Cell searching method and device, equipment and chip

Abstract

The invention provides a cell searching method and device, equipment and a chip. The method comprises the following steps: determining neighbor cell information under a current PLMN; the neighbor cell information comprises first parameters of one or more neighbor cells and RAT systems of the one or more neighbor cells; the first parameter is used for representing the channel quality of the corresponding neighbor cell; determining a target RAT system with at least one first neighbor cell according to the neighbor cell information when it is determined that the RAT system is in the abnormal state; the first parameter of the first adjacent region is greater than or equal to a first threshold value; the abnormal state comprises that the time length in the OOS is greater than a first time length or the time length in the service cell of the first RAT system is greater than a second time length; wherein the target RAT system is higher than the first RAT system; and performing cell search for the frequency point of the target RAT system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to communication technology, and is related to but not limited to a cell search method and apparatus, equipment, and chip. Background Art

[0002] Terminal devices such as mobile phones are becoming more and more important in our daily lives. Users use terminal devices to communicate with others through voice calls, video calls, short messaging services (SMS), etc. Users can also watch videos or browse the Internet through terminal devices. However, when using terminal devices, users may encounter various problems that affect their communication or Internet experience.

[0003] For example, when blind redirection fails or the channel quality suddenly drops sharply, the access layer of the terminal device will be out of service (AS OOS), and the service may not be restored quickly, resulting in the user being unable to make calls or surf the Internet through the terminal device. For another example, if the terminal device is registered on LTE in the network coverage of LTE and NR, it may stay on LTE for a long time, resulting in the user being unable to experience the higher-standard Internet experience. Summary of the invention

[0004] The cell search method, device, equipment, and chip provided in this application include:

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a cell search method, the method comprising: determining neighboring cell information under a current public land mobile network (PLMN); the neighboring cell information comprises first parameters of one or more neighboring cells and radio access technology (RAT) standards of the one or more neighboring cells; the first parameter is used to characterize the channel quality of the corresponding neighboring cell; in the case of determining that it is in an abnormal state, determining a target RAT standard having at least one first neighboring cell according to the neighboring cell information; the first parameter of the first neighboring cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold; the abnormal state comprises a time duration of being out of service (OOS) greater than a first time duration or a time duration of being in a service cell of a first RAT standard greater than a second time duration; wherein the target RAT standard is higher than the first RAT standard; and performing a cell search for the frequency of the target RAT standard.

[0006] It can be understood that in the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for abnormal states such as the terminal device being in OOS for a period of time greater than the first period of time or staying in the service cell of the first RAT standard for a period of time greater than the second period of time, a better target RAT standard (that is, a RAT standard with at least one first neighboring area with better channel quality) is selected according to the neighboring cell information under the current PLMN, and a cell search is performed on the frequency point of the better target RAT standard based on this; this is beneficial to improving the probability of successful network search, thereby helping the terminal device to quickly achieve cell residence.

[0007] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a cell search device, the device comprising: a first determination module, configured to determine neighboring cell information under a current PLMN; the neighboring cell information comprises a first parameter of one or more neighboring cells and a RAT standard of the one or more neighboring cells; the first parameter is used to characterize the channel quality of the corresponding neighboring cell; a second determination module, configured to, when determining that it is in an abnormal state, determine a target RAT standard having at least one first neighboring cell according to the neighboring cell information; the first parameter of the first neighboring cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold; the abnormal state comprises a duration of being in OOS greater than a first duration or a duration of being resident in a service cell of a first RAT standard greater than a second duration; wherein the target RAT standard is higher than the first RAT standard; a cell search module, configured to perform a cell search for a frequency point of the target RAT standard.

[0008] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device, which includes: a memory for storing a computer program; a processor connected to the memory, for calling and running the computer program from the memory, to implement the method described in the first aspect; and a transceiver for receiving and sending information during the process of sending and receiving information between other devices.

[0009] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which includes: a processor, used to call and run a computer program from a memory so that a device equipped with the chip executes the method described in the first aspect; a transceiver, used to receive and send information during the process of sending and receiving information between a device or chip.

[0010] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program enables a computer to execute the method described in the first aspect.

[0011] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, comprising computer program instructions, which enable a computer to execute the method described in the first aspect.

[0012] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program, which enables a computer to execute the method described in the first aspect.

[0013] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The drawings herein are incorporated into the specification and constitute a part of the specification. These drawings illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and are used together with the specification to illustrate the technical solution of the present application. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0015] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are only exemplary and do not necessarily include all the contents and operations / steps, nor must they be executed in the order described. For example, some operations / steps can be decomposed, and some operations / steps can be combined or partially combined, so the actual execution order may change according to actual conditions.

[0016] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the implementation process of the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0017] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the implementation process of the method for determining an abnormal state provided in the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 ;

[0018] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the implementation process of the method for determining an abnormal state provided in the embodiment of the present application Figure 2 ;

[0019] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the implementation process of the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application Figure 2 ;

[0020] Figure 5 A schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 6 A schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of a cell search device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the specific technical solution of the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The following embodiments are used to illustrate the present application, but are not used to limit the scope of the present application.

