Electronic device and method in non-terrestrial network

Abstract

The invention relates to an electronic device and a method in a non-terrestrial network. An electronic device for a first base station in a non-terrestrial network is described, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the first base station, a second base station, a network function, and a satellite. The electronic device comprises processing circuitry configured to cause a first base station to: determine to initiate a first handover of a user equipment to a second base station at a first time based on a message received from a network function; sending a switching request message to a second base station, wherein the switching request message indicates that the switching type of the first switching is a base station initiation type; and in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, sending a handover command to the user equipment, the handover command indicating the user equipment to execute the first handover and indicating that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiation type.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to devices and methods in a non-terrestrial network (NTN), and in particular to a technique for cell handover in a non-terrestrial network. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems can use a variety of protocols and standards for data transmission between devices. These protocols and standards have undergone a long period of development, including but not limited to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) (for example, 4G communication), and 3GPP New Radio (NR) (for example, 5G communication) and even 6G communication. Compared with traditional wireless communication systems, new wireless communication systems (such as 5G NR communication systems and 6G communication systems) have greatly improved the speed, latency, capacity, flexibility and reliability of wireless transmission, providing more possibilities for new usage modes.

[0003] The new wireless communication system introduces non-terrestrial network communications involving high-altitude communication stations such as satellites to supplement the performance of terrestrial network communications. As an example, mobile operators can use non-terrestrial networks to provide wireless communication services to areas lacking infrastructure, and can provide wireless communication services to users normally when the terrestrial network is interrupted (such as battlefields, earthquakes or floods, and outdoor scenes).

[0004] In non-terrestrial networks, it may be necessary to switch cells frequently. For example, the altitude of low-orbit (LEO) satellites from the ground is usually between 200 km and 2000 km. When the LEO satellite is closer to the ground, such as at an altitude of 600 km or 1200 km, the projection diameter of the satellite beam on the ground may be relatively small. For example, when the satellite altitude is 600 km and the band is 20 GHz, the projection coverage diameter of the beam on the ground is about 50 km, and the maximum beam coverage diameter is about 1000 km. At the same time, because the low-orbit satellite moves at a high speed relative to the ground, the projection of the beam it transmits also moves at a high speed on the ground, with a speed between 6.5 km / s and 8.1 km / s. If the user equipment is on a high-speed moving aircraft, the aircraft speed is 1000 km / h, then if the aircraft and the satellite are moving in the same direction, the coverage time of the user equipment for beam coverage diameters of 50 km and 1000 km is 6.51 seconds and 130 seconds respectively; if the aircraft and the satellite are moving in opposite directions, the coverage time of the user equipment is 6 seconds and 120 seconds respectively. This means that the user equipment needs to switch cells at a minimum interval of about 6 seconds and a maximum interval of about 130 seconds. Therefore, it is hoped to find a device and method that can improve cell switching in non-terrestrial networks. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present disclosure proposes devices and methods in a non-terrestrial network.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for a first base station in a non-terrestrial network is provided. The non-terrestrial network also includes a user device capable of communicating with the first base station, a second base station, a network function, and a satellite. The electronic device includes a processing circuit, and the processing circuit is configured to enable the first base station to perform the following operations: determine to initiate a first handover of the user device to the second base station at a first time based on a message received from the network function; send a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station-initiated type; and in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, send a handover command to the user device, wherein the handover command instructs the user device to perform a first handover, and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station-initiated type.

[0007] Correspondingly, according to the first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a first base station in a non-terrestrial network is provided. The non-terrestrial network also includes a user equipment capable of communicating with the first base station, a second base station, a network function, and a satellite. The method includes: determining to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to the second base station at a first time based on a message received from the network function; sending a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station-initiated type; and in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, sending a handover command to the user equipment, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover, and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station-initiated type.

[0008] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for a user device in a non-terrestrial network is provided. The non-terrestrial network also includes a first base station capable of communicating with the user device, a second base station capable of communicating with the first base station, a network function, and a satellite. The electronic device includes a processing circuit, and the processing circuit is configured to enable the user device to perform the following operations: receiving a switching command from the first base station, wherein the switching command instructs the user device to perform a first switching to the second base station, and indicates that the switching type of the first switching is a base station-initiated type; performing a signal quality measurement between the first base station and the second base station within a predetermined time period; in response to determining that the signal quality between the user device and the first base station and the signal quality between the user device and the second base station within a predetermined time period meet a predefined condition, performing the first switching.

[0009] Correspondingly, according to the second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network is also provided. The non-terrestrial network also includes a first base station capable of communicating with the user equipment, a second base station capable of communicating with the first base station, a network function, and a satellite. The method includes: receiving a switching command from the first base station, wherein the switching command instructs the user equipment to perform a first switching to the second base station, and indicates that the switching type of the first switching is a base station initiated type; performing signal quality measurement between the first base station and the second base station within a predetermined time period; in response to determining that the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station within a predetermined time period meet a predefined condition, performing the first switching.

[0010] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for a network function in a non-terrestrial network is provided. The non-terrestrial network also includes a user device capable of communicating with the network function, a first base station, a second base station, and a satellite. The electronic device includes a processing circuit, and the processing circuit is configured to enable the network function to perform the following operations: sending a message to the first base station, wherein the message includes an indication of initiating a first handover of the user device to the second base station at a first time, wherein the first base station sends a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type, and wherein in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, the first base station sends a handover command to the user device, wherein the handover command instructs the user device to perform a first handover, and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type.

[0011] Correspondingly, according to the third aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a network function in a non-terrestrial network is also provided. The non-terrestrial network also includes a user equipment capable of communicating with the network function, a first base station, a second base station and a satellite. The method includes: sending a message to the first base station, wherein the message includes an indication of initiating a first handover of the user equipment to the second base station at a first time, wherein the first base station sends a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type, and wherein in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, the first base station sends a handover command to the user equipment, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover, and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type.

[0012] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device for a second base station in a non-terrestrial network is provided. The non-terrestrial network also includes a user device capable of communicating with the second base station, a first base station, a network function, and a satellite. The electronic device includes a processing circuit, and the processing circuit is configured to enable the second base station to perform the following operations: receiving a handover request message from the first base station for a first handover of the user device to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station-initiated type and the first handover is determined by the first base station to be initiated at the first time based on a message received from the network function; and in response to determining that the resources meet the requirements of the first handover, sending a message to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request.

[0013] Correspondingly, according to the fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a second base station in a non-terrestrial network is also provided. The non-terrestrial network also includes a user equipment capable of communicating with the second base station, a first base station, a network function, and a satellite. The method includes: receiving a handover request message from the first base station for a first handover of the user equipment to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type and the first handover is determined by the first base station to be initiated at the first time based on a message received from the network function; and in response to determining that the resources meet the requirements of the first handover, sending a message to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request.

[0014] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium having one or more instructions stored thereon is provided, and when the one or more instructions are executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, the electronic device performs methods according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0015] According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product comprising program instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of a computer, causes the computer to execute the methods according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] The above summary is provided to summarize some exemplary embodiments to provide a basic understanding of various aspects of the subject matter described herein. Therefore, the above features are merely examples and should not be interpreted as narrowing the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become clear from the specific embodiments described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] A better understanding of the present disclosure may be obtained when the following detailed description of the embodiments is considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The same or similar reference numerals are used in the various drawings to represent the same or similar components. The accompanying drawings, together with the following detailed description, are included in and form a part of this specification and are used to illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure and to explain the principles and advantages of the present disclosure. Among them:

[0018] Figure 1 An example scenario diagram of cell switching in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0019] Figure 2 An example scenario diagram of cell switching in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0020] Figure 3 An exemplary electronic device for a first base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Figure 4 A flow chart of an example handover method for a first base station in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Figure 5 Exemplary electronic devices for a base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown.

[0023] Figure 6 A flow chart of an example registration method for a base station in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figure 7 An exemplary electronic device for a user device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0025] Figure 8 A flow chart of an example handover method for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0026] Fig. 9 An exemplary electronic device for a user device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0027] Fig.10 A flow chart of an example registration method for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0028] Fig.11 An exemplary electronic device for network functions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0029] Fig.12 A flow chart illustrating an example registration method for a network function in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0030] Fig.13 An exemplary electronic device for a second base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0031] Fig.14 A flow chart of an example handover method for a second base station in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0032] Fig.15 An information interaction diagram of a cell handover process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0033] Fig.16 An information interaction diagram of a cell handover process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0034] Fig.17 An information interaction diagram of a handover data collection process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0035] Fig.18 An information interaction diagram of a handover model parameter acquisition process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0036] Fig.19 An information interaction diagram of a handover model parameter testing process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0037] Fig. 20 An information interaction diagram of a cell handover process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0038] Fig.21 An information interaction diagram of a user equipment registration process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0039] Fig. 22 A schematic diagram of a cell switching process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0040] Fig.23 is a block diagram of an example structure of a personal computer as an information processing device that can be employed in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0041] Fig.24 A block diagram showing a first example of a schematic configuration of a base station to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied.

[0042] Fig.25 It is a block diagram showing a second example of a schematic configuration of a base station to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied.

[0043] Fig.26 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a smartphone to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied.

[0044] Fig. 27 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied.

[0045] Although the embodiments described in the present disclosure may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown as examples in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit the embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the purpose is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives within the spirit and scope of the claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] Representative applications of various aspects such as the apparatus and method of the present disclosure are described below. The description of these examples is only to increase the context and help understand the described embodiments. Therefore, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the embodiments described below can be implemented without some or all of the specific details. In other cases, well-known process steps are not described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the described embodiments. Other applications are also possible, and the solutions of the present disclosure are not limited to these examples.

[0047] Typically, a wireless communication system includes at least a network device and a user device, and the network device can provide communication services for one or more user devices.

[0048] In the present disclosure, the term "network device" (or "base station") has the full breadth of its usual meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station that is part of a wireless communication system or a radio system to facilitate communication. As an example, the network device may be, for example, an eNB of a 4G communication standard, a gNB of a 5G communication standard, a remote radio head, a wireless access point, a drone control tower, or a communication device that performs similar functions. In the present disclosure, "network device" and "base station" may be used interchangeably, or a "network device" may be implemented as part of a "base station". The following will describe the application examples in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, taking the network device as an example.

[0049] In the present disclosure, the term "user equipment (UE)" or "terminal device" has the full breadth of its usual meaning and includes at least a terminal device that is part of a wireless communication system or a radio system to facilitate communication. As an example, the user equipment may be a terminal device or an element thereof such as a mobile phone, a laptop, a tablet computer, a vehicle-mounted communication device, a wearable device, a sensor, etc. In the present disclosure, "user equipment" (hereinafter referred to as "UE") and "terminal device" may be used interchangeably, or "user equipment" may be implemented as a part of a "terminal device".

[0050] In the present disclosure, the term "network device side" / "base station side" has the full breadth of its usual meaning, generally indicating the side that sends data in the downlink of the communication system, or indicating the side that receives data in the uplink of the communication system. Similarly, the term "user equipment side" / "terminal equipment side" has the full breadth of its usual meaning, and can accordingly indicate the side that receives data in the downlink of the communication system, or indicate the side that sends data in the uplink of the communication system.

[0051] It should be noted that although the embodiments of the present disclosure are described below mainly based on a communication system including a network device and a user device, these descriptions can be correspondingly extended to the case of a communication system including any other type of network device side and user device side. For example, the operation on the network device side can correspond to the operation on the base station, and the operation on the user device side can correspond to the operation on the terminal device.

[0052] Figure 1 An example scenario diagram of cell switching in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1 In the scenario, there is an Xn interface between the source base station and the target base station, and the cell switching is a switching based on the Xn interface (for example, switching within the same AMF). It should be understood that Figure 1 Only examples of non-terrestrial networks are shown, and there may be more types and possible arrangements for their specific implementation. For example, an actual non-terrestrial network may have more or fewer types of devices or more or fewer numbers of devices. The features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as needed.

[0053] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-terrestrial network may include a base station (such as a gNB), a user equipment (UE), a satellite (such as a high orbit satellite (GEO), a medium orbit satellite (MEO), or a low orbit satellite (LEO)), and a network function in a core network (such as an access and mobility management function (AMF)).

[0054] The cell switching scenarios based on the Xn interface can be divided into non-transparent satellite and transparent satellite scenarios. Figure 1As shown in the figure, in a non-terrestrial network with a non-transparent satellite, both the source base station and the target base station are satellite base stations, that is, both are located on the satellite and can communicate with the UE from the satellite. Between the source satellite base station and the target satellite base station, the Xn protocol information is transmitted through the inter-satellite link (ISL). The transmission distance between the UE and the satellite base station is the satellite height H, and the communication distance between the base station and the core network is the satellite height H plus the distance from the ground station to the core network. Figure 1 As shown in the figure, in a non-terrestrial network with a transparent satellite, both the source base station and the target base station are ground base stations, that is, both are located on the ground, and the satellite can forward the signal from the base station to the UE or forward the signal from the UE to the base station. The ground base stations transmit Xn protocol information through optical fiber and other connection methods. The transmission distance between the UE and the base station is about twice the satellite height H, that is, 2H, and the distance from the base station to the core network is the ground distance, which may be tens to hundreds of kilometers. From the above, it can be seen that no matter in which scenario, the energy consumption of the UE to send a message to the base station is greater than that of the ground network, and the delay is longer (especially in the transparent satellite scenario).

