Method for forwarding device management and information reporting, communication system and related device

Abstract

This disclosure provides a method, apparatus, base station, forwarding device, communication system, and computer-readable storage medium for managing and reporting information on forwarding devices, relating to the field of communication technology. The method includes: a base station receiving management subscription information for a forwarding device issued by a network management system, wherein the forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells; the base station selecting a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configuring a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device; the base station configuring resource information for all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and receiving statistical information for all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer; and the base station sending the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system. This disclosure can meet the management and information statistics requirements of network management systems for wireless forwarding devices such as intelligent repeaters.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method, apparatus, base station, forwarding device, communication system, and computer-readable storage medium for managing and reporting information on forwarding devices. Background Technology

[0002] A repeater is a radio repeater used in wireless communication systems to extend network coverage. Current repeaters are primarily radio frequency (RF) repeaters, mainly used for signal amplification without performing any signal analysis. Compared to base stations, repeaters have a simpler structure, such as... Figure 1 As shown, a repeater consists of components or modules such as an antenna, RF duplexer, low-noise amplifier, mixer, electrically adjustable attenuator, filter, power amplifier, and ALC, including both uplink and downlink amplification links. Since a repeater only amplifies the signal, it also amplifies noise and interference signals along with the useful signal.

[0003] As a technical means of coverage compensation, besides Layer 1 devices like repeaters, there are other devices used for signal coverage extension during the evolution and practice of wireless network standards. These include relay devices in 4G networks and IAB (Integrated Access Backhaul) devices in 5G networks. These devices all possess a Layer 1 to Layer 3 wireless protocol stack and are opaque to the terminal side. From the terminal's perspective, a 4G relay device or a 5G IAB device is a base station; however, from the base station's perspective, the relay device or IAB device is a UE (User Equipment) identity. Therefore, the base station's data transmission and reception are handled by scheduling the relay device or IAB device.

[0004] Figure 2The diagram illustrates the IAB (Infrastructure as a Base Station) in a 5G network, which comes in two types: the IAB-donor (IAB master node), which acts as the host base station, connecting to the core network via wired connections and performing centralized resource, topology, and routing management for the IAB topology; and the IAB-node, a micro-station deployed in areas not covered by macro stations, which does not require fiber optic or microwave backhaul but directly uses 5G millimeter waves for backhaul. An IAB-donor consists of one IAB-donor-CU and one or more IAB-donor-DUs. With separate gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP, an IAB-donor can include one IAB-donor-CU-CP, multiple IAB-donor-CU-UPs, and multiple IAB-donor-DUs. The IAB-node connects to the upstream IAB-node or IAB-donor-DU via a subset of UE functions on the NR Uu interface. The IAB-node provides radio backhaul to the downstream IAB-node and UE through the network functions of the NR Uu interface. F1-C traffic between IAB-node and IAB-donor-CU is echoed back via IAB-donor-DU and optional intermediate hop IAB-node. F1-U traffic between IAB-node and IAB-donor-CU is echoed back via IAB-donor-DU and optional intermediate hop IAB node.

[0005] To support the expanded coverage of 5G networks, 3GPP introduced a new radio repeater in Rel-18, namely the Smart Repeater. Compared to existing radio repeaters, the Smart Repeater has the following characteristics:

[0006] 1) Supports beamforming for terminals within the coverage area: such as Figure 3 The diagram shown illustrates the working principle of an RF repeater; Figure 4 The diagram shows the working principle of a smart repeater. By comparison, it can be seen that traditional radio frequency repeaters are only used for signal amplification and forwarding, and do not perform beamforming on terminals within the coverage area. In contrast, smart repeaters support beamforming on terminals within the coverage area. Furthermore, since there is no longer channel reciprocity between macro base stations and terminals, interference suppression operations cannot be performed on terminals.

[0007] 2) Supports receiving control information from macro base stations: Current standards require a certain level of interaction between base stations and smart repeaters. Therefore, smart repeaters must at least have a physical layer protocol stack, which allows for link adjustments between the repeater and the terminal. For example... Figure 5 The diagram shows the link structure of an intelligent repeater.

[0008] 3) Security support: Traditional radio frequency repeaters do not require authentication at the macro base station, which may lead to some unauthorized amplification devices in the system. Therefore, in order to enhance security, it is necessary to support the authentication of the repeater to prevent unauthorized devices from accessing the system.

[0009] Compared to Layer 3 forwarding devices such as Relay devices or IAB devices, smart repeaters are essentially Layer 1 forwarding devices. They cannot support data caching, nor can they have overly complex protocol stack designs. They do not need to support NAS and data encryption functions. Currently, 3GPP has not defined relevant standards for smart repeaters, and existing smart repeaters cannot meet the above-mentioned functional technical requirements and have the following problems:

[0010] 1) Inability to meet the security requirements of the access link: If only SRB0 or ​​CCCH is used to transmit relevant configuration information, the transmission size is limited to 48 bits or 64 bits, making it impossible to configure larger information. Furthermore, sending configuration information in plaintext may lead to attacks or theft. Therefore, when the smart repeater only supports the physical layer protocol stack, it cannot meet the security requirements of the access link.

[0011] 2) Macro base stations cannot manage repeaters: In some scenarios, repeaters cannot be connected to the network management system via wired connections and often need to be managed through macro base stations. If management information is transmitted through the user plane, it will inevitably contradict the requirement of mapping the core network bearer and the wireless network bearer in the existing QoS architecture, and the control plane does not currently support the corresponding management process.

[0012] 3) Cannot support repeater management in multi-frequency scenarios: When a repeater supports multiple frequencies and multiple cells, the current standard does not specify whether multiple management bearers need to be established for equipment information reporting for multiple frequency bands. Since the repeater cannot see the status such as carrier aggregation, it is necessary to solve the management needs of multiple cells.

[0013] Based on the above analysis of requirements and reasons, the current 3GPP Rel-17 version protocol cannot meet the design requirements of smart repeaters. Furthermore, since the protocol stack architecture of smart repeaters is not yet determined, it is necessary to implement enhanced functions through new standardization methods to meet the management needs of network management systems for smart repeaters.

[0014] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the background section above is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of this disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0015] This disclosure provides a method, apparatus, base station, forwarding device, communication system, and computer-readable storage medium for managing and reporting information on forwarding devices, which at least to some extent overcomes the technical problem in related technologies that base stations have difficulty managing wireless forwarding devices such as smart repeaters.

[0016] Other features and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part from practice of this disclosure.

[0017] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a method for managing and reporting information about a forwarding device is provided. The method includes: a base station receiving management subscription information for a forwarding device issued by a network management system, wherein the forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells; the base station selecting a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configuring a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device; the base station configuring resource information for all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and receiving statistical information for all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer; and the base station sending the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system.

