Communication method, apparatus and system

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, device and system, relates to the technical field of communication, and can improve the technical problem that the service quality of a terminal device is poor due to the service characteristics or unreasonable load judgment of an access network device, and the overall energy consumption of a communication system cannot be reduced. The method comprises the following steps: a first access network device acquires a first energy efficiency, and performs energy-saving operation according to the first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined according to the corresponding performance and energy consumption of a first object in a second access network device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method, apparatus and system. Background Technology

[0002] In existing communication systems, adjacent access network devices can exchange the load status of their respective communication cells and perform load balancing based on the load status of the communication cells, so that the load status of each communication cell in the communication system is roughly the same, thereby reducing the energy consumption of each access network device in the communication system.

[0003] For example, when there is no communication service in the current communication cell or the load corresponding to the communication service is low, the access network device may shut down some or all of the transmission channels of the communication cell; or, when the number of terminal devices in the communication cell is small, the access network device may switch the terminal devices in the communication cell to a target communication cell with sufficient load and shut down the communication cell, so as to reduce the power consumption of the access network device.

[0004] However, when access network equipment performs energy-saving operations based on the load corresponding to communication services or communication cells, unreasonable load judgment may lead to poor service quality of terminal equipment and fail to reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, this application provides a communication method, apparatus and system that can improve the technical problem that the service quality of terminal devices is poor due to service characteristics or unreasonable load judgment of access network equipment, and the overall energy consumption of the communication system cannot be reduced.

[0006] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, the method comprising: a first access network device performing energy-saving operation based on an acquired first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency being determined based on the performance and energy consumption of a first object in a second access network device.

[0007] Based on the first aspect, the first access network device can perform energy-saving operations according to the first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device. Since the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device, the first access network device can select appropriate energy-saving operations to save energy by effectively combining the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device. This avoids the problem of poor service quality of terminal devices due to service characteristics or unreasonable load judgment, which prevents the overall energy consumption of the communication system from being reduced, thus effectively reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0008] In one possible design, the first object includes one or more of the following: network slice, service, region.

[0009] Based on this possible design, when the first object is a network slice, the first energy efficiency can be the network slice energy efficiency; when the first object is a service, the first energy efficiency can be the service energy efficiency; and when the first object is a region, the first energy efficiency can be the region energy efficiency. The first access network device can perform energy-saving operations from multiple dimensions according to the first energy efficiency corresponding to different first objects, which can effectively reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0010] In one possible design, performance includes one or more of the following: data volume, latency, and number of terminal devices.

[0011] Based on this possible design, performance may include one or more of the following: data volume, latency, number of terminal devices, and other parameters that can be used to indicate performance, without limitation.

[0012] In one possible design, the first energy efficiency also includes a first time for indicating the time corresponding to the first energy efficiency and / or a second time for indicating the time when the second access network device generates the first energy efficiency.

[0013] Based on this possible design, the first access network can determine the time corresponding to the first energy efficiency based on the first time, determine the time when the second access network device generates the first energy efficiency based on the second time, and determine whether to perform energy-saving operation based on the first energy efficiency based on the first time and the second time, thereby improving the effectiveness of the first energy efficiency and facilitating the reduction of the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0014] In one possible design, the type of first energy efficiency includes energy efficiency statistics and / or target energy efficiency information.

[0015] Based on this possible design, when the first energy efficiency is energy efficiency statistics, the first access network device can determine the energy efficiency that has already occurred based on this first energy efficiency. The first access network device can also predict the energy efficiency for the future based on the energy efficiency that has already occurred, and perform energy-saving operations based on the energy efficiency for the future, effectively reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system. When the first energy efficiency is target energy efficiency information, the first access network device can avoid predicting the energy efficiency for the future based on the energy efficiency that has already occurred, thus reducing the power consumption of the first access network device.

[0016] In one possible design, before the first access network device obtains the first energy efficiency, the first access network device also sends a first request message to request the first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device.

[0017] Based on this possible design, the first access network device can send a first request message to enable the second access network device to send the first energy efficiency to the first access network device, thus providing a feasible solution for the first access network device to obtain the first energy efficiency.

[0018] In one possible design, the first request information includes one or more of the following: identification information of a first object, the type of a first energy efficiency, information about a first time, the acquisition time corresponding to the first energy efficiency, periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency, and the expected accuracy corresponding to the first energy efficiency; wherein, the type of the first energy efficiency includes energy efficiency statistics and / or target energy efficiency information; the acquisition time corresponding to the first energy efficiency is used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the first energy efficiency; the periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency is used to indicate whether the second access network device periodically sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0019] Based on this possible design, by carrying one or more of the above parameters in the first request information, the first access network device can facilitate the second access network device to generate a first energy efficiency that meets the requirements of the first access network device, thereby improving the effectiveness of the first energy efficiency and enabling the first access network device to effectively reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system based on the obtained first energy efficiency.

[0020] In one possible design, the first access network device switches some or all of the terminal devices corresponding to the first object to the second access network device.

[0021] Based on this possible design, the first access network device can switch some or all of the terminal devices of the first object to the second access network device without allocating resources for the terminal devices switched to the second access network device. This allows the power amplifiers of the symbol period, the power amplifiers of the cell radio frequency channel, or the power amplifiers of the cell carrier associated with the terminal devices switched to the second access network device to be turned off, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the first access network device and thus reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0022] In one possible design, the first access network device performs energy-saving operation based on the communication information of the acquired terminal device and the first energy efficiency; the communication information is used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device communicating with the first object.

[0023] Based on this possible design, the first access network device can perform energy-saving operations by acquiring communication information from the terminal device and the first energy efficiency, thereby effectively reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system while ensuring the performance of the terminal device.

[0024] In one possible design, the communication information includes one or more of the following: communication period, data volume, periodic communication indication, and burst communication indication; wherein, the communication period is used to indicate the time period during which the communication corresponding to the communication information occurs; the data volume is used to indicate the size of the uplink data volume and / or downlink data volume when the terminal device communicates; the periodic communication indication is used to indicate whether the communication corresponding to the communication information is periodic; the burst communication indication is used to indicate whether the communication corresponding to the communication information is bursty, and if it is bursty, the burst communication indication is also used to indicate at least one of the burst communication time, the size of the uplink data volume of the burst communication, and the size of the downlink data volume of the burst communication.

[0025] Based on this possible design, the first access network device can determine the communication characteristics of the communication occurring in the terminal device according to the parameters included in the communication information, and then perform energy-saving operations based on the communication characteristics and the first energy efficiency, which can effectively reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system while ensuring the performance of the terminal device.

[0026] In one possible design, the communication information also includes a third time for indicating the time corresponding to the communication information and / or a fourth time for indicating the time when the terminal device generates the communication information.

[0027] Based on this possible design, the first access network can determine the time corresponding to the communication information according to the third time, determine the time when the terminal device generates the communication information according to the fourth time, and determine whether to perform energy-saving operation based on the communication information based on the third time and the fourth time, thereby improving the effectiveness of the communication information and facilitating the reduction of the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0028] In one possible design, the types of communication information include communication statistics and / or target communication information.

[0029] Based on this possible design, when the communication information is communication statistics, the first access network device can determine the communication that has already occurred based on this information. The first access network device can also predict future communication based on the already occurred communication and perform energy-saving operations based on the future communication, effectively reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system. When the communication information is target communication information, the first access network device can avoid predicting future communication based on the already occurred communication, thus reducing the power consumption of the first access network device.

[0030] In one possible design, before the first access network device obtains the communication information of the terminal device, the first access network device also sends a second request message to request the corresponding communication information of the terminal device.

[0031] Based on this possible design, the first access network device can send a second request message so that the terminal device can send communication information to the first access network device, thus providing a feasible solution for the first access network device to obtain communication information.

[0032] In one possible design, the second request information includes one or more of the following: identification information of the first object, type of communication information, third time information, acquisition time corresponding to the communication information, periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information, and expected accuracy corresponding to the communication information; wherein, the type of communication information includes communication statistics and / or target communication information; the acquisition time corresponding to the communication information is used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the communication information; the periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information is used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends communication information to the first access network device.

[0033] Based on this possible design, by carrying one or more of the above parameters in the second request information, the first access network device can facilitate the terminal device to generate communication information that meets the needs of the first access network device according to the second request information, thereby improving the effectiveness of the communication information and enabling the first access network device to effectively reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system based on the acquired communication information.

[0034] In one possible design, after the first access network device switches the terminal device to the second access network device, the first access network device also receives communication measurement results from the terminal device of the second access network device; these communication measurement results are used to indicate the corresponding communication characteristics of the terminal device after it accesses the second access network device.

[0035] Based on this possible design, when a terminal device switches to the second access network device, the first access network device can determine the communication characteristics of the terminal device after switching to the second access network device based on the communication measurement results obtained from the terminal device. Furthermore, the first access network device can also adjust energy-saving operations based on the communication characteristics of the terminal device before and after the switch, which can effectively reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0036] In one possible design, before the first access network device receives the communication measurement results from the terminal device of the second access network device, the first access network device also sends a third request message to the second access network device to request the communication measurement results of the terminal device.

[0037] Based on this possible design, the first access network device can send a third request message to enable the terminal device to send communication measurement results to the first access network device through the second access network device, thus providing a feasible solution for the first access network device to obtain communication measurement results.

[0038] In one possible design, the first access network device performs energy-saving operations based on the acquired mobile trajectory information of the terminal device and the first energy efficiency.

[0039] Based on this possible design, the first access network device can perform energy-saving operations by acquiring the mobile trajectory information of the terminal device and the first energy efficiency, which can effectively reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system while ensuring the performance of the terminal device.

[0040] In one possible design, the movement trajectory information includes one or more of the following: position, direction, velocity, and acceleration.

[0041] Based on this possible design, the movement trajectory information may include one or more of the above parameters, and may also include other parameters that can be used to indicate the movement trajectory of the terminal device, without limitation.

[0042] In one possible design, the movement trajectory information also includes a fifth time for indicating the time corresponding to the movement trajectory information and / or a sixth time for indicating the time when the terminal device generated the movement trajectory information.

[0043] Based on this possible design, the first access network can determine the time corresponding to the mobile trajectory information according to the fifth time, determine the time when the terminal device generates the mobile trajectory information according to the sixth time, and determine whether to perform energy-saving operation based on the mobile trajectory information based on the fifth time and the sixth time, thereby improving the effectiveness of the mobile trajectory information and facilitating the reduction of the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0044] In one possible design, the types of movement trajectory information include movement trajectory statistics and / or target movement trajectory information.

[0045] Based on this possible design, when the movement trajectory information is movement trajectory statistics, the first access network device can determine the movement trajectory already performed by the terminal device based on this information. The first access network device can also predict the future movement trajectory of the terminal device based on its existing movement trajectory and perform energy-saving operations accordingly, effectively reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system. When the movement trajectory information is target movement trajectory information, the first access network device can avoid predicting the future movement trajectory of the terminal device based on its existing movement trajectory, thus reducing the power consumption of the first access network device.

[0046] In one possible design, before the first access network device obtains the movement trajectory information of the terminal device, the first access network device also sends a fourth request message to request the movement trajectory information corresponding to the terminal device.

[0047] Based on this possible design, the first access network device can send a fourth request message to enable the terminal device to send movement trajectory information to the first access network device, thus providing a feasible solution for the first access network device to obtain movement trajectory information.

[0048] In one possible design, the fourth request information includes one or more of the following: position, direction, speed, acceleration, type of movement trajectory information, fifth time information, acquisition time corresponding to the movement trajectory information, periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information, and expected accuracy corresponding to the movement trajectory information; wherein, the type of movement trajectory information includes movement trajectory statistics and / or target movement trajectory information; the acquisition time corresponding to the movement trajectory information is used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the movement trajectory information; the periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information is used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

[0049] Based on this possible design, by carrying one or more of the above parameters in the fourth request information, the first access network device can facilitate the terminal device to generate mobile trajectory information that meets the requirements of the first access network device, thereby improving the effectiveness of the mobile trajectory information and enabling the first access network device to effectively reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system based on the acquired mobile trajectory information.

[0050] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a first access network device. This first access network device can implement the functions described in the first aspect or possible designs of the first aspect, and these functions can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the aforementioned functions, such as a transceiver module and a processing module. The transceiver module is used to obtain a first energy efficiency; the processing module is used to perform energy-saving operations based on the first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device.

[0051] It should be noted that the specific implementation of the first access network device in the second aspect can refer to the behavior and function of the first access network device in the communication method provided by the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and will not be elaborated further.

[0052] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a first access network device, which can be a first access network device or a chip or system-on-a-chip within a first access network device. This first access network device can implement the functions performed by the first access network device in the above aspects or possible designs, and these functions can be implemented in hardware. In one possible design, the first access network device may include a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver and processor can be used to support the first access network device in implementing the functions involved in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect. For example, the transceiver can be used to obtain a first energy efficiency; the processor can be used to perform energy-saving operations based on the first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object corresponding to the second access network device. In yet another possible design, the first access network device may further include a memory for storing necessary computer execution instructions and data. When the first access network device is running, the transceiver and processor execute the computer execution instructions stored in the memory to cause the first access network device to perform the communication method as described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect.

[0053] In the third aspect, the specific implementation of the first access network device can refer to the behavior and function of the first access network device in the communication method provided by the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect.

[0054] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which may include: a second access network device determining a first energy efficiency and sending the first energy efficiency to a first access network device; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device.

[0055] Based on the fourth aspect, by sending the first energy efficiency to the first access network device, the second access network device can enable the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the first energy efficiency, thereby reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0056] In one possible design, before the second access network device sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device, the second access network device also receives a first request information from the first access network device to request the first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device.

[0057] Based on this possible design, the second access network device can send the first energy efficiency to the first access network device according to the first request information, providing a feasible method for the second access network device to send the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0058] In one possible design, the second access network device sends the communication measurement results sent by the terminal device to the first access network device. These communication measurement results are used to indicate the corresponding communication characteristics of the terminal device after it accesses the second access network device.

[0059] Based on this possible design, when a terminal device switches to the second access network device, the second access network device sends the communication measurement results of the terminal device to the first access network device. This allows the first access network device to determine the communication characteristics of the terminal device after switching to the second access network device based on the acquired communication measurement results. Furthermore, the first access network device can adjust energy-saving operations based on the communication characteristics of the terminal device before and after the switch, effectively reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0060] In one possible design, before the second access network device receives the communication measurement results from the terminal device, the second access network device receives a third request message from the first access network device requesting the communication measurement results from the terminal device; and sends the third request message to the terminal device.

[0061] Based on this possible design, the second access network device can send the third request information sent by the first access network device to the terminal device, enabling the terminal device to send communication measurement results to the second access network device according to the third request information, thus providing a feasible method for the second access network device to send communication measurement results to the first access network device.

[0062] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a second access network device. This second access network device can implement the functions performed by the second access network device in the fourth aspect or possible designs described above. These functions can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the aforementioned functions, such as a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module is used to determine a first energy efficiency; the transceiver module is used to send the first energy efficiency to the first access network device. The first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object corresponding to it in the second access network device.

[0063] It should be noted that the specific implementation of the second access network device in the fifth aspect can refer to the behavior and function of the second access network device in the communication method provided by the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, and will not be elaborated further.

[0064] Sixthly, embodiments of this application provide a second access network device, which can be a second access network device or a chip or system-on-a-chip within a second access network device. This second access network device can implement the functions performed by the second access network device in the above aspects or possible designs, and these functions can be implemented in hardware. In one possible design, the second access network device may include a processor and a transceiver. The processor and transceiver can be used to support the second access network device in implementing the functions involved in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect. For example, the processor can be used to determine a first energy efficiency; the transceiver can be used to send the first energy efficiency to a first access network device; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of a first object corresponding to the second access network device. In yet another possible design, the second access network device may further include a memory for storing necessary computer execution instructions and data. When the second access network device is running, the transceiver and processor execute the computer execution instructions stored in the memory to cause the second access network device to perform the communication method as described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0065] In the sixth aspect, the specific implementation of the second access network device can refer to the behavior and functions of the second access network device in the communication method provided by the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0066] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, the method comprising: a terminal device determining communication information for instructing the terminal device to communicate with a first object, and sending the communication information to a first access network device; the communication information being used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the communication information and a first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency being determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in a second access network device.