[0055] Figure 2 An example scenario diagram of cell switching in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 2 In the scenario, the cell handover is based on the N2 interface, which may be because there is no Xn interface between the source base station and the target base station or the source base station and the target base station are connected to different AMFs. It should be understood that Figure 2 Only examples of non-terrestrial networks are shown, and there may be more types and possible arrangements for their specific implementation. For example, an actual non-terrestrial network may have more or fewer types of devices or more or fewer numbers of devices. The features of the present disclosure may be implemented in any of a variety of systems as needed.

[0056] When the non-terrestrial network does not use the Xn interface, base stations cannot directly communicate and transmit switching information. Switching information can be exchanged through the N2 interface between the base station and the core network. The cell switching scenarios based on the N2 interface can also be divided into non-transparent satellite and transparent satellite scenarios. Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 1 , in a non-terrestrial network with a non-transparent satellite, the base stations transmit switching information through the N2 interface. The information needs to be sent from the base station to the ground station and then to the core network, and then from the core network to the ground station and then to another base station. That is, it needs to be transmitted between the ground and the satellite twice, and the delay is relatively long. Figure 2 As shown, in a non-terrestrial network with a transparent satellite, the interaction between the UE and the base station requires two transmissions between the ground and the satellite, and the delay is also relatively long.

[0057] Traditional cell switching is generally UE-initiated, that is, the UE measures the signal quality between the source base station cell and the target base station cell, and sends the measurement report to the source base station when the predetermined conditions are met. When the source base station receives the report from the UE, it determines whether to switch. If it is determined to switch, the switching process starts. As mentioned above, the coverage time of the beam of a low-orbit satellite to the UE is very short. For example, for a satellite with an altitude of 600 kilometers, the beam coverage time is between 6 seconds and 130 seconds. Therefore, if the traditional cell switching mechanism is adopted, the UE may need to frequently send measurement messages to the base station, resulting in increased UE energy consumption. In particular, for battery-powered UEs in the Internet of Things, it is desirable to reduce this energy consumption as much as possible.

[0058] Some UEs (such as IoT terminal devices) in non-terrestrial networks may be fixed in position. For UEs at fixed positions, usually because of the periodicity of the satellite's rotation around the earth, the time of each switch, the source base station involved in the switch, and the target base station may all show a certain periodicity. That is to say, for UEs at fixed positions, at some fixed times (or time periods), it may always switch from the same source base station to the same target base station. Therefore, the present disclosure provides a method for switching initiated by a base station in a non-terrestrial network. The network function can analyze the switching model of the fixed-position UE and notify it to the base station, and then at a predetermined time (or time period), the base station can initiate a switch, thereby reducing the number of measurements and signaling overhead that the UE needs to perform when switching, so as to achieve the purpose of saving energy consumption. It should be understood that the scheme of the present disclosure is not limited to UEs at fixed positions, and can be applied to any other UEs whose cell switching has a certain regularity, such as UEs whose positions move only within a limited range (e.g., a few meters or tens of meters).

[0059] Figure 3 An exemplary electronic device 300 for a first base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The electronic device 300 may correspond to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The source base station in, or the electronic device 300 can be used to control Figure 1 and Figure 2 The operation of the source base station in Figure 3 As shown, electronic device 300 may include processing circuit 320 .

[0060] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 320 may be configured to: determine, based on a message received from a network function (eg, AMF) in the core network, to initiate a user equipment from a first base station (eg, Figure 1 and Figure 2 The source base station in the example) to the second base station (eg, Figure 1 and Figure 2a first handover to a target base station in the user equipment); sending a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type; and in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, sending a handover command to the user equipment, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform the first handover and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type.

[0061] In the structural example of the above-mentioned device, the processing circuit 320 can be in the form of a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processing circuit, such as an ASIC. For example, the processing circuit 320 can be constructed by a circuit (hardware) or a central processing device (such as a central processing unit (CPU)). In addition, the processing circuit 320 can carry a program (software) for making the circuit (hardware) or the central processing device work. The program can be stored in a memory (such as arranged in the memory) or an external storage medium connected from the outside, and downloaded via a network (such as the Internet).

[0062] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 320 may include various units for implementing the above-mentioned functions, such as a handover initiation determination unit 322 configured to determine to initiate a first handover of a user equipment from a first base station to a second base station at a first time, a handover request message sending unit 324 configured to send a handover request message to the second base station, and a handover command sending unit 326 configured to send a handover command to the user equipment in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request.

[0063] The units included in the processing circuit 320 may be communicatively coupled to each other (not shown). Figure 3 In the figure, each unit is shown as a discrete unit, but one or more of these units can also be combined into one unit, or split into multiple units. It should be noted that the above-mentioned units are only logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not used to limit the specific implementation method. For example, they can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. In actual implementation, the above-mentioned units can be implemented as independent physical entities, or can also be implemented by a single entity (for example, a processor (CPU or DSP, etc.), an integrated circuit, etc.).

[0064] The processing circuit 320 may be implemented as one or more other components including the base station side electronic device, or may be implemented as the base station side electronic device. In actual implementation, the processing circuit 320 may be implemented as a chip (such as an integrated circuit module including a single wafer), a hardware component, or a complete product.

[0065] It should be understood that Figure 3This is only a schematic structural configuration of the electronic device on the base station side. The electronic device 300 may also include other possible components (e.g., memory, etc.). Optionally, the electronic device 300 may also include other components not shown, such as memory, radio frequency link, baseband processing unit, network interface, controller, etc. The processing circuit may be associated with the memory and / or antenna. For example, the processing circuit may be directly or indirectly connected to the memory (e.g., other components may be connected in the middle) to access data. For example, the processing circuit may be directly or indirectly connected to the antenna to send radio signals via the communication unit and receive radio signals via the communication unit.

[0066] The memory may store various information generated by the processing circuit 320, programs and data for the operation of the base station side electronic device, data to be sent by the base station side electronic device, etc. The memory may also be located within the base station side electronic device but outside the processing circuit, or even outside the base station side electronic device. The memory may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. For example, the memory may include, but is not limited to, a random access memory (RAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and a flash memory.

[0067] The following will be combined Figure 4 Specific description Figure 3 The functions of the units in the processing circuit 320 of the electronic device 300 for the first base station. Figure 4 A flow chart of an example handover method 400 for a first base station in a non-terrestrial network is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0068] At step S410, it is determined based on the message received from the network function to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to the second base station at a first time. This step S410 may be performed by, for example, Figure 3 The handover initiation determination unit 322 in the handover initiation determination unit 322 is executed. According to some embodiments, the message received from the network function may include a handover model parameter obtained by the network function based on handover data of multiple handovers of the user equipment initiated type (i.e., traditional cell handovers) that occurred before the first handover, wherein the handover model parameter includes at least an identifier of the user equipment, a handover time set including the first time, an identifier of the first base station, and an identifier of the second base station.

[0069] According to some embodiments, the user equipment may be a user equipment of a fixed-position type. Prior to step S410, the method 400 may further include receiving a message from a network function indicating that the first base station collects switching data of a set of user equipment of a fixed-position type including the user equipment, performing a first plurality of switchings of a user equipment-initiated type with the user equipment in the set of user equipment of a fixed-position type, and sending switching data of the first plurality of switchings to the network function, wherein the first plurality of switchings occurs before the first switching. The switching model parameters may be obtained by the network function based on the switching data of the first plurality of switchings. According to some embodiments, the switching model parameters may be obtained by the network function through the following operations: training a machine learning model (e.g., logistic regression, artificial neural network, etc.) with the switching data of the first plurality of switchings as training data; and generating switching model parameters by inputting an identifier of the user equipment into the trained machine learning model. It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to this, and the network function may also obtain the switching model parameters based on any other suitable algorithm (e.g., calculating an average value, etc.). According to some embodiments, the handover data of each handover in the first plurality of handovers may include one or more of the following: an identifier of a user equipment associated with the handover, a time for initiating the handover determined by a source base station associated with the handover, a signal quality reported by the user equipment with respect to the source base station based on which the source base station determines to initiate the handover, and a signal quality between the target base station associated with the handover, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the target base station, weather conditions (e.g., rainy, cloudy, sunny, etc.), etc. It should be understood that the handover data may be sent after each handover is completed, or may be sent in batches, thereby saving signaling overhead. In addition, the network function may obtain part of the handover data, such as weather conditions, from other data sources.

[0070] According to some embodiments, the switching time set may include one or more switching times (or time periods) for the user equipment. For example, the switching time set may be {8:15:20 to 8:15:50, 16:10 and 23:55}, which indicates that the network function recommends that the user equipment perform 3 switchings a day based on the analysis results, the first switching may occur between 8:15:20 and 8:15:50, the second switching may occur at 16:10, and the third switching may occur at 23:55. It should be understood that this is only an example, the user equipment may perform any number of switchings in a day, and the time of the first switching may also be a single time point, the time of the second and third switching may also be time periods, and so on. In the case where the switching time is a time period (e.g., 8:15:20 to 8:15:50), the first base station may select a time point in the time period to initiate the switching based on any appropriate strategy, for example, the earliest time point in the time period, the time point in the middle of the time period, and so on may be selected.

[0071] According to some embodiments, the handover method 400 may further include, before step S410, after receiving the handover model parameter from the network function, performing a second plurality of handovers of the user equipment initiated type with the user equipment; sending handover data of the second plurality of handovers to the network function, wherein the second plurality of handovers occur before the first handover. According to some embodiments, the handover data of each handover in the second plurality of handovers may include one or more of the following: an identifier of the user equipment associated with the handover, a time for initiating the handover determined by the source base station associated with the handover, a signal quality reported by the user equipment with the source base station based on which the source base station determines to initiate the handover and a signal quality between the target base station associated with the handover, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the target base station, weather conditions, etc. It should be understood that the handover data may be sent after each handover is completed, or may be sent in batches, thereby saving signaling overhead. In addition, the network function may obtain part of the handover data from other data sources, such as weather conditions.

[0072] The network function may test the accuracy of the handover model by comparing the handover data of the second plurality of handovers with the handover model parameters. In response to determining that the proportion of handovers in the second plurality of handovers whose handover data matches the handover model parameters exceeds a threshold value (e.g., 70%, 80%, etc.), the first base station may receive a message from the network function indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started. According to some embodiments, determining in step S410 to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to the second base station at the first time may be performed at least in response to receiving a message indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started.

[0073] Then, the process proceeds to step S420. At step S420, a handover request message is sent to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated handover. This step S420 may be performed, for example, by Figure 3 The handover request message sending unit 324 in the handover request message is executed. For example, the handover request message may include one or more bits indicating that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type. The handover request message may also include relevant information such as the number of sessions. According to some embodiments, for example, Figure 1 In the handover scenario based on the Xn interface shown in FIG. 1 , sending the handover request message to the second base station includes directly sending the handover request message to the second base station. Figure 2 In the switching scenario based on the N2 interface shown, sending a switching request message to the second base station includes sending a switching requirement to the network function, wherein the type of the switching requirement is configured as base station initiated, and then the network function sends a switching request message to the second base station in response to receiving the switching requirement.

[0074] Then, in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, the process proceeds to step S430. At step S430, a handover command (e.g., an RRCConfiguration message) may be sent to the user equipment, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type. For example, the handover command may include one or more bits indicating that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type. This step S430 may be performed, for example, by Figure 3 The switching command sending unit 326 in the embodiment is executed. According to some embodiments, for example, Figure 1 In the handover scenario based on the Xn interface shown in FIG. 1 , the message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request may be a confirmation message for the handover request received from the second base station. Figure 2 In the handover scenario based on the N2 interface shown, the message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request may be a handover command received from the network function. That is, the network function may receive a confirmation message for the handover request from the second base station and then send a handover command to the first base station.

[0075] In response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station rejects the handover request, the process proceeds to step S440. At step S440, a message indicating that the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type may be sent to the user equipment. In some embodiments, the second base station may check its own resources and send a message rejecting the handover request when it finds that the needs of the user equipment that expects to perform the handover cannot be met. At this time, the user equipment may be notified to revert to the traditional mode for the handover, that is, the user equipment first performs signal quality measurement and then reports it to the base station. This step S440 may be performed, for example, by Figure 3The switching command sending unit 326 in the embodiment may be executed, or it may be executed by Figure 3 Other units not shown in the figure are executed.

[0076] After step S430, the process may proceed to step S450. At step S450, the switching data of the first switching may be sent to the network function after the first switching is completed. It should be understood that between steps S430 and S450, the first base station may also perform one or more steps related to the switching (e.g., sending an SN status transfer (SN StatusTransfer) message to the second base station, etc.). In some embodiments, the network function may improve the switching model parameters based on the switching data of the first switching, thereby improving the accuracy of the switching model. According to some embodiments, the switching data of the first switching may include one or more of the following: an identifier of a user equipment associated with the first switching, a time (i.e., a first time) determined by the source base station associated with the first switching to initiate the switching, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the target base station, weather conditions, etc.

[0077] Although the cell switching technology described in the present disclosure is not limited to being applied to user equipment at a fixed location, and can be applied to any other user equipment with a certain regularity in cell switching, the core network may wish to know whether the location of the user equipment is fixed, so that different mechanisms (for example, sending different signaling, etc.) can be used for user equipment of a fixed location type and user equipment of a mobile location type in cell switching. Therefore, according to some embodiments, a user equipment of a fixed location in a non-terrestrial network can register its location type information during the registration process with the core network. Figure 5-Figure 6 , Fig. 9 and Fig.10 A registration method and apparatus for a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are described.