[0018] In some embodiments, the management subscription information includes at least: status information and configuration information of the forwarding device; wherein, the status of the forwarding device includes: connected status and idle status. When the forwarding device is in the connected status, the forwarding device can receive signaling messages from the base station and forward them to the terminal, and can also receive signals from the terminal and forward them to the base station; when the forwarding device is in the idle status, the forwarding device can receive signaling messages from the base station but cannot forward them to the terminal, and can receive signals from the terminal but cannot forward them to the base station; the configuration information of the forwarding device includes at least one of the following: software version information of the forwarding device, wireless protocol stack information, and wireless parameter configuration information.

[0019] In some embodiments, after the base station receives the management subscription information of the forwarding device issued by the network management system, the method further includes: the base station storing the configuration information of the forwarding device contained in the management subscription information.

[0020] In some embodiments, the target signaling bearer employs the same security mechanism as signaling bearer SRB1 to encrypt and / or protect the signaling; the target signaling bearer has a lower transmission and scheduling priority on the base station side than any one of SRB0, SRB1, SRB2, SRB3, and SRB4, and is not allowed to transmit non-access stratum (NAS) messages.

[0021] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the base station sending configuration information of the target signaling bearer to a first cell of each forwarding device via a first RRC message of SRB0 or ​​SRB1, wherein the first cell is a cell in which the forwarding device establishes an RRC connection with the base station.

[0022] In some embodiments, the first RRC message includes at least the following information: 1) an SRB addition list, including one or more SRBs, wherein the target signaling bearer is one of the SRBs in the SRB addition list; 2) whether to enable the same security mechanism as SRB1, an enumeration type, wherein a value of yes indicates that the target signaling bearer uses the same security mechanism as SRB1 to encrypt and / or protect the signaling; a value of no or no such information indicates that the target signaling bearer does not use a security mechanism to encrypt and / or protect the signaling; 3) a list of cells supported by the target signaling bearer, including one or more cell identifiers, each cell identifier ranging from 1 to 8; wherein the identifier of the first cell is 0.

[0023] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the forwarding device determining the target signaling bearer to be configured based on the SRB addition list in the first RRC message; the forwarding device determining whether the target signaling bearer uses the same security mechanism as SRB1 to encrypt and / or protect the signaling based on whether the same security mechanism as SRB1 is enabled in the first RRC message; and the forwarding device determining the list of cells reported by the target signaling bearer based on the list of cells supported by the target signaling bearer in the first RRC message.

[0024] In some embodiments, the target signaling bearer has a lower transmission and scheduling priority than any one of SRB0, SRB1, and SRB2 on the forwarding device side, and transmission of non-access stratum (NAS) messages is not allowed.

[0025] In some embodiments, the method further includes: after the target signaling bearer configuration is completed, the forwarding device notifies the base station that the target signaling bearer configuration is complete via a second RRC message of SRB0 or ​​SRB1.

[0026] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the base station sending a third RRC message to the forwarding device via a target signaling bearer, wherein the third RRC message contains management subscription information sent by the base station to the forwarding device.

[0027] In some embodiments, the method further includes: after receiving the third RRC message, the forwarding device saves the subscription result and completes the parameter and function configuration of the forwarding device; the forwarding device sends a fourth RRC message to the base station through the target signaling bearer, wherein the fourth RRC message is used to confirm that the parameter and function configuration of the forwarding device has been completed.

[0028] In some embodiments, the third RRC message includes at least the following information: 1) Measurement ID, which is an integer value; 2) A statistics and configuration list of the cell, including: a statistics and configuration list of one or more cells, wherein each cell's statistics and configuration list includes at least the following information: ① Statistical object, including: the terminal identifier of one or more terminals to be counted; ② Measurement type, used to indicate the name of the measurement and statistics configuration type of the network management system, enumerated type; ③ Statistical variable value, enumerated type, the value includes at least: the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs), and the uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR); ④ Information reporting granularity, enumerated type, the value includes any one of the following: 100ms, 500ms, 1s; 3) Parameter and function configuration information of the forwarding device, including at least: energy-saving activation indication information of the forwarding device.

[0029] In some embodiments, the method further includes: the forwarding device periodically compiling statistics on the information of the statistical objects in the corresponding cell according to the granularity of the information reported in the third RRC message; the forwarding device sending a fifth RRC message to the base station through the target signaling bearer, wherein the fifth RRC message carries the statistical results of the information of the statistical objects in the corresponding cell.

[0030] In some embodiments, the method further includes: after receiving the fifth RRC message, the base station sends the statistical results of the information contained in the fifth RRC message to the network management system.

[0031] In some embodiments, the fifth RRC message includes at least the following information: 1) Measurement ID, which is an integer value; 2) A list of statistics and measurement results for the cell, including: a list of statistics and measurement results for one or more cells, wherein each cell's list of statistics and measurement results includes at least the following information: ① Measurement type, used to indicate the name of the network management system's measurement and statistics configuration type, enumerated type; ② Measurement result, enumerated type, with values ​​including at least: number of physical resource blocks (PRBs), uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR); ③ Terminal identifier associated with the measurement, if this information is not carried, it indicates that the statistics and measurement results are unrelated to the terminal.

[0032] In some embodiments, the statistical results include at least the following information: a list of statistical and measurement results for a cell, including: a list of statistical and measurement results for one or more cells, wherein each cell's list of statistical and measurement results includes at least the following information: ① Measurement type, used to indicate the name of the network management system's measurement and statistical configuration type, enumerating the type; ② Measurement result, enumerating the type, with values ​​including at least: the number of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) and the uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR); ③ Terminal identifier associated with the measurement, the absence of this information indicates that the statistical and measurement results are unrelated to the terminal.

[0033] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a forwarding device management and information reporting apparatus is also provided, comprising: a network management subscription information acquisition module, used to receive management subscription information of a forwarding device issued by a network management system, wherein the forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells; a bearer configuration module, used to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device; a forwarding device management and information reporting module, used to configure resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and to receive statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer; and a network management subscription result reporting module, used to send the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system.

[0034] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a base station is also provided, comprising: a network management system interface, a bearer configuration module, an intelligent repeater management module, and an intelligent repeater information reporting module; wherein, the network management system interface is used to receive management subscription information of a forwarding device issued by the network management system, wherein the forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells; the bearer configuration module is used to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device; the intelligent repeater management module is used to configure resource information of all frequency bands or cells for each forwarding device through the target signaling bearer; the intelligent repeater information reporting module is used to receive statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer.

[0035] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a forwarding device is also provided, comprising: a bearer configuration information acquisition module, configured to receive bearer configuration information from a base station requesting the establishment of a target signaling bearer, wherein the base station is further configured to receive management subscription information for the forwarding device issued by a network management system, and to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device to configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority, so as to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device, wherein the forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells; and a bearer establishment module, configured to establish a target signaling bearer with the base station according to the bearer configuration information, wherein the target signaling bearer is used by the base station to configure resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device, and to receive statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer.

