current UE is admitted; otherwise, the subsequent admission policy is determined.

[0252] If the subsequent admission strategy is the second admission strategy, the specific implementation process is the same as the second case, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity;

[0253] If the subsequent admission strategy is the third admission strategy, the specific implementation process is the same as the third case, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0254] In the fifth scenario, if the configured admission policy is the second admission policy or the third admission policy, the QoS flow corresponding to the current UE is sorted from highest to lowest according to ARP priority and 5QI priority. First, it is sorted by ARP priority. If the ARP priorities are the same, it is sorted by 5QI priority to obtain the priority-sorted QoS flow. The QoS flow admission is then determined from highest to lowest priority.

[0255] For example: If there are 10 QoSFlows corresponding to the current UE, the following processing is performed on each QoSFlow:

[0256] Determine if the current QoSFlow meets the following conditions:

[0257] The downlink PRB utilization rate of the target cell + the downlink PRB utilization rate of the currently admitted QoSFlow + the downlink PRB utilization rate of the current QoSFlow <= the downlink PRB utilization rate admission threshold of the target cell.

[0258] If the current QoSFlow satisfies the above formula, it is accepted, and its downlink PRB utilization is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoSFlows. If the current QoSFlow does not meet the above conditions, the next QoSFlow is processed. If the number of QoSFlows accepted based on the second acceptance strategy is 0, the current user is rejected directly; otherwise, the third acceptance strategy is evaluated.

[0259] If the number of QoSFlows admitted based on the second admission strategy is 4, then there are 6 remaining QoSFlows for the current UE. Each QoSFlow is processed as follows:

[0260] Determine if the current QoSFlow meets the following conditions:

[0261] The uplink PRB utilization rate of the target cell + the uplink PRB utilization rate of the currently admitted QoSFlow + the uplink PRB utilization rate of the current QoSFlow <= the uplink PRB utilization rate admission threshold of the target cell.

[0262] If the current QoSFlow satisfies the above formula, it is accepted, and its uplink PRB utilization is added to the uplink PRB utilization of the currently accepted QoSFlows. If the current QoSFlow does not meet the above conditions, the next QoSFlow is processed. If the number of QoSFlows accepted based on the third acceptance policy is 0, the current user is directly rejected. Otherwise, QoSFlows accepted by both the second and third acceptance policies are accepted, and the current user can be accepted.

[0263] The sixth scenario is when the configured admission policy is one, two, or three admission policies, such as... Figure 5 As shown, if the number of connected user devices in the target cell + the number of current UEs is less than or equal to the maximum number of connected user devices allowed in the target cell * the target cell's connected user device admission threshold, then the current UE is admitted; otherwise, the subsequent admission strategy is determined.

[0264] The subsequent admission strategies are the second and third admission strategies, and the specific implementation process is the same as that of the fifth case. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

[0265] In another possible implementation, if the target cell is an inter-cell neighbor cell of the current cell, after S105, the method further includes:

[0266] S110. Send a handover request message to the base station to which the target cell belongs. The handover request message is used to request the first UE to be handed over from the current cell to the target cell.

[0267] Specifically, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the current cell belongs to base station 1, and the target cell belongs to base station 2. Base station 1 sends a handover request message to base station 2, requesting that the first UE be handed over from the current cell under the jurisdiction of base station 1 to the target cell under the jurisdiction of base station 2. The handover request message may carry the QoSFlow that the first UE needs to establish, so that base station 2 can determine whether to accept the first UE based on the load status of the target cell and the configured load balancing strategy (the admission strategy mentioned above).

[0268] In the above embodiments of this application, the neighbor cell list includes: operator information and load status information of the neighbor cells. The neighbor cell list includes an intra-site neighbor cell load information list and an inter-site neighbor cell load information list. The neighbor cell load status information includes at least one of: the number of connected user devices, cell uplink PRB utilization rate, and cell downlink PRB utilization rate.

[0269] In some embodiments, prior to S101, the method further includes:

[0270] S100-1. Based on the network planning table of neighboring cells within the station, obtain the operators and PLMNs configured in the neighboring cells within the station;

[0271] S100-2. Obtain neighboring cell load information within the station through the local cell load information maintained by this station;

[0272] S100-3. Based on the operators and public land mobile communication networks (PLMNs) configured in the neighboring cells within the station, and the load information of the neighboring cells within the station, maintain the list of load information for the neighboring cells within the station.