[0078] Figure 5 An exemplary electronic device 500 for a base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The electronic device 500 may correspond to Figure 1 and Figure 2 Any base station (eg, source base station or target base station) in the control unit, or the electronic device 500 can be used to control Figure 1 and Figure 2 The operation of any base station (e.g., source base station or target base station) in the process. Figure 5 As shown, electronic device 500 may include processing circuit 520 .

[0079] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 520 can be configured to: receive a registration request message from a user equipment, wherein the registration request message includes a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type or a user equipment of a mobile location type; send a registration request message to a network function; and based on a confirmation of the registration request message received from the network function, send a registration acceptance message to the user equipment, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the switching type of the user equipment is configured as a base station initiated type.

[0080] In the structural example of the above-mentioned device, the processing circuit 520 can be in the form of a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processing circuit, such as an ASIC. For example, the processing circuit 520 can be constructed by a circuit (hardware) or a central processing device (such as a central processing unit (CPU)). In addition, the processing circuit 520 can carry a program (software) for making the circuit (hardware) or the central processing device work. The program can be stored in a memory (such as arranged in the memory) or an external storage medium connected from the outside, and downloaded via a network (such as the Internet).

[0081] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 520 may include various units for implementing the above-mentioned functions, such as a registration request message receiving unit 522 configured to receive a registration request message from a user device, a registration request message sending unit 524 configured to send a registration request message to a network function, and a registration acceptance message sending unit 526 configured to send a registration acceptance message to the user device based on a confirmation of the registration request message received from the network function.

[0082] The units included in the processing circuit 520 may be communicatively coupled to each other (not shown). Figure 5 In the figure, each unit is shown as a discrete unit, but one or more of these units can also be combined into one unit, or split into multiple units. It should be noted that the above-mentioned units are only logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not used to limit the specific implementation method. For example, they can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. In actual implementation, the above-mentioned units can be implemented as independent physical entities, or can also be implemented by a single entity (for example, a processor (CPU or DSP, etc.), an integrated circuit, etc.).

[0083] The processing circuit 520 may be implemented as one or more other components including the base station side electronic device, or may be implemented as the base station side electronic device. In actual implementation, the processing circuit 520 may be implemented as a chip (such as an integrated circuit module including a single wafer), a hardware component, or a complete product.

[0084] It should be understood that Figure 5 This is only a schematic structural configuration of the electronic device at the base station side. Similar to the electronic device 300, the electronic device 500 may also include other possible components (eg, memory, etc.), which will not be described in detail herein.

[0085] The following will be combined Figure 6 Specific description Figure 5 The functions of the units in the processing circuit 520 of the electronic device 500 for the base station. Figure 6 A flow chart of an example registration method 600 for a base station in a non-terrestrial network is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0086] At step S610, a registration request message is received from a user equipment, wherein the registration request message includes a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type or a user equipment of a mobile location type. The registration request message may be, for example, a registration request ("Registration Request") message described in 3GPP TS 23.502 V17.6.0 (2022-09). Step S610 may be, for example, Figure 5 The registration request message receiving unit 522 in the register may be executed. The location type bit may include one or more bits. According to some embodiments, the location type bit is one bit, and, for example, "0" may represent a user equipment of a fixed location type, and "1" may represent a user equipment of a mobile location type. Any other suitable manner may also be used to indicate the location type of the user equipment. In addition, for a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration request message may also include a field of N1 bytes in length for indicating the geographic location information of the user equipment, such as global positioning system (GPS) coordinates.

[0087] Then, the process proceeds to step S620. At step S620, a registration request message from the user equipment is sent to a network function (eg, AMF). This step S620 may be performed by, for example, Figure 5 , which is executed by the registration request message sending unit 524 in . Before sending the registration request message to the network function, step S620 may also include executing network function selection. The network function may register the user equipment based on the location type bit in the registration request message. For example, for the above example, when the location type bit is "0", the user equipment is registered as a user equipment of a fixed location type; when the location type bit is "1", the user equipment is registered as a user equipment of a mobile location type. For user equipment of a fixed location type, its geographic location information may also be registered. After the registration is completed, the network function may send a confirmation of the registration request message to the base station.

[0088] Then, the process proceeds to step S630. At step S630, based on the confirmation of the registration request message received from the network function, a registration acceptance message is sent to the user equipment. The registration acceptance message may be, for example, a registration acceptance message ("Registration accept message") described in 3GPP TS23.502 V17.6.0 (2022-09). Step S630 may be, for example, Figure 5 According to some embodiments, in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a location-fixed type user equipment, the registration acceptance message may include information indicating that the handover type of the user equipment is configured as a base station initiated type, and the information may include one or more bits.

[0089] Combination of the above Figure 3-Figure 6 Methods and devices for base station side in non-terrestrial networks according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are described. Figure 7-10 Methods and devices for user equipment side in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are described.

[0090] Figure 7 An exemplary electronic device 700 for a user device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The electronic device 700 may correspond to Figure 1 and Figure 2 Any UE in the system or the electronic device 700 may be used to control Figure 1 and Figure 2 The UE is currently communicating with the first base station (i.e., the source base station of the handover). Figure 7 As shown, electronic device 700 may include processing circuit 720 .

[0091] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 720 can be configured to: receive a switching command from a first base station, wherein the switching command instructs the user equipment to perform a first switching to a second base station, and indicates that the switching type of the first switching is base station initiated; perform signal quality measurement between the user equipment and the first base station and signal quality measurement between the user equipment and the second base station within a predetermined time period; and in response to determining that the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station within a predetermined time period meet a predefined condition, perform the first switching.

[0092] In the above device structure example, processing circuit 720 can be in the form of a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processing circuit, similar to processing circuits 320 and 520. In addition, processing circuit 720 can carry a program (software) for making the circuit (hardware) or central processing device work.

[0093] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 720 may include various units for implementing the above-mentioned functions, such as a switching command receiving unit 722 configured to receive a switching command from a first base station, a signal quality measurement execution unit 724 configured to perform signal quality measurement between the first base station and the second base station within a predetermined time period, and a switching execution unit 726 configured to perform a first switching in response to determining that the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station within a predetermined time period meet a predefined condition.

[0094] The units included in the processing circuit 720 may be communicatively coupled to each other (not shown). Figure 7 The various units are shown as discrete units, but one or more of these units may also be combined into one unit, or split into multiple units. It should be noted that the above-mentioned various units are only logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not used to limit the specific implementation method, for example, it can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The processing circuit 720 may be implemented to include one or more other components in the user device side electronic device, or may be implemented as a user device side electronic device. In actual implementation, the processing circuit 720 may be implemented as a chip (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip), a hardware component, or a complete product.

[0095] It should be understood that Figure 7 This is only a schematic structural configuration of the electronic device at the base station side. Similar to the electronic devices 300 and 500, the electronic device 700 may also include other possible components (eg, memory, etc.), which will not be described in detail herein.

[0096] The following will be combined Figure 8 Specific description Figure 7 The functions of the units in the processing circuit 720 of the electronic device 700 for the user equipment. Figure 8 A flow chart of an example handover method 800 for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0097] At step S810, a handover command (eg, an RRCReconfiguration message) is received from the first base station, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover to the second base station, and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated handover. Step S810 may be performed, for example, by Figure 7 The switching command receiving unit 722 executes.

[0098] Then, the process proceeds to step S820. At step S820, a signal quality measurement between the first base station and a signal quality measurement between the second base station is performed within a predetermined time period. This step S820 may be performed, for example, by Figure 7 The signal quality measurement execution unit 724 in step S820 performs the measurement. According to some embodiments, step S820 may include starting a timer with a time length of S. Before the timer expires, the user equipment may continuously measure the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station (ie, the source base station) and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station (ie, the target base station). The signal quality measurement may be based on a reference signal previously received from the base station, or the user equipment may send a request for a reference signal to the base station in step S820, and then perform signal quality measurement based on the reference signal received from the base station. Examples of reference signals may include synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), and other reference signals known to those skilled in the art. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, signal quality includes, but is not limited to, reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), and the like.

[0099] Then, the process proceeds to step S830. At step S830, it is determined whether the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station meet the predefined conditions within the predetermined time period. This step S830 can be performed, for example, by Figure 7 The predefined condition may be performed by the signal quality measurement execution unit 724 in the processing circuit 720, or by other units not shown in the processing circuit 720. For example, the predefined condition may be that the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station exceeds the second signal quality threshold, or the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station is lower than the first signal quality threshold and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station exceeds the second signal quality threshold, or the difference between the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station and the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station is higher than a third threshold, etc. If the result of step S830 is "yes", the process proceeds to step S840; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S850.

[0100] At step S840, in response to determining that the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station meet the predefined condition within the predetermined time period, the first handover is performed. This step S840 may be performed, for example, by Figure 7The handover execution unit 726 in step S820 performs the handover execution. According to some embodiments, in response to determining that the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station meet the predefined condition within the predetermined time period, the signal quality measurement can be stopped, and the timer started in step S820 can be turned off. According to some embodiments, performing the first handover can include performing a random access channel (RACH) process with the second base station, and sending an RRCReconfigurationComplete message to the second base station after the RACH process is successful.

[0101] At step S850, in response to determining that the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station do not meet the predefined condition within the predetermined time period, a measurement report may be sent to the first base station. According to some embodiments, determining that the signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and the signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station do not meet the predefined condition within the predetermined time period may include: when the timer started in step S820 expires, determining that the signal quality still cannot meet the predefined condition. The measurement report may include the result of each signal quality measurement performed between the user equipment and the first base station and between the user equipment and the second base station within the predetermined time period, or may only include the result of the last signal quality measurement, etc. After receiving the measurement report, the first base station may check the reported signal quality and understand that the user equipment does not currently have the conditions for switching to the second base station.

[0102] Then, the process proceeds to step S860. At step S860, a message indicating that the first handover is stopped and the handover type is changed to user equipment initiated type may be received from the first base station. That is, the first base station notifies the user equipment that the handover may be changed to be performed in a traditional manner.

[0103] Then, the process proceeds to step S870. At step S870, signal quality measurement between the first base station and signal quality measurement between one or more base stations including the second base station may be performed, thereby starting the process of user equipment initiated handover. After S870, method 800 may also optionally include one or more other steps of user equipment initiated handover, for example, when the signal quality meets a predetermined condition, sending a measurement report to the first base station, etc.

[0104] It should be understood that steps S850 , S860 and S870 may be performed by any unit in the processing circuit 720 or by other units not shown. For example, step S870 may be performed by the signal quality measurement execution unit 724 .

[0105] Reference below Fig. 9 and Fig.10A registration method and device for a user equipment side of a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are described. Fig. 9 An exemplary electronic device 900 for a user device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0106] The electronic device 900 may correspond to Figure 1 and Figure 2 Any UE or electronic device 900 can be used to control Figure 1 and Figure 2 The operation of any UE in Fig. 9 As shown, electronic device 900 may include processing circuit 920 .

[0107] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 920 can be configured to: send a registration request message to a base station, wherein the registration request message includes a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type or a user equipment of a mobile location type; and receive a registration acceptance message from the base station, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the switching type of the user equipment is configured as a base station initiated type.

[0108] In the above device structure example, the processing circuit 920 may be in the form of a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processing circuit. In addition, the processing circuit 920 may carry a program (software) for making the circuit (hardware) or central processing device work.

[0109] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 920 may include various units for implementing the above functions, such as a registration request message sending unit 922 configured to send a registration request message to a base station, and a registration acceptance message receiving unit 924 configured to receive a registration acceptance message from a base station.

[0110] Similar to the processing circuit 720, the units included in the processing circuit 920 may be communicatively coupled to each other (not shown). Fig. 9 The various units are shown as discrete units, but one or more of these units may also be combined into one unit, or split into multiple units. It should be noted that the above-mentioned various units are only logical modules divided according to the specific functions implemented by them, and are not used to limit the specific implementation. The processing circuit 920 may be implemented as one or more other components including the user device side electronic device, or may be implemented as a user device side electronic device. In actual implementation, the processing circuit 920 may be implemented as a chip (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip), a hardware component, or a complete product.

[0111] It should be understood that Fig. 9This is only a schematic structural configuration of the electronic device on the user equipment side. Similar to the electronic device 700, the electronic device 900 may also include other possible components (eg, memory, etc.), which will not be described in detail herein.

[0112] The following will be combined Fig.10 Specific description Fig. 9 The functions of the units in the processing circuit 920 of the electronic device 900 for the user equipment. Fig.10 A flow chart of an example registration method 1000 for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0113] At step S1010, a registration request message is sent to a base station, wherein the registration request message includes a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a fixed-location type user equipment or a mobile-location type user equipment. Fig. 9 The registration request message sending unit 922 in the above is executed. Figure 6 An example of the registration request message and the location type bit has been described in detail in the description of step S610, and will not be repeated here.

[0114] Then, the process proceeds to step S1020. At step S1020, a registration acceptance message is received from the base station, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of the fixed location type, the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the handover type of the user equipment is configured as a base station initiated type. This step S1020 may be, for example, Fig. 9 The registration acceptance message receiving unit 924 in the above is executed. Figure 6 An example of the registration acceptance message has been described in detail in the description of step S630, and will not be repeated here.