[0036] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a communication system is also provided, comprising: a network management system, a base station, and a smart repeater; wherein, the network management system is used to send management subscription information of a forwarding device to the base station, the forwarding device being able to operate in one or more frequency bands or cells; the base station selects a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configures a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority, so as to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device, configure resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and receive statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and send the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system.

[0037] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, on which a computer program is stored, which, when executed by a processor, implements the forwarding device management and information reporting method described in any of the preceding claims.

[0038] The methods, apparatus, base stations, forwarding devices, communication systems, and computer-readable storage media for managing and reporting forwarding devices provided in this disclosure, for forwarding devices that can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells, allow the network management system to send management subscription information for the forwarding device to the base station. This enables the base station to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority. The base station can then configure resource information for all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through this target signaling bearer. The forwarding device can report statistical information for all its frequency bands or cells through this target signaling bearer. Finally, the base station sends the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system. Through these embodiments, the network management system can manage and statistically analyze information from wireless forwarding devices such as intelligent repeaters.

[0039] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not intended to limit this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0040] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure. It is obvious that the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this disclosure, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any inventive effort.

[0041] Figure 1 This diagram illustrates a repeater implementation structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an IAB device for a 5G network is shown in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0043] Figure 3 This diagram illustrates the working principle of a radio frequency repeater according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] Figure 4 This diagram illustrates the working principle of an intelligent repeater according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the link structure of an intelligent repeater according to an embodiment of this disclosure is shown;

[0046] Figure 6 This diagram illustrates an application system architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] Figure 7 This diagram illustrates a flowchart of a forwarding device management and information reporting method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0048] Figure 8 This diagram illustrates a configuration flowchart for forwarding device management information in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0049] Figure 9 This invention illustrates a forwarding device management and information reporting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0050] Figure 10 This diagram illustrates a base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0051] Figure 11 This diagram illustrates a forwarding device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0052] Figure 12 This diagram illustrates a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0053] Figure 13A schematic diagram of a computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0054] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, these exemplary embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, they are provided so that this disclosure will be more comprehensive and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0055] Furthermore, the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative of this disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and therefore repeated descriptions of them will be omitted. Some block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0056] To facilitate understanding, before introducing the embodiments of this disclosure, the following explanations are provided for several terms involved in the embodiments of this disclosure:

[0057] 5GC: 5G core network.

[0058] NG-RAN: 5G Radio Access Network. NG-RAN mainly includes two types of nodes: gNB (standalone) and ng-eNB (backward compatible with 4G networks). gNB nodes provide NR user plane and control plane protocols to UEs and connect to the 5GC via the NG interface; ng-eNB nodes provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocols to UEs and connect to the 5GC via the NG interface.

[0059] IAB: Integrated Access and Backhaul, which can be extended with NR to support wireless backhaul as an alternative to fiber optic backhaul.

[0060] OMC: Operation and Maintenance Center, also known as the network management system in this embodiment.

[0061] gNB: The Next Generation NodeB.

[0062] RRC: Radio Resource Control.

[0063] ALC: Automatic Level Control, is a crucial component of a repeater system. On one hand, it controls the output level to ensure that the power amplifier devices do not operate in an overpowered state. On the other hand, it controls the output power of the repeater within the coverage allowable range, which can meet the coverage distance requirements during network planning without generating excessively strong output signals that may interfere with adjacent base stations.

[0064] The specific implementation methods of the embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0065] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of an exemplary application system architecture for which the forwarding device management and information reporting methods of the embodiments of this disclosure can be applied is shown. For example... Figure 6 As shown, the system architecture includes terminal 10, network 20, forwarding device 30, base station 40 and network management system 50.

[0066] Network 20 is a medium used to provide a communication link between any two of terminal 10, forwarding device 30, base station 40 and network management system 50. It can be a wired network or a wireless network.

[0067] Optionally, the aforementioned wireless or wired networks use standard communication technologies and / or protocols. The network is typically the Internet, but can also be any network, including but not limited to Local Area Networks (LANs), Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), mobile, wired or wireless networks, private networks, or any combination of virtual private networks. In some embodiments, technologies and / or formats including Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), etc., are used to represent data exchanged over the network. Furthermore, conventional encryption technologies such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), and Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) can be used to encrypt all or some links. In other embodiments, custom and / or dedicated data communication technologies can be used to replace or supplement the aforementioned data communication technologies.

[0068] Optionally, the terminal 10 in this embodiment can also be referred to as UE (User Equipment). In specific implementation, the terminal 10 can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile internet device (MID), wearable device, or vehicle-mounted device, etc. It should be noted that the specific type of terminal 10 is not limited in this embodiment of the invention.

[0069] The repeater 30 can be any type of wireless repeater used to extend network coverage, and can be, but is not limited to, a smart repeater for 5G networks.

[0070] Base station 40 can be a base station, relay, or access point, etc. Base station 40 can be a 5G or later version base station (e.g., 5G NR NB), or a base station in other communication systems (e.g., eNB base station). It should be noted that the specific type of network-side equipment is not limited in this embodiment of the disclosure.

[0071] The network management system 50 can be a system that combines software and hardware to adjust the network status, ensuring the normal and efficient operation of the network system and making better use of network resources. In this embodiment, the network management system 50 can be a device or system that manages the forwarding device 30. In specific implementation, the network management system 50 can send management subscription information to the base station 40 to configure the resource information of the forwarding device 30 or to statistically analyze the information reported by the forwarding device and send it to the network management system 50.

[0072] Those skilled in the art will know that Figure 6 The number of terminals 10, networks 20, forwarding devices 30, base stations 40, and network management systems 50 in this embodiment is merely illustrative. Any number of terminals 10, networks 20, forwarding devices 30, base stations 40, and network management systems 50 can be included as needed. This disclosure does not limit the number of such components.

[0073] In the aforementioned system architecture, to address the management and information collection issues of wireless forwarding devices (e.g., intelligent repeaters) by the network management system, this disclosure provides a method for managing and reporting information about forwarding devices. This method enables the management of wireless forwarding devices via the wireless air interface and supports the secure transmission of device management and statistical information. This method can be executed by any electronic device with computing capabilities. In some embodiments, the method for managing and reporting information about forwarding devices provided in this disclosure can be implemented through interaction between the forwarding device 30, the base station 40, and the network management system 50 in the aforementioned system architecture.

[0074] Figure 7 This diagram illustrates a flowchart of a forwarding device management and information reporting method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as... Figure 7 As shown, the forwarding device management and information reporting method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0075] S702, the base station receives management subscription information for forwarding devices issued by the network management system, wherein the forwarding devices can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells.

