Mobility management method, apparatus, device, and storage medium

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a mobility management method, device and equipment, and a computer readable storage medium, relating to the technical field of communication. The method comprises: a UE obtaining configuration information; and performing a mobility management procedure according to the configuration information; wherein the configuration information comprises related information describing a cell shape and position, and / or threshold related information configured for the mobility management procedure, wherein the related information describing the cell shape and position is described by geometric characteristics of an ellipse. The method of the embodiments of the present application can improve the accuracy of the mobility management procedure judgment by including, in the configuration information, the related information describing the cell shape and position by the geometric characteristics of the ellipse, and / or the threshold related information configured for the mobility management procedure, and performing the mobility management procedure based on the configuration information, so as to improve the accuracy of the mobility management procedure judgment in the actual satellite network deployment, where the cell of the satellite is not a standard circle.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In current discussions of satellite communication network technologies, cells are typically depicted as simple circles, and information such as the cell's center position and radius is used to assist the UE in the mobility management process, such as determining whether to measure neighboring cells, cell reselection, and conditional handover (CHO).

[0003] However, in actual network deployments, because satellite beams are at a certain angle to the ground, the area projected onto the ground is not necessarily circular. Therefore, simply describing cells as circular can lead to inaccurate judgment of cell boundaries by the UE, causing premature or delayed activation of neighbor cell measurements and conditional handover, and making it impossible to reselect the optimal cell during cell reselection. For non-circular cell coverage, there is still no simple and universally applicable method to characterize its boundaries, which brings certain difficulties to the aforementioned mobility management process. Summary of the Invention

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

[0005] Firstly, a mobility management method is provided, applied to a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

[0006] Get configuration information;

[0007] The mobility management process is executed based on the configuration information.

[0008] The configuration information includes information describing the cell shape and location, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of an ellipse.

[0009] In one possible implementation, the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process includes at least one of the following:

[0010] The first threshold for measurement activation of the first neighboring cell includes: inter-frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority.

[0011] The second and / or third thresholds limit the reselection range of neighboring cells;

[0012] The fourth and / or fifth thresholds that trigger the execution of the CHO process.

[0013] In another possible implementation, the information describing the cell shape and location includes at least one of the following:

[0014] The length of the major axis of the cell;

[0015] The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0016] A list describing the major axis length of the cell;

[0017] A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0018] The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position.

[0019] In another possible implementation, if the information related to the cell shape and location includes: the major axis length of the cell and / or the coordinates of the two focal points of the cell, the step of performing the mobility management process based on the configuration information includes:

[0020] Based on the UE's current location information, the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the location coordinates of the two focal points of each neighboring cell, the location coordinates of the two focal points of each candidate cell, and at least two of the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process, the mobility management process to be executed is determined.

[0021] In another possible implementation, the mobility management process to be performed includes:

[0022] Based on the UE's current location and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, determine the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell;

[0023] If the sum of the first distances meets the first preset condition, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is started; otherwise, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is not started.

[0024] In another possible implementation, if the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the cell shape and location information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

[0025] In another possible implementation, if the information related to the cell shape and location includes: a first list describing the major axis length of the current serving cell and / or a second list describing the coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the step of performing the mobility management process based on the configuration information includes:

[0026] If the sum of the first distances from the UE to every two focal points in the second list meets the first preset condition, then the measurement of the first neighboring cell is started; otherwise, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is not started.

[0027] In another possible implementation, the sum of the first distances satisfies at least one of the following preset conditions:

[0028] The sum of the first distances is greater than the first threshold;

[0029] The sum of the first distances is less than the major axis length of the current serving cell by at most a first preset value.

[0030] In another possible implementation, the mobility management process to be performed includes:

[0031] Based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of each neighboring cell, the sum of the second distances from the UE to the two focal points of each corresponding neighboring cell is determined.

[0032] The neighboring cells whose sum of the second distances meets the second preset condition are identified as the neighboring cells for which the cell reselection process is to be performed.

[0033] In another possible implementation, the neighboring cells whose sum of the second distances satisfies the second preset condition include at least one of the following:

[0034] The remaining neighboring cells after excluding those whose sum of second distances is greater than the second threshold;

[0035] Neighboring cells whose sum of second distances is less than the third threshold.

[0036] In another possible implementation, the mobility management process to be performed includes:

[0037] Based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, determine the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell;

[0038] Based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of each candidate cell, determine the sum of the third distances from the UE to the two focal points of the corresponding candidate cell;

[0039] If the sum of the first distances and / or the sum of the third distances satisfy a third preset condition, the CHO process is executed.

[0040] In another possible implementation, the sum of the first distances, and / or the sum of the third distances, satisfies a third preset condition including at least one of the following:

[0041] The sum of the first distances is greater than the fourth threshold;

[0042] The sum of the third distances is less than the fifth threshold;

[0043] The sum of the third distances is less than the sum of the first distances by at least the second preset value.

[0044] In another possible implementation, obtaining the configuration information includes at least one of the following methods:

[0045] Receive the configuration information broadcast by the network side through system information;

[0046] The configuration information transmitted by the network side via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling is received.

[0047] Obtain the pre-configured configuration information.

[0048] Secondly, a mobility management method is provided, applied to the network side, which includes:

[0049] Configuration information is sent to the UE, and the configuration information is used by the UE to perform the mobility management process;

[0050] The configuration information includes information describing the cell shape and location, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of an ellipse.

[0051] In one possible implementation, the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process includes at least one of the following:

[0052] The first threshold for measurement activation of the first neighboring cell includes: inter-frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority.

[0053] The second and / or third thresholds limit the reselection range of neighboring cells;

[0054] The fourth and / or fifth thresholds that trigger the execution of the CHO process.

[0055] In another possible implementation, the information describing the cell shape and location includes at least one of the following:

[0056] The length of the major axis of the cell;

[0057] The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0058] A list describing the major axis length of the cell;

[0059] A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0060] The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position.

[0061] In another possible implementation, if the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the cell shape and location information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

[0062] In another possible implementation, sending configuration information to the UE includes at least one of the following methods:

[0063] The configuration information is broadcast via system information broadcast;

[0064] The configuration information is transmitted via RRC signaling.

[0065] Thirdly, a mobility management device is provided for use with a user equipment, the device comprising:

[0066] The acquisition module is used to obtain configuration information;

[0067] The execution module is used to perform the mobility management process according to the configuration information;

[0068] The configuration information includes information describing the cell shape and location, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of an ellipse.

[0069] Fourthly, a mobility management device is provided for use on the network side, the device comprising:

[0070] The sending module is used to send configuration information to the UE, which is used by the UE to perform a mobility management process;

[0071] The configuration information includes information describing the cell shape and location, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of an ellipse.

[0072] Fifthly, a user equipment is provided, comprising:

[0073] Memory, used to store computer programs;

[0074] Transceiver, used to send and receive data under the control of the processor;

[0075] A processor is configured to read a computer program from the memory and execute it to implement the mobility management method shown in the first aspect of this application.

[0076] Sixthly, a network-side device is provided, comprising:

[0077] Memory, used to store computer programs;

[0078] Transceiver, used to send and receive data under the control of the processor;

[0079] A processor is configured to read a computer program from the memory and execute it to implement the mobility management method shown in the second aspect of this application.