[0067] Based on the seventh aspect, by sending communication information to the first access network device, the terminal device can enable the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the communication information and the first energy efficiency, thereby reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system while ensuring the performance of the terminal device.

[0068] In one possible design, before the terminal device sends communication information to the first access network device, the terminal device also receives a second request information from the first access network device for requesting communication information corresponding to the terminal device.

[0069] Based on this possible design, the terminal device can send communication information to the first access network device according to the second request information, providing a feasible solution for the terminal device to send communication information to the first access network device.

[0070] In one possible design, after the terminal device switches to the second access network device, the terminal device sends communication measurement results to the second access network device to indicate the corresponding communication characteristics of the terminal device after accessing the second access network device.

[0071] Based on this possible design, when a terminal device switches to the second access network device, it can send its communication measurement results to the first access network device via the second access network device. This allows the first access network device to determine the communication characteristics of the terminal device after switching to the second access network device based on the acquired communication measurement results. Furthermore, the first access network device can adjust energy-saving operations based on the communication characteristics of the terminal device before and after the switch, thereby effectively reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0072] In one possible design, before the terminal device sends the communication measurement results to the second access network device, the terminal device receives a third request message from the second access network device requesting the communication measurement results from the terminal device.

[0073] Based on this possible design, the terminal device can send communication measurement results to the first access network device through the second access network device according to the third request information, providing a feasible solution for the terminal device to send communication measurement results to the first access network device through the second access network device.

[0074] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which may include: a terminal device determining movement trajectory information and sending the movement trajectory information to a first access network device; the movement trajectory information is used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the movement trajectory information and a first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device.

[0075] Based on the eighth aspect, by sending the mobile trajectory information to the first access network device, the terminal device can enable the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the mobile trajectory information and the first energy efficiency, thereby reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system while ensuring the performance of the terminal device.

[0076] In one possible design, before the terminal device sends the movement trajectory information to the first access network device, the terminal device receives a fourth request message from the first access network device requesting the movement trajectory information corresponding to the terminal device.

[0077] Based on this possible design, the terminal device can send movement trajectory information to the first access network device according to the fourth request information, providing a feasible solution for the terminal device to send movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

[0078] Ninthly, embodiments of this application provide a terminal device that can implement the functions performed by the terminal device in the seventh aspect or possible designs of the seventh aspect, or implement the functions performed by the terminal device in the eighth aspect or possible designs of the eighth aspect, wherein the functions can be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. For example, a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module is used to determine communication information for instructing the terminal device to communicate with a first object; the transceiver module is used to send the communication information to a first access network device; the communication information is used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the communication information and a first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device. Alternatively, the processing module is used to determine movement trajectory information; the transceiver module is used to send the movement trajectory information to the first access network device; the movement trajectory information is used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the movement trajectory information and a first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device.

[0079] It should be noted that the specific implementation of the terminal device in the ninth aspect can refer to the behavior function of the terminal device in the communication method provided by the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, or refer to the behavior function of the terminal device in the communication method provided by the eighth aspect or any possible design of the eighth aspect, and will not be elaborated further.

[0080] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a terminal device, which can be a terminal device or a chip or system-on-a-chip within a terminal device. This terminal device can implement the functions performed by the terminal device in the aforementioned aspects or possible designs, and these functions can be implemented in hardware. In one possible design, the terminal device may include a processor and a transceiver. The processor and transceiver can be used to support the terminal device in implementing the functions involved in the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, or to implement the functions involved in the eighth aspect or any possible design of the eighth aspect. For example, the processor can be used to determine communication information for instructing the terminal device to communicate with a first object; the transceiver can be used to send the communication information to a first access network device; the communication information is used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the communication information and a first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption corresponding to the first object in the second access network device. Alternatively, the processor can be used to determine movement trajectory information; the transceiver can be used to send the movement trajectory information to a first access network device; the movement trajectory information is used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the movement trajectory information and a first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device. In yet another possible design, the terminal device may further include a memory for storing necessary computer execution instructions and data. When the terminal device is running, the transceiver and processor execute the computer execution instructions stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform the communication method as described in the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, or to perform the communication method as described in the eighth aspect or any possible design of the eighth aspect.

[0081] In the tenth aspect, the specific implementation of the terminal device may refer to the behavioral functions of the terminal device in the communication method provided by the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, or refer to the behavioral functions of the terminal device in the communication method provided by the eighth aspect or any possible design of the eighth aspect.

[0082] Eleventhly, a communication device is provided, the communication device comprising one or more processors; the one or more processors being configured to execute computer programs or instructions, wherein when the one or more processors execute the computer instructions or instructions, the communication device performs a communication method as described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or performs a communication method as described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or performs a communication method as described in the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, or performs a communication method as described in the eighth aspect or any possible design of the eighth aspect.

[0083] In one possible design, the communication device further includes one or more memories coupled to one or more processors, the memories used to store the aforementioned computer programs or instructions. In one possible implementation, the memories are located outside the communication device. In another possible implementation, the memories are located inside the communication device. In embodiments of this application, the processor and memory may also be integrated into a single device, i.e., the processor and memory may be integrated together. In one possible implementation, the communication device further includes a transceiver for receiving signals and / or transmitting information.

[0084] In one possible design, the communication device further includes one or more communication interfaces coupled to one or more processors, and the communication interfaces are used to communicate with other modules outside the communication device.

[0085] In a twelfth aspect, the communication device includes an interface circuit and a logic circuit; the interface circuit is used to acquire input information and / or output information; the logic circuit is used to perform the communication method as described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or to perform the communication method as described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or to perform the communication method as described in the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, or to perform the communication method as described in the eighth aspect or any possible design of the eighth aspect, and to process and / or generate output information based on the input information.

[0086] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores computer instructions or programs that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a communication method as described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or a communication method as described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or a communication method as described in the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, or a communication method as described in the eighth aspect or any possible design of the eighth aspect.

[0087] In a fourteenth aspect, a computer program product comprising computer instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the communication method as described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or to perform the communication method as described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or to perform the communication method as described in the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, or to perform the communication method as described in the eighth aspect or any possible design of the eighth aspect.

[0088] In a fifteenth aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform a communication method as described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or to perform a communication method as described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or to perform a communication method as described in the seventh aspect or any possible design of the seventh aspect, or to perform a communication method as described in the eighth aspect or any possible design of the eighth aspect.

[0089] The technical effects of any of the design methods in aspects eleven through fifteen can be found in the technical effects of any possible design in aspect one above, or in the technical effects of any possible design in aspect four above, or in the technical effects of any possible design in aspect seven above, or in the technical effects of any possible design in aspect eight above, and will not be elaborated upon further.

[0090] In a sixteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a first access network device as described in any one of the second to third aspects, a second access network device as described in any one of the fifth to sixth aspects, and a terminal device as described in any one of the ninth to tenth aspects. Attached Figure Description

[0091] Figure 1a A schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0092] Figure 1b A schematic diagram of a split access network device architecture provided in this application embodiment;

[0093] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the composition of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0094] Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0095] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a new protocol stack between access network devices provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0096] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a new protocol stack between DU and CU / CU-CP provided for embodiments of this application;

[0097] Figure 6 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0098] Figure 7a A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0099] Figure 7b A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0100] Figure 7c A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0101] Figure 8 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0102] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of a new protocol stack between a terminal device and an access network device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0103] Figure 10 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0104] Figure 11 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0105] Figure 12 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0106] Figure 13 A flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0107] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the composition of a first access network device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0108] Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the composition of a second access network device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0109] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of the composition of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0110] Before describing the embodiments of this application, the technical terms involved in the embodiments of this application will be described.

[0111] Network slice: refers to a logical network that can provide specific network capabilities and characteristics.

[0112] Specifically, single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) can be used as the identification information of network slices to distinguish different network slices.

[0113] S-NSSAI can include slice / service type (SST) information, which describes the expected network slicing behavior, such as the slice / service type used to describe the network slice, and is not limited.

[0114] For example, the slice / service type (SST) of a network slice can include: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), massive Internet of Things (MIoT), vehicle to everything (V2X), etc., without limitation.

[0115] Optionally, S-NSSAI also includes slice differentiator (SD) information, which is supplementary information to SST information. When SST information points to multiple network slices, SD information can help to correspond to a unique network slice.

[0116] Traffic steering refers to directing traffic to specific access network devices or cells to optimize the overall performance of the communication system, such as optimizing resource utilization, ensuring user service performance, and reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system. There are no restrictions on this.

[0117] In communication systems, with the increasing deployment density of access network equipment, the rising energy consumption and price of these devices lead to increasingly higher operating costs. Therefore, access network equipment can implement energy-saving operations based on the load status of each cell; alternatively, it can exchange information about the load status of each cell with neighboring access network equipment to perform load balancing and implement energy-saving operations, ensuring that the load status of each cell in the communication system is roughly consistent. This reduces the overall energy consumption and operating costs of the communication system.

[0118] For example, energy-saving operations may include: radio frequency channel shutdown, carrier frequency shutdown, symbol shutdown, cell shutdown, etc., without limitation.

[0119] Specifically, radio frequency channel shutdown refers to the access network equipment shutting down some or all of the cell's transmission channels when there is no service or low service load within a certain period of time, in order to save energy. Carrier frequency shutdown refers to the access network equipment migrating terminal devices to a target carrier frequency with sufficient load and then shutting down the current carrier frequency when the number of terminal devices on that carrier frequency is small, in order to save energy. Symbol shutdown refers to the access network equipment shutting down the power amplifier during the symbol periods when it detects no data transmission on certain symbols of a subframe, in order to save energy. Cell shutdown refers to the access network equipment migrating terminal devices within the cell to a target cell with sufficient load and then shutting down the current cell when there is no service or low service load within a certain period of time, in order to save energy.

[0120] However, when access network equipment performs energy-saving operations based on the cell's load status, it may fail to reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system due to service characteristics or unreasonable load judgment.

[0121] For example, taking the transmission of service 1 and service 2 through access network device 1 and access network device 2 as an example, assuming that access network device 1 and access network device 2 adopt the energy consumption model shown in Table 1 below, that is, access network device 1 includes 64 transmission channels with a bandwidth of 100MHz, a static power consumption of 500W, a symbol shutdown energy saving ratio of 0.5, and a full-load power amplifier (PA) power consumption of 523W; access network device 2 includes 4 transmission channels with a bandwidth of 20MHz, a static power consumption of 250W, a symbol shutdown energy saving ratio of 0.8, and a full-load PA power consumption of 290W.

[0122] Table 1

[0123]

[0124] If service 1 is transmitted entirely by access network device 1, and service 2 is transmitted equally by access network devices 1 and 2 (i.e., each device transmits 50% of the traffic for service 2), assuming that when access network device 1 is transmitting services, the physical resource block (PRB) utilization rate for service 1 is 10%, and the PRB utilization rate for service 2 is 2%; when access network device 2 is transmitting services, the PRB utilization rate for service 2 is 20%, then according to the energy consumption model shown in Table 1, the overall PRB utilization rate of access network device 1 is 100%*10%+50%*2%=11%, with an energy consumption of approximately 1573.23 watts; the overall PRB utilization rate of access network device 2 is 50%*20%=10%, with an energy consumption of approximately 859 watts. At this point, access network devices 1 and 2 achieve load balancing, and their total energy consumption is approximately 2432.23 watts.

[0125] If service 1 is transmitted entirely by access network device 1, and service 2 is transmitted entirely by access network device 2, assuming that when access network device 1 transmits services, the physical resource block (PRB) utilization rate corresponding to service 1 is 10%, and when access network device 2 transmits services, the PRB utilization rate corresponding to service 2 is 20%, then according to the energy consumption model shown in Table 1, it can be seen that the overall PRB utilization rate of access network device 1 is 10%, and the energy consumption is approximately 1302.3 watts; the overall PRB utilization rate of access network device 2 is 20%, and the energy consumption is approximately 908 watts. At this time, although the loads of access network device 1 and access network device 2 are unbalanced, the total energy consumption of access network device 1 and access network device 2 is approximately 2214.3 watts, which significantly reduces the overall energy consumption of the communication system compared to the above-mentioned service transmission based on load balancing mechanism.

[0126] In addition, when access network equipment performs energy-saving operations based on the load status of the cell, the service quality of terminal equipment may be poor due to service characteristics or unreasonable load judgment.

[0127] For example, assuming the load on terminal devices in a certain cell is low, the access network equipment can, based on the cell's load status, shut down the cell's transmission channel and migrate the terminal devices from that cell to the target cell when the radio frequency channel shutdown conditions are met. However, because the access network equipment migrates the terminal devices from the cell to the target cell, if the traffic of the terminal devices in the target cell increases rapidly, it will cause the target cell's load to become overloaded, failing to meet the service quality requirements of the terminal devices and resulting in poor service quality.

[0128] To address the technical problem that when access network devices perform energy-saving operations based on cell load status, poor service quality of terminal devices due to service characteristics or unreasonable load judgments leads to an inability to reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system, embodiments of this application provide a communication method. In this method, a first access network device can perform energy-saving operations based on an acquired first energy efficiency rating. This first energy efficiency rating can be determined based on the performance and energy consumption of a first object corresponding to a second access network device. In this embodiment, by performing energy-saving operations based on the first energy efficiency rating corresponding to the second access network device, the first access network device can effectively reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0129] The embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0130] The communication method provided in this application can be used in any communication system, such as a third-generation partnership project (3GPP) communication system, for example, a long-term evolution (LTE) system, a fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system, a new radio (NR) system, a vehicle-to-everything (NR V2X) system, or a hybrid LTE and 5G network system, or a device-to-device (D2D) communication system, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication system, an Internet of Things (IoT) system, or other next-generation communication systems. It can also be used in non-3GPP communication systems, without limitation.

[0131] The communication method provided in this application can be applied to various communication scenarios, such as one or more of the following communication scenarios: eMBB, URLLC, MIoT, V2X, machine type communication (MTC), massive machine type communication (mMTC), D2D, Internet of Things (IoT), etc.

[0132] The following is based on Figure 1a Taking an example, the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application will be described.

[0133] Figure 1a A schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application is shown below. Figure 1a As shown, the communication system may include multiple access network devices and multiple terminal devices; wherein, the multiple access network devices may include a first access network device and a second access network device.

[0134] In this scenario, the terminal device can communicate with either the first access network device or the second access network device, or it can communicate with both simultaneously, i.e., multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC). In the MR-DC scenario, the first access network device can be the primary access network device, and the second access network device can be the secondary access network device. The first and second access network devices can be access network devices using different communication standards, or they can be access network devices using the same communication standard; there are no restrictions.

[0135] Figure 1aIn this context, "terminal" can also be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile terminal (MT), user terminal, wireless communication equipment, user agent, or user device, etc. Terminal equipment can be wireless or wired. A wireless terminal can refer to a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, which can be deployed on land (including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted); on water (such as on ships); or in the air (such as on airplanes, balloons, and satellites). The terminal device can be a drone, IoT device (e.g., sensor, electricity meter, water meter, etc.), V2X device, station (ST) in wireless local area networks (WLAN), cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, personal digital assistant (PDA) device, handheld device with wireless communication capability, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle device, wearable device (also known as wearable smart device), tablet computer or computer with wireless transceiver capability, virtual reality (VR) terminal, wireless terminal in industrial control, wireless terminal in autonomous driving, wireless terminal in telemedicine, wireless terminal in smart grid, wireless terminal in smart city, wireless terminal in smart home, in-vehicle terminal, vehicle with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capability, intelligent connected vehicle, or drone-to-drone (UAV to) communication. UAV (U2U) communication capabilities, such as drones. Terminals can also be terminals in next-generation communication systems, such as terminals in 5G communication systems, terminals in future evolved public land mobile networks (PLMNs), terminals in NR communication systems, etc., without restriction.

