Satellite link switching method, device, equipment, medium and product

Abstract

The invention provides a satellite link switching method, device, equipment, medium and product, and the satellite link switching method comprises the steps: obtaining ephemeris data of a plurality of low-orbit satellites reported by a star observation station and context information reported by a terminal, the plurality of low-earth-orbit satellites comprise a source low-earth-orbit satellite which establishes a user plane link with the terminal and a target low-earth-orbit satellite which is about to establish a user plane link with the terminal; according to the context information, determining receiving strength information of the terminal for receiving communication signals sent by a plurality of low-orbit satellites; and determining to switch a user plane link between the terminal and the source low earth orbit satellite to a user plane link between the terminal and the target low earth orbit satellite according to the receiving strength information and the ephemeris data. According to the embodiment of the invention, seamless switching of links between the terminal and the low-orbit satellite is realized, the reliability of satellite link switching and the continuity of services are improved, and the efficiency and reliability of the whole communication system are comprehensively improved.

Description

Background Art

[0002] At present, with the development of satellite communication technology, low-orbit satellites (LEO) have gradually become one of the important means to provide global coverage and mobile communication services due to their low latency and high-speed data transmission capabilities.

[0003] In related technologies, low-orbit satellite communication systems are widely used around the world, but in actual application scenarios, they usually rely on a single low-orbit satellite or a fixed satellite ground station. These systems have some limitations when dealing with satellite link switching and the edge of service coverage.

[0004] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above background technology section is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute the prior art known to ordinary technicians in the field. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a satellite link switching method, device, equipment, medium and product, which are used to overcome the problems such as unreliable satellite link switching solutions caused by the limitations and defects of related technologies, at least to a certain extent.

[0006] According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a satellite link switching method is provided, which is applicable to a high-orbit satellite, and the satellite link switching method comprises: obtaining ephemeris data of multiple low-orbit satellites reported by an observatory and context information reported by a terminal, the multiple low-orbit satellites comprising a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with the terminal and a target low-orbit satellite to establish the user plane link with the terminal; determining, based on the context information, reception strength information of communication signals sent by the multiple low-orbit satellites received by the terminal; and determining, based on the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to a user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

[0007] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, determining, according to the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, to switch a user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to a user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite includes:

[0008] Determine the communication quality between the terminal and the plurality of low-orbit satellites according to the reception strength information;

[0009] If it is determined that the communication quality between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite is less than the communication quality threshold, then determining whether the communication quality between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, and determining whether the trajectory of the target low-orbit satellite belongs to the service area of ​​the terminal based on the ephemeris data;

[0010] If it is determined that the communication quality between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, and the ephemeris data determines that the orbit of the target low-orbit satellite belongs to the service area of ​​the terminal, it is determined to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

[0011] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, it further includes:

[0012] After determining to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite, instructing the star observation station to obtain and cache context information of the source low-orbit satellite, wherein the context information includes a session state of the terminal before switching and a data packet to be transmitted;

[0013] The terminal is instructed to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the context cached by the star observation station, and the push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0014] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, instructing the terminal to switch to a user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the context cached by the star observation station includes:

[0015] Instructing the star observation station to push the context information to the target low-orbit satellite;

[0016] After receiving the push completion instruction fed back by the star observation station, a downlink control instruction is sent to the terminal to instruct the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite. The push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0017] According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a satellite link switching method is provided, which is applicable to a star observation station, and the satellite link switching method includes:

[0018] Acquire ephemeris data of a plurality of low-orbit satellites, where the plurality of low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with a terminal and a target low-orbit satellite to establish the user plane link with the terminal;

[0019] The ephemeris data is reported to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite determines to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite according to the context information reported by the terminal and the ephemeris data.