[0080] In a seventh aspect, a processor-readable storage medium is provided, the processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a processor to execute and implement the mobility management method shown in the first aspect of this application.

[0081] Eighthly, a processor-readable storage medium is provided, the processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a processor to implement the mobility management method shown in the second aspect of this application when executed.

[0082] The beneficial effects of the technical solution provided in this application are:

[0083] By including information about the cell shape and location described by the geometric features of an ellipse in the configuration information, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process, and executing the mobility management process based on this configuration information, the accuracy of the mobility management process can be improved for cases where the satellite cells are not standard circles in actual satellite network deployments. Attached Figure Description

[0084] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments of this application will be briefly introduced below.

[0085] Figure 1a This is a schematic diagram of a ground-based geostationary cell, a type of satellite cell.

[0086] Figure 1b This is a schematic diagram of a ground-to-mobile cell in the satellite cell type.

[0087] Figure 2This is a schematic diagram of the conditional switching CHO switching process in the prior art;

[0088] Figure 3a This is a schematic diagram illustrating the change in RSRP as a UE moves from the cell center to the edge in a terrestrial network.

[0089] Figure 3b This is a diagram illustrating the change in RSRP as a UE moves from the cell center to the edge in a satellite network.

[0090] Figure 4 A schematic diagram depicting the boundary of a satellite cell;

[0091] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating the activation of neighbor cell measurement and judgment in a mobility management method provided in this application embodiment;

[0092] Figure 6 A schematic diagram illustrating an example of edge delineation for rectangular and irregular cells in a mobility management method provided in this application embodiment;

[0093] Figure 7 A flowchart illustrating a mobility management method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0094] Figure 8 A flowchart illustrating a mobility management method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0095] Figure 9 A flowchart illustrating a mobility management method provided in one embodiment of this application;

[0096] Figure 10 A flowchart illustrating a mobility management method according to another embodiment of this application;

[0097] Figure 11 A flowchart illustrating a mobility management method according to another embodiment of this application;

[0098] Figure 12 A flowchart illustrating a mobility management method according to another embodiment of this application;

[0099] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a user equipment provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0100] The embodiments of this application are described in detail below. Examples of these embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain this application, and should not be construed as limiting the invention.

[0101] Those skilled in the art will understand that, unless specifically stated otherwise, the singular forms “a,” “an,” “the,” and “the” used herein may also include the plural forms. It should be further understood that the term “comprising” as used in this application means the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. It should be understood that when we say an element is “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element, or there may be intermediate elements. Furthermore, “connected” or “coupled” as used herein can include wireless connections or wireless coupling. The term “and / or” as used herein includes all or any units and all combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0102] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the embodiments of this application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0103] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various systems, especially 5G systems. For example, applicable systems include Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and 5G New Radio (NR). All of these systems include terminal equipment and network-side equipment. The systems may also include a core network component, such as Evolved Packet System (EPS) and 5G systems (5GS).

[0104] First, let's introduce and explain several terms used in this application:

[0105] The terminal devices involved in the embodiments of this application can be devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to users, handheld devices with wireless connectivity, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The names of the terminal devices may differ in different systems; for example, in a 5G system, a terminal device can be called User Equipment (UE). Wireless terminal devices can communicate with one or more core networks (CNs) via a Radio Access Network (RAN). Wireless terminal devices can be mobile terminal devices, such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, for example, portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. Examples include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Wireless terminal equipment can also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, access point, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, or user device, but is not limited to these terms in the embodiments of this application.

[0106] The network-side equipment involved in this application embodiment can be a base station, which may include multiple cells providing services to terminals. Depending on the specific application, a base station may also be called an access point, or a device in the access network that communicates with wireless terminal devices through one or more sectors on the air interface, or other names. The network-side equipment can be used to exchange received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets, acting as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, where the rest of the access network may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. The network-side equipment can also coordinate the attribute management of the air interface.

[0107] For example, the network-side equipment involved in the embodiments of this application can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a network-side device (NodeB) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), an evolved network-side device (eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a next generation system, a Home evolved Node B (HeNB), a relay node, a femto, a pico, etc., and is not limited in the embodiments of this application. In some network structures, the network-side equipment may include centralized unit (CU) nodes and distributed unit (DU) nodes, and the centralized unit and distributed unit may also be geographically separated.

[0108] Network-side equipment and terminal equipment can each use one or more antennas for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission. MIMO transmission can be single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) or multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). Depending on the configuration and number of antenna combinations, MIMO transmission can be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO, or massive-MIMO, and can also be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, or beamforming transmission, etc.

[0109] Secondly, the existing related technologies involved in this application will be introduced and explained:

[0110] 1) Satellite network and cell type

[0111] Due to their unique geographical location, satellites possess advantages such as wide coverage, ease of deployment, and stable channels, which can compensate for the shortcomings of terrestrial networks. The integration of terrestrial and satellite networks has garnered widespread attention. Satellite networks can be categorized based on orbital altitude into low-Earth orbit (LEO), medium-Earth orbit (MEO), and high-Earth orbit (HEO) satellites. LEO satellites, with their lower propagation latency and greater deployable resources, are currently a key research focus. Based on the high-speed movement of LEO satellites along their orbits, two cell types have been planned: ground-stationary cells and ground-moving cells. Ground-stationary cells refer to cells where the satellite adjusts its antenna angle to project a fixed beam onto a specific area of ​​the ground for a period of time. For example, [example cell name would be inserted here]. Figure 1a As shown, satellites a and b have fixed coverage areas 1 and 2 respectively before time t1, and immediately change their coverage areas 2 and 3 at time t1. A ground-based mobile cell refers to a cell where the satellite antenna angle remains constant, but the coverage area of ​​its beam changes in real time as the satellite moves. Figure 1b As shown.

[0112] 2) Measurement rules for cell reselection in the NR system

[0113] The measurement rules for cell reselection in the NR system are as follows:

[0114] If the serving cell satisfies Srxlev > SIntraSearchP and Squal > SIntraSearchQ, the UE may not perform co-channel measurement; otherwise, the UE should perform co-channel measurement.

[0115] Wherein, Srxlev is the signal received value of the serving cell, Squal is the signal quality value of the serving cell, SIntraSearchP is the Srxlev threshold in co-frequency measurement, and SIntraSearchQ is the Squal threshold in co-frequency measurement.

[0116] The UE should apply the following rules to NR inter-frequency and inter-system frequencies based on frequency priority:

[0117] For frequencies of different frequencies or systems with a higher priority for reselection than the current NR frequency, the UE should perform measurements in accordance with TS38.133.

[0118] For inter-frequency frequencies with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequencies with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority:

[0119] If the current serving cell satisfies Srxlev > SnonIntraSearchP and Squal > SnonIntraSearchQ, the UE may not perform measurements on the above frequencies; otherwise, the UE should perform measurements on the above frequencies.

[0120] Wherein, Srxlev is the signal received value of the serving cell, Squal is the signal quality value of the serving cell, SnonIntraSearchP is the Srxlev threshold in inter-frequency measurement, and SnonIntraSearchQ is the Squal threshold in inter-frequency measurement.