[0115] Reference below Fig.11 and Fig.12 A registration method and device for a network function side of a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are described. Fig.11 An exemplary electronic device 1100 for network functions according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0116] The electronic device 1100 may correspond to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The network function (NF) in the core network in the embodiment of the present invention, or the electronic device 1100 can be used to control Figure 1 and Figure 2 The network function may be, for example, AMF, or any other suitable network function known now or developed in the future. Fig.11As shown, electronic device 1100 may include processing circuit 1120 .

[0117] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 1120 may be configured to: receive a user equipment (eg, Figure 1 and Figure 2 The method comprises the following steps: receiving a registration request message from a base station to receive a registration request message from a user equipment (any UE in the group), wherein the registration request message comprises a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a location-fixed type user equipment or a location-mobile type user equipment; registering the user equipment based on the registration request message; and sending a confirmation of the registration request message to the base station, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a location-fixed type user equipment, the base station sends a registration acceptance message to the user equipment, and the registration acceptance message comprises information indicating that the switching type of the user equipment is configured as a base station-initiated type.

[0118] In the above device structure example, the processing circuit 1120 may be in the form of a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processing circuit. In addition, the processing circuit 1120 may carry a program (software) for making the circuit (hardware) or central processing device work.

[0119] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 1120 may include various units for implementing the above-mentioned functions, such as a registration request message receiving unit 1122 configured to receive a registration request message of a user equipment from a base station, a registration unit 1124 configured to register the user equipment based on the registration request message, and a confirmation sending unit 1126 configured to send a confirmation of the registration request message to the base station.

[0120] Similar to the processing circuit 520, the units included in the processing circuit 1120 may be communicatively coupled to each other (not shown). Fig.11 The various units are shown as discrete units, but one or more of these units may also be combined into one unit, or split into multiple units. It should be noted that the above-mentioned various units are only logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not used to limit the specific implementation. The processing circuit 1120 may be implemented as one or more other components in an electronic device including a network function, or may be implemented as an electronic device for a network function. In actual implementation, the processing circuit 1120 may be implemented as a chip (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip), a hardware component, or a complete product.

[0121] It should be understood that Fig.11 This is only a schematic structural configuration of an electronic device for network functions. Similar to the electronic device 700, the electronic device 1100 may also include other possible components (eg, memory, etc.), which will not be described in detail herein.

[0122] The following will be combined Fig.12 Specific description Fig.10 The functions of the units in the processing circuit 1120 of the electronic device 1100 for network functions. Fig.12 A flow chart of an example registration method 1200 for a network function in a non-terrestrial network is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0123] At step S1210, a registration request message of a user equipment is received from a base station, wherein the registration request message includes a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a fixed-location type user equipment or a mobile-location type user equipment. Step S1210 may be performed by, for example, Fig.11 The registration request message receiving unit 1122 in the above is executed. Figure 6 An example of the registration request message and the location type bit has been described in detail in the description of step S610, and will not be repeated here.

[0124] Then, the process proceeds to step S1220. At step S1220, the user equipment is registered based on the registration request message. This step S1220 may be performed by, for example, Fig.11 The registration unit 1124 in the above is executed. Figure 6 The registration process has been illustrated in the description of step S620 and will not be repeated here.

[0125] Then, the process proceeds to step S1230. At step S1230, a confirmation of the registration request message is sent to the base station. In response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the base station sends a registration acceptance message to the user equipment after receiving the confirmation of the registration request message from the network function, and the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the handover type of the user equipment is configured as a base station initiated type. This step S1230 can be, for example, Fig.11 The confirmation sending unit 1126 in the above is executed. Figure 6 An example of the registration acceptance message has been described in detail in the description of step S630, and will not be repeated here.

[0126] Reference below Fig.13 and Fig.14 A handover method and device at a second base station side of a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are described. Fig.13 An exemplary electronic device 1300 for a second base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The electronic device 1300 may correspond to Figure 1 and Figure 2 The target base station in the embodiment, or the electronic device 1300 can be used to control Figure 1 and Figure 2The operation of the target base station in Fig.13 As shown, electronic device 1300 may include processing circuit 1320 .

[0127] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 1320 can be configured to: receive a switching request message from a first base station for a first switching of a user equipment to a second base station, wherein the switching request message indicates that the switching type of the first switching is base station initiated and the first switching is determined by the first base station to be initiated at the first time based on a message received from a network function; and in response to determining that the resources meet the requirements of the first switching, send a message to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the switching request.

[0128] Similar to the processing circuit 320, in the structural example of the above device, the processing circuit 1320 can be in the form of a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processing circuit, such as an ASIC. In addition, the processing circuit 1320 can carry a program (software) for making the circuit (hardware) or central processing device work.

[0129] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processing circuit 1320 may include various units for implementing the above-mentioned functions, such as a switching request message receiving unit 1322 configured to receive a switching request message from the first base station for a first switching of a user equipment to a second base station, and a switching acceptance message sending unit 1324 configured to send a message to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the switching request in response to determining that the resources meet the requirements of the first switching.

[0130] The units included in the processing circuit 1320 may be communicatively coupled to each other (not shown). Fig.13 The various units are shown as discrete units, but one or more of these units may also be combined into one unit, or split into multiple units. It should be noted that the above-mentioned various units are only logical modules divided according to the specific functions they implement, and are not used to limit the specific implementation. The processing circuit 1320 may be implemented as one or more other components including the base station side electronic device, or may be implemented as a base station side electronic device. In actual implementation, the processing circuit 1320 may be implemented as a chip (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip), a hardware component, or a complete product.

[0131] It should be understood that Fig.13 This is only a schematic structural configuration of the electronic device at the base station side. The electronic device 1300 may also include other possible components (for example, a memory, etc.).

[0132] The following will be combined Fig.14 Specific description Fig.13 The functions of the units in the processing circuit 1320 of the electronic device 1300 for the second base station. Fig.14 A flow chart of an example handover method 1400 for a second base station in a non-terrestrial network is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0133] At step S1410, a handover request message for a first handover of a user equipment to a second base station is received from a first base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type, and the first handover is determined by the first base station to be initiated at a first time based on a message received from a network function. This step S1410 may be performed, for example, by Fig.13 The handover request message receiving unit 1322 in the embodiment is executed. According to some embodiments, for example, Figure 1 In the handover scenario based on the Xn interface shown in FIG. 1 , receiving the handover request message from the first base station may include directly receiving the handover request message from the first base station. Figure 2 In the handover scenario based on the N2 interface shown, the first base station sends a handover request to the network function, and the network function sends a handover request message to the second base station in response to receiving the handover request. At this time, receiving the handover request message from the first base station may include receiving the handover request message from the network function.

[0134] Then, the process proceeds to step S1420. At step S1420, it is determined whether the resources meet the requirements of the first handover. According to some embodiments, the handover request message may include relevant information such as the number of sessions, and the second base station may check the available resources (for example, the number of sessions supported) to determine whether the requirements of the first handover can be met. In response to determining that the resources meet the requirements of the first handover, the process proceeds to step S1430; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S1460. At step S1460, in response to determining that the resources do not meet the requirements of the first handover, a message is sent to the first base station indicating that the second base station rejects the handover request. After receiving the message indicating that the second base station rejects the handover request, the first base station may send a message to the user equipment indicating that the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type.

[0135] At step S1430, in response to determining that the resources meet the first handover requirement, a message is sent to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request. This step S1430 may be performed by, for example, Fig.13 The accept handover message sending unit 1324 in the embodiment is executed. According to some embodiments, for example, Figure 1 In the handover scenario based on the Xn interface shown in FIG. 1 , sending a message to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request may include directly sending a confirmation message for the handover request to the first base station. Figure 2In the handover scenario based on the N2 interface shown, sending a message to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request may include sending a confirmation message for the handover request to the network function, and then the network function may send a handover command to the first base station in response to receiving the confirmation message. The first base station may send a handover command to the user equipment, and the user equipment performs a signal quality measurement within a predetermined time period. If the signal quality meets the predefined conditions, the first handover may be performed. At this time, one or more steps for the first handover may be optionally performed after step S1430, for example, receiving an SN state transfer message and downlink data from the first base station, or sending a path switching request to the AMF, etc.

[0136] The process may proceed to step S1440. At step S1440, a message instructing to stop the first handover is received from the first base station. When the handover is unsuccessful due to various reasons, the first base station may send a message to the second base station to stop the first handover. For example, when the signal quality measured by the user equipment does not meet the predefined condition, the user equipment may send a measurement report to the first base station. The first base station may determine based on the measurement report that the user equipment currently does not have the conditions for handover to the second base station, and thus send a message to the second base station to stop the first handover.

[0137] The process may proceed to step S1450. At step S1450, the resources prepared for the first handover are released. For example, the resources may be prepared in or after step S1430. Steps S1420, S1440, S1450, and S1460 may be performed by, for example, Fig.13 The method is performed by any unit in or a unit not shown.

[0138] The following will refer to Figure 15-Figure 22 The information exchange for handover and registration procedures in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is described. Fig.15 An information interaction diagram for a cell handover process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The non-terrestrial network includes a user equipment (UE), a source base station, a target base station, a satellite (not shown), and an AMF. The user equipment can communicate with a source base station or a target base station located on a satellite (e.g., Figure 1 The non-transparent satellite system shown) may also be used to communicate with a source base station or a target base station located on the ground via a satellite (e.g., Figure 1 The handover process is a handover process based on the Xn interface, wherein the source base station and the target base station can exchange information based on the Xn interface. Fig.15 AMF is shown as an example of a network function, but any other suitable network function may also be adopted.

[0139] like Fig.15As shown, at 1502, the AMF may send a message to the source base station, the message including an indication of initiating a handover at a first time. The message may include a handover model parameter, wherein the handover model parameter includes at least an identifier of the user equipment, a handover time set including the first time, an identifier of the source base station, and an identifier of the target base station. For example, the handover model parameter may include: {UE_0, T1, gNB_1, gNB_2}, {UE_0, T2, gNB_2, gNB_3}, {UE_0, T3, gNB_3, gNB_4}. Among them, UE_0 is the identifier of the UE, T1, T2, T3 are the handover times (or time periods), and gNB_1, gNB_2, gNB_3, gNB_4 are identifiers of the base stations.

[0140] At 1504, the source base station may determine to initiate a handover. For example, assuming that the identifier of the source base station is gNB_1, it may determine that a handover of UE_0 to the target base station gNB_2 may be initiated at time T1 after receiving the model parameters. If T1 is a time period, the source base station may also select a time point within the time period (e.g., the earliest time point in the time period, a time point in the middle of the time period, etc.) to initiate a handover based on a predetermined strategy. At 1506, the source base station may send a handover request message to the target base station (e.g., gNB_2), and the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the handover is a base station initiated type.

[0141] At 1508, the target base station may send a message to the source base station indicating acceptance of the handover request. At 1510, the source base station may send a handover command to the user equipment, the handover command indicating that the handover type is base station initiated. At 1512, the user equipment may perform signal measurement. The user equipment may measure the signal quality between it and the source base station and the signal quality between it and the target base station.

[0142] At 1514, the UE may perform a handover to the target base station. This may include multiple interactions between the UE, the source base station, and the target base station as described above, and may also include interactions with the AMF (e.g., the target base station sends a path switching request to the AMF), which will not be repeated here.

[0143] At 1516, after the handover is completed, the source base station may include handover data and send it to the AMF. The handover data may include one or more of the following: an identifier of the user equipment, a time determined by the source base station to initiate the handover, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the target base station, weather conditions, etc. The handover data may be sent after each handover is completed, or may be sent in batches. The AMF may analyze (e.g., learn) the handover data of the actual base station-initiated handover to improve the handover model parameters.

[0144] It should be noted that Fig.15 The information interaction diagrams shown in the figure are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. The figure may include more or fewer steps, and the steps may also be performed in an order different from the order of the steps depicted in the figure. It should be understood that Fig.15 The details of some operations in Figure 4 , Figure 8 , Fig.14 A detailed description has been given and will not be repeated here.

[0145] Fig.16 An information interaction diagram for a cell switching process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The switching process may occur Fig.15 After 1512.

[0146] like Fig.16 As shown, at 1602, the user equipment may determine that the signal quality does not meet the predefined condition. At 1604, the user equipment may send a measurement report to the source base station.

[0147] At 1606, the source base station may send a message to the target base station indicating that the handover is stopped. In a handover based on the Xn interface, the message may be sent directly to the target base station; in a handover based on the N2 interface, the message may be forwarded to the target base station via the AMF. At 1608, the source base station may send a message to the user equipment indicating that the handover is stopped and the handover type is changed to the user equipment initiated type. 1606 and 1608 may occur simultaneously, or 1608 may occur before 1606.

[0148] At 1612, the user equipment may perform signal measurements in preparation for performing a user equipment initiated handover. At 1610, the target base station may release resources prepared for the handover. 1610 and 1612 may occur simultaneously, or in any order.

[0149] It should be noted that Fig.16 The information interaction diagrams shown in the figure are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. The figure may include more or fewer steps, and the steps may also be performed in an order different from the order of the steps depicted in the figure. It should be understood that Fig.16 The details of some operations in Figure 4 , Figure 8 , Fig.14 A detailed description has been given and will not be repeated here.

[0150] Fig.17 An information interaction diagram of a handover data collection process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The handover process may occur in Fig.15 Before 1502. In order to learn the switching rules of user equipment, AMF needs to collect sufficient data.