[0020] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, it further includes:

[0021] Receiving a link switching instruction sent by the high-orbit satellite;

[0022] Obtaining the context information of the source low-orbit satellite according to the link switching instruction and caching;

[0023] After completing the context information caching, the context information is pushed to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0024] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, it further includes:

[0025] After pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite, a push completion instruction is fed back to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite can instruct the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the push completion instruction. The push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0026] According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a satellite link switching device is provided, which is applicable to a high-orbit satellite, and the satellite link switching device includes:

[0027] an acquisition module, configured to acquire ephemeris data of a plurality of low-orbit satellites reported by a star observation station and context information reported by a terminal, wherein the plurality of low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite with which a user plane link has been established and a target low-orbit satellite with which the user plane link is to be established;

[0028] A determination module, configured to determine, according to the context information, reception strength information of the communication signals sent by the plurality of low-orbit satellites received by the terminal;

[0029] The switching module is configured to determine, based on the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, whether to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to a user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

[0030] According to a fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a satellite link switching device is provided, which is applicable to a star observation station, and the satellite link switching device includes:

[0031] An acquisition module is configured to acquire ephemeris data of a plurality of low-orbit satellites, wherein the plurality of low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with the terminal and a target low-orbit satellite to establish the user plane link with the terminal;

[0032] The communication module is configured to report the ephemeris data to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite determines to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite based on the context information reported by the terminal and the ephemeris data.

[0033] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute any one of the methods described above based on instructions stored in the memory.

[0034] According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a program is stored, and when the program is executed by a processor, the satellite link switching method as described in any one of the above items is implemented.

[0035] According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the satellite link switching method as described in any one of the above is implemented.

[0036] The disclosed embodiment obtains the ephemeris data of multiple low-orbit satellites reported by an observatory and the context information reported by a terminal, and then determines the reception strength information of the communication signals sent by the multiple low-orbit satellites received by the terminal based on the context information. Furthermore, based on the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, it is determined to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite, thereby achieving seamless switching of the link between the terminal and the low-orbit satellite, improving the reliability of satellite link switching and business continuity, and comprehensively improving the efficiency and reliability of the overall communication system.

[0037] It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] The accompanying drawings herein are incorporated into the specification and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure, and together with the specification are used to explain the principles of the present disclosure. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and for ordinary technicians in this field, other accompanying drawings can be obtained based on these accompanying drawings without creative work.

[0039] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing an exemplary system architecture to which a satellite link switching solution according to an embodiment of the present invention can be applied;

[0040] Figure 2is a flow chart of a satellite link switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0041] Figure 3 is a flow chart of another satellite link switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0042] Figure 4 is a flow chart of another satellite link switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0043] Figure 5 is a flow chart of another satellite link switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0044] Figure 6 is a flow chart of another satellite link switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0045] Figure 7 is a flow chart of another satellite link switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0046] Figure 8 is a flow chart of another satellite link switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0047] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a satellite link switching solution in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0048] Fig.10 is an interactive schematic diagram of a satellite link switching solution in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0049] Fig.11 is a block diagram of a satellite link switching device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0050] Fig.12 is a block diagram of another satellite link switching device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0051] Fig.13 is a block diagram of an electronic device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, example embodiments can be implemented in a variety of forms and should not be construed as being limited to the examples set forth herein; on the contrary, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be more comprehensive and complete, and the concepts of the example embodiments are fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. In the following description, many specific details are provided to provide a full understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the technical solutions of the present disclosure may be practiced while omitting one or more of the specific details, or other methods, components, devices, steps, etc. may be adopted. In other cases, known technical solutions are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0053] In addition, the accompanying drawings are only schematic diagrams of the present disclosure, and the same reference numerals in the drawings represent the same or similar parts, so their repeated description will be omitted. Some of the block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are functional entities, which do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities can be implemented in software form, or implemented in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or implemented in different networks and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0054] The following is an explanation of the terms involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure:

[0055] UE: User Equipment, which can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, laptop or other device.

[0056] LEO: Low Earth orbit, a satellite whose orbit is generally between 500-2000 kilometers from the ground.

[0057] GEO: Geostationary Orbit, high-orbit earth satellite, the satellite flying altitude is greater than 20,000 kilometers.

[0058] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing an exemplary system architecture to which a satellite link switching solution according to an embodiment of the present invention can be applied is shown.

[0059] like Figure 1 As shown, the system architecture 100 may include one or more of terminal devices 101, 102, 103, a network 104, and a server 105. The network 104 is used to provide a medium for communication links between the terminal devices 101, 102, 103 and the server 105. The network 104 may include various connection types, such as wired, wireless communication links, or optical fiber cables, etc.

[0060] It should be understood that Figure 1 The number of terminal devices, networks and servers in the embodiment is only for illustration. According to the implementation requirements, there may be any number of terminal devices, networks and servers. For example, the server 105 may be a server cluster composed of multiple servers.