[0121] In summary, the NR system designs cell reselection measurement rules based on RSRP.

[0122] 3) Switching between CHO and other protocols

[0123] like Figure 2 The CHO switching process shown includes:

[0124] (1) The UE reports the measurement results through the Measurement Report message according to the measurement configuration on the network side.

[0125] (2) The network side determines whether to use CHO based on the measurement results reported by the terminal in (1).

[0126] (3) If CHO is used, the source gNB requests CHO from one or more candidate cells belonging to one or more candidate gNBs.

[0127] (4) Candidate gNBs implement admission control.

[0128] (5) The candidate gNB sends a CHO handover request confirmation response to the source gNB.

[0129] (6) The source gNB sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE, which includes the CHO configuration and CHO execution conditions of the candidate gNB.

[0130] (7) The UE sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the source gNB.

[0131] (7a) If early data forwarding is used, the source gNB will send an Early State Transfer (EARLY STATUSTRANSFER) message to the target gNB.

[0132] (8) After receiving the RRC reconfiguration message, the UE maintains its connection with the source gNB and begins to evaluate the CHO execution conditions of the candidate cells. If at least one CHO candidate cell meets the corresponding CHO execution conditions, the UE disconnects from the source cell, synchronizes with the candidate cells, and completes the RRC handover process by sending an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the target gNB.

[0133] (8a / b) The target gNB sends a HANDOVER SUCCESS message to the source gNB. In response, the source gNB sends an SN STATUS TRANSFER message to the target gNB.

[0134] 4) Mobility management processes enhanced by location information in satellite networks

[0135] In terrestrial networks, the process of a UE moving from the cell center to the edge exhibits a significant change in RSRP (e.g., Figure 3a As shown in the figure, through this characteristic, the UE can roughly determine whether it is about to move out of the current serving cell, while the RSRP difference between the cell center and the edge in the satellite network is not large (e.g., Figure 3b As shown in the figure, the value is usually no more than 3dB. The UE cannot accurately determine whether it is located at the cell edge based solely on the RSRP value, which may lead to untimely measurement of neighboring cells and service interruption.

[0136] Following discussions in 3GPP Release 17, a scheme was agreed upon to enhance mobility management processes using information such as cell reference location, satellite service time, and cell type. Specifically, location-assisted enhanced cell reselection refers to the UE obtaining the reference locations of the current serving cell and / or neighboring cells from system information broadcasts, and then deciding whether to initiate measurement for neighboring cells and / or cell reselection order by calculating the distance to the reference locations. Location-assisted enhanced CHO (Confirmation of Hazard) procedures refer to the UE obtaining the reference locations of the current serving cell and / or target cell through system information broadcasts and / or dedicated signaling, and then deciding whether to execute a CHO by calculating the distance to the reference locations.

[0137] In quasi-earth fixed cell scenarios, research on location-assisted mobility management typically assumes the cell is circular, with the reference location defined as the circle's center. Based on the cell center and radius information received from the system data, the UE can determine whether it is located at the cell edge and further decide whether to initiate mobility management procedures. However, in actual satellite network deployments, because the satellite beam forms an angle with the ground, the area projected onto the ground is not necessarily a perfect circle; it is often an ellipse, and some networks even design the beam as a rectangle or other shapes. Figure 4 As shown, simply describing cells as circles can lead to inaccurate cell boundary judgments by the UE, causing premature or delayed activation of neighbor cell measurements and conditional handover, and preventing the optimal cell from being selected during cell reselection. For non-circular cell coverage, there is still no simple and universally applicable method to depict its boundaries, which brings certain difficulties to the aforementioned mobility management process.

[0138] To better adapt to practical satellite network deployments, the projection of the satellite beam onto the ground is described as an ellipse. During cell reselection and CHO handover processes, determining whether a UE is located at the edge of an elliptical cell is more complex than determining whether it is located in a circular cell. This invention utilizes a key characteristic of ellipses to solve this problem: "An ellipse is the locus of points on a plane whose sum of distances to two fixed points is constant," where the two fixed points are the two foci of the ellipse, and the sum of the distances from a point on the ellipse to the two foci is equal to the length of the major axis. Based on this theory, the satellite can broadcast the position coordinates (x1, y1), (x2, y2) of the two foci and / or the length of the major axis D of the elliptical cell and / or the threshold D' for determining whether measurements of neighboring cells are enabled, etc. Figure 5 As shown, the current position coordinates of the UE are (x, y). This is calculated by summing the distances to the two focal points:

[0139]

[0140] It can measure the UE's location in the current serving cell and its proximity to neighboring cells, thereby affecting the mobility management process.

[0141] At the same time, this scheme has a certain degree of universality. For cells whose coverage area is not circular or elliptical, the cell edge can also be described in a concise way through the above scheme. Figure 6Examples of edge characterization for rectangular and irregularly shaped cells with coverage areas are given. The solid line represents the actual area of ​​the satellite beam projected onto the ground. Within this coverage area, multiple intersecting ellipses (circles are considered special ellipses) are cut out, as shown by the dashed line. The satellite informs the UE of an array containing the focal points and major axis lengths of each ellipse. The UE is considered not to be at the cell edge if it is within the coverage area of ​​one of the ellipses. If the UE is not within any ellipse, it is considered to be at the cell edge.

[0142] It should be noted that covering as much of the actual area of ​​the satellite beam's projection on the ground as possible with as few ellipses as possible can be achieved using existing algorithms, which will not be elaborated here for the sake of brevity.

[0143] The technical solution of this application and how the technical solution of this application solves the above-mentioned technical problems are described in detail below with specific embodiments. These specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described again in some embodiments. The embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0144] This application provides a mobility management method, such as... Figure 7 As shown, applied to a user equipment (UE), the method includes:

[0145] S101. Obtain configuration information;

[0146] S102. Perform a mobility management process based on the configuration information;

[0147] Specifically, in this embodiment, the configuration information includes information describing the cell shape and location, and / or threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the information describing the cell shape and location is described by the geometric features of an ellipse.

[0148] In other words, the mobility management method provided in this application embodiment improves the accuracy of mobility management judgment in cases where satellite cells are not standard circles in actual satellite network deployments by including information about cell shape and location described by the geometric features of an ellipse in the configuration information, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process, and executing the mobility management process based on the configuration information.

[0149] Furthermore, compared to existing mechanisms that provide the UE with an accurate function describing the cell edge, this invention offers a simple and universal method for characterizing cell boundaries. Moreover, cells characterized by ellipses are also applicable to circular cells, making it more adaptable.

[0150] In the embodiments of this application, regardless of the shape of the cell coverage area, it can be described using the geometric features of an ellipse, where the geometric features refer to the major axis and bifocal points of the ellipse.

[0151] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, the mobility management process includes, but is not limited to, cell selection, cell reselection, handover, conditional handover (CHO), and dual active protocol stack (DAPS) handover.

[0152] In one possible implementation, the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process includes at least one of the following:

[0153] The first threshold for measurement activation of the first neighboring cell includes: inter-frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority.

[0154] The second and / or third thresholds limit the reselection range of neighboring cells;

[0155] The fourth and / or fifth thresholds that trigger the execution of the CHO process.