[0024] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs. The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing the embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0025] In the following description, reference is made to “some embodiments”, “this embodiment”, “embodiments of the present application” and examples, etc., which describe a subset of all possible embodiments, but it can be understood that “some embodiments” may be the same subset or different subsets of all possible embodiments and may be combined with each other without conflict.

[0026] In related technology 1, when AS OOS occurs due to a blind redirection failure or a sudden sharp drop in channel quality, the user terminal equipment (UE) will first perform AS OOS recovery through frequency scanning (hereinafter referred to as ASOOS frequency scanning). When AS OOS recovery fails, the AS OOS status will be reported to the non-access layer (Non-Access-Stratum, NAS). After NAS receives the AS OOS status report, the UE will perform frequency scanning again to perform NAS OOS network search (hereinafter referred to as NAS OOS frequency scanning) to restore the network status.

[0027] However, the inventor of the present application discovered through research and analysis of the above-mentioned related technology 1 that when performing frequency scanning in the two stages of AS OOS recovery and NAS OOS network search, if there are many historical frequency points to search, it takes too long for the UE to search all frequency points, resulting in a long network recovery process and the inability to quickly restore the network.

[0028] In related technology 2, in a network covered by LTE and NR, when the UE is registered to LTE, if the UE wants to return from LTE to NR, there are two implementation methods, one is to report redirection based on measurement events (B1 / B2 / A2) in the connected state, and the other is based on reselection criteria conditions in the idle state.

[0029] However, the inventors of the present application have studied and analyzed the above-mentioned related technology 2 and found that when the network configuration B1 / B2 / A2 events and the reselection criteria are relatively strict or unreasonable, this will cause the UE to take a long time to restore NR, causing the UE to stay in LTE for a long time.

[0030] In view of the analysis of the causes of the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application provide multiple embodiments of the following cell search method. The method is applied to a terminal device, which can be various types of devices with wireless communication capabilities during implementation. For example, the terminal device may include a handheld device (such as a mobile phone), a wearable device (such as a smart watch, smart glasses, etc.), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a vehicle-mounted device, a smart home device, a headset, a speaker, a keyboard, a mouse, a smart bracelet or an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. The function implemented by the method can be implemented by calling a program code by a processor in the terminal device. Of course, the program code can be stored in a computer storage medium. It can be seen that the terminal device includes at least a processor and a storage medium.

[0031] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the implementation process of the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 ,like Figure 1 As shown, the method may include the following steps 101 to 103:

[0032] Step 101, determining neighboring cell information under the current PLMN; the neighboring cell information includes a first parameter of one or more neighboring cells and a RAT standard of the one or more neighboring cells; the first parameter is used to characterize the channel quality of the corresponding neighboring cell;

[0033] Step 102: when it is determined that the system is in an abnormal state, determine, according to the neighboring cell information, a target RAT system having at least one first neighboring cell; a first parameter of the first neighboring cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold; the abnormal state includes a duration of being in OOS greater than a first duration or a duration of being in a serving cell of the first RAT system greater than a second duration; wherein the target RAT system is higher than the first RAT system;

[0034] Step 103: Perform a cell search for the frequency point of the target RAT standard.

[0035] It can be understood that in the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application, for abnormal states such as the terminal device being in OOS for a period of time greater than the first period of time or staying in the service cell of the first RAT standard for a period of time greater than the second period of time, a better target RAT standard (that is, a RAT standard with at least one first neighboring area with better channel quality) is selected according to the neighboring cell information under the current PLMN, and a cell search is performed on the frequency point of the better target RAT standard based on this; this is beneficial to improving the probability of successful network search, thereby helping the terminal device to quickly achieve cell residence.

[0036] Specifically, for the abnormal state that the terminal device is in OOS for a longer time than the first time, since the search is for a frequency point under a better target RAT standard, the probability that the terminal device can search for a cell that can be resident can be increased, so that the terminal device can quickly recover from the OOS state to a service state. For the abnormal state that the terminal device resides in the service cell of the first RAT standard for a longer time than the second time, since the search is for a frequency point under a better high standard / target RAT standard, the probability that the terminal device can search for a high standard cell that can be resident can be increased, so that the terminal device can quickly recover from the low standard cell where it resides to the high standard cell.

[0037] The following describes further optional implementations and related terms of each of the above steps.

[0038] In step 101, the neighboring cell information under the current PLMN is determined; the neighboring cell information includes a first parameter of one or more neighboring cells and a RAT standard of the one or more neighboring cells; the first parameter is used to characterize the channel quality of the corresponding neighboring cell.