[0151] like Fig.17 As shown, at 1702, the AMF may send a message to the source base station, the message instructing the source base station to collect user equipment initiated handover data of a set of user equipments of the fixed location type. The AMF may send a message to one or more base stations (including Fig.17 The message is sent to the target base station in ...

[0152] At 1704, a first plurality of handovers of user equipment initiated type may be performed. The process may involve multiple interactions between the user equipment, (one or more) source base stations, (one or more) target base stations, and the AMF.

[0153] At 1706, the source base station may send the switching data to the AMF. Fig.17 The target base station in the handover can also send the handover data of the handover performed when it is used as the source base station to the AMF. The handover data can be sent individually or in batches. The handover data may include one or more of the following: an identifier of the user equipment associated with the handover, a time for initiating the handover determined by the source base station associated with the handover, a signal quality between the user equipment and the source base station reported by the user equipment based on which the source base station decides to initiate the handover and a signal quality between the target base station associated with the handover, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of the satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of the satellite associated with the target base station, weather conditions, etc. The switching data may be, for example, {UE_1, T2, RSRP_S, RSRP_T, gNB_2, gNB_4, ST_2, ST_4}, where UE_1 is the identifier of the user equipment, T2 is the time determined by the source base station to initiate the switching, RSRP_S is the RSRP reported by the user equipment between the source base station and the source base station on which the source base station decides to initiate the switching, RSRP_T is the RSRP reported by the user equipment between the source base station and the target base station on which the source base station decides to initiate the switching, gNB_2 and gNB_4 are the identifiers of the source base station and the target base station respectively, and ST_2 and ST_4 are the identifiers of the satellites associated with the source base station and the target base station respectively.

[0154] It should be noted that Fig.17The information interaction diagrams shown in the figure are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. The figure may include more or fewer steps, and the steps may also be performed in an order different from the order of the steps depicted in the figure. It should be understood that Fig.17 The details of some operations in Figure 4 A detailed description has been given and will not be repeated here.

[0155] Fig.18 The information interaction diagram of the handover model parameter acquisition process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The non-terrestrial network includes a base station 1, a base station 2, a satellite (not shown), and an AMF. The base station 1 and the base station 2 can be Fig.16 and Fig.17 It can be any one of the source base station and the target base station in the terrestrial network, or it can be other base stations in the non-terrestrial network.

[0156] like Fig.18 As shown, at 1802, the AMF may obtain a handover model parameter based on the handover data. For example, the AMF may Fig.17 The switching data of the first plurality of switchings received in the training process is used as training data to train a machine learning model (e.g., logistic regression, artificial neural network, etc.); and switching model parameters are generated by inputting an identifier of the user device into the trained machine learning model.

[0157] At 1804, the AMF may send a message including a handover model parameter to base station 1 and base station 2. The message may be Fig.15 The AMF may send the message to all base stations in the non-terrestrial network, or may send the message only to the source base station included in the handover model parameters.

[0158] It should be noted that Fig.18 The information interaction diagrams shown in the figure are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. The figure may include more or fewer steps, and the steps may also be performed in an order different from the order of the steps depicted in the figure. It should be understood that Fig.18 The details of some operations in Figure 4 A detailed description has been given and will not be repeated here.

[0159] Fig.19 The information interaction diagram of the handover model parameter test process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The non-terrestrial network includes a user equipment, a base station, a satellite (not shown), and an AMF. The base station may be Fig.16 and Fig.17 The source base station in the terrestrial network may be another base station in the non-terrestrial network. The accuracy of the handover model parameters may be verified through the handover model parameter testing process.

[0160] like Fig.19 As shown, at 1902, the AMF may send a message including the switching model parameters to the base station. The message may be similar to Fig.18 The message sent at 1804 in .

[0161] At 1904, a second plurality of handovers of the user equipment initiated type may be performed. It should be noted that at this time, the handover of the base station initiated type is not started first, but the handover of the user equipment initiated type is still adopted. The execution of the second plurality of handovers includes one or more interactions between the user equipment, the base station and the AMF and other (one or more) base stations. At 1906, the base station may send handover data of the second plurality of handovers to the AMF. Step 1906 may also include one or more other base stations in the non-terrestrial network sending handover data to the AMF.

[0162] At 1908, the AMF may compare the handover model parameters with the handover data of the second plurality of handovers. The AMF may compare the corresponding parameters in the two, and if the corresponding parameters are matched (exactly the same or differ within a certain threshold (e.g., the handover time difference is within 5 seconds)), it may be determined that the handover model parameters match the handover data; otherwise, it may be determined that the handover model parameters do not match the handover data. The proportion of matched handovers (i.e., the matching rate) exceeding a threshold (e.g., 70%, 80%, or 90%, etc.) may indicate that the accuracy of the handover model parameters is acceptable.

[0163] At 1910, the AMF may send a message to the base station indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started. For example, the message may indicate the value of the matching ratio, or may indicate whether the matching ratio exceeds a threshold. Starting to apply the base station initiated handover after the accuracy reaches the expected level may improve the success rate of the handover and reduce signaling overhead and communication delay. In some embodiments, Fig.15 1504 is performed by the source base station in response to receiving a message indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started.

[0164] It should be noted that Fig.19 The information interaction diagrams shown in the figure are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. The figure may include more or fewer steps, and the steps may also be performed in an order different from the order of the steps depicted in the figure. It should be understood that Fig.19 The details of some operations in Figure 4 In addition, Figure 16-Figure 19 The process can be applicable to both switching based on the Xn interface and switching based on the N2 interface.

[0165] Fig. 20The information interaction diagram of the cell handover process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The non-terrestrial network includes a user equipment (UE), a source base station, a target base station, a satellite (not shown), and an AMF. The handover process is a handover process based on the N2 interface, in which the source base station and the target base station can exchange information through the N2 interface with the core network. It should be understood that although Fig. 20 AMF is shown as an example of a network function, but any other suitable network function may also be adopted. Fig. 20 Some steps and Fig.15 Similarly, its description is omitted here.

[0166] like Fig. 20 As shown, at 2004, the source base station may determine to initiate a handover. At 2006, the source base station may send a handover requirement of a base station initiated type to the AMF, and the type of the handover requirement is configured as a base station initiated type.

[0167] At 2008, the AMF may send a handover request message to the target base station, the handover request message indicating that the handover type of the handover is base station initiated. At 2010, the target base station may send a confirmation message for the handover request to the AMF. At 2012, the AMF may send a handover command to the source base station, the handover command indicating that the handover type of the handover is base station initiated. At 2014, the source base station may send a handover command to the user equipment.

[0168] Similar to 1512, the user equipment may perform signal measurement at 2016. The user equipment may measure the signal quality between it and the source base station and the signal quality between it and the target base station.

[0169] Similar to 1514, at 2018, the UE may perform a handover to the target base station. This may include multiple interactions between the UE, the source base station, and the target base station as described above, and may also include interactions with the AMF (e.g., the target base station sends a path switching request to the AMF), which will not be repeated here.

[0170] It should be noted that Fig. 20 The information interaction diagrams shown in the figure are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. The figure may include more or fewer steps, and the steps may also be performed in an order different from the order of the steps depicted in the figure. It should be understood that Fig. 20 The details of some operations in Figure 4 , Figure 8 , Fig.14 A detailed description has been given and will not be repeated here.

[0171] Fig.21The information interaction diagram for the user equipment registration process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The non-terrestrial network includes a user equipment (UE), a base station, a satellite (not shown), and an AMF. It should be understood that although Fig. 20 AMF is shown as an example of a network function, but any other suitable network function may also be adopted.

[0172] like Fig.21 As shown, at 2102, the user equipment may send a registration request message to the base station. The registration request message includes a location type bit, which indicates whether the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type or a user equipment of a mobile location type. When the location type bit indicates that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration request message may also include a field indicating the geographic location information of the user equipment. At 2104, the base station may send the registration request message to the AMF.

[0173] At 2106, the AMF may register the user equipment. At 2108, the AMF may send an acknowledgement of the registration request message to the base station. At 2110, the base station may send a registration acceptance message to the user equipment.

[0174] It should be noted that Fig.21 The information interaction diagrams shown in the figure are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. The figure may include more or fewer steps, and the steps may also be performed in an order different from the order of the steps depicted in the figure. It should be understood that Fig.21 The details of some operations in Figure 6 , Fig.12 , Fig.12 A detailed description has been given and will not be repeated here.

[0175] Fig. 22 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a cell switching process in a non-terrestrial network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Fig. 22 As shown, in general, the cell handover process may include five stages: UE-initiated handover data collection stage 2210, handover model parameter learning stage 2220, handover model parameter testing stage 2230, base station-initiated handover execution stage 2240, and handover model improvement stage 2250. The UE-initiated handover data collection stage 2210 may correspond to Fig.17 The process shown in FIG. 22 shows that the switching model parameter learning phase 2220 may correspond to Fig.18 The process shown in FIG. 22 shows, the switching model parameter testing phase 2230 may correspond to Fig.19 The process shown in FIG. 22, the base station initiated handover execution phase 2240 and the handover model improvement phase 2250 may correspond to Fig.15 , 16Or the process shown in 20. The last two stages, namely, the base station initiated handover execution stage 2240 and the handover model improvement stage 2250, can be repeatedly executed to continuously improve the accuracy of the handover model and improve the handover efficiency.

[0176] Technical effects of the present disclosure

[0177] According to the method for cell switching in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) proposed in the present disclosure, it is possible that when deciding to initiate a switch, the user equipment does not need to measure the cell signal quality and does not need to transmit related signaling, thereby reducing overhead and saving energy consumption. The network function learns the switching model of the terminal with a fixed position. When the switching model of the terminal is mastered, the base station can initiate the switching without the terminal performing cell signal quality measurements. The relevant data of the switching initiated by each base station is fed back to the learned model, so that the correctness of the switching model can be continuously improved and the switching efficiency can be improved. When the switching initiated by the base station fails, the switching initiated by the user equipment is returned to ensure the normal operation of the communication system.

[0178] The solution of the present disclosure can be implemented in the following exemplary manner.

[0179] Clause 1. An electronic device for a first base station in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the first base station, a second base station, a network function, and a satellite, the electronic device comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations:

[0180] Determining, based on a message received from a network function, to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to a second base station at a first time;

[0181] Sending a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type; and

[0182] In response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, a handover command is sent to the user equipment, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type.

[0183] Clause 2. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations:

[0184] receiving a measurement report from a user equipment, wherein the measurement report indicates that at least one of a signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and a signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station does not satisfy a predefined condition;

[0185] Sending a message instructing to stop the first switching to the second base station;

[0186] A message is sent to the user equipment indicating that the first handover is stopped and the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type.

[0187] Clause 3. The electronic device of clause 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations:

[0188] After the first handover is completed, the handover data of the first handover is sent to the network function.

[0189] Clause 4. An electronic device according to any one of clauses 1-3, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations:

[0190] In response to receiving the message indicating that the second base station rejects the handover request, a message indicating that the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type is sent to the user equipment.

[0191] Clause 5. An electronic device according to any one of clauses 1-3, wherein sending a handover request message to the second base station comprises:

[0192] directly send a handover request message to the second base station, or

[0193] A handover requirement is sent to a network function, wherein a type of the handover requirement is configured as a base station initiated type, and wherein the handover request message is sent by the network function to the second base station in response to receiving the handover requirement.

[0194] Clause 6. An electronic device as described in any of clauses 1-3, wherein the message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request is a confirmation message for the handover request received from the second base station or a handover command received from the network function.

[0195] Clause 7. An electronic device according to any one of clauses 1-3, wherein the message received from the network function includes switching model parameters, wherein the switching model parameters include at least an identifier of the user equipment, a set of switching times including a first time, an identifier of the first base station, and an identifier of the second base station.

[0196] Clause 8. An electronic device according to clause 7, wherein the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, and the processing circuit is further configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations:

[0197] Before the first handover, receiving a message from a network function instructing the first base station to collect handover data of a set of user equipments of a fixed location type including the user equipment;

[0198] Performing a first plurality of user equipment initiated handovers with user equipment in a set of user equipments of a fixed location type;

[0199] sending handover data for the first plurality of handovers to a network function, wherein the first plurality of handovers occur before the first handover,

[0200] The handover model parameters are obtained by the network function based on the handover data of the first plurality of handovers.

[0201] Clause 9. The electronic device of clause 7, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations:

[0202] performing, with the user equipment, a second plurality of user equipment initiated handovers after receiving the handover model parameter from the network function;

[0203] sending handover data for the second plurality of handovers to the network function, wherein the second plurality of handovers occur before the first handover;

[0204] A message is received from a network function indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started, wherein determining to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to a second base station at a first time is performed in response to at least receiving the message indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started.

[0205] Clause 10. An electronic device according to clause 8 or 9, wherein the switching data includes one or more of the following: an identifier of a user equipment associated with the switching, a time for initiating the switching determined by a source base station associated with the switching, a signal quality between the user equipment and the source base station reported by the user equipment based on which the source base station decides to initiate the switching and a signal quality between the user equipment and the target base station associated with the switching, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the target base station, and weather conditions.

[0206] Clause 11. The electronic device according to clause 8, wherein the handover model parameter is obtained by the network function through the following operations:

[0207] Training a machine learning model using the switching data of the first plurality of switchings as training data; and

[0208] The switching model parameters are generated by inputting an identifier of the user equipment into a trained machine learning model.