[0156] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, neighboring cells with high reselection priority at different frequencies or different system frequencies are continuously measured and are not limited by a threshold. However, when measuring neighboring cells with reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and those with different system frequencies lower than the current NR frequency priority, a threshold is imposed.

[0157] In other words, when performing cell reselection, if the measurement of the first neighboring cell has not yet been enabled, the reselection will only be performed within the range of high-priority neighboring cells. This process is implemented using relevant existing technologies, which will not be elaborated here. After the measurement of the first neighboring cell is enabled, the reselection will be performed within the range of all neighboring cells.

[0158] In another possible implementation, the information describing the cell shape and location includes at least one of the following:

[0159] The length of the major axis of the cell;

[0160] The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0161] A list describing the major axis length of the cell;

[0162] A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0163] The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position.

[0164] It should be noted that in this embodiment, in the quasi-earth fixed cell scenario, the satellite beam forms a certain angle with the ground, and this angle changes continuously as the satellite moves, causing the shape of the elliptical cell projected onto the ground to constantly change. If the major axis length of the cell and the position coordinates of the two focal points are periodically broadcast within the cell, and the rate of change of the major axis length and the rate of change of the focal point position coordinates are also broadcast, the UE can calculate the major axis and focal point position coordinates of the cell during the time between two broadcasts using the rate of change, thereby improving the UE's judgment accuracy.

[0165] It should also be noted that, in this embodiment, if the cell coverage area is non-circular or non-elliptical, the cell can be divided into one or more circular and / or elliptical regions. When the major axis length of the cell includes multiple regions, the major axis lengths of all regions can be configured in a list to describe the major axis length of the cell. Similarly, the position coordinates of the two foci of all regions can be configured in a list to describe the position coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

[0166] It should be understood that if the area divided into zones is circular, then the length of the major axis is the diameter of the circular area, and the coordinates of the two foci are the coordinates of the center of the circle.

[0167] In another possible implementation, if the relevant information regarding the cell shape and location includes: the major axis length of the cell and / or the coordinates of the two focal points of the cell, step S102 may include:

[0168] Based on the UE's current location information, the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the location coordinates of the two focal points of each neighboring cell, the location coordinates of the two focal points of each candidate cell, and at least two of the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process, the mobility management process to be executed is determined.

[0169] Specifically, in this embodiment, step S102 may include at least one of the following:

[0170] When the UE is in an idle or inactive state, based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell is determined. If the sum of the first distances meets a first preset condition, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is started; otherwise, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is not started.

[0171] When the UE is in an idle or inactive state, based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of each neighboring cell, the sum of the second distances from the UE to the two focal points of each corresponding neighboring cell is determined, and the neighboring cells whose sum of the second distances meets the second preset condition are determined as the neighboring cells to be used for cell reselection. That is, the cell reselection process is performed in the neighboring cells whose sum of the second distances meets the second preset condition.

[0172] When the UE is in a connected state, based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the first sum of distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell is determined, and based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of each candidate cell, the third sum of distances from the UE to the two focal points of the corresponding candidate cell is determined. If the first sum of distances and / or the third sum of distances satisfy a third preset condition, the CHO process is executed.

[0173] In other words, in this embodiment, if the UE is in an idle or inactive state, it can determine whether it is at the edge of the current serving cell based on its own location, and then determine whether to start the measurement of the first neighboring cell; or, it can perform the cell reselection process based on the distance between its own location and the neighboring cell. If the UE is in a connected state, it can determine whether to perform the CHO process based on its own location and / or the distance between its own location and the candidate cell.

[0174] It should be noted that in the embodiments of this application, a candidate cell refers to a cell to be selected during the CHO process when the UE is in the connected state; a neighbor cell refers to a cell to be selected during the cell reselection process when the UE is in the idle state or inactive state.

[0175] Specifically, in this embodiment, in another possible implementation, the sum of the first distances satisfying the first preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0176] The sum of the first distances is greater than the first threshold;

[0177] The sum of the first distances is less than the major axis length of the current serving cell by at most a first preset value. That is: (major axis length - sum of the first distances) <= first preset value.

[0178] In other words, if the sum of the distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell is less than the major axis length of the current serving cell by at most a first preset value, and / or the sum of the distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell is greater than a first threshold, then the measurement of the first neighboring cell is initiated.

[0179] Specifically, in this embodiment, the neighboring cells whose sum of the second distances satisfies the second preset condition include at least one of the following:

[0180] The remaining neighboring cells after excluding those whose sum of second distances is greater than the second threshold;

[0181] Neighboring cells whose sum of second distances is less than the third threshold.

[0182] In other words, in this embodiment, neighboring cells can be selected from the remaining neighboring cells after excluding those whose sum of second distances is greater than the second threshold, and / or from neighboring cells whose sum of second distances is less than the third threshold, according to the cell reselection criterion R. Alternatively, the neighboring cell with the smallest sum of second distances can be selected.

[0183] Specifically, in this embodiment, the sum of the first distances and / or the sum of the third distances satisfying a third preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0184] The sum of the first distances is greater than the fourth threshold;

[0185] The sum of the third distances is less than the fifth threshold;

[0186] The sum of the third distances is less than the sum of the first distances by at least the second preset value. That is: (sum of the first distances - sum of the third distances) >= the second preset value.

[0187] In other words, if the sum of the distances from the UE to the two focal points of the candidate cell is less than the fifth threshold, and / or the sum of the distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell is greater than the fourth threshold, and / or the sum of the distances from the UE to the two focal points of the candidate cell is less than the sum of the distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell by at least the second preset value, then the CHO procedure is executed.

[0188] In another possible implementation, if the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the cell shape and location information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

[0189] That is, if the coverage area of ​​a cell is in a shape other than ellipse or circle, the relevant information about the cell shape and location includes: at least one major axis length, and the position coordinates of the two foci corresponding to each major axis length, wherein each major axis length corresponds to an elliptical area within the coverage area of ​​the cell. Therefore, the configuration information may include a list of cell major axis lengths and / or a list of two foci position coordinates.

[0190] In other words, in this embodiment, since the coverage area of ​​the cell obtained by satellite beam projection is irregular in shape, that is, not circular or elliptical, such cells can be planned using circles and / or ellipses to obtain multiple circular and / or elliptical areas, and then the relevant information of these areas can be used to describe the entire cell.

[0191] Therefore, this invention provides a simple and universal method for characterizing cell boundaries, describing complex and difficult-to-describe cell boundaries as a simple and easily descriptive combination of information. Although this reduces accuracy to some extent, it also reduces the amount of data that needs to be broadcast and the computational load on the UE.

[0192] It should be noted that the network may reduce the signaling length that needs to be transmitted by sacrificing the accuracy of the cell boundary description. For example, the network may choose to use an inscribed ellipse to describe a cell that is actually rectangular in shape. Although this is not very accurate, the amount of data that the network needs to tell the UE will be less in this way.

[0193] In another possible implementation, if the information related to the cell shape and location includes: a first list describing the major axis length of the current serving cell and / or a second list describing the coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the step of performing the mobility management process based on the configuration information includes:

[0194] If the sum of the first distances from the UE to every two focal points in the second list meets the first preset condition, then the measurement of the first neighboring cell is started; otherwise, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is not started.