[0039] In the embodiment of the present application, the current PLMN can also be understood as the PLMN that the terminal device currently accesses / resides / registers in. Of course, in the case of being in the OOS state, the current PLMN can be understood as the PLMN that the terminal device accessed before entering the OOS.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present application, the type of the first parameter may be various. In some embodiments, the first parameter may be a rating of the neighboring cell determined based on the channel quality of the neighboring cell. In another embodiment, the first parameter may also be channel quality, for example, the parameter is a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0041] For the embodiment in which the first parameter is the scoring level, further, in some embodiments, the scoring level of a neighboring area can be determined according to one or more parameters characterizing the channel quality of the neighboring area, such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.; wherein the scoring level of the neighboring area is positively correlated with the channel quality of the neighboring area, that is, the higher the scoring level of the neighboring area, the better the channel quality corresponding to the neighboring area. In a possible implementation, the channel quality value of a neighboring area can be determined according to one or more parameters characterizing the channel quality of the neighboring area, such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.; the scoring level of the neighboring area is determined according to the relationship between the channel quality value and the channel quality threshold corresponding to the preset scoring level; wherein different scoring levels correspond to different channel quality thresholds. For example, as shown in Table 1, the channel quality thresholds 1 to 5 decrease in size in sequence, and accordingly, the channel quality of the neighboring areas corresponding to the scoring levels great to invalid deteriorates in sequence.

[0042] Table 1

[0043] Neighborhood ID Rating scale Relationship between channel quality value and channel quality threshold Neighborhood 1 great The channel quality value of neighboring cell 1> channel quality threshold 1 Neighborhood 2 good Channel quality threshold 2 < channel quality value of neighboring cell 2 < channel quality threshold 1 Neighborhood 3 moderate Channel quality threshold 3 < channel quality value of neighboring cell 3 < channel quality threshold 2 Neighborhood 4 poor Channel quality threshold 4 < channel quality value of neighboring cell 4 < channel quality threshold 3 Neighborhood 5 invalid Channel quality threshold 5 < channel quality value of neighboring cell 5 < channel quality threshold 4

[0044] In step 102, when it is determined that the system is in an abnormal state, a target RAT system having at least one first neighboring cell is determined according to the neighboring cell information; a first parameter of the first neighboring cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold; the abnormal state includes a duration of being in OOS greater than a first duration or a duration of staying in a service cell of the first RAT system greater than a second duration; wherein the target RAT system is higher than the first RAT system.

[0045] In some embodiments, the RAT standard in the neighboring cell information includes one or more high RAT standards. It can be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the maintained neighboring cell information includes the information of the neighboring cells of the high RAT standard; this is beneficial to save the calculation, power and storage overhead caused by maintaining the neighboring cell information.

[0046] It should be noted that, for the convenience of description, the abnormal state in which the duration of being in OOS is greater than the first duration is referred to as abnormal state 1 hereinafter; the abnormal state in which the duration of being in the serving cell of the first RAT standard is greater than the second duration is referred to as abnormal state 2 hereinafter. In the embodiment of the present application, for different abnormal states, the method of further implementing step 102 may be the same or different, that is, the method of determining the target RAT standard may be the same or different.

[0047] For step 102, the determining of a target RAT system having at least one first neighboring cell according to the neighboring cell information may further, in some embodiments, include: determining a second RAT system having at least one first neighboring cell when it is determined that the neighboring cell information has at least one first neighboring cell, and using a high RAT system in the second RAT system as the target RAT system. In a possible implementation, the method is applicable to abnormal state 1.

[0048] It can be understood that the determined second RAT standard may be one or more. In an embodiment of the present application, the highest or second highest RAT standard among the determined second RAT standards can be used as the target RAT standard, and the present application does not limit this. In a possible implementation, the highest RAT standard among the second RAT standards is used as the target RAT standard. For example, the determined second RAT standard includes NR and LTE, and NR is used as the target RAT standard.

[0049] It can be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the high RAT standard with better neighboring area is selected as the target RAT standard according to the dual mechanism of high RAT standard priority and the quality of neighboring area channel; that is, in the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the high RAT standard in the second RAT standard is used as the target RAT standard, and the cell search is performed based on the frequency of the better target RAT standard; this is beneficial for the terminal device to quickly reside in the cell of the high standard, that is, while improving the network recovery efficiency, the terminal device is allowed to reside in the cell of the higher RAT standard as much as possible, which is beneficial to enhancing the user's Internet experience.

[0050] For step 102, the target RAT standard having at least one first neighboring area is determined according to the neighboring area information. Further, in some other embodiments, it may include: in the case of determining that the high RAT standard in the neighboring area information has at least one first neighboring area, taking the high RAT standard as the target RAT standard; wherein the high RAT standard described here is relative to the first RAT standard. This method is applicable to abnormal state 2.

[0051] In an embodiment of the present application, when the duration of a terminal device residing in a service cell of a first RAT standard is greater than a second duration, it is determined whether a high RAT standard (here, the high RAT standard is relative to the first RAT standard) in the neighboring cell information has at least one of the first neighboring cells; when the high RAT standard has at least one of the first neighboring cells, the high RAT standard is used as the target RAT standard. For example, if the first RAT standard is LTE, and if it is monitored that the duration of a terminal device residing in a service cell of LTE is greater than the second duration, it is determined whether the NR standard in the neighboring cell information has at least one of the first neighboring cells (i.e., it is determined whether there is an NR neighboring cell whose first parameter is greater than or equal to the first threshold in the neighboring cell information); if there is an NR neighboring cell whose first parameter is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the NR is used as the target RAT standard, and a cell search is performed for the frequency point under the NR.