[0076] It should be noted that the forwarding device in this embodiment can be a wireless forwarding device, such as a smart repeater. The forwarding device is located between the base station and the terminal, and includes, but is not limited to: a retransmission antenna receiver, a donor antenna, a duplex filter (maintaining isolation between transmitted and received signals and filtering out clutter signals), a low-noise amplifier (low noise figure, with good amplification capability for micro-signals), and a power amplifier (amplifying the forwarded signal to the required output power), etc. In the uplink direction: the signal transmitted by the terminal is received by the repeater's retransmission antenna, then undergoes duplex separation, enters the uplink branch, passes through the low-noise amplifier, undergoes frequency band selection, power amplification, and then is filtered by the duplexer before finally being transmitted to the base station by the donor antenna. In the downlink direction: the signal transmitted by the base station is received by the repeater's donor antenna, then undergoes duplex separation, enters the downlink branch, passes through the low-noise amplifier, undergoes frequency band selection, power amplification, and then is filtered by the duplexer before finally being transmitted to the terminal by the retransmission antenna.

[0077] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the management subscription information issued by the network management system may include, but is not limited to: status information and configuration information of the forwarding device; wherein, the status of the forwarding device includes: connected status and idle status. When the forwarding device is in the connected status, the forwarding device can receive signaling messages from the base station and forward them to the terminal, and can also receive signals from the terminal and forward them to the base station; when the forwarding device is in the idle status, the forwarding device can receive signaling messages from the base station but cannot forward them to the terminal, and can receive signals from the terminal but cannot forward them to the base station; the configuration information of the forwarding device includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: software version information of the forwarding device, wireless protocol stack information, and wireless parameter configuration information.

[0078] In some embodiments, after the base station receives the management subscription information of the forwarding device issued by the network management system, the forwarding device management and information reporting method provided in this embodiment of the present disclosure further includes the following step: the base station stores the configuration information of the forwarding device contained in the management subscription information.

[0079] S704: The base station selects a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configures a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device.

[0080] It should be noted that the transmission and scheduling priority of the aforementioned target signaling bearer on the base station side is lower than any one of SRB0, SRB1, SRB2, SRB3, and SRB4, and the transmission and scheduling priority on the base station side is lower than any one of SRB0, SRB1, SRB2, SRB3, and SRB4, and the transmission of non-access stratum (NAS) messages is not allowed.

[0081] In this embodiment of the disclosure, after both the forwarding device and the base station are configured with the signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority (i.e., the target signaling bearer), the forwarding device resources and reporting statistical results can be configured through the target signaling bearer, and the base station will send the reporting statistical results to the network management system.

[0082] In some embodiments, the target signaling bearer employs the same security mechanisms as signaling bearer SRB1 to encrypt and / or protect the signaling.

[0083] S706, the base station carries the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the configuration forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and receives the statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the receiving forwarding device through the target signaling bearer.

[0084] It should be noted that after the target signaling bearer is established, the base station can configure the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer; the forwarding device can report the statistical information of all frequency bands or cells through the target signaling bearer.

[0085] S708, the base station will forward the statistical information reported by the equipment to the network management system.

[0086] It should be noted that after receiving statistical information reported by one or more forwarding devices, the base station can summarize and organize the information from each forwarding device and send it to the gateway system.

[0087] As can be seen from the above, the forwarding device management and information reporting method, apparatus, base station, forwarding device, communication system, and computer-readable storage medium provided in the embodiments of this disclosure, for forwarding devices that can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells, allow the network management system to send management subscription information for the forwarding device to the base station. This enables the base station to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority. The base station can then configure resource information for all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through this target signaling bearer. The forwarding device can report statistical information for all its frequency bands or cells through this target signaling bearer. Finally, the base station sends the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system. Through the embodiments of this disclosure, the network management system can meet the management and information statistics requirements for wireless forwarding devices such as intelligent repeaters.

[0088] In some embodiments, the forwarding device management and information reporting method provided in this disclosure further includes the following steps: the base station sends the configuration information of the target signaling bearer to the first cell of each forwarding device through the first RRC message of SRB0 or ​​SRB1, where the first cell is a cell in which the forwarding device establishes an RRC connection with the base station.

[0089] In some embodiments, the first RRC message includes, but is not limited to, the following information:

[0090] 1) An SRB addition list, comprising: one or more SRBs, wherein the target signaling bearer is one SRB in the SRB addition list;

[0091] 2) Whether the same security mechanism as SRB1 is enabled, enumeration type. When the value is yes, it means that the target signaling bearer uses the same security mechanism as SRB1 to encrypt and / or protect the integrity of the signaling; when the value is no or the information is not carried, it means that the target signaling bearer does not use the security mechanism to encrypt and / or protect the integrity of the signaling.

[0092] 3) A list of cells supported by the target signaling bearer, including but not limited to: one or more cell identifiers, each cell identifier ranging from 1 to 8; wherein, the identifier of the first cell is 0.

[0093] In some embodiments, the forwarding device management and information reporting method provided in this disclosure further includes the following steps: the forwarding device determines the target signaling bearer to be configured based on the SRB addition list in the first RRC message; the forwarding device determines whether the target signaling bearer uses the same security mechanism as SRB1 to encrypt and / or protect the signaling based on whether the same security mechanism as SRB1 is enabled in the first RRC message; the forwarding device determines the list of cells to be reported by the target signaling bearer based on the list of cells supported by the target signaling bearer in the first RRC message.

[0094] In some embodiments, the forwarding device management and information reporting method provided in this disclosure further includes the following steps: after the target signaling bearer configuration is completed, the forwarding device notifies the base station that the target signaling bearer configuration is complete through the second RRC message of SRB0 or ​​SRB1.

[0095] In some embodiments, the forwarding device management and information reporting method provided in this disclosure further includes the following steps: the base station sends a third RRC message to the forwarding device through a target signaling bearer, wherein the third RRC message contains management subscription information sent by the base station to the forwarding device.

[0096] In some embodiments, the forwarding device management and information reporting method provided in this disclosure further includes the following steps: after receiving the third RRC message, the forwarding device saves the subscription result and completes the parameter and function configuration of the forwarding device; the forwarding device sends a fourth RRC message to the base station through the target signaling bearer, wherein the fourth RRC message is used to confirm that the parameter and function configuration of the forwarding device has been completed.

[0097] In some embodiments, the third RRC message includes, but is not limited to, the following information:

[0098] 1) Measure ID, which takes the value of an integer.

[0099] 2) A statistical and configuration list of the cell, including: a statistical and configuration list of one or more cells, wherein each cell's statistical and configuration list contains at least the following information:

[0100] ①Statistical objects include: terminal identifiers of one or more terminals to be statistically analyzed;

[0101] ② Measurement type, used to indicate the name of the measurement and statistics configuration type in the network management system, enumerating the types;

[0102] ③Statistical variable values, enumeration type, the values ​​must include at least: physical resource block (PRB) quantity, uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR);

[0103] ④ Information reporting granularity, enumerated type, values ​​include any one of the following: 100ms, 500ms, 1s;

[0104] 3) Parameter and function configuration information of the forwarding device, including but not limited to: energy-saving activation indication information of the forwarding device.