[0273] Specifically, in this embodiment, S100-1 may include:

[0274] Based on the network planning table of neighboring cells within the station, obtain the network configuration index corresponding to the neighboring cells within the station;

[0275] Based on the network configuration index of the neighboring cells within the site, and the mapping relationship between PLMN and operators, obtain all operators and PLMNs configured in the neighboring cells within the site.

[0276] In this embodiment, a base station can be configured with multiple operators, and each operator can be configured with multiple Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs). The intra-site cell network planning can flexibly combine and configure different operators and different PLMNs. When obtaining the operators and PLMNs configured in the current cell, the network planning table of the current cell is first queried to obtain the corresponding network configuration index, and then the PLMN-operator mapping table is queried based on the index to obtain all the operators and PLMNs configured in the current cell.

[0277] When maintaining its own load information, a cell also needs to maintain neighboring cell load information, including intra-cell and inter-cell neighboring cells. According to the co-construction and sharing requirements, it is necessary to select neighboring cells that support at least one of the same operators as the cell to maintain their load information, ensuring that users of the cell can be accepted by neighboring cells during the load balancing process. The operator information of intra-cell neighboring cells is obtained through the same process as the operator information of the cell itself. Intra-cell neighboring cell load information can be directly obtained from the local cell load information maintained by the cell. Specifically, intra-cell neighboring cell load information can be obtained directly through global variables after each load detection timer expires.

[0278] In some other embodiments, prior to S101, the method further includes:

[0279] S100-4. Based on the network planning table of the current cell, obtain the operator and PLMN configured in the current cell;

[0280] S100-5. Based on the neighbor cell relationships of the current cell, obtain all configured inter-station neighbor cells;

[0281] S100-6. Obtain the PLMN and operator configured in the first inter-site neighbor cell. If the current cell supports the operator configured in the first inter-site neighbor cell, add the first inter-site neighbor cell to the inter-site neighbor cell load information list until all inter-site neighbor cells are traversed.

[0282] S100-7. Obtain the load information of the neighboring area between stations through the Xn interface and add it to the list of load information of the neighboring area between stations.

[0283] In this embodiment, inter-site neighboring cells need to obtain their supported operators through the configured cell relationships. Then, they select neighboring cells configured with the operators supported by this cell to maintain their load information. Specifically, the process of selecting inter-site neighboring cells through operators is as follows: Figure 6 As shown:

[0284] 1) Query the neighbor cell relationships configured in this community;

[0285] 2) Obtain all configured inter-site neighboring cells;

[0286] 3) Traverse neighboring areas between stations:

[0287] 31) Obtain the PLMN configured in the current neighboring cell;

[0288] 32) Query the corresponding operator based on the PLMN;

[0289] 33) Determine whether the operator supports neighboring cell configuration in this community;

[0290] 34) If supported, add the current neighboring cell to the inter-station neighboring cell load information maintenance list; otherwise, continue traversing the next neighboring cell.

[0291] It should be noted that when neighbor cell information changes, the list of neighbor cell load information also needs to be updated.

[0292] Specifically, in this embodiment, the specific implementation of S100-4 can refer to the specific implementation of S100-1. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

[0293] The specific implementation process of S100-7 is as follows: Figure 7 As shown. The specific process of obtaining inter-station neighbor load information through the Xn interface may include:

[0294] When local cell 1 (the current cell mentioned above) of base station GNB1 is under high load, it sends a resource status request message to neighboring base station GNB2 to obtain load information.

[0295] After receiving the resource status request message, base station GNB2 determines that GNB1 needs to obtain the in-station cell load information of GNB2, starts the resource status update cycle timer, and after each timer expires, it obtains the corresponding in-station cell load information of GNB2 according to the content of the resource status request message, assembles it into a resource status update message, and returns it to GNB1.

[0296] After receiving the resource status update message sent by GNB2, cell 1 within GNB1 updates the load information of neighboring cells in base station GNB2 that it maintains, based on the cell load information of GNB2 carried in the resource status update message.

[0297] The process of maintaining the load information of neighboring cells between other base stations in cell 1 within GNB1 is exactly the same as above.

[0298] When local cell 1 of GNB1 changes from high load to normal state, GNB1 sends a resource status request message to GNB2 to stop acquiring load information. After receiving the message, GNB2 stops the resource status update timer and no longer sends resource status update messages to GNB1.

[0299] The content of the resource status request message can be the identifier of the cell within the GNB2 station. That is, the resource status request message is used to request which cells in the GNB2 station, and the identifier of these cells needs to be carried in the resource status request message.