[0136] Figure 1aAccess network equipment in a wireless network can be any device with wireless transceiver capabilities used to connect terminal devices to the wireless network. It primarily implements functions such as wireless physical control, resource scheduling and wireless resource management, wireless access control, mobility management, quality of service management, data encryption and compression, and provides reliable wireless transmission protocols and data encryption protocols. This access network equipment can also be called an access network (AN) / radioaccess network (RAN) device. Specifically, access network equipment can be either wired or wireless access-enabled. For example, the access network equipment can be a base station (nodeB, NB), an enhanced node (eNB), a next-generation node (NR nodeB, gNB), a next-generation evolved node (ng-eNB), a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a central unit-control plane (CU-CP), a central unit-user plane (CU-UP), a data analysis and management (DAM), an access point (AP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a transmission point (TP), or some other access node, etc., without limitation.

[0137] Specifically, the gNB can provide terminal equipment with control plane and / or user plane protocols and functions for new radio (NR). The ng-eNB can provide terminal equipment with control plane and / or user plane protocols and functions for evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA). The CU can include the radio resource control (RRC) layer, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of the gNB, or the RRC layer and PDCP layer of the ng-eNB. The DU can include the radio link control (RLC) layer, media access control (MAC) layer, and physical layer of the gNB or ng-eNB. The CU-CP, i.e., the control plane of the CU, can include the RRC layer in the gNB-CU or ng-eNB-CU, as well as the control plane in the PDCP layer. CU-UP, or the user plane of the CU, can include the SDAP layer in gNB-CU or ng-eNB-CU, as well as the user plane in the PDCP layer. DAM can be used to implement functions such as data collection, machine learning (ML) model training, ML model generation, ML model updating, and ML model distribution.

[0138] It should be noted that wireless communication networks are developing towards diversification, broadband, integration, and intelligence. Wireless transmission utilizes increasingly higher spectrum, wider bandwidth, and more antennas, making traditional communication methods too complex and difficult to guarantee performance. Furthermore, with the explosive growth of smart terminals and various applications, the behavior and performance factors of wireless communication networks are more dynamic and unpredictable than in the past. Operating increasingly complex wireless communication networks at low cost and high efficiency is a challenge currently facing operators. Therefore, artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning will play an increasingly important role in wireless communication networks. AI refers to the technology of representing human intelligence through computer programs. ML focuses on developing computer programs that can access data and use that data for self-learning. In the embodiments of this application, no distinction is made between artificial intelligence and machine learning; that is, an ML model can also be called an AI model, without limitation.

[0139] For example, based on the above description, refer to Figure 1bTaking a split access network device as an example, the above-mentioned access network device is described below. Functionally, the split access network device can be divided into one CU, at least one DU, and one DAM. The CU and DU can be connected via the F1 interface. Further, a CU can include one CU-CP and at least one CU-UP. The CU-CP and CU-UP can be connected via the E1 interface, the CU-CP and DU can be connected via the F1 control plane interface (F1-C), and the CU-UP and DU can be connected via the F1 user plane interface (F1-U). Further, the CU, DU, or CU-CP can be connected to the DAM via the G1 interface, respectively. Optionally, the DAM can be used as an internal function of the CU, DU, or CU-CP, in which case the G1 interface does not exist (or the G1 interface is an internal interface and is not visible externally).

[0140] In addition, the above Figure 1a In addition, the communication system may also include core network (CN) equipment and data network (DN) equipment. Access network equipment can communicate with core network equipment, and terminal equipment can communicate with data network equipment in sequence through access network equipment and core network equipment.

[0141] The aforementioned core network equipment can be used to transmit data from terminal devices sent by access network equipment to the data network. Specifically, core network equipment can be used to implement services such as user access control, mobility management, session management, user security authentication, and billing. Core network equipment may include multiple functional entities; for example, functional entities may be the access and mobility management unit (AMF), the network data analytics unit (NWDAF), etc.

[0142] The Access and Mobility Management Unit (AMU) is primarily responsible for user equipment access control, mobility management, attach and detach, gateway selection, and signaling interaction between various functional network elements. For example, it manages user registration status, user connection status, user registration and network access, tracking area updates, cell handover user authentication, and key security.

[0143] The network data analysis function unit is mainly responsible for data collection and analysis.

[0144] It should be noted that, in addition to the functional entities mentioned above, core network equipment may also include session management function (SMF), policy control function (PCF), user plane function (UPF), application function (AF), etc., without limitation.

[0145] The aforementioned data network can be a carrier network that provides data transmission services to terminal devices, such as a carrier network that provides IP multimedia service (IMS) to terminal devices. An application server (AS) can be deployed within the DN, which can provide data transmission services to the terminal devices.

[0146] Optionally, the above Figure 1a In addition, the communication system also includes other equipment, such as network control equipment. Network control equipment can be an operation administration and maintenance (OAM) system, also known as a network management system. Network control equipment can manage the aforementioned access network equipment and core network equipment.

[0147] In practical implementation, Figure 1a and Figure 1b As shown, for example, each terminal device and each access network device can adopt... Figure 2 The shown composition structure, or including Figure 2 The components shown. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the composition of a communication device 200 provided in an embodiment of this application. The communication device 200 can be a terminal device or a chip or system-on-a-chip within a terminal device; it can also be an access network device or a chip or system-on-a-chip within an access network device. For example... Figure 2 As shown, the communication device 200 includes a processor 201, a transceiver 202, and a communication line 203.

[0148] Furthermore, the communication device 200 may also include a memory 204. The processor 201, memory 204, and transceiver 202 can be connected via a communication line 203.

[0149] The processor 201 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device (PLD), or any combination thereof. The processor 201 can also be other devices with processing capabilities, such as circuits, devices, or software modules, without limitation.

[0150] Transceiver 202 is used to communicate with other devices or other communication networks. These other communication networks can be Ethernet, radio access network (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), etc. Transceiver 202 can be a module, circuit, transceiver, or any device capable of enabling communication.

[0151] Communication line 203 is used to transmit information between the components included in communication device 200.

[0152] Memory 204 is used to store instructions. These instructions can be computer programs.

[0153] The memory 204 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and / or instructions; it can also be a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and / or instructions; it can also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital universal optical discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, etc., without limitation.

[0154] It should be noted that the memory 204 can exist independently of the processor 201 or can be integrated with the processor 201. The memory 204 can be used to store instructions, program code, or some data, etc. The memory 204 can be located inside or outside the communication device 200, without limitation. The processor 201 is used to execute the instructions stored in the memory 204 to implement the communication method provided in the following embodiments of this application.

[0155] In one example, processor 201 may include one or more CPUs, for example Figure 2 CPU0 and CPU1 in the CPU.

[0156] As an optional implementation, the communication device 200 includes multiple processors, for example, besides Figure 2 In addition to processor 201, it may also include processor 207.

[0157] As an optional implementation, the communication device 200 also includes an output device 205 and an input device 206. For example, the input device 206 is a device such as a keyboard, mouse, microphone, or joystick, and the output device 205 is a device such as a display screen or speaker.

[0158] It should be noted that the communication device 200 can be a desktop computer, laptop computer, network server, mobile phone, tablet computer, wireless terminal, embedded device, chip system, or other device. Figure 2 Equipment with a similar structure. Furthermore... Figure 2 The structural composition shown does not constitute a limitation on the communication device, except... Figure 2 In addition to the components shown, the communication device may include more or fewer components than illustrated, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements.

[0159] In this embodiment of the application, the chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0160] Furthermore, the actions, terms, etc., involved in the various embodiments of this application can be referenced interchangeably without limitation. The message names or parameter names in the messages exchanged between the various devices in the embodiments of this application are merely examples, and other names may be used in specific implementations without limitation.

[0161] The following is combined with Figure 1a The communication system shown refers to the following Figure 3 The communication method provided in the embodiments of this application is described below, wherein the first access network device can be Figure 1a In the communication system shown, any access network device, the second access network device can be... Figure 1aIn the communication system shown, any access network device other than the first access network device can be a terminal device. Figure 1a Any terminal device in the communication system shown. The terminal devices and access network devices described in the following embodiments can all possess... Figure 2 The component shown.

[0162] Figure 3 A flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application is shown below. Figure 3 As shown, the method may include:

[0163] Step 301: The first access network device obtains the first energy efficiency.

[0164] The first energy efficiency (EE) can be determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device.

[0165] For example, the first energy efficiency can be used to indicate the performance of the first object in the second access network device within a certain energy consumption range.

[0166] For example, the energy consumption corresponding to the first object can be used to indicate the energy consumed by the first object, which can be expressed in joules.

[0167] For example, the first object may include one or more of the following: network slice, service, region.

[0168] The area can be a cell, site, tracking area (TA), or RAN-based notification area (RNA), or a specific, custom range, without restriction.

[0169] Among them, the site can be an access network device, and when the access network device is one of the above... Figure 1b When using the separate access network equipment shown, the site can be a CU, DU, CU-CP, or CU-UP, without restriction. TA or RNA can be a collection of one or more cells.

[0170] For example, the performance corresponding to the first object may include one or more of the following: data volume, latency, and number of terminal devices.

[0171] The data volume can indicate the uplink data volume, downlink data volume, or total data volume corresponding to the first object, and can be represented by bits or bytes, without restriction. The latency can indicate the uplink latency, downlink latency, or round-trip latency of the message corresponding to the first object, and can be represented by us, ms, s, etc., without restriction. The terminal device can be a terminal device that transmits data through the first object. The terminal device can be in one or more of the following states: RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED), RRC inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE), or RRC idle state (RRC_IDLE). The number of terminal devices can be one or more of the following: maximum number, average number, uplink number, downlink number, or total number.

[0172] The maximum number can be the maximum number of terminal devices transmitting data through the first object within a certain time period. The average number can be the average number of terminal devices transmitting data through the first object across multiple time periods. The uplink number can be the number of terminal devices transmitting uplink data through the first object within a certain time period. The downlink number can be the number of terminal devices transmitting downlink data through the first object within a certain time period. The total number can be the total number of terminal devices transmitting data through the first object within a certain time period.

[0173] Optionally, the performance of the first object also includes reliability.

[0174] For example, the reliability mentioned above can be an inverse function of the delay, i.e., reliability = 1 / delay.

[0175] It should be noted that the larger the amount of data, the higher the performance; the shorter the latency, the higher the performance; the more terminal devices, the higher the performance; and the greater the reliability, the higher the performance.

[0176] In one possible design, when the first object is a network slice, the first energy efficiency = network slice performance / network slice energy consumption.

[0177] The network slice energy consumption can be the energy consumed by the network slice in the second access network device. The network slice performance can be one or more of the following performance characteristics within the network slice energy consumption: the amount of data corresponding to the network slice, the latency corresponding to the network slice, the number of terminal devices corresponding to the network slice, and the reliability corresponding to the network slice.

[0178] In another possible design, when the first object is a business function, the first energy efficiency = business performance / business energy consumption.

[0179] Service energy consumption can be the energy consumed by the second access network device to transmit the service. Service performance can be one or more of the following performance characteristics within the service energy consumption range: data volume corresponding to the service, latency corresponding to the service, number of terminal devices corresponding to the service, and reliability corresponding to the service.

[0180] In another possible design, when the first object is a cell, the first energy efficiency = cell performance / cell energy consumption.

[0181] Cell energy consumption can be the energy consumed by the cell in the second access network equipment. Cell performance can be one or more of the following performance characteristics within the cell energy consumption range: data volume corresponding to the cell, latency corresponding to the cell, number of terminal devices corresponding to the cell, and reliability corresponding to the cell.

[0182] In another possible design, when the first object is a site, the first energy efficiency = site performance / site energy consumption.

[0183] Site energy consumption can be the energy consumed by the site in the second access network equipment. Site performance can be one or more of the following performance characteristics within the site energy consumption range: data volume corresponding to the site, latency corresponding to the site, number of terminal devices corresponding to the site, and reliability corresponding to the site.

[0184] In another possible design, when the first object is TA, the first energy efficiency = TA performance / TA energy consumption.

[0185] The TA energy consumption can be the energy consumed by the TA in the second access network device. The TA performance can be one or more of the following performance characteristics within the TA energy consumption: the data volume corresponding to the TA, the latency corresponding to the TA, the number of terminal devices corresponding to the TA, and the reliability corresponding to the TA.

[0186] In another possible design, when the first object is RNA, the first energy efficiency = RNA performance / RNA energy consumption.

[0187] The RNA energy consumption can be the energy consumed by the RNA in the second access network device. The RNA performance can be one or more of the following properties within the RNA energy consumption: the amount of data corresponding to the RNA, the latency corresponding to the RNA, the number of terminal devices corresponding to the RNA, and the reliability corresponding to the RNA.

[0188] Optionally, when the first access network device obtains the first energy efficiency, it also obtains the first identification information corresponding to the first energy efficiency.

[0189] The first identification information can be used to indicate the first object. The first access network device can determine the first object corresponding to the first energy efficiency based on the first identification information.

[0190] In one possible design, when the first object is a network slice, the first identification information can be S-NSSAI.

[0191] For example, taking network slices including network slice 1, network slice 2, and network slice 3, and the identification information of network slice 1 is S-NSSAI1, the identification information of network slice 2 is S-NSSAI2, and the identification information of network slice 3 is S-NSSAI3, assuming that the first energy efficiency EE and the first identification information S-NSSAI obtained by the first access network device are as shown in Table 2 below, then the first access network device can determine that the first energy efficiency EE1 corresponds to network slice 1 based on S-NSSAI1; it can determine that the first energy efficiency EE2 corresponds to network slice 2 based on S-NSSAI2; and it can determine that the first energy efficiency EE3 corresponds to network slice 3 based on S-NSSAI3.

[0192] Table 2

[0193] >S-NSSAI1 >>EE1 >S-NSSAI2 >>EE2 >S-NSSAI3 >>EE3

[0194] The S-NSSAI mentioned above can be any identifier that can distinguish network slices, such as numbers, letters, and / or characters, and is not restricted.

[0195] For example, taking a network slice in a communication system that includes network slice 1, network slice 2 and network slice 3 as an example, the S-NSSAI1 corresponding to network slice 1 can be 101, the S-NSSAI2 corresponding to network slice 2 can be 102, and the S-NSSAI3 corresponding to network slice 3 can be 103.

[0196] It should be noted that the aforementioned S-NSSAI can be pre-negotiated by the first access network device and the second access network device, or pre-negotiated by the core network device and the access network device, or pre-configured by the network control device, or pre-defined by the communication protocol, without any restrictions.

[0197] In another possible design, when the first object is a service, the first identification information can be a specific service type, or it can be identification information that can distinguish services, such as numbers, letters and / or characters, or it can be a 5G quality of service identifier (5QI), etc., without restriction.

[0198] Among them, 5QI can be used to represent the characteristics of 5G QoS (e.g., resource type, default priority, packet delay budget, false alarm rate, default maximum data burst traffic, default average window, etc.), that is, access node-specific parameters that control the QoS forwarding processing of QoS flow (e.g., scheduling weight, admission threshold, queue management threshold, link layer protocol configuration, etc.).

[0199] For example, taking services including eMBB service, URLLC service, MIoT service and V2X service as an example, assuming that the first energy efficiency EE and the first identification information obtained by the first access network device are as shown in Table 3 below, the first access network device can determine that the first energy efficiency EE1 corresponds to the eMBB service, the first energy efficiency EE2 corresponds to the URLLC service, the first energy efficiency EE3 corresponds to the MIoT service and the first energy efficiency EE4 corresponds to the V2X service according to Table 3.

[0200] Table 3

[0201]

[0202]

[0203] In another example, taking services including eMBB, URLLC, MIoT, and V2X, with the identifier information of eMBB as 1, URLLC as 2, MIoT as 3, and V2X as 4, assuming the first energy efficiency EE and first identifier information obtained by the first access network device are as shown in Table 4 below, then the first access network device can determine, based on Table 4, that the first energy efficiency EE1 corresponds to the eMBB service, the first energy efficiency EE2 corresponds to the URLLC service, the first energy efficiency EE3 corresponds to the MIoT service, and the first energy efficiency EE4 corresponds to the V2X service.