[0105] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0106] The forwarding device reports information on the corresponding statistical objects within the cell at a periodic statistical level based on the information contained in the third RRC message.

[0107] The forwarding device sends a fifth RRC message to the base station through the target signaling bearer. The fifth RRC message carries the statistical results of the statistical objects in the corresponding cell.

[0108] In some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0109] After receiving the fifth RRC message, the base station sends the statistical results of the information contained in the fifth RRC message to the network management system.

[0110] In some embodiments, the fifth RRC message includes at least the following information:

[0111] 1) Measure ID, which takes the value of an integer.

[0112] 2) A list of statistical and measurement results for each community, including: a list of statistical and measurement results for one or more communities, wherein each community's list of statistical and measurement results contains at least the following information:

[0113] ① Measurement type, used to indicate the name of the measurement and statistics configuration type in the network management system, enumerating the types;

[0114] ② Measurement results, enumeration types, values ​​must include at least: number of physical resource blocks (PRBs), and uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR);

[0115] ③ The terminal identifier associated with the measurement; if this information is not carried, it indicates that the statistical and measurement results are unrelated to the terminal.

[0116] In some embodiments, the statistical results include at least the following information:

[0117] The list of statistical and measurement results for each community includes: a list of statistical and measurement results for one or more communities, wherein each community's list of statistical and measurement results contains at least the following information:

[0118] ① Measurement type, used to indicate the name of the measurement and statistics configuration type in the network management system, enumerating the types;

[0119] ② Measurement results, enumeration types, values ​​must include at least: number of physical resource blocks (PRBs), and uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR);

[0120] ③ The terminal identifier associated with the measurement; if this information is not carried, it indicates that the statistical and measurement results are unrelated to the terminal.

[0121] Figure 8 This diagram illustrates a configuration flowchart for forwarding device management information in an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as... Figure 8 As shown, it specifically includes:

[0122] 1) When the base station receives the management subscription information about the forwarding device from the network management system, it stores the above configuration information;

[0123] 2) The base station establishes a target signaling bearer for the forwarding equipment, except for the first SRB, wherein the transmission and scheduling priority of the target signaling bearer is lower than that of other SRBs;

[0124] 3) The base station sends the configuration information of the target signaling bearer to the first cell of the forwarding device through the first RRC message carried by the first SRB, wherein the forwarding device has only the first cell established with the base station for RRC connection;

[0125] 4) After receiving the first RRC message, the forwarding device determines the SRBs that need to be added according to the SRB addition list. After configuring the target signaling bearer, it fills the MAC layer buffer according to the lowest priority during reporting. It also determines whether to enable encryption or integrity protection for the target signaling bearer based on whether the same security mechanism as SRB1 is enabled, and configures the corresponding algorithm. Based on the list of cells supported by the target signaling bearer, it determines the list of cells that the target signaling bearer can be used for reporting.

[0126] 5) After the forwarding device is configured, it confirms the configuration is complete to the base station through the second RRC message carried by the first SRB;

[0127] 6) The base station sends management plane subscription information to the forwarding device via a third RRC message with target signaling bearer;

[0128] 7) After receiving the third RRC message, the forwarding device saves the subscription result, completes the parameter and function configuration of the forwarding device, and sends the fourth RRC message to the base station using the target signaling bearer to indicate that the configuration has been completed;

[0129] 8) The forwarding device performs periodic statistics based on the reported granularity and sends the statistical results to the base station via the fifth RRC message as target signaling bearer;

[0130] 9) After receiving the fifth RRC message, the base station sends the subscription result to the network management system.

[0131] The following two specific embodiments illustrate the user plane configuration method for supporting low-latency services provided in this disclosure:

[0132] Example 1: The process by which a smart repeater configures the statistical results of uplink and downlink PRBs for a single cell. The target signaling bearer uses SRB5, whose priority is limited to other SRBs.

[0133] 1) When the gNB receives management information about the forwarding device from the OMC, this management information includes the status and configuration information of the forwarding device, and the gNB stores the above configuration information.

[0134] 2) The gNB establishes a target signaling bearer for the forwarding device, excluding the first SRB. This target signaling bearer has a lower transmission priority than other SRBs (i.e., lower than SRB01 / 2 / 3 / 4, etc.) and is not allowed to transmit NAS messages. The target signaling bearer can use the same encryption as SRB1 or a combination of encryption and integrity protection to ensure signaling security. The first SRB is SRB1.

[0135] 3) The gNB sends the configuration information of the target signaling bearer to the first cell of the forwarding device via the RRC reconfiguration message carried by SRB1. This forwarding device only has an RRC connection established between the first cell and the gNB. The RRC reconfiguration message includes the following:

[0136] ●Add SRB5 to the SRB list to indicate the target signaling bearer.

[0137] ● Should the same security mechanisms as SRB1 be enabled?: Yes

[0138] 4) After receiving the RRC reconfiguration message, the forwarding device determines the SRBs that need to be added to the configuration list based on the SRB addition list. After configuring the target signaling bearer, it fills the MAC layer buffer according to the lowest priority during reporting. It also determines whether to enable encryption or integrity protection for the target signaling bearer based on whether the same security mechanism as SRB1 is enabled, and configures the corresponding algorithm.

[0139] 5) After the forwarding device is configured, it confirms the configuration is complete to the gNB through the RRC reconfiguration message Complete carried by SRB1.

[0140] 6) The gNB sends management plane subscription information to the forwarding device via the OMC Management Config using an SRB5 bearer. The OMC Management Config includes the following:

[0141] ● Measurement ID: 1;

[0142] ●Community Statistics and Configuration 1:

[0143] ■Statistical object: All;

[0144] ■ Measurement type: Periodic measurement reporting;

[0145] ■Statistical variable values: Upward PRB and Downward PRB;

[0146] ■ Reported particle size: 500s;

[0147] 7) After receiving the OMC Management Config, the forwarding device saves the subscription results, completes the parameter and function configuration of the forwarding device, and sends an OMC management configuration completion message to the gNB using SRB5 bearer to indicate that the configuration has been completed.

[0148] 8) The forwarding device performs periodic statistics based on the reported granularity and sends the statistical results to the gNB via an OMC report message in SRB5 bearer mode. The OMC report message includes the following:

[0149] ● Measurement ID: 1;

[0150] ●Community statistics and measurement results 1:

[0151] ■ Measurement type: Periodic measurement reporting;

[0152] ■ Measurement results: Uplink and downlink PRB values;

[0153] ■ UE identifier associated with the measurement: UE#1;

[0154] 9) After receiving the OMC report message, gNB sends the subscription results to the OMC. The subscription results include, but are not limited to, the following:

[0155] ●Measurement type: Periodic measurement reporting;

[0156] ● Measurement results: Uplink and downlink PRB values;

[0157] ● UE identifier associated with the measurement: UE#1.