[0052] It can be understood that for abnormal state 2 (i.e., the duration of staying in the service cell of the first RAT standard is greater than the second duration), it is determined whether the neighboring area information contains at least one high RAT standard of the first neighboring area (the high RAT standard here refers to a standard with a higher priority than the first RAT standard), and it is judged / checked whether there is at least one of the first neighboring areas in the standard higher than the first RAT standard in the neighboring area information; if so, the high RAT standard is taken as the target RAT standard, and a cell search is performed for the frequency point under the NR; in this way, compared with the related technology 2 described above, it is beneficial for the terminal equipment to quickly recover from the low-standard cell where it is staying to the high-standard cell.

[0053] In the embodiment of the present application, for different abnormal states, the preset first threshold value may be the same or different. In the embodiment where different first threshold values ​​are set for different abnormal states, exemplarily, in some embodiments, for the abnormal state in which the duration of the terminal device being in OOS is greater than the first duration (hereinafter referred to as abnormal state 1), the first threshold value may be set larger; for the abnormal state in which the duration of the terminal device being stationed in the service cell of the first RAT standard is greater than the second duration (hereinafter referred to as abnormal state 2), the first threshold value may be set smaller. Of course, in the embodiment of the present application, the size relationship of the first threshold values ​​corresponding to abnormal state 1 and abnormal state 2 is not limited.

[0054] As mentioned above, the type of the first parameter can be a scoring level or the channel quality itself. For the embodiment in which the first parameter is a scoring level, the first threshold is a scoring level threshold, for example, for abnormal state 1, the first threshold can be moderate; for abnormal state 2, the first threshold can be good. For the embodiment in which the first parameter is the channel quality itself, the first threshold can be a channel quality threshold, for example, an RSRP threshold, an RSRQ threshold, or an SINR threshold.

[0055] Regarding the determination of abnormal state 1, in some embodiments, as Figure 2 As shown, determining that the duration of being in OOS is greater than the first duration includes the following steps 201 and 202:

[0056] Step 201, when an AS OOS frequency sweep in a connected state is triggered, start a first timer; the timing duration of the first timer is a first duration; in some embodiments, the first duration may be predefined.

[0057] The terminal device can monitor whether the AS OOS frequency sweep in the connected state (connected) is triggered; when the AS OOS frequency sweep is triggered, start the first timer; when the AS OOS frequency sweep is not triggered, return to continue monitoring whether the AS OOS frequency sweep in the connected state (connected) is triggered.

[0058] In an embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may dynamically monitor in real time whether the AS OOS frequency sweep in the connected state is triggered, for example, it may periodically monitor whether the AS OOS frequency sweep in the connected state is triggered. Alternatively, in another possible implementation, when the AS OOS frequency sweep is triggered, the function module that triggers the AS OOS frequency sweep sends a notification message to the function module for executing step 201 and step 202 to notify the function module that the AS OOS frequency sweep is triggered.

[0059] It should be noted that AS OOS frequency sweeping can be understood as frequency sweeping performed by the terminal device when AS OOS is in progress. The triggering condition of AS OOS frequency sweeping includes AS out of service (OOS) of the terminal device. In a possible implementation, AS OOS frequency sweeping includes frequency sweeping for historical resident frequency points.

[0060] Step 202: When the first timer times out and the AS OOS frequency sweep or the NAS OOS frequency sweep is still being executed, it is determined that the duration of being in OOS is greater than the first duration (ie, in abnormal state 1).

[0061] In some embodiments, after the AS OOS frequency sweep is completed, the terminal device fails to find a cell in which it can reside, resulting in AS OOS recovery failure. When the AS OOS recovery fails, the AS OOS status is reported to the NAS. After the NAS receives the AS OOS status report, the terminal device performs a frequency sweep again, which is called a NAS OOS frequency sweep. The triggering condition of the NAS OOS frequency sweep includes the failure of the AS OOS recovery of the terminal device. In a possible implementation, the NAS OOS frequency sweep includes a frequency sweep for historical resident frequency points, or the NAS OOS frequency sweep includes a frequency sweep for all frequency points of one or more RAT systems supported by the terminal device.

[0062] It can be understood that, as mentioned above, in related technology 1, when AS OOS occurs due to a failure of blind redirection or a sudden sharp drop in channel quality, the UE will first perform AS OOS recovery through frequency scanning (hereinafter referred to as AS OOS frequency scanning). When the AS OOS recovery fails, the AS OOS status will be reported to NAS. After NAS receives the AS OOS status report, the UE will perform frequency scanning again to perform NAS OOS network search (hereinafter referred to as NAS OOS frequency scanning) to restore the network status.

[0063] However, the inventor of the present application discovered through research and analysis of the above-mentioned related technology 1 that when performing frequency scanning in the two stages of AS OOS recovery and NAS OOS network search, if there are many historical frequency points to search, it takes too long for the UE to search all frequency points, resulting in a long network recovery process and the inability to quickly restore the network.