[0209] Clause 12. An electronic device for a base station in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the base station, a network function, and a satellite, the electronic device comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to cause the base station to perform the following operations:

[0210] receiving a registration request message from a user equipment, wherein the registration request message comprises a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a fixed-location type user equipment or a mobile-location type user equipment;

[0211] sending the registration request message to a network function; and

[0212] Based on an acknowledgement of the registration request message received from the network function, a registration acceptance message is sent to the user equipment, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the handover type of the user equipment is configured as a base station initiated type.

[0213] Clause 13. An electronic device according to clause 12, wherein when the location type bit indicates that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration request message further includes a field indicating geographic location information of the user equipment.

[0214] Clause 14. An electronic device for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a first base station capable of communicating with the user equipment, a second base station capable of communicating with the first base station, a network function, and a satellite, the electronic device comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to cause the user equipment to perform the following operations:

[0215] receiving a handover command from the first base station, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover to the second base station, and indicates that a handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type;

[0216] Performing a signal quality measurement with the first base station and a signal quality measurement with the second base station within a predetermined time period;

[0217] In response to determining that a signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and a signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station satisfy a predefined condition within a predetermined time period, a first handover is performed.

[0218] Clause 15. The electronic device of clause 14, wherein:

[0219] The first base station determines to initiate a first handover at a first time based on a message received from the network function;

[0220] The first base station sends a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type; and

[0221] The handover command is sent by the first base station to the user equipment in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request.

[0222] Clause 16. An electronic device according to clause 14 or 15, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user equipment to perform the following operations:

[0223] In response to determining that at least one of a signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and a signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station does not satisfy a predefined condition within a predetermined time period:

[0224] Sending a measurement report to the first base station;

[0225] receiving a message from the first base station indicating that the first handover is stopped and the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type; and

[0226] Signal quality measurements are performed with the first base station and signal quality measurements are performed with one or more base stations including the second base station.

[0227] Clause 17. The electronic device of clause 15, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the user device to perform the following operations:

[0228] A message indicating that the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type is received from the first base station, the message being sent by the first base station to the user equipment in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station rejects the handover request.

[0229] Clause 18. The electronic device of clause 15, wherein the first base station sending the handover request message to the second base station comprises:

[0230] The first base station directly sends a handover request message to the second base station, or

[0231] The first base station sends a handover requirement to the network function, wherein the type of the handover requirement is configured as a base station initiated type, and wherein the handover request message is sent by the network function to the second base station in response to receiving the handover requirement.

[0232] Clause 19. The electronic device of clause 15, wherein the message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request is a confirmation message for the handover request received by the first base station from the second base station or a handover command received by the first base station from the network function.

[0233] Clause 20. An electronic device according to clause 15, wherein the message received by the first base station from the network function includes switching model parameters, wherein the switching model parameters include at least an identifier of the user equipment, a set of switching times including the first time, an identifier of the first base station, and an identifier of the second base station.

[0234] Clause 21. An electronic device according to clause 20, wherein the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, and wherein:

[0235] Before the first handover, the first base station receives a message from a network function instructing the first base station to collect handover data of a set of user equipments of a fixed-location type including the user equipment;

[0236] The first base station performs a first plurality of user equipment initiated handovers with user equipment in a set of user equipments of a fixed location type;

[0237] The first base station sends handover data for the first plurality of handovers to a network function, wherein the first plurality of handovers occur before the first handover; and

[0238] The handover model parameters are obtained by the network function based on the handover data of the first plurality of handovers.

[0239] Clause 22. The electronic device of clause 20, wherein:

[0240] The first base station performs, with the user equipment, a second plurality of user equipment initiated handovers after receiving the handover model parameter from the network function;

[0241] The first base station sends handover data for the second plurality of handovers to the network function, wherein the second plurality of handovers occur before the first handover;

[0242] The first base station receives a message from a network function indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started, wherein determining to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to a second base station at a first time is performed at least in response to receiving the message indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started.

[0243] Clause 23. An electronic device according to clause 21 or 22, wherein the switching data includes one or more of the following: an identifier of a user equipment associated with the switching, a time for initiating the switching determined by a source base station associated with the switching, a signal quality between the user equipment and the source base station reported by the user equipment based on which the source base station decides to initiate the switching and a signal quality between the user equipment and the target base station associated with the switching, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the target base station, and weather conditions.

[0244] Clause 24. The electronic device according to clause 21, wherein the handover model parameter is obtained by the network function through the following operations:

[0245] Training a machine learning model using the switching data of the first plurality of switchings as training data; and

[0246] The switching model parameters are generated by inputting an identifier of the user equipment into a trained machine learning model.

[0247] Clause 25. An electronic device for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a base station, a network function, and a satellite capable of communicating with the user equipment, the electronic device comprising processing circuitry configured to cause the user equipment to:

[0248] Sending a registration request message to a base station, wherein the registration request message includes a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a fixed-location type user equipment or a mobile-location type user equipment; and

[0249] A registration acceptance message is received from the base station, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the handover type of the user equipment is configured as a base station initiated type.

[0250] Clause 26. An electronic device according to clause 25, wherein when the location type bit indicates that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration request message further includes a field indicating geographic location information of the user equipment.

[0251] Clause 27. An electronic device for a network function in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the network function, a first base station, a second base station, and a satellite, the electronic device comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to cause the network function to perform the following operations:

[0252] sending a message to the first base station, wherein the message includes an instruction to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to the second base station at a first time,

[0253] The first base station sends a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type, and

[0254] In response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, the first base station sends a handover command to the user equipment, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type.

[0255] Clause 28. An electronic device according to clause 27, wherein:

[0256] The first base station receives a measurement report from the user equipment, wherein the measurement report indicates that at least one of a signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and a signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station does not satisfy a predefined condition;

[0257] The first base station sends a message to the second base station instructing to stop the first handover; and

[0258] The first base station sends a message to the user equipment instructing to stop the first handover and change the handover type to a user equipment initiated type.

[0259] Clause 29. An electronic device according to Clause 27, wherein the message sent to the first base station includes switching model parameters, wherein the switching model parameters include at least an identifier of the user equipment, a set of switching times including the first time, an identifier of the first base station, and an identifier of the second base station.

[0260] Clause 30. The electronic device of clause 29, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network function to perform the following operations:

[0261] receiving handover data for a first handover from a first base station; and

[0262] New handover model parameters are generated based on at least the handover data of the first handover.

[0263] Clause 31. An electronic device according to any one of clauses 27-29, wherein:

[0264] In response to receiving the message indicating that the second base station rejects the handover request, the first base station sends a message to the user equipment indicating that the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type.

[0265] Clause 32. An electronic device according to any one of clauses 27-30, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network function to perform the following operations:

[0266] receiving a handover request from the first base station, wherein the type of the handover request is configured as a base station initiated type; and

[0267] The handover request message is sent to the second base station.

[0268] Clause 33. The electronic device of clause 32, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network function to perform the following operations:

[0269] receiving a confirmation message for the handover request from the second base station; and

[0270] The handover command is sent to the first base station.

[0271] Clause 34. An electronic device according to clause 29, wherein the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, and the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network function to perform the following operations:

[0272] Before the first handover, sending a message to the first base station instructing the first base station to collect handover data of a set of user equipments of a fixed location type including the user equipment;

[0273] Receiving handover data of a first plurality of handovers of a user equipment initiated type from a first base station, wherein the first plurality of handovers are performed by the first base station with user equipments in a set of user equipments of a fixed location type and occur before the first handover; and

[0274] The handover model parameters are obtained based on the handover data of the first plurality of handovers.

[0275] Clause 35. The electronic device of clause 29, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network function to perform the following operations:

[0276] After sending the handover model parameter to the first base station, receiving handover data of a second plurality of handovers of user equipment initiated type from the first base station, wherein the second plurality of handovers occur before the first handover;

[0277] Compare the switching data of the second plurality of switches with the switching model parameters; and in response to determining that the proportion of switches in which the switching data matches the switching model parameters in the second plurality of switches exceeds a threshold, send a message to the first base station indicating that a base station initiated switching can be started, wherein the first base station sends a switching request message to the second base station at least in response to receiving a message indicating that a base station initiated switching can be started.

[0278] Clause 36. An electronic device according to clause 34 or 35, wherein the switching data includes one or more of the following: an identifier of a user equipment associated with the switching, a time for initiating the switching determined by a source base station associated with the switching, a signal quality between the user equipment and the source base station reported by the user equipment based on which the source base station decides to initiate the switching and a signal quality between the user equipment and the target base station associated with the switching, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the target base station, and weather conditions.

[0279] Clause 37. The electronic device of clause 34, wherein to obtain the handover model parameter, the processing circuit is further configured to cause the network function to perform the following operations:

[0280] Training a machine learning model using the switching data of the first plurality of switchings as training data; and

[0281] The switching model parameters are generated by inputting an identifier of the user equipment into a trained machine learning model.

[0282] Clause 38. An electronic device for a network function in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the base station, a base station, and a satellite, the electronic device comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to cause the network function to perform the following operations:

[0283] receiving a registration request message of a user equipment from a base station, wherein the registration request message comprises a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type or a user equipment of a mobile location type;

[0284] Registering the user equipment based on the registration request message; and

[0285] Sending a confirmation of the registration request message to the base station, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed-location type, the base station sends a registration acceptance message to the user equipment, and the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the switching type of the user equipment is configured as a base station-initiated type.

[0286] Clause 39. An electronic device according to Clause 38, wherein when the location type bit indicates that the user device is a user device of a fixed-location type, the registration request message also includes a field indicating the geographic location information of the user device, and registering the user device based on the registration request message also includes registering the geographic location information of the user device.

[0287] Clause 40. An electronic device for a second base station in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the second base station, a first base station, a network function, and a satellite, the electronic device comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to cause the second base station to:

[0288] Receiving a handover request message from the first base station for a first handover of the user equipment to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type and the first handover is determined by the first base station to be initiated at a first time based on a message received from a network function; and

[0289] In response to determining that the resources meet the first handover requirement, a message is sent to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request.

[0290] Clause 41. The electronic device of clause 40, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the second base station to:

[0291] receiving a message from the first base station instructing to stop the first handover; and

[0292] The resources prepared for the first handover are released.

[0293] Clause 42. An electronic device according to clause 40,

[0294] The first base station sends a handover command to the user equipment in response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type.

[0295] Clause 43. The electronic device of clause 40, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the second base station to:

[0296] In response to determining that the resources do not meet the first handover requirement, sending a message to the first base station indicating that the second base station rejects the handover request,

[0297] The first base station, in response to receiving the message indicating that the second base station rejects the handover request, sends a message to the user equipment indicating that the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type.

[0298] Clause 44. An electronic device as described in any of clauses 40-42, wherein receiving the handover request message from the first base station comprises:

[0299] directly receiving a handover request message from the first base station, or

[0300] A handover request message is received from a network function, wherein the handover request message is sent by the network function to the second base station in response to receiving a handover requirement sent by the first base station.

[0301] Clause 45. An electronic device as described in any of clauses 40-42, wherein sending a message to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request comprises:

[0302] directly sending a confirmation message for the handover request to the first base station, or

[0303] An acknowledgement message for the handover request is sent to the network function, wherein the network function sends a handover command to the first base station in response to receiving the acknowledgement message for the handover request from the second base station.

[0304] Clause 46. An electronic device according to any one of clauses 40-42, wherein the message received by the first base station from the network function includes switching model parameters, wherein the switching model parameters include at least an identifier of the user equipment, a set of switching times including a first time, an identifier of the first base station, and an identifier of the second base station.

[0305] Clause 47. An electronic device according to clause 46, wherein the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, and wherein:

[0306] Before the first handover, the first base station receives a message from a network function instructing the first base station to collect handover data of a set of user equipments of a fixed location type including the user equipment;

[0307] The first base station performs a first plurality of user equipment initiated handovers with user equipment in a set of user equipments of a fixed location type;

[0308] the first base station sends handover data for the first plurality of handovers to the network function, wherein the first plurality of handovers occur before the first handover,

[0309] The handover model parameters are obtained by the network function based on the handover data of the first plurality of handovers.

[0310] Clause 48. The electronic device of clause 46, wherein:

[0311] After receiving the handover model parameter from the network function, the first base station performs a second plurality of handovers of user equipment initiated type with the user equipment;

[0312] the first base station sending handover data of the second plurality of handovers to the network function, wherein the second plurality of handovers occur before the first handover;

[0313] The first base station receives a message from a network function indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started, wherein the first base station determines to initiate a first handover at a first time in response to at least receiving the message indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started.

[0314] Clause 49. An electronic device according to clause 47 or 48, wherein the switching data includes one or more of the following: an identifier of a user equipment associated with the switching, a time for initiating the switching determined by a source base station associated with the switching, a signal quality between the user equipment and the source base station reported by the user equipment based on which the source base station decides to initiate the switching and a signal quality between the user equipment and the target base station associated with the switching, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the target base station, and weather conditions.

[0315] Clause 50. The electronic device according to clause 47, wherein the handover model parameter is obtained by the network function through the following operations:

[0316] Training a machine learning model using the switching data of the first plurality of switchings as training data; and

[0317] The switching model parameters are generated by inputting an identifier of the user equipment into a trained machine learning model.