[0204] Table 4

[0205] ＞1 >>EE1 ＞2 >>EE2 ＞3 >>EE3 ＞4 >>EE4

[0206] It should be noted that the first identification information corresponding to each of the above services can be negotiated in advance by the first access network device and the second access network device, or by the core network device and the access network device, or by the network control device, or by the communication protocol, without any restrictions.

[0207] In another possible design, when the first object is a cell, the first identification information can be the New Radio Cell Global Identifier (NCGI), the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), or other identification information that can be used to distinguish cells, without restriction.

[0208] For example, taking a cell that includes cell 1, cell 2 and cell 3, and the identification information of cell 1 is NCGI1, the identification information of cell 2 is NCGI2 and the identification information of cell 3 is NCGI3, assuming that the first energy efficiency EE and the first identification information NCGI obtained by the first access network device are as shown in Table 5 below, then the first access network device can determine that the first energy efficiency EE1 corresponds to cell 1 based on NCGI1; it can determine that the first energy efficiency EE2 corresponds to cell 2 based on NCGI2; and it can determine that the first energy efficiency EE3 corresponds to cell 3 based on NCGI3.

[0209] Table 5

[0210] >NCGI1 >>EE1 >NCGI2 >>EE2 >NCGI3 >>EE3

[0211] In another possible design, when the first object is a TA, the first identification information can be a tracking area identity (TAI), or other identification information that can be used to distinguish the TA, without restriction.

[0212] For example, taking TA as including TA1, TA2 and TA3, and the identification information of TA1 is TAI1, the identification information of TA2 is TAI2 and the identification information of TA3 is TAI3, assuming that the first energy efficiency EE and the first identification information TAI obtained by the first access network device are as shown in Table 6 below, then the first access network device can determine that the first energy efficiency EE1 corresponds to TA1 according to TAI1; it can determine that the first energy efficiency EE2 corresponds to TA2 according to TAI2; and it can determine that the first energy efficiency EE3 corresponds to TA3 according to TAI3.

[0213] Table 6

[0214] >TAI1 >>EE1 >TAI2 >>EE2 >TAI3 >>EE3

[0215] In another possible design, when the first object is RNA, the first identification information can be identification information that can distinguish RNA, such as numbers, letters and / or characters, or other identification information that can be used to distinguish RNA, without limitation.

[0216] For example, taking RNA as including RNA1, RNA2, and RNA3, and the identification information of RNA1 is R1, the identification information of RNA2 is R2, and the identification information of RNA3 is R3, assuming that the first energy efficiency EE and the first identification information obtained by the first access network device are as shown in Table 7 below, then the first access network device can determine that the first energy efficiency EE1 corresponds to RNA1 according to R1, determine that the first energy efficiency EE2 corresponds to RNA2 according to R2, and determine that the first energy efficiency EE3 corresponds to RNA3 according to R3.

[0217] Table 7

[0218] ＞R1 >>EE1 ＞R2 >>EE2 ＞R3 >>EE3

[0219] It should be noted that the first identification information corresponding to each of the above RNAs can be pre-negotiated by the first access network device and the second access network device, or pre-negotiated by the core network device and the access network device, or pre-configured by the network control device, or pre-defined by the communication protocol, without any restrictions.

[0220] In another possible design, when the first object is a site, the first identification information can be identification information that can distinguish the site, such as numbers, letters and / or characters, or other identification information that can be used to distinguish the site, without limitation.

[0221] For example, the site identification information may be the next-generation radio access network node ID (NG-RAN Node ID), or the gNB CU identifier (gNB-CUID), or the gNB CU-CP identifier (gNB-CU-CP ID), or the gNB CU-UP identifier (gNB-CU-UP ID), or the gNBDU identifier (gNB-DU ID).

[0222] Optionally, the type of first energy efficiency may include energy efficiency statistics and / or target energy efficiency information.

[0223] Among them, energy efficiency statistics can refer to the statistical results of energy efficiency that have already occurred.

[0224] For example, the first energy efficiency can be the energy efficiency of the first object in the second access network device over the past 10 hours.

[0225] Among them, target energy efficiency information can refer to the energy efficiency result obtained after predicting the energy efficiency in the future, or it can be described as the energy efficiency result obtained after estimating the energy efficiency in the future, or it can be described as the energy efficiency in the future.

[0226] For example, the first energy efficiency can be the energy efficiency result obtained by predicting the energy efficiency of the first object in the second access network device in the next 10 hours.

[0227] For example, the second access network device can use AI / ML methods to input the current energy efficiency information into an ML model and obtain the output of the ML model, which is then used as the target energy efficiency information. For instance, the second access network device may have a pre-configured trained ML model (e.g., AlexNet). The second access network device inputs the current energy efficiency information of the first object into the ML model, which then outputs the future energy efficiency information of the first object, which is used as the target energy efficiency information.

[0228] Optionally, the target energy efficiency information may also include confidence level.

[0229] The confidence level can be used to indicate the credibility of target energy efficiency information. The confidence level characterizes the accuracy of predicting the energy efficiency information of the first object in the future.

[0230] For example, confidence levels can be expressed as percentages. For instance, the confidence level of target energy efficiency information can be expressed as 60%, 70%, 85%, etc. The higher the confidence level, the more reliable the target energy efficiency information.

[0231] In another example, confidence level can also be expressed as high, medium, or low to represent the credibility of the corresponding target energy efficiency information, without restriction.

[0232] Optionally, the first energy efficiency may also include first time and / or second time.

[0233] Among them, the first time can be used to indicate the time corresponding to the first energy efficiency, and the first time can also be called the analysis target time; the second time can be used to indicate the time when the second access network device generates the first energy efficiency.

[0234] For example, the first time may include the start time and / or the end time.

[0235] For example, taking the current time as 16:00 on December 11, 2020, and assuming that the start time of the first time is 08:00 on December 11, 2020, and the end time is 12:00 on December 11, 2020, then the first energy efficiency refers to the energy efficiency statistics information within the period from 08:00 to 12:00 on December 11, 2020.

[0236] For example, if the current time is 16:00 on December 11, 2020, and the start time of the first time is 17:00 on December 11, 2020, and the end time is 18:00 on December 11, 2020, then the first energy efficiency refers to the target energy efficiency information within the period from 17:00 to 18:00 on December 11, 2020.

[0237] For example, the second time can be a timestamp, which indicates the time when the first energy efficiency was generated.

[0238] For example, if the second time is 16:00 on December 11, 2020, it means that the first energy efficiency was generated by the second access network device at 16:00 on December 11, 2020.

[0239] Optionally, after receiving the first energy efficiency, the first access network device decides whether to use the first energy efficiency based on the second time included in the first energy efficiency.

[0240] For example, if the first access network device obtains the first energy efficiency 1 and the first energy efficiency 2 corresponding to the second access network device before 16:00 on December 11, 2020, and assuming that the first time corresponding to the first energy efficiency 1 and the first energy efficiency 2 is both 17:00-18:00 on December 11, 2020, then the first access network device can determine that the first energy efficiency 1 and the first energy efficiency 2 are both target energy efficiency information based on the first time. Assuming that the second time corresponding to the first energy efficiency 1 is 15:00 on December 11, 2020, and the second time corresponding to the first energy efficiency 2 is 15:50 on December 11, 2020, since the first energy efficiency 2 is the most recently generated by the second access network device compared to the first energy efficiency 1, it is more accurate. Therefore, the first access network device can determine to use the first energy efficiency 2 from the obtained first energy efficiency 1 and the first energy efficiency 2, thereby improving the accuracy of the first energy efficiency.

[0241] In one possible design, the first access network device receives the first energy efficiency signal sent by the second access network device.

[0242] When there is a direct communication interface (e.g., Xn interface) between the first access network device and the second access network device, the first access network device can directly receive the first energy efficiency signal sent by the second access network device.

[0243] For example, when the first access network device is a base station, CU or CU-CP, and the second access network device is a base station, CU or CU-CP, the first access network device can receive the first energy efficiency sent by the second access network device based on the Xn interface.

[0244] In another example, when the first access network device is a CU, DU, CU-UP, or CU-CP, and the second access network device is a CU, CU-CP, DU, or CU-UP, the first access network device can be directly based on the above. Figure 1b The interface shown receives the first energy efficiency related to the second access network device from the second access network device.

[0245] In another possible design, the first access network device receives the first energy efficiency signal from the second access network device sent by the relay access network device.

[0246] Among them, relay access network equipment can be Figure 1a or Figure 1b In the communication system shown, there is an access network device that can communicate with both the first access network device and the second access network device simultaneously.

[0247] For example, taking the first access network device as DU1 or CU-UP1, the second access network device as DU2 or CU-UP2, and the trunk access network device as CU or CU-CP, the trunk access network device can be configured as described above. Figure 1b The interface shown receives the first energy efficiency signal sent by the second access network device and forwards the first energy efficiency signal to the first access network device.

[0248] In another possible design, the first access network device receives the first energy efficiency signal from the second access network device sent by the core network device.

[0249] For example, taking the first access network device as a base station, CU, or CU-CP, and the second access network device as a base station, CU, or CU-CP, when there is no direct communication interface between the first access network device and the second access network device, the second access network device can send the first energy efficiency to the core network device, and the core network device can then send the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0250] In another possible design, the first access network device receives the first energy efficiency rating from the second access network device sent by the network control device.

[0251] For example, the second access network device can send the first energy efficiency to the network control device, which then sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0252] In another possible design, the first access network device obtains the first energy efficiency from the second access network device from the network control device.

[0253] For example, the network control device obtains a first energy efficiency from the second access network device, and then the first access network device obtains the first energy efficiency from the second access network device from the network control device.

[0254] Optionally, when the aforementioned access network devices communicate directly with each other, information can be sent based on the existing protocol stack.

[0255] For example, the above information can be carried in the Xn application protocol (XnAP).

[0256] Alternatively, access network devices can use a new protocol stack to send information with each other.

[0257] For example, access network device 1 and access network device 2 can use, as follows: Figure 4 The protocol stack shown transmits information and may include a High Data Analytics Protocol Type B (HDAPb) layer, an Xn application protocol layer, a Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) layer, an IP layer, an L2 layer, and an L1 layer. The HDAPb protocol supports data transmission between access network devices (e.g., data segmentation and sorting) and data security functions (e.g., data integrity protection, data encryption, and data decryption). The HDAPb protocol can use services provided by the Xn application protocol; that is, HDAPb messages are carried within XnAP messages.

[0258] Optionally, when the access network device is a DU, CU, or CU-CP, the DU and CU / CU-CP send information based on the existing protocol stack. For example, this information is carried in an F1 application protocol (F1AP) message.

[0259] Alternatively, a new protocol stack can be used to send information between DU and CU / CU-CP.

[0260] For example, DU and CU / CU-CP can use, as Figure 5 The protocol stack shown transmits information and may include a High Data Analytics Protocol Type C (HDAPc) layer, an F1AP layer, an SCTP layer, an IP layer, an L2 layer, and an L1 layer. The HDAPc protocol supports data transmission (such as data segmentation and sorting) and data security (such as data integrity protection, data encryption, and data decryption) between the DU and CU / CU-CP. The HDAPc protocol can use services provided by the F1 application protocol; that is, HDAPc messages can be carried within F1AP messages.

[0261] It should be noted that the first access network device can obtain the first energy efficiency determined by the second access network device based on the above description. The first access network device can also obtain the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device based on the above description, and determine the first energy efficiency based on the performance and energy consumption, without limitation.

[0262] Step 302: The first access network device performs energy-saving operation according to the first energy efficiency standard.

[0263] For example, energy-saving operations may include one or more of the following: radio frequency channel shutdown, carrier frequency shutdown, symbol shutdown, and cell shutdown.

[0264] Specifically, radio frequency channel shutdown refers to the access network equipment shutting down some or all of the cell's transmission channels when there is no service or low service load within a certain period of time, in order to save energy. Carrier frequency shutdown refers to the access network equipment migrating terminal devices to a target carrier frequency with sufficient load and then shutting down the current carrier frequency when the number of terminal devices on that carrier frequency is small, in order to save energy. Symbol shutdown refers to the access network equipment shutting down the power amplifier during the symbol periods when it detects no data transmission on certain symbols of a subframe, in order to save energy. Cell shutdown refers to the access network equipment migrating terminal devices within the cell to a target cell with sufficient load and then shutting down the current cell when there is no service or low service load within a certain period of time, in order to save energy.

[0265] It should be noted that the above-mentioned energy-saving operations can also be other operations that can be used to reduce energy consumption, and there are no restrictions.

[0266] Optionally, based on the above-mentioned energy-saving operation, the first access network device may switch some or all of the terminal devices corresponding to the first object to the second access network device.

[0267] For example, taking the first energy efficiency as the target energy efficiency information, when the first energy efficiency is greater than or equal to the second energy efficiency, the first access network device can switch some or all of the terminal devices corresponding to the first object in the first access network device to the second access network device, so that there is no need to allocate scheduling resources for the terminal devices switched to the second access network device, and the power amplifiers related to the terminal devices switched to the second access network device during the symbol period are turned off, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the first access network device.

[0268] The second energy efficiency can be determined by the first access network device based on the communication performance and energy consumption of the first object in the first access network device.

[0269] It should be noted that the specific description of the second energy efficiency rating can refer to the description of the first energy efficiency rating above, and will not be repeated here.

[0270] Optionally, when the first access network device obtains energy efficiency statistics, it can use an AI / ML method to input the current energy efficiency statistics into an ML model and determine the output of the ML model as the target energy efficiency information. For example, the first access network device may have a pre-configured trained ML model (e.g., AlexNet). The first access network device can input the current energy efficiency statistics of the first object into the ML model, and the ML model can then output the future energy efficiency information of the first object as the target energy efficiency information.

[0271] Based on the above Figure 3 The method shown allows the first access network device to effectively reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system by performing energy-saving operations based on the acquired first energy efficiency.

[0272] Furthermore, based on the above Figure 3 The method shown is as follows: Figure 6 As shown, before obtaining the first energy efficiency information, the first access network device may also perform the following step 301a.

[0273] Step 301a: The first access network device sends the first request information.

[0274] The first request information can be used to request the first energy efficiency of the second access network device.

[0275] For example, the first request information may include one or more of the following: identification information of the first object, type of the first energy efficiency, information of the first time, acquisition time corresponding to the first energy efficiency, periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency, and expected accuracy corresponding to the first energy efficiency.

[0276] The identification information of the first object can be used to indicate the first object corresponding to the first energy efficiency that the first access network device expects to obtain. It should be noted that the identification information of the first object can also be described as the first identification information mentioned above.

[0277] For example, the identification information of the first object can be one or more of the following: network slice identification information, service identification information, cell identification information, site identification information, TA identification information, RNA identification information, etc., without limitation.

[0278] It should be noted that when the first request information does not include the bit corresponding to the identification information of the first object, or when the first request information includes the bit corresponding to the identification information of the first object but the bit is empty, the first object can be assumed to be the site.

[0279] The type of the first energy efficiency can be used to indicate the type of the first energy efficiency that the first access network device expects to obtain. The type of the first energy efficiency may include energy efficiency statistics and / or target energy efficiency information.

[0280] For example, if 00 indicates that the type of the first energy efficiency is energy efficiency statistics, 01 indicates that the type of the first energy efficiency is target energy efficiency information, and 10 indicates that the type of the first energy efficiency is both energy efficiency statistics and target energy efficiency information, the first access network device can indicate that it expects to obtain the first energy efficiency of type energy efficiency statistics by carrying 00 in the first request information; indicate that it expects to obtain the first energy efficiency of type target energy efficiency information by carrying 01 in the first request information; and indicate that it expects to obtain the first energy efficiency of type energy efficiency statistics and target energy efficiency information by carrying 10 in the first request information.

[0281] The information at the first moment can be used to instruct the first access network device to expect to obtain the first energy efficiency corresponding to the first moment.

[0282] For example, the information of the first time may include the start time and / or end time of the first time. The description of the first time can refer to the description of the first time in step 301, and will not be repeated here.

[0283] The acquisition time corresponding to the first energy efficiency can be used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the first energy efficiency.