[0064] In view of this, in the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application, if Figure 2 As shown, if the AS OOS frequency scanning in the connected state is triggered, the first timer is started; if the terminal device is still performing the ASOOS frequency scanning or the NAS OOS frequency scanning when the first timer times out, the target RAT standard with at least one first neighboring area is determined according to the neighboring area information, and a cell search is performed for the frequency point of the target RAT standard; in this way, compared with the related technology 2, when the AS OOS frequency scanning or the NAS OOS frequency scanning is still performed when the first timer times out, the terminal device is forced to perform a cell search for the frequency point under the target RAT standard selected based on the neighboring area information; in this way, it is beneficial to improve the probability of successful network search, thereby helping the terminal device to quickly achieve cell residence and restore network services.

[0065] In some embodiments, when the first timer times out and the AS OOS sweep or the NAS OOS sweep is still being executed, it is determined that the duration of being in OOS is greater than the first duration, and the AS OOS sweep or the NAS OOS sweep is stopped.

[0066] It can be understood that in the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application, when it is monitored that the AS OOS frequency scanning in the connected state (connected) is triggered, the first timer is started; if the first timer times out and the terminal device is still executing the AS OOS frequency scanning or the NAS OOS frequency scanning, the AS OOS frequency scanning or the NAS OOS frequency scanning is stopped, and the terminal device is forced to perform a cell search for the frequency point under the target RAT standard with a better quality selected based on the neighboring cell information; in this way, compared with the related technology 1, it is beneficial to improve the probability of successful network search, thereby helping the terminal device to quickly achieve cell residence and restore network services.

[0067] Regarding the determination of abnormal state 2, in some embodiments, as Figure 3 As shown, determining that the duration of staying in the serving cell of the first RAT standard is greater than the second duration includes the following steps 301 and 302:

[0068] Step 301: when it is determined that the service cell of the first RAT standard is being resided, start a second timer; the timing duration of the second timer is a second duration; in some embodiments, the second duration may be predefined.

[0069] The terminal device may monitor whether it resides in the service cell of the first RAT standard; if it is determined that it resides in the service cell of the first RAT standard, start the second timer; otherwise, return to continue monitoring whether it resides in the service cell of the first RAT standard.

[0070] In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may dynamically monitor the serving cell of the first RAT standard in real time. For example, it may periodically monitor whether the terminal device resides in the serving cell of the first RAT standard.

[0071] In some embodiments, the first RAT standard is a low standard relative to the highest RAT standard supported by the terminal device. For example, the highest RAT standard supported by the terminal device is NR, and the first RAT standard is LTE, 3G or 2G, etc. For another example, the highest RAT standard supported by the terminal device is LTE, and the first RAT standard is 3G or 2G, etc. For another example, the highest RAT standard supported by the terminal device is a standard higher than NR, and the first RAT standard is NR, LTE, 3G or 2G, etc.

[0072] Step 302: When the second timer times out and the user still resides in the serving cell of the first RAT standard, determine that the duration of residing in the serving cell of the first RAT standard is greater than a second duration.

[0073] In some embodiments, when the second timer times out or the device does not reside in the serving cell of the first RAT standard within the timing duration of the second timer, it continues to monitor whether the device resides in the serving cell of the first RAT standard.

[0074] It can be understood that, as mentioned above, in related technology 2, in a network covered by LTE and NR, when the UE is registered to LTE, if the UE wants to return from LTE to NR, there are two implementation methods, one is based on the reporting redirection of measurement events (B1 / B2 / A2) in the connected state, and the other is based on the reselection criteria conditions in the idle state.

[0075] However, the inventors of the present application have discovered through research and analysis of the above-mentioned related technology 2 that when the network configuration B1 / B2 / A2 events and the reselection criteria are relatively strict or unreasonable, this will cause the UE to take a long time to restore the NR, causing the UE to stay in LTE for a long time.

[0076] In view of this, in the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application, if Figure 3 As shown, when it is monitored that the terminal device resides in a service cell of the first RAT standard (i.e., the low standard), the second timer is started; if the terminal device still resides in the service cell of the low RAT standard after the second timer times out, a better high RAT standard (i.e., a target RAT standard having at least one first neighboring area with better channel quality) is selected according to the neighboring cell information under the current PLMN, and a cell search is performed for the frequency of the target RAT standard; in this way, compared with the related technology 2, when the terminal device still resides in the low-standard cell after the second timer times out, the terminal device is forced to perform a cell search for the frequency of the better high RAT standard selected based on the neighboring cell information; this is beneficial for the terminal device to quickly recover from the low-standard cell where it resides to the high-standard cell.

[0077] In step 103, a cell search is performed for the frequency point of the target RAT standard.

[0078] In the embodiment of the present application, there is no limitation on the further implementation of step 103. In some embodiments, step 103 may further include: performing a cell search for a historical resident frequency point under the target RAT standard.

[0079] In some other embodiments, step 103 may further include: performing a cell search for a frequency point supporting the target RAT standard. Exemplarily, in some embodiments, performing a cell search for a frequency point supporting the target RAT standard includes: preferentially performing a cell search for a historically resident frequency point among the frequency points supporting the target RAT standard, and if no resident cell is found, performing a cell search for the remaining frequency points supporting the target RAT standard.