[0195] Specifically, in this embodiment, when the UE is in an idle or inactive state, the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of the first region of the current serving cell is determined based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the first region of the current serving cell, and it is determined whether the sum of the first distances satisfies a first preset condition.

[0196] If the sum of the first distances satisfies the first preset condition, for other areas of the current serving cell, the steps of determining the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of the second area based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the second area of ​​the current serving cell, and determining whether the sum of the first distances satisfies the first preset condition are repeated until a sum of the first distances that does not satisfy the first preset condition is found, then the measurement of the first neighboring cell is not started.

[0197] If the sum of the first distances corresponding to each region in all regions of the current serving cell meets the first preset condition, then the measurement of the first neighboring cell is initiated.

[0198] Wherein, the first region is any elliptical region within the coverage area of ​​the current serving cell, and the second region is any other elliptical region within the coverage area of ​​the current serving cell other than the first region.

[0199] In other words, in this embodiment, for any area in the current serving cell, if the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of that area meets the first preset condition, it should be determined whether other areas meet the first preset condition until an area that does not meet the first preset condition is found. Then it is determined that the UE is not at the cell edge and the UE does not need to perform the measurement of the first neighboring cell. If all areas meet the first preset condition, the UE is at the cell edge and the UE needs to perform the measurement of the first neighboring cell.

[0200] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the major axis length of any region of the current serving cell is in the first list, and the corresponding coordinates of the two focal points are in the second list. For any region in the current serving cell, if the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of that region satisfies a first preset condition, specifically: the sum of the first distances is less than the major axis length of the region by at most a first preset value, and / or, the sum of the first distances is greater than a first threshold.

[0201] In other words, the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of each region must satisfy the following relationship with the major axis length of the corresponding region: (major axis length - sum of first distances) <= first preset value.

[0202] In another possible implementation, step S101 may include at least one of the following:

[0203] Receive the configuration information broadcast by the network side through system information;

[0204] The configuration information transmitted by the network side via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling is received.

[0205] Obtain the pre-configured configuration information.

[0206] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, pre-configuration refers to information configured by the UE from the outset (e.g., pre-configured at the factory), such as the pre-configured major axis length of the cell, measurement start threshold, etc. The UE can update this information through system information or RRC signaling after accessing the network. The purpose of pre-configuration is to prevent the UE from obtaining the required information when it needs it, even if it has not obtained the required information through system information or RRC signaling.

[0207] In summary, the mobility management method provided in this application, compared to the current satellite network mechanism of depicting cells as circles and broadcasting the cell center and radius to the UE, requires at least one additional location coordinate to improve the accuracy of the UE's cell edge determination. This allows for timely initiation of neighbor cell measurements, cell reselection decisions, and CHO processes. Furthermore, the elliptical cell depiction also applies to circular cells, i.e., scenarios where the two focal points coincide. For elliptical or even more irregular cell coverage scenarios, compared to informing the UE of an accurate function describing the cell edge, this invention provides a simple and universal method for depicting cell boundaries, describing complex and difficult-to-describe cell boundaries as a simple and easily expressible combination of information. While this reduces accuracy to some extent, it also reduces the amount of data that needs to be broadcast and the computational load on the UE.

[0208] This application provides a mobility management method, such as... Figure 8 As shown, applied to the network side, the method includes:

[0209] S201. Send configuration information to the UE, the configuration information being used by the UE to perform the mobility management process;

[0210] The configuration information includes information describing the cell shape and location, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of an ellipse.

[0211] In one possible implementation, the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process includes at least one of the following:

[0212] The first threshold for measurement activation of the first neighboring cell includes: inter-frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority.

[0213] The second and / or third thresholds limit the reselection range of neighboring cells;

[0214] The fourth and / or fifth thresholds that trigger the execution of the CHO process.

[0215] In another possible implementation, the information describing the cell shape and location includes at least one of the following:

[0216] The length of the major axis of the cell;

[0217] The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0218] A list describing the major axis length of the cell;

[0219] A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0220] The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position.

[0221] In another possible implementation, if the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the cell shape and location information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

[0222] That is, if the coverage area of ​​a cell is in a shape other than ellipse or circle, the information describing the cell's shape and location includes: at least one major axis length, and the coordinates of the two foci corresponding to each major axis length, wherein each major axis length corresponds to an elliptical area within the cell's coverage area. Therefore, the configuration information may include a list of cell major axis lengths and / or a list of the coordinates of the two foci.

[0223] In another possible implementation, sending configuration information to the UE includes at least one of the following methods:

[0224] The configuration information is broadcast via system information broadcast;

[0225] The configuration information is transmitted via RRC signaling.

[0226] In other words, the mobility management method provided in this application includes information about the shape and location of cells described by the geometric features of an ellipse, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process in the configuration information, and sends the configuration information to the UE, so that the UE can perform the mobility management process based on the configuration information. This can improve the accuracy of the mobility management process in cases where the satellite cells are not standard circles in actual satellite network deployments.

[0227] The implementation process of the mobile management method provided in this application will be described in detail below based on Embodiments 1 to 5.

[0228] Example 1: Measurement Enablement Judgment for Cell Reselection Based on Network Configuration

[0229] like Figure 9 The methods shown include:

[0230] S301. The network side broadcasts relevant information about the current serving cell (the coverage area of ​​the serving cell is elliptical) through system information, including the location coordinates of the two focal points of the serving cell and the measurement opening threshold D' of the first neighboring cell (D' is slightly smaller than the length of the major axis of the elliptical serving cell).

[0231] The first neighboring cell includes: inter-frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority.

[0232] It should be noted that if the coverage area of ​​the service cell is circular, the coordinates of the two focal points are the coordinates of the center of the circle, and the major axis is the diameter of the circle.

[0233] S302. After receiving the system information, the UE calculates the sum of the distances d from the current location to the two focal points of the serving cell, and then compares it with the measurement opening threshold D' of the first neighboring cell in the system information.

[0234] S303. If the sum of the distances d from the UE’s current location to the two focal points is less than the measurement activation threshold D’ of the first neighboring cell, then the UE is determined to be not at the cell edge, and measurement of the cell with the same or lower reselection priority frequency (i.e., the first neighboring cell) can be omitted.

[0235] S304. Otherwise, determine that the UE is located at the cell edge and start measuring cells with the same or lower reselection priority frequency.

[0236] It should be noted that the embodiments of this application also include the measurement process for high-priority inter-frequency or inter-system frequency cells, which is completed using relevant existing technologies. For the sake of brevity, it will not be described in detail here.

[0237] Example 2: Measurement and Enabling Judgment for Cell Reselection Based on UE

[0238] like Figure 10 The methods shown include:

[0239] S401. The network side broadcasts relevant information about the current serving cell (the coverage area of ​​the serving cell is elliptical) through system information, including the coordinate information of the two focal points of the serving cell and the length of the cell's major axis D.

[0240] It should be noted that if the coverage area of ​​the service cell is circular, the coordinates of the two focal points are the coordinates of the center of the circle, and the major axis is the diameter of the circle.