[0158] Example 2: The process of configuring uplink and downlink PRB statistical results for two cells, namely cell 1 and cell 2. The smart repeater accesses and establishes an RRC connection through cell 1. The target signaling bearer uses SRB5, whose priority is limited to other SRBs.

[0159] 1) When the gNB receives management subscription information about the forwarding device from the OMC, this management subscription information includes the status and configuration information of the forwarding device, and the gNB stores the above configuration information.

[0160] 2) The gNB establishes a target signaling bearer for the forwarding device, excluding the already established signaling bearer. The target signaling bearer has a lower transmission priority than other SRBs, specifically lower than any one of SRB0, SRB1, SRB2, SRB3, and SRB4 on the base station side, and lower than any one of SRB0, SRB1, and SRB2 on the forwarding device side. NAS messages are not allowed to be transmitted from this target signaling bearer. The target signaling bearer can use the same encryption as SRB1 or a combination of encryption and integrity protection to ensure signaling security. The already established signaling bearer is SRB1.

[0161] 3) The gNB sends the configuration information of the target signaling bearer to the first cell of the forwarding device via the RRC reconfiguration message carried by SRB1. This forwarding device only has an RRC connection established between the first cell and the gNB. The RRC reconfiguration message includes the following:

[0162] ●Add SRB5 to the SRB list to indicate the target signaling bearer;

[0163] ● Whether to enable the same security mechanisms as SRB1: Yes;

[0164] ●Other community configurations: #2;

[0165] 4) After receiving the RRC reconfiguration message, the forwarding device determines the SRBs that need to be added based on the SRB addition list. After configuring the target signaling bearer, it fills the MAC layer buffer with the lowest priority during reporting. It also determines whether to enable encryption or integrity protection for the target signaling bearer based on whether the same security mechanism as SRB1 is enabled, and configures the corresponding algorithm. Based on the cell list supported by SRB5, it determines that SRB5 can be used for reporting to cells 1 and 2.

[0166] 5) After the forwarding device is configured, it confirms the configuration is complete to the gNB through the RRC reconfiguration message Complete carried by SRB1.

[0167] 6) The gNB sends management plane subscription information to the forwarding device via the SRB5 bearer using OMC management configuration information. This OMC management configuration information includes, but is not limited to, the following:

[0168] ● Measurement ID: 1;

[0169] ●Community Statistics and Configuration 1:

[0170] ■Statistical object: All;

[0171] ■ Measurement type: Periodic measurement reporting;

[0172] ■Statistical variable values: Upward PRB and Downward PRB;

[0173] ■ Reporting particle size: 500s.

[0174] 7) After receiving the OMC management configuration information, the forwarding device saves the subscription results, completes the parameter and function configuration of the forwarding device, and sends an OMC management configuration completion message to the gNB using SRB5 bearer to indicate that the configuration has been completed.

[0175] 8) The forwarding device performs periodic statistics based on the reported granularity and sends the statistical results to the gNB via an OMC report message in SRB5 bearer mode. The OMC report message includes the following:

[0176] ● Measurement ID: 1;

[0177] ●Community statistics and measurement results 1:

[0178] ■ Measurement type: Periodic measurement reporting;

[0179] ■ Measurement results: Upward PRB value;

[0180] ■ UE identifier associated with the measurement: UE#1;

[0181] ●Community statistics and measurement results 2:

[0182] ■ Measurement type: Periodic measurement reporting;

[0183] ■ Measurement results: Downlink PRB value;

[0184] ■ UE identifier associated with the measurement: UE#10;

[0185] 9) After receiving the OMC report message, gNB sends the subscription results to the OMC. The subscription results include, but are not limited to, the following:

[0186] ●Community statistics and measurement results 1:

[0187] ■ Measurement type: Periodic measurement reporting;

[0188] ■ Measurement results: Uplink and downlink PRB values;

[0189] ■ UE identifier associated with the measurement: UE#1;

[0190] ●Community statistics and measurement results 2:

[0191] ■ Measurement type: Periodic measurement reporting;

[0192] ■ Measurement results: Downlink PRB value;

[0193] ■ UE identifier associated with the measurement: UE#10.

[0194] The forwarding device management and information reporting method provided in this embodiment can achieve, but is not limited to, the following technical effects: ① It supports network management and measurement reporting when the smart repeater has no wired connection, and supports flexible deployment and management of the repeater; ② It avoids QoS configuration problems and other SRB priority processing problems caused by user plane transmission; ③ It supports multi-frequency management and operation of the smart repeater, avoids configuring a set of management and reporting resources for each cell, and supports the ability to perform measurement statistics by operator.

[0195] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure also provides a forwarding device management and information reporting apparatus, as shown in the following embodiment. Since the principle by which this apparatus solves the problem is similar to that of the above-described method embodiments, the implementation of this apparatus embodiment can refer to the implementation of the above-described method embodiments, and repeated details will not be elaborated further.

[0196] Figure 9 This invention discloses a forwarding device management and information reporting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as... Figure 9 As shown, the device includes: a network management subscription information acquisition module 901, a bearer configuration module 902, a forwarding device management and information reporting module 903, and a network management subscription result reporting module 904.

[0197] The network management subscription information acquisition module 901 is used to receive management subscription information of the forwarding device issued by the network management system. The forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells. The bearer configuration module 902 is used to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device. The forwarding device management and information reporting module 903 is used to configure the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and to receive the statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer. The network management subscription result reporting module 904 is used to send the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system.

[0198] It should be noted that the network management subscription information acquisition module 901, bearer configuration module 902, forwarding device management and information reporting module 903, and network management subscription result reporting module 904 mentioned above correspond to S702 to S708 in the method embodiment. The examples and application scenarios implemented by the above modules and corresponding steps are the same, but are not limited to the content disclosed in the above method embodiment. It should be noted that the above modules, as part of the device, can be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer-executable instructions.

[0199] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure also provides a base station, as shown in the following embodiment. Since the principle by which this base station embodiment solves the problem is similar to that of the above method embodiments, the implementation of this base station embodiment can refer to the implementation of the above method embodiments, and repeated details will not be elaborated further.

[0200] Figure 10 This diagram illustrates a base station according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as... Figure 10 As shown, the base station includes: a network management system interface 101, a bearer configuration module 102, an intelligent repeater management module 103, and an intelligent repeater information reporting module 104.

[0201] The network management system interface 101 is used to receive management subscription information for forwarding devices issued by the network management system. The forwarding devices can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells. The bearer configuration module 102 is used to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device. The intelligent repeater management module 103 is used to configure the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of each forwarding device through the target signaling bearer. The intelligent repeater information reporting module 104 is used to receive statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding devices through the target signaling bearer.

[0202] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure also provides a forwarding device, as shown in the following embodiment. Since the principle by which this forwarding device solves the problem is similar to that of the above-described method embodiment, the implementation of this forwarding device embodiment can refer to the implementation of the above-described method embodiment, and repeated details will not be elaborated further.