[0080] It can be understood that the so-called frequency points supporting the target RAT standard can be understood as the frequency points (ie all frequency points) under the target RAT standard supported by the capability of the terminal device. In this way, it is beneficial to improve the success rate of cell search.

[0081] In some other embodiments, step 103 may further include: performing a cell search for a historical resident frequency point under the target RAT standard, and if no resident cell is found, performing a cell search for all frequency points supporting the target RAT standard.

[0082] For the cell search method applicable to abnormal state 2, in some embodiments, it also includes: if a cell search is performed to find a target RAT standard cell that can be resided, a prompt message is output; the prompt message is used to prompt whether to restore to a high standard (such as NR) network; if an instruction indicating recovery is received, switch to the target RAT standard cell that can be resided; otherwise, do not switch and still reside in the current cell.

[0083] The following examples describe possible implementations of the cell search method described in one or more of the above embodiments.

[0084] 1: Real-time dynamic analysis of UE's RAT information, serving cell information, and neighboring cell information of each standard, and associate the neighboring cell information of each standard with PLMN, and score and classify them according to key information such as channel quality RSRP / RSRQ / SINR. For example, the neighboring cell score levels are divided into great, good, moderate, poor, invalid, etc., and the neighboring cell information is dynamically maintained through the neighboring cell perception database; among which, the channel quality corresponding to great, good, moderate, poor, and invalid becomes worse in turn;

[0085] Assume that the current PLMN of the UE is PLMN1, for example, the database shown in Table 2 (ie, the neighboring cell information).

[0086] Table 2

[0087]

[0088] 2: trigger AS OOS frequency scanning in real-time dynamic monitoring connected state, set monitoring timer T and start timer T (i.e., the first timer). When it is detected that timer T times out and is still in AS OOS frequency scanning state or NAS OOS frequency scanning state, dynamically match the neighboring cell perception database by associating the current PLMN to see whether there are neighboring cells with different scoring levels such as great, good and / or moderate; if so, perform precise forced network search for the corresponding standard of the matching neighboring cell according to the dual mechanism of high RAT standard priority and neighboring cell scoring, so as to achieve fast and efficient network recovery.

[0089] 3: Dynamically monitor the UE LTE status, set the monitoring timer T and start timer T (i.e., the second timer). If the UE is still in the LTE state after the monitoring timer T times out, dynamically match the neighboring cell perception database by associating the current PLMN to see if there are NR neighboring cells with great and / or good ratings; if so, quickly find the L2 NR network to achieve rapid recovery of NR.

[0090] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the implementation process of the cell search method provided in the embodiment of the present application Figure 2 ,like Figure 4 As shown, the method includes the following steps 401 to 416:

[0091] Step 401, parse the data information to obtain the RAT standard information of the neighboring cell, the PLMN information of the neighboring cell, and the channel quality (RSRP / RSRQ / SINR) of the neighboring cell;

[0092] Step 402, based on the channel quality of the neighboring cell, the neighboring cell is rated and classified to determine the rating level of the neighboring cell;

[0093] Step 403, maintaining / updating / building a neighbor cell perception database (DATABASE) according to the RAT standard information of the neighbor cell, the PLMN information of the neighbor cell, and the score level of the neighbor cell;

[0094] Step 404, determine whether the AS OOS sweep is triggered; if yes, execute step 405;

[0095] Step 405, start timer T1 (i.e., the first timer);

[0096] Step 406, determining whether the AS OOS frequency sweep or the NAS OOS frequency sweep is in progress after the timer T1 times out; if so, executing step 407;

[0097] Step 407, whether the associated PLMN matches the neighboring cell sensing DATABASE and whether there is a neighboring cell with at least one of the score levels of great, good, and moderate and a higher RAT standard; if yes, execute step 408;

[0098] Step 408, performing RAT priority sorting according to the weight scores;

[0099] Step 409: perform forced network search corresponding to the RAT standard according to the sorting result.

[0100] Step 410, determining whether the UE is registered in LTE; if yes, executing step 411;

[0101] Step 411, start timer T2 (i.e., the second timer);

[0102] Step 412, determine whether the network is still registered in LTE after timer T2 times out; if yes, execute step 413;

[0103] Step 413, determining whether the associated PLMN matches the neighboring cell perception DATABASE whether there is an NR neighboring cell with at least one of the rating levels of great and good; if yes, executing step 414;

[0104] Step 414, triggering L2 NR to quickly find a network;

[0105] Step 415, determine whether to restore NR; if yes, execute step 416; otherwise, return to step 410;

[0106] Step 416, register on NR.

[0107] It can be understood that the methods described in steps 404 to 409 and the methods described in steps 410 to 416 are optimization solutions corresponding to different service states of the UE, wherein the methods described in steps 404 to 409 are optimization solutions for a service state of out of service (OOS), and the methods described in steps 410 to 416 are optimization solutions for a service state of in-service.