[0061] Users can use terminal devices 101, 102, 103 to interact with server 105 through network 104 to receive or send messages, etc. Terminal devices 101, 102, 103 can be various electronic devices with display screens, including but not limited to smart phones, tablet computers, portable computers, desktop computers, etc.

[0062] In some embodiments, the satellite link switching method provided in the embodiments of the present invention is generally executed by the server 105. Accordingly, the satellite link switching device is generally arranged in the terminal device 103 (or the terminal device 101 or 102). In other embodiments, some terminals may have functions similar to those of the server device to execute the method.

[0063] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0064] Figure 2 is a flow chart of a satellite link switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0065] refer to Figure 2 The satellite link switching method is applicable to a high-orbit satellite, and the satellite link switching method may include:

[0066] Step S202, obtaining ephemeris data of multiple low-orbit satellites reported by the star observation station and context information reported by the terminal, wherein the multiple low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with the terminal and a target low-orbit satellite that is to establish the user plane link with the terminal.

[0067] Step S204: determining, according to the context information, reception strength information of the communication signals sent by the plurality of low-orbit satellites received by the terminal.

[0068] Step S206: Determine, based on the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, whether to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to a user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

[0069] In the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure, by acquiring the ephemeris data of multiple low-orbit satellites reported by the star observation station and the context information reported by the terminal, the reception strength information of the communication signals sent by the multiple low-orbit satellites received by the terminal is determined according to the context information, and further, according to the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, it is determined to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite, thereby achieving seamless switching of the link between the terminal and the low-orbit satellite, improving the reliability of satellite link switching and business continuity, and comprehensively improving the efficiency and reliability of the overall communication system.

[0070] Next, Figure 2 The steps of the satellite link switching method shown are described in detail.

[0071] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, Figure 3 As shown, determining, according to the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite includes:

[0072] Step S302: Determine the communication quality between the terminal and the plurality of low-orbit satellites according to the reception strength information.

[0073] Step S304: If it is determined that the communication quality between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite is less than the communication quality threshold, then determine whether the communication quality between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, and determine whether the trajectory of the target low-orbit satellite belongs to the service area of ​​the terminal based on the ephemeris data.

[0074] Step S306: If it is determined that the communication quality between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, and the ephemeris data determines that the trajectory of the target low-orbit satellite belongs to the service area of ​​the terminal, it is determined to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

[0075] In the above-mentioned embodiments of the present disclosure, the ephemeris data includes orbital parameters and time parameters. The LEO satellite ephemeris is usually determined by a ground monitoring station through tracking, observation and data processing of the satellite. That is, during the link switching process, the communication system can determine when and at which location the best communication connection can be established with a specific LEO satellite based on the ephemeris data, which helps to optimize the allocation of communication resources and further improve the communication quality and efficiency.

[0076] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, Figure 4 As shown, it also includes:

[0077] Step S402, after determining to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite, instruct the star observation station to obtain and cache the context information of the source low-orbit satellite, the context information including the session state of the terminal before the switching and the data packet to be transmitted.

[0078] Step S404: instructing the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the context cached by the star observation station, and the push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0079] In the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure, after determining to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite, the star observation station is instructed to obtain and cache the context information of the source low-orbit satellite, that is, before the link switching, the communication status, session status, data packet transmission history and cached data of the terminal are saved to improve the continuity of communication during the link switching process.

[0080] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, Figure 5 As shown, instructing the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the context cached by the star observation station includes:

[0081] Step S502: instruct the star observation station to push the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0082] Step S504, after receiving the push completion instruction fed back by the star observation station, sending a downlink control instruction to the terminal to instruct the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite, the push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0083] In the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure, by instructing the star observation station to push the context information to the target low-orbit satellite after the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite, the delay and probability of packet loss in the link switching process are reduced, and the communication reliability is further enhanced.

[0084] Figure 6 is a flow chart of a satellite link switching method in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0085] refer to Figure 6 The satellite link switching method is applicable to a star observation station, and the satellite link switching method may include:

[0086] Step S602, obtaining ephemeris data of a plurality of low-orbit satellites, where the plurality of low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with a terminal and a target low-orbit satellite that is to establish the user plane link with the terminal.

[0087] Step S604: Report the ephemeris data to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite determines to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite based on the context information reported by the terminal and the ephemeris data.