[0241] S402. After receiving the system information, the UE calculates the sum of distances d from its current location to the two focal points of the serving cell. Then, based on its own judgment, if the sum of distances d from the current location to the two focal points differs from the major axis D of the ellipse by a preset value (i.e., Dd <= the first preset value), the UE should initiate measurements of cells with the same or lower reselection priority frequencies. Otherwise, it should not initiate measurements of cells with the same or lower reselection priority frequencies.

[0242] It should be noted that the embodiments of this application also include the measurement process for high-priority inter-frequency or inter-system frequency cells. This process is completed using relevant existing technologies, and will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0243] Example 3: For non-elliptical and non-circular cells, cell reselection measurement activation judgment based on network configuration.

[0244] like Figure 11 The methods shown include:

[0245] S501. The network broadcasts a set of location information of the cell through system information, including the location coordinates of the two foci of at least one ellipse and the corresponding major axis lengths.

[0246] It should be noted that when planning for non-elliptical and non-circular cells, the cell range described to the UE can be slightly smaller than the actual cell range; that is, the sum of the coverage of all broadcast ellipses is slightly smaller than the projection range of the satellite beam. This allows the UE to determine in a timely manner whether it is located at the cell edge, which is beneficial for further execution of the mobility management process.

[0247] It should also be noted that if there is a circular region in the division process, the coordinates of the two foci are the coordinates of the center of the circle, and the major axis is the diameter of the circle.

[0248] S502. After receiving the system information, the UE calculates the sum of the distances from the current position to the two foci of each ellipse and compares them with the corresponding major axis length.

[0249] S503. If the sum of the distances from the UE's current location to all the bifocal points of the ellipse is greater than the length of the major axis of the corresponding ellipse, then the UE is determined to be located at the cell edge, and measurement of cells with the same or lower reselection priority frequency should be initiated.

[0250] S504. Otherwise, if the UE is determined to be not at the cell edge, measurement of cells with the same or lower reselection priority frequencies may not be enabled.

[0251] In other words, for any area in the current serving cell, if the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of that area meets the first preset condition, it should be determined whether other areas meet the first preset condition until an area that does not meet the first preset condition is found. Then it is determined that the UE is not at the cell edge, and the measurement of cells with the same or lower reselection priority frequency can be stopped, and the calculation of distances to other elliptical focal points can be stopped.

[0252] Example 4: Cell Reselection Criteria

[0253] like Figure 12 The methods shown include:

[0254] S601, the network side broadcasts the coordinate information of two focal points of a group of neighboring cells through system information.

[0255] S602 and UE respectively calculate the sum of the distances from the current location to the coordinates of the two focal points of each neighboring cell.

[0256] S603. Perform a cell reselection process among neighboring cells whose sum of distances satisfies the second preset condition.

[0257] It should be noted that in this embodiment, a group of neighboring cells refers to at least one neighboring cell, and this group of neighboring cells includes a first neighboring cell and cells with high-priority inter-frequency or inter-system frequencies. The first neighboring cell includes cells with the same and lower-priority frequencies. That is, when measurements of cells with the same and lower-priority frequencies have not yet been initiated, reselection is performed only within the range of high-priority cells. This process is implemented using relevant existing technologies and will not be elaborated upon here. After measurements of cells with the same and lower-priority frequencies are initiated, reselection is performed across all cell ranges.

[0258] Specifically, in this embodiment, neighboring cells whose sum of distances meets the second preset condition include: the remaining neighboring cells after excluding neighboring cells whose sum of distances is greater than the second threshold; and / or, neighboring cells whose sum of distances is less than the third threshold. Therefore, neighboring cells can be selected from the remaining neighboring cells and / or neighboring cells whose sum of distances is less than the third threshold, according to the cell reselection criteria.

[0259] Example 5: CHO Process

[0260] S1. The UE reports the measurement results through measurement report messages based on the measurement configuration on the network side.

[0261] S2. The network side determines whether to use CHO based on the measurement results reported by the terminal.

[0262] S3. If a CHO is used, the source gNB requests a CHO from the target gNB.

[0263] S4. Candidate gNBs perform admission control.

[0264] S5. The candidate gNB sends a CHO handover request confirmation response to the source cell.

[0265] S6. The source gNB sends an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE, which includes the CHO configuration and CHO execution conditions of the candidate gNB.

[0266] S7. The UE sends an RRC reconfiguration complete message to the source gNB.

[0267] S8. If early data forwarding is used, the source cell will send an Early State Transfer (EARLY STATUSTRANSFER) message.

[0268] S9. After receiving the RRC reconfiguration message, the UE maintains the connection with the source cell and begins to evaluate the CHO execution conditions of the candidate gNB.

[0269] If at least one candidate cell among the candidate gNBs meets the third preset condition, the connection of the old cell is disconnected, the cell is synchronized to the new cell, and the handover process is completed by sending an RRC reconfiguration completion message to the target cell.

[0270] The third precondition is any one of the following:

[0271] The sum of the distances from the UE to the two focal points of the serving cell is greater than the threshold D1 and the sum of the distances from the UE to the two focal points of the candidate cell is less than the threshold D2;

[0272] The sum of the distances d1 from the UE to the two focal points of the serving cell is greater than the threshold D1;

[0273] The sum of the distances d2 from the UE to the two focal points of the candidate cell is less than the threshold D2;

[0274] d1-d2>=Second preset value.

[0275] S10. The target gNB sends a HANDOVER SUCCESS message to the source gNB. In response, the source gNB sends an SN STATUS TRANSFER message to the target gNB.

[0276] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a mobility management device applied to a user equipment, comprising:

[0277] The acquisition module is used to obtain configuration information;

[0278] The execution module is used to perform the mobility management process according to the configuration information;

[0279] The configuration information includes information describing the cell shape and location, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of an ellipse.

[0280] In some embodiments, the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process includes at least one of the following:

[0281] The first threshold for measurement activation of the first neighboring cell includes: inter-frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority.

[0282] The second and / or third thresholds limit the reselection range of neighboring cells;

[0283] The fourth and / or fifth thresholds that trigger the execution of the CHO process.

[0284] In other embodiments, the information describing the cell shape and location includes at least one of the following:

[0285] The length of the major axis of the cell;

[0286] The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0287] A list describing the major axis length of the cell;

[0288] A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0289] The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position.

[0290] In other embodiments, if the relevant information regarding the cell shape and location includes: the major axis length of the cell and / or the coordinates of the two focal points of the cell, the execution module is specifically used for:

[0291] Based on the UE's current location information, the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the location coordinates of the two focal points of each neighboring cell, the location coordinates of the two focal points of each candidate cell, and at least two of the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process, the mobility management process to be executed is determined.

[0292] Specifically, in this embodiment, it may include:

[0293] When the UE is in an idle or inactive state, based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the sum of a first distance from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell is determined. If the sum of the first distances meets a first preset condition, measurement of the first neighboring cell is initiated; otherwise, measurement of the first neighboring cell is not initiated; and / or,

[0294] When the UE is in an idle or inactive state, based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of each neighboring cell, the sum of the second distances from the UE to the two focal points of each corresponding neighboring cell is determined. Neighboring cells whose sum of second distances satisfies a second preset condition are identified as the neighboring cells for which the cell reselection process will be performed; that is, the cell reselection process will be performed among the neighboring cells whose sum of second distances satisfies the second preset condition; and / or,

[0295] When the UE is in a connected state, based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the first sum of distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell is determined, and based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of each candidate cell, the third sum of distances from the UE to the two focal points of the corresponding candidate cell is determined. If the first sum of distances and / or the third sum of distances satisfy a third preset condition, the CHO process is executed.