[0203] Figure 11 This diagram illustrates a forwarding device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as... Figure 11 As shown, the forwarding device includes: a bearer configuration information acquisition module 111 and a bearer establishment module 112.

[0204] The bearer configuration information acquisition module 111 is used to receive the bearer configuration information requested by the base station to establish a target signaling bearer. The base station is also used to receive the management subscription information of the forwarding device issued by the network management system, and to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device to configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority, so as to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device. The forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells.

[0205] The bearer establishment module 112 is used to establish a target signaling bearer with the base station based on the bearer configuration information. The target signaling bearer is used by the base station to configure the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding equipment, and to receive the statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding equipment through the target signaling bearer.

[0206] Based on the same inventive concept, this disclosure also provides a communication system, as shown in the following embodiments. Since the principle by which this communication system solves the problem is similar to that of the method embodiments described above, the implementation of this communication system embodiment can refer to the implementation of the method embodiments described above, and repeated details will not be elaborated further.

[0207] Figure 12 A schematic diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of this disclosure is shown, such as... Figure 12 As shown, the communication system includes: a network management system 50, a base station 40, and an intelligent repeater 30.

[0208] The network management system 50 is used to send management subscription information of the intelligent repeater 30 to the base station. The forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells. The base station 40 selects a frequency band or cell for the intelligent repeater 30 and configures a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system 50 to the intelligent repeater 30, configure the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the intelligent repeater 30 through the target signaling bearer, and receive the statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the intelligent repeater 30 through the target signaling bearer, and send the statistical information reported by the intelligent repeater 30 to the network management system 50.

[0209] A network management system is a system that combines software and hardware to adjust the state of a network in order to ensure that the network system can operate normally and efficiently, and to make better use of the network resources.

[0210] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the exemplary embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of this disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, external hard drive, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to cause a computing device (such as a personal computer, server, terminal device, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0211] In exemplary embodiments of this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, which may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. Figure 13 This illustration shows a schematic diagram of a computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as... Figure 13As shown, the computer-readable storage medium 1300 stores a program product capable of implementing the methods described above. In some possible embodiments, various aspects of this disclosure may also be implemented as a program product comprising program code that, when run on a terminal device, causes the terminal device to perform the steps described in the "Exemplary Methods" section of this specification according to various exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0212] More specific examples of computer-readable storage media in this disclosure may include, but are not limited to: electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0213] In this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium may include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying readable program code. Such propagated data signals may take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. A readable signal medium may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium, capable of transmitting, propagating, or transmitting a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0214] Optionally, the program code contained on the computer-readable storage medium may be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber, RF, etc., or any suitable combination thereof.

[0215] In practical implementation, program code for performing the operations of this disclosure can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java and C++, and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as C or similar languages. The program code can execute entirely on the user's computing device, partially on the user's device, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In cases involving remote computing devices, the remote computing device can be connected to the user's computing device via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computing device (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0216] It should be noted that although several modules or units for the device used to perform actions have been mentioned in the detailed description above, this division is not mandatory. In fact, according to embodiments of this disclosure, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided and embodied by multiple modules or units.

[0217] Furthermore, although the steps of the method in this disclosure are described in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that the steps must be performed in that specific order, or that all the steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. Additional or alternative steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, and / or a step may be broken down into multiple steps.

[0218] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the exemplary embodiments described herein can be implemented by software or by combining software with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of this disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (such as a CD-ROM, USB flash drive, external hard drive, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to cause a computing device (such as a personal computer, server, mobile terminal, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods according to the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0219] Other embodiments of this disclosure will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure that follow the general principles of this disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this disclosure are indicated by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for forwarding device management and information reporting, characterized in that, include: The base station receives management subscription information for forwarding devices from the network management system, wherein the forwarding devices may operate in one or more frequency bands or cells; The base station selects a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configures a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device; The base station configures the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and receives the statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer; The base station sends the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system; The forwarding device is a wireless repeater, and the management subscription information includes at least: the status information and configuration information of the forwarding device; the status of the forwarding device includes: connected status and idle status. When the forwarding device is in the connected status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station and forward them to the terminal, and it can also receive signals from the terminal and forward them to the base station; when the forwarding device is in the idle status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station but cannot forward them to the terminal, and it can receive signals from the terminal but cannot forward them to the base station; the configuration information of the forwarding device includes at least one of the following: the software version information of the forwarding device, the wireless protocol stack information, and the wireless parameter configuration information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, After the base station receives the management subscription information for the forwarding device issued by the network management system, the method further includes: The base station stores the configuration information of the forwarding devices contained in the management subscription information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding device management and information reporting method is characterized by, The target signaling bearer uses the same security mechanism as signaling bearer SRB1 to encrypt and / or protect the signaling; the target signaling bearer has a lower transmission and scheduling priority on the base station side than any of SRB0, SRB1, SRB2, SRB3, and SRB4, and is not allowed to transmit non-access stratum (NAS) messages.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The method further includes: The base station sends the configuration information of the target signaling bearer to the first cell of each forwarding device through the first RRC message of SRB0 or ​​SRB1. The first cell is a cell in which the forwarding device establishes an RRC connection with the base station.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first RRC message contains at least the following information: 1) An SRB addition list, comprising: one or more SRBs, wherein the target signaling bearer is one SRB in the SRB addition list; 2) Whether the same security mechanism as SRB1 is enabled, enumeration type. When the value is yes, it means that the target signaling bearer uses the same security mechanism as SRB1 to encrypt and / or protect the integrity of the signaling; when the value is no or the information is not carried, it means that the target signaling bearer does not use the security mechanism to encrypt and / or protect the integrity of the signaling. 3) A list of cells supported by the target signaling bearer, including: one or more cell identifiers, each cell identifier ranging from 1 to 8; wherein, the identifier of the first cell is 0.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The method further includes: The forwarding device adds a list of SRBs from the first RRC message to determine the target signaling bearer to be configured; The forwarding device determines whether the target signaling bearer uses the same security mechanism as SRB1 to encrypt and / or protect the signaling based on whether the same security mechanism is enabled in the first RRC message. The forwarding device determines the list of cells to be reported by the target signaling bearer based on the list of cells supported by the target signaling bearer in the first RRC message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding device management and information reporting method is characterized by, The target signaling bearer has a lower transmission and scheduling priority than any of SRB0, SRB1, and SRB2 on the forwarding device side, and is not allowed to transmit non-access stratum (NAS) messages.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The method further includes: After the target signaling bearer configuration is completed, the forwarding device notifies the base station that the target signaling bearer configuration is complete via the second RRC message of SRB0 or ​​SRB1.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein, The method further includes: The base station sends a third RRC message to the forwarding device via the target signaling bearer. The third RRC message contains management subscription information sent by the base station to the forwarding device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The method further includes: After receiving the third RRC message, the forwarding device saves the subscription result and completes the parameter and function configuration of the forwarding device; The forwarding device sends a fourth RRC message to the base station via the target signaling bearer. The fourth RRC message is used to confirm that the parameters and function configuration of the forwarding device have been completed.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The third RRC message contains at least the following information: 1) Measure ID, which takes the value of an integer. 2) A statistical and configuration list of the cell, including: a statistical and configuration list of one or more cells, wherein each cell's statistical and configuration list contains at least the following information: ①Statistical objects include: terminal identifiers of one or more terminals to be statistically analyzed; ② Measurement type, used to indicate the name of the measurement and statistics configuration type in the network management system, enumerating the types; ③Statistical variable values, enumeration type, the values ​​must include at least: physical resource block (PRB) quantity, uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR); ④ Information reporting granularity, enumerated type, values ​​include but are not limited to any one of the following: 100ms, 500ms, 1s; 3) The parameters and function configuration information of the forwarding device shall include at least the energy-saving activation instruction information of the forwarding device.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: The method further includes: The forwarding device reports information on the corresponding statistical objects within the cell at a periodic statistical level based on the information contained in the third RRC message. The forwarding device sends a fifth RRC message to the base station through the target signaling bearer, wherein the fifth RRC message carries the statistical results of the information of the statistical objects in the corresponding cell.