[0088] In the above-mentioned embodiment of the present disclosure, by acquiring the ephemeris data of multiple low-orbit satellites and reporting the ephemeris data to the high-orbit satellite, the high-orbit satellite determines to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite according to the context information reported by the terminal and the ephemeris data, thereby achieving seamless switching of the link between the terminal and the low-orbit satellite, improving the reliability of satellite link switching and business continuity, and comprehensively improving the efficiency and reliability of the overall communication system.

[0089] Next, Figure 6 The steps of the satellite link switching method shown are described in detail.

[0090] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, Figure 7 As shown, it also includes:

[0091] Step S702: receiving a link switching instruction sent by the high-orbit satellite.

[0092] Step S704: Acquire the context information of the source low-orbit satellite according to the link switching instruction and cache.

[0093] Step S706: After completing the context information caching, push the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0094] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, Figure 8 As shown, it also includes:

[0095] Step S802, after pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite, a push completion instruction is fed back to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite can instruct the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the push completion instruction. The push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0096] Combine the following Fig. 9 and Fig.10The satellite link switching scheme in the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is described in detail.

[0097] Fig. 9 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the satellite link switching solution in the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0098] refer to Fig. 9 , the architecture of the satellite link switching solution may include:

[0099] (1) New functions of the mobile terminal (UE 904 for short): capable of collecting the received signal strength of the currently serving low earth orbit satellite (LEO) and its adjacent LEOs, and forming a corresponding relationship table between the received signal and the LEO satellite ID.

[0100] Furthermore, UE 904 reports these data to the Global Navigation Satellite System (GEO) satellite 902 through a GEO channel.

[0101] (2) New functions of the ground star observation station 906: including storing the context of the UE 904 and the ephemeris information of the LEO satellites, where the LEO satellites include the source low-orbit satellite 9082, the target low-orbit satellite 9084, and the other low-orbit satellites 9086, the low-orbit satellite 9088, etc., but are not limited thereto.

[0102] (3) The GEO satellite 902 has a new information collection function: collects information reported by the UE 904 in the low-orbit satellite service area 910, queries the LEO satellite ephemeris stored in the star observation station 906, and determines whether satellite switching is required as needed.

[0103] If it is determined that a handover is required, the GEO satellite 902 will notify the observatory 906 to cache the context of the UE 904 in the high-orbit satellite service area 912, and notify the UE 904 to establish a new communication link with the target LEO satellite.

[0104] Fig.10 It is an interactive schematic diagram of a satellite link switching solution in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0105] refer to Fig.10 , the interactive scheme of the satellite link switching scheme may include the following steps:

[0106] (1) Based on the measurement values ​​reported by the terminal (hereinafter referred to as UE 1004), the ID of the relevant LEO satellite and the queried LEO satellite ephemeris.

[0107] When the signal quality meets the requirements and the moving trajectory of the target LEO satellite 10084 coincides with the service area of ​​UE 1004, the high-orbit satellite 1002 (which can be referred to as GEO for short) will notify the star observation station 1006 to cache the context information of the source LEO satellite 10082 and UE 1004, and then notify UE 1004 to establish a new communication link with the target LEO satellite 10084, thereby realizing the switching of the low-orbit satellite link and ensuring the continuity of data services.

[0108] (2) The high-orbit satellite 1002 collects the information reported by the UE 1004 (a correspondence table between the signal strength received by the UE 1004 and the ID of the low-orbit satellite).

[0109] (3) Query the ephemeris of relevant low-orbit satellites through Star Observation Station 1006.

[0110] (4) Determine whether to switch. Based on the signal data reported by UE 1004 and the queried ephemeris information, when the high-orbit satellite 1002 evaluates that the source low-orbit satellite cannot meet the service requirements and the target low-orbit satellite meets the service requirements, initiate the switching process to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0111] (5) The high-orbit satellite 1002 notifies the star observation station 1006 to obtain the context and cache it (including session status, data cache, etc.).

[0112] (6) The ground star observation station 1006 caches the acquired context information.

[0113] (7) After synchronization is completed, UE 1004 is notified to switch the satellite link to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0114] (8) After the data link switching is completed, UE 1004 continues to communicate with satellite data services.