[0318] Clause 51. A method for a first base station in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the first base station, a second base station, a network function, and a satellite, the method comprising:

[0319] Determining, based on a message received from a network function, to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to a second base station at a first time;

[0320] Sending a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type; and

[0321] In response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, a handover command is sent to the user equipment, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type.

[0322] Clause 52. A method for a base station in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the base station, a network function and a satellite, the method comprising:

[0323] receiving a registration request message from a user equipment, wherein the registration request message comprises a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a fixed-location type user equipment or a mobile-location type user equipment;

[0324] sending the registration request message to a network function; and

[0325] Based on an acknowledgement of the registration request message received from the network function, a registration acceptance message is sent to the user equipment, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the handover type of the user equipment is configured as a base station initiated type.

[0326] Clause 53. A method for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a first base station capable of communicating with the user equipment, a second base station capable of communicating with the first base station, a network function, and a satellite, the method comprising:

[0327] receiving a handover command from the first base station, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover to the second base station, and indicates that a handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type;

[0328] Performing a signal quality measurement with the first base station and a signal quality measurement with the second base station within a predetermined time period;

[0329] In response to determining that a signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and a signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station satisfy a predefined condition within a predetermined time period, a first handover is performed.

[0330] Clause 54. A method for a user equipment in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a base station, a network function and a satellite capable of communicating with the user equipment, the method comprising:

[0331] Sending a registration request message to a base station, wherein the registration request message includes a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a fixed-location type user equipment or a mobile-location type user equipment; and

[0332] A registration acceptance message is received from the base station, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the handover type of the user equipment is configured as a base station initiated type.

[0333] Clause 55. A method for a network function in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the network function, a first base station, a second base station, and a satellite, the method comprising:

[0334] sending a message to the first base station, wherein the message includes an instruction to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to the second base station at a first time,

[0335] The first base station sends a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type, and

[0336] In response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, the first base station sends a handover command to the user equipment, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type.

[0337] Clause 56. A method for a network function in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the base station, a base station and a satellite, the method comprising:

[0338] receiving a registration request message of a user equipment from a base station, wherein the registration request message comprises a location type bit, and the location type bit indicates whether the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type or a user equipment of a mobile location type;

[0339] Registering the user equipment based on the registration request message; and

[0340] Sending a confirmation of the registration request message to the base station, wherein in response to the location type bit indicating that the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed-location type, the base station sends a registration acceptance message to the user equipment, and the registration acceptance message includes information indicating that the switching type of the user equipment is configured as a base station-initiated type.

[0341] Clause 57. A method for a second base station in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the second base station, a first base station, a network function, and a satellite, the method comprising:

[0342] Receiving a handover request message from the first base station for a first handover of the user equipment to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type and the first handover is determined by the first base station to be initiated at a first time based on a message received from a network function; and

[0343] In response to determining that the resources meet the first handover requirement, a message is sent to the first base station indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request.

[0344] Clause 58. A computer-readable storage medium having one or more instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform the method of any of clauses 51-57.

[0345] Clause 59. A computer program product comprising program instructions which, when executed by one or more processors of a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any of clauses 51-57.

[0346] It should be noted that the above application examples are merely exemplary. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented in any other appropriate manner in the above application examples, and the advantageous effects obtained by the embodiments of the present disclosure may still be achieved. Moreover, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applied to other similar application examples, and the advantageous effects obtained by the embodiments of the present disclosure may still be achieved.

[0347] It should be understood that the machine executable instructions in the machine readable storage medium or program product according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be configured to perform operations corresponding to the above-mentioned device and method embodiments. When referring to the above-mentioned device and method embodiments, the embodiments of the machine readable storage medium or program product are clear to those skilled in the art, so they are not described repeatedly. The machine readable storage medium and program product for carrying or including the above-mentioned machine executable instructions also fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Such storage media may include, but are not limited to, floppy disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, memory cards, memory sticks, and the like.

[0348] In addition, it should be understood that the above series of processes and devices can also be implemented by software and / or firmware. In the case of being implemented by software and / or firmware, from a storage medium or a network to a computer with a dedicated hardware structure, such as Fig.23 The general-purpose personal computer 2300 shown installs the programs constituting the software, and when the various programs are installed, the computer can execute various functions and the like. Fig.23 1 is a block diagram showing an example structure of a personal computer as an information processing device that can be adopted in an embodiment of the present disclosure. In one example, the personal computer can correspond to the above-mentioned exemplary terminal device according to the present disclosure.

[0349] exist Fig.23 In the embodiment, a central processing unit (CPU) 2301 performs various processes according to a program stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 2302 or a program loaded from a storage section 2308 to a random access memory (RAM) 2303. In the RAM 2303, data required when the CPU 2301 performs various processes and the like is also stored as needed.

[0350] The CPU 2301, the ROM 2302, and the RAM 2303 are connected to one another via a bus 2304. An input / output interface 2305 is also connected to the bus 2304.

[0351] The following components are connected to the input / output interface 2305: an input section 2306 including a keyboard, a mouse, etc.; an output section 2307 including a display such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and a speaker, etc.; a storage section 2308 including a hard disk, etc.; and a communication section 2309 including a network interface card such as a LAN card, a modem, etc. The communication section 2309 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet.

[0352] A drive 2310 is also connected to the input / output interface 2305 as needed. A removable medium 2311 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory or the like is mounted on the drive 2310 as needed so that a computer program read therefrom is installed into the storage section 2308 as needed.

[0353] In the case where the above-described series of processing is realized by software, a program constituting the software is installed from a network such as the Internet or a storage medium such as the removable medium 2311 .

[0354] Those skilled in the art should understand that such storage media is not limited to Fig.23 The removable medium 2311 shown has a program stored therein and is distributed separately from the device to provide the program to the user. Examples of the removable medium 2311 include magnetic disks (including floppy disks (registered trademark)), optical disks (including compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) and digital versatile disks (DVD)), magneto-optical disks (including minidiscs (MD) (registered trademark)), and semiconductor memories. Alternatively, the storage medium may be a ROM 2302, a hard disk included in the storage portion 2308, or the like, in which the program is stored and distributed to the user together with the device containing them.

[0355] The technology of the present disclosure can be applied to various products.

[0356] For example, the electronic devices 300 and 500 according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented as various base stations or included in various base stations. Figure 4 and Figure 6 The method shown can also be implemented by various base stations. For example, the electronic devices 700 and 1000 according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented as various user equipment / terminal devices or included in various user equipment / terminal devices. Figure 8 and Fig.10 The method shown can also be implemented by various user equipment / terminal equipment.

[0357] For example, the network device / base station mentioned in the present disclosure may be implemented as any type of base station, such as an evolved Node B (gNB). The gNB may include one or more transmit and receive points (TRPs). The user equipment may be connected to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs. For example, the user equipment may be able to receive transmissions from multiple gNBs (and / or multiple TRPs provided by the same gNB). For example, the gNB may include a macro gNB and a small gNB. The small gNB may be a gNB that covers a cell smaller than a macro cell, such as a pico gNB, a micro gNB, and a home (femto) gNB. Alternatively, the base station may be implemented as any other type of base station, such as a NodeB and a base transceiver station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS). The base station may include: a main body (also referred to as a base station device) configured to control wireless communication; and one or more remote radio heads (RRH) arranged in a place different from the main body. In addition, the various types of terminals described below can all work as base stations by temporarily or semi-persistently performing base station functions.

[0358] For example, the user equipment mentioned in the present disclosure is also referred to as a terminal device in some examples, and can be implemented as a mobile terminal (such as a smart phone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a portable / dongle-type mobile router, and a digital camera) or a vehicle-mounted terminal (such as a car navigation device). The user equipment can also be implemented as a terminal (also referred to as a machine type communication (MTC) terminal) that performs machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. In addition, the user equipment can be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single chip) installed on each of the above-mentioned terminals. In some cases, the user equipment can communicate using multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, the user equipment can be configured to communicate using two or more of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, LTE, LTE-A, WLAN, NR, Bluetooth, etc. In some cases, the user equipment can also be configured to communicate using only one wireless communication technology.

[0359] Base station example

[0360] It should be understood that the term base station in the present disclosure has the full breadth of its usual meaning and at least includes a wireless communication station used as part of a wireless communication system or a radio system to facilitate communication. Examples of base stations may be, for example, but not limited to, the following: a base station may be one or both of a base transceiver station (BTS) and a base station controller (BSC) in a GSM system, one or both of a radio network controller (RNC) and a Node B in a WCDMA system, an eNB in ​​an LTE and LTE-Advanced system, or a corresponding network node in a future communication system (e.g., a gNB that may appear in a 5G communication system, an eLTE eNB, etc.). Some of the functions in the base station of the present disclosure may also be implemented as an entity that has a control function for communication in D2D, M2M, and V2V communication scenarios, or as an entity that plays a role in spectrum coordination in a cognitive radio communication scenario.

[0361] First example

[0362] Fig.24 2400 is a block diagram showing a first example of a schematic configuration of a base station (gNB is used as an example in this figure) to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The gNB 2400 includes multiple antennas 2410 and a base station device 2420. The base station device 2420 and each antenna 2410 can be connected to each other via an RF cable. In one implementation, the gNB 2400 (or base station device 2420) here can correspond to the above-mentioned network device (or more specifically, the electronic device 400).

[0363] Each of the antennas 2410 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna) and is used for the base station device 2420 to transmit and receive wireless signals. Fig.24 As shown, gNB 2400 may include multiple antennas 2410. For example, multiple antennas 2410 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by gNB 2400.

[0364] The base station device 2420 includes a controller 2421 , a memory 2422 , a network interface 2423 , and a wireless communication interface 2425 .

[0365] The controller 2421 may be, for example, a CPU or a DSP, and operates various functions of the higher layers of the base station device 2420. For example, the controller 2421 generates a data packet based on the data in the signal processed by the wireless communication interface 2425, and transmits the generated packet via the network interface 2423. The controller 2421 may bundle data from a plurality of baseband processors to generate a bundled packet, and transmit the generated bundled packet. The controller 2421 may have a logical function to perform the following control: the control may be such as radio resource control, radio bearer control, mobility management, admission control, and scheduling. The control may be performed in conjunction with a nearby gNB or core network node. The memory 2422 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores programs executed by the controller 2421 and various types of control data (such as a terminal list, transmission power data, and scheduling data).

[0366] The network interface 2423 is a communication interface for connecting the base station device 2420 to the core network 2424. The controller 2421 can communicate with the core network node or another gNB via the network interface 2423. In this case, the gNB 2400 and the core network node or other gNBs can be connected to each other through logical interfaces (such as S1 interfaces and X2 interfaces). The network interface 2423 can also be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface for a wireless backhaul line. If the network interface 2423 is a wireless communication interface, the network interface 2423 can use a higher frequency band for wireless communication compared to the frequency band used by the wireless communication interface 2425.

[0367] The wireless communication interface 2425 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as long term evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced), and provides wireless connection to a terminal located in a cell of the gNB 2400 via the antenna 2410. The wireless communication interface 2425 may generally include, for example, a baseband (BB) processor 2426 and an RF circuit 2427. The BB processor 2426 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing of layers (such as L1, medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP)). Instead of the controller 2421, the BB processor 2426 may have part or all of the above-mentioned logical functions. The BB processor 2426 may be a memory storing a communication control program, or a module including a processor configured to execute a program and related circuits. Updating the program may change the function of the BB processor 2426. The module may be a card or a blade inserted into a slot of the base station device 2420. Alternatively, the module may also be a chip mounted on a card or a blade. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 2427 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 2410. Fig.24 An example is shown in which one RF circuit 2427 is connected to one antenna 2410 , but the present disclosure is not limited to this illustration, and one RF circuit 2427 may be connected to a plurality of antennas 2410 at the same time.

[0368] like Fig.24 As shown, the wireless communication interface 2425 may include multiple BB processors 2426. For example, the multiple BB processors 2426 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the gNB 2400. Fig.24 As shown, the wireless communication interface 2425 may include multiple RF circuits 2427. For example, the multiple RF circuits 2427 may be compatible with multiple antenna elements. Fig.24 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 2425 includes a plurality of BB processors 2426 and a plurality of RF circuits 2427 , but the wireless communication interface 2425 may also include a single BB processor 2426 or a single RF circuit 2427 .

[0369] Second example

[0370] Fig.25 It is a block diagram of a second example of a schematic configuration of a base station (gNB is taken as an example in this figure) to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The gNB 2530 includes multiple antennas 2540, a base station device 2550, and an RRH 2560. The RRH 2560 and each antenna 2540 can be connected to each other via an RF cable. The base station device 2550 and the RRH 2560 can be connected to each other via a high-speed line such as an optical fiber cable. In one implementation, the gNB 2530 (or base station device 2550) here may correspond to the above-mentioned base station (or more specifically, the electronic device 300 or 500).

[0371] Each of the antennas 2540 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the RRH 2560 to transmit and receive wireless signals. Fig.25 As shown, the gNB 2530 may include multiple antennas 2540. For example, the multiple antennas 2540 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the gNB 2530.

[0372] The base station device 2550 includes a controller 2551, a memory 2552, a network interface 2553, a wireless communication interface 2555, and a connection interface 2557. The controller 2551, the memory 2552, and the network interface 2553 are similar to the reference Fig.24 The controller 2421, memory 2422 and network interface 2423 described are the same.