[0300] This application also provides a load balancing method, such as... Figure 8 As shown, it includes:

[0301] S201. Receive a handover request message sent by the base station to which the current cell belongs, the handover request message being used to request the first UE to be handed over from the current cell to the target cell;

[0302] S202. Determine whether to accept the first UE based on the configured admission policy.

[0303] In this embodiment, the load balancing method can be executed by the base station to which the target cell belongs. Assume the current cell belongs to base station 1, and the target cell belongs to base station 2. Base station 2 receives a handover request message from base station 1 requesting that the first UE be switched from the current cell under base station 1 to the target cell under base station 2. The handover request message may carry the QoSFlow that the first UE needs to establish. Base station 2 determines whether to accept the first UE based on the load status of the target cell and the configured load balancing strategy (the admission strategy mentioned above).

[0304] It should be noted that in this embodiment, the specific implementation process of S202 is the same as that of S109 in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here for the sake of brevity.

[0305] In summary, the load balancing method provided in this application embodiment can be used for 5G co-construction and sharing base stations. For example, it can meet the situation where multiple operators are configured in a cell, while existing base station load balancing methods can only be used for a single operator's base station. In addition, by configuring multiple load balancing strategies to cover various high-load scenarios, it can meet the increasingly complex needs of 5G application scenarios and improve the user experience.

[0306] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a load balancing device applied to base station equipment, comprising: a receiving module and a determining module, wherein...

[0307] The receiving module is used to receive a handover request message sent by the base station to which the current cell belongs, the handover request message being used to request the first UE to be handed over from the current cell to the target cell;

[0308] The determination module is used to determine whether to admit the first UE based on the configured admission policy.

[0309] For details not described in the device provided in this application, please refer to [the relevant documentation]. Figure 8 The methods and apparatus provided in the illustrated embodiments of this application can achieve the same beneficial effects as those described. Figure 8 The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments are the same and will not be repeated here.

[0310] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a load balancing device applied to base station equipment, comprising: a determining module, a configuring module, and an executing module, wherein...

[0311] The determination module is used to determine the first user equipment (UE) to be balanced from the candidate user equipment list if the current cell is in a high-load state, based on the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy;

[0312] The determining module is further configured to determine a candidate cell set from the neighbor cell list according to the configured first load balancing strategy, wherein the neighbor cell list is generated based on the neighbor cell relationships and operator information of the current cell;

[0313] The configuration module is used to configure load balancing measurement for the first cell frequency point for the first UE, wherein the first cell is a cell in the candidate cell set;

[0314] The determining module is further configured to determine the cell that meets the first preset condition in the second cell that reports the measurement results as the target cell, wherein the second cell includes the first cell and a cell with the same frequency as the first cell;

[0315] An execution module is used to switch the first UE from the current cell to the target cell.

[0316] In some embodiments, a processing module is further included for:

[0317] Cells that meet the second preset condition in the candidate cell set are filtered out to obtain the target candidate cells;

[0318] Cells that do not support the first UE operator are filtered out from the target candidate cells to obtain the first cell.

[0319] The second preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0320] The cell corresponding to the frequency band not supported by the first UE;

[0321] Residential communities that are in an energy-saving state;

[0322] Cells that do not exist in the external neighbor table;

[0323] Cells that do not have neighboring cell relationships with the current cell;

[0324] Cells within the station that are currently shutting down;

[0325] The residential area within the station is not in normal working condition.

[0326] In other embodiments, the first load balancing strategy includes at least one of the following:

[0327] Cells with fewer connected user devices than a first set threshold are selected from the first candidate cell list as first candidate cells. The first candidate cell list is obtained by sorting the neighboring cells in the neighbor cell list in ascending order of the number of user devices.

[0328] Cells whose uplink physical resource block (PRB) utilization rate is less than a second set threshold are selected from the second candidate cell list as second candidate cells. The second candidate cell list is obtained by sorting the neighboring cells in the neighbor cell list from smallest to largest based on their uplink PRB utilization rate.

[0329] Cells with downlink PRB utilization rates less than a third set threshold are selected from the third candidate cell list as third candidate cells. The third candidate cell list is obtained by sorting the neighboring cells in the neighbor cell list from smallest to largest based on their downlink PRB utilization rates.

[0330] The candidate cell set includes at least one of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell.

[0331] Specifically, in this embodiment, if the candidate cell set includes any one of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell, the first cell is a cell in the corresponding candidate cell set;

[0332] If the candidate cell set includes any two of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell, then the first cell is a cell that is included in any two of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell simultaneously.