[0115] In summary, the technical solution disclosed in the present invention uses high-orbit satellites to evaluate the service quality and coverage area of ​​low-orbit satellites. Once the switching conditions are met, seamless switching of satellite communication links is achieved through collaborative work, which effectively improves communication reliability and user experience. The specific implementation of the technical effect is achieved through the following improvements:

[0116] (1) High-orbit satellites serve as central control nodes, effectively coordinating and managing the switching process of low-orbit satellites, solving the problem that traditional low-orbit satellite communication systems cannot guarantee data service continuity, and achieving efficient satellite resource utilization through intelligent judgment and dynamic switching.

[0117] (2) A dynamic cache and synchronization mechanism is adopted. The ground observatory is responsible for caching the context of the source low-orbit satellite and the user device to achieve seamless switching of data and session status. This overcomes the problems of data loss and communication interruption that may occur during traditional switching, and significantly improves the user experience and stability of the communication system.

[0118] (3) The high-orbit satellite can query and analyze the ephemeris data of the low-orbit satellite in real time to make intelligent decisions on the switching timing and target satellite. This improves the accuracy and response speed of the switching decision, ensuring that the low-orbit satellite always provides the best quality service.

[0119] (4) A cross-layer collaborative business continuity guarantee mechanism has been established to ensure the continuity and stability of data services during the switching process. This has improved the overall efficiency and reliability of the low-orbit satellite network, especially in high-speed data transmission and real-time communication scenarios.

[0120] Corresponding to the above method embodiment, the present disclosure also provides the following satellite link switching device, which can be used to execute the above method embodiment.

[0121] Fig.11 It is a block diagram of a satellite link switching device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0122] refer to Fig.11 , the satellite link switching device 1100 may include:

[0123] The acquisition module 1102 is configured to acquire ephemeris data of multiple low-orbit satellites reported by the star observation station and context information reported by the terminal, wherein the multiple low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with the terminal and a target low-orbit satellite to establish the user plane link with the terminal;

[0124] The determination module 1104 is configured to determine, according to the context information, reception strength information of the communication signals sent by the plurality of low-orbit satellites received by the terminal;

[0125] The switching module 1106 is configured to determine, based on the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, whether to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to a user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

[0126] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the switching module 1106 is further configured to:

[0127] Determine the communication quality between the terminal and the plurality of low-orbit satellites according to the reception strength information;

[0128] If it is determined that the communication quality between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite is less than the communication quality threshold, then determining whether the communication quality between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, and determining whether the trajectory of the target low-orbit satellite belongs to the service area of ​​the terminal based on the ephemeris data;

[0129] If it is determined that the communication quality between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, and the ephemeris data determines that the orbit of the target low-orbit satellite belongs to the service area of ​​the terminal, it is determined to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

[0130] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the satellite link switching device 1100 is further used for:

[0131] After determining to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite, instructing the star observation station to obtain and cache context information of the source low-orbit satellite, wherein the context information includes a session state of the terminal before switching and a data packet to be transmitted;

[0132] The terminal is instructed to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the context cached by the star observation station, and the push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0133] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the switching module 1106 is further configured to:

[0134] Instructing the star observation station to push the context information to the target low-orbit satellite;

[0135] After receiving the push completion instruction fed back by the star observation station, a downlink control instruction is sent to the terminal to instruct the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite. The push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0136] Fig.12 It is a block diagram of a satellite link switching device in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0137] refer to Fig.12 , the satellite link switching device 1200 may include:

[0138] An acquisition module 1202 is configured to acquire ephemeris data of a plurality of low-orbit satellites, wherein the plurality of low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with a terminal and a target low-orbit satellite to establish the user plane link with the terminal;

[0139] The communication module 1204 is configured to report the ephemeris data to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite determines to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite based on the context information reported by the terminal and the ephemeris data.

[0140] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the satellite link switching device 1200 is further used for:

[0141] Receiving a link switching instruction sent by the high-orbit satellite;

[0142] Obtaining the context information of the source low-orbit satellite according to the link switching instruction and caching;

[0143] After completing the context information caching, the context information is pushed to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0144] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the satellite link switching device 1200 is further used for:

[0145] After pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite, a push completion instruction is fed back to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite can instruct the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the push completion instruction. The push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

[0146] Since the functions of the satellite link switching device 1100 and the satellite link switching device 1200 have been described in detail in the corresponding method embodiments, the present disclosure will not elaborate on them here.