[0373] The wireless communication interface 2555 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced), and provides wireless communication to a terminal located in a sector corresponding to the RRH 2560 via the RRH 2560 and the antenna 2540. The wireless communication interface 2555 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 2556. In addition to the BB processor 2556 being connected to the RF circuit 2564 of the RRH 2560 via the connection interface 2557, the BB processor 2556 is connected to the reference RF circuit 2564 of the RRH 2560. Fig.24 The same as the BB processor 2426 described above. Fig.25 As shown, the wireless communication interface 2555 may include multiple BB processors 2556. For example, the multiple BB processors 2556 may be compatible with multiple frequency bands used by the gNB 2530. Fig.25 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 2555 includes a plurality of BB processors 2556 , but the wireless communication interface 2555 may also include a single BB processor 2556 .

[0374] The connection interface 2557 is an interface for connecting the base station device 2550 (wireless communication interface 2555) to the RRH 2560. The connection interface 2557 may also be a communication module for connecting the base station device 2550 (wireless communication interface 2555) to the RRH 2560 for communication in the above-mentioned high-speed line.

[0375] The RRH 2560 includes a connection interface 2561 and a wireless communication interface 2563 .

[0376] The connection interface 2561 is an interface for connecting the RRH 2560 (wireless communication interface 2563) to the base station device 2550. The connection interface 2561 may also be a communication module for communication in the above-mentioned high-speed line.

[0377] The wireless communication interface 2563 transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 2540. The wireless communication interface 2563 may generally include, for example, an RF circuit 2564. The RF circuit 2564 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 2540. Fig.25 An example is shown in which one RF circuit 2564 is connected to one antenna 2540 , but the present disclosure is not limited to this illustration, and one RF circuit 2564 may be connected to a plurality of antennas 2540 at the same time.

[0378] like Fig.25 As shown, the wireless communication interface 2563 may include multiple RF circuits 2564. For example, the multiple RF circuits 2564 may support multiple antenna elements. Fig.25An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 2563 includes a plurality of RF circuits 2564 , but the wireless communication interface 2563 may also include a single RF circuit 2564 .

[0379] Example of user equipment

[0380] First example

[0381] Fig.26 26 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a smart phone 2600 to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The smart phone 2600 includes a processor 2601, a memory 2602, a storage device 2603, an external connection interface 2604, a camera device 2606, a sensor 2607, a microphone 2608, an input device 2609, a display device 2610, a speaker 2623, a wireless communication interface 2624, one or more antenna switches 2627, one or more antennas 2616, a bus 2617, a battery 2618, and an auxiliary controller 2619. In one implementation, the smart phone 2600 (or the processor 2601) here may correspond to the above-mentioned user equipment (or more specifically, the electronic device 700 or 900).

[0382] The processor 2601 may be, for example, a CPU or a system on chip (SoC), and controls the functions of the application layer and other layers of the smartphone 2600. The memory 2602 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores data and programs executed by the processor 2601. The storage device 2603 may include a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory and a hard disk. The external connection interface 2604 is an interface for connecting an external device (such as a memory card and a universal serial bus (USB) device) to the smartphone 2600.

[0383] The camera device 2606 includes an image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), and generates a captured image. The sensor 2607 may include a group of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The microphone 2608 converts the sound input to the smart phone 2600 into an audio signal. The input device 2609 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a keypad, a keyboard, a button, or a switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 2610, and receives an operation or information input from a user. The display device 2610 includes a screen such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, and displays an output image of the smart phone 2600. The speaker 2623 converts the audio signal output from the smart phone 2600 into sound.

[0384] The wireless communication interface 2624 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 2624 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 2625 and an RF circuit 2614. The BB processor 2625 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 2614 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via an antenna 2616. The wireless communication interface 2624 may be a chip module on which the BB processor 2625 and the RF circuit 2614 are integrated. Fig.26 As shown, the wireless communication interface 2624 may include multiple BB processors 2625 and multiple RF circuits 2614. Fig.26 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 2624 includes a plurality of BB processors 2625 and a plurality of RF circuits 2614 , but the wireless communication interface 2624 may also include a single BB processor 2625 or a single RF circuit 2614 .

[0385] In addition, in addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 2624 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as short-range wireless communication schemes, near field communication schemes, and wireless local area network (LAN) schemes. In this case, the wireless communication interface 2624 can include a BB processor 2625 and an RF circuit 2614 for each wireless communication scheme.

[0386] Each of the antenna switches 2627 switches the connection destination of the antenna 2616 between a plurality of circuits (eg, circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in the wireless communication interface 2624 .

[0387] Each of the antennas 2616 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the wireless communication interface 2624 to transmit and receive wireless signals. Fig.26 As shown, the smart phone 2600 may include multiple antennas 2616. Fig.26 An example is shown in which the smart phone 2600 includes a plurality of antennas 2616 , but the smart phone 2600 may also include a single antenna 2616 .

[0388] In addition, the smartphone 2600 may include an antenna 2616 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 2627 may be omitted from the configuration of the smartphone 2600.

[0389] The bus 2617 connects the processor 2601, the memory 2602, the storage device 2603, the external connection interface 2604, the camera 2606, the sensor 2607, the microphone 2608, the input device 2609, the display device 2610, the speaker 2623, the wireless communication interface 2624, and the auxiliary controller 2619 to each other. The battery 2618 is fed to the Fig.26 The various blocks of the smartphone 2600 shown are supplied with power, the feed lines being partially shown as dashed lines in the figure. The auxiliary controller 2619 operates the minimum necessary functions of the smartphone 2600, for example in a sleep mode.

[0390] Second example

[0391] Fig. 27 27 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a car navigation device 2720 to which the technology of the present disclosure can be applied. The car navigation device 2720 includes a processor 2721, a memory 2722, a global positioning system (GPS) module 2724, a sensor 2725, a data interface 2726, a content player 2727, a storage medium interface 2728, an input device 2729, a display device 2730, a speaker 2731, a wireless communication interface 2733, one or more antenna switches 2736, one or more antennas 2737, and a battery 2738. In one implementation, the car navigation device 2720 (or the processor 2721) here may correspond to the above-mentioned user device (or more specifically, the electronic device 300).

[0392] The processor 2721 may be, for example, a CPU or a SoC, and controls a navigation function and other functions of the car navigation device 2720. The memory 2722 includes a RAM and a ROM, and stores data and a program executed by the processor 2721.

[0393] The GPS module 2724 measures the position (such as latitude, longitude and altitude) of the car navigation device 2720 using GPS signals received from GPS satellites. The sensor 2725 may include a group of sensors such as a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor and an air pressure sensor. The data interface 2726 is connected to, for example, the vehicle network 2741 via an unshown terminal and acquires data (such as vehicle speed data) generated by the vehicle.

[0394] The content player 2727 reproduces content stored in a storage medium such as a CD and a DVD, which is inserted into the storage medium interface 2728. The input device 2729 includes, for example, a touch sensor, a button, or a switch configured to detect a touch on the screen of the display device 2730, and receives an operation or information input from a user. The display device 2730 includes a screen such as an LCD or an OLED display, and displays an image of a navigation function or reproduced content. The speaker 2731 outputs a sound of a navigation function or reproduced content.

[0395] The wireless communication interface 2733 supports any cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced) and performs wireless communication. The wireless communication interface 2733 may generally include, for example, a BB processor 2734 and an RF circuit 2735. The BB processor 2734 may perform, for example, encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and multiplexing / demultiplexing, and perform various types of signal processing for wireless communication. Meanwhile, the RF circuit 2735 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmit and receive wireless signals via an antenna 2737. The wireless communication interface 2733 may also be a chip module on which the BB processor 2734 and the RF circuit 2735 are integrated. Fig. 27 As shown, the wireless communication interface 2733 may include multiple BB processors 2734 and multiple RF circuits 2735. Fig. 27 An example is shown in which the wireless communication interface 2733 includes a plurality of BB processors 2734 and a plurality of RF circuits 2735 , but the wireless communication interface 2733 may also include a single BB processor 2734 or a single RF circuit 2735 .

[0396] In addition, in addition to the cellular communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 2733 can support other types of wireless communication schemes, such as short-range wireless communication schemes, near field communication schemes, and wireless LAN schemes. In this case, for each wireless communication scheme, the wireless communication interface 2733 can include a BB processor 2734 and an RF circuit 2735.

[0397] Each of the antenna switches 2736 switches a connection destination of the antenna 2737 between a plurality of circuits included in the wireless communication interface 2733 , such as circuits for different wireless communication schemes.

[0398] Each of the antennas 2737 includes a single or multiple antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a MIMO antenna) and is used for the wireless communication interface 2733 to transmit and receive wireless signals. Fig. 27 As shown, the car navigation device 2720 may include multiple antennas 2737. Fig. 27An example is shown in which the car navigation device 2720 includes a plurality of antennas 2737 , but the car navigation device 2720 may also include a single antenna 2737 .

[0399] In addition, the car navigation device 2720 may include an antenna 2737 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the antenna switch 2736 may be omitted from the configuration of the car navigation device 2720.

[0400] Battery 2738 is fed via a feeder Fig. 27 The respective blocks of the illustrated car navigation device 2720 are supplied with electric power, and feed lines are partially illustrated as dotted lines in the figure. The battery 2738 accumulates electric power supplied from the vehicle.

[0401] The technology of the present disclosure may also be implemented as an in-vehicle system (or vehicle) 2740 including a car navigation device 2720, an in-vehicle network 2741, and one or more blocks in a vehicle module 2742. The vehicle module 2742 generates vehicle data (such as vehicle speed, engine speed, and fault information), and outputs the generated data to the in-vehicle network 2741.

[0402] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present disclosure is certainly not limited to the above examples. Those skilled in the art may obtain various changes and modifications within the scope of the appended claims, and it should be understood that these changes and modifications will naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0403] For example, a plurality of functions included in one unit in the above embodiments may be implemented by separate devices. Alternatively, a plurality of functions implemented by a plurality of units in the above embodiments may be implemented by separate devices, respectively. In addition, one of the above functions may be implemented by a plurality of units. Needless to say, such a configuration is included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0404] In this specification, the steps described in the flowchart include not only the processing performed in time series in the order described, but also the processing performed in parallel or individually rather than necessarily in time series. In addition, even in the steps processed in time series, it goes without saying that the order can be appropriately changed.

[0405] Although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and transformations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the terms "including", "comprising" or any other variants of the embodiments of the present disclosure are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, so that the process, method, article or equipment including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or equipment. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the statement "including one..." do not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or equipment including the elements.

Claims

1. An electronic device for a first base station in a non-terrestrial network, the non-terrestrial network further comprising a user equipment capable of communicating with the first base station, a second base station, a network function and a satellite, the electronic device comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations: Determining, based on a message received from a network function, to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to a second base station at a first time; Sending a handover request message to the second base station, wherein the handover request message indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type; as well as In response to receiving a message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request, a handover command is sent to the user equipment, wherein the handover command instructs the user equipment to perform a first handover and indicates that the handover type of the first handover is a base station initiated type.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations: receiving a measurement report from a user equipment, wherein the measurement report indicates that at least one of a signal quality between the user equipment and the first base station and a signal quality between the user equipment and the second base station does not satisfy a predefined condition; Sending a message instructing to stop the first switching to the second base station; A message is sent to the user equipment indicating that the first handover is stopped and the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type.

3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations: After the first handover is completed, the handover data of the first handover is sent to the network function.

4. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations: In response to receiving the message indicating that the second base station rejects the handover request, a message indicating that the handover type is changed to a user equipment initiated type is sent to the user equipment.

5. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein sending a handover request message to the second base station comprises: directly send a handover request message to the second base station, or A handover requirement is sent to a network function, wherein a type of the handover requirement is configured as a base station initiated type, and wherein the handover request message is sent by the network function to the second base station in response to receiving the handover requirement. 6 . The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the message indicating that the second base station accepts the handover request is a confirmation message for the handover request received from the second base station or a handover command received from a network function.

7. An electronic device according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the message received from the network function includes switching model parameters, wherein the switching model parameters include at least an identifier of the user equipment, a set of switching times including the first time, an identifier of the first base station, and an identifier of the second base station.

8. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the user equipment is a user equipment of a fixed location type, and the processing circuit is further configured to enable the first base station to perform the following operations: Before the first handover, receiving a message from a network function instructing a first base station to collect handover data of a set of user equipments of a fixed location type including the user equipment; Performing a first plurality of user equipment initiated handovers with user equipment in a set of user equipments of a fixed location type; sending handover data for the first plurality of handovers to a network function, wherein the first plurality of handovers occur before the first handover, The handover model parameters are obtained by the network function based on the handover data of the first plurality of handovers.

9. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the first base station to perform the following operations: performing, with the user equipment, a second plurality of user equipment initiated handovers after receiving the handover model parameter from the network function; sending handover data for the second plurality of handovers to the network function, wherein the second plurality of handovers occur before the first handover; A message is received from a network function indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started, wherein determining to initiate a first handover of the user equipment to a second base station at a first time is performed in response to at least receiving the message indicating that a base station initiated handover can be started.

10. An electronic device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the switching data includes one or more of the following: an identifier of a user equipment associated with the switching, a time for initiating the switching determined by a source base station associated with the switching, a signal quality between the user equipment and the source base station reported by the user equipment based on which the source base station decides to initiate the switching and a signal quality between the user equipment and the target base station associated with the switching, an identifier of the source base station, an identifier of the target base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the source base station, an identifier of a satellite associated with the target base station, and weather conditions.

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