[0333] If the candidate cell set includes the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell, then the first cell is a cell that is included simultaneously from the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell.

[0334] In other embodiments, when the determining module identifies a cell in the second cell that reports measurement results and meets a first preset condition as the target cell, it is specifically used for:

[0335] According to the configured target cell selection strategy, a cell from the second cell that meets the first preset condition is selected as the target cell.

[0336] Specifically, in this embodiment, the cell with the highest Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) among the second cells that meets the first preset condition is selected as the target cell.

[0337] The first preset condition includes:

[0338] The community supports the carrier of the current user's equipment;

[0339] The community is operating normally; and,

[0340] The current cell has a neighboring cell relationship with the current cell.

[0341] In other embodiments, the determining module is further configured to:

[0342] The load status of the current cell is determined according to the configured second load balancing strategy, wherein the second load balancing strategy includes at least one of the following:

[0343] Balancing strategies based on the number of user devices;

[0344] A balancing strategy based on cell uplink PRB utilization;

[0345] A balancing strategy based on cell downlink PRB utilization.

[0346] The load balancing strategy based on the number of user devices includes: periodically determining whether the number of connected user devices in the current cell exceeds a preset first high load threshold during the load detection period; if so, incrementing a first counter by one; if the first counter reaches a first threshold, determining that the load type of the current cell is high load in terms of the number of user devices; if not, and the current cell is in a high load state, decrementing a second counter by one; if the second counter reaches a second threshold, determining that the current cell has switched to a normal state.

[0347] The load balancing strategy based on cell uplink PRB utilization includes: periodically determining whether the cell uplink PRB utilization of the current cell exceeds a preset second high load threshold within the load detection period; if so, incrementing a third counter by one; if the third counter reaches a third threshold, determining that the load type of the current cell is high load with high cell uplink PRB utilization; if not, and the current cell is in a high load state, decrementing a fourth counter by one; if the fourth counter reaches a fourth threshold, determining that the current cell has switched to a normal state.

[0348] The load balancing strategy based on cell downlink PRB utilization includes: periodically determining whether the cell downlink PRB utilization of the current cell exceeds a preset third high load threshold within the load detection period; if so, incrementing the fifth counter by one; if the fifth counter reaches the fifth threshold, determining that the load type of the current cell is high load with high cell downlink PRB utilization; if not, and the current cell is in a high load state, decrementing the sixth counter by one; if the sixth counter reaches the sixth threshold, determining that the current cell has returned to a normal state.

[0349] In other embodiments, when the determining module determines the first user equipment (UE) to be balanced from the candidate user equipment list based on the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy, it is specifically used for:

[0350] Based on the load type of the current cell and the priority of the configured first selection strategy, the corresponding candidate user equipment list is determined.

[0351] UEs are selected sequentially from a determined list of candidate users as the first UE, wherein the list of candidate user equipment includes at least one of the following:

[0352] The first candidate user equipment list, after sorting the UEs in the first candidate user equipment list according to the user downlink PRB utilization rate, UEs with the same user downlink PRB utilization rate are sorted according to user level.

[0353] The second candidate user equipment list, after sorting the UEs in the second candidate user equipment list according to the user uplink PRB utilization rate, and the UEs with the same user uplink PRB utilization rate are sorted according to user level.

[0354] The third candidate user equipment list, in which UEs are sorted according to user level, and UEs with the same user level are sorted according to user downlink PRB utilization.

[0355] The fourth candidate user equipment list, wherein the UEs in the fourth candidate user equipment list are sorted according to user level, and UEs with the same user level are sorted according to user uplink PRB utilization.

[0356] The fifth candidate user equipment list, in which UEs are sorted according to user level, and UEs with the same user level are sorted according to user downlink PRB utilization rate, and the user downlink PRB utilization rate is greater than the preset user downlink PRB utilization rate threshold.

[0357] The sixth candidate user equipment list includes UEs sorted by user level, and UEs with the same user level sorted by uplink PRB utilization rate, wherein the uplink PRB utilization rate is greater than a preset uplink PRB utilization rate threshold.

[0358] In other embodiments, the determining module is further configured to:

[0359] If the current cell is under high load after the first UE is switched from the current cell to the target cell, a second UE to be balanced is determined from the candidate user equipment list according to the second selection strategy.

[0360] The second selection strategy does not include the low-priority selection strategy in the first selection strategy, and the number of the second UE is greater than the number of the first UE.