[0108] It can be understood that the methods described in steps 404 to 409 above can accurately and quickly restore the network based on neighbor cell perception in scenarios such as AS OOS recovery due to blind redirection failure or sudden sharp drop in channel quality; the methods described in steps 410 to 416 above can quickly restore NR in long-term LTE scenarios based on neighbor cell perception.

[0109] It can be understood that the above method introduces a neighbor cell perception database mechanism, dynamically updates neighbor cell information in real time, associates PLMN and neighbor cell dynamic information, and evaluates and scores neighbor cells based on multiple dimensions such as neighbor cell channel quality RSRP / RSRQ / SINR;

[0110] It can be understood that the method described in the above steps 404 to 409 dynamically and continuously monitors the UE AS / NAS OOS frequency scanning status, and associates the current plmn to perform neighbor cell perception database cell matching, thereby realizing an accurate and efficient network rapid recovery mechanism;

[0111] It can be understood that the method described in the above steps 410 to 416 dynamically and continuously monitors the LTE status, associates the current PLMN to perform neighbor cell perception database NR cell matching, and realizes an accurate and efficient NR fast recovery mechanism.

[0112] It should be noted that although the steps of the method in the present application are described in a specific order in the drawings, this does not require or imply that the steps must be performed in this specific order, or that all the steps shown must be performed to achieve the desired results. Additionally or alternatively, some steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, and / or one step may be decomposed into multiple steps, etc.; or, steps in different embodiments may be combined into a new technical solution.

[0113] The present application embodiment provides a terminal device, Figure 5 A schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 The terminal device 500 shown includes a processor 501, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0114] Alternatively, if Figure 5 As shown, the terminal device 500 may further include a memory 502. The processor 501 may call and run a computer program from the memory 502 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0115] The memory 502 may be a separate device independent of the processor 501 , or may be integrated into the processor 501 .

[0116] Alternatively, if Figure 5 As shown, the terminal device 500 may further include a transceiver 503, and the processor 501 may control the transceiver 503 to communicate with other devices, specifically, may send information or data to other devices, or receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0117] The transceiver 503 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 503 may further include an antenna, and the number of the antennas may be one or more.

[0118] Figure 6 This is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 The chip 600 shown includes a processor 601, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0119] Alternatively, if Figure 6 As shown, the chip 600 may further include a memory 602. The processor 601 may call and run a computer program from the memory 602 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0120] The memory 602 may be a separate device independent of the processor 601 , or may be integrated into the processor 601 .

[0121] Optionally, the chip 600 may further include an input interface 603. The processor 601 may control the input interface 603 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0122] Optionally, the chip 600 may further include an output interface 604. The processor 601 may control the output interface 604 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0123] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0124] The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer storage medium, which stores one or more programs. The one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors to implement the method in the embodiments of the present application.

[0125] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions, which enable a computer to execute the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0126] It should be noted here that the description of the above terminal device, chip, storage medium, computer program product and computer program embodiment is similar to the description of the above method embodiment, and has similar beneficial effects as the method embodiment. For technical details not disclosed in the terminal device, chip, storage medium, computer program product and computer program embodiment of this application, please refer to the description of the method embodiment of this application for understanding.

[0127] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a cell search device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Figure 7 As shown, the cell search device 700 includes:

[0128] The first determination module 701 is configured to determine the neighboring cell information under the current PLMN; the neighboring cell information includes the first parameters of one or more neighboring cells and the RAT standards of the one or more neighboring cells; the first parameters are used to characterize the channel quality of the corresponding neighboring cells;

[0129] The second determination module 702 is configured to determine, when it is determined that the system is in an abnormal state, a target RAT system having at least one first neighboring cell according to the neighboring cell information; a first parameter of the first neighboring cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold; the abnormal state includes a duration of being in OOS greater than a first duration or a duration of being in a serving cell of the first RAT system greater than a second duration; wherein the target RAT system is higher than the first RAT system;

[0130] The cell search module 703 is configured to perform a cell search for the frequency point of the target RAT standard.

[0131] In some embodiments, the second determination module 702 is configured to: start a first timer when the AS OOS frequency sweep in the connected state is triggered; wherein the timing duration of the first timer is the first duration; and when the AS OOS frequency sweep or the NAS OOS frequency sweep is still being executed after the first timer times out, determine that the duration of being in OOS is greater than the first duration.

[0132] In some embodiments, the cell search module 703 is configured to: when the first timer times out and the AS OOS scan or the NAS OOS scan is still being executed, determine that the duration of being in OOS is greater than the first duration, and stop executing the AS OOS scan or the NAS OOS scan.

[0133] In some embodiments, the RAT standard in the neighboring cell information includes one or more high RAT standards; the second determination module 702 is configured to: when there is at least one first neighboring cell in the neighboring cell information, determine a second RAT standard having at least one first neighboring cell, and use the high RAT standard in the second RAT standard as the target RAT standard.

[0134] In some other embodiments, the second determination module 702 is configured to: start a second timer when it is determined that the cell resides in the serving cell of the first RAT standard; wherein the timing duration of the second timer is the second duration;

[0135] In a case where the second timer times out and the cell still resides in the serving cell of the first RAT standard, it is determined that the duration of the cell residing in the serving cell of the first RAT standard is greater than a second duration.