[0284] Optionally, if the second access network device cannot send the first energy efficiency signal to the first access network device within that time period, the second access network device sends an error response to the first access network device to indicate that it is unable to send the first energy efficiency signal. This error response can also be referred to as a failure response.

[0285] The periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency can be used to indicate whether the second access network device periodically sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0286] For example, taking the first access network device as an example of using 1 bit to indicate periodic indication information, the first access network device can set the 1 bit to 1 to instruct the second access network device to periodically feed back the first energy efficiency to the first access network device, and set the 1 bit to 0 to instruct the second access network device not to periodically feed back the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0287] Optionally, when the periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency is used to instruct the second access network device to periodically send the first energy efficiency to the first access network device, the periodic indication information may also include the periodic time.

[0288] The periodic time can be the time interval at which the second access network device periodically sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device; or the periodic time can be multiple time points at which the second access network device periodically sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device, etc., without limitation.

[0289] Furthermore, the periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency can be used to indicate whether the second access network device periodically sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device at different times.

[0290] For example, taking the periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency as an example, to instruct the second access network device to periodically send the first energy efficiency of the past hour to the first access network device according to the periodic time, assuming the periodic time is 20 minutes, the second access network device can send the first energy efficiency of the past hour to the first access network device every 20 minutes. For example, taking the current time as 15:00 on December 11, 2020, the second access network device can send the first energy efficiency of the past hour to the first access network device every 20 minutes. At 15:00 on December 11, the first energy efficiency score for the period from 14:00 to 15:00 on December 11, 2020 was sent to the first access network device. At 15:20 on December 11, 2020, the first energy efficiency score for the period from 14:20 to 15:20 on December 11, 2020 was sent to the first access network device. At 15:40 on December 11, 2020, the first energy efficiency score for the period from 14:40 to 15:40 on December 11, 2020 was sent to the first access network device.

[0291] The expected accuracy corresponding to the first energy efficiency can be used to indicate the accuracy of the first energy efficiency that the first access network device expects to obtain, for example, low or high.

[0292] Specifically, if the expected accuracy corresponding to the first energy efficiency indicated by the first access network device is high, the second access network device can use an ML model that can produce higher accuracy for calculation.

[0293] Optionally, the first access network device sends a first request message when the energy consumption of the first object in the first access network device is lower than a first threshold, or when the energy consumption is higher than a second threshold, or when the second energy efficiency is lower than a third threshold.

[0294] The first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold can be predefined by the communication protocol, preconfigured by the network control device, or customized by the first access network device, and are not restricted.

[0295] It should be noted that, based on step 301 above, when the first access network device and the second access network device can communicate directly, such as... Figure 7a As shown, the first access network device and the second access network device can perform the following operations. Figure 7a The steps are shown.

[0296] Figure 7a A communication method provided in this application embodiment may include:

[0297] Step 701a: The first access network device sends a first request message to the second access network device.

[0298] For a detailed description of step 701a, please refer to step 301a above, which will not be repeated here.

[0299] Step 702a: The second access network device sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0300] For a detailed description of step 702a, please refer to step 301 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0301] Step 703a: The first access network device performs energy-saving operation according to the first energy efficiency standard.

[0302] For a detailed description of step 703a, please refer to step 302 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0303] When the first access network device communicates with the second access network device through a relay access network device, such as Figure 7b As shown, the first access network device, the relay access network device, and the second access network device can perform the following operations. Figure 7b The steps are shown.

[0304] Figure 7b A communication method provided in this application embodiment may include:

[0305] Step 701b: The first access network device sends a first request message to the relay access network device.

[0306] Step 702b: The relay access network device sends a first request message to the second access network device.

[0307] Specifically, the detailed description of the first request information can be found in step 301a above, and will not be repeated here.

[0308] Step 703b: The second access network device sends the first energy efficiency to the relay access network device.

[0309] Step 704b: The relay access network device sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0310] For a detailed description of steps 703b and 704b, please refer to step 301 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0311] Step 705b: The first access network device performs energy-saving operation according to the first energy efficiency standard.

[0312] For a detailed description of step 705b, please refer to step 302 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0313] When the first access network device communicates with the second access network device through the core network device, such as Figure 7c As shown, the first access network device, the core network device, and the second access network device can perform the following operations. Figure 7c The steps are shown.

[0314] Figure 7c A communication method provided in this application embodiment may include:

[0315] Step 701c: The first access network device sends a first request message to the core network device.

[0316] Step 702c: The core network device sends a first request message to the second access network device.

[0317] Specifically, the detailed description of the first request information can be found in step 301a above, and will not be repeated here.

[0318] Step 703c: The second access network device sends the first energy efficiency to the core network device.

[0319] Step 704c: The core network device sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0320] For a detailed description of steps 703c and 704c, please refer to step 301 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0321] Step 705c: The first access network device performs energy-saving operation according to the first energy efficiency standard.

[0322] For a detailed description of step 705c, please refer to step 302 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0323] Corresponding to the above Figures 3 to 7c The first access network device shown performs energy-saving operation according to the first energy efficiency standard, such as... Figure 8 As shown, the first access network device can also perform energy-saving operations based on the communication information of the terminal device.

[0324] Figure 8 A communication method provided in the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 8 As shown, the method may include:

[0325] Step 801: The terminal device sends communication information to the first access network device.

[0326] Among them, the communication information is used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device communicating with the first object.

[0327] Specifically, the description of the first object can refer to the description of the first object in step 301 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0328] For example, communication information may include one or more of the following: communication period, data volume, periodic communication indication, and burst communication indication.

[0329] The communication time period is used to indicate the time period during which the communication information occurred.

[0330] For example, a communication period may include a start time and a duration, or a communication period may include a start time and an end time, or a communication period may include a duration and an end time, etc., without limitation.

[0331] The start time indicates the beginning time of the communication, the duration indicates the length of the communication, and the end time indicates the end time of the communication.

[0332] Among them, data volume can be used to indicate the amount of uplink data and / or downlink data when the terminal device communicates.

[0333] Among them, the periodic communication indicator can be used to indicate whether the communication corresponding to the communication information is periodic.

[0334] Furthermore, if the communication is periodic, the periodic communication indicator can also be used to indicate at least one of the following: the communication interval, the amount of uplink data, and the amount of downlink data. For example, the communication interval for periodic communication can be in hours, without limitation.

[0335] The burst communication indicator can be used to indicate whether the communication corresponding to the communication information is bursty. If it is bursty, the burst communication indicator can also be used to indicate at least one of the burst communication time, the uplink data volume of the burst communication, and the downlink data volume of the burst communication.

[0336] Optionally, when the first access network device obtains the communication information of the terminal device, it also obtains the first identification information corresponding to the communication information.

[0337] The first identification information can be used to indicate a first object. The first access network device can determine the first object corresponding to the communication information based on the first identification information.

[0338] Specifically, the detailed description of the first identification information and the correspondence between the first identification information and the communication information can be referred to in step 301 above, as well as the relevant description of the correspondence between the first identification information and the first energy efficiency, and will not be repeated here.

[0339] Optionally, the types of communication information may include communication statistics and / or target communication information.

[0340] Among them, communication statistics can refer to the statistical results of communication information that has already occurred.

[0341] For example, the communication information could be the communication information of the first object in the terminal device within the past 10 hours.

[0342] The target communication information can refer to the communication information obtained by predicting communication in the future, or it can be described as the communication information obtained by estimating communication in the future, or it can be described as the communication information in the future.

[0343] For example, communication information can be obtained by predicting the communication of the first object in the terminal device within the next 10 hours.

[0344] For example, a terminal device can use AI / ML methods to input current communication information into an ML model and obtain the output of the ML model, then determine the output of the ML model as the target communication information. For instance, the terminal device may have a pre-configured trained ML model (e.g., AlexNet). The terminal device inputs the current communication information of the first object into the ML model, and the ML model can then output the future communication information of the first object as the target communication information.

[0345] Optionally, the target communication information may also include confidence levels.

[0346] The confidence level can be used to indicate the credibility of the target communication information. The confidence level characterizes the accuracy of predicting the communication information of the first object in the future.

[0347] For example, confidence level can be expressed as a percentage. For instance, the confidence level of the target communication information can be expressed as 60%, 70%, 85%, etc. The higher the confidence level value, the more reliable the target communication information is.

[0348] In another example, confidence level can also be expressed as high, medium, or low to represent the credibility of the corresponding target communication information, without restriction.

[0349] Optionally, the communication information may also include a third and / or fourth time.

[0350] The third time can be used to indicate the time corresponding to the communication information, and the third time can also be called the analysis target time; the fourth time can be used to indicate the time when the terminal device generates the communication information.

[0351] For example, the third time may include a start time and / or an end time.

[0352] For example, if the current time is 16:00 on December 11, 2020, and the start time of the third time is 08:00 on December 11, 2020, and the end time is 12:00 on December 11, 2020, then the communication information is the communication statistics information within 08:00-12:00 on December 11, 2020.

[0353] For example, if the current time is 16:00 on December 11, 2020, and the start time of the third time is 17:00 on December 11, 2020, and the end time is 18:00 on December 11, 2020, then the communication information is the target communication information within 17:00-18:00 on December 11, 2020.

[0354] For example, the fourth time can be a timestamp.

[0355] For example, if the fourth time is 16:00 on December 11, 2020, it means that the communication information was generated by the terminal device at 16:00 on December 11, 2020.

[0356] Optionally, after receiving the communication information, the first access network device decides whether to use the communication information based on the fourth time included in the communication information.

[0357] For example, if the first access network device obtains communication information 1 and communication information 2 corresponding to the terminal device before 16:00 on December 11, 2020, and assuming that the third time corresponding to communication information 1 and communication information 2 is 17:00-18:00 on December 11, 2020, then the first access network device can determine that communication information 1 and communication information 2 are both target communication information based on the third time. Assuming that the fourth time corresponding to communication information 1 is 15:00 on December 11, 2020, and the fourth time corresponding to communication information 2 is 15:50 on December 11, 2020, since communication information 2 is the most recently generated by the terminal device and has higher accuracy compared to communication information 1, the first access network device can determine to use communication information 2 from the obtained communication information 1 and communication information 2, thereby improving the accuracy of the communication information.

[0358] It should be noted that when the first access network device can communicate directly with the terminal device, the first access network device can receive communication information sent by the terminal device.

[0359] For example, taking the first access network device as a base station, CU, or CU-CP, the terminal device can directly send communication information to the first access network device.

[0360] Alternatively, when the terminal device communicates with the first access network device through the relay access network device, the terminal device sends its communication information to the first access network device through the relay access network device.

[0361] Among them, relay access network equipment can be Figure 1a or Figure 1b In the communication system shown, the access network device can communicate with both the first access network device and the terminal device simultaneously.

[0362] For example, with the first access network device as DU or CU-UP, the terminal device can send communication information to the CU or CU-CP (i.e., the relay access network device) connected to the first access network device, and the CU or CU-CP will send the communication information to the first access network device through the F1 interface or E1 interface.

[0363] Optionally, the aforementioned terminal devices and access network devices may send relevant information based on the existing protocol stack.

[0364] For example, this relevant information is carried in an RRC message.

[0365] Alternatively, terminal devices and access network devices can send the aforementioned information based on a new protocol stack.

[0366] For example, the terminal device and the access network device can use a dedicated protocol (such as the data analytics protocol (DAP)) to send the above-mentioned relevant information to achieve functions such as information segmentation, sorting, integrity protection, encryption and decryption.

[0367] For example, terminal equipment and access network equipment can use, for example, Figure 9 The protocol stack shown transmits relevant information and may include the DAP layer, PDCP layer, RLC layer, MAC layer, and PHY layer. The PDCP layer is associated with a dedicated radio bearer (such as a computing radio bearer, CRB) to achieve ordered transmission, encryption / decryption, and duplicate detection of the aforementioned information. The DAP, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY layers all belong to the access stratum (AS) layer.

[0368] The CRB and its functions are described below:

[0369] PDCP can establish a radio bearer (CRB) for transmitting computational data. It's important to understand that this is merely an example name and does not impose any specific limitations on the naming of this radio bearer. The packet size and Quality of Service (QoS) level of the CRB transmission can be adapted to the computational data.

[0370] For example, the CRB can use a different logical channel identifier (LCID) than the SRB / DRB. For instance, the CRB can use a reserved LCID value from the downlink-shared channel (DL-SCH) / uplink-shared channel (UL-SCH) in the 3GPP standard.

[0371] The QoS characteristics of a CRB can also differ from those of an SRB / DRB. For example, the QoS level of a CRB can be lower than that of an SRB / DRB. Another example is that an SRB does not have a packet delay budget (PDB), while a CRB may have a PDB, and so on.

[0372] CRBs transmit different information than SRBs / DRBs. For example, SRBs carry signaling information, DRBs carry user application layer data from terminal devices and data networks, and CRBs carry computational data within the wireless network, such as data associated with machine learning tasks. Also, SRBs carry smaller amounts of data, while CRBs may have no data size limit. Furthermore, SRBs may transmit information related to terminal device billing, while CRBs may not.

[0373] Furthermore, if the data transmitted via CRB is computational data from access network devices, the data transmission via CRB can be terminated by the access network devices. This means the computational data transmitted via CRB does not need to be transmitted back to the core network devices. Compared to transmitting computational data via DRB, the transmission path is shorter when transmitting computational data via CRB, thus reducing transmission latency. Moreover, transmitting computational data via CRB has no impact on the billing of terminal devices.

[0374] For example, the PDCP layer may include sublayers for implementing functions such as data transmission of computational data, encryption and decryption of computational data, and repeatability detection. For ease of description, the sublayer of the PDCP layer that supports functions such as data transmission of computational data, encryption and decryption of computational data, and repeatability detection may be referred to as the "PDCP-CRB" sublayer.

[0375] Step 802: The first access network device performs energy-saving operation based on communication information.

[0376] For a detailed description of the energy-saving operation, please refer to the detailed description of the energy-saving operation in step 302 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0377] Optionally, the first access network device may switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the aforementioned energy-saving operation.

[0378] For example, the first access network device can determine whether to switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the communication information sent by the terminal device.

[0379] When the first access network device switches the terminal device to the second access network device, there are no related services for the terminal device in the first access network device. Therefore, there is no need to allocate resources for the terminal device. The power amplifiers of the symbol period, the power amplifiers of the cell radio frequency channel, or the power amplifiers of the cell carrier associated with the terminal device are turned off, thereby reducing the power consumption of the first access network device.

[0380] Optionally, when the first access network device acquires communication statistics, it can use AI / ML methods to input the current communication statistics into an ML model and determine the output of the ML model as the target communication information. For example, the first access network device may have a pre-configured trained ML model (e.g., AlexNet). The first access network device can input the current communication statistics of the first object into the ML model, and the ML model can then output the future communication information of the first object as the target communication information.

[0381] Furthermore, the first access network device can also perform the above-mentioned energy-saving operations based on communication information, such as cell coverage quality and target cell load, in order to reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0382] Based on the above Figure 8 The method shown allows the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the communication information obtained from the terminal devices, thereby effectively reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system while ensuring the performance of the terminal devices.

[0383] Furthermore, based on the above Figure 8 In the method shown, before the terminal device sends communication information to the first access network device, the first access network device may also perform the following step 801a.

[0384] Step 801a: The first access network device sends a second request message to the terminal device.

[0385] The second request information can be used to request communication information corresponding to the terminal device.

[0386] For example, the second request information may include one or more of the following: identification information of the first object, type of communication information, third time information, acquisition time corresponding to the communication information, periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information, and expected accuracy corresponding to the communication information.

[0387] The identification information of the first object can be used to indicate the first object corresponding to the communication information that the first access network device expects to obtain. It should be noted that the identification information of the first object can also be described as the first identification information mentioned above.

[0388] For example, the identification information of the first object can be one or more of the following: network slice identification information, service identification information, cell identification information, site identification information, TA identification information, RNA identification information, etc., without limitation.

[0389] It should be noted that when the second request information does not include the bit corresponding to the identification information of the first object, or when the second request information includes the bit corresponding to the identification information of the first object but the bit is empty, it can be assumed that the second request information is used to request the sum of communication information in all the first objects.