[0361] In other embodiments, if the target cell is an intra-site neighbor cell of the current cell, the determining module is further configured to:

[0362] Based on the configured admission policy, it is determined whether to admit the first UE, wherein the configured admission policy includes at least one of the following:

[0363] First admission strategy based on the number of user devices;

[0364] A second admission strategy based on cell uplink PRB utilization;

[0365] A third admission strategy based on cell downlink PRB utilization.

[0366] Specifically, in this embodiment, if the first UE meets the preset conditions corresponding to the configured admission policy, the first UE is admitted; otherwise, the first UE is rejected.

[0367] The preset conditions corresponding to the first acceptance strategy are as follows:

[0368] The sum of the number of connected user devices in the target cell and the current number of UEs is less than or equal to the product of the maximum number of connected user devices allowed in the target cell and the target cell's connected user device admission threshold;

[0369] The preset conditions corresponding to the second acceptance strategy are:

[0370] Traverse the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE and accept QoS flows that satisfy a first condition, wherein the first condition is:

[0371] The sum of the uplink PRB utilization of the target cell, the uplink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow, and the uplink PRB utilization of the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the uplink PRB utilization acceptance threshold of the target cell.

[0372] If the first QoS flow meets the first condition, the downlink PRB utilization of the first QoS flow is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow.

[0373] If the number of QoS flows that meet the first condition is zero, reject the current UE;

[0374] The preset conditions corresponding to the third acceptance strategy are:

[0375] Traverse the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE and accept QoS flows that satisfy the second condition, where the second condition is:

[0376] The sum of the downlink PRB utilization of the target cell, the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow, and the downlink PRB utilization of the second QoS flow is less than or equal to the downlink PRB utilization acceptance threshold of the target cell.

[0377] If the second QoS flow meets the second condition, the downlink PRB utilization of the second QoS flow is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow;

[0378] If the number of QoS flows that meet the second condition is zero, the current UE is rejected, wherein the current UE is the UE currently being handed over among the first UEs.

[0379] In other embodiments, if the target cell is an inter-site neighbor cell of the current cell, the system further includes a sending module for: sending a handover request message to the base station to which the target cell belongs, the handover request message being used to request the first UE to be handed over from the current cell to the target cell.

[0380] In the above embodiments, the neighbor cell list includes: operator information and load status information of the neighbor cells. The neighbor cell list includes an intra-site neighbor cell load information list and an inter-site neighbor cell load information list. The neighbor cell load status information includes at least one of: the number of connected user devices, cell uplink PRB utilization rate, and cell downlink PRB utilization rate.

[0381] In other embodiments, an acquisition module is also included, for:

[0382] Based on the network planning table of neighboring cells within the station, obtain the operators and PLMNs configured in the neighboring cells within the station;

[0383] Obtain load information of neighboring cells within the station by using the local cell load information maintained by this station;

[0384] The execution module is further configured to maintain a list of neighboring cell load information based on the operators and PLMNs configured in the neighboring cells within the station, as well as the load information of the neighboring cells within the station.

[0385] In other embodiments, when the acquisition module obtains the operator and PLMN configured in the neighboring cells based on the network planning table of the neighboring cells within the site, it is specifically used for:

[0386] Based on the network planning table of neighboring cells within the station, obtain the network configuration index corresponding to the neighboring cells within the station;

[0387] Based on the network configuration index of the neighboring cells within the site, and the mapping relationship between PLMN and operators, obtain all operators and PLMNs configured in the neighboring cells within the site.

[0388] In other embodiments, the acquisition module is further configured to:

[0389] Based on the network planning table of the current cell, obtain the operator and PLMN configured in the current cell;

[0390] Based on the neighbor cell relationships of the current cell, obtain all configured inter-station neighbor cells;

[0391] Obtain the PLMN and operator configured in the first inter-station neighbor cell, and obtain the load information of the inter-station neighbor cell through the Xn interface;

[0392] The processing module is further configured to:

[0393] If the current cell supports the operator configured with the first inter-site neighbor cell, add the first inter-site neighbor cell to the inter-site neighbor cell load information list until all inter-site neighbor cells are traversed;

[0394] Add the load information of the neighboring areas between stations to the list of load information of the neighboring areas between stations.

[0395] For details not described in the device provided in this application, please refer to [the relevant documentation]. Figures 1 to 7 The methods and apparatus provided in the illustrated embodiments of this application can achieve the same beneficial effects as those described. Figures 1 to 7 The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments are the same and will not be repeated here.