[0136] In some embodiments, the second determination module 702 is configured to: when the high RAT standard in the neighboring cell information has at least one of the first neighboring cells, use the high RAT standard as the target RAT standard.

[0137] In some embodiments, the cell search module 703 is configured to: perform a cell search for a frequency point supporting the target RAT standard.

[0138] The description of the above device embodiment is similar to the description of the above method embodiment, and has similar beneficial effects as the method embodiment. For technical details not disclosed in the device embodiment of the present application, please refer to the description of the method embodiment of the present application for understanding.

[0139] It should be understood that the processor of the embodiment of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by the hardware integrated logic circuit or software instructions in the processor. The above processor can be a general processor, a digital signal processor (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a field programmable gate array (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. The methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware decoding processor to perform, or the hardware and software modules in the decoding processor are combined and performed. The software module can be located in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, and other mature storage media in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0140] It can be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or can include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory can be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0141] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memory is exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (static RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (synch link DRAM, SLDRAM) and direct memory bus random access memory (Direct Rambus RAM, DR RAM), etc. That is to say, the memory in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include but not limited to these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0142] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program.

[0143] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0144] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions.

[0145] Optionally, the computer program product can be applied to the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0146] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program.

[0147] Optionally, the computer program can be applied to the terminal device in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on the computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0148] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0149] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0150] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices, apparatuses, methods, etc. can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0151] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0152] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0153] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or partly embodied in the form of a software product that contributes to the prior art. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for enabling a terminal device (which can be a personal computer, mobile phone, tablet computer, smart watch, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk or optical disk, and other media that can store program codes.

[0154] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A cell search method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Determine neighboring cell information under the current PLMN; the neighboring cell information includes first parameters of one or more neighboring cells and RAT standards of the one or more neighboring cells; the first parameters are used to characterize the channel quality of the corresponding neighboring cells; In the case of determining that the abnormal state is in progress, determining, according to the neighboring cell information, a target RAT system having at least one first neighboring cell; a first parameter of the first neighboring cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold; the abnormal state includes a duration of being in OOS greater than a first duration or a duration of being stationed in a serving cell of the first RAT system greater than a second duration; wherein the target RAT system is higher than the first RAT system; A cell search is performed for the frequency point of the target RAT standard.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Determine that the duration of time in OOS is greater than the first duration, including: When the AS OOS frequency sweep in the connected state is triggered, starting a first timer; wherein the timing duration of the first timer is the first duration; When the first timer times out and the AS OOS sweep or the NAS OOS sweep is still being executed, it is determined that the duration of being in OOS is greater than the first duration.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that When the first timer times out and the ASOOS frequency sweep or the NAS OOS frequency sweep is still being executed, it is determined that the duration of being in OOS is greater than the first duration, and the ASOOS frequency sweep or the NAS OOS frequency sweep is stopped.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The RAT standard in the neighboring cell information includes one or more high RAT standards; The determining, according to the neighboring cell information, a target RAT system having at least one first neighboring cell includes: In a case where there is at least one of the first neighboring cells in the neighboring cell information, a second RAT system having at least one of the first neighboring cells is determined, and a high RAT system in the second RAT system is used as the target RAT system.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Determining that the duration of staying in the serving cell of the first RAT standard is greater than the second duration includes: In the case of determining that the cell is located in the serving cell of the first RAT standard, starting a second timer; wherein the timing duration of the second timer is the second duration; In a case where the second timer times out and the cell still resides in the serving cell of the first RAT standard, it is determined that the duration of the cell residing in the serving cell of the first RAT standard is greater than a second duration.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The determining, according to the neighboring cell information, a target RAT system having at least one first neighboring cell includes: In a case where the high RAT standard in the neighboring cell information has at least one of the first neighboring cells, the high RAT standard is used as the target RAT standard.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The performing a cell search for a frequency point of the target RAT standard includes: performing a cell search for a frequency point supporting the target RAT standard.

8. A cell search device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A first determination module is configured to determine neighboring cell information under the current PLMN; the neighboring cell information includes a first parameter of one or more neighboring cells and a RAT standard of the one or more neighboring cells; the first parameter is used to characterize the channel quality of the corresponding neighboring cell; A second determination module is configured to determine, when it is determined that the system is in an abnormal state, a target RAT system having at least one first neighboring cell according to the neighboring cell information; a first parameter of the first neighboring cell is greater than or equal to a first threshold; the abnormal state includes a duration of being in OOS greater than a first duration or a duration of being in a serving cell of the first RAT system greater than a second duration; wherein the target RAT system is higher than the first RAT system; The cell search module is configured to perform a cell search for a frequency point of the target RAT standard.

9. A terminal device, comprising: Memory for storing computer programs; A processor, connected to the memory, and configured to call and run the computer program from the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7; A transceiver is used to send and receive information when sending and receiving information with other devices.

10. A chip, comprising: A processor, configured to call and run a computer program from a memory so that a device equipped with the chip executes a method according to any one of claims 1 to 7; A transceiver is used to send and receive information during the process of sending and receiving information between a device or chip.

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