[0296] Specifically, in this embodiment, the neighboring cells whose sum of the second distances satisfies the second preset condition include at least one of the following:

[0297] The remaining neighboring cells after excluding those whose sum of second distances is greater than the second threshold;

[0298] Neighboring cells whose sum of second distances is less than the third threshold.

[0299] Specifically, in this embodiment, the sum of the first distances and / or the sum of the third distances satisfying a third preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0300] The sum of the first distances is greater than the fourth threshold;

[0301] The sum of the third distances is less than the fifth threshold;

[0302] The sum of the third distances is less than the sum of the first distances by at least the second preset value.

[0303] In other embodiments, if the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the cell shape and location information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

[0304] That is, if the coverage area of ​​a cell is in a shape other than ellipse or circle, the information describing the cell's shape and location includes: at least one major axis length, and the coordinates of the two foci corresponding to each major axis length, wherein each major axis length corresponds to an elliptical area within the cell's coverage area. Therefore, the configuration information may include a list of cell major axis lengths and / or a list of the coordinates of the two foci.

[0305] In another possible implementation, if the information related to the cell shape and location includes: a first list describing the major axis length of the current serving cell and / or a second list describing the coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the execution module is specifically used for:

[0306] If the sum of the first distances from the UE to every two focal points in the second list meets the first preset condition, then the measurement of the first neighboring cell is started; otherwise, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is not started.

[0307] Specifically, in this embodiment, when the UE is in an idle or inactive state, the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of the first region of the current serving cell is determined based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the first region of the current serving cell, and it is determined whether the sum of the first distances satisfies a first preset condition.

[0308] If the sum of the first distances satisfies the first preset condition, for other areas of the current serving cell, the steps of determining the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of the second area based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the second area of ​​the current serving cell, and determining whether the sum of the first distances satisfies the first preset condition are repeated until a sum of the first distances that does not satisfy the first preset condition is found, then the measurement of the first neighboring cell is not started.

[0309] If the sum of the first distances corresponding to each region in all regions of the current serving cell meets the first preset condition, then the measurement of the first neighboring cell is initiated.

[0310] Wherein, the first region is any elliptical region within the coverage area of ​​the current serving cell, and the second region is any other elliptical region within the coverage area of ​​the current serving cell other than the first region.

[0311] In another possible implementation, the sum of the first distances satisfies at least one of the following preset conditions:

[0312] The sum of the first distances is greater than the first threshold;

[0313] The sum of the first distances is less than the major axis length of the current serving cell by at most a first preset value.

[0314] In the above embodiments, the acquisition module is specifically used for:

[0315] Receive the configuration information broadcast by the network side via system information; and / or,

[0316] The configuration information transmitted by the network side via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; and / or,

[0317] Obtain the pre-configured configuration information.

[0318] For details not described in the device provided in this application, please refer to [the relevant documentation]. Figure 7 , Figure 9-12The methods and apparatus provided in the illustrated embodiments of this application can achieve the same beneficial effects as those described. Figure 7 , Figure 9-12 The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments are the same and will not be repeated here.

[0319] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application also provide a mobility management device, applied on the network side, comprising:

[0320] The sending module is used to send configuration information to the UE, which is used by the UE to perform a mobility management process;

[0321] The configuration information includes information describing the cell shape and location, and / or threshold information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of an ellipse.

[0322] In one possible implementation, the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process includes at least one of the following:

[0323] The first threshold for measurement activation of the first neighboring cell includes: inter-frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority.

[0324] The second and / or third thresholds limit the reselection range of neighboring cells;

[0325] The fourth and / or fifth thresholds that trigger the execution of the CHO process.

[0326] In another possible implementation, the information describing the cell shape and location includes at least one of the following:

[0327] The length of the major axis of the cell;

[0328] The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0329] A list describing the major axis length of the cell;

[0330] A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell;

[0331] The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position.

[0332] In another possible implementation, if the cell shape and location information is described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the cell shape and location information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

[0333] That is, if the coverage area of ​​a cell is in a shape other than ellipse or circle, the relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell includes: at least one major axis length, and the position coordinates of the two foci corresponding to each major axis length, wherein each major axis length corresponds to an elliptical area within the coverage area of ​​the cell.

[0334] In another possible implementation, the sending module is specifically used for:

[0335] The configuration information is broadcast via system information broadcast; and / or,

[0336] The configuration information is transmitted via RRC signaling.

[0337] For details not described in the device provided in this application, please refer to [the relevant documentation]. Figure 8-12 The methods and apparatus provided in the illustrated embodiments of this application can achieve the same beneficial effects as those described. Figure 8-12 The methods provided in the illustrated embodiments are the same and will not be repeated here.

[0338] Based on the same principles as the methods provided in the embodiments of this application, this application provides an electronic device comprising: a memory and a processor; at least one program stored in the memory, which, when executed by the processor, improves the accuracy of the UE's cell edge determination by broadcasting at least one additional location coordinate, thereby enabling timely initiation of neighbor cell measurement, reselection determination, and CHO handover processes. Furthermore, the elliptical cell characterization is also applicable to circular cells, i.e., scenarios with overlapping focal points. For elliptical or even more irregular cell coverage scenarios, compared to informing the UE of an accurate function describing the cell edge, this invention provides a simple and universal method for characterizing cell boundaries, describing complex and difficult-to-describe cell boundaries as a simple and easily descriptive combination of information. Although accuracy is reduced to some extent, the amount of data to be broadcast and the computational load on the UE are also reduced.

[0339] An electronic device provided in this application embodiment can be a user device or a network-side device as described in the above embodiments.

[0340] In one alternative embodiment, a user equipment is provided, such as Figure 13 As shown, Figure 13The user equipment 70 shown includes a processor 703 and a memory 701. The processor 703 and the memory 701 are connected, for example, via a bus interface. Optionally, the user equipment 70 may further include a transceiver 702, which can be used for data interaction between the user equipment and other devices, such as sending and / or receiving data. It should be noted that in practical applications, the transceiver 702 is not limited to one type, and the structure of the user equipment 70 does not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of this application.

[0341] It should be understood that in the above embodiments, Figure 13 The bus architecture can include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 703 and memory represented by memory 701 together. The bus architecture can also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 702 can be multiple elements, including transmitters and receivers, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over transmission media, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical fibers, and other transmission media.

[0342] The processor 703 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, while the memory 702 can store the data used by the processor 703 when performing operations.

[0343] Optionally, the processor 703 can be a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), and the processor can also adopt a multi-core architecture.

[0344] The processor executes any of the methods described in the embodiments of this application according to the obtained executable instructions by calling a computer program stored in memory. The processor and memory may also be physically separated.