[0396] Based on the same principle as the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application provides an electronic device, which includes: a memory and a processor; at least one program, stored in the memory, for execution by the processor. Compared with the prior art, it can be used for 5G co-construction and sharing base stations, for example, it can meet the situation where multiple operators are configured in a cell, while existing base station load balancing methods can only be used for a single operator's base station. In addition, by configuring multiple load balancing strategies to cover various high-load scenarios, it can meet the increasingly complex needs of 5G application scenarios and improve the user experience.

[0397] An electronic device provided in this application embodiment can be the base station device in the above embodiments.

[0398] In one optional embodiment, a base station device is provided, such as Figure 9 As shown, Figure 9 The base station device 90 shown includes a processor 903 and a memory 901. The processor 903 and the memory 901 are connected, for example, via a bus interface. Optionally, the base station device 90 may further include a transceiver 902, which can be used for data interaction between the base station device and other base station devices, such as sending and / or receiving data. It should be noted that in practical applications, the transceiver 902 is not limited to one type, and the structure of this base station device 90 does not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of this application.

[0399] It should be understood that in the above embodiments, Figure 9 The bus architecture can include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 903 and memory represented by memory 901 together. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. Transceiver 902 can be multiple elements, including transmitters and receivers, providing units for communicating with various other devices over transmission media, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, etc.

[0400] The processor 903 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, while the memory 902 can store the data used by the processor 903 when performing operations.

[0401] Optionally, the processor 903 can be a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), and the processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0402] The processor executes any of the methods described in the embodiments of this application according to the obtained executable instructions by calling a computer program stored in memory. The processor and memory may also be physically separated.

[0403] This application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the corresponding content in the aforementioned method embodiments. Compared with existing technologies, this can be used for 5G co-construction and sharing of base stations, for example, it can meet the needs of multiple operators in a cell, while existing base station load balancing methods can only be used for a single operator's base station. In addition, by configuring multiple load balancing strategies to cover various high-load scenarios, it can meet the increasingly complex needs of 5G application scenarios and improve the user experience.

[0404] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0405] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0406] It should be understood that although the steps in the flowcharts of the accompanying figures are shown sequentially as indicated by the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless explicitly stated herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and they can be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least some steps in the flowcharts of the accompanying figures may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages. These sub-steps or stages are not necessarily completed at the same time, but can be executed at different times, and their execution order is not necessarily sequential, but can be performed alternately or in turn with other steps or at least some of the sub-steps or stages of other steps.