[0147] It should be noted that, although several modules or units of the device for action execution are mentioned in the above detailed description, this division is not mandatory. In fact, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. On the contrary, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided into multiple modules or units to be embodied.

[0148] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic device capable of implementing the above method is also provided.

[0149] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various aspects of the present invention may be implemented as a system, method or program product. Therefore, various aspects of the present invention may be specifically implemented in the following forms, namely: a complete hardware implementation, a complete software implementation (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or a combination of hardware and software, which may be collectively referred to herein as a "circuit", "module" or "system".

[0150] Refer to the following Fig.13 An electronic device 1300 according to this embodiment of the present invention is described. Fig.13 The electronic device 1300 shown is only an example and should not bring any limitation to the functions and scope of use of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0151] like Fig.13 As shown, the electronic device 1300 is in the form of a general computing device. The components of the electronic device 1300 may include but are not limited to: at least one processing unit 1310, at least one storage unit 1320, and a bus 1330 connecting different system components (including the storage unit 1320 and the processing unit 1310).

[0152] The storage unit stores program codes, which can be executed by the processing unit 1310, so that the processing unit 1310 performs the steps according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention described in the above “Exemplary Method” section of this specification. For example, the processing unit 1310 can perform the method shown in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0153] The storage unit 1320 may include a readable medium in the form of a volatile storage unit, such as a random access storage unit (RAM) 13201 and / or a cache storage unit 13202 , and may further include a read-only storage unit (ROM) 13203 .

[0154] The storage unit 1320 may also include a program / utility 13204 having a set (at least one) of program modules 13205, such program modules 13205 including but not limited to: an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each of which or some combination may include an implementation of a network environment.

[0155] Bus 1330 may represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a memory unit bus or memory unit controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, a processing unit, or a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures.

[0156] The electronic device 1300 may also communicate with one or more external devices 1340 (e.g., keyboards, pointing devices, Bluetooth devices, etc.), may also communicate with one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the electronic device 1300, and / or communicate with any device that enables the electronic device 1300 to communicate with one or more other computing devices (e.g., routers, modems, etc.). Such communication may be performed via an input / output (I / O) interface 1350. Furthermore, the electronic device 1300 may also communicate with one or more networks (e.g., local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and / or public networks, such as the Internet) via a network adapter 1360. As shown, the network adapter 1360 communicates with other modules of the electronic device 1300 via a bus 1330. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figure, other hardware and / or software modules may be used in conjunction with the electronic device 1300, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.

[0157] Through the description of the above implementation, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the example implementation described here can be implemented by software, or by software combined with necessary hardware. Therefore, the technical solution according to the implementation of the present disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (which can be a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to enable a computing device (which can be a personal computer, a server, a terminal device, or a network device, etc.) to execute the method according to the implementation of the present disclosure.

[0158] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, on which a program product capable of implementing the above method of the present specification is stored. In some possible implementations, various aspects of the present invention can also be implemented in the form of a program product, which includes a program code, and when the program product is run on a terminal device, the program code is used to enable the terminal device to execute the steps according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention described in the above "Exemplary Method" section of the present specification.

[0159] The program product for implementing the above method according to an embodiment of the present invention can adopt a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) and include program code, and can be run on a terminal device, such as a personal computer. However, the program product of the present invention is not limited thereto, and in this document, a readable storage medium can be any tangible medium containing or storing a program, which can be used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, an apparatus or a device.

[0160] Among them, the readable medium can be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. The readable storage medium can be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples of readable storage media (a non-exhaustive list) include: an electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the above.

[0161] Computer readable signal media may include data signals propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, in which readable program code is carried. Such propagated data signals may take a variety of forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination of the above. Readable signal media may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium, which may send, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0162] The program code embodied on the readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0163] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer program product is also provided, which can be loaded or stored in any combination of one or more readable media, and can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages ​​to perform the program code of the present invention, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java, C++, etc., and also conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as "C" language or similar programming languages. The program code can be executed entirely on the user computing device, partially on the user device, as an independent software package, partially on the user computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or completely on a remote computing device or server. In the case of a remote computing device, the remote computing device can be connected to the user computing device through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or can be connected to an external computing device (for example, using an Internet service provider to connect through the Internet).

[0164] In addition, the above-mentioned figures are only schematic illustrations of the processes included in the method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and are not intended to be limiting. It is easy to understand that the processes shown in the above-mentioned figures do not indicate or limit the time sequence of these processes. In addition, it is also easy to understand that these processes can be performed synchronously or asynchronously, for example, in multiple modules.