[0390] The type of communication information can be used to indicate the type of communication information that the first access network device expects to obtain, and the type of communication information may include communication statistics and / or target communication information.

[0391] For example, using 00 to indicate that the type of communication information is communication statistics information, 01 to indicate that the type of communication information is target communication information, and 10 to indicate that the type of communication information is both communication statistics information and target communication information, the first access network device can indicate that it expects to obtain communication information of type communication statistics information by including 00 in the second request information; by including 01 in the second request information to indicate that it expects to obtain communication information of type target communication information; and by including 10 in the second request information to indicate that it expects to obtain communication information of type communication statistics information and target communication information.

[0392] The information at the third time can be used to instruct the first access network device to expect to obtain the communication information corresponding to the third time.

[0393] For example, the information of the third time may include the start time and / or end time of the third time. The description of the third time can refer to the description of the third time in step 801, and will not be repeated here.

[0394] The acquisition time corresponding to the communication information can be used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the communication information.

[0395] Optionally, if the terminal device cannot send communication information to the first access network device within that time, the terminal device sends an error response to the first access network device to indicate that the terminal device is unable to send communication information to the first access network device. This error response can also be called a failure response.

[0396] Among them, the periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information can be used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends communication information to the first access network device.

[0397] For example, taking the first access network device as an example of using 1 bit to indicate periodic indication information, the first access network device can set this 1 bit to 1 to instruct the terminal device to periodically feed back communication information to the first access network device, and set this 1 bit to 0 to instruct the terminal device not to periodically feed back communication information to the first access network device.

[0398] Optionally, when the periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information is used to instruct the terminal device to periodically send communication information to the first access network device, the periodic indication information may also include the periodic time.

[0399] The periodic time can be the time interval at which the terminal device periodically sends communication information to the first access network device; or the periodic time can be multiple time points at which the terminal device periodically sends communication information to the first access network device, etc., without limitation.

[0400] Furthermore, the periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information can be used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends communication information at different times to the first access network device.

[0401] For example, taking the periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information as an example, which instructs the terminal device to periodically send the communication information of the past hour to the first access network device according to the periodic time, assuming the periodic time is 20 minutes, the terminal device can send the communication information of the past hour to the first access network device every 20 minutes. For example, taking the current time as 15:00 on December 11, 2020, the terminal device can send the communication information of the period from 14:00 to 15:00 on December 11, 2020 to the first access network device at 15:00 on December 11, 2020, send the communication information of the period from 14:20 to 15:20 on December 11, 2020 to the first access network device at 15:20 on December 11, 2020, send the communication information of the period from 14:20 to 15:20 on December 11, 2020 to the first access network device at 15:40 on December 11, 2020.

[0402] The expected accuracy of the communication information can be used to indicate the accuracy of the communication information that the first access network device expects to obtain, for example, low or high.

[0403] Specifically, if the expected accuracy of the communication information indicated by the first access network device is high, the terminal device can use an ML model that can produce higher accuracy for calculation.

[0404] It should be noted that, based on step 801 above, when the first access network device and the terminal device can communicate directly, the first access network device can send a second request message to the terminal device using step 801a above, and receive communication information sent by the terminal device, and perform energy-saving operations according to the communication information. When the first access network device communicates with the terminal device through a relay access network device, the first access network device can send the second request message to the relay access network device, which then sends the second request message to the terminal device. When the terminal device receives the second request message, it can send the communication information to the relay access network device, which then sends the communication information to the first access network device, and the first access network device performs energy-saving operations according to the communication information.

[0405] Based on the above Figure 8 As shown in the method, after the first access network device switches the terminal device to the second access network device, such as Figure 8 As shown, the first access network device, the second access network device, and the terminal device can also perform the following steps 803 and 804.

[0406] Step 803: The terminal device sends the communication measurement results to the second access network device.

[0407] Among them, the communication measurement results can be used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device after it is connected to the second access network device.

[0408] For example, the communication measurement result can be the communication statistics information corresponding to the terminal device after it connects to the second access network device. The description of the communication statistics information can refer to the relevant description of the communication statistics information in step 801 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0409] Step 804: The second access network device sends the communication measurement results to the first access network device.

[0410] After receiving the communication measurement result corresponding to the terminal device, the first access network device can compare the communication information of the terminal device in the first access network device with the communication measurement result. Based on the comparison result, the first access network device adjusts the strategy corresponding to the communication information when switching the terminal device to the second access network device. For example, the strategy may be the weight corresponding to the communication information.

[0411] For example, taking the first access network device determining whether to switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the terminal device's communication information, cell coverage quality, and target cell load as an example, when the first access network device receives the communication measurement result corresponding to the terminal device, if the difference between the communication information corresponding to the terminal device in the first access network device and the communication measurement result is greater than a certain threshold, the first access network device can reduce the weight of the communication information when subsequently determining whether to switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the terminal device's communication information, cell coverage quality, and target cell load; conversely, it can increase the weight of the communication information.

[0412] Based on step 803 above, after the terminal device switches to the second access network device and before sending the communication measurement results to the second access network device, the first access network device may also perform the following step 803a.

[0413] Step 803a: The first access network device sends a third request message to the second access network device.

[0414] The third request information is used to request the communication measurement results of the terminal device.

[0415] Specifically, after receiving the third request information, the terminal device sends the communication measurement results to the second access network device based on the third request information.

[0416] Based on step 803a above, after the terminal device switches to the second access network device and before sending the communication measurement results to the second access network device, the first access network device and the second access network device can also perform the following step 803b.

[0417] Step 803b: The second access network device sends a third request message to the terminal device.

[0418] Based on the above Figure 8 The method shown allows the first access network device to reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system while ensuring the performance of the terminal device by comparing the communication information of the terminal device with the communication measurement results of the terminal device and adjusting the energy-saving operation according to the comparison results.

[0419] Corresponding to the above Figures 3 to 8 The communication method described above, the first access network device may also employ the following: Figure 10 The method shown performs energy-saving operations based on the trajectory information of the terminal device.

[0420] Figure 10 A communication method provided in the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 10 As shown, the method may include:

[0421] Step 1001: The terminal device sends the terminal device's movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

[0422] For example, movement trajectory information may include one or more of the following: position, direction, speed, and acceleration.

[0423] Location can be used to indicate the location information of the terminal device.

[0424] For example, the location can be a specific physical location, such as the latitude and longitude of the terminal device, which can be obtained through a satellite navigation system. Alternatively, the location can be a cell visited by the terminal device, where a visited cell can refer to a cell accessed by the terminal device in RRC connected state (RRC_CONNECTED), and / or a cell reselected by the terminal device in RRC idle state (RRC_IDLE), and / or RRC inactive state (RRC_INACTIVE). This cell can be uniquely identified using NCGI, or uniquely identified using a physical cell identifier (PCI) and carrier frequency.

[0425] Optionally, the location may also include the duration of the terminal device’s stay at the location represented by the specific latitude and longitude, or the duration of the terminal device’s stay in the cell.

[0426] The direction can be used to indicate the direction of movement of the terminal device. For example, it can be used to indicate the angle of the terminal device relative to the horizontal direction, and / or to indicate the angle of the terminal device relative to the vertical direction.

[0427] Speed ​​can be used to indicate how fast the terminal device is moving; for example, the speed can be 40 km / h.

[0428] Optionally, the types of movement trajectory information may include movement trajectory statistics and / or target movement trajectory information.

[0429] Among them, the mobile trajectory statistics information can refer to the statistical results of the mobile trajectory of the terminal device that has already occurred.

[0430] For example, the movement trajectory information can be the movement trajectory of the terminal device in the past 10 hours.

[0431] The target movement trajectory information can refer to the movement trajectory result obtained after predicting the movement trajectory of the terminal device in the future, or it can be described as the movement trajectory result obtained after estimating the movement trajectory of the terminal device in the future, or it can be described as the movement trajectory result in the future.

[0432] For example, target movement trajectory information can be the movement trajectory result obtained by predicting the movement trajectory of the terminal device in the next 10 hours.

[0433] For example, a terminal device can use AI / ML methods to input the current movement trajectory into an ML model and obtain the output of the ML model, which can then be used as the target movement trajectory information. For instance, the terminal device may have a pre-configured, trained ML model (e.g., AlexNet). By inputting the current movement trajectory into this ML model, the terminal device can output the future movement trajectory result, which can then be used as the target movement trajectory information.

[0434] Optionally, the target movement trajectory information may also include confidence level.

[0435] The confidence level can be used to indicate the reliability of the target's movement trajectory information. The confidence level characterizes the accuracy of predicting the movement trajectory information within the predicted future time frame.

[0436] For example, confidence level can be expressed as a percentage. For instance, the confidence level of target movement trajectory information can be expressed as 60%, 70%, 85%, etc. The higher the confidence level, the more reliable the target movement trajectory information.

[0437] In another example, confidence level can also be expressed as high, medium, or low to represent the credibility of the corresponding target movement trajectory information, without restriction.

[0438] Optionally, the movement trajectory information may also include a fifth time and / or a sixth time.

[0439] The fifth time can be used to indicate the time corresponding to the movement trajectory information, and the fifth time can also be called the analysis target time; the sixth time can be used to indicate the time when the terminal device generates the movement trajectory information.

[0440] For example, the fifth time may include a start time and / or an end time.

[0441] For example, if the current time is 16:00 on December 11, 2020, and the start time of the fifth time is 08:00 on December 11, 2020, and the end time is 12:00 on December 11, 2020, then the movement trajectory information is the movement trajectory statistics information within 08:00-12:00 on December 11, 2020.

[0442] For example, if the current time is 16:00 on December 11, 2020, and the start time of the fifth time is 17:00 on December 11, 2020, and the end time is 18:00 on December 11, 2020, then the movement trajectory information is the target movement trajectory information within 17:00-18:00 on December 11, 2020.

[0443] For example, the sixth time can be a timestamp.

[0444] For example, if the sixth time is 16:00 on December 11, 2020, it means that the movement trajectory information was generated by the terminal device at 16:00 on December 11, 2020.

[0445] Optionally, after receiving the movement trajectory information, the first access network device decides whether to use the movement trajectory information based on the sixth time included in the movement trajectory information.

[0446] For example, if the first access network device obtains mobile trajectory information 1 and mobile trajectory information 2 corresponding to the terminal device before 16:00 on December 11, 2020, and assuming that the fifth time corresponding to both mobile trajectory information 1 and mobile trajectory information 2 is 17:00-18:00 on December 11, 2020, then the first access network device can determine that both mobile trajectory information 1 and mobile trajectory information 2 are target mobile trajectory information based on the fifth time. Assuming that the sixth time corresponding to mobile trajectory information 1 is 15:00 on December 11, 2020, and the sixth time corresponding to mobile trajectory information 2 is 15:50 on December 11, 2020, since mobile trajectory information 2 is the most recently generated by the terminal device and has higher accuracy compared to mobile trajectory information 1, the first access network device can determine to use mobile trajectory information 2 from the obtained mobile trajectory information 1 and mobile trajectory information 2, thereby improving the accuracy of the mobile trajectory information.

[0447] It should be noted that when the first access network device can communicate directly with the terminal device, the first access network device can receive the movement trajectory information sent by the terminal device.

[0448] For example, taking the first access network device as a base station, CU, or CU-CP, the terminal device can directly send movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

[0449] Alternatively, when the terminal device needs to communicate with the first access network device through the relay access network device, the first access network device receives the terminal device's movement trajectory information sent by the relay access network device.

[0450] Among them, relay access network equipment can be Figure 1a or Figure 1bIn the communication system shown, the access network device can communicate with both the first access network device and the terminal device simultaneously.

[0451] For example, with the first access network device as DU or CU-UP, the terminal device can send the movement trajectory information to the CU or CU-CP (i.e., the relay access network device) connected to the first access network device, and the CU or CU-CP will send the movement trajectory information to the first access network device through the F1 interface or E1 interface.

[0452] Step 1002: The first access network device performs energy-saving operation based on the movement trajectory information.

[0453] For a detailed description of the energy-saving operation, please refer to the detailed description of the energy-saving operation in step 302 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0454] Optionally, the first access network device may switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the aforementioned energy-saving operation.

[0455] For example, the first access network device can determine whether to switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the movement trajectory information sent by the terminal device.

[0456] When the first access network device switches the terminal device to the second access network device, there are no related services for the terminal device in the first access network device. Therefore, there is no need to allocate resources for the terminal device. The power amplifiers of the symbol period, the power amplifiers of the cell radio frequency channel, or the power amplifiers of the cell carrier associated with the terminal device are turned off, thereby reducing the power consumption of the first access network device.

[0457] Optionally, when the first access network device acquires mobile trajectory information as mobile trajectory statistics, it can use AI / ML methods to input the current mobile trajectory statistics into an ML model and determine the output of the ML model as the target mobile trajectory information. For example, the first access network device may have a pre-configured trained ML model (e.g., AlexNet). The first access network device inputs the current mobile trajectory statistics of the terminal device into the ML model, and the ML model can then output the future mobile trajectory information of the terminal device as the target mobile trajectory information.

[0458] Furthermore, the first access network device can also perform the above-mentioned energy-saving operations based on mobile trajectory information, cell coverage quality, target cell load, and other information to reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0459] Based on the above Figure 10The method shown allows the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the acquired mobile trajectory information of the terminal device, thereby effectively reducing the overall energy consumption of the communication system while ensuring the performance of the terminal device.

[0460] Furthermore, based on the above Figure 10 In the method shown, before the terminal device sends the movement trajectory information to the first access network device, the first access network device may also perform the following step 1001a.

[0461] Step 1001a: The first access network device sends a fourth request message to the terminal device.

[0462] The fourth request information can be used to request the movement trajectory information corresponding to the terminal device.

[0463] For example, the fourth request information may include one or more of the following: position, direction, speed, acceleration, type of movement trajectory information, fifth time information, acquisition time corresponding to the movement trajectory information, periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information, and expected accuracy corresponding to the movement trajectory information.

[0464] Among them, position can be used to indicate the position of the terminal device corresponding to the mobile trajectory information that the first access network device expects to obtain; direction can be used to indicate the direction of the terminal device corresponding to the mobile trajectory information that the first access network device expects to obtain; speed can be used to indicate the speed of the terminal device corresponding to the mobile trajectory information that the first access network device expects to obtain; and acceleration can be used to indicate the acceleration of the terminal device corresponding to the mobile trajectory information that the first access network device expects to obtain.

[0465] It should be noted that when the fourth request information does not include bits for position, direction, velocity and / or acceleration, or when the fourth request information includes bits corresponding to position, direction, velocity and / or acceleration but such bits are empty, it can be assumed that the fourth request information is used to request the location of the terminal device corresponding to the movement trajectory information.

[0466] The type of mobile trajectory information can be used to indicate the type of mobile trajectory information that the first access network device expects to obtain. The type of mobile trajectory information may include mobile trajectory statistics and / or target mobile trajectory information.

[0467] For example, using 00 to indicate that the type of movement trajectory information is movement trajectory statistics, 01 to indicate that the type of movement trajectory information is target movement trajectory information, and 10 to indicate that the type of movement trajectory information is both movement trajectory statistics and target movement trajectory information, the first access network device can indicate that it expects to obtain movement trajectory information of type movement trajectory statistics by including 00 in the fourth request information; it can indicate that it expects to obtain movement trajectory information of type target movement trajectory information by including 01 in the fourth request information; and it can indicate that it expects to obtain movement trajectory information of type movement trajectory statistics and target movement trajectory information by including 10 in the fourth request information.

[0468] The information at the fifth time point can be used to instruct the first access network device to obtain the movement trajectory information corresponding to the fifth time point.

[0469] For example, the information of the fifth time may include the start time and / or end time of the fifth time. The description of the fifth time can refer to the description of the fifth time in step 1001, and will not be repeated here.

[0470] The acquisition time corresponding to the movement trajectory information can be used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the movement trajectory information.