[0345] This application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the corresponding content in the aforementioned method embodiments. Compared with the prior art, this invention only requires broadcasting one more location coordinate to improve the accuracy of the UE's cell edge determination, thereby enabling timely initiation of neighbor cell measurement, reselection determination, and CHO handover processes. Furthermore, the elliptical cell characterization is also applicable to circular cells, i.e., scenarios where the two focal points coincide. For elliptical or even more irregular cell coverage scenarios, compared to informing the UE of an accurate function describing the cell edge, this invention provides a simple and universal method for characterizing cell boundaries, describing complex and difficult-to-describe cell boundaries as a simple and easily descriptive combination of information. Although accuracy is reduced to some extent, the amount of data to be broadcast and the computational load on the UE are also reduced.

[0346] It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated units described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional units.

[0347] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0348] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage and optical storage) containing computer-usable program code.

[0349] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart illustrations and / or one or more blocks of the block diagrams.

[0350] These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can instruct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0351] These processor-executable instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowcharts and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0352] It should be understood that although the steps in the flowcharts of the accompanying figures are shown sequentially as indicated by the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless explicitly stated herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and they can be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least some steps in the flowcharts of the accompanying figures may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages. These sub-steps or stages are not necessarily completed at the same time, but can be executed at different times, and their execution order is not necessarily sequential, but can be performed alternately or in turn with other steps or at least some of the sub-steps or stages of other steps.

[0353] The above description is only a partial embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A mobility management method, characterized in that, Applied to a user equipment (UE), the method includes: Get configuration information; The mobility management process is executed based on the configuration information. The configuration information includes: relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell; or, the configuration information includes: relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell, and threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell is described by the geometric features of an ellipse. The information related to the shape and location of the cell includes at least one of the following: The length of the major axis of the cell; The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell; A list describing the major axis length of the cell; A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell; The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position; If the shape and location information of a cell are described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the relevant information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process includes at least one of the following: The first threshold for measurement activation of the first neighboring cell includes: inter-frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority. The second and / or third thresholds limit the reselection range of neighboring cells; The fourth and / or fifth thresholds that trigger the execution of the CHO process.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, If the relevant information regarding the cell shape and location includes: the major axis length of the cell and / or the coordinates of the two focal points of the cell, the process of performing mobility management based on the configuration information includes: Based on the UE's current location information, the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the location coordinates of the two focal points of each neighboring cell, the location coordinates of the two focal points of each candidate cell, and at least two of the threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process, the mobility management process to be executed is determined.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The mobility management process to be performed includes: Based on the UE's current location and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, determine the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell; If the sum of the first distances meets the first preset condition, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is started; otherwise, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is not started.

5. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, If the information related to the cell shape and location includes: a first list describing the major axis length of the current serving cell and / or a second list describing the coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, the process of performing mobility management according to the configuration information includes: If the sum of the first distances from the UE to every two focal points in the second list meets the first preset condition, then the measurement of the first neighboring cell is started; otherwise, the measurement of the first neighboring cell is not started.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that, The sum of the first distances satisfies at least one of the following preset conditions: The sum of the first distances is greater than the first threshold; The sum of the first distances is less than the major axis length of the current serving cell by at most a first preset value.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The mobility management process to be performed includes: Based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of each neighboring cell, the sum of the second distances from the UE to the two focal points of each corresponding neighboring cell is determined. The neighboring cells whose sum of the second distances meets the second preset condition are identified as the neighboring cells for which the cell reselection process is to be performed.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, Neighboring cells whose sum of the second distances satisfies the second preset condition include at least one of the following: The remaining neighboring cells after excluding those whose sum of second distances is greater than the second threshold; Neighboring cells whose sum of second distances is less than the third threshold.

9. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The mobility management process to be performed includes: Based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of the current serving cell, determine the sum of the first distances from the UE to the two focal points of the current serving cell; Based on the UE's current location information and the location coordinates of the two focal points of each candidate cell, determine the sum of the third distances from the UE to the two focal points of the corresponding candidate cell; If the sum of the first distances and / or the sum of the third distances satisfy a third preset condition, the CHO process is executed.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The sum of the first distances, and / or the sum of the third distances, satisfy at least one of the following preset conditions: The sum of the first distances is greater than the fourth threshold; The sum of the third distances is less than the fifth threshold; The sum of the third distances is less than the sum of the first distances by at least the second preset value.

11. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The acquisition of configuration information includes at least one of the following methods: Receive the configuration information broadcast by the network side through system information; The configuration information transmitted by the network side via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling is received. Obtain the pre-configured configuration information.

12. A mobility management method, characterized in that, Applied to the network side, the method includes: Configuration information is sent to the UE, and the configuration information is used by the UE to perform the mobility management process; The configuration information includes: relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell; or, the configuration information includes: relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell, and threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell is described by the geometric features of an ellipse. The information related to the shape and location of the cell includes at least one of the following: The length of the major axis of the cell; The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell; A list describing the major axis length of the cell; A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell; The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position; If the shape and location information of a cell are described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the relevant information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process includes at least one of the following: The first threshold for measurement activation of the first neighboring cell includes: inter-frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority equal to or lower than the current NR frequency priority, and inter-system frequency neighboring cells with a reselection priority lower than the current NR frequency priority. The second and / or third thresholds limit the reselection range of neighboring cells; The fourth and / or fifth thresholds that trigger the execution of the CHO process.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, Sending configuration information to the UE includes at least one of the following methods: The configuration information is broadcast via system information broadcast; The configuration information is transmitted via RRC signaling.

15. A mobility management device, applied to a user equipment (UE), characterized in that, include: The acquisition module is used to obtain configuration information; The execution module is used to perform the mobility management process according to the configuration information; The configuration information includes: relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell; or, the configuration information includes: relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell, and threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell is described by the geometric features of an ellipse. The information related to the shape and location of the cell includes at least one of the following: The length of the major axis of the cell; The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell; A list describing the major axis length of the cell; A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell; The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position; If the shape and location information of a cell are described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the relevant information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

16. A mobility management device, characterized in that, Applied to the network side, including: The sending module is used to send configuration information to the UE, which is used by the UE to perform a mobility management process; The configuration information includes: relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell; or, the configuration information includes: relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell, and threshold-related information configured for the mobility management process, wherein the relevant information describing the shape and location of the cell is described by the geometric features of an ellipse. The information related to the shape and location of the cell includes at least one of the following: The length of the major axis of the cell; The coordinates of the two focal points of the cell; A list describing the major axis length of the cell; A list describing the location coordinates of the two focal points of the cell; The rate of change of the length of the major axis and the rate of change of the coordinates of the focal position; If the shape and location information of a cell are described by the geometric features of multiple ellipses, the relevant information includes: a list describing the length of the major axis of the cell and / or a list describing the coordinates of the two foci of the cell.

17. A user equipment, characterized in that, include: Memory, used to store computer programs; A transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of a processor. A processor for reading a computer program from the memory and executing the method of any one of claims 1-11.

18. A network-side device, characterized in that, include: Memory, used to store computer programs; A transceiver is used to send and receive data under the control of a processor. A processor for reading a computer program from the memory and executing the method of any one of claims 12-16.

19. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program for causing a processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-11, or any one of claims 12-16.

Images