[0165] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present disclosure after considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure that follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art that are not disclosed in the present disclosure. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and concept of the present disclosure are indicated by the claims.

Claims

1. A satellite link switching method, characterized in that: Applicable to high-orbit satellites, the satellite link switching method includes: Acquire ephemeris data of multiple low-orbit satellites reported by the star observation station and context information reported by the terminal, wherein the multiple low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with the terminal and a target low-orbit satellite to establish the user plane link with the terminal; Determine, according to the context information, reception strength information of the communication signals sent by the plurality of low-orbit satellites received by the terminal; Determine, according to the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, whether to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to a user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

2. The satellite link switching method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Determining, according to the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, that the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite is switched to a user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite comprises: Determine the communication quality between the terminal and the plurality of low-orbit satellites according to the reception strength information; If it is determined that the communication quality between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite is less than the communication quality threshold, then determining whether the communication quality between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, and determining whether the trajectory of the target low-orbit satellite belongs to the service area of ​​the terminal based on the ephemeris data; If it is determined that the communication quality between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, and the ephemeris data determines that the orbit of the target low-orbit satellite belongs to the service area of ​​the terminal, it is determined to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

3. The satellite link switching method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Also includes: After determining to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite, instructing the star observation station to obtain and cache context information of the source low-orbit satellite, wherein the context information includes a session state of the terminal before switching and a data packet to be transmitted; The terminal is instructed to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the context cached by the star observation station, and the push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

4. The satellite link switching method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Instructing the terminal to switch to a user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the context cached by the star observation station includes: Instructing the star observation station to push the context information to the target low-orbit satellite; After receiving the push completion instruction fed back by the star observation station, a downlink control instruction is sent to the terminal to instruct the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite. The push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

5. A satellite link switching method, characterized in that: Applicable to a star observation station, the satellite link switching method includes: Acquire ephemeris data of a plurality of low-orbit satellites, where the plurality of low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with a terminal and a target low-orbit satellite to establish the user plane link with the terminal; The ephemeris data is reported to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite determines to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite according to the context information reported by the terminal and the ephemeris data.

6. The satellite link switching method according to claim 5, characterized in that: Also includes: Receiving a link switching instruction sent by the high-orbit satellite; Obtaining the context information of the source low-orbit satellite according to the link switching instruction and caching; After completing the context information caching, the context information is pushed to the target low-orbit satellite.

7. The satellite link switching method according to claim 6, characterized in that: Also includes: After pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite, a push completion instruction is fed back to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite can instruct the terminal to switch to the user plane link corresponding to the target low-orbit satellite based on the push completion instruction. The push completion instruction is used to indicate that the star observation station has completed pushing the context information to the target low-orbit satellite.

8. A satellite link switching device, characterized in that: include: an acquisition module, configured to acquire ephemeris data of a plurality of low-orbit satellites reported by a star observation station and context information reported by a terminal, wherein the plurality of low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite with which a user plane link has been established and a target low-orbit satellite with which the user plane link is to be established; A determination module, configured to determine, according to the context information, reception strength information of the communication signals sent by the plurality of low-orbit satellites received by the terminal; The switching module is configured to determine, based on the reception strength information and the ephemeris data, whether to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to a user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite.

9. A satellite link switching device, characterized in that: Applicable to a star observation station, the satellite link switching device comprises: An acquisition module is configured to acquire ephemeris data of a plurality of low-orbit satellites, wherein the plurality of low-orbit satellites include a source low-orbit satellite that has established a user plane link with the terminal and a target low-orbit satellite to establish the user plane link with the terminal; The communication module is configured to report the ephemeris data to the high-orbit satellite, so that the high-orbit satellite determines to switch the user plane link between the terminal and the source low-orbit satellite to the user plane link between the terminal and the target low-orbit satellite based on the context information reported by the terminal and the ephemeris data.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: Memory; as well as A processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute the satellite link switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 based on instructions stored in the memory.

11. A computer-readable storage medium having a program stored thereon, wherein when the program is executed by a processor, the satellite link switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is implemented.

12. A computer program product, comprising a computer program, characterized in that When the computer program is executed by a processor, the satellite link switching method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is implemented.

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