[0407] The above description is only a partial embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A load balancing method, characterized in that, The method includes: If the current cell is under high load, the first user equipment (UE) to be balanced is determined from the candidate user equipment list according to the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy; According to the configured first load balancing strategy, a candidate cell set is determined from the neighbor cell list, wherein the neighbor cell list is generated based on the neighbor cell relationships and operator information of the current cell; Cells that meet the second preset condition in the candidate cell set are filtered out to obtain the target candidate cells; Cells that do not support the first UE operator are filtered out from the target candidate cells to obtain the first cell; Configure load balancing measurement for the first cell frequency for the first UE; The cells in the second cell that report measurement results and meet the first preset condition are identified as target cells. The second cell includes the first cell and cells with the same frequency as the first cell. The first UE is switched from the current cell to the target cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second preset condition includes at least one of the following: The cell corresponding to the frequency band not supported by the first UE; Residential communities that are in an energy-saving state; Cells that do not exist in the external neighbor table; Cells that do not have neighboring cell relationships with the current cell; The residential area within the station is currently being closed; The residential area within the station is not in normal working condition.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first load balancing strategy includes at least one of the following: Cells with fewer connected user devices than a first set threshold are selected from the first candidate cell list as first candidate cells. The first candidate cell list is obtained by sorting the neighboring cells in the neighbor cell list in ascending order of the number of user devices. Cells whose uplink physical resource block (PRB) utilization rate is less than a second set threshold are selected from the second candidate cell list as second candidate cells. The second candidate cell list is obtained by sorting the neighboring cells in the neighbor cell list from smallest to largest based on their uplink PRB utilization rate. Cells with downlink PRB utilization rates less than a third set threshold are selected from the third candidate cell list as third candidate cells. The third candidate cell list is obtained by sorting the neighboring cells in the neighbor cell list from smallest to largest based on their downlink PRB utilization rates. The candidate cell set includes at least one of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, If the candidate cell set includes any one of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell, then the first cell is a cell in the corresponding candidate cell set. If the candidate cell set includes any two of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell, then the first cell is a cell that is included in any two of the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell simultaneously. If the candidate cell set includes the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell, then the first cell is a cell that is included simultaneously from the first candidate cell, the second candidate cell, and the third candidate cell.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein determining the cell in the second cell that reports the measurement results and meets the first preset condition as the target cell includes: According to the configured target cell selection strategy, a cell from the second cell that meets the first preset condition is selected as the target cell.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein selecting a cell from the second cells that meet the first preset condition as the target cell according to the configured target cell selection strategy comprises: The cell with the highest Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) among the second cells that meet the first preset condition is selected as the target cell.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The first preset conditions include: The community supports the carrier of the current user's equipment; The community is operating normally; and, The current cell has a neighboring cell relationship with the current cell.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: The load status of the current cell is determined according to the configured second load balancing strategy, wherein the second load balancing strategy includes at least one of the following: Load balancing strategies based on the number of user devices; Load balancing strategy based on cell uplink PRB utilization; Load balancing strategy based on cell downlink PRB utilization.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The load balancing strategy based on the number of user equipment includes: periodically determining whether the number of connected user equipment in the current cell exceeds a preset first high load threshold during the load detection period; if yes, incrementing a first counter by one; if the first counter reaches a first threshold, determining that the load type of the current cell is high load of user equipment; if no, and the current cell is in a high load state, decrementing a second counter by one; if the second counter reaches a second threshold, determining that the current cell has switched to a normal state. The load balancing strategy based on cell uplink PRB utilization includes: periodically determining whether the cell uplink PRB utilization of the current cell exceeds a preset second high load threshold within the load detection period; if yes, incrementing a third counter by one; if the third counter reaches a third threshold, determining that the load type of the current cell is high load with high cell uplink PRB utilization; if no, and the current cell is in a high load state, decrementing a fourth counter by one; if the fourth counter reaches a fourth threshold, determining that the current cell has switched to a normal state. The load balancing strategy based on cell downlink PRB utilization includes: periodically determining whether the cell downlink PRB utilization of the current cell exceeds a preset third high load threshold within the load detection period; if so, incrementing the fifth counter by one; if the fifth counter reaches the fifth threshold, determining that the load type of the current cell is high load with high cell downlink PRB utilization; if not, and the current cell is in a high load state, decrementing the sixth counter by one; if the sixth counter reaches the sixth threshold, determining that the current cell has returned to a normal state.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The step of determining the first user equipment (UE) to be balanced from the candidate user equipment list based on the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy includes: Based on the load type of the current cell and the priority of the configured first selection strategy, the corresponding candidate user equipment list is determined. UEs are selected sequentially from a determined list of candidate users as the first UE, wherein the list of candidate user equipment includes at least one of the following: The first candidate user equipment list, after sorting the UEs in the first candidate user equipment list according to the user downlink PRB utilization rate, UEs with the same user downlink PRB utilization rate are sorted according to user level. The second candidate user equipment list, after sorting the UEs in the second candidate user equipment list according to the user uplink PRB utilization rate, and the UEs with the same user uplink PRB utilization rate are sorted according to user level. The third candidate user equipment list, in which UEs are sorted according to user level, and UEs with the same user level are sorted according to user downlink PRB utilization. The fourth candidate user equipment list, wherein the UEs in the fourth candidate user equipment list are sorted according to user level, and UEs with the same user level are sorted according to user uplink PRB utilization. The fifth candidate user equipment list, in which UEs are sorted according to user level, and UEs with the same user level are sorted according to user downlink PRB utilization rate, and the user downlink PRB utilization rate is greater than the preset user downlink PRB utilization rate threshold. The sixth candidate user equipment list includes UEs sorted by user level, and UEs with the same user level sorted by uplink PRB utilization rate, wherein the uplink PRB utilization rate is greater than a preset uplink PRB utilization rate threshold.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The method further includes: If the current cell is under high load after the first UE is switched from the current cell to the target cell, a second UE to be balanced is determined from the candidate user equipment list according to the second selection strategy. The second selection strategy does not include the low-priority selection strategy in the first selection strategy, and the number of the second UE is greater than the number of the first UE.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, If the target cell is an intra-site neighbor cell of the current cell, the method further includes: Based on the configured admission policy, it is determined whether to admit the first UE, wherein the configured admission policy includes at least one of the following: First admission strategy based on the number of user devices; A second admission strategy based on cell uplink PRB utilization; A third admission strategy based on cell downlink PRB utilization.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, Based on the configured admission policy, determine whether to admit the first UE, including: If the first UE meets the preset conditions corresponding to the configured admission policy, the first UE is admitted; otherwise, the first UE is rejected. The preset conditions corresponding to the first acceptance strategy are as follows: The sum of the number of connected user devices in the target cell and the current number of UEs is less than or equal to the product of the maximum number of connected user devices allowed in the target cell and the target cell's connected user device admission threshold; The preset conditions corresponding to the second acceptance strategy are: Iterate through the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE and accept QoS flows that meet a first condition, wherein the first condition is: The sum of the uplink PRB utilization of the target cell, the uplink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow, and the uplink PRB utilization of the first QoS flow is less than or equal to the uplink PRB utilization acceptance threshold of the target cell. If the first QoS flow meets the first condition, the downlink PRB utilization of the first QoS flow is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow. If the number of QoS flows that meet the first condition is zero, reject the current UE; The preset conditions corresponding to the third acceptance strategy are: Traverse the QoS flows corresponding to the current UE and accept QoS flows that satisfy the second condition, where the second condition is: The sum of the downlink PRB utilization of the target cell, the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow, and the downlink PRB utilization of the second QoS flow is less than or equal to the downlink PRB utilization acceptance threshold of the target cell. If the second QoS flow meets the second condition, the downlink PRB utilization of the second QoS flow is added to the downlink PRB utilization of the accepted QoS flow; If the number of QoS flows that meet the second condition is zero, the current UE is rejected, wherein the current UE is the UE currently being handed over among the first UEs.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, If the target cell is an inter-site neighbor cell of the current cell, the step of switching the first UE from the current cell to the target cell includes: A handover request message is sent to the base station to which the target cell belongs. The handover request message is used to request that the first UE be handed over from the current cell to the target cell.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The neighbor cell list includes: operator information and load status information of neighbor cells. The neighbor cell list includes an intra-site neighbor cell load information list and an inter-site neighbor cell load information list. The neighbor cell load status information includes at least one of: number of connected user devices, cell uplink PRB utilization rate, and cell downlink PRB utilization rate.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the network planning table of neighboring cells within the station, obtain the operators and PLMNs configured in the neighboring cells within the station; Obtain load information of neighboring cells within the station by using the local cell load information maintained by this station; Based on the operator and public terrestrial mobile communication network (PLMN) configured in the neighboring cells within the station, and the load information of the neighboring cells within the station, maintain the list of load information for the neighboring cells within the station.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The network planning table based on the in-station neighboring cells obtains the operators and PLMNs configured in the in-station neighboring cells, including: Based on the network planning table of neighboring cells within the station, obtain the network configuration index corresponding to the neighboring cells within the station; Based on the network configuration index of the neighboring cells within the site, and the mapping relationship between PLMN and operators, obtain all operators and PLMNs configured in the neighboring cells within the site.

18. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the network planning table of the current cell, obtain the operator and PLMN configured in the current cell; Based on the neighbor cell relationships of the current cell, obtain all configured inter-station neighbor cells; Obtain the PLMN and operator configured for the first inter-site neighbor cell. If the current cell supports the operator configured for the first inter-site neighbor cell, add the first inter-site neighbor cell to the inter-site neighbor cell load information list until all inter-site neighbor cells are traversed. The load information of neighboring stations is obtained through the Xn interface and added to the list of neighboring station load information.

19. A load balancing device, characterized in that, Applied to base station equipment, including: The determination module is used to determine the first user equipment (UE) to be balanced from the candidate user equipment list if the current cell is in a high-load state, based on the load type of the current cell and the configured first selection strategy; The determining module is further configured to determine a candidate cell set from the neighbor cell list according to the configured first load balancing strategy, wherein the neighbor cell list is generated based on the neighbor cell relationships and operator information of the current cell; The determining module is further configured to filter out cells in the candidate cell set that meet the second preset condition to obtain target candidate cells, and to filter out cells in the target candidate cells that do not support the first UE operator to obtain the first cell; The configuration module is used to configure the load balancing measurement of the first cell frequency for the first UE; The determining module is further configured to determine the cell that meets the first preset condition in the second cell that reports the measurement results as the target cell, wherein the second cell includes the first cell and a cell with the same frequency as the first cell; An execution module is used to switch the first UE from the current cell to the target cell.

20. A base station device, characterized in that, include: Memory, used to store computer programs; A transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of a processor. A processor for reading a computer program from the memory and executing the load balancing method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program for causing a processor to perform the load balancing method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

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