[0471] Optionally, if the terminal device cannot send movement trajectory information to the first access network device within this time, the terminal device sends an error response to the first access network device to indicate that the terminal device is unable to send movement trajectory information to the first access network device. This error response can also be referred to as a failure response.

[0472] Among them, the periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information can be used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

[0473] For example, taking the first access network device as an example of using 1 bit to indicate periodic indication information, the first access network device can set this 1 bit to 1 to instruct the terminal device to periodically feed back movement trajectory information to the first access network device, and set this 1 bit to 0 to instruct the terminal device not to periodically feed back movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

[0474] Optionally, when the periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information is used to instruct the terminal device to periodically send the movement trajectory information to the first access network device, the periodic indication information may also include the periodic time.

[0475] The periodic time can be the time interval at which the terminal device periodically sends mobile trajectory information to the first access network device; or the periodic time can be multiple time points at which the terminal device periodically sends mobile trajectory information to the first access network device, etc., without limitation.

[0476] Furthermore, the periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information can be used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends movement trajectory information at different times to the first access network device.

[0477] For example, using periodic indication information corresponding to mobile trajectory information to instruct the terminal device to periodically send mobile trajectory information for the past hour to the first access network device according to the periodic time, assuming the periodic time is 20 minutes, the terminal device can send mobile trajectory information for the past hour to the first access network device every 20 minutes. For example, taking the current time as 15:00 on December 11, 2020, the terminal device can send mobile trajectory information for the period from 14:00 to 15:00 on December 11, 2020 to the first access network device at 15:00 on December 11, 2020, send mobile trajectory information for the period from 14:20 to 15:20 on December 11, 2020 to the first access network device at 15:20 on December 11, 2020, send mobile trajectory information for the period from 14:20 to 15:20 on December 11, 2020 to the first access network device at 15:40 on December 11, 2020.

[0478] The expected accuracy of the mobile trajectory information can be used to indicate the accuracy of the mobile trajectory information that the first access network device expects to obtain, for example, low or high.

[0479] Specifically, if the expected accuracy of the movement trajectory information indicated by the first access network device is high, the terminal device can use an ML model that can produce higher accuracy for calculation.

[0480] It should be noted that, based on step 1001 above, when the first access network device and the terminal device can communicate directly, the first access network device can execute step 1001a above to send a fourth request message to the terminal device and receive the movement trajectory information sent by the terminal device, and perform energy-saving operations based on the movement trajectory information. When the first access network device communicates with the terminal device through a relay access network device, the first access network device can send the fourth request message to the relay access network device, which then sends the fourth request message to the terminal device. When the terminal device receives the fourth request message, it can send the movement trajectory information to the relay access network device, which then sends the movement trajectory information to the first access network device, and the first access network device performs energy-saving operations based on the movement trajectory information.

[0481] Based on the above Figures 3 to 10 The communication method shown above can be used by the first access network device. Figure 3 The method shown is used for energy-saving operation based on the first energy efficiency rating; alternatively, the above-mentioned methods can also be used. Figure 8 The method shown performs energy-saving operations based on communication information; alternatively, the above-mentioned methods can also be used. Figure 10 The method shown performs energy-saving operations based on movement trajectory information.

[0482] Furthermore, the first access network device can also adopt the following... Figure 11 The method shown performs energy-saving operation based on the first energy efficiency and communication information, or adopts the following... Figure 13 The method shown performs energy-saving operations based on the first energy efficiency and movement trajectory information.

[0483] Figure 11 A communication method provided in the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 11 As shown, the method may include:

[0484] Step 1101: The first access network device sends a second request message to the terminal device.

[0485] The description of step 1101 can be referred to step 801a above, and will not be repeated here.

[0486] It should be noted that this step is optional.

[0487] Step 1102: The terminal device sends communication information to the first access network device.

[0488] The description of step 1102 can be referred to step 801 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0489] Step 1103: The first access network device sends a first request message to the second access network device.

[0490] The description of step 1103 can be referred to step 301a above, and will not be repeated here.

[0491] It should be noted that this step is optional.

[0492] Step 1104: The second access network device sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0493] The description of step 1104 can be referred to step 301 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0494] It should be noted that there is no restriction on the execution order of steps 1101 and 1102 and steps 1103 and 1104. Steps 1101 and 1102 can be executed first, or steps 1103 and 1104 can be executed first, or steps 1101 and 1102 and steps 1103 and 1104 can be executed simultaneously.

[0495] Step 1105: The first access network device performs energy-saving operation based on communication information and the first energy efficiency.

[0496] For a detailed description of the energy-saving operation, please refer to the detailed description of the energy-saving operation in step 302 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0497] Optionally, the first access network device may switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the aforementioned energy-saving operation.

[0498] For example, the first access network device can determine whether the energy efficiency of the second access network device when carrying the terminal device to communicate is greater than or equal to the energy efficiency of the first access network device when carrying the terminal device to communicate, based on the communication information sent by the terminal device and the first energy efficiency sent by the second access network device; if so, the first access network device will switch the terminal device to the second access network device.

[0499] When the first access network device switches the terminal device to the second access network device, there are no related services for the terminal device in the first access network device. Therefore, there is no need to allocate resources for the terminal device. The power amplifiers of the symbol period, the power amplifiers of the cell radio frequency channel, or the power amplifiers of the cell carrier associated with the terminal device are turned off, thereby reducing the power consumption of the first access network device.

[0500] Optionally, when the communication information obtained by the first access network device is communication statistics, the first access network device can use the current communication statistics as the input of the ML model based on the AI / ML method, and determine the output of the ML model as the target communication information.

[0501] Furthermore, the first access network device can also perform the above-mentioned energy-saving operations based on communication information and first energy efficiency, according to information such as cell coverage quality and target cell load, so as to reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0502] Based on the above Figure 11 The method shown is as follows: Figure 12 As shown, after performing energy-saving operations based on communication information and the first energy efficiency, the first access network device can also perform the following steps 1106 to 1109 to adjust the energy-saving operation based on the communication measurement results received from the terminal device.

[0503] Step 1106: The first access network device sends a third request message to the second access network device.

[0504] The description of step 1106 can be referred to step 803a above, and will not be repeated here.

[0505] It should be noted that this step is optional.

[0506] Step 1107: The second access network device sends a third request message to the terminal device.

[0507] The description of step 1107 can be referred to step 803b above, and will not be repeated here.

[0508] It should be noted that this step is optional.

[0509] Step 1108: The terminal device sends the communication measurement results to the second access network device.

[0510] The description of step 1108 can be referred to step 803 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0511] Step 1109: The second access network device sends the communication measurement results to the first access network device.

[0512] After receiving the communication measurement result corresponding to the terminal device, the first access network device can compare the communication information of the terminal device in the first access network device with the communication measurement result, and adjust the weight of the communication information when the first access network device switches the terminal device to the second access network device based on the communication information and the first energy efficiency.

[0513] For example, taking the first access network device determining whether to switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the terminal device's communication information, first energy efficiency, cell coverage quality, and target cell load as an example, when the first access network device receives the communication measurement result corresponding to the terminal device, if the difference between the communication information corresponding to the terminal device in the first access network device and the communication measurement result is greater than a certain threshold, the first access network device can reduce the weight of the communication information when subsequently determining whether to switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the terminal device's communication information, first energy efficiency, cell coverage quality, and target cell load; conversely, it can increase the weight of the communication information.

[0514] Figure 13 A communication method provided in the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 13 As shown, the method may include:

[0515] Step 1301: The first access network device sends a fourth request message to the terminal device.

[0516] The description of step 1301 can be referred to step 1001a above, and will not be repeated here.

[0517] It should be noted that this step is optional.

[0518] Step 1302: The terminal device sends the movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

[0519] The description of step 1302 can be referred to step 1001 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0520] Step 1303: The first access network device sends a first request message to the second access network device.

[0521] The description of step 1303 can be referred to step 301a above, and will not be repeated here.

[0522] It should be noted that this step is optional.

[0523] Step 1304: The second access network device sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0524] The description of step 1304 can be referred to step 301 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0525] It should be noted that there is no restriction on the execution order of steps 1301 and 1302 and steps 1303 and 1304. Steps 1301 and 1302 can be executed first, or steps 1303 and 1304 can be executed first, or steps 1301 and 1302 and steps 1303 and 1304 can be executed simultaneously.

[0526] Step 1305: The first access network device performs energy-saving operation based on the movement trajectory information and the first energy efficiency.

[0527] For a detailed description of the energy-saving operation, please refer to the detailed description of the energy-saving operation in step 302 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0528] Optionally, the first access network device may switch the terminal device to the second access network device based on the aforementioned energy-saving operation.

[0529] For example, the first access network device can determine, based on the movement trajectory information sent by the terminal device and the first energy efficiency sent by the second access network device, that the terminal device is about to move to a cell in the second access network device, and then switch the terminal device to the second access network device.

[0530] It should be noted that if the first access network device determines, based on the first energy efficiency sent by the second access network device and the third energy efficiency sent by the third access network device, that the energy efficiency of the third access network device when carrying the terminal device is slightly higher than that of the second access network device when carrying the terminal device, but the first access network device determines, based on the movement trajectory information sent by the terminal device, that the terminal device is about to move to a cell in the second access network device, the first access network device can switch the terminal device to the second access network device, thereby avoiding network energy consumption caused by frequent switching of the terminal device and ensuring the performance of the terminal device.

[0531] The description of the third energy efficiency rating can be referenced by the descriptions of the first and second energy efficiency ratings above, and will not be repeated here.

[0532] When the first access network device switches the terminal device to the second access network device, there are no related services for the terminal device in the first access network device. Therefore, there is no need to allocate resources for the terminal device. The power amplifiers of the symbol period, the power amplifiers of the cell radio frequency channel, or the power amplifiers of the cell carrier associated with the terminal device are turned off, thereby reducing the power consumption of the first access network device.

[0533] Optionally, when the mobile trajectory information obtained by the first access network device is mobile trajectory statistics, the first access network device can use the current mobile trajectory statistics as the input of the ML model based on AI / ML methods, and determine the output of the ML model as the target mobile trajectory information.

[0534] Furthermore, the first access network device can also perform the above-mentioned energy-saving operations based on mobile trajectory information and first energy efficiency, according to information such as cell coverage quality and target cell load, so as to reduce the overall energy consumption of the communication system.

[0535] It should be noted that the above Figures 11 to 12 This explanation only considers direct communication between the first access network device and the terminal device, and direct communication between the first access network device and the second access network device. When the first access network device communicates with the second access network device or the terminal device through a relay access network device, the specific communication process can be found in [reference needed]. Figures 3 to 10 The relevant explanations in the document will not be repeated here.

[0536] The foregoing primarily describes the solutions provided in this application from the perspective of device-to-device interaction. It is understood that each device, in order to achieve the aforementioned functions, includes corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0537] This application embodiment can divide each device into functional modules according to the above method example. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional module, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional module. It should be noted that the module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0538] When dividing each function into modules according to its corresponding function. Figure 14 A first access network device 140 is illustrated. The first access network device 140 may include a transceiver module 1401 and a processing module 1402. Exemplarily, the first access network device 140 may be a first access network device, or a chip or other combined device or component having the functions described above. When the first access network device 140 is a first access network device, the transceiver module 1401 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuitry, etc.; the processing module 1402 may be a processor (or processing circuitry), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more CPUs. When the first access network device 140 is a component having the functions described above, the transceiver module 1401 may be a radio frequency unit; the processing module 1402 may be a processor (or processing circuitry), such as a baseband processor. When the first access network device 140 is a chip system, the transceiver module 1401 may be an input / output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip); the processing module 1402 may be a processor (or processing circuitry) of the chip system, and may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1401 in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components; the processing module 1402 can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components (or, referred to as processing circuit).

[0539] For example, transceiver module 1401 can be used to perform... Figures 3-13 In the illustrated embodiment, all transmit and receive operations performed by the first access network device, and / or other processes used to support the technology described herein; processing module 1402 can be used to execute Figures 3-13 The embodiments shown include all operations performed by the first access network device other than the transmit / receive operations, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein.

[0540] The transceiver module 1401 is used to obtain the first energy efficiency; the processing module 1402 is used to perform energy-saving operations based on the first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device.

[0541] In one possible design, the first object includes one or more of the following: network slice, service, region.

[0542] In one possible design, performance includes one or more of the following: data volume, latency, and number of terminal devices.

[0543] In one possible design, the first energy efficiency also includes a first time for indicating the time corresponding to the first energy efficiency and / or a second time for indicating the time when the second access network device generates the first energy efficiency.

[0544] In one possible design, the type of first energy efficiency includes energy efficiency statistics and / or target energy efficiency information.

[0545] In one possible design, before the transceiver module 1401 obtains the first energy efficiency, it is also used to send a first request information for requesting the first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device.

[0546] In one possible design, the first request information includes one or more of the following: identification information of a first object, the type of a first energy efficiency, information about a first time, the acquisition time corresponding to the first energy efficiency, periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency, and the expected accuracy corresponding to the first energy efficiency; wherein, the type of the first energy efficiency includes energy efficiency statistics and / or target energy efficiency information; the acquisition time corresponding to the first energy efficiency is used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the first energy efficiency; the periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency is used to indicate whether the second access network device periodically sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

[0547] In one possible design, the processing module 1402 is also used to switch some or all of the terminal devices corresponding to the first object to the second access network device.

[0548] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is further used to acquire communication information of the terminal device, and the processing module 1402 is further used to perform energy-saving operation based on the communication information and the first energy efficiency; the communication information is used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device communicating with the first object.

[0549] In one possible design, the communication information includes one or more of the following: communication period, data volume, periodic communication indication, and burst communication indication; wherein, the communication period is used to indicate the time period during which the communication corresponding to the communication information occurs; the data volume is used to indicate the size of the uplink data volume and / or downlink data volume when the terminal device communicates; the periodic communication indication is used to indicate whether the communication corresponding to the communication information is periodic; the burst communication indication is used to indicate whether the communication corresponding to the communication information is bursty, and if it is bursty, the burst communication indication is also used to indicate at least one of the burst communication time, the size of the uplink data volume of the burst communication, and the size of the downlink data volume of the burst communication.

[0550] In one possible design, the communication information also includes a third time for indicating the time corresponding to the communication information and / or a fourth time for indicating the time when the terminal device generates the communication information.

[0551] In one possible design, the types of communication information include communication statistics and / or target communication information.

[0552] In one possible design, before the transceiver module 1401 obtains the communication information of the terminal device, it is also used to send a second request message for requesting the corresponding communication information of the terminal device.

[0553] In one possible design, the second request information includes one or more of the following: identification information of the first object, type of communication information, third time information, acquisition time corresponding to the communication information, periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information, and expected accuracy corresponding to the communication information; wherein, the type of communication information includes communication statistics and / or target communication information; the acquisition time corresponding to the communication information is used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the communication information; the periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information is used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends communication information to the first access network device.

[0554] In one possible design, after the processing module 1402 switches the terminal device to the second access network device, the transceiver module 1401 is also used to receive communication measurement results from the terminal device of the second access network device; the communication measurement results are used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device after it accesses the second access network device.

[0555] In one possible design, before receiving the communication measurement results from the terminal device of the second access network device, the transceiver module 1401 is also used to send a third request message to the second access network device to request the communication measurement results from the terminal device.

[0556] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1401 is also used to acquire the movement trajectory information of the terminal device, and the processing module 1402 is also used to perform energy-saving operations based on the movement trajectory information and the first energy efficiency.

[0557] In one possible design, the movement trajectory information also includes a fifth time for indicating the time corresponding to the movement trajectory information and / or a sixth time for indicating the time when the terminal device generated the movement trajectory information.

[0558] In one possible design, the types of movement trajectory information include movement trajectory statistics and / or target movement trajectory information.

[0559] In one possible design, before the transceiver module 1401 obtains the movement trajectory information of the terminal device, it is also used to send a fourth request message for requesting the movement trajectory information corresponding to the terminal device.