13. The forwarding device management and information reporting method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The method further includes: After receiving the fifth RRC message, the base station sends the statistical results of the information contained in the fifth RRC message to the network management system.

14. The method for managing and reporting information on forwarding devices according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The fifth RRC message contains at least the following information: 1) Measure ID, which takes the value of an integer. 2) A list of statistical and measurement results for each community, including: a list of statistical and measurement results for one or more communities, wherein each community's list of statistical and measurement results contains at least the following information: ① Measurement type, used to indicate the name of the measurement and statistics configuration type in the network management system, enumerating the types; ② Measurement results, enumeration types, values ​​must include at least: number of physical resource blocks (PRBs), and uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR); ③ The terminal identifier associated with the measurement; if this information is not carried, it indicates that the statistical and measurement results are unrelated to the terminal.

15. The forwarding device management and information reporting method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The statistical results shall include at least the following information: The list of statistical and measurement results for each community includes: a list of statistical and measurement results for one or more communities, wherein each community's list of statistical and measurement results contains at least the following information: ① Measurement type, used to indicate the name of the measurement and statistics configuration type in the network management system, enumerating the types; ② Measurement results, enumeration types, values ​​must include at least: number of physical resource blocks (PRBs), and uplink signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR); ③ The terminal identifier associated with the measurement; if this information is not carried, it indicates that the statistical and measurement results are unrelated to the terminal.

16. A device for managing and reporting information from forwarding devices, characterized in that, include: The network management subscription information acquisition module is used to receive management subscription information of the forwarding device issued by the network management system, wherein the forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells; The bearer configuration module is used to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device; The forwarding device management and information reporting module is used to configure the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and to receive the statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer. The network management subscription result reporting module is used to send the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system; The forwarding device is a wireless repeater, and the management subscription information includes at least: the status information and configuration information of the forwarding device; the status of the forwarding device includes: connected status and idle status. When the forwarding device is in the connected status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station and forward them to the terminal, and it can also receive signals from the terminal and forward them to the base station; when the forwarding device is in the idle status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station but cannot forward them to the terminal, and it can receive signals from the terminal but cannot forward them to the base station; the configuration information of the forwarding device includes at least one of the following: the software version information of the forwarding device, the wireless protocol stack information, and the wireless parameter configuration information.

17. A base station, characterized in that, include: Network management system interface, bearer configuration module, intelligent repeater management module, and intelligent repeater information reporting module; The network management system interface is used to receive management subscription information for forwarding devices issued by the network management system. The forwarding devices can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells. The bearer configuration module is used to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority, so as to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device; The intelligent repeater management module is used to configure the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of each forwarding device through the target signaling bearer; The intelligent repeater information reporting module is used to receive statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer; The forwarding device is a wireless repeater, and the management subscription information includes at least: the status information and configuration information of the forwarding device; the status of the forwarding device includes: connected status and idle status. When the forwarding device is in the connected status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station and forward them to the terminal, and it can also receive signals from the terminal and forward them to the base station; when the forwarding device is in the idle status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station but cannot forward them to the terminal, and it can receive signals from the terminal but cannot forward them to the base station; the configuration information of the forwarding device includes at least one of the following: the software version information of the forwarding device, the wireless protocol stack information, and the wireless parameter configuration information.

18. A relay device, characterized in that, include: The bearer configuration information acquisition module is used to receive bearer configuration information from a base station requesting the establishment of a target signaling bearer. The base station is also used to receive management subscription information for forwarding devices issued by the network management system, and to select a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device to configure a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority, so as to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device. The forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells. The bearer establishment module is used to establish a target signaling bearer with the base station according to the bearer configuration information. The target signaling bearer is used by the base station to configure resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device, and to receive statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer. The forwarding device is a wireless repeater, and the management subscription information includes at least: the status information and configuration information of the forwarding device; the status of the forwarding device includes: connected status and idle status. When the forwarding device is in the connected status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station and forward them to the terminal, and it can also receive signals from the terminal and forward them to the base station; when the forwarding device is in the idle status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station but cannot forward them to the terminal, and it can receive signals from the terminal but cannot forward them to the base station; the configuration information of the forwarding device includes at least one of the following: the software version information of the forwarding device, the wireless protocol stack information, and the wireless parameter configuration information.

19. A communication system, characterized in that, include: Network management system, base stations and intelligent repeaters; The network management system is used to send management subscription information of the forwarding device to the base station, wherein the forwarding device can operate in one or more frequency bands or cells; The base station selects a frequency band or cell for the forwarding device and configures a target signaling bearer with the lowest transmission and scheduling priority to transmit the management subscription information of the network management system for the forwarding device. The base station configures the resource information of all frequency bands or cells of the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, receives the statistical information of all frequency bands or cells reported by the forwarding device through the target signaling bearer, and sends the statistical information reported by the forwarding device to the network management system. The forwarding device is a wireless repeater, and the management subscription information includes at least: the status information and configuration information of the forwarding device; the status of the forwarding device includes: connected status and idle status. When the forwarding device is in the connected status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station and forward them to the terminal, and it can also receive signals from the terminal and forward them to the base station; when the forwarding device is in the idle status, it can receive signaling messages from the base station but cannot forward them to the terminal, and it can receive signals from the terminal but cannot forward them to the base station; the configuration information of the forwarding device includes at least one of the following: the software version information of the forwarding device, the wireless protocol stack information, and the wireless parameter configuration information.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the forwarding device management and information reporting method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

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