[0560] In one possible design, the fourth request information includes one or more of the following: position, direction, speed, acceleration, type of movement trajectory information, fifth time information, acquisition time corresponding to the movement trajectory information, periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information, and expected accuracy corresponding to the movement trajectory information; wherein, the type of movement trajectory information includes movement trajectory statistics and / or target movement trajectory information; the acquisition time corresponding to the movement trajectory information is used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the movement trajectory information; the periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information is used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

[0561] As another feasible approach Figure 14 The transceiver module 1401 can be replaced by a transceiver unit, which can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1401; the processing module 1402 can be replaced by a processor, which can integrate the functions of the processing module 1402. Furthermore, Figure 14 The first access network device 140 shown may further include a memory. When the transceiver module 1401 is replaced by a transceiver and the processing module 1402 is replaced by a processor, the first access network device 140 involved in the embodiments of this application can be... Figure 2 The communication device shown.

[0562] When dividing each function into modules according to its corresponding function. Figure 15A second access network device 150 is illustrated. The second access network device 150 may include a processing module 1501 and a transceiver module 1502. Exemplarily, the second access network device 150 may be a second access network device, or a chip or other combined device or component having the aforementioned functions of a second access network device. When the second access network device 150 is a second access network device, the transceiver module 1502 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuitry, etc., and the processing module 1501 may be a processor (or processing circuitry), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more CPUs. When the second access network device 150 is a component having the aforementioned functions of a second access network device, the transceiver module 1502 may be a radio frequency unit, and the processing module 1501 may be a processor (or processing circuitry), such as a baseband processor. When the second access network device 150 is a chip system, the transceiver module 1502 may be an input / output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip), and the processing module 1501 may be a processor (or processing circuitry) of the chip system, and may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1502 in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components, and the processing module 1501 can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components (or, referred to as processing circuit).

[0563] For example, processing module 1501 can be used to execute Figures 3-13 In the illustrated embodiment, the second access network device performs all operations other than the transmit / receive operations, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein. The transceiver module 1502 can be used to perform... Figures 3-13 The embodiments shown include all transmit and receive operations performed by the second access network device, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein.

[0564] The processing module 1501 is used to determine the first energy efficiency; the transceiver module 1502 is used to send the first energy efficiency to the first access network device; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device.

[0565] In one possible design, before sending the first energy efficiency to the first access network device, the transceiver module 1502 is also used to receive a first request information from the first access network device for requesting the first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device.

[0566] In one possible design, the transceiver module 1502 is further configured to send the communication measurement results sent by the terminal device to the first access network device, wherein the communication measurement results are used to indicate the corresponding communication characteristics of the terminal device after it accesses the second access network device.

[0567] In one possible design, before receiving the communication measurement results from the terminal device, the transceiver module 1502 is also configured to receive a third request message from the first access network device requesting the communication measurement results from the terminal device; and send the third request message to the terminal device.

[0568] As another feasible approach Figure 15 The processing module 1501 can be replaced by a processor, which can integrate the functions of the processing module 1501; the transceiver module 1502 can be replaced by a transceiver, which can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1502. Furthermore, Figure 15 The second access network device 150 shown may further include a memory. When the processing module 1501 is replaced by a processor and the transceiver module 1502 is replaced by a transceiver, the second access network device 150 involved in the embodiments of this application can be... Figure 2 The communication device shown.

[0569] When dividing each function into modules according to its corresponding function. Figure 16 A terminal device 160 is illustrated, which may include a processing module 1601 and a transceiver module 1602. Exemplarily, the terminal device 160 may be a terminal device, or a chip or other combined device or component having the aforementioned terminal device functions. When the terminal device 160 is a terminal device, the transceiver module 1602 may be a transceiver, which may include an antenna and radio frequency circuitry, etc., and the processing module 1601 may be a processor (or processing circuitry), such as a baseband processor, which may include one or more CPUs. When the terminal device 160 is a component having the aforementioned terminal device functions, the transceiver module 1602 may be a radio frequency unit, and the processing module 1601 may be a processor (or processing circuitry), such as a baseband processor. When the terminal device 160 is a chip system, the transceiver module 1602 may be an input / output interface of a chip (e.g., a baseband chip), and the processing module 1601 may be a processor (or processing circuitry) of the chip system, which may include one or more central processing units. It should be understood that the transceiver module 1602 in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver-related circuit components, and the processing module 1601 can be implemented by a processor or processor-related circuit components (or, referred to as processing circuit).

[0570] For example, processing module 1601 can be used to execute Figures 3-13 The embodiments shown include all operations performed by the terminal device other than the transmit / receive operations, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein. The transmit / receive module 1602 can be used to perform... Figures 3-13The embodiments shown include all transmit and receive operations performed by the terminal device, and / or other processes used to support the techniques described herein.

[0571] The processing module 1601 is used to determine communication information for instructing the terminal device to communicate with the first object, and the transceiver module 1602 is used to send the communication information to the first access network device. The communication information is used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operation based on the communication information and the first energy efficiency. The first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device.

[0572] In one possible design, before sending communication information to the first access network device, the transceiver module 1602 is also used to receive a second request information from the first access network device for requesting communication information corresponding to the terminal device.

[0573] In one possible design, after the terminal device switches to the second access network device, the transceiver module 1602 is also used to send communication measurement results to the second access network device to indicate the corresponding communication characteristics of the terminal device after it accesses the second access network device.

[0574] In one possible design, before sending the communication measurement results to the second access network device, the transceiver module 1602 is also used to receive a third request message from the second access network device requesting the communication measurement results of the terminal device.

[0575] The aforementioned processing module 1601 is further used to determine movement trajectory information, and the transceiver module 1602 is further used to send the movement trajectory information to the first access network device; the movement trajectory information is used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the movement trajectory information and the first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device.

[0576] In one possible design, before sending the movement trajectory information to the first access network device, the transceiver module 1602 is also used to receive a fourth request message from the first access network device requesting the movement trajectory information corresponding to the terminal device.

[0577] As another feasible approach Figure 16 The processing module 1601 can be replaced by a processor, which can integrate the functions of the processing module 1601; the transceiver module 1602 can be replaced by a transceiver, which can integrate the functions of the transceiver module 1602. Furthermore, Figure 16 The terminal device 160 shown may also include a memory. When the processing module 1601 is replaced by a processor and the transceiver module 1602 is replaced by a transceiver, the terminal device 160 involved in the embodiments of this application can be... Figure 2 The communication device shown.

[0578] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. All or part of the processes in the above method embodiments can be implemented by a computer program instructing related hardware. This program can be stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, it can include the processes of the above method embodiments. The computer-readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the terminal (including a data sending end and / or a data receiving end) of any of the foregoing embodiments, such as the terminal's hard disk or memory. The computer-readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the terminal, such as a plug-in hard disk, smart media card (SMC), secure digital (SD) card, flash card, etc., equipped on the terminal. Further, the computer-readable storage medium can include both the terminal's internal storage unit and external storage devices. The computer-readable storage medium is used to store the computer program and other programs and data required by the terminal. The computer-readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output.

[0579] It should be noted that the terms "first" and "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products, or apparatuses.

[0580] It should be understood that in this application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "more than one" means two or more, "at least two (items)" means two or three or more, and "and / or" is used to describe the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist simultaneously, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (item) of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0581] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, only the division of the above functional modules is used as an example. In actual applications, the above functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0582] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of modules or units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0583] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. A component shown as a unit can be one or more physical units; that is, it can be located in one place or distributed in multiple different locations. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0584] 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 unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit.

[0585] 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 readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, essentially, or the parts that contribute to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a device (which may be a microcontroller, chip, 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, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0586] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: include: The first access network device sends a first request message; wherein the first request message is used to request a first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device; The first access network device obtains the first energy efficiency based on the first request information; The first access network device acquires communication information from the terminal device; wherein, the communication information is used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device communicating with the first object; The first access network device performs energy-saving operations based on the communication information and the first energy efficiency; or, The first access network device acquires the movement trajectory information of the terminal device; The first access network device performs energy-saving operations based on the movement trajectory information and the first energy efficiency.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first object includes one or more of the following: network slice, service, region.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The performance includes one or more of the following: data volume, latency, and number of terminal devices.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first energy efficiency further includes a first time and / or a second time; wherein the first time is used to indicate the time corresponding to the first energy efficiency; and the second time is used to indicate the time when the second access network device generates the first energy efficiency.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first type of energy efficiency includes energy efficiency statistics and / or target energy efficiency information.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first request information includes one or more of the following: the identification information of the first object, the type of the first energy efficiency, the information of the first time, the acquisition time corresponding to the first energy efficiency, the periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency, and the expected accuracy corresponding to the first energy efficiency; The first energy efficiency type includes energy efficiency statistics and / or target energy efficiency information; the acquisition time corresponding to the first energy efficiency is used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the first energy efficiency; the periodic indication information corresponding to the first energy efficiency is used to indicate whether the second access network device periodically sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first access network device performs energy-saving operations based on the first energy efficiency standard, including: The first access network device switches some or all of the terminal devices corresponding to the first object to the second access network device.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The communication information includes one or more of the following: communication period, data volume, periodic communication indication, and burst communication indication; Wherein, the communication period is used to indicate the time period during which the communication corresponding to the communication information occurs; the data volume is used to indicate the uplink data volume and / or downlink data volume when the terminal device communicates; the periodic communication indication is used to indicate whether the communication corresponding to the communication information is periodic; the burst communication indication is used to indicate whether the communication corresponding to the communication information is bursty, and if it is bursty, the burst communication indication is also used to indicate at least one of the burst communication time, the uplink data volume of the burst communication, and the downlink data volume of the burst communication.

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The communication information further includes a third time and / or a fourth time; wherein the third time is used to indicate the time corresponding to the communication information; and the fourth time is used to indicate the time when the terminal device generates the communication information.

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The types of communication information include communication statistics and / or target communication information.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Before the first access network device obtains the communication information of the terminal device, the method further includes: The first access network device sends a second request message; wherein the second request message is used to request the communication information corresponding to the terminal device.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that, The second request information includes one or more of the following: the identification information of the first object, the type of the communication information, the information of the third time, the acquisition time corresponding to the communication information, the periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information, and the expected accuracy corresponding to the communication information; The types of communication information include communication statistics and / or target communication information; the acquisition time corresponding to the communication information is used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the communication information; the periodic indication information corresponding to the communication information is used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends the communication information to the first access network device.

13. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, After the first access network device switches the terminal device to the second access network device, the method further includes: The first access network device receives communication measurement results from the terminal device from the second access network device; wherein the communication measurement results are used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device after it accesses the second access network device.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, Before the first access network device receives the communication measurement results from the terminal device of the second access network device, the method further includes: The first access network device sends a third request message to the second access network device; wherein the third request message is used to request the communication measurement results of the terminal device.

15. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The movement trajectory information includes one or more of the following: position, direction, speed, and acceleration.

16. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The movement trajectory information further includes a fifth time and / or a sixth time; wherein the fifth time is used to indicate the time corresponding to the movement trajectory information; and the sixth time is used to indicate the time when the terminal device generated the movement trajectory information.

17. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The types of movement trajectory information include movement trajectory statistics and / or target movement trajectory information.

18. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Before the first access network device obtains the movement trajectory information of the terminal device, the method further includes: The first access network device sends a fourth request message; wherein the fourth request message is used to request the movement trajectory information corresponding to the terminal device.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that, The fourth request information includes one or more of the following: position, direction, speed, acceleration, type of the movement trajectory information, fifth time information, acquisition time corresponding to the movement trajectory information, periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information, and expected accuracy corresponding to the movement trajectory information; The types of the movement trajectory information include movement trajectory statistics and / or target movement trajectory information; the acquisition time corresponding to the movement trajectory information is used to indicate the time when the first access network device expects to acquire the movement trajectory information; the periodic indication information corresponding to the movement trajectory information is used to indicate whether the terminal device periodically sends the movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

20. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The second access network device receives a first request information from the first access network device; wherein, the first request information is used to request a first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device; The second access network device determines the first energy efficiency based on the first request information; The second access network device sends the first energy efficiency to the first access network device. The first energy efficiency and the mobile trajectory information of the terminal device are used for energy-saving operation. Alternatively, the first energy efficiency and the communication information of the terminal device are used for energy-saving operation. The communication information is used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device communicating with the first object.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that, The method further includes: The second access network device receives communication measurement results from the terminal device; wherein the communication measurement results are used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device after it accesses the second access network device; The second access network device sends the communication measurement results to the first access network device.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that, Before the second access network device receives the communication measurement result from the terminal device, the method further includes: The second access network device receives a third request message from the first access network device; wherein the third request message is used to request the communication measurement results of the terminal device; The second access network device sends the third request information to the terminal device.

23. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The terminal device determines communication information; wherein, the communication information is used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device communicating with a first object; the communication information is used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operations based on the communication information and a first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device; the first access network device obtains the first energy efficiency by sending a first request message to the second access network device, the first request message being used to request the first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device; The terminal device sends the communication information to the first access network device.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that, Before the terminal device sends the communication information to the first access network device, the method further includes: The terminal device receives a second request information from the first access network device; wherein the second request information is used to request the communication information corresponding to the terminal device.

25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that, When the terminal device switches to the second access network device, the method further includes: The terminal device sends communication measurement results to the second access network device; wherein, the communication measurement results are used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device after it accesses the second access network device.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that, Before the terminal device sends the communication measurement result to the second access network device, the method further includes: The terminal device receives a third request message from the second access network device; wherein the third request message is used to request the communication measurement results of the terminal device.

27. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The terminal device determines movement trajectory information; wherein, the movement trajectory information is used by the first access network device to perform energy-saving operation based on the movement trajectory information and the first energy efficiency; the first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of the first object in the second access network device; the first access network device obtains the first energy efficiency by sending a first request message to the second access network device, the first request message being used to request the first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device; The terminal device sends movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that, Before the terminal device sends the movement trajectory information to the first access network device, the method further includes: The terminal device receives a fourth request from the first access network device; wherein the fourth request is used to request the movement trajectory information corresponding to the terminal device.

29. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor; the processor is configured to run a computer program or instructions to cause the communication device to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-19, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 20-22, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 23-26, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 27-28.

30. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is coupled to the processor, the processor is used to run computer programs or instructions to implement the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-19, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 20-22, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 23-26, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 27-28, and the communication interface is used to communicate with other modules outside the communication device.

31. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes an interface circuit and a logic circuit; the interface circuit is used to acquire input information and / or output information; the logic circuit is used to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-19, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 20-22, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 23-26, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 27-28, and to process and / or generate the output information based on the input information.

32. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-19, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 20-22, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 23-26, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 27-28.

33. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes computer instructions; when some or all of the computer instructions are executed on a computer, the computer performs the communication method as described in any one of claims 1-19, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 20-22, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 23-26, or the communication method as described in any one of claims 27-28.

34. A communication system, characterized in that, The communication system includes a first access network device and a second access network device. The first access network device is configured to send a first request message, obtain a first energy efficiency based on the first request message, obtain communication information, and perform energy-saving operations based on the communication information and the first energy efficiency. The first request message is used to request the first energy efficiency corresponding to the second access network device. The first energy efficiency is determined based on the performance and energy consumption of a first object in the second access network device. The communication information is used to indicate the communication characteristics of a terminal device communicating with the first object. Alternatively, the first access network device is configured to send the first request message, obtain the first energy efficiency based on the first request message, obtain the movement trajectory information of the terminal device, and perform energy-saving operations based on the movement trajectory information and the first energy efficiency. The second access network device is configured to receive a first request information from the first access network device, determine the first energy efficiency based on the first request information, and send the first energy efficiency to the first access network device.

35. The communication system according to claim 34, characterized in that, The communication system also includes terminal equipment; The terminal device is used to determine the communication information and send the communication information to the first access network device.

36. The communication system according to claim 34 or 35, characterized in that, When the terminal device switches to the second access network device; The terminal device is further configured to send communication measurement results to the second access network device; wherein the communication measurement results are used to indicate the communication characteristics of the terminal device after it accesses the second access network device.

37. The communication system according to claim 34, characterized in that, The communication system also includes terminal equipment; The terminal device is used to determine the movement trajectory information and send the movement trajectory information to the first